Lost and forgotten (except by us)

[felipepepe]

I remember my old gaming buddy used to have a copy of this game, but it's a hard game to find these days. Not on GOG or any of the major Abandonware sites, not even on Steam.

IIRC, The Iso Zone has the full game.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I also have a full physical copy of the game, everything included except the box itself.

(PM me if you're interested.)

EDIT: No longer available.

 

[octavius]

Thanks, but I think I'll try the version felipepepe pointed me towards.

I was thinking of seeing if it was available on the Bay, but that seems to be troubled waters now...

Also, I'm surprised that it's not on Myabandonware. I'm used to them serving all my abandonware needs (Abandonia is better for support and discussion, though). I see they even have the NOLF games, which are somewhat of Holy Grails to GOGers who are too ethical for abandonware.

 

[fastjack]

I remember I bought the strategy guide to Birthright as a kid since I couldn't find (or afford probably) the game and I went there to buy the Birthright campaign box (turned out to be an expansion and I didn't have DnD anyway). When I eventually bought the game on ebay a few years later I was a little disappointed but I still admire the game for the ambitious scope.

 

[octavius]

I remember my old gaming buddy used to have a copy of this game, but it's a hard game to find these days. Not on GOG or any of the major Abandonware sites, not even on Steam.

IIRC, The Iso Zone has the full game.

I finally got it (the unpatched version, at least) working.
Turned out I had to import the ISO file itself into D-Fend Reloaded. I don't know if there's an easier way to install it. The Windows version won't work on my Win 7 64 bit system unless I use Virtual Box, which is more cumbersome than DosBox.
Since the ISO file does not include patches I extracted all the files, extracted the patch files and them zipped the whole thing and imported into D-Fend Reloaded, but it won't start without the ISO file (complains about CD missing).
So I tried to make a new ISO file with Magic ISO Maker, but the trial version will only make files up to 300 MB.

I'm not sure if the game is worth the trouble of installing it...Maybe I should just wait until GOG gets it.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Turned out I had to import the ISO file itself into D-Fend Reloaded. I don't know if there's an easier way to install it. The Windows version won't work on my Win 7 64 bit system unless I use Virtual Box, which is more cