Retro Let's Play: FAQ

Quick links: (FAQ is in the next post).

Current discussion thread and game being played:
* Late July 2019: "Portal" (2007)

Please keep this thread to FAQs and HowTos only.

General discussion about our monthly "Let's Play" process goes here.

List of previous games played:
* Late July 2019: "Portal" (2007)
* Early July 2019: "F-117A Night Hawk: Stealth Fighter 2.0" (1994)
* Late June 2019: "Ogre Battle" (1993)
* Early June 2019: "Monster World IV" (1994)
* Late May 2019: "Elite" (1984)
* Early April 2019: "Donkey Kong '94" [Game Boy] (1994)
* Late March 2019: "Final Fantasy V" (1992)
* Early March 2019: "Resident Evil 4" aka "Biohazard 4" (2005)
* Late Feb 2019: "Super Mario World" (1990)
* Early Feb 2019: "Shadow of the Colossus" aka "Wander and the Colossus" (2005)
* Late Jan 2019: "Out Run" (1986)
* Early Jan 2019: "Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master" aka "The Super Shinobi II" (1993)
* Late Dec 2018: Merry Christmas!
* Early Dec 2018: "Myst" (1993)
* Late Nov 2018: "ToeJam & Earl" (1991)
* Early Nov 2018: "Bionic Commando" aka "Hitler's Resurrection: Top Secret" (NES, 1988)
* Late Oct 2018: "Crash Team Racing" (1999)
* Early Oct 2018: "Final Fantasy VI" aka "Final Fantasy III" (1994)
* Late Sept 2018: "Cave Story" aka "Dōkutsu Monogatari" (2004)
* Early Sept 2018: "Silent Hill 2" (2001)
* Late Aug 2018: "Earthbound" aka "Mother 2" (1994)
* Early Aug 2018: "Devil May Cry" (2001)
* Late July 2018: "Super Smash Bros. Melee" (2001)
* Early July 2018: "Sonic 3 & Knuckles" (1994)
* Late June 2018: "Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monk's Revenge" (1994)
* Early June 2018: "Street Fighter II" series (1991-1994)
* Late May 2018: "Combat" (1977)
* Early May 2018: "Tetris" (1984)
* Late April 2018: "Super Metroid" (1994)
* Early April 2018: "Final Fight" (1989)
* Late March 2018: "UFO: Enemy Unknown" / "X-COM: UFO Defense" (1994)
* Early March 2018: "Metal Gear Solid" (1998)
* Late Feb 2018: "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" (1991)
* Early Feb 2018: "Tomb Raider" (1996)
* Late Jan 2018: "Rocket Knight Adventures" (1993)
* Early Jan 2018: "Pac-Man" (1980)
* Late Dec 2017: Star Wars series
* Early Dec 2017: "Doom" (1993)
* Late Nov 2017: "Metal Gear Solid 3: Sneak Eater" and "Subsistence" (2004)
* Early Nov 2017: "Super Mario Bros. 3" (1998)
* Late Oct 2017: "Pokemon Red / Blue / Green" (1996-1999)
* Early Oct 2017: "Katamari Damacy" (2004)
* Late Sept 2017: "Super Mario 64" (1996)
* Early Sept 2017: "Snatcher" (1988)
* Late Aug 2017: "Klonoa: Door to Phantomile" (1997)
* Early Aug 2017: "Wiz 'n' Liz" (1993)
* Late July 2017: "Day of the Tentacle" (1993)
* Early July 2017: "Stunts" aka "4D Sports Driving" (1990)
* Late June 2017: "Turrican" (1990)
* Early June 2017: "MechWarrior" (1989)
* Late May 2017: "Daikatana" (2000)
* Early May 2017: "Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders" (1988)
* Late April 2017: "Cannon Fodder" (1993)
* Late April 2017: "Alone in the Dark" (1992)
* Early April 2017: "Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness" (1995)
* Late Mar 2017: "Batman" aka " Batman: The Movie" (Ocean, 1989)
* Early Mar 2017: "Chrono Trigger" (1995)
* Early Mar 2017: "Bubble Bobble" (1986)
* Late Feb 2017: "Syndicate" (1993)
* Early Feb 2017: "Impossible Mission" (1984)
* Late Jan 2017: "Catacomb 3-D" (1991)

 

FAQ:

What?

Every fortnight we play a retro (10 years old or older) game, and talk about it. Join us!

You can play the game any way you like, on any platform you like. The discussion thread each month will list different ways to attain the game, and methods to play it on retro and modern systems.

Who?

Anyone who wants to is welcome, whether you've been with us from the start, or just want to jump into one thread to reminisce about a title. Chat with us if you've played the game in the past, or join us in playing it again this time around. We'll give you plenty of options to ensure people have the best chance to play the game on their current hardware options.

Don't be afraid to jump in and try. There's no competition, need to complete the games or post high scores. It's all about the experience, the subjective nostalgia, and the objective history of the titles.

When?

We play two games every month, but you can jump in on any previous discussion if you're late to the party. We're playing through HG101's "Top 47,858" games as our list, which is a current podcast and ever-changing list of quality old games.

There's no expiry date on threads. If you missed it when we played it, necro the thread and talk some more about the game. After all, these games are 10+ years old, so it's not like the discussion can ever be out of date.

Where?

Important links are one post above.

Why?

Because old games are fun, are valuable pieces of history (as much as old film, plays, writing or music), and there's so many of them that everyone's missed a few important ones along the way. Also, there's a lot of younger folks on these forums who many not have been old enough to play them the first time around, and it's a good chance to catch up and talk about the games with others playing them at the same time.

