Some general questions on playing older games in Win 7

[rogbrez]

Please excuse the rookie-like questions but I've only had Win 7 for a few days. My first new home PC in quite a while..I had a stack of older games I wanted to play and had a few questions.

1. From this list, which games, if any, might be unplayable or uninstallable on Win 7, maybe don't even bother: (Fallout 3, Deus Ex Invis Wars, Unreal 2, Halflife 2, Battlestations Midway and Pacific, Battlefield 1942, MOH Airborne, Sacred, Elder Scrolls 4, Neverwinter Nights 2, Far Cry 2)..sorry, as I say, it's been several years and the games have been stacking up..I had heard so many stories on Vista and chose to wait for Win 7!

2. When trying to tweak, for games that simply don't install and run fine in Win 7, I assume its best to install manually via setup exe file and not to autoinstall?

3. I have no experience when it comes to using win 7's compatibility program. To install and/or run an older program in Vista mode, does the compatibility program automatically give you that choice or do you manually have to bring up that option and select to install it (or run it) in Vista mode?

Sorry for the neophyte questions and for being out of the gaming loop for so long. Always enjoyed Fallout/Diablo/Everquest/MOH type games and would love to find similar new games for the future, especially games going forward that don't need tweaks!

 

[richc46]

First see what is compatible. Then we know which games you have questions about.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx

 

[SledgeDG]

As for Diablo II (LoD) v1.07 I have to set compatibility to XP (SP3) and prevent Desktop composition

As for Sacred or NWN I haven't installed either one yet but both ran fine under Vista so I don't expect them choking under Windows 7 (I don't recall if I had to set a compatibility mode for those two)
Hell, even Duke Nukem Atomic Edition runs here if set to compatibility mode XP

But all those you set after you installed the game and realize that it doesn't run "out of the box"
So it really doesn't matter, if you use setup.exe or if you have the disk set to autostart.
As for tweaks: it's always good to patch up your games to the last available patch....and of course your video/audio drivers should be up to date.

-DG

 

[Fantail]

Just my 2 cents; You may find less issues with games if you right click on the setup - installer and run as admin, and install to C:\games vs. program files.

 

[SledgeDG]

Unless you have switched off UAC (which I don't recommend) every setup asks for admin rights during installation anyways. That's why I said it doesn't make a difference. And the path you can set during installation either way.

-DG

 

[nekov4ego]

Why can I play both Diablo II and Fable: The Lost Chapters without problems when they are not compatible? I tried Sacred II too, no problems.

 

[SledgeDG]

Because the list is not properly compiled through empiric data but crudely thrown together which essentially renders it utterly useless.
If there are games on the "not compatible" list (like Diablo II)that work just fine, you can safely assume that there are also games on the "compatible" list that will short out on your rig.
so just another waste of valuable internet space ;D

-DG

 

[nekov4ego]

Because the list is not properly compiled through empiric data but crudely thrown together which essentially renders it utterly useless.
If there are games on the "not compatible" list (like Diablo II)that work just fine, you can safely assume that there are also games on the "compatible" list that will short out on your rig.
so just another waste of valuable internet space ;D

-DG

So helpful that list seems to be. Thanks

 

[nekov4ego]

I am playing Sanitarium on my father's laptop from time to time. I believe it was made about 1998 and it requires DirectX 5. Have had some easy-to-fix issues but in compatible mode for Windows 95 it launches without problems. It seems that a lot of the old stuff is compatible with Windows 7 -- you should be able to run almost everything effortlessly.

 

[SledgeDG]

As a matter of fact, intrigued by this thread, I dug up and installed Sacred, the GoG/Gold-version (incl. Plus and Underworld) on Sunday and don't you know...Not only installed and ran it without a hitch. IMHO it even runs much smoother under Windows 7 than it ever ran under Vista. Now off to free Ancaria again

-DG

 

[csenger41]

On my experience these games from your list are playable: Half-Life 2, TES4 Oblivion, NWN2, Battlefield 1942.
And for old games, installing Setup.exe in compatibility and administrator mode helps, very often.

P.S.: SledgeDG, your avatar is cool! But using a Tux as an avatar in a win7forum... Well that's weird...

 

[SledgeDG]

I just like the underlying irony besides Tux are ultimately cool and great artwork

as for Sacred, I just love what the goblin shaman says: "Schlagt Ihm den Kopf ab, ich brauche einen neuen Aschenbecher"

(Cut off his head, I'm in need of a new ash tray):roflmao::roflmao::roflmao: