Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: NeoHunter on June 01, 2002, 06:59:26 am

Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: NeoHunter on June 01, 2002, 06:59:26 am
Straight to the point.

Will FreeSpace: The Great War, Slient Threat and FreeSpace 2 work in Windows XP???

I'm asking this because I'm seriously considering whether to upgrade to Windows XP.

Are there any problems while playing the above mentioned games?
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Darkage on June 01, 2002, 07:11:53 am
Whit Freespace2 i have no problems on winxp, but FS1 doesn't run on it. Atleast not on my machine. So i voted for 2.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Ryx on June 01, 2002, 07:36:53 am
haven't had any probs with FS2 that I can remember. But then again, I don't even have the game installed at the moment. :p
don't know about fs1, tho.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Corhellion on June 01, 2002, 07:50:30 am
Freespace 2 AND The Great War work fine on my copy of XP

But I like Win 98 better, cause in XP you can't use old DOS based programs (Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, cob2pof, etc) that's why win 98 is better, sorta, although XP is good in someplaces, can't think of any right now.

Hope that helped

Cya

Cor
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Darkage on June 01, 2002, 09:01:51 am
Quote
Originally posted by Corhellion
Freespace 2 AND The Great War work fine on my copy of XP

But I like Win 98 better, cause in XP you can't use old DOS based programs (Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, cob2pof, etc) that's why win 98 is better, sorta, although XP is good in someplaces, can't think of any right now.

Hope that helped

Cya

Cor


Cob2Pof works fine under winxp, just use the command prompt.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Dark_4ce on June 01, 2002, 09:06:16 am
Both games work fine on my XP. :D
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: the slammer on June 01, 2002, 10:38:50 am
No problems here on XP Pro.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Fineus on June 01, 2002, 10:44:29 am
Quote
Originally posted by Corhellion
Freespace 2 AND The Great War work fine on my copy of XP

But I like Win 98 better, cause in XP you can't use old DOS based programs (Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, cob2pof, etc) that's why win 98 is better, sorta, although XP is good in someplaces, can't think of any right now.
#
With this in mind it might be a good idea to investigate duel booting :)
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Zeronet on June 01, 2002, 11:44:03 am
XP is the most stable system i,ve had.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: killadonuts on June 01, 2002, 11:46:39 am
A good rule of upgrading: If it works perfectly now, don't even think about upgrading
Unless your running a really really old operating system that doesn't get support anymore
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: CP5670 on June 01, 2002, 12:39:57 pm
The only reason I have not upgraded yet is the DOS compatibility, which is quite important to me. ;) Otherwise, it looks pretty good from what I have heard, and quite a bit better than some of Microsoft's other efforts.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Thorn on June 01, 2002, 12:51:19 pm
XP.. Best one yet...
No problems except with Renegade.. and thats Westwood's fault... no VooDoo support my ass..... crackheads...
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Knight Templar on June 01, 2002, 12:52:44 pm
All freespace games work great with my XP. I love XP, so many less problems overall with my computer now i got XP
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Zeronet on June 01, 2002, 02:00:32 pm
Quote
Originally posted by killadonuts
A good rule of upgrading: If it works perfectly now, don't even think about upgrading
Unless your running a really really old operating system that doesn't get support anymore


Attitudes like that mean i have to wait ages until games come out that use all my machines power.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: killadonuts on June 01, 2002, 02:05:07 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Zeronet


Attitudes like that mean i have to wait ages until games come out that use all my machines power.

Im speaking from experience.
Most of the time upgrading works perfectly.  
Im just noting that there is a certain level of risk when you do it.

Quote
Originally posted by CP5670
The only reason I have not upgraded yet is the DOS compatibility, which is quite important to me. ;) Otherwise, it looks pretty good from what I have heard, and quite a bit better than some of Microsoft's other efforts.

I miss my DOS games. :(
Someday I might screw around with multi-boot.
If I have the patience
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: WMCoolmon on June 01, 2002, 02:23:53 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Thunder
With this in mind it might be a good idea to investigate duel booting :)
Er, that's dual booting. Duel booting is when you dual boot Linux and Windows :p
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: VW-Dynamo on June 01, 2002, 02:35:05 pm
If you ask me, it'd be better trying to cobble together an old Pentium 1 or 486 system for DOS games. That way you can actually put DOS and Win 3.1 on it (good luck finding copies of them though :rolleyes:). This way you don't have to worry about your computer having too much power for the games (as was the case with several very old-school games like Wing Commander) or screwing anything up that made your primary OS unuseable.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Kellan on June 01, 2002, 02:38:29 pm
Oh God, the giddy thrill of actually having to make games slow down yourself. Nowadays they seem quite capable of doing it themselves. :)
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Vertigo1 on June 01, 2002, 04:39:32 pm
FS1 and FS2 work just fine on 2k and XP.  If you can't get it to work, its a problem with your system.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Dark_4ce on June 01, 2002, 05:04:45 pm
To tell you the truth, I did have trouble in the beggining with XP. But once I figured out all the kinks. It has to be the best Windows OS there is. I heaven't had a single Blue screen yet. (knock on wood). Also the issues with playing DOS games... I seem to have gotten them all working in one way or another. I use mostly 3rd party programs and such, but in the end they still work. Both monkey islands, all the Wing Commander games, any old sierra game. Even Duke Nukem 3D. It just requires a bit of foraging from the net to find those programs that allow you to play dos games on you're desktop. :)
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Skippy on June 01, 2002, 05:27:10 pm
Dual booting is the only way :)

BTW : FS and FS2 work fine on XP Pro
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: NeoHunter on June 01, 2002, 09:58:54 pm
Damn Windows 98 is always giving me problems, so I intent to upgrade to Windows XP. But I'm a little hesitant because I have a lot of games tat I'm not sure can work in WIndows XP.

