Can you play games on a workstation PC?

[ataridave]

Let's say I find an old Sun Microsystems workstation PC for a good price. Could I play any old PC games on it, or would it have to be modified in order to do so?

[Opry99er]

Need to check video card...

[carlsson]

If you find a Sun386i, it supposedly can run DOS software including suitable games for a such 386.

 

The Sun-1, Sun-2 and Sun-3 series are based on Motorola 68K, running UNIX of course.

 

Pretty much all other Sun workstations and servers were based on various SPARC architectures, which is a different type of CPU and architecture alltogether than an IBM PC compatible, so it would not run X86 code. That said, there were a couple of nice games for SPARC too, both text based and graphical running in X-Windows.

 

Edit: Well, that is assuming you're talking about computers from before year 2000. In more recent times, Sun have made newer X86 systems but I don't think AMD Opteron based servers from 2003 are very much classic computing.

Edited November 24, 2015 by carlsson

[ataridave]

If you find a Sun386i, it supposedly can run DOS software including suitable games for a such 386.

 

The Sun-1, Sun-2 and Sun-3 series are based on Motorola 68K, running UNIX of course.

 

Pretty much all other Sun workstations and servers were based on various SPARC architectures, which is a different type of CPU and architecture alltogether than an IBM PC compatible, so it would not run X86 code. That said, there were a couple of nice games for SPARC too, both text based and graphical running in X-Windows.

 

Edit: Well, that is assuming you're talking about computers from before year 2000. In more recent times, Sun have made newer X86 systems but I don't think AMD Opteron based servers from 2003 are very much classic computing.

 

Yes, I'm talking about computers from before 2000. Thanks for the information! So, without being able to run X86 code, you couldn't install any version of DOS or Windows on one?

[Flojomojo]

It would be sort of amusing to compile DOOM for it. Looks like it would run. ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/doom/sun/sundgadoom-1.8.txt

 

That said, this isn't really a "fun machine." I would have the most fun running nethack on it, but that's easily done on just about anything with a modem or Ethernet card.

[The Usotsuki]

DOS ain't gonna run without x86.

[carlsson]

Perhaps WINE, but what is the point of emulating an inferior PC on another system when you have real, powerful PC's everywhere?

 

Funny that you mention Windows. The old NT4.0 was available for a handful of non-X86 architectures, but SPARC never was one of those as far as I remember.

[ataridave]

Perhaps WINE, but what is the point of emulating an inferior PC on another system when you have real, powerful PC's everywhere?

 

Funny that you mention Windows. The old NT4.0 was available for a handful of non-X86 architectures, but SPARC never was one of those as far as I remember.

 

OK, thanks for the info! I'd really love to get a Gateway 2000 to play older PC games on. I had a Compaq, one of their multimedia PCs that an uncle got for me in late 1998, but I got rid of it. I'd just love to be able to play games like Tie Fighter. I know of someone who has a Pentium I PC that can play it.

[carlsson]

Here is a list that iterates to four (4) known commercial games running on SPARC architecture.

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/software/linux-gaming/29710-list-of-commercial-linux-ppc-sparc-and-alpha-games

 

Missing from the list seem to be an early version of Sim City running on SunOS, the above mentioned DOOM, also Quake 1, 2, 3 etc. Of course there were several more in the public domain or freeware category, things you download and perhaps compile yourself but I'd expect commercial games to even closer utilize the hardware. You can also install e.g. ScummVM and play adventure games in that format, as well as other types of adventure game parsers.

 

It has also been mentioned that SPARC was one of the recommended development environments for Sega Saturn games, but obviously those would be cross-compiled to the target platform anyway so it is mostly trivia. Same goes for some of the Pokemon games, possibly developed on Sun computers but not running on those.

 

That is to say, if you have the determination and get stuff at a good price (I'm not sure what those systems go for these days, and you'll probably want a 13W3 to VGA adapter at minimum), a Sun Microsystems workstation of decent capacity - something like an Ultra-10 - it still could be fun even if it isn't MS-DOS compatible at all.

[Flojomojo]

OK, thanks for the info! I'd really love to get a Gateway 2000 to play older PC games on. I had a Compaq, one of their multimedia PCs that an uncle got for me in late 1998, but I got rid of it. I'd just love to be able to play games like Tie Fighter. I know of someone who has a Pentium I PC that can play it.

