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Apogee Games and other classic Dos games
- Thread starter Bubbins
- Start date
PigSpeakers
Member
I just tried playing Mega Man 3 on Dosbox. Everything moves waaaay too fast. Also, old PC games without music are unsettling.
A Black Falcon
Member
You need to turn the cycles way down. That game requires a very slow computer. You can change the cycles in DOSBox via a keyboard hotkey; I believe it's Control+F11/F12 by default. Drop it down to maybe a couple of hundred cycles to get that game to run well...
PigSpeakers
Member
Thanks. You also reminded me of an old computer tower I used to have that had either a turbo or slowdown button on it (maybe both) that I used to use on games. I can't remember which one that was, or why it would've been on the tower. I'm also sure it wasn't good for that computer.
Rollo Tomasi
Member
PC gaming was huge for me when I was younger. I also used to play some type of NFL football manager game on my Packard Bell but I can't find anything online about it. The games above are Bioforge and Weird Dreams.
GCW Zero has DOSBOX running nicely now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o4l2EAx7Js
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPwiYW6buTY&feature=share&list=PL_HMl00OlQX9DoItQPN2MemZkgn_eSd3e
More info: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=507529
Ninja Scooter
Member
Anyone remember the Catacombs games? They were horror FPS games in the style of Wolfenstein. Scared the shit out of me as a kid.
Well, now they're on sale at GOG for only $6!
My Computer Lab teacher in 7th grade would let us play this and Sim City during lunch and break.
KittenMaster
Member
How has no one mentioned Blake Stone yet? I think I put more time into it than Wolf3D.
Blake Stone was really cool. It was sophisticated compared to a lot of the games at the time with the ability to speak to NPCs and whatnot.
Open Source
Banned
Moraff's World
I spent so much time on this. And of course on NetHack and other roguelikes.
Some other obscure ones I enjoyed:
Overkill
Ancients: Deathwatch
Omni-Play Basketball (the first sports game with a franchise mode? and not the Magic Johnson version, which was substantially different)
Also quite a few BBS games: The Pit, Land of Devastation, Barren Realms Elite, Trade Wars 2002, Legend of the Red Dragon, etc. Proto-Facebook games, basically, but designed for a more hardcore audience.
Joseph Merrick
Member
used to love playing heartlight. it's free now.
http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Heartlight_PC.html
also blockout. not sure how legal that download for blockout1 is, but blockout2 there is fine
http://www.blockout.net/index.php?option=com_ionfiles&Itemid=51
yeah, been freeware for a while.
biomenace is freeware as well
http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html
some other fun freeware there too. and the expansion to shadow warrior and EROTT.
http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Heartlight_PC.html
also blockout. not sure how legal that download for blockout1 is, but blockout2 there is fine
http://www.blockout.net/index.php?option=com_ionfiles&Itemid=51
yeah, been freeware for a while.
War has changed
biomenace is freeware as well
http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html
some other fun freeware there too. and the expansion to shadow warrior and EROTT.
JENNIE HOTT
Shadow Hog
Member
Noticeably less Will Ferrell, too.
This thread is essentially my teenage years in writing form. id, 3D Realms and Apogee are 3 names I especially associate with my teenage years. Wolf 3D started my love for first person games/shooters years and years ago.
I remember being 11/12 years old and up to that point I had played mostly consoles or Atari computers. Something like Rescue on Fractalus was my very first experience playing games when I was around 3-4 years old. Anyway years later on PC my dad says to me 'Son, I've got a game for you to try' and it was Wolf 3D. I was fucking amazed by it. What's this perspective ? Ooooh a gun. Screaming Nazis! I played the shareware of Wolf 3D religiously and then my dad got me the full game and I played that to death as well. Fighting and Killing Mech/Mini Gun Hitler is still one of my favourite experiences in a game "Eva, Auf Wiedersehen!"
Then of course Doom came out and again my dad says to me "I've got a new game called Doom, the guys who made Wolf 3D made it!"
Needless to say I near enough shat myself with excitement and when I got to sit down and play it my mind was blown even more. Demons! Awesome shotgun! Hell! Keycards! Needless to say I spent most days playing that too and then when Doom 2 came along I poured even more time into that. Doom 2 is a game I especially bonded with my dad over, he's always been into PC games/PC building and that was the game where I got my own PC to play it instead of always playing on his. That's probably why PC gaming is so special to me as that's very much how me and my dad have bonded over the years.
