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Don't forget you can also try some of the other offerings from Sensible Software while you're there (Sensible Soccer and Mega Lo Mania highly recommended). Don't be afraid to give a donation while you're there - its great to be able to get access to this stuff - show your appreciation!!!!

ah... what a classic. I used to play this game alot, and it was often late at night before I eventually could drag myself from my Amiga 500. I seem to remember that the game was ported to PC as well. Indeed. Just download Cannon Fodder here, and Cannon Fodder 2 here. Thanks The Underdogs:-)

ah... what a classic. I used to play this game alot, and it was often late at night before I eventually could drag myself from my Amiga 500. I seem to remember that the game was ported to PC as well. Indeed. Just download Cannon Fodder here, and Cannon Fodder 2 here. Thanks The Underdogs:-)

ah... what a classic. I used to play this game alot, and it was often late at night before I eventually could drag myself from my Amiga 500. I seem to remember that the game was ported to PC as well. Indeed. Just download Cannon Fodder here, and Cannon Fodder 2 here. Thanks The Underdogs:-)

So good I wish I could find my copy

Let's not start a high level scripting language advocacy war on this, shall we? :)
I think any high level scripting language should be quite efficient for the job - all you need is some simple game logic engine and a text parser.
Writing a game logic engine isn't trivial, but it's at least no harder in a scripting language than in assembler.
And of course, all the content. I don't know whether mr. Panks writes the game content in HLA as well?
Btw, there are some links to interactive fiction interpreters (including Inform, which can run Infocom games) here.

these titles show how little detail is needed in a 3D game for basic enjoyable gameplay

Reminds me of Hard Drivin', although the Genesis port was pretty bad. They used to have one of these arcade machines (the full cabinet one, mind you) at the Franklin Institute in Philly, where you could play for free. I think it was in the technology section, and is was supposed to demonstrate VR, and how, by 2000, we would all have VR suits and do everything virtually. Anyway, I mostly remember it for running over the cow, and falling off the loop at the top of it. Ouch.

Another blast from the early-3D-past (for PC gamers) is Corncob 3D, a kind of bizzaro combat flight sim for DOS, which is now available as Open Source.

Maybe I'm just old and bitter, but whenever I visit something like the Underdogs I see too many things that shoulda been picked up, but died on the vine (or even off the vine).

I got FS2 from there one time, way back. Now it points you to the Interplay store. Guess what? No more FS2, anywhere.

In my technology and civilization college course, we had to know a good bit about airplanes. The game Red Baron had thoroughly edumuhcated me on alot of the WWI stuff, so I didn't really have to study it.

Rampart had the finest trackball of all. Weird game too: you built a castle out of tetris bricks, then defended it from pirates using your trackball guided cannonballs.

4D is sooooo backwards, we're gaming in 5D already! (if you're wondering, the fifth dimension is the distance of the frequon to you!)

Can be downloaded here from The-Underdogs. You should only download it if you actually owned it of course.

Can't say I've tried it, but I'd imagine it'll work to some degree under DOSbox - Debian, Windows, OS X, RedHat, SuSE, FreeBSD, Be and MorphOS versions are available. The new version can run Windows 3.1!

That program was great, if anyone is interested, you can still find it here. I imagine you can run it using DosBox on Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.

Now that I've done some googling, I find that Sierra bought the rights to the original game. Here's something I just found regarding this: [article]. Also, this appears to be a web-based version, though I haven't tried it: [version].

Enjoy.

Radio Zonde is the single most difficult game I have ever played. Games like Ikaruga, P.N.03 or Viewtiful Joe (on the harder difficulties, of course) are a walk in the park compared to Zonde. If you manage to make it past the first level without using infinite lives, I salute you. And that's at the lowest difficulty.

I understand that Ultima and Larry are more well known, but if you were a serious PC gamer back in the early 90's, you had to have heard of poignant and riveting library of games from Mega-Tech!!! :)

Hell they don't even mention Custer's Revenge one of the granddaddies of video game "erotica"; term used very, very loosely

Heh, I would do that too, but I'd have to go buy a floppy drive first. ;-)

I still have a bunch of Dynamix and MicroProse games, like A-10 Tank Killer II, F-15 Strike Eagle III, and Descent (fun times were had when I finally bought a joystick for that one!) and loads of others.

