Any Love For Early IBM PC/Compatibles?

[Retro-Z]

Hello Everyone!

 

I'm surprised to see so few discussions about the early IBM PC/Compatible computers. Sure, they may seem a bit "boring" compared to the C64, Amigas, STs, etc. Nonetheless, I've somehow ended up with a few nice, early PC computers (IBM 5150 and AT&T 6300 WGS) that have proven to be fun to tinker with. I'd love to hear some recommendations for early PC games (early 1980s to early 1990s).

 

So far, most of my retro PC gaming has been with Zyll (one of the only early PC games I have), but I'd love to pick up some additional titles in different genres to show off the capabilities of the classic hardware.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Retro-Z

[Tempest]

If you like Zyll, check out my Zyll page: http://www.atariprotos.com/other/zyll/zyll.htm

[+save2600]

I like the looks of the early IBM's and their keyboards are really nice - but that's about it. Guess if I were to keep such a machine up, probably enjoy playing some text adventures on it. Maybe some space trading and military strategies too.

[+nanochess]

IMHO some of the most fun games for the early IBM PC computers were Digger, Moonbugs, Styx (all three from Windmill Software), King Quest I and II (Sierra), Congo Bongo (Sega)

[high voltage]

My second PC, an HP 386 Vectra. Got one of the first cheap CD drives, Matsumi I think, double speed? Had to nail/tape it to the desk due to it not fitting in the PC.

Played Return to Zork on CD, which was sort of a killer app, people just bought CD drives to just play this game (and Star Wars Rebel Assault). Also played the Gold boxes on PC, once they didn't support C64 anymore. El-Fish was another favourite, and the Sierra Kings Quest series. Another great title is The Fool's Errand, classic game. Stunt Island was always booted up, creating some weird flying stuff. Played all 3 Spellcasting games, those were great. Man 1000s of great PC games from 80s/90s.

 

[82-T/A]

Hell yes there is... I am a huge fan of my 8088 KayPro that my parents bought back in the mid 80s when I was just a kid. I've posted on here a few times, but I tend to get a lot of negative responses or flack for posting about PC compatibles. Not playing the victim card, hahah... but there's some resentment towards the IBM / PC Compatible market here! haha...

[zylon]

I'm still using and playing around with Tandy 1000's. They get forgotten, but still count. Still have my old 1000EX and a resurrected 1000TX. I download old DOS games from Abandonia and make new floppies for them. Forums for these old PC's don't get the traffic that the others do, but there are still many people using these machines even today.

[Opry99er]

TI-99/4A

In order, these were my computers over the years

 

Mac Classic

Mac Performa 6300

Mac Power PC

iMac (blue version)

Win98SE Dell

WinXP Gateway

Asus Win7 laptop

 

 

Nothing after the Performa has any real lasting meaning for me these days

[Retro-Z]

I'm still using and playing around with Tandy 1000's. They get forgotten, but still count. Still have my old 1000EX and a resurrected 1000TX. I download old DOS games from Abandonia and make new floppies for them. Forums for these old PC's don't get the traffic that the others do, but there are still many people using these machines even today.

There's a Tandy 1000TL available nearby for around $100 that sounds nice, complete, and functional, but I don't know if I can rationalize making the room for ANOTHER retro computer system. Those old Tandy 1000s are neat machines, though!!!I'd love to hear your process for transferring the downloaded game files to 5.25" disks!!!

 

I'm sure a LOT of people are playing old PC/Compatible DOS games, they are just most likely using modern hardware and DOSBox. Still, I personally think it's fun to fire up the real thing and play some games off of the 5.25" floppy disks.

 

I'm surprised the old PCs are overlooked here, considering we have subforums for many other classic computer platforms. Guess they don't have quite enough of a "cool" retro factor.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Retro-Z

[boxpressed]

I've found that while early PCs are fun for nostalgic reasons, getiing a good 486 DX-66 (for most DOS games) and a P3 (for Win 98SE games) is a good use of space and resources. I started a thread on this topic about a year ago that you might find interesting:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/226101-anyone-into-dos-win98se-gaming-on-pc/

 

Vogons.org is a great forum to learn about old PC gaming.

[Osgeld]

way back in the day I had a ATT XT clone with a green screen CGA compatible monitor / video card (proprietary of course) dual floppies and a hard disk. I then slapped in an 8 bit sound blaster clone that radio shack used to sell as a "kit" (soundcard unpowered speakers and a crappy joystick) and it was actually a fun little game machine for things that ran on it... which was quite a bit

[Clint Thompson]

I've always had my eye on some ATT at a local thrift shop but never did manage to get it for whatever reason. I think mostly because I already had a dozen different IBM PCs at the time because back then, you could find them cheap as 5-20 bucks - then being the early 90s. I have lusted over the Tandy Sensation in the early 90s as well.... though I know this is outside of really early IBM compatibles. Always wanted one of the earlier Packard Bells as well... but that would've been a goofy, expensive mistake.

[Tempest]

I have three old PCs that I use for gaming

 

1. A decked out IBM PCjr with a jrIDE card

2. A Pentium 200 (IBM PC 350) for DOS and Windows 98

3. A Pentium III (700MHz) for Windows XP

 

I'd like to get my hands on a nice IBM XT or possibly an AT or 486. I have a cool monochrome 5151 monitor that I'd like to use.