Another very special game as part of my childhood was Rise Of The Triad, I actually got the shareware version of that from a cover disk. I think it was one of the first FPS which used dual guns and of course I loved the shit out of it. Cool traps, gibs, "No! Don't Shoot!", Dog mode and bouncy pads. It's part of the reason I'm so excited about the new game
But yet so many games from my PC gaming childhood related to Apogee, 3D Realms, Interplay and loads of others. Commander Keen, Hexen, Hexen 2, Heretic, Shadow Warrior, Redneck Rampage (with swear pack "I'm gonna fuck yee!").
It's also the era that introduced me to my favourite developer Monolith Productions - Blood (ok I know that was mostly 3D Realms and Blood 2 was a disappointment), Noone Lives Forever 1 and 2, Shogo, Get Medievil etc (up to and including their modern stuff which I've loved as well)
Thinking back actually it's amazing to think how much of my gaming life is PC centric despite playing every console, handheld etc. I wouldn't want to think of the hours I've spent playing games
TLDR - I realise I've written essentially a blog post about my PC childhood.
I remember being 11/12 years old and up to that point I had played mostly consoles or Atari computers. Something like Rescue on Fractalus was my very first experience playing games when I was around 3-4 years old. Anyway years later on PC my dad says to me 'Son, I've got a game for you to try' and it was Wolf 3D. I was fucking amazed by it. What's this perspective ? Ooooh a gun. Screaming Nazis! I played the shareware of Wolf 3D religiously and then my dad got me the full game and I played that to death as well. Fighting and Killing Mech/Mini Gun Hitler is still one of my favourite experiences in a game "Eva, Auf Wiedersehen!"
Then of course Doom came out and again my dad says to me "I've got a new game called Doom, the guys who made Wolf 3D made it!"
Needless to say I near enough shat myself with excitement and when I got to sit down and play it my mind was blown even more. Demons! Awesome shotgun! Hell! Keycards! Needless to say I spent most days playing that too and then when Doom 2 came along I poured even more time into that. Doom 2 is a game I especially bonded with my dad over, he's always been into PC games/PC building and that was the game where I got my own PC to play it instead of always playing on his. That's probably why PC gaming is so special to me as that's very much how me and my dad have bonded over the years.
Another very special game as part of my childhood was Rise Of The Triad, I actually got the shareware version of that from a cover disk. I think it was one of the first FPS which used dual guns and of course I loved the shit out of it. Cool traps, gibs, "No! Don't Shoot!", Dog mode and bouncy pads. It's part of the reason I'm so excited about the new game
But yet so many games from my PC gaming childhood related to Apogee, 3D Realms, Interplay and loads of others. Commander Keen, Hexen, Hexen 2, Heretic, Shadow Warrior, Redneck Rampage (with swear pack "I'm gonna fuck yee!").
It's also the era that introduced me to my favourite developer Monolith Productions - Blood (ok I know that was mostly 3D Realms and Blood 2 was a disappointment), Noone Lives Forever 1 and 2, Shogo, Get Medievil etc (up to and including their modern stuff which I've loved as well)
Thinking back actually it's amazing to think how much of my gaming life is PC centric despite playing every console, handheld etc. I wouldn't want to think of the hours I've spent playing games
TLDR - I realise I've written essentially a blog post about my PC childhood.
So glad I found this thread. I vividly remember going on a walk with my father to the computer shop in 1993 (?) and seeing rows of computer disks in zip lock baggies on the shelves and stumbling upon a Monster Bash [1] poster at the end of the aisle. Picking up that shareware game right there and then was my first dip into the world of Apogee Software at the time.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Bash
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Bash
charlequin
Banned
It's a bit hard to go back to a lot of these games nowadays. I never had an NES or SNES, I grew up on PC shareware platformers, but a lot of these games turn out to be quite a bit jankier than my memories would have it. Still: can't nobody say that iD Software weren't making all-time classics.
I had this exact CD!
I had this exact CD!
i had a similar disc my dad used to get called "golden games"
yknow was just a gold cdr disc with the name wrote on with a sharpie
probly his mate at work gott'em idk
currently recording an lets play on tyrian & wacky wheels 2player for my channel
ClivePwned
Member
That game literally made me the man I am today.