Man, we had some good games back then! Now I have to go trawl The Underdogs since I've lost or destroyed almost all of those old floppies.

~ Mike

to add onto that take a look the the underdogs a site that hosts abandonware (old out of date) games. you can get classics from your youth there. definitely one of my fav sites

I think it has been long ago since the concept "art" was something that people could take without questioning. In fact, it is so much open for questioning as to make it virtually meaningless. If the term "art" has no meaning then this discussion, interesting as it may be, has no point.

I have a personal story too. One day I went to have lunch in a museum. Some of the exhibition rooms were open, so I walked inside. Oops, I thought, this must be being worked on, because all I can see is *strings*, just a few here, a few there, tied from the floor to a wall, or from a wall to the ceiling. Nothing, nothing else. So I walk through another room, same thing. Another room, same thing. I noticed that the security guards were having a kick out of my expression, and then I got it. *That* was the exhibit. Strings. Tied to the walls. That was *art*. Why ?

Perhaps the whole reason for it being art was its pointlessness. Sort of like the guy who painted an iceberg red, or wrapped a building in cloth. What is the point ?

Then you come and tell me: Videogame makers have a point: making money. Well, then look no further! Here is videogame art. On the other hand, who is it that works (at anything) *only* for money ?

I feel like a parrot here, but DOSBox really is great for this sort of thing, just make sure you tweak the cycles. Also, it helps to have task manager up while doing this, if you get to the point that your processor is pegged out, raising the cycles in DOSBox is not going to help anymore, and may work backwards. If you get to that point and still aren't running fast enough, then you are stuck, as your processor isn't fast enough to do the emulation. Though, if you still have an old box running, and don't mind it taking up space, then that should be fine.
As for getting a hold of the old games, if you already have a legal copy of them, then there shouldn't be a problem with downloading a copy of them. Try The Underdogs, they have a pretty extensive archive of older games, and I have been able to resurrect a few of my old games from them, my disks having long since died. Cheers, and happy retro gaming.

The current state of DOS gaming is iffy at best. With some of the sleeper hits holding abandonware status, one can get by. But the classics like Duke Nukem remain licensed (until DK: Forever comes out [read: never]). The "romz" scene is full of sketchy websites that are supported by links to innapropriate content and viruses.

Does anybody know a good virtual source for the real great classics (if not a phsyical dealer?)

If you're a fan and haven't played it, or just feel like taking a little trip back:

>Go Underdogs
[Using your web browser]You see a website offering tons of cool underrated games

>Examine Games
You see a list of hundreds of IF games"

>Get HHGTG
You download one of the best IF games ever

>Play game
[using Frotz] You play for a while before feeling a presence behind you. The lights go out. You have been eaten by a grue.

If you're a fan and haven't played it, or just feel like taking a little trip back:

>Go Underdogs
[Using your web browser]You see a website offering tons of cool underrated games

>Examine Games
You see a list of hundreds of IF games"

>Get HHGTG
You download one of the best IF games ever

>Play game
[using Frotz] You play for a while before feeling a presence behind you. The lights go out. You have been eaten by a grue.

If you're a fan and haven't played it, or just feel like taking a little trip back:

>Go Underdogs
[Using your web browser]You see a website offering tons of cool underrated games

>Examine Games
You see a list of hundreds of IF games"

>Get HHGTG
You download one of the best IF games ever

>Play game
[using Frotz] You play for a while before feeling a presence behind you. The lights go out. You have been eaten by a grue.

What ever happned to outnumbered, and number munchers, and other cool learning games i played as a kid? Make more games like those, i remember fighting to play them!

we played NetTrek. Though I only played it on a mac plus back in the day. color? bah.

Much older than that. System Shock (1994), where you wander around the 3D world, but most backstory and all character interaction other than fighting comes through email and diaries you discover. The earliest I know of is Portal (1986), which takes place entirely in a simulated computer interface.

Much older than that. System Shock (1994), where you wander around the 3D world, but most backstory and all character interaction other than fighting comes through email and diaries you discover. The earliest I know of is Portal (1986), which takes place entirely in a simulated computer interface.

