greylord

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/02/12/fall-of-the-empire-how-inner-turmoil-brought-down-a-legendary-studio.aspx

On the note of old games and laptops...one of my all time favorite RTS games was Conquest:Frontier Wars. It worked on all versions of Windows until Win8. If anyone knows of a fan patch or otherwise which allows it to run and play the game...I'd love it.

Yep, I'm using the Newer Warcraft 2 version that uses the windows installers. I used to have the older version of Warcraft 2, but got rid of it since up until recently (even with Win 7) the Windows version worked fine and was easier for me in all ways. Now it installs, but doesn't play...even with the 8.1 update. I had no idea that Blizzard had released a new version of the original StarCraft on battle.net. Is it free? Or do I have to purchase a game I own on CD all over again? I've been trying to play off CD...and even with patches it doesn't run of Win 8. There doesn't seem to be any fan patches for it either...perhaps that's due to the battle.net thing you mentioned? The only SFC I've gotten working is SFC 3, but I think some interaction between my drivers and the vidcards is doing something weird...everything shows...but shows UPSIDE down in Win 8. The other SFC versions don't work for me on either of my Win 8 machines. Dominion Wars of course doesn't work on Win 8, did on Win 7. Same goes for Diablo (with fan patch, worked on all comps, not just one), and several other games from the early windows days (95-99) that I have.

Some of the games had tricks to get them running or fan patches for Win7. Can't get the original StarCraft to run in Win8, nor Dominion Wars, or some of the Civ games, and Warcraft 2 is very hard to get up and running. Diablo has the multicolor thing going...which had a fix in Win 7, but that fix was disabled in Win 8 and Win 8.1 so you can't fix it any more. Starfleet command also does not work anymore, no idea why as it did work with Win 7, but can't get it started with Win 8. I can't get the Lucasarts games to run for the most part, they had a patch to get them working under Win 7, but that doesn't work for Win 8, so no Xwing Alliance. However, it could also be a driver issue for some games. I was able to get Diablo to run on an HP computer with Win 8...but that computer is NOT a gaming laptop...so doesn't have the best card to play with and only about 6 RAM. I was also able to get one old Lucasarts game to run, Xwing vs. Tie Fighter of the Master CD. Overall, most o the other games I can't get running and don't know of anyone or fans that have made patches to do so...unlike Win 7 which had patches to get most of the older games running.

Hmm, with AD&D, OD&D, BECMI I always played homebrew worlds...so couldn't really say. I guess for AD&D for me it would have been Dragonlance or OA if anything. Maybe Greyhawk. For 2e it was definitely Forgotten Realms For 3e/3.5...hmmm...once again more homebrew. For 4e it was Dark Sun. The way they wrote it, it was about perfect for the way they designed DS4e. for Pathfinder, it's Golarion...of course.

Unlike some of you, I love AD&D. Love it more than 3e (AKA D20 D&D), love it more than 4e, in fact, love it just about more than any other RPG system other than possibly BECMI.

I do. I travel a lot...so yes, I look at what the specs on my laptop is because it will be a gaming laptop. Luckily, over the past year or two have had NO trouble with games myself, at least current games. My problems lie with Win8 and legacy games. I have had major problems getting some of the older games to run on Win8.

I can't stand the Elder Scrolls games, the older and farther back you get, the worst they get. Planescape was simply too hard for me, probably because combat sucked (story was good though). My favorite IE game was IWD w/ XP Railroad me in a CRPG...I can't guess what you are thinking half the time...so simply tell me plainly. Are those blasphemous enough?

Ummm, you may be right...but at least 50% of the time it's targeted towards primates...as Tale pointed out. Afterall...I'm a primate and most of my buds are too...and if the games are targeted towards us and them...well...... I suppose we all can't be technologically advanced aliens from unknown evolutionary backgrounds with tentacles and nodules for appendages from the far reaches of space who possess super highly intelligent brains. I know that may be the majority that wander these boards... but for those of us who are from Planet earth...the majority who play video games are human...aka...a type of primate native to the Planet Earth (though there are some other animals...sometimes even those kept as pets...who also play these games).

I think there's a few people out there that have that exact same sentiment currently.

Well, not the typical JRPG, going to give Dragon's crown a whirl. More of a side scroller, but I hear it has some RPG elements, ala the D&D side scrolling games they had in the late 90s or early 00s (can't ever recall exactly when those were released). Actually I hear they are weightier in the RPG elements that that, more a Diablo lite style.

I have no nostalgia for duck tales. However, I did just order Dragon's Crown. It should be around by the weekend, or so I hope. I tried going to the gamestores, but they were all sold out. So I ordered it. Looks like it could be fun.

Oh, but EA will produce (under the Bioware banner) Dragon Age 3 and another Mass Effect game...and you'll be suckered to buy at least one of those!!! I figure I'll at least be suckered to buy at least one of those (more likely DA3, though to tell the truth I have enjoyed ME better...but that series seems to be on the downhill slope to straight TPS with no RP, while it appears they may be making a much harder and stronger effort on DA3 than they did no DA2).