I have a 486 DX II with a Soundblaster 16 set up in my gaming room connected to a switch that will either output it to a CRT Computer monitor or the CRT TV screen using a VGA->SVideo converter. Got a few gravis gamepads and other retro controllers.
Rather than using an old harddrive, I popped in a CF->IDE kit that let me use CF Flashcards as harddrives. I found a kit from startech that let me mount the CF kit on the front of the PC as a drive bay and bought a bunch of 4 gb CF cards in bulk.
I went through, installed dos on each one, then edited the autoexe.bat to load up a single game per card. That way, I can swap games in and out of the system when it's turned off and they'll automatically load the correct game. This means no batch files to set the correct system settings.
Works incredibly smooth. I've been playing old games like Epic Pinball, Jazz Jackrabbit, RoTT, Terminal Velocity, One Must Fall, etc.
Those games are still awesome.
Rather than using an old harddrive, I popped in a CF->IDE kit that let me use CF Flashcards as harddrives. I found a kit from startech that let me mount the CF kit on the front of the PC as a drive bay and bought a bunch of 4 gb CF cards in bulk.
I went through, installed dos on each one, then edited the autoexe.bat to load up a single game per card. That way, I can swap games in and out of the system when it's turned off and they'll automatically load the correct game. This means no batch files to set the correct system settings.
Works incredibly smooth. I've been playing old games like Epic Pinball, Jazz Jackrabbit, RoTT, Terminal Velocity, One Must Fall, etc.
Those games are still awesome.
So true. I never owned Doom or Wolfenstein but played the shareware versions for HOURS.
Oh man, my sister and I used to play Cosmo and Bio Menace all the time...wonderful nostalgia.
Also this game rocked and had SICK music
I have the Amiga CD32 version of this game (Ultimate Body Blows) along with Body Blows galactic. I preferred Shadow Fighter personally.
HOLY SHIT THE NOSTALGIC FEELS
william_557
Member
Hocus pocus
Wacky wheels
Both classics i used to play on my grandparents computer
Funny you started this thread as i just downloaded them the other day
Wacky wheels
Both classics i used to play on my grandparents computer
Funny you started this thread as i just downloaded them the other day
Badlucktroll
Member
AM i the ONLY person that remembers this?
Lots of good memories in this thread... I won't repeat any listed but 90% of the games in the thread formed my childhood.
Another great one was Novastorm. I believe it was also on the PS1, but I played it on DOS. It was like Star Fox with weird pre-rendered graphics, but it was AWESOME!
Another great one was Novastorm. I believe it was also on the PS1, but I played it on DOS. It was like Star Fox with weird pre-rendered graphics, but it was AWESOME!
The best.
Yeah, I recently remembered it and was annoyed to find that GOG doesn't have it.
it was all about this shit right here
Holy shit, this CD was amazing. Thanks to my Dad for bringing home things like this for me and my brother.
God of Thunder, Cosmo, Halloween Harry, Hocus Pocus, Jill of the Jungle, Bio Menace, Duke II, Math Rescue, Secret Agent and Crystal Caves. Apogee = my jam factory.
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
Whoa they look like copies of Commander Keen 1-3, do they play alike, too?
Xane
Member
I still play this, among many others. This thread is already nostalgia apocalypse for me.
Oh god, yes. I'm really missing these kinds of SHMUPs where you can actually use the score to upgrade your ship. There just aren't any being developed anymore. Tyrian 2000 and Jets 'n Guns comes to mind but that may very well be it.
Same. Blast from the past! Was awesome just trying out all these different games. Loved me some Raptor and Hexxagon.
If you liked Commander Keen, chances are good that you'll like Secret Agent and Crystal Caverns.
From what I remember though, they were a lot harder. \=,
Stargunner definitely needs more love. For an Apogee DOS game it was released very late, in 1996 I think. And it seemed poorly recieved at the time because 3D was the name of the game and the 2D shmup genre had gotten pretty saturated.