A long time ago (1986 I think), Activision published a game called Portal, and C64, PC, Amiga, Mac, etc. It is an interactive novel where an intelligent computer pieces together the story of why nobody is left on the Earth. The pieces come as memos, effectively e-mails, and you can browse other parts of the system for various bits of information on characters, events, etc. It's very absorbing and is obviously predates this "new" thing by nearly 20 years!

There are other excellent games from around the same time like The Fourth Protocol which, although much more interactive, effectively work in the same manner via an icon-based system. A brilliant game, by the way, highly recommended.

Yep, when I first started playing SC2 I thought that they completely ripped off Starflight and its sequel, but SC2 was just so good that you couldn't help but love it.

When the guys at Toys for Bob started their sourceforge remake of SC2, I emailed them and asked them about the connection. They responded that starflight was inspiration for SC2, and that the lead designer for SF (Greg Johnson, also of Toejam and Earl fame) and Paul of Toys for Bob had been good friends for a while. Greg Johnson did some voice acting on the 3DO version of SC2, so there's obvioulsy a connection.

The humor in the Starflight series is also similar, if much more subdued and not as overt. Still, if you enjoyed SC2 and are willing to endure some pixelation and the hassle of getting it to run in DosBox or something, the starflight series is still quite a playable game. Great plot too.

this fan site and Underdogs should get you started.

(And yes, being a suspicious puppy, I did look at the network traffic while it was starting up just in case it was downloading on the fly...)

But 64K? Pah! There were more fun games in 16K - I mean, who can forget 3D Monster Maze and JetPac?

G-Darius originally appeared on the PlayStation, later ported to Windows. This features the said ability to catch enemy fighter craft and add their attack to your arsenal. Downloaded this from the underdogs last month and still haven't finished it. Highly entertaining.

From The Underdogs:
The game's best innovation is the addition of "capture balls" - a new kind of weapon you can shoot (with limited ammo) to capture enemy ships. Captured ships can be used as a weapon (with its firepower added to yours), a bomb, a shield, or a Super Laser. Depending on the kind of ship you capture, the captured ship can homing missiles, fireballs, lasers, or other weapons.

Blarg, should've previewed.

Here

Rob

Or how about I just communicate that deconstruction is masturbation. Its a game. Its supposed to be fun.

I'll give you the deconstruction = masturbation. But your kneejerk reaction to my post merely proves that it's not just about fun. If it were just "a game", we'd still all be sitting around playing only Tetris, Pac-Man, or Pop Cap games. Or, Dice would have created a context-less game in which representations of people as square boxes went around capturing small yellow squares and "shooting" little white balls of nameless energy at each other. And, you wouldn't have given a damn about hippy crap in your games, because if it really is about the fun, then why bother with the war theme at all? If it's just fun, and just a game, why the hell do you care if you're a Nazi or a white blob? Why aren't we all sitting around playing an updated version of Nerf Arena Blast?

Because there's something inherently more fun about being a Nazi in Battlefield 1942 than there is about being just a kid with a Nerf gun, at least to most people. That's not to say necessarily that Battlefield succeds merely because you can be a Nazi, but it's certainly part of its success. It's partially why people are apparently buying stacks of these WWII games and not the generic scifi shooters that companies like Jowood and Dreamcatcher keep pumping out. Sure, part of it is that most of Jowood's games are horrible games anyway. But some of it has to be the context of war, otherwise it wouldn't matter at all whether it was a "historical" context of WWII or some fictional war with fictional countries. Dice and EA obviously felt that the benefit of contextualizing their game within the potential controversy of the Vietnam war was worth more risk than making up some fictional context.

What I'm addressing is not the "fun," but the symbology behind the fun. There's a reason why we have more fun being a Nazi or an American soldier in Vietnam than we do a little orange dot, and we ought to be asking ourselves why that is.

[President Elect is a] fun old DOS game, it's over on The Underdogs.

Released in 1988 by SSI. Oh, how I miss the old SSI titles.

I guess the old ColecoVision game, Campaign '84 (Sunrise, 1984), still beats *that* by one term, and The Political Machine by a few more... can anyone think of a presidential game released before 1984, though?

Pssst!
This version won't quit the game. It just won't promote you.

