I'm a junkie for some old titles. Will Windows 8 run them?

[TareX]

Some genres just never got repeated, like SWAT 4 (tactical shooter) and Commandos.... I am faced with the choice of two M17x's, one with Windows 8, and the other with Windows 7... for the same price. While I hate W8's UI, I need to think about DirectX 11.1 support and future-proofing my pricey laptop purchase... So, will I be able to play SWAT 4 and other old titles like Commandos?

Reason I'm concerned was this not-too-promising post:

We have tried to play some games (Demolition Company, SWAT 4 etc.) on the Window 8 yesterday, without any success. No game runs.

Source: http://www.jose.it-berater.org/smfforum/index.php?topic=4506.0

 

[reallyscrued]

From personal experience, no.

I've had hard times getting just Starcraft and classic UT to run on Win8.

You know how people keep consoles around for many generations? I think I'm going to scour craigslist and find the machines that reached the pinnacle of performance for every big Windows iteration and maintain them just to play games of yesteryear.

...man, I'm gonna need some CRT monitors too.

 

[Red Storm]

Aren't those games on Steam?

 

[NickelPlate]

Check www.gog.com for older titles also that have been patched/hacked etc for compatibility with newer hardware and operating systems. They have alot of classics that go way back like Redneck Rampage, Duke Nukem, Baldur's Gate, Master of Orion series etc. Stuff that's otherwise nearly impossible to get running on newer OS's from original installation disks.

 

[Mem]

From personal experience, no.

I've had hard times getting just Starcraft and classic UT to run on Win8.

You know how people keep consoles around for many generations? I think I'm going to scour craigslist and find the machines that reached the pinnacle of performance for every big Windows iteration and maintain them just to play games of yesteryear.

...man, I'm gonna need some CRT monitors too.

I think it depends on hardware and drivers etc...ie AMD or Nvidia?..personally I have tried Unreal Tournament (Game of the year version)and got it to run fine,oldest games I've tried are Baldur's gate,Icewind Dale,Kotor etc all running fine,obviously its impossible to test every game plus we all have different hardware even on Win8,try googling the game in question and you should be able to get some sort of info on if it works with Win8 etc...

All my games run fine even my old ones,however I don't have the games you have listed .....Btw no issues with any of my Steam or Origin games on Win8.
If the game works on Win7 should be fine on Win8.

Commandos behind enemy lines works ok,http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3023202

 

[Dankk]

Aren't those games on Steam?

SWAT isn't, but the Commandos games are.

 

[Maximilian]

Some genres just never got repeated, like SWAT 4 (tactical shooter) and Commandos.... I am faced with the choice of two M17x's, one with Windows 8, and the other with Windows 7... for the same price. While I hate W8's UI, I need to think about DirectX 11.1 support and future-proofing my pricey laptop purchase... So, will I be able to play SWAT 4 and other old titles like Commandos?

Reason I'm concerned was this not-too-promising post:

Source: http://www.jose.it-berater.org/smfforum/index.php?topic=4506.0

Have a google, if it works on vista/7 it will probably work on 8. There is typically some dicking about to get old games working though on any new OS. As has been mentioned gog.com has done some amazing things to make old games work again, dungeon keeper II being a fantastic example.

 

[TareX]

Check www.gog.com for older titles also that have been patched/hacked etc for compatibility with newer hardware and operating systems. They have alot of classics that go way back like Redneck Rampage, Duke Nukem, Baldur's Gate, Master of Orion series etc. Stuff that's otherwise nearly impossible to get running on newer OS's from original installation disks.

Well, I checked gog.com and they only have SWAT 3.... does that mean that SWAT 4 runs normally and doesn't need optimizations? (it didn't need any extra tinkering on Windows 7)

 

[AdamK47]

Windows 8 is horrible for older games. Horrible!

 

[AdamK47]

Have a google, if it works on vista/7 it will probably work on 8. There is typically some dicking about to get old games working though on any new OS. As has been mentioned gog.com has done some amazing things to make old games work again, dungeon keeper II being a fantastic example.

Incorrect. Windows 8 has compatibility issues with older games.

 

[queequeg99]

I think I'm going to scour craigslist and find the machines that reached the pinnacle of performance for every big Windows iteration and maintain them just to play games of yesteryear.

No kidding. I am really jonesing for some Rogue Squadron but for the life of me cannot get it to work on Win7. If Shogo didn't work, I would certainly plunk a few dollars down for an older machine with a Win95 license.

 

[power_hour]

Often wondered if anyone has tried using a VM with Windows 7 or XP to play some of their older titles? I am talking about mostly 2d / low res games.

