EvaUnit02 on 5/9/2008 at 05:54
Quote Posted by Hemebond
If only game developers weren't such shit coders. We'd have far fewer problems with their games and probably wouldn't need this kind of service.
Don't forget that a good proportion of these games were long OOP and previously only available legally via the likes of Ebay.
Yakoob on 5/9/2008 at 06:14
Quote Posted by Hemebond
If only game developers weren't such shit coders. We'd have far fewer problems with their games and probably wouldn't need this kind of service.
You really have no idea how computers work, do you?
Quote Posted by dethtoll
It's not so much a coding problem, it's a general failing to prepare for future technology.
More like failing to prepare for god knows what Microsoft will pull out in 10 years.
Shakey-Lo on 5/9/2008 at 06:29
I wasn't sure whether to put this in here or in the bargains thread, but it seems related to the general topic of interest here - you can now get the whole X-COM series on Steam for US$13.49.
Hemebond on 5/9/2008 at 06:50
Quote Posted by Yakoob
You really have no idea how computers work, do you?
Hmm. I was pretty sure I had at least a
general understanding. But your comment seems to suggest I don't, so now I'm not so sure.
What is it about my comment that betrayed my ignorance?
june gloom on 5/9/2008 at 06:53
Quote Posted by Yakoob
More like failing to prepare for god knows what Microsoft will pull out in 10 years.
Yes well, it's the same thing. Technology and the way that technology is run changes over time, and all too often an older game designed for older equipment and older coding is left in the dust.
We all lament it but there's no escaping it. Obsolesence is one of the inherent hallmarks of technology, and that goes back to when we figured out that Large Bone 2.0 was inherently less likely to shatter against someone's skull than Large Chunk of Wood 1.4.
Yakoob on 5/9/2008 at 06:53
Quote Posted by Hemebond
Hmm. I was pretty sure I had at least a
general understanding. But your comment seems to suggest I don't, so now I'm not so sure.
What is it about my comment that betrayed my ignorance?
The fact that you expect games made in the Dos era where more than 1 MB of memory was effectively achieved through clever hacks, different processor architectures actually meant completely different code and a GUI was still a dream to come true to run flawlessly on Windows Vista.
Hemebond on 5/9/2008 at 07:17
Quote Posted by Yakoob
The fact that you expect games made in the Dos era where more than 1 MB of memory was effectively achieved through clever hacks, different processor architectures actually meant completely different code and a GUI was still a dream to come true to run flawlessly on Windows Vista.
I see. I seem to have misunderstood the original topic of this thread. I took most of my information from the discussion that followed. The talk about DRM, CDs and DVDs made me think the service took old Windows games and helped run them on newer versions of Windows. Which is also what the website suggests.
Would it not be easier to just run these DOS games in an emulator, Yakoob?
Yakoob on 5/9/2008 at 18:52
Yes, it probably would, and for all we know maybe that's exactly what the GoG guys are doing. IIRC, when Valve started selling some old games, they actually ran through customized DosBox.
When it comes to old games, they were simply designed to run on a tech that is no longer used, and replaced with something different. For instance, to get a program to work today on windows you have to use Win32 API. But in the Dos days, the win32 API simply didn't exist - so how could have the devs prepared for that? They couldn't.
But the OS can (and, with win95 and 98 it did). It's really the burden of the OS to allow older products to run on it, not the other way around. You can't really be forward-compatible since you don't know what future entails, but you can be backwards compatible!
The_Raven on 5/9/2008 at 23:39
Yes, but true backwards compatibility usually means severe compromises in your design. Sometimes it is best to leave these things behind in order to properly implement your initial goals.
Yakoob on 6/9/2008 at 00:33
Yup, I totally agree Raven, hence why I am trying to take the blame away from devs for their software not running ten years later.
