# How Well Do These Old Games Work On Newer Computers?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 21, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155 "2005-11-21T22:23:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/1 "2005-11-21T22:23:03Z")
I’m thinking of getting some older games, like:
Planescape Torment
Fallout 1 & 2
There might be more, but I don’t remember. But anyway, would they work on a 3-4 year old PC with Windows XP?
Oh, and any other reccomendations would be cool. They don’t have to be RPG’s.
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### Author:  [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/2 "2005-11-21T22:30:09Z")
Torment works fine on my XP system; I have a Compaq with a 2.0Gb Sempiron processor and a GeForce FX5200 video card.
I’ve been meaning to play it over again, but I’m afraid that I’ll lose track of the passing days (in reality)…
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/3 "2005-11-21T22:32:37Z")
Those games should work fine.
LucasArts old adventure games run perfect too(Monkey Island 1&2, Indiana Jones games, Day of the Tentacle).
I’ve had perfect success with King’s quest 1-7 as well.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/4 "2005-11-21T22:53:36Z")
How old is old? You can probably run most newer games without any problems and some with compatibility mode set. I can only think of one or two games I have that won’t run under XP at all that were originally released with Win98 in mind.
If you go really old, get DosBox. **Mahaloth** is right that the old LucasArts adventure games run, but for me they run without sound (unless the game was designed for the PC speaker like Zak McCracken.) DosBox fixes that.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/5 "2005-11-21T23:01:27Z")
> [@asterion](#):
>
> If you go really old, get DosBox.
Or an old computer. I have a 266mHz P3 specifically for games that don’t work on my Athlon 1800+ or even my 450mHz P3.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/6 "2005-11-21T23:03:42Z")
Planescape: Torment has a LOT of issues on newer boxes.
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### Author:  [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/7 "2005-11-22T01:49:08Z")
> [@Tengu](#):
>
> Planescape: Torment has a LOT of issues on newer boxes.
Seriously? I musta dodged a bullet, then. Had no problems running it on my desktop, which was then about a 1GHz Athlon running 98SE and is now a … 2600+? 2800+? Something like that, it’s been awhile since the upgrade; in any case, it’s now running Win2K.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/8 "2005-11-22T02:07:07Z")
I don’t have a copy myself, but everyone I know who does has had issues.
Crashing out and losts saves and such.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/9 "2005-11-22T02:36:43Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> LucasArts old adventure games run perfect too(Monkey Island 1&2, Indiana Jones games, Day of the Tentacle).
_Sam and Max Hit the Road_ is a bastard to get running properly. Too bad, because it’s still awesome.
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### Author:  [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/10 "2005-11-22T02:40:24Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#):
>
> _Sam and Max Hit the Road_ is a bastard to get running properly. Too bad, because it’s still awesome.
I had problems with Grim Fandango, as well. Made it 2/3 through before they arose, unfortunately.
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### Author:  [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/11 "2005-11-22T02:44:19Z")
Of course, only now do I find that LucasArts came out with a patch that “Slows down a certain puzzle during the game which goes too fast for completion on processors higher than 400mhz.” Maybe I could have finished it after all.
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### Author:  [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/12 "2005-11-22T03:51:00Z")
_Planescape: Torment_ and _Fallout 2_ both work fine on my WinXP system.
I’ve never been able to make the original _Fallout_ work though.
(Not that you care, but I tried long and hard to get _Realms of Arkania III: Shadows over Riva_ to work and failed miserably there too.)
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### Author:  [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/13 "2005-11-22T07:06:25Z")
Thanks, everybody.
I’ll get Fallout 2 and Planescape sometime. Anyone else tried the first Fallout?
If P:T doesn’t work on the computer, maybe my brother will let me play it on his laptop or something.
Re: The old Lucasarts games, I have good news! [http://www.scummvm.org/](http://www.scummvm.org/)
Not only do the old Lucasarts adventure games work, but the sound works too!
I think it’s legal, because you can’t run the games without the data files.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/14 "2005-11-22T08:31:27Z")
Heh, I remember this problem popping up when games designed for the 4.77MHz XT were unplayably fast after an 8MHz upgrade.
The solution was to turn off the TURBO switch.
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### Author:  [@velveeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velveeta)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/15 "2005-11-22T14:29:38Z")
Planescape and Fallout 2 run fine on my AMD Athlon 64 4000+ XP system. The original Fallout has an issue with newer large hard drives that you can get around by doing the smaller install option. (Haven’t been able to find a patch for it.) Fallout 2 had the same issue that was fixed with a patch.
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### Author:  [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/16 "2005-11-22T16:32:08Z")
I wish the DOS version of the Oregon Trail would work under Windows XP. It always crashes when I open it, even under different compatibility settings.
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### Author:  [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/17 "2005-11-22T17:02:38Z")
I’ll cast my vote also for Torment and Fallout 2 working without problems on my reasonably new machine running under XP. Torment actually has surprisingly steep hardware requirements, I’ve found - the computer I first played it on was a Pentium III 550, and it became unplayable/unstable in parts due to framerate hits.
I never got the first Fallout game to work on any system, old or new, so I guess that can be attributed to my own incompetence.
~ Isaac
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### Author:  [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/18 "2005-11-22T17:06:58Z")
Fallout 2 runs about nine hundred times too fast on the world map for me. Luckily there’s a fan-made patch for that available on [http://nma-fallout.com](http://nma-fallout.com).
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### Author:  [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/19 "2005-11-22T19:45:40Z")
Groovy.
Okay, I might as well ask this: How well have they aged? Will the low res graphics cause headaches, and gameplaywise do they hold up compared to the more recent ones? Baldur’s Gate 2 was nice that it had 800x600 resolution, and was fun.
Also, what is Planescape like? All of the screenshots I’ve seen seem to show it in dungeon-like places, and I hope it’s not a big dungeon crawl game. I like my RPGs to have more than combat- I didn’t like Dungeon Siege.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-do-these-old-games-work-on-newer-computers/332155/20 "2005-11-22T21:13:25Z")
I’ve run Planescape: Torment on my 3-year-old computer just fine. It’s not a big dungeon crawl - there is a ton of character interaction, and finding out your amnesiac character’s past is your primary mission.
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