How Do You Play a 10 Year Old PC Game?

[Mr Light]

So on a whim I wanted to play my old Axis and Allies PC game from 1998. I tried it on both of my computers, one is six months old, one is two years old. Both of them install the game and load the title screen but it's just a blank page with no "start game" buttons or anything.

And I remember on my even older computer from 2004 trying to play my beloved Commanche 3 game from the mid 90s and that didn't work either.

How do you install and play an old PC game on a modern computer? Or can you?

 

[PsychoPere]

This is the only thought I have: have you tried running it in Compatibility Mode? That link is for Windows 7 instructions; for Vista, use this one. If in XP, I believe CM can be reached by right-clicking the executable file for the game and selecting Properties.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Try one of the patches listed on this page. It's possible they'll help the game work on XP or later.

 

[Mr Light]

I tried that compatibility mode stuff for an incredibly aggravating hour without success. Ugh! I have such a bug to play this stupid game and I can't!

 

[Kelthaz]

Are you talking about Axis and Allies: Iron Blitz? This website was created to serve as an online lobby for the game and help get it running on modern computers. I haven't explored the site, but it should help you.

If you can't get it working, you should check out TripleA instead. It's a freeware version of Axis and Allies that I would argue is far superior to the Hasbro version.

 

[Mr Light]

That patch worked. Thanks!

 

[captcalhoun]

you can also try installing DOSbox for old games on Vista. i use it to get Quake 2 to work...

 

[Rincewiend]

you can also try installing DOSbox for old games on Vista. i use it to get Quake 2 to work...

Why not use an update exe?!?
There should be one or 2 good open source ones...

 

[Caliburn24]

My brothers and I crank up our old favorite Total Annihilation from '97(I think), from time to time. It works perfectly fine on our various XP and W7 running machines.

I guess it just varies on the game.

 

[FordSVT]

you can also try installing DOSbox for old games on Vista. i use it to get Quake 2 to work...

Coincidentally, I installed Q2 the other day on my Quad Core Ati Vista machine and had zero problems running it. Didn't have to use compatibility mode or download any kind of patch.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It's usually video drivers that make or break old games. Some games were just really buggy to begin with, like Axis & Allies.

Whether or not you can run old Quake games on modern hardware probably depends on how well your video card supports the flavor of OpenGL they use. But since all three original Quake games have been open-sourced I would also recommend using one of the updated executables. There are ones that make Quake and Quake II look really nice on modern hardware.

 

[Mr Light]

Total Annihilation was my all time favorite RTS game back around 1999! That and Command and Conquer Red Alert.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Total Annihilation kicks major ass. I lost so many hours to that game in the late '90s/early '00s.