Classic RPG's

it works perfict in dosbox, after playing it for a day i agree its a great game

DOSBox = win JDR. I'm shocked you don't know this yet. ;P

I agree, this is a good game. The UI is a little stiff (I couldn't figure out how to cast my spells, or for that matter, learn any new ones) but about on par for the era. The music and atmosphere manages to be a bit creepy, something few games manage to do. Very few.

Yes, it seems the wizardry and Ultima series work now. They didn't work in previous versions I tried. I am not planning to dig into them right now though. On the thread's topic I am actually playing Final Fantasy VI.

playin w7 atm hate the music lol

Wait a min, I thought it was those other, more obscure games that didn't work.

O.O I've been playing Wiz7 perfectly well for the last three DOSBox versions. Ultima 6 as well, though my last few times in 7 was using Exult.

It was primarily the earlier games, pre-vga, that didn't work. Some, like M&M1 still behave weird. I don't think it's DosBox's fault, they probably wouldnt work on a real DOS pc either due to hardware. This is really old stuff, from before anything resembling "standard" in the PC market. The 4-color games (white, cyan, magenta) often behave odd, being plagued with not easily cured speed issues etc. After todays attempt it seems many of theese quirks have been cured. I know some versions of Ultima on mobygames was photographed off-screen rather than screenshotted, because there were simply no way to run the game properly. Todays attempt in 0.73 seemed to work just fine.

M&M2 still failed in my attempt in 0.73, memory problem. The 4mb setting might work, 16 failed.

I have played the nintendo version of MM1. Works great on a gamepad and its pretty much the same as pc version.

For some strange reason, I just can't get myself to replay those old games. I tried to play through MM4-5 some time ago (the Xeen series), but the graphics and gameplay made it impossible for me to enjoy it. I'm hardly too concerned about how a game looks, but it seems I do have a minimum requirement.

MM6 and beyond is still amazing tho.

Maylander said:

For some strange reason, I just can't get myself to replay those old games. I tried to play through MM4-5 some time ago (the Xeen series), but the graphics and gameplay made it impossible for me to enjoy it. I'm hardly too concerned about how a game looks, but it seems I do have a minimum requirement.

MM6 and beyond is still amazing tho.

Click to expand...

You're not alone. Out of nostalgia I've tried replaying some old games, but that never lasts more than one day. It's not only the graphics or the old-style midi music, but the lack of UI and gameplay elements that I've gotten used to (automap, quest log, etc). There was a time when I was much younger when I had the time to talk to every single NPC in the world to see if a quest would advance, and when I had to write 5 pages of notes in my old notebook (back when notebooks meant paper). That time is gone.

One thing I do miss from those old days is the complex character creation systems. Nowadays it's all about having 300 options of adding a scar or beard to a face, but there was a time when defining a character actually had huge gameplay repercussions.

I require a lot for enjoying an old game. Sometimes I do, sometimes I do not. I often find adventuregames to be the most bearable since the graphics and story is usually ok. Oldschool gameplay can mostly be annoying, but emulators can sometimes circumvent that. I was toasted here for lashing out on System Shock for it's graphics and controls, but they really were a downer. I might have enjoyed it more with some graphic enhancements and the new mouseaim mod. I think it was sad, because beneath the rusty surface was a really good story and the audiologs were really good.

One game I really enjoyed was Microillusions "Faery Tale adventure" 1988. It was probably one of the RPG's for the Amiga, unfortunately the PC sequel "Land of the Dead" didn't have the same atmosphere.
I also have fond memories of SSI's Phantasy Series especially Phantasie 3 "Wraith of Nicodemus".

I haven't noticed any issues running any of the real old CGA games in DOSBox, though you have to fiddle with the settings to slow it down enough. Standard DFend settings don't cut it! But I also have very few of those games relatively; most of the ones I did have were lost due to a lack of a disk drive able to read 5 1/4" floppies.

They probably would have issues running in later editions of MS DOS or modern DOS OS's.

I do have my limits as well. The color contrast cannot be painful (meaning Phantasie III, one of my favorite C64 games, I don't play hardly because the DOS version is 4 color CGA). Graphics have to be clear enough for me to know what I'm looking at.

As far as maps, I prefer an automap, but I'll download maps off the internet if I have to.

