DOS Games Discussion

Hey guys,

I’m sure this has been asked here before, and in fact I know it has based on the searches and results that I found in regards to them. However, opinion seems to vary so wildly on a lot of things, that for a first timer to something like this can make all the information overwhelming and daunting.

Essentially what I’m looking for is a cookie-cutter esque computer that will play the majority of the DOS classics. Commander Keen, DooM, Wolf3D, all the games from that era I remember playing as a kid, and a million of the others that I never got the chance to do ( Blasphemous, I know, but I still need to play all the King’s Quests games ): ). I’ve gotten a million different responses on doing this without including the original hardware. Sure, I’ve done DOSBox. Sure, I’ve done Virtual PC. But it is still missing the original feel without a real Sound Blaster blaring the Monkey Island theme song. And a real IBM Model M Keyboard. And a real 13” CRT that you strain your eyes on after a couple of hours of 640x480 60hz gaming. I’m sure some of you can relate to and appreciate that feeling ?

So enough with the blah blahing, here’s what I’m looking for. For the most part, money isn’t really a factor here, but I would like parts that are somewhat easily available ( Ha ! ) and will be compatible with the majority of what I’m looking to do. Here’s what I’m looking for:

*Case –
CPU –
Mobo –
RAM –
Video Card –
Sound Card –
PSU ( More looking for wattage recommendations here 200 – 300 ? ) –
*HDD –
*Optical Drive –
*3.5” Floppy –
*5.25” Floppy –
*Mouse –
*Keyboard –
Joystick –
*Monitor –

Items marked with an asterisk are items that I’m fairly certain I will be just fine picking out myself, but I figured if I’m gonna ask for recommendations, might as well go for the gusto.

Thanks everyone in advance !

<< *laughs* ... and restrains myself from answering.


In stead I will redirect you to http://vogons.zetafleet.com/index.php
There are already a zillion topics covering your question, another one won't hurt them.





Be aware the a 'dosgaming' computer doesn't exist.
Dosgaming covers CPUs ranging from a 8086 to a P2, needed speed varies from one MHz to 200-300MHz.
A PC that runs Descent perfectly will be much too fast for others.
And so on, blah blah.....

motrax wrote:I’m sure this has been asked here before, and in fact I know it has based on the searches and results that I found in regards to them. However, opinion seems to vary so wildly on a lot of things, that for a first timer to something like this can make all the information overwhelming and

Your question can't have a simple straight answer, because there is none.

Actually, the best computer I ever had for playing DOS games ran Windows 98SE with an AMD 1 GHz processor and 256 MB SDR SDRAM, Voodoo 3 graphics card. Using memory allocation, VDMSound and Moslo, I could run most DOS games far better than they ever ran with my older computers.

I actually didn't really use DOSBox until 2007, when I finally caved and bought a computer with XP on it. I've been on this site so long, I actually remember when the "get games to work" forum was more than "how to use DOSbox 101." (I remember before DOSbox existed, actually... those were fun times )

Dogbreath wrote:Actually, the best computer I ever had for playing DOS games ran Windows 98SE with an AMD 1 GHz processor and 256 MB SDR SDRAM, Voodoo 3 graphics card. Using memory allocation, VDMSound and Moslo, I could run most DOS games far better than they ever ran with my older computers.

I actually didn't really use DOSBox until 2007, when I finally caved and bought a computer with XP on it. I've been on this site so long, I actually remember when the "get games to work" forum was more than "how to use DOSbox 101." (I remember before DOSbox existed, actually... those were fun times )

It was pretty much the same. Except:

1) We had Proc instead of Dosraider
2) His trend was "Edit your autoexec with _____" instead of edit your config.ini with _______

Which was better than Wally who at one point would respond to every topic with "use DOSBox." Frikkin' Macnuts...