Jade Empire has SecuRom? I have Jade Empire, the Special Edition. I don't recall any internet junk with it going on. Are there different versions of Jade Empire that they sold, some with Securom and others without it?

See, and this is why Iwata-san deserves a bow. I had no intention of buying a Wii-U...but a company that actually values it's employees!!! WOW!!! That's enough to support them regardless.

If I understood correctly, there is a folder options that you can access by going to the control panel, or in the upper corner of the bar/ribbon thing which you can customize the folder settings.

It's not just the superiority of PC as a platform, it's that PC is a more progressive market, especially with the onset of digital distribution, something consoles have been woefully slow to embrace. Everyone, from developers to customers, have more options on PC. It's the console business models that are outdated, out moded, and not really good for the industry as a whole. Well, Microsoft wanted to embrace it fully...the only problem is that all those people that didn't migrate to it on PC...and are playing consoles...sort of threw a hissy fit in regards to it... For some reason it's not that Console makers don't want to migrate (at least MS seems to want to) it's that the customers don't want to. which could begger the question...is the console business model really outdated and outmoded yet...or not?

I'm actually supposed to be enjoying the great outdoors with family right now, and only have the Win 7 machine, but if you haven't gotten an answer I should be able to see how to on my Win8 machine by this weekend. I think it should be as simple as going to the properties view and modifying it there. I know the VLC and Media players still work that way in the view, so I imagine the folders would as well, but as I said, don't have the laptop on me right now...instead having to do the grilling for a picnic...

Just wanted to say, from what I've narrowed it down from, in many Ways Win8 builds on Win7 and SHOULD (should being the key word) be just as compatible with programs as Win7. MS seems to have introduced some weird protocols (anti-piracy or something) that actually prevents some programs from running right, even with compatibility on. I have NO idea who the idiot at MS was that thought such a move was such a good idea. Even worse, unless you hack their program (which WILL invalidate their agreement with you if I read right) and disable the way they made the items (if you try to shut it down without hacking, it will give you the option to either leave it on and keep going, or shutdown, no other options that I can see), there is no way to turn that program off. Which is sad, you SHOULD have compatibility, but because of stupid decisions on MS's part, they decreased the compatibility for absolutely no good reason on a program that actually HAS the ability to be compatible, but is prevented from BEING compatible because they programed it to purposefully NOT be compatible with some items. But if you don't mind hacking the program out, pretty much everything should still be compatible...just be aware that you'll be voiding your license with MS if you do so... Hence why I haven't and instead still have a WinXP and Win7 machine for those programs...which sucks because Win8 COULD do it if MS wasn't so stupid with how they've handled it. PS: AS for the interface, as stated previously, once you get over the initial shock, it isn't bad and there are some good advantages to it, especially if you have enough money to get a touch screen for your desktop or laptop. Even without them however...it's still useful as I can arrange it like the desktop, but with the ability to zoom out and in I have a LOT more space for a LOT more icons if I so desire...and don't have to clutter the actual desktop with them if I don't want. I've only really run into one instance where I couldnt kill a program (even with a force pid kill from cmd) otherwise ive been able to do just about anything. Typically it may require adding the user account to higher integrated security tiers but thats about it in my case. I also havent had to hack any of my programs to get them to run so I am not sure what programs you are speaking of, nor use compat mode really. The only thing I initially had issues with was the drivers for nvidia hd sound and also creative labs drivers, they would sometimes crash or not recognize audio devices. A couple weeks in that was remedied however. Beyond that all of my work apps, personal or games have worked fine -shrug even running a VM to host an old win2k3 server has worked fine and actually memory use overall dropped with a more stable platform for it, so thats been great. There are TON of the applications/processes running which refuse to be killed with the Win8 I've been running, which stinks. I use compat mode a LOT though, as I run programs from the entire gamut of the past several years. A lot of the engineering and accounting programs which graphically have the drivers working fine, but have win8 running compatibility constriction programs are the ones which are the most serious, hence why I may have the Win8 laptop, but no way our business is going to upgrade. If MS is so worried about selling their programs or whatever so that they invalidate what we need working for business...well...we skipped vista...we can skip win8 also. On the otherhand, I have to say I haven't had a single problem with drivers yet, all the drivers I've had thus far seem to work wonderfully...different experiences I guess.

I'm not certain I understand the question. Unless it's a "vital" program as determined by MS (not the admin) you close it the same way you would in previous versions of Windows. If it refuses, you can always ctrl+alt+del it just like you could always do previously. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you are asking?