Probably the biggest obstacle for me is the fact that I'm not much for grinding, or repeatedly doing the same quest/fighting in the same area for hours on end just to gain enough levels to move to the next area. Early Wizardries and the old Bard's Tale games were bad about that, as was the first couple of Might and Magic games. I simply want to get on with the story. This is also why I dislike alot of the JRPGs as well.

I miss the depth of the character creation systems as well. In fact, that has always been my favorite part of RPGs; and a big factor in to why I don't like games with static protagonists. I mean, Dragon Age has 3 races and 3 classes (ok, 4 if you count the two elf sub-races as different). Phantasie has 6 classes, 6 primary races, and a dozen or so "random" races from the traditional fantasy monster list (Kobold, Minotaur, Pixie, etc...). And Phantasie is probably one of the simplest RPGs I can recall.

When dealing with ancient games that is available on multiple platforms I generally pick the one with best graphics, unless there's some kind of "import character" system that force me to keep myself to one system.

In general that means PC for the VGA era, but prior to that the Amiga or console versions might sometimes look better.

just find a really old dos laptop with floppy drive i know they have them look for a 1985 laptop lol

Finding one with both a 5 1/4 and a 3.5 drive, which works (and both drives work as well) is not very easy. And then there's the fact that the disks themselves likely have gone bad, like my C64 disks.

I wish I could find working copies of all my old C64 RPGs. Sadly, most of the ones I do find are either buggy messes, or don't work at all.

Nyapocalypse said:

The Legacy: Realm of Terror

Click to expand...

Looks awesome, I'm gonna have to try that one out. Been wanting a challenging game to grind on for a while. Thanks for bringing it up!

@ Gorath

In which way was The Legacy buggy, if i may ask? I am not, like, doubting your words or any thingie like that, in any case. I just kind of replayed it a couple of months ago for that LP stuffie i mentioned and didn't notice any bug, at all, though there may be thingies usually seen as part of the totally unfair dificulty that are really bugs, like…


Since it is one of my totally favorite games ever i would like to hear more about those buggy bugs you mention, if it's not much to ask.

@ xSamhainx

Have fun, it's a totally amazing game! x3

@ azraelck

To cast spells you already know you must equip the blue spellbook like a weapon, in one of your hands. To learn new spells you must find the yellow spellbooks around the mannor and then read them, and as long as you have a blue spellbook of your own you'll learn the new spell. To get new spells during character creation you must raise your willpower up to certain tresholds in which you will get a new initial spells, chosen at random from a pool of three. As long as you have at least one initial spell, and thus some previous occult training, you will begin the game with your own blue spellbook. Otherwise you'll have to find one around.

Nyapocalypse said:

@ Gorath

In which way was The Legacy buggy, if i may ask? I am not, like, doubting your words or any thingie like that, in any case. I just kind of replayed it a couple of months ago for that LP stuffie i mentioned and didn't notice any bug, at all, though there may be thingies usually seen as part of the totally unfair dificulty that are really bugs, like…

Spoiler

The super shotgun totting zombie commando with nightshades that guards the family mausoleum being immune, or almost, to all forms of offensive magic.

Since it is one of my totally favorite games ever i would like to hear more about those buggy bugs you mention, if it's not much to ask.

Click to expand...

I wish I could answer this, but I don't remember the details after all these years. Back in 93 or 94 I had a German version as shown on Abandonia. I played The Legacy for a weekend and decided not to continue due to serious technical issues, despite being a Magnetic Scrolls fan ( I had The Guild of Thieves on C64) and despite the interesting atmosphere. I would be more than happy to find out it's generally considered technically okay.

Nyapocalypse said:

@ azraelck

To cast spells you already know you must equip the blue spellbook like a weapon, in one of your hands. To learn new spells you must find the yellow spellbooks around the mannor and then read them, and as long as you have a blue spellbook of your own you'll learn the new spell. To get new spells during character creation you must raise your willpower up to certain tresholds in which you will get a new initial spells, chosen at random from a pool of three. As long as you have at least one initial spell, and thus some previous occult training, you will begin the game with your own blue spellbook. Otherwise you'll have to find one around.

Click to expand...

Ah. I found a blue spellbook, as well as about 6 or 7 yellow ones that I had read. Mostly, I screwed up and fell down a hole, which ended that character quickly. Had to move my brother so it's on hold. However, the more I play it, the more I like it. Haven't noticed any bugs as of yet.