Maybe there's a crack for it, but I haven't the patience to look.

I remember GEOS - it was actually a nice little Mac-style OS for C64. It's funny to see a complete package, with "paint", "wordpad" and so on run in less than 64k of memory.

HOTU has a PC version of it.

I asked this very question in the last article we had about this cancellation, with nearly the same bitch-and-moan you have. Now that I'm all growed up with a job, I can afford to buy adventure games by the dozen. But they just aren't there. My girlfriend bemoans her selling of her Kings' Quest and Hero's Quest collections-- she said "I never thought those would be the last Adventure games made."

So, for everybody out there, here's a list of what I've found to keep me amused so far:

1. Everything ScummVM plays. You've probably played a good number of these, but I'm sure it's not all of them. Broken Sword I and II are good, and I haven't made my way around to Beneath a Steel Sky or Flight of the Amazon Queen yet, both released as freeware by their original authors to the ScummVM team. Buy the ones still being sold new, like Broken Sword and Simon the Sorcerer 1 & 2 to encourage "good behavior" from game companies.

2. Sequels to ScummVM games that ScummVM can't run yet-- things like Broken Sword III, Monkey Island 4, and Grim Fandango.

3. New things you've never heard of, but are still being sold new-- this is the best bet. Runaways: a Road Adventure (available new), Wyrmkeep's remade Inherit the Earth (may be in a future scummvm version, from peeking in CVS), Gilbert Goodmate for the PocketPC, Syberia 1 and 2, etc... Check out justadventure.com for news.

4. Stuff you haven't heard of but isn't still for sale-- this can be tricky, finding things on ebay or abandonware sites. A friend clued me into one he'd played when younger, now available as abandonware: Amazon: Guardians of Eden. I've heard good things about I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream, but don't have a copy yet. I've also turned up websites about a couple of Discworld adventure games that sound excellent, and the first two also seem to be available as abandonware. There is a third that is still for sale, so if you download the other two BUY THE ONE THAT'S STILL BEING SOLD.

Remember-- if you don't buy the ones that are for sale, companies will keep right on assuming the market doesn't exist for these games.

For old DOS games that don't work with ScummVM, NAGI, FreeSCI, or the like, there's always DOSBox, which does an excellent job of making your shiny new PC pretend that it's old and crappy to make the games run.

Anyway, that's what I know. Anybody got anything else?

I asked this very question in the last article we had about this cancellation, with nearly the same bitch-and-moan you have. Now that I'm all growed up with a job, I can afford to buy adventure games by the dozen. But they just aren't there. My girlfriend bemoans her selling of her Kings' Quest and Hero's Quest collections-- she said "I never thought those would be the last Adventure games made."

So, for everybody out there, here's a list of what I've found to keep me amused so far:

1. Everything ScummVM plays. You've probably played a good number of these, but I'm sure it's not all of them. Broken Sword I and II are good, and I haven't made my way around to Beneath a Steel Sky or Flight of the Amazon Queen yet, both released as freeware by their original authors to the ScummVM team. Buy the ones still being sold new, like Broken Sword and Simon the Sorcerer 1 & 2 to encourage "good behavior" from game companies.

2. Sequels to ScummVM games that ScummVM can't run yet-- things like Broken Sword III, Monkey Island 4, and Grim Fandango.

3. New things you've never heard of, but are still being sold new-- this is the best bet. Runaways: a Road Adventure (available new), Wyrmkeep's remade Inherit the Earth (may be in a future scummvm version, from peeking in CVS), Gilbert Goodmate for the PocketPC, Syberia 1 and 2, etc... Check out justadventure.com for news.

4. Stuff you haven't heard of but isn't still for sale-- this can be tricky, finding things on ebay or abandonware sites. A friend clued me into one he'd played when younger, now available as abandonware: Amazon: Guardians of Eden. I've heard good things about I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream, but don't have a copy yet. I've also turned up websites about a couple of Discworld adventure games that sound excellent, and the first two also seem to be available as abandonware. There is a third that is still for sale, so if you download the other two BUY THE ONE THAT'S STILL BEING SOLD.

Remember-- if you don't buy the ones that are for sale, companies will keep right on assuming the market doesn't exist for these games.