 

[Maximilian]

Incorrect. Windows 8 has compatibility issues with older games.

Yeah? Well if anyone on this forum would know you would :thumbsup:

 

[snickersnack]

I've been running Win8 on my gaming PC since release and have only had minor issues so far. I kept an XP partition on the system to get around potential compatibility issues but I haven't needed it yet.

That said, new Windows releases will always break something. As such, a quick google search is never a bad idea. Win8 is common enough that if a popular game has a problem, you should find numerous complaints.

 

[Zenoth]

I'm still using Vista so I wouldn't know, but I just want to point at something regarding old(er) games for the PC. With today's HDD storage capacity it should be pretty cheap and easy (I.E. HDDs themselves being cheap enough, and "easy" to make partitions due to their standard high storage capacity) to partition them so that you'd have both Windows XP and Windows Vista/7/8 as well. And then you'd just switch between OS installations when you feel like playing older games, just as much as you'd physically "switch" from your physical SNES to a Genesis in your living room to play games on the respective systems.

I'm saying this because it seems rather "obvious" to me. If I had Windows 8 and would happen to have old PC games that just won't install or run properly on it I would definitely make a partition with Windows XP (which I still own) and install said "problematic" games on that partition. Additionally, doesn't Windows 8 have any compatibility mode(s) that supposed to help a bit with older software (games too)? Again that's just an example, but I know my GoG.com copy of Beyond Good and Evil does not run properly on Vista (not sure about Windows 7, don't have it, but on Vista for some reasons it has "throttle" issues, game runs incredibly fast, including sound, all scenes skipped lightning fast, etc), but if I enable Windows XP compatibility mode it runs smoothly.

But anyway, my suggestion (if anything) is to create a partition with Windows XP which is sure to be compatible with older games (and vice versa). That is, of course, if you own Windows XP to start with. If you do not own it and don't want to buy it "just for that purpose" then I can totally understand that, but then Windows 8 becomes a potential (or rather confirmed) problem. I would probably just stick with Windows 7 and call it a night if it was the case (I.E. only being able to buy one Windows OS, then I'd go with 7 most likely), but Windows XP should be cheap... I wonder though can it still be purchased today or has it been officially discontinued?

 

[Mem]

Windows 8 is horrible for older games. Horrible!

Kind of ironic I had more issues with BG, KOTOR2 etc on Win7,Win8 I had none with the above,having said that there are always some issues somewhere with older games even on Win7,Vista etc...,however most you can get working fine.

End of the day nobody here has tested every game on every OS or hardware,plus throw some of those old copy/security DRM protection a lot of the older games use and its not surprising some games may not work.


I'll say not had any games I've installed on Win8 that don't work so far ,but then as I stated earlier its impossible for anybody here to test all games.

 

[Pocatello]

I was able to play BG2 on my windows 8 Pro x64 machine. My biggest issue now is my on-board realtek 5.1 sound doesn't work.

 

[Oldgamer]

Some genres just never got repeated, like SWAT 4 (tactical shooter) and Commandos.... I am faced with the choice of two M17x's, one with Windows 8, and the other with Windows 7... for the same price. While I hate W8's UI, I need to think about DirectX 11.1 support and future-proofing my pricey laptop purchase... So, will I be able to play SWAT 4 and other old titles like Commandos?

Reason I'm concerned was this not-too-promising post:

Source: http://www.jose.it-berater.org/smfforum/index.php?topic=4506.0

Doesn't windows 8 have the Microsoft Virtual Machine on it, where you can run the legacy system Windows XP?

You could just partion your HD and run the legacy system on the partioned HD and then you should be able to run your older games.

 

[Mem]

I was able to play BG2 on my windows 8 Pro x64 machine. My biggest issue now is my on-board realtek 5.1 sound doesn't work.

You mean don't work at all?..did you try the latest Realtek drivers from their website?.....http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=8&PFid=14&Level=3&Conn=2



Btw I'm using ASUS Xonar DX sound card on my Win8,its been fine for everything,its still using my old Win7 drivers as well.

I've played through BG,BG2,Icewind Dale+expansion pack,Icewind Dale 2,KOTOR,KOTOR2 for my older games on Win8.

 

[Pocatello]

You mean don't work at all?..did you try the latest Realtek drivers from their website?.....http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=8&PFid=14&Level=3&Conn=2



Btw I'm using ASUS Xonar DX sound card on my Win8,its been fine for everything,its still using my old Win7 drivers as well.

I've played through BG,BG2,Icewind Dale+expansion pack,Icewind Dale 2,KOTOR,KOTOR2 for my older games on Win8.

That works, thanks.