Arcadia on 30/1/2012 at 16:46
I recently built a computer specifically for late-90's gaming. Well, not so much "built" as "acquired and seriously enhanced." It began life as a stock Dell Dimension XPS D333 (P2-333) and is now a Celeron-500 with 128 MB, Voodoo2 SLI, and a SB Live. I'm pretty sure it's running the first version of Windows 98, as "ver" from the command prompt reports 4.10.1998 even though System Properties reports 4.10.2222. *shrug*
Anyway, part of the point of this system was to sidestep the various issues with running late-90's titles under modern versions of Windows. So far this objective has been met beautifully, with one exception: System Shock 2.
When it runs, it runs great - it certainly stretches this hardware to its limits, and the two Voodoo2s are up to the task. I've experienced no in-game issues other than the well-known use/shoot-mode bug.
Where I run into serious trouble is in (1) starting the game at all and (2) switching between the game and its menu screen. The two situations are basically identical - what'll happen is that, about half of the time, when I either launch the game or switch back from the game to the menu, it'll go to a black screen and become unrecoverable, requiring a Ctrl-Alt-Del or hard reset for me to get back into Windows. Rebooting the machine usually, but not always,results in the game launching successfully on my next attempt, but switching back from the game to the menu seems to be a roll of the dice each time.
I've already applied the DirectX texture fix, and I believe I'm running the final patch. I was wondering if you all had any other suggestions. It's a bit maddening because the whole point of constructing this Win98 system was to run these games as smoothly as possible... and it does, except for SS2. Half-Life, Quake 2, Deus Ex, Unreal, etc. are all perfect, but SS2 is a nightmare so far.
Appreciate any help you can provide!
Arcadia on 30/1/2012 at 17:57
Oops - please move this to the "Legacy Gaming" area if that's more appropriate. Sorry!
lost_soul on 31/1/2012 at 18:15
Try playing in 640x480. That way, it doesn't have to cycle resolutions to enter/exit menus.