For old DOS games that don't work with ScummVM, NAGI, FreeSCI, or the like, there's always DOSBox, which does an excellent job of making your shiny new PC pretend that it's old and crappy to make the games run.

Anyway, that's what I know. Anybody got anything else?

Home of the Underdogs

You could've, I dunno, Googled it. :P

Indeed. That's something the author forgot to mention: new consumers.. or kids, whatever.

As you said, new generations don't play retro games - they just think they suck, more or less. They probably think: "Why play that game when this one has almost the same content/gameplay/etc, but is much prettier? (or harder or, yes, even better! eg: Scorched Earth vs Worms)

New games don't equal remakes of old ideas, even though many of them are. There are many unique games out there that don't quite fit in a specific genre. Just look at Syndicate or, damnit, Tetris! Yes, I know they're "old", but they're unique! Sure, some could say Syndicate is just a abstract remake of Cannon Fodder, but that's not quite true. If another company steals a truly unique concept, they will be marked as ripoffs, lame, etc. By the "older" generation, that is. But hey, there are ripoffs that are unique in their own way, even though it has "been done before": Postal 2

Don't try to flame me by saying "Those games are new!" or "When I was a kid all we could play were textmode games!", that's beside the point. The point is: I don't think many kids today have played the "good ol' games". So when a so called new game comes out, it will attract the younger generation.

Games will be fun for a long time, as long as there are people who like games and challenges, and people (kids) who have never played them before. I don't see the end of this market in the near future. If it dies, it probably won't be because of lack of entertainment value.

Indeed. That's something the author forgot to mention: new consumers.. or kids, whatever.

As you said, new generations don't play retro games - they just think they suck, more or less. They probably think: "Why play that game when this one has almost the same content/gameplay/etc, but is much prettier? (or harder or, yes, even better! eg: Scorched Earth vs Worms)

New games don't equal remakes of old ideas, even though many of them are. There are many unique games out there that don't quite fit in a specific genre. Just look at Syndicate or, damnit, Tetris! Yes, I know they're "old", but they're unique! Sure, some could say Syndicate is just a abstract remake of Cannon Fodder, but that's not quite true. If another company steals a truly unique concept, they will be marked as ripoffs, lame, etc. By the "older" generation, that is. But hey, there are ripoffs that are unique in their own way, even though it has "been done before": Postal 2

Don't try to flame me by saying "Those games are new!" or "When I was a kid all we could play were textmode games!", that's beside the point. The point is: I don't think many kids today have played the "good ol' games". So when a so called new game comes out, it will attract the younger generation.

Games will be fun for a long time, as long as there are people who like games and challenges, and people (kids) who have never played them before. I don't see the end of this market in the near future. If it dies, it probably won't be because of lack of entertainment value.

Indeed. That's something the author forgot to mention: new consumers.. or kids, whatever.

As you said, new generations don't play retro games - they just think they suck, more or less. They probably think: "Why play that game when this one has almost the same content/gameplay/etc, but is much prettier? (or harder or, yes, even better! eg: Scorched Earth vs Worms)

New games don't equal remakes of old ideas, even though many of them are. There are many unique games out there that don't quite fit in a specific genre. Just look at Syndicate or, damnit, Tetris! Yes, I know they're "old", but they're unique! Sure, some could say Syndicate is just a abstract remake of Cannon Fodder, but that's not quite true. If another company steals a truly unique concept, they will be marked as ripoffs, lame, etc. By the "older" generation, that is. But hey, there are ripoffs that are unique in their own way, even though it has "been done before": Postal 2

Don't try to flame me by saying "Those games are new!" or "When I was a kid all we could play were textmode games!", that's beside the point. The point is: I don't think many kids today have played the "good ol' games". So when a so called new game comes out, it will attract the younger generation.

Games will be fun for a long time, as long as there are people who like games and challenges, and people (kids) who have never played them before. I don't see the end of this market in the near future. If it dies, it probably won't be because of lack of entertainment value.

Indeed. That's something the author forgot to mention: new consumers.. or kids, whatever.

