Whichever gives me maximum FSAA.

The Future Crew demos seem much more "real" on the old PCs. Especially if you have to spend time configuring EMM386 settings or other things to get them to run. Sometimes emulation on faster computers means you are so quickly dumped into a game that you don't give it a chance-- the thought of easily switching to another thing means you're more likely to actually do that. Waiting for the game to start on the real machine means you at least need to try to give it a chance, as stopping and moving to the next thing is "such a chore".

Gotta have (at least near-) period correct hardware. It just isn't the same without the 4:3 monitor, cheap $15 unpowered speakers, ~8000RPM ball bearing fans, HDDs that actually make noise, non-instant load times, and Windows inexplicably crashing every once in a while.

I've done it the original, true way once already back in the day.

So, if possible, give me an old game with modern bell's and whistles please.

Going even beyond, give me the near exact same game but vastly updated - great example, Overload vs Descent

Destroy wrote:

Going even beyond, give me the near exact same game but vastly updated - great example, Overload vs Descent

Wing Commander 1&2 in the "Elite: Dangerous" engine? 😁

I think the OP really wants to know if we prefer playing the old stuff emulated or on the correct bare metal. As long as the bare metal isn't too slow, it's the way I prefer it.

I'm a hardware man, games are just an excuse to mess with hardware. I still get caught up in the odd game but it doesn't last more than a few weeks.

My problem is that I have all the cool hardware I could ever want, so what now??

Hardware gives me bigger epeen than games do.

For me it's both. Original hardware makes a classic game very desirable to play, even with patches to make it look and play great in current PCs (Unreal is a good example the OP mentioned). And while emulation is a viable option to consider, it will never equal real period hardware IMHO (even if it's 100% accurate).

As for the troubles of getting old hardware to run properly (and keep it going), I'm more that okay with that. It's how I learned about computers in the first place and the challenges, trials and tribulations feel very natural to me. Current consumer-grade PC hardware has all the look and feel of a common kitchen appliance and doesn't excite me at all ; that's just sad (IMHO, of course) 😐

mzry wrote:

Hey guys, […]
Show full quote

Hey guys,

This is a question I feel only you guys might understand, but I have trouble working out. With many of my favorite old games based on the original Unreal or Quake engines, they can easily be run on modern hardware without issue. But to me there is something special about running them on original hardware of the era. It helps me enjoy the games more, I don't know exactly why. Maybe using the hardware from that period evokes nostalgia, makes me feel like I did when I was a kid, makes me 'feel' how the game was in my mind back then. These days I have trouble getting immersed in a game, where as when I was in my teens it was easy. Playing my old games on old hardware seems to be the only way I can re-create this feeling.

Anyway... this is an invitation to share your feelings on the matter.

Thx

Steve

After reading your rant, I guess the answer is the player.

Your gaming experience is affected by your age, your life and how you perceive the games. You like CRTs because you started playing with those screens. IMHO modern consoles and computer lacks the "uniqueness" of 8 and 16 bits era, when you could tell which computer have a friend by the shape. In both cases, we feel nostalgy and are biased towards a happy past.

If you put a child to play Duke Nukem 3D before a 486+CRT or an i7+LCD/TFT+DOSBox (playing both computers at the same resolution), he'll say that prefers the modern one... because he has only played with the latter setup.

I'm afraid you feel that you're getting old 😉 ...

Thanks for sharing guys, it's interesting how we all have slightly different perspectives on retro hardware and games. I sometimes boot up my modern modded Unreal 1 with high res textures in 2560x1080 ultra wide screen and it makes me go Wow 😀 But then I end up playing it on my V2 system 😀 Nostalgia is a strange beast.

I have a ton of old hardware (nowhere near a record, mind you).

My XP gaming era machine is a USFF Dell Optiplex 790 with an i3 2120 and integrated video. Plays everything from midyear adventure games to OpenGL games like Deus Ex 2 and Thief 3 to to FEAR perfectly.

It is inauthentic, but also tiny and quiet.

I actually built and AMD system with swappable X800, 3870, and 4890, but the Optiplex just does everything I need to.

My score on the nostalgia scale is probably a lot lower than the average reader. I do have some.

For me it's the hardware all the way, if only because I'm not that gaming-focussed. I can get just as enthousiastic about getting network services running under DOS, or digging deep in chipset specs and discovering that some vendor (Intel, Via) has been giving incorrect info all these years. Or just soldering some shit and enjoying getting that old junk to do something again.

Of course at the end of the day that might end in some gaming, in fact it frequently does (1990s turn-based 4X games are my thing) but that's the cherry on the cake for me, not the meat of the matter.

Don't know the reason, but to me playing games on old hardware feels like more satisfying, fun, fulfilling.. what else. It adds to the experience. I run a yearly local gaming event with my friends and every time the younger lads seem to praise and enjoy playing on the trinitron/shadow mask TVs or monitors. They really love how old games look on them!

mzry wrote:

Hey guys, […]
Show full quote

Hey guys,

This is a question I feel only you guys might understand, but I have trouble working out. With many of my favorite old games based on the original Unreal or Quake engines, they can easily be run on modern hardware without issue. But to me there is something special about running them on original hardware of the era. It helps me enjoy the games more, I don't know exactly why. Maybe using the hardware from that period evokes nostalgia, makes me feel like I did when I was a kid, makes me 'feel' how the game was in my mind back then. These days I have trouble getting immersed in a game, where as when I was in my teens it was easy. Playing my old games on old hardware seems to be the only way I can re-create this feeling.

Anyway... this is an invitation to share your feelings on the matter.

Thx

Steve

See bold

I think this is just something with life after 30-35 years old. We have so many stressors that we lose our childlike ability to zone in on new things and learn. I have absolutely no problem jumping in old games I already "know", but it's a rare occasion that I want to sit and learn to understand a modern game (like The Witcher 3). I'm told if you get your life in order and back to minimal stress and anxiety that it passes, but for me it hasn't yet! My father who is almost twice my age just finished Far Cry 5 and I had no interest in it, so I guess it is possible.

I believe sitting at a DOS computer and firing up DOOM triggers something deep in my mind that brings me back to 1994. My only interests in 1994 were chicks, DOOM, wishing I could afford a VLB 486 system or even a Pentium and a Ford Taurus. If I'm left alone, I can plow through quite a few hours of DOOM II and feel quite well doing it. If you open it on my new PC or brutal DOOM, it just doesn't feel the same, even if the game you're playing is a 100% perfect port including audio.

haha, I love your comment about your dad finishing farcry 5. Same with my uncle, he plays all the latest games on every console - where as I have almost zero interest. So many games I have purchased but not completed. But I did finish the last Doom 😀