Eww, gross. Even when there were retail stores with Gateway cow boxes sold atop bales of hay, the Gateway 2000 series was never a great machine. Are you just being nostalgic for something you didn't have? You can play TIE Fighter on just about any modern machine, without the noise and clutter of a vintage icebox-sized PC.

[R.Cade]

Short answer: No

[ataridave]

Eww, gross. Even when there were retail stores with Gateway cow boxes sold atop bales of hay, the Gateway 2000 series was never a great machine. Are you just being nostalgic for something you didn't have? You can play TIE Fighter on just about any modern machine, without the noise and clutter of a vintage icebox-sized PC.

 

Yeah, I know about gog.com, but thanks for the link! I think Gateway 2000s were fantastic machines! But I don't think I'd need a Windows 95 computer to play games like that. I know of someone who has a Pentium I PC, forget the brand, and Tie Fighter and some of those old games work fine on it. The problem is that if you type in "Pentium I" on eBay, it does a bad job searching for a Pentium I PC. I would just love to have a PC like that; but without spending hundreds of dollars.

Edited December 1, 2015 by ataridave

[Flojomojo]

Only on AtariAge do people pine away for thrift shop PCs!

[ataridave]

I'm not hung up on nostaliga when it comes to playing old PC games. What would be the best way to play PC games from the 1990s, in terms of actual PC hardware? Could a Windows 98 PC do it? And, would I want a Pentium I, II, or III in the PC?

[R.Cade]

The 90's had huge leaps in capability, so you would need a more tight time period.

 

We started with the 386 and DOS in the early 90's, and ended up with the Pentium III and Windows 98 by the end of the decade.

[Osgeld]

most stuff will work on a pentium or better, really really old stuff like original PC and XT will run like a bat out of hell, and some games / programs will make weird calls direct to hardware that a pentium cant do since its not directly tied into the system buss like a 8088,8086,286,386, and 486 is, but those are far and few between

 

I think you start getting out of the relm of reality for DOS around the P3 era, not running it, heck you can run dos on a i7 but in terms of compatibility with sound cards and whatnot

Edited December 3, 2015 by Osgeld

[+boxpressed]

I'm not hung up on nostaliga when it comes to playing old PC games. What would be the best way to play PC games from the 1990s, in terms of actual PC hardware? Could a Windows 98 PC do it? And, would I want a Pentium I, II, or III in the PC?

Well, to cover your bases, you could go overboard like me and have working 8088, 486, Pentium, PII, PIII, and Athlon XP machines capable to booting to DOS. If you want to play DOS games as originally intended, you'll need to find a machine with at least one ISA slot, for a sound card. Most PC with a CPU through the PII will have one; newer PIII motherboards won't have them at all. A PC that was originally designed for Windows 98 should have plenty of horsepower for most DOS games (except the later ones like Duke Nukem 3D). Windows 95/98 era games based on the Unreal engine really need a fast PII or PIII and a good 3D card to run at a good framerate at high resolutions.

 

I switched my focus from consoles to retro PCs a couple of years ago and am having lots of fun with them. If you want the best forum for retro PCs, check out Vogons.

[ataridave]

OK, thanks for the advice! I saw a YouTube video where the guy had a Pentium II, 400Mhz, and could run Tie Fighter. What Microsoft OS is the best for running DOS games on? I'm thinking either Windows 95 or 98.

[ataridave]

Well, to cover your bases, you could go overboard like me and have working 8088, 486, Pentium, PII, PIII, and Athlon XP machines capable to booting to DOS. If you want to play DOS games as originally intended, you'll need to find a machine with at least one ISA slot, for a sound card. Most PC with a CPU through the PII will have one; newer PIII motherboards won't have them at all. A PC that was originally designed for Windows 98 should have plenty of horsepower for most DOS games (except the later ones like Duke Nukem 3D). Windows 95/98 era games based on the Unreal engine really need a fast PII or PIII and a good 3D card to run at a good framerate at high resolutions.

 

I switched my focus from consoles to retro PCs a couple of years ago and am having lots of fun with them. If you want the best forum for retro PCs, check out Vogons.

 

That's really cool! My main concern with having any older PC is the cost-a fully kitted out Gateway 2000, with Windows 95, costs about $400.00 on eBay, and I just don't want to spend that kind of money. Does Vogons have a marketplace? Because I have almost no luck on Craigslist, so, apart from that and eBay, I would have no idea where to shop for an older PC-where I wouldn't have to spend a ton of money.