As you said, new generations don't play retro games - they just think they suck, more or less. They probably think: "Why play that game when this one has almost the same content/gameplay/etc, but is much prettier? (or harder or, yes, even better! eg: Scorched Earth vs Worms)

New games don't equal remakes of old ideas, even though many of them are. There are many unique games out there that don't quite fit in a specific genre. Just look at Syndicate or, damnit, Tetris! Yes, I know they're "old", but they're unique! Sure, some could say Syndicate is just a abstract remake of Cannon Fodder, but that's not quite true. If another company steals a truly unique concept, they will be marked as ripoffs, lame, etc. By the "older" generation, that is. But hey, there are ripoffs that are unique in their own way, even though it has "been done before": Postal 2

Don't try to flame me by saying "Those games are new!" or "When I was a kid all we could play were textmode games!", that's beside the point. The point is: I don't think many kids today have played the "good ol' games". So when a so called new game comes out, it will attract the younger generation.

Games will be fun for a long time, as long as there are people who like games and challenges, and people (kids) who have never played them before. I don't see the end of this market in the near future. If it dies, it probably won't be because of lack of entertainment value.

One of those universe/solar system simulations - I forget the name.
Possibly because there's more than one name to forget... (=

Let's see, for general touring around the Solar system and neighborhood, there's nothing quite like Celestia. Hours of fun, and very pretty to look at.
Noctis is also similar, but set in a fictional universe.
For more pretty pictures, but less interactivity, see The Solar Journey homepage or the Solar System Simulator. Also The Nine Planets for Kids.
Naturally, kids aren't that interested in just flying around. Well, Orbit lets them blow each other up in space, but with realistic physics and visuals. Once that gets boring, you can let them fly a space shuttle to the ISS with Orbiter. Beware, though. Orbiter is no simple game - you actually need to know how space flight works. There's also the Microsoft Space Simulator, which Orbiter has more or less superseded.

If you're not looking to get that far off the ground, FlightGear's an excellent flight simulator in which you can fly everything from the original Wright Brothers' craft right up to concept superplanes.

More links, mainly astronomy related, here, here, here, here, and here.

Finally, you might wish to try browsing the Tucows Games site and Freshmeat's game section (you'll need to login to make full use of Freshmeat).

Good luck, have fun searching.

No, Keen is NOT abandonware. If you download the full version, you are participating in illegal warez, and this is one of my hugest pet-peeves with the gaming industry.

Does anyone actually pay $20 freaking dollars for Commander Keen these days? There are so many good games out there that stupidly can't be distributed as abandonware because of paranoid companies. They're not making money on these old games any more, so why the fuss?!

I just don't understand why more companies can't realize that by demanding hard cash for >15-year-old games, they're only shunning the people who love them the most. That, and they'll probably go elsewhere & find a warez copy for free.

No, Keen is NOT abandonware. If you download the full version, you are participating in illegal warez, and this is one of my hugest pet-peeves with the gaming industry.

Does anyone actually pay $20 freaking dollars for Commander Keen these days? There are so many good games out there that stupidly can't be distributed as abandonware because of paranoid companies. They're not making money on these old games any more, so why the fuss?!

I just don't understand why more companies can't realize that by demanding hard cash for >15-year-old games, they're only shunning the people who love them the most. That, and they'll probably go elsewhere & find a warez copy for free.

"First Colonists" has a single player mode, except when playing with expansions (Knights & Cities or Seafarers). It's a very polished rendition of the game. The AI is actually quite poor though. Be sure and download the nice music tracks that go with it.

Settlers 3D doesn't have single-player (last time I checked), but is still worth checking out. The PS2 version is playable on the Net but only available in Japan. Capcom was supposed to bring it to the US, but it looks like that fell apart. From the previews I've seen, the PS2 version had great AI. Bargaining when you make trades is a big part of the fun, and it looks like the PS2 version captured that aspect by giving the AI distinct personalities.

I believe that the title that you're thinking about is EOS: Earth Orbit Stations . I played EOS on the Apple long ago and had fun for quite some time. The idea behind EOS was to run a company building stations in orbit. There were different types of stations that could be built depending on the number and type of modules included.

Note: at the request of Steve Jackson Games, all material pertaining to two Origin games based on SJ Games licenses Autoduel and Ogre have been removed from this site. Please contact Steve Jackson Games directly if you would like to buy these two PC classics.