dr_st wrote on 2024-07-17, 07:25:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-07-17, 05:34:

Here's a part of my physical PC game collection, with some of the more recent additions. Most of these are value re-releases so they were relatively cheap, but it still feels nice to hold the actual game in my hand.

There are advantages to value re-releases (besides price) - they are frequently patched to later versions.

yes, and often you get a series together at low prices (a reward for the patient), i see unreal anthology and icewind dale pack and more in the pics. sometimes it can be worth buying such as a duplicate even if you were a day 1 buyer at launch

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-07-13, 23:13:

These were a midweek thrift store pickup. Posting late 'coz our main vehicle crapped a spring and I was "under" it metaphorically Thurs and Fri. Bummed when I got home that the MTM2 seems to be bootleg. I know the bottom piece is likely just shovelware, but somehow I like nice shareware collections.

Gotta get that Rendition Verite installed in something I guess, 2 games there support it.

Played through tomb raider 2 on my voodoo 2 sli rig a few months ago. It was ok, at least the vehicle levels were memorable. But I prefer the 1st and 3rd game.

I haven't bought any games in ages due to my massive backlog. But I couldn't resist the GOG sale and pulled the trigger on Atom RPG, for $4.49. I hope it's as fun as it looks. Reviews are mixed, but more good than bad, especially as it's been updated. After I finish Control, this will probably be my next game.

Game acquisitions from the past month.

All the small box and loose CD games I found at local thrift stores.

Also got a couple big box games from Ebay. Deus Ex: GOTY was from an auction I won for not too much money. Afterlife was a straight-up purchase.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-07-20, 18:21:

Game acquisitions from the past month.

Nice haul!

I particularly like the Deus Ex box with the embossed letters.

dr_st wrote on 2024-07-17, 07:25:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-07-17, 05:34:

Here's a part of my physical PC game collection, with some of the more recent additions. Most of these are value re-releases so they were relatively cheap, but it still feels nice to hold the actual game in my hand.

There are advantages to value re-releases (besides price) - they are frequently patched to later versions.

And that's what I dislike about them. You don't have as much version control.

RandomStranger wrote on 2024-07-22, 13:43:

And that's what I dislike about them. You don't have as much version control.

It depends. As mentioned before, some re-releases ship the retail game (e.g. version 1.0) and include the latest official patch in a separate folder on the disc. While other re-releases ship an already pre-patched game, meaning you have no way of going back. I have both types in my collection.

But I get what you're saying. If someone wants to play a game in its original form, they're better off getting the regular release, just to be on the safe side.

As most of you are probably aware, this Monday the marketplace was shut down for the Xbox 360. For this event, I picked up a couple of games.

Halo: Combat Evolved - is something I already had for PC, but it was cheap so why not.

Wonfenstein - is something I already had for PC, but it's rare and it's never a bad idea to have a duplicate of a rare game.

Army of Two: 40th Day - is a game I had half my eye on fro over 10 years, but all reviewers claimed it's nothing special. But it was cheap so whatever.

I also wanted to get Injustice 1 (which I have the digital version for PC and X360) and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, but those were both German versions and I don't buy German versions unless accidentally.

Took off for a dawn patrol over the thrift trenches and bagged these two...

Dawn-ish, I timed my arrival for when they opened then had to circle for a bit until they actually did.

Somehow I totally forgot to post this "four for a buck" set of pickings from a box of CDs, not the only CDROM in there, but other stuff was meh, or reader rabbit type stuff.

When I got home I realised the NASCAR case was empty, damn, robbed of 15 cents (10 cent credit for the case 🤣 ) but I think I have a loose bundle CD around somewhere that can live in it. However, I thought my bundle CD was lacking some 3D support it could have, so I was hoping this version had it, ah well.

Your eyes are lying, I did not get that F1 Championship 2000 the other week.. Re: Bought these games today ... yeah despite being by EA, and licensed and from the year 2000, and released mere weeks apart, those are two different games, weird huh?

The best version of the game..

I recently went on vacation, and managed to pick up a few things. Somehow, only one of them was a game.

Sure, it doesn't say it's Microsoft Flight Simulator, but it is. With the exception of the Macintosh, the versions of this sim that weren't on the IBM PC were just called Flight Simulator II.

A few more Xbox 360 pickups. The most recent one being Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I already have the Director's Cut on GOG, but after playing through it, I also wanted to experience the original release for its unique visual aesthetic and better pacing.

Unfortunately, that version is no longer sold digitally, so I could either get an Xbox 360 disc, or pay crazy shipping prices to import a sealed PC copy from overseas. The latter would have been needed for getting a valid Steam key, since each copy has a one time online activation. Thankfully, the Xbox 360 version doesn't need that crap, and remains fully playable offline. It's still pretty cheap as well.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-08-29, 13:04:

The attachment X360_Game_Batch.jpg is no longer available

A few more Xbox 360 pickups. The most recent one being Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I already have the Director's Cut on GOG, but after playing through it, I also wanted to experience the original release for its unique visual aesthetic and better pacing.