[Osgeld]

Yea I have a Pentium MMX laptop that I mess with dos on, though I am seriously thinking of selling it

[BassGuitari]

I like early IBM/PC/DOS systems. I love tinkering with them and rooting around in old hard drives (nothing sinister, I promise!). They're not my go-to game machines, but there are a few early games I like.

I actually picked up a ton of IBM-compatible software that a friend of mine was rummaging off a couple weeks ago. Mostly copies and utility disks (apparently my friend's father was a member of a local PC users' group in the early-mid '80s...she also gave me a bunch of Osborne disks and manuals, but alas, the Osborne was gone long ago), but there were some games in there, many written in BASIC and use ASCII graphics. I even discovered a Pac-Man game that I believe to be a long-lost game from my childhood. Collecting-wise, the most interesting items were CIB original copies of PC-Man and Pits & Stones from Orion Software and an unopened Carmen Sandiego game, but I'm actually partial to the text-based Mario Bros. clone, Ario Bros. That, and the aforementioned Pac-Man game.

Into the 386/EGA era, my favorite games are Duke Nukem, Shrine Of Kroz (shareware version of Kroz), and the infamously broken Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but that one's pretty much a nostalgia trip exclusively; I can barely get to the second level without cheating.

[The Usotsuki]

The first 2 computers I owned were a PCjr and a 5160, so I have some nostalgia for old PCs.

[Tempest]

Zyll is probably my favorite early PC game (hence my page), but I also find the CGA versions of Alley Cat and Defender of the Crown to be my favorites even though I own far superior versions of both. There's also an early monopoly game written in Turbo Pascal that my friend and I would play all the time but unfortunatley it's two players only: http://www.mobygames.com/game/monopoly_

[boxpressed]

My favorite 8088 game was Oubliette by HES / HESWare. I think I played it in 1983. It was a Rogue-like game with ASCII graphics, but it was very rich in content. Lots of character classes. Your character was saved, but if your character died in a dungeon, he or she was really dead. Resurrection was possible, but with a loss of constitution points. The best game of its class, I thought.

 

http://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getgame=oubliette-alt

[Omega-TI]

I don't have room for and old PC machine, but then again DOSBOX I don't need one to play the old games. DOSBOX is a free APP for Google Chrome on the PC, so now I can be online at Atari age, and be playing an old DOS game at the same time, as shown in the screen capture below.

 

[jhd]

Alas, I do not have the space to collect old PC hardware (I did once have an IBM Portable PC, with 5" monitor and dual floppy drives, but it went to a god cause when I was moving), but I rather like the early MS-DOS (if not PC Compatible) systems.

 

Examples include the Tandy 2000, the DEC Rainbow, and several models from Sanyo. The idea was that MS-DOS would be much like CP/M -- the software could run on a variety of similar (but not identical) hardware platforms. Some business software was produced in "generic" MS-DOS format, but PC Clones quickly swept the marketplace.

[Keatah]

The one thing I tended to dislike about the PC in general is that there is/was a lot of ununsed connectors and connection points in any one typical system. Unlabeled test point? Or is it a small stake connector. Not forgetting the seemingly umpteen different ways a connector could be connected, with only one way working. Or how about those blank spots and sockets on the motherboard? What should/could go there? So many untidy straggling things!

[zylon]

There's a Tandy 1000TL available nearby for around $100 that sounds nice, complete, and functional, but I don't know if I can rationalize making the room for ANOTHER retro computer system. Those old Tandy 1000s are neat machines, though!!!I'd love to hear your process for transferring the downloaded game files to 5.25" disks!!!

 

I'm sure a LOT of people are playing old PC/Compatible DOS games, they are just most likely using modern hardware and DOSBox. Still, I personally think it's fun to fire up the real thing and play some games off of the 5.25" floppy disks.

 

I'm surprised the old PCs are overlooked here, considering we have subforums for many other classic computer platforms. Guess they don't have quite enough of a "cool" retro factor.

 

it's really easy after you do it a few times. All you need to start is download WinImage. That program will let you change the format to any disk type you need. Getting my TX working right was the hard part. That one has both a 3.5 and 5.25 drive. I used WinImage to copy to 3.5 720k disks in my PC and then copied those to 5.25's in my TX for use in my other Tandys. I stick with TX and lower as they were the last ones you could use on a regular TV.

An EX or HX would be a good choice for just gaming, but memory expansions not so easy. I got lucky and my EX was upgraded to 640k in the past so it matches my others.

SL and TL were the next series and many had HD's inside. RL was just an SL sold through Wallmart.

[82-T/A]

I'm still using and playing around with Tandy 1000's. They get forgotten, but still count. Still have my old 1000EX and a resurrected 1000TX. I download old DOS games from Abandonia and make new floppies for them. Forums for these old PC's don't get the traffic that the others do, but there are still many people using these machines even today.

 

 

The BEST part about those Tandy computers was the 3-voice polyphony sound. The IBM PC Speaker had 1-voice... but the Tandy had 3. Nearly all of the games in the early 80s took advantage of the extra two voices, and the music sounded way better. I mean, not as good as an Atari or a Commodore's sound chip... but still, for those games, way better.

[The Usotsuki]

SN76489. Same as ColecoVision.

[Seob]

I have a not working commodore pc10-III, need to see if i can fix it.

I also have a p100, with a gus and a nice videocard, and a p233 mmx, with a 12mb monster and a matrox g200.

Love old pc's.