How?

Over time, we'll fill this thread up with howtos, guides, videos and other resources on how to buy the games we're playing, or figure out ways to play them on different hardware (some may need emulators or wrappers to get older software working on newer machines). We'll also cover any ports, re-releases via new distribution methods (various online stores, virtual console type services and whatnot) as well as "remastered" updates that are also an option.

 

Want some inspiration? Here's some excellent resources for choosing games to nominate each month.

Hardcore Gaming 101's extensive master list of articles (can be sorted by game grenre, system, company, etc):
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/reviews/

Racketboy's "Defining Games" series:
http://www.racketboy.com/guide/games-that-defined-retro-gaming-machines

Racketboy's "Hidden Gems" series:
http://www.racketboy.com/guide/hidden-gems

"1001 video games you must play before you die" (sorted by age, so don't be scared off by page one - there's more recent stuff as you go along):
http://www.listchallenges.com/1001-video-games-you-must-play-before-you-die

Archive.org's "Console Living Room" (play in your browser):
https://archive.org/details/consolelivingroom

Archive.org's MSDOS games archive (play in your browser):
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games

 

A couple more here in the curated "MS-DOS showcase" which for some reason are not listed in the main MS-DOS Games library.

https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_showcase?sort=titleSorter

Not that there's a dearth of selections in the main library of course, but the showcase has some faves...
some Commander Keen titles (games library has 1,3 & 6... showcase has 2,4 & Keen Dreams), also Bushido, Wasteland, Cruise for a Corpse, a few others.

EDIT: Oops, missed the JSMAME ROMS! That's another 600 or so games to look through...
https://archive.org/details/internetarcade

EDIT2: Just found Lemmings. Welp, that's me done for the day.

 

Raspberry Pi owners, "RetroPie" is a software distribution aimed at helping complete beginners get a functioning retro machine up and running very quickly. With the latest Raspberry Pi 3 hardware and a slight overclock, even N64 and PSX games are able to be played at full speed.

Raspberry Pi hardware is available at a number of different suppliers. Some like Brisbane-based "The Pi Shop" have packs ready to go with all hardware and software pre-installed and ready for you to add your games:

http://www.thepishop.com.au/plug-n-play-packs

Here's a great video guide on getting everything installed yourself. I'll be posting future guides on how to get "RetroArch" (the underlying emulation wrapper that RetroPie and the Emulation Station front-end software use) up and running for use with specific consoles as games pop up.

Guide for RetroPie 4.2:



Another good guide for 4.4:

 

DOSBox automation:

If you're a GoG user running their provided WIndows or Mac installers, this is probably done for you (or use GoG Galaxy, and it's easier again). Hopefully this is helpful for folks who are trying to set up original software (or Linux users who are trying to get Windows-only GoG releases working on Linux).

DOSBox can be fed commands which are run in order. You can set these up so that a simple on-liner command can be run easily as a shortcut or shell script to launch you straight into your game.

Take the PC/DOS port of Syndicate, for example. It mandates that the game must live in "C:\SYND" in order for save games to work. In DOSBox, I would do the following manually (where I have Syndicate installed in a "SYND" folder beneath the paths I mention here) after launching DOSBox:

Windows:
Run "MOUNT C C:\PATH\TO\GAMES"
Run "C:"
Run "CD SYND"
Run "SYND.EXE"

Linux/Mac:
Run "MOUNT C ~/path/to/games"
Run "C:"
Run "CD SYND"
Run "SYND.EXE"

I can automate this on in either a shortcut, or via the command line.

Windows:
dosbox.exe -fullscreen -c "MOUNT C C:\PATH\TO\GAMES" -c "C:" -c "CD SYND" -c "SYND.EXE"

Linux/Mac:
dosbox -fullscreen -c "MOUNT C ~/path/to/games" -c "C:" -c "CD SYND" -c "SYND.EXE"

Set these up as scripts or icons or whatever you want for one-hit running of the game without having to type in a bunch of commands every time.

 

If you are using the GOG version you may also need to edit the dosboxSyndicate.conf if when playing fullscreen it can be offcenter 4:3 game on a 16:9 display you may need modify the following values, put fullresolution to your desktop resolution and windowresolution to something simliar in your current aspect ratio

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=1920x1080
windowresolution=1920x1080

 

Just stumbled upon this thread, looking at the names in the list alone brings back a few memories.

 

If anyone stumbles across or creates something themselves, I'd love the ability to autoboot to a single emulator - eg MAME - so I can use this in my bartop builds for people. At the moment the best I found was http://attractmode.org/download.html which still doesn't really work for that purpose. It would also be cool if you wanted to get an old case from a non-working orignal console and set it up just to emulate that one platform.

Something for those more tech savvy than me to work out I'm sure

 

You can make windows boot into attract mode, is that what you mean?

 

Late to the party, but i'll be tagging along with this! I miss the good ole days of gaming, so consider me in!

 

I've started a few quick and dirty howtos/breadcrumbs for people wanting to muck around with MAME emulation of certain computers.

Worth noting that MAME used to be all arcade hardware, and its sister project MESS was for consoles and computers. It made sense for the two projects to formally merge, given how much code they shared and their modular design. Now MAME is the main executable for both.

I've written guides for
* Sega SC-3000 and SC-3000H (PC version of the Sega SG-1000 console, the successor to the Sega Master System)
* Dick Smith Wizzard (VTech CreatiVision clone licensed/branded by Dick Smith in Australia)
* Microbee 128 (disk guide)