Gamers Helping Gamers

[Derpus von Herpus]

Hey, Escapists. I just wanted to make a big list of great programs and websites and such that'll help you game better, and have more fun doing it, because I love you.

Please feel free to add to the list once you've had some fun with these - let's turn this into a really great thread full of goodies for everyone!

DOSbox [http://www.dosbox.com]: A really great program that essentially emulates an older, DOS-running computer on your computer. It'll make running those old classics you can't play anymore - Starfighter, Strife, etc - immensely, incredibly easy. But to really streamline your DOS emulating experience, you need...

D-Fend Reloaded [http://www.dfendreloaded.sourceforge.net]. Plain, vanilla DOSbox will load up a DOS prompt, and if you're a little rusty on your commands this can be a bit of a handicap. D-Fend is a pretty slick GUI that will make installing and playing the games as easy as setting up where the game installs from, where it runs from, and then you tech-savvy cats out there can tweak it perfectly. And, the icing on this cake...

Abandonia [http://www.abandonia.com]: A fantastic little website where you can find literally hundreds (if not thousands) of old, forgotten DOS games. And the best part? Downloading them isn't illegal, because they're all "abandonware" (properties the copyright owners have made free, essentially)! It's dangerously easy to download these games, run them in D-Fend, and lose an entire weekend (or in my case, two years) replaying old classics like Darkseed and the old text games. Speaking of text games...

MUSHclient [http://www.gammon.com.au/mushclient/mushclient.htm]: Maybe text-based MUDs and MUSHes are more your cup of tea? Fear not, dear dude or dudette, because this program is a do-all wunderkind of everything related to those. And to pad your list of MUDs and such, click your way to:

MUDconnector [http://www.mudconnect.com]. A truly massive, updated-all-the-time list of MUDs and such. I personally don't play them anymore, but this is where I went when I was looking for them. And that brings us to my last present:

SCUMMvm [http://www.scummvm.org]: Yes, the SCUMM. This program is a little beauty that I am truly in love with. This program will perfectly run any of your old SCUMM engine games (for a list of games compatible with SCUMMvm, click here [http://www.scummvm.org/compatibility] as hard as humanly possible) perfectly, hassle-free, and deliciously. It even adds a few neat little features. The caveat with this program is that I can't direct you to any SCUMM games, as they're still protected by copyright laws, but it is exceedingly easy to find one of your old CDs, burn it to an image file, and mount it in SCUMMvm. I run it under Vista, and am constantly playing my old adventure games I'd given up for incompatible (Oh, Full Throttle, you are my sunshine) with no trouble or hassle.

There you go, my friends. Enjoy, and please, if you know of any utility, website or program that would help your fellow gamers, add them here! I only ask that you don't post links to copyrighted content, because stealing is wrong and that violates The Escapist's TOS. Have fun!

EDIT - the links are boned. If any of these catch your eye, google for them for the time being while I fix this mess.
EDIT 2 - I fixed the links. I apologize for being such a failure.

 

[The_Deleted]

Thanks. That's a lot to keep us occupied.

 

[Derpus von Herpus]

No offense, and not to rain upon your parade, but most people with the ambition to play these old games already have these programs.

All I know is that in my experience, years ago, I was sitting there wishing I could finally finish Strife and spent a few hours looking up how to do it. I wanted to make a thread not only dedicated to the retro DOS gamers, but also to all gamers - maybe you've got a sweet application that'll monitor your server ranking in COD or something, let us know! Anything game-related and lots of fun, share with us.

 

[lostclause]

Abandonia [http://www.abandonia.com]: A fantastic little website where you can find literally hundreds (if not thousands) of old, forgotten DOS games. And the best part? Downloading them isn't illegal, because they're all "abandonware" (properties the copyright owners have made free, essentially)! It's dangerously easy to download these games, run them in D-Fend, and lose an entire weekend (or in my case, two years) replaying old classics like Darkseed and the old text games. Speaking of text games...

I feel I should point out that abandonware isn't technically legal. Yes the copyright isn't enforces but most of these games have been officially let go (such as when a company no longer exists).

 

[scnj]

MUD? MUSH? Anyone care to explain?

 

[BolognaBaloney]

PHUN is a great little physics game you can download and play, it's pretty flexible and a fun time-waster.

 

[Derpus von Herpus]

MUD? MUSH? Anyone care to explain?

MUD stands for Multi-User-Dungeon. Most of the ones I've played have been entirely text-based, and played with a multitude of other people - think Zork, except an MMO. No, most aren't as awesome as an MMO version of Zork would be, but you get the idea. Most (but not all) have an established combat and experience system, and have you fighting bad mans and leveling up by doing so. My recommendations for MUDs are HellMOO (warning: this game is not for the faint of heart), as it's the only game that lets me teabag people, crash planes into them, and throw children down flights of stairs. I'm not making this up, either. Another really good one is called Legend of the Red Dragon (LORD for short) - it's a simple, fun, and funny little MUD that has you doing all the fantasy stuff of slayan rats to gain experience to slay bigger rats, but it's really well done, with some fun and funny side-quests and random events ("A little old man whacks you with the Ugly Stick. You lose 1 Charisma!").

MUSH stands for Multi-User Shared Hallucination, and these are more about the roleplaying. Not my cup of tea (at least online), but some people really get a kick out of them.

 

[MasterSqueak]

Erm, how do I connect to a MUD?

 

[Derpus von Herpus]

Erm, how do I connect to a MUD?

I'm going to assume you're using MUSHclient? If not, you should go get it - it really streamlines the connection process.

From there, you're going to want to set up a new connection. This is really easy. You're going to need a host server and a port number, and that's all. For example, HellMOO's official address is hellmoo.org:7777. What this means for you is that in "host" you type hellmoo.org, and in port you type 7777. Welcome!

Keep in mind that each MUD is different - some that are more RP-heavy require a character application process (eugh) that can take awhile to make a character. Most combat-centered MUDs, however, allow you to just roll a character and play.

 

[MasterSqueak]

Erm, how do I connect to a MUD?

I'm going to assume you're using MUSHclient? If not, you should go get it - it really streamlines the connection process.

From there, you're going to want to set up a new connection. This is really easy. You're going to need a host server and a port number, and that's all. For example, HellMOO's official address is hellmoo.org:7777. What this means for you is that in "host" you type hellmoo.org, and in port you type 7777. Welcome!

Keep in mind that each MUD is different - some that are more RP-heavy require a character application process (eugh) that can take awhile to make a character. Most combat-centered MUDs, however, allow you to just roll a character and play.

Thanks!

 

[Fat Hippo]

Nice list, I didn't know about D-Fend, and while I've figured out Dosbox by now, this should be a whole lot easier. So thanks man. I'm just feeling the good vibes coming off this thread.