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Fucking Windows 98

Posted 09-07-2013 at 12:53 PM by MeechMunchie
Updated 09-07-2013 at 01:02 PM by MeechMunchie
My computer's fried itself into an endless boot cycle, and while I was initially worried that I might have caused this by poking about inside a little too enthusiastically, it turns out that my former "£900 gaming pc" was unaccountably fitted with a motherboard so unreliable they don't make them any more.

Sadly I was only able to find exactly one (reliable) motherboard with both a compatible CPU socket and form factor (where the screws go in). Still, at least there's someone not too shady selling them cheap on eBay.

Oh wait, my Dad, in that helpful fatherly way, wants to make it known that he doesn't want me refitting a motherboard under his roof. In case, you know, I accidentally set fire to the carpet in the process of twisting in four (4) screws. And then proceed to stare at the blaze, slack-jawed, while it consumes the house. As any family unit knows, age trumps logic in an argument, and as a compromise, my father said he'll pay half the fees if I take it to a shop that my Dad's "mate told him was alright once". High praise indeed.

Bit of a weird compromise though; considering we'll both end up paying more money, I'll have to wait twice as long for my PC, and Dad has to ferry back and forth to a shop 20 miles away.

Oh, the stinging, first-world injustice.

Anyway, since all my work is on my personal PC and I can't install any software on this one, anyone got any browser games capable of distracting me for a full two weeks?
Total Comments 33

Comments

MA's Avatar
ever played Pandemic 2? i think that's the title. you play the role of an infection, and at the beginning you must choose what kind of infection. your main goal is to infect the entire human race without being somehow destroyed or 'cured'.

you can start out as either a parasite, virus or bacteria. each has it's own strengths and weaknesses. for example: a virus has a high infection rate but is also likely to get spotted easier. parasites are more subtle but take much longer to grow/evolve/adapt. bacteria is somewhere in the middle.

over time people get infected and you earn points, which you can spend on symptoms, immunities, resistances, all that stuff. but then people start closing ports and tossing out deadlines for new vaccines that might not even work, and the game suddenly becomes a lot harder. i've never completed it. closest i got was a few thousand left in south America and Japan or somewhere like that. they were all that was left of the entire planet but my bug starved because both regions weren't letting anything in or out. so after killing time for hours on this game i ended up dying the slowest and most irritating death i have ever had the joy to repress.

that shit aside, it's an alright game.
Posted 09-07-2013 at 04:49 PM by MA

DarkHoodness's Avatar
I'd suggest playing period games on your period computer to keep you tied over if that thing supports booting into MS DOS - There's a bunch of good shareware demos here (Commander Keen, Crystal Caves, Raptor, Wacky Wheels are all good). More stuff here. Primitive, but still fun.
(Yay for DOSbox allowing me to run these things on Win 7 when I feel all nostalgic 'n shit)
Posted 09-07-2013 at 05:03 PM by DarkHoodness

Wings of Fire's Avatar
:
ever played Pandemic 2? i think that's the title. you play the role of an infection, and at the beginning you must choose what kind of infection. your main goal is to infect the entire human race without being somehow destroyed or 'cured'.
Fuck Madagascar.
Posted 09-07-2013 at 05:17 PM by Wings of Fire

MA's Avatar
i wiped those fuckers out. gave my bug a resistance to heat, or the ability to thrive in it. either way they were all puking up their internal organs and shitting out their teeth by the end.

about DOSbox: Eye Of The Beholder II and Crystal Dragon.

also Settlers.

and Ork Attack.

Lemmings.

Valhalla.

Lost Vikings.

Superfrog.

Dizzy (whateverthefuck that thing was supposed to be).

nostalgia overload
Posted 09-07-2013 at 05:29 PM by MA
Updated 09-07-2013 at 05:35 PM by MA

OddjobAbe's Avatar
Get Battle Chess.
Posted 09-07-2013 at 05:34 PM by OddjobAbe

MA's Avatar
get Chinese Battle Chess!

seriously i've got it! loads of cool little animations with the chess pieces fighting.

seriously it's good

seriously
Posted 09-07-2013 at 05:39 PM by MA

Jordan's Avatar
You could think about downloading an emulator for an old console. They're not heavy on system requirements, as long as it's pre-N64/PS1.
Posted 09-08-2013 at 02:58 AM by Jordan

OddjobAbe's Avatar
:
get Chinese Battle Chess!

seriously i've got it! loads of cool little animations with the chess pieces fighting.
The pawns actually look like you.
Posted 09-08-2013 at 03:27 AM by OddjobAbe

STM's Avatar
I got into mahjong in the games that come installed on any Windows PC these days. I love the little designs on the tiles, even though I'm not that good. Maybe that's worth a go?

Sly and Fox 1 is my favourite flash game ever, give that a go too!
Posted 09-08-2013 at 03:31 AM by STM

Crashpunk's Avatar
I used to play the absolute shit out of Bubble Tanks. 1 or 2. either or. http://armorgames.com/play/58/bubble-tanks

Also doesn't Minecraft still run in a browser?
Posted 09-08-2013 at 04:42 AM by Crashpunk

Wings of Fire's Avatar
Minesweeper is endless fun

Endless

Fun
Posted 09-08-2013 at 08:51 AM by Wings of Fire

Havoc's Avatar
:
I accidentally set fire to the carpet in the process of twisting in four (4) screws.
That's amazing. Can't blame your dad for not trusting you with electronics again.
Posted 09-08-2013 at 01:41 PM by Havoc

Vyrien's Avatar
Fucking chess titans. That shit is hard.

