Windows What do I need to play older PC games?

[davidg4781]

Alright, so I posted in another section about having an older Windows PC that I couldn't decide what to do with it.

I thought about using it to play some older PC games I have but after searching google for "what to do with an old PC" I found very few mentioning this (most were to use it as a NAS or fish tank).

I've been away from Windows PCs for about 10 years but, I guess my question is, what exactly do I need to play these older games? I have stuff like Age of Empires and a pretty neat Lord of the Ring (if I didn't sell it!!). Can these be played on modern PCs running Windows 8/10 or do you need XP?

I guess I could also install Windows on my mini but I had some annoying issues when I've tried that in the past with partitions.

The main reason I'm asking is I'm almost certain the power supply is dead, so that would need to be replaced. It might also need a new video card. And I need a monitor/keyboard/desk. I'm thinking after putting all that into it it wouldn't be worth it for a few games.

 

[Mattww]

The simplest solution would probably be to use Wine (either Crossover or Wineskin) on your Mac as most older PC games work these days. Check out the reports on the Codeweavers site or winehq for the PC titles you have.

 

[dalstott]

Alright, so I posted in another section about having an older Windows PC that I couldn't decide what to do with it.

I thought about using it to play some older PC games I have but after searching google for "what to do with an old PC" I found very few mentioning this (most were to use it as a NAS or fish tank).

I've been away from Windows PCs for about 10 years but, I guess my question is, what exactly do I need to play these older games? I have stuff like Age of Empires and a pretty neat Lord of the Ring (if I didn't sell it!!). Can these be played on modern PCs running Windows 8/10 or do you need XP?

I guess I could also install Windows on my mini but I had some annoying issues when I've tried that in the past with partitions.

The main reason I'm asking is I'm almost certain the power supply is dead, so that would need to be replaced. It might also need a new video card. And I need a monitor/keyboard/desk. I'm thinking after putting all that into it it wouldn't be worth it for a few games.

Go to GOG and check out the Mac offerings.
http://www.gog.com/games##sort=bestselling&system=osx_106,osx_107&page=1

These oldies have been updated to play on modern intel Macs and PCs.

 

[Huntn]

Alright, so I posted in another section about having an older Windows PC that I couldn't decide what to do with it.

I thought about using it to play some older PC games I have but after searching google for "what to do with an old PC" I found very few mentioning this (most were to use it as a NAS or fish tank).

I've been away from Windows PCs for about 10 years but, I guess my question is, what exactly do I need to play these older games? I have stuff like Age of Empires and a pretty neat Lord of the Ring (if I didn't sell it!!). Can these be played on modern PCs running Windows 8/10 or do you need XP?

I guess I could also install Windows on my mini but I had some annoying issues when I've tried that in the past with partitions.

The main reason I'm asking is I'm almost certain the power supply is dead, so that would need to be replaced. It might also need a new video card. And I need a monitor/keyboard/desk. I'm thinking after putting all that into it it wouldn't be worth it for a few games.

Depends, not that I'm going to have answers , but I had a 3.2Ghz PC and played games on it like Half Life, Unreal Tournament, System shock 2 and others.
That Windows OS do you have with that PC?
What kind of processor and video card?
What would a replacement power supply cost?
I assume you'd have to buy games? Steam might be a good option.

 

[davidg4781]

I'm pretty sure I have a copy of XP somewhere (I've seen the original disc recently but had to slipstream SP2 to a new copy years ago) and 7. The PC is an Athlon XP 2400+, can't remember the video card but that may need upgrading too. My mom was using it and it was having some issues which I think came from the video card. Replacement PS would be ~$30 I'm guessing.

I looked through steam and I'm actually thinking I might be better off with Bootcamp or Fusion/Parallels. I really don't game much and I think the only game I know I have that I'd want to play is AoEII, which is $20 on Steam.

I guess I'm trying to justify not getting rid of the PC. It just feels weird recycling it or something and I'd rather not mess around with Craigslist for this since I doubt I can get anything more than $20.

 

[Huntn]

I'm pretty sure I have a copy of XP somewhere (I've seen the original disc recently but had to slipstream SP2 to a new copy years ago) and 7. The PC is an Athlon XP 2400+, can't remember the video card but that may need upgrading too. My mom was using it and it was having some issues which I think came from the video card. Replacement PS would be ~$30 I'm guessing.

I looked through steam and I'm actually thinking I might be better off with Bootcamp or Fusion/Parallels. I really don't game much and I think the only game I know I have that I'd want to play is AoEII, which is $20 on Steam.

I guess I'm trying to justify not getting rid of the PC. It just feels weird recycling it or something and I'd rather not mess around with Craigslist for this since I doubt I can get anything more than $20.

