[Roanoke]

Would anyone like to suggest what a pc need to reliably run games from about 1998 to 2005 approx, hardware and software ? Games like the System Shock 2, Machwarrior 3, Baldars Gate, Dungeon Keeper 2 etc

And if anyone wants to suggest any games that I've probably forgotten about go right ahead.

[redsniper]

Go look for computer upgrade threads that people made around 2004-2005 then.

[CP5670]

A modern computer and OS will work fine for that time period. The one thing you may run into is an occasional game that only works properly on Nvidia drivers or only on ATI ones, although these cases are fairly rare.

If you really want to cover all possibilities, you could in principle have Nvidia and ATI cards in the same system and use Windows hardware profiles to switch between them, so that only one is in use at a time.

[Roanoke]

My 6600GT seemed to break compatability with of stuff, such as Thief2, AvP and one or two others.

[CP5670]

Thief 2 should work fine on modern Nvidia cards. You will probably need a couple of third party fixes for it though. I know SS2, which is based on the same engine, can be made to work correctly with a dual core fix, no CD crack and some setting in the ini files.

[Polpolion]

Wouldn't bits and scraps leftover from other computer escapades work just fine? Or is my family the only one that just stockpiles useless junk on the off-chance that one day we might want it.

[Thaeris]

Although I loathe Vista  ; the compatibility mode options usually work quite well. Older and DOS games work beautifully with DOSbox for the most part. The only older game I've never had a fix for that I still use is Battlefront.com's Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord. The only problem is that fog won't render.

-Thaeris

[Vidmaster]

System Shock 2 on Vista, Thief on Vista, Deus Ex on Vista, Wing Commander on Vista.

[Roanoke]

I'm on XP. I wonder if downgrading to something like a higher end Geforce4 (ie an older card) ?

[CP5670]

That would work for 1998 games, but it's going to suck in 2005 games. You are better off with a newer card, which also lets you turn the resolution and AA way up in old games.

[headdie]

My NV 6600 seems to works OK with most things the breaker for mine is the 64 bit CPU especially alpha centari and MW3

[Roanoke]

My NV 6600 seems to works OK with most things the breaker for mine is the 64 bit CPU especially alpha centari and MW3

I've had constant issues since getting my 6600 - probably not all the cards fault mind.

That would work for 1998 games, but it's going to suck in 2005 games. You are better off with a newer card, which also lets you turn the resolution and AA way up in old games.

My G4MX was "ok" untill about a year ago. Okay, maybe not 2005 games then 
Recently also ordered Giants Citizen Kabuto, Alpha Centauri, Evil Genius and Dungeon Keeper2.

[Davros]

you should go here
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/

[CP5670]

Vogons mostly covers very old games, not old games.

The vast majority of games after 1998 or so work well on modern systems, and Dosbox is well developed now and is great for DOS and Windows 3.1 games. The only games that regularly have problems in my experience are the early Windows 95 ones, from roughly 1996 and 1997. There doesn't seem to be any good emulation option for these games, especially something that supports 3D hardware.

My NV 6600 seems to works OK with most things the breaker for mine is the 64 bit CPU especially alpha centari and MW3

A 64-bit CPU is no different from a 32-bit one on a 32-bit OS. If anything, you're running into multi-core timing issues, for which there are various fixes.

[Mr. Vega]

I believe you can turn off hyperthreading and dual-coring if you want to play Dark Engine games via system setup just after startup, no?

[Rodo]

I have DK2, and with :  Athlon X2 4200, 3GB ram (not the best), and a GT6800 Xtreme It runs smoothly, I can even play COD4 lowering the details but still playing at 1024*768, do not ask for more though.

[Thor]

try just buying an old computer from there era, and then playing old games on it.