Also I wasted many an hour on Planet Racer and DanBall when I was younger.
Posted 09-08-2013 at 03:38 PM by Vyrien

Manco's Avatar
Everyone knows Solitaire is where the party be at, yo
Posted 09-09-2013 at 03:52 AM by Manco

MeechMunchie's Avatar
Havoc once again proves he doesn't actually read anything he replies to.

I am this close to getting back into MechQuest
Posted 09-09-2013 at 06:52 AM by MeechMunchie

Bullet Magnet's Avatar
The best Pandemic was the neurax worm. Basically a brain parasite that alters behaviour and thought processes. Eventually I was able to have people deliberately fly planes into uninfected areas, establish clinics to deliberately infest people, and ban hats. You can win without killing everyone: instead I got the entire planet to worship the worm. Death would be preferable.
Posted 09-09-2013 at 10:58 AM by Bullet Magnet

Phylum's Avatar
If you're going the DOSBox route bust out Rayman.

You know you want to.
Posted 09-10-2013 at 06:18 AM by Phylum

MeechMunchie's Avatar
Hey guys remember that bit when I said I couldn't install any sofware

This isn't my computer. No Admin priveliges.

Not even Unity! I'd be all over Broken Dimensions if I could.

Man, I wish Drome Racing Challenge was still a thing. Phylum, if you ever feel like taking up coding in Flash, how'd you like to help me make a Facebook game and become morally bankrupt millionaires?
Posted 09-10-2013 at 06:33 AM by MeechMunchie

Phylum's Avatar
Download a java frontend. No installer required.
Posted 09-10-2013 at 06:53 AM by Phylum

MeechMunchie's Avatar
Yeah, Drome Racing Challenge was pretty great.

It was like a randomly generated multiplayer Wacky Races. With Lego. Brilliant!
Posted 09-10-2013 at 08:11 AM by MeechMunchie
Updated 09-10-2013 at 08:16 AM by MeechMunchie

MA's Avatar
i tried to install a floppy drive into one of my many previous rag-tag tower systems. i did something wrong and the plastic melted off the wiring inside the tower, killing my computer. there was smoke everywhere. my room was like a computer graveyard back then.

obviously Havoc never made mistakes like that and so never learnt from them. he's content to be an idiot.

preparing for predictable comeback in 3
Posted 09-10-2013 at 09:51 AM by MA
Updated 09-10-2013 at 09:54 AM by MA

DarkHoodness's Avatar
:
Hey guys remember that bit when I said I couldn't install any sofware

This isn't my computer. No Admin priveliges.
I thought you couldn't install software 'cause of an obsolete OS.

:
i tried to install a floppy drive into one of my many previous rag-tag tower systems. i did something wrong and the plastic melted off the wiring inside the tower, killing my computer.
I didn't think the power going to a floppy drive was enough to be able to do that.
Posted 09-10-2013 at 03:32 PM by DarkHoodness

OddjobAbe's Avatar
:
I didn't think the power going to a floppy drive was enough to be able to do that.
He probably just dropped his cigarette in it without noticing.
Posted 09-10-2013 at 03:41 PM by OddjobAbe

MA's Avatar
:
I didn't think the power going to a floppy drive was enough to be able to do that.
i don't think the power was going to the floppy drive, at least not the 'correct' power, the drive itself was fine afterwards. what i might have done is route the power into an accidental loop, but what i know for certain is i plugged at least one lead into the wrong port. when i turned on the power and booted the computer it started smoking and crackling. it was fucked from that point on, motherboard fried, only good for parts.

:
He probably just dropped his cigarette in it without noticing.
you may have a point there.
Posted 09-10-2013 at 05:58 PM by MA

AlexFili's Avatar
In terms of stability, my Windows 7 OS has been so much more reliable than my old XP version. I personally wouldn't keep an old PC just to play old games, but then I'm really excited about modern games.

All of the releases on Steam and GOG have worked virtually perfectly and I can play my old favourite classics like Theme Hospital, Dungeon Keeper and Magic Carpet. If your favourite games are missing from GOG you can add it to the wishlist and if possible they will try and release that game in the future.
Posted 09-11-2013 at 02:43 AM by AlexFili

Wings of Fire's Avatar
That's nice.
Posted 09-11-2013 at 03:10 AM by Wings of Fire

Phylum's Avatar
I think that was worse than Havoc's post.
Posted 09-11-2013 at 03:26 AM by Phylum

MeechMunchie's Avatar
Posted 09-17-2013 at 08:23 AM by MeechMunchie

Phylum's Avatar
I don't even need to download the Shockwave plugin to remeber that one. Ah, so many good memories.

Do you remember the Bionicle point-and-click adventure game that was too buggy to finish?
Posted 09-17-2013 at 07:04 PM by Phylum

MeechMunchie's Avatar
Mata Nui Online Game was a classic.

Mata Nui Online Game II... not so much.

Voya Nui Online Game was fun for what it was, if you'd never played a real JRPG before.
Posted 09-18-2013 at 08:05 AM by MeechMunchie

 






 
 
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