Just wanted to say, from what I've narrowed it down from, in many Ways Win8 builds on Win7 and SHOULD (should being the key word) be just as compatible with programs as Win7. MS seems to have introduced some weird protocols (anti-piracy or something) that actually prevents some programs from running right, even with compatibility on. I have NO idea who the idiot at MS was that thought such a move was such a good idea. Even worse, unless you hack their program (which WILL invalidate their agreement with you if I read right) and disable the way they made the items (if you try to shut it down without hacking, it will give you the option to either leave it on and keep going, or shutdown, no other options that I can see), there is no way to turn that program off. Which is sad, you SHOULD have compatibility, but because of stupid decisions on MS's part, they decreased the compatibility for absolutely no good reason on a program that actually HAS the ability to be compatible, but is prevented from BEING compatible because they programed it to purposefully NOT be compatible with some items. But if you don't mind hacking the program out, pretty much everything should still be compatible...just be aware that you'll be voiding your license with MS if you do so... Hence why I haven't and instead still have a WinXP and Win7 machine for those programs...which sucks because Win8 COULD do it if MS wasn't so stupid with how they've handled it. PS: AS for the interface, as stated previously, once you get over the initial shock, it isn't bad and there are some good advantages to it, especially if you have enough money to get a touch screen for your desktop or laptop. Even without them however...it's still useful as I can arrange it like the desktop, but with the ability to zoom out and in I have a LOT more space for a LOT more icons if I so desire...and don't have to clutter the actual desktop with them if I don't want.

And what's the added value except being slightly more effective with SSDs and memory? I'd like to hear the answer to this question as well. Upgrading carries a lot of potential driver and compatibility related issues that haven't yet been exposed through regular use. Certain costs are incurred as well. A new above average configuration today runs programs and games at top speeds (my 6 year old machine is pretty fast, I can only imagine what a newer PC with a better CPU and SSD is like) on the generally stable Windows 7. Why would anyone need/want Windows 8 in the foreseeable future? I got a spare laptop when Win8 first came out. Curse my unlucky stars. I've been using it a lot. You think compatibility is bad with Vista...NOTHING works with win8 (okay, that's an exaggeration, but really...I think half of what they did was see what worked with WinXP, then Win7, and say...let's break the compatibility mode for anyone who doesn't have ultimate...and then we'll only break half the compatibility modes. After using the start interface, I'm not certain what all the complaints are about with the Metro window or whatever they want to call it. I like it, it's sort of a cross between the desktop and start bar, except you can zoom out and zoom in to specific panels if you want. I don't mind that so much...I do mind that it's harder to shut programs down and configure it as you like. In addition, even with Administrative privileges it does NOT allow you to shut down programs you want to. Instead, if it doesn't agree with your decision, it will say shutting off such and such can cause instability and then offer to either shutdown, or let it run. I'm the friggin admin...I should be allowed to shut down what I think should be shut down and let the consequences follow...especially since I tracked some of their non-compatibility with specific programs designed to stop certain types of programs from running...and other such nonsense. In addition, some of their "necessary" programs running in the background are stealthily eating my memory and other areas...which upsets me to no end, especially since some of them serve no other purpose then to open certain other programs should you desire or connect in through to the internet with a program. In otherwords, they made Win8 more intrusive, less able to be modified, and basically one big ad to try to convince you to buy new software. It still works with some games normally, others if you are willing to play around with the compatibility settings, and then...you just have the annoying portions. So, whether it has a start bar or not doesn't matter as much to me as a LOT of other problems I have with Win8. The new search that for the control panel...hopefully it's easier then the old search for the control panel Win8 has had...and their idea of trying to combine MSconfig, Taskbar, and Ctrl+alt+del is nothing but fail in my book. My advice...stay as far far far away from Win8 as possible. Get an Apple if you have to, but stay away from Win8.

Definitely getting the FFX/X-2 remake as well. Also, if you are into the Tales series... don't Forget Tales of Symphonia Chronicles supposedly coming out early next year also.

If I recall correctly... Jordon won best NBA defensive player...which probably indicates he was a tad better at a lot of other things than just shooting... MJ I think had more skill overall. Lebron is just big...a very skillful big...but still big. Jordon probably could outmaneuver Lebron...because he'd have to...otherwise Lebron would run him over. Lebron is good, but I think skillswise...Jordon was better. Then again, as someone already mentioned...winning is a TEAM effort...not just one guy. Jordon may have been the best there ever was, and is...but he'd have gone nowhere without Pippen AND THE OTHER members of the Team. Same with Lebron...we saw him in Cleveland...without the team...he'd not be winning as much or as well. Lebron, Jordon, or any other star, in the end it doesn't matter how good you are...you can't win on your own...it needs to be a good, cohesive team...and a good, cohesive team will always win against the one man band.

I think it's telling that people who like DS3 sort of indicate that it is not like the other two and that's a good thing. If you make a sequel, normally you want it enough like the others before it that the fans of the originals...will still be fans of the new. Even if it's a GREAT game...making the old fans unhappy because the game is different then the old games normally stimulates the old fans to give you bad word of mouth...and that's never good. Unless of course, you are Bethesda and are making FO3...then for some reason you bring bank.