Another awesome forgotten DOS title was the 1994 survival horror game Ecstatica. You were stuck in an isolated medieval village and constantly stalked by what I assume was a werewolf, but it really looked more like some kind of monkey. Hard to tell with the 3D sphere graphics. The difficulty was really punishing but it was always amusing seeing all the different ways you could die
Another awesome forgotten DOS title was the 1994 survival horror game Ecstatica. You were stuck in an isolated medieval village and constantly stalked by what I assume was a werewolf, but it really looked more like some kind of monkey. Hard to tell with the 3D sphere graphics. The difficulty was really punishing but it was always amusing seeing all the different ways you could die
There are similarities, in that they've got nonlinear level design with a focus on flipping switches and there's only one weapon. Crystal Caves puts the focus on collecting all of the treasure in a level, though, and Secret Agent is largely a reskin of CC. Both good games, although they're the sort of shareware that crams everything into the first episode and the paid episodes are glorified level packs.
RelentlessRolento
Member
Man your post bums me out knowing these types of shmups are rare.
My dad played endless hours of raptor. Still holds up graphically and gameplay.
How has no one mentioned Blake Stone yet? I think I put more time into it than Wolf3D.
AHHHHHHHHHHH
Seraphis Cain
bad gameplay lol
I'd like to recommend Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge to everyone in this thread. It's a new game that's basically ripped straight out of the early 90's. Get huge Jill of the Jungle vibes from it (well, except in space).
Also, does anyone remember a game called Inner Space? It was an awesome shmup with tons of different ships. Loved it when I was younger. I went looking for it a year or so back, expecting to find it as abandonware or something, but it turns out that the author is still selling it on his website (that looks like it hasn't been updated for nearly 20 years), for like $30. Christ, man, let it go. :lol Or at least drop the price on your nearly 20 year old game.
Also, does anyone remember a game called Inner Space? It was an awesome shmup with tons of different ships. Loved it when I was younger. I went looking for it a year or so back, expecting to find it as abandonware or something, but it turns out that the author is still selling it on his website (that looks like it hasn't been updated for nearly 20 years), for like $30. Christ, man, let it go. :lol Or at least drop the price on your nearly 20 year old game.
Nikodemos
Member
AFAIK, it was also pretty hard, even on the lower difficulty levels, unlike, say Tyrian, Raptor or even Highway Hunter.
IIRC the werewolf was invulnerable; you needed to get close to end of the game in order to find something to kill it with. There was also a sequel, which was somewhat easier.
Nikodemos
Member
What I loved about Blake Stone was that you could stealth it. Not for long, true, but at the beginning of a level you could nail the handful low-level guards with your mini-blaster and, as long as they didn't shoot at you or push the alarm button, you were relatively safe. Of course, further in the level you were pretty much forced to bring out the dual blaster or even the plasma cannon, but it was a very nice touch. The mini-blaster had infinite ammo as well (though it fired slowly due to cooldown).
My three jams as a kid were Jazz Jackrabbit, Crystal Caves, and Hocus Pocus. Replayed them recently too
As a kid I knew the shareware levels from back to front, even weird empty areas out of the level you could only get to using the jetboard cheat! I remember Episode C having some tough as nails levels (especially Deserto) but I think I just wasnt as patient back then.
" Weird to think that some kids might grow up thinking these are Flappy Bird pipes.
Never played the other two episodes, but the first one was a lot of fun! I totally forgot you could blast out the air pumps and make Milo's head explode
I swore for years up and down that Hocus Pocus still held up, but upon replaying it im not so sure. The core gameplay is fun enough, explore big fantastical castles to find a certain number of collectibles but the game doesnt do enough to shake things up. I was getting really bored by the end of the first episode, definitely a game meant for short bursts.
As a kid I knew the shareware levels from back to front, even weird empty areas out of the level you could only get to using the jetboard cheat! I remember Episode C having some tough as nails levels (especially Deserto) but I think I just wasnt as patient back then.
" Weird to think that some kids might grow up thinking these are Flappy Bird pipes.
Never played the other two episodes, but the first one was a lot of fun! I totally forgot you could blast out the air pumps and make Milo's head explode
I swore for years up and down that Hocus Pocus still held up, but upon replaying it im not so sure. The core gameplay is fun enough, explore big fantastical castles to find a certain number of collectibles but the game doesnt do enough to shake things up. I was getting really bored by the end of the first episode, definitely a game meant for short bursts.