Unfortunately, that version is no longer sold digitally, so I could either get an Xbox 360 disc, or pay crazy shipping prices to import a sealed PC copy from overseas. The latter would have been needed for getting a valid Steam key, since each copy has a one time online activation. Thankfully, the Xbox 360 version doesn't need that crap, and remains fully playable offline. It's still pretty cheap as well.

I don't know how you feel about digital reseller sites but on the most popular one you can get a GLOBAL license for Deus Ex: Human Resolution on steam for US $6.78.

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-08-29, 14:32:

I don't know how you feel about reseller sites but on the most popular one you can get a GLOBAL license for Deus Ex: Human Resolution on steam for US $4.61.

So far, I've never used key reseller websites. They seem shady to me, and I wouldn't trust them with my payment information.

Besides, whenever possible, I prefer owning a physical copy that I can play offline. The Xbox 360 version fulfills that requirement.

Got this compilation with as many as 16 games in it. Liking how that this is a French version adds to the "character" of the otherwise unassuming DVD-box.

Interestingly, there is also a German release, which is labelled Retro Games Collection 4. Googling has not revealed to me if there were ever volumes 1-3 or 5, though. To me this is all very big surprise as I have completely missed the period when dotEmu was positioning itself as a "gog-type" distributor, even though I think I remember they had Gobliiins and LBA released at one point.

Back to the point, the games are both English and French versions, with Setup utility installing them based on system locale, and "bi-lingual" versions getting configured accordingly. PDF manual scans are included as well Deus audio CD music (as disk image). Overall the games are packaged in a somewhat strange manner, each having a dedicated patched version of DOSBox along side installed game itself. Not sure if these ever had copy protection and what has been done to circumvent it in the collection, and whether these are original version or are somehow patched when it comes to running them on "bare metal", but seeing this, hints towards some "fun" ahead around setting them up in, say, dosbox pure.

Anyway, my intention is to try on some non-period-correct machines I have first, especially Metal Mutant, searching for which was the reason I stumbled upon this in the first place.

More thrift store finds from this past month. Pickings in August were slimmer, although I can't complain too much after finding Homeworld 2 and UT2004.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-08-29, 13:04:

A few more Xbox 360 pickups. The most recent one being Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I already have the Director's Cut on GOG, but after playing through it, I also wanted to experience the original release for its unique visual aesthetic and better pacing.

Unfortunately, that version is no longer sold digitally, so I could either get an Xbox 360 disc, or pay crazy shipping prices to import a sealed PC copy from overseas.

And out of the blue, a sealed copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution appeared on my local classifieds. The seller was offering a bunch of games (all sealed) for about 9 EUR each. I picked up DX:HR, and sure enough, the Steam key from the box was still valid. I wasn't actually able to install the game from the disc, probably because my system already had a newer version of Steam running, but activating the key from the Steam client worked without any issues. And so, I now have three different versions of this game. 😁

BTW, if anyone's curious, Steam still works on Windows 7 as of this writing. I was able to go online, download the newly activated Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and then put Steam back into offline mode once again. Not sure how long this will continue to work, but I'm glad I got to download this game while everything was still up.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-09-11, 09:38:

And out of the blue, a sealed copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution appeared on my local classifieds.

Cool! For a second I thought I was looking at the cover for F.E.A.R., due to the color scheme similarities. 🤣

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-09-11, 09:38:

BTW, if anyone's curious, Steam still works on Windows 7 as of this writing. I was able to go online, download the newly activated Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and then put Steam back into offline mode once again. Not sure how long this will continue to work, but I'm glad I got to download this game while everything was still up.

It's also easy enough to strip Steam from DX:HR altogether and make a completely offline stand-alone package you can store away and use at will without Steam.

1. Download the game on steam and copy the install folder to somewhere
2. Get Goldberg Steam Emulator (Goldberg_Lan_Steam_Emu_v0.2.5.zip). Don't worry, it's clean and safe, not some dodgy emulator you'll need to install and run in the background to play the game. I've personally used version 0.2.5 and it works great.
3. You'll see steam_api.dll on the root of the .zip, copy it to the tools folder and run generate_interfaces_file.exe on it. It will generate a .txt file you'll need. If it doesn't work use the original steam_api.dll from the game
4. You'll see steam_appid.EDIT_AND_RENAME.txt on the root of the .zip, rename it to steam_appid.txt and replace the 1337 number within it with 28050 which is the app id for Deus Ex: Human Revolution
5. Copy steam_api.dll (the one from the .zip), steam_appid.txt and the generated steam_interfaces.txt to the root of your install folder.

That's it, all done! The game can now be launched directly from the folder, no Steam nor internet connection required. The DLC will also work if you are able to get them later. Though I must say I have no idea how it will co-exist with real Steam, never tried it. You might want to make sure Steam isn't running in the background and blocking the game from reaching internet with firewall just to be safe.