I don't view the Mini, mentioned in the first post as all that adequate for gaming, maybe 10 year old games. Does the mini use integrated graphics? I've been a big fan of Bootcamp on my MBP, but this was the heavyweight laptop in the Mac lineup in 2011 (see signature), with dedicated graphics. You know if you have a 10 year old PC and are planning on playing 10 year old games, might not be much if any upgrading involved. Maybe bump the video card. I like Windows7 but wonder how much overhead it has as compared to XP? Don't know. Maybe XP would be the better choice performance wise. Or just be done with it and recycle.

 

[davidg4781]

My mini has an AMD Radeon HD 6630M 256 MB graphics.

Also I don't have a display, keyboard, or mouse for the PC. I guess I can use the Apple Cinema Display that's on my G5.

And I went to look around my apartment, and it's pretty much those two games I'm interested in playing, AoEII and LotR:Battle for Middle Earth. The first is available on Steam, 2nd isn't. And AoEIII is available for Mac, but is pretty expensive.

 

[bmac89]

Sounds like you like the same games as me!

I have AOE 1 and AOE 2 (Windows versions) installed on my Mac OSX using a wine wrapper. It even works LAN multiplayer between Mac & PC.

I definitely suggest trying it out as you don't need to mess around with Windows or rebooting the computer etc.

P.S. Have you played LOTR - The Return of the King? It was also released by EA games prior to LOTR BFME. I haven't tried running that on OSX though.

 

[roadbloc]

DOS Apps - DOSBox.
Win16 Apps - DOSBox + Win 3.1 (unless you're running 32bit Windows, in which case they should run just fine.)
Win32 Apps - Any version of Windows except Vista. I've yet to come across any win32 game that doesn't run in Windows 8.x or Windows 10. Microsoft are on top of it when it comes to win32 compatibility.

 

[davidg4781]

I haven't tried Return of the King. I'm not a real big gamer, just kind of casual, like when I get home from work and want to play around for a while.

I do think I'll be buying that new Star Wars game when it comes out, hopefully there's an OS X version, but I'm not holding my breath. I guess I'll install 7 on my mini and see how the games run under that. I don't think I can install XP on my mini.

How would they run under Parallels/Fusion? Not as opening Windows then the game, just running the game in Windows? I'm assuming this would require less resources. This would keep me from having an extra partition of disk space and I could maybe put XP and 7 in case some games aren't running under one or the other. Can Steam games run like this?

And I have DOSBox for Police Quest. I haven't installed it on my mini yet but had it on my old MBP.

 

[bmac89]

I haven't tried Return of the King. I'm not a real big gamer, just kind of casual, like when I get home from work and want to play around for a while.

I do think I'll be buying that new Star Wars game when it comes out, hopefully there's an OS X version, but I'm not holding my breath. I guess I'll install 7 on my mini and see how the games run under that. I don't think I can install XP on my mini.

How would they run under Parallels/Fusion? Not as opening Windows then the game, just running the game in Windows? I'm assuming this would require less resources. This would keep me from having an extra partition of disk space and I could maybe put XP and 7 in case some games aren't running under one or the other. Can Steam games run like this?

And I have DOSBox for Police Quest. I haven't installed it on my mini yet but had it on my old MBP.

I'm not an expert - I too am more of a casual gamer.

You probably don't need to run a virtual (Parallels/Fusion) Windows, and unless you have a powerful computer and lots of RAM you might have a performance hit.

Personally I would try using something like WINE or PlayonMac. https://www.playonmac.com/en/
I can't guarantee it will work for particular games... but age of empires has worked well for me.

It is free, it doesn't need windows and you can install and run many windows programs through this app. Others may have better or different advice - but I reckon it is worth a try before you fiddle around installing Windows.

Before I knew about Wine or PlayonMac I downloaded the Age of Empires Wrapper from this website:
http://paulthetall.com/age-of-empires-mac/
http://paulthetall.com/age-of-empires-2-mac/

Then used my CD to install the game and play on the mac!

Hope that is helpful.

 

[davidg4781]

Before I go through the process, will I need the discs to play the game? I think I can use my G5 to share its drive for installation, but I don't want to have it running for playing the game.

I can't decide if I want an Apple external super drive, 3rd party drive, or that NewerTechnology miniStack Max.

 

[bmac89]

Before I go through the process, will I need the discs to play the game? I think I can use my G5 to share its drive for installation, but I don't want to have it running for playing the game.

I can't decide if I want an Apple external super drive, 3rd party drive, or that NewerTechnology miniStack Max.

Yes you will need the CD for Age of Empires 1 and 2 (CD Check) but once the game has started you can remove it (atleast in AOE 1 I have tried this). Otherwise you can use a no-cd patch.... or you could try cloning / taking an image of the AOE CD and mounting it as a virtual disc, however I haven't tested this out.

I'm assuming Battle of the Five Armies would definitely need the disc being a newer game, but I have never tried playing that game on mac.

Somebody else might be better able to guide you regarding the external disc drive.

Let us know how you go or if you need any help.