[Osgeld]

DOS would be the best to run DOS games on, 95 or 98 would work

 

and not to hijack your thread but I have a pentum MMX laptop I have been considering selling, issue with it (besides not having a native CD rom and dos being a pain with USB) its only got a 2 gig hard drive with a 8 gig max

Edited December 3, 2015 by Osgeld

[+boxpressed]

 

That's really cool! My main concern with having any older PC is the cost-a fully kitted out Gateway 2000, with Windows 95, costs about $400.00 on eBay, and I just don't want to spend that kind of money. Does Vogons have a marketplace? Because I have almost no luck on Craigslist, so, apart from that and eBay, I would have no idea where to shop for an older PC-where I wouldn't have to spend a ton of money.

 

I wouldn't pay that much for a Pentium system. Gateway 2000 systems, the 486 and Pentium boxes, tend to command a premium. But you can find other OEM boxes for much cheaper, especially if you go the PII route. The problem with many OEM boxes is their proprietary motherboards and cases (using riser cards for ISA/PCI cards) and even power supplies (many Dell PII). Many OEMs from the PII era don't have an AGP slot for the video card, relegating you to PCI graphics. Still, if you don't anticipate doing much heavy-duty 3D Windows-only gaming and don't plan on upgrading or tinkering much, OEM may be the way to go.

 

I wouldn't pay more than $80 shipped for a clean, working PII system with HDD, 3.5" FDD, CD-ROM, and 128MB SDRAM. If you're lucky, you might snag one for $40-$50 shipped (shipping is always about $20-$30). Getting one with a legit copy of Windows 95 or 98 is a bonus. A real ISA sound card such as a Sound Blaster Pro or Sound Blaster 16 (or clone) is a bonus. A nice graphics card is a bonus (S3 is a good brand for DOS games).

 

Sometimes you can get lucky and find one of these in a thrift store or CL. I've found PII & PIII machines "in the wild," but they're getting rarer every day. 486 and Pentium boxes are very difficult to find in the wild. Mostly you find junky Pentium 4 boxes that are not ideal for retro gaming.

 

Any Windows 95 or 98 system can boot into real DOS with a boot disk. Windows 98 comes with what is known as DOS 7.1.

 

Vogons does not have a marketplace and doesn't allow buying and selling of any kind. Amibay is the forum for that, but most of the users are in Europe, making shipping a system cost prohibitive.

Edited December 3, 2015 by boxpressed

[+wongojack]

Tie Fighter is now available on GoG and Steam and plays on "modern" computers

[ataridave]

 

I wouldn't pay that much for a Pentium system. Gateway 2000 systems, the 486 and Pentium boxes, tend to command a premium. But you can find other OEM boxes for much cheaper, especially if you go the PII route. The problem with many OEM boxes is their proprietary motherboards and cases (using riser cards for ISA/PCI cards) and even power supplies (many Dell PII). Many OEMs from the PII era don't have an AGP slot for the video card, relegating you to PCI graphics. Still, if you don't anticipate doing much heavy-duty 3D Windows-only gaming and don't plan on upgrading or tinkering much, OEM may be the way to go.

 

I wouldn't pay more than $80 shipped for a clean, working PII system with HDD, 3.5" FDD, CD-ROM, and 128MB SDRAM. If you're lucky, you might snag one for $40-$50 shipped (shipping is always about $20-$30). Getting one with a legit copy of Windows 95 or 98 is a bonus. A real ISA sound card such as a Sound Blaster Pro or Sound Blaster 16 (or clone) is a bonus. A nice graphics card is a bonus (S3 is a good brand for DOS games).

 

Sometimes you can get lucky and find one of these in a thrift store or CL. I've found PII & PIII machines "in the wild," but they're getting rarer every day. 486 and Pentium boxes are very difficult to find in the wild. Mostly you find junky Pentium 4 boxes that are not ideal for retro gaming.

 

Any Windows 95 or 98 system can boot into real DOS with a boot disk. Windows 98 comes with what is known as DOS 7.1.

 

Vogons does not have a marketplace and doesn't allow buying and selling of any kind. Amibay is the forum for that, but most of the users are in Europe, making shipping a system cost prohibitive.

 

OK, thanks! I appreciate all that advice! I know about Tie Fighter being on GoG, but thanks for the info anyhow.

[ataridave]

Speaking of playing games on gog.com, and not to get too off-topic, is there anyway to properly run Windows 8.1 in a 4:3 aspect ratio? I can shrink the screen size down to that on the Dell monitor that I'm using, but Windows 8 just looks like a mess-icons are too small, etc.