What about Homeworld Cataclysm? Or maybe even Descent Manager Tools?
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Fury on June 02, 2002, 06:58:48 am
ALL games and softwares are working on my system (WinXP) fine. Unless the game requires pure dos to run correctly, like old Wing Commanders. Or the software is specifically designed for Win9x, like some older system utilities.

There is VERY FEW games that does not run under WinXP, but they are quite rare anyways and usually not no-ones favorite games.

You should not have anything to worry about, I have heard that truespace 4 does not work correctly under XP, but TS5 does. Not sure about that though, might be a problem in user's system. Much like darkage's FS1 does not work under XP but other's does.

If you get XP, I recommend you to check out this tweak guide:
http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/winxp_services/index.shtml

That guide is single best tweak for XP, you can significantly reduce memory usage of XP right from the system start and XP loads faster!
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Fury on June 03, 2002, 02:51:12 am
Homeworld and HW Cataclysm works just fine under XP, as does Descent Manager tools. :nod:
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: NeoHunter on June 06, 2002, 05:18:10 am
Thanks a lot, guys!!! You have helped me set my mind on Windows XP. Now all I need is a new P4 2.0GHz PC.:)
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Vertigo1 on June 06, 2002, 03:56:14 pm
Dude, if you're going to use XP, take advantage of the NT kernel!  Build a dual-processor system!  Dual CPU boards are getting cheaper.  Hell, AMD's prices on chips just dropped immensely as have intel's!  Now is an excellent time to upgrade.

You can more than likely use most of your existing parts!  All you'd really need is new CPUs (have to be the same speed), a new motherboard, and possibly new RAM.

Make sure your power supply is adequate to support the motherboard you buy though.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Fury on June 07, 2002, 03:35:49 am
Actually, I see no good reason to build up a dual CPU system.
There is not enough games that really utilizes dual CPU systems to their full advantage.

Thing might be another if you are hard-core renderer, most rendering programs like Lightwave supports dual CPU systems.

But in my opinion, it is much better to build up powerful single CPU system. Also, two CPU's produces more heat, so you need better cooling, more powerful power supply and bigger case for slightly bigger motherboard. Not worth of the trouble IMO...
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Fury on June 07, 2002, 03:42:43 am
Quote
Originally posted by NeoHunter
Thanks a lot, guys!!! You have helped me set my mind on Windows XP. Now all I need is a new P4 2.0GHz PC.:)


Make sure that you buy newer Northwood P4, as it is faster than older.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: NeoHunter on June 07, 2002, 09:14:02 am
What Northwood P4??? What's that? A new PC brand or what???
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Redfang on June 07, 2002, 09:30:14 am
Quote
Originally posted by NeoHunter
What Northwood P4??? What's that? A new PC brand or what???

 
A new core for Pentium 4. Done in 0.13 micron, old (Willamette) was 0.18. Has 512kb L2 cache, old had 256kb. That cache makes it faster, and it runs cooler, and overclocks better, like with LN2 some of those hardcore overclockers have got 2.2GHz running at about 4Ghz. :)
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Vertigo1 on June 07, 2002, 02:48:40 pm
Yeah, just be prepared to pay a dozen arms and legs for it though.  Its hella expensive.
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: NeoHunter on June 08, 2002, 07:13:10 pm
Wow...its that good huh?
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: NotDefault on June 09, 2002, 02:49:38 am
I'm going through a nightmarish computer upgrade right now; the processor, motherboard, memory, OS, and video card are all getting upgraded.  Right now, it's completely busted.

I'll get back to you when it works so I can try it out. :)
Title: FreeSpace 2 & Windows XP
Post by: Fury on June 09, 2002, 03:22:44 am
Newer Northwoods will eventually replace older Willamettes, just like Athlon Thunderbird replaced old Athlon. Price is what it is. :(

Really, AMD systems are cheaper than P4 systems, but then again Northwood is overall a bit faster than equal Thunderbird.

Personally I recommend getting Norhwood if price is not too high for you. If you want P4, make sure that you buy Northwood!

Northwood P4's are currently available in following speeds:
2.53 GHz, 2.40B GHz, 2.26 GHz (source: www.intel.com)

Edit: And also, I'd recommend Abit BD7II (non-RAID) motherboard for your P4, it supports DDR RAM, so get one 512 MB DDR stick.
RAID is rarely usefull for home gaming computer...