need an older PC game to waste some time

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,741
456
126
I'm burnt out on Diablo 2, but want something else to waste some random time on. I need something oldish because my laptop isn't great. I've played Titan Quest, well enough of it anyway. I've never played any Baldur's Gate or NWN games, but I'm not sure if I want any text heavy games. I wanted to try KOTORII but can't find it cheap enough anywhere, and my buddy had severe problems getting his to run so I'm not sure I even want to try. Suggestions? Maybe I should load up some emulators and try some of those... I've never finished a Castlevania game.
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,839
2,625
136
Basically the same situation. I'm swapping between Fate and Sacred Gold now. Fate's a nice simple Diablo dungeon crawl clone, Sacred a bit more complicated but a huge playing field. Both have the advantage (to me) of working on ancient machines and being dirt cheap (check Amazon).

Cavaet-Fate comes with an instruction sheet that says it may not work on some laptop's integrated video-download the free trial first.
 

Zenoth

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2005
5,202
216
106
Have you played KOTOR 1? It's just been released on Steam for $10.

The system requirements are as follows:

Windows XP or Windows Vista
Intel Pentium 3 1Ghz or AMD Athlon 1GHz
256 RAM
32 MB with Hardware T&L
Directx 9.0b or better
3.5 GB
Directx 9.0b compatible

If not, perhaps Rome: Total War?

It doesn't need a powerful system:

Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
1.0 GHz Processor
256MB RAM
2.9 GB HDD space
8x CD-ROM drive
64 MB DirectX 9.0b compatible Video Card
DirectX 9.0b compatible 16-bit sound card

Also, I forgot (how could I), you could take a look at the games available at www.GoG.com, they have a superb collection of old games which have all been tweaked to some extent by the GoG coders team to make them 100% compatible with both Windows XP and Vista, since many of them were never meant for those OS'es back then.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,741
456
126
Yeah I've played KOTOR1, which is why I want to play KOTOR2. I'll check out some of the total war games, as I know a few friends have had a good time with those. I also think I'm gonna try Freespace 2 out, as I've always enjoyed space sims for the most part. I just hope the aged graphics won't turn me off too much.
 

wrangler

Senior member
Nov 13, 1999
539
0
71
I'mpretty sure that there are mods that update the graphics on Freespace 2. There is still quite a comunity on that game last time I looked.

Freelancer?
 

Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,670
4
0
Gothic

If it hooks you it'll end up in your hall of fame.
 

JoshGuru7

Golden Member
Aug 18, 2001
1,020
1
0
www.gog.com has the Lords of the Realm Royal pack for $6. Highly recommended game and the old interface isn't really a drawback like it is for most games of that era. After that I'd recommend the Total War series.
 

Cheesetogo

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2005
3,824
10
81
Originally posted by: wrangler
I'mpretty sure that there are mods that update the graphics on Freespace 2. There is still quite a comunity on that game last time I looked.

Freelancer?

Soooo much fun...
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
Originally posted by: wrangler
I'mpretty sure that there are mods that update the graphics on Freespace 2. There is still quite a comunity on that game last time I looked.

Freelancer?

Soooo much fun...

Hell yea, Freelancer!
 

Check

Senior member
Nov 6, 2000
366
0
0
Fallout and Fallout 2 if you haven't played those.
Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey and Oddworld: Abe's Exodus are on Steam. Don't know what you need for a system but they were PS1 games, so I would assume they would run on your computer.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
GoG has their 2-for-1 sale for a few more hours: Fallout 1-2-Tactics, Descent 1-3, Freespace 1-2, Shogo: MAD, ... all 2 for $6
 

Caecus Veritas

Senior member
Mar 20, 2006
547
0
0
syndicate
ultima 7
icewind dale 1&2 (a lot less text, more battles than BG)
might & magic series
homeworld
Civ 1 if you havent played it!
Jagged Alliance
 

marmasatt

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2003
6,576
22
81

What about mindless running around games like the GTA series or Just Cause or something?
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,741
456
126
Originally posted by: TheStu
Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
Originally posted by: wrangler
I'mpretty sure that there are mods that update the graphics on Freespace 2. There is still quite a comunity on that game last time I looked.

Freelancer?

Soooo much fun...

Hell yea, Freelancer!

This is perfect, thanks!
 

kalrith

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2005
6,628
7
81
Have you played Warcraft 3? The game itself is pretty good, and there's still an active online community with the custom games, which I think are better than the game itself. If you want to play online, you'll probably need The Frozen Throne expansion pack, because there aren't too many people playing the base game online.

Edit: I play Warcraft 3 on my wife's 5yo laptop, and it plays just fine with some of the graphics dumbed down.
 

evident

Lifer
Apr 5, 2005
12,152
774
126
Originally posted by: kalrith
Have you played Warcraft 3? The game itself is pretty good, and there's still an active online community with the custom games, which I think are better than the game itself. If you want to play online, you'll probably need The Frozen Throne expansion pack, because there aren't too many people playing the base game online.

Edit: I play Warcraft 3 on my wife's 5yo laptop, and it plays just fine with some of the graphics dumbed down.

++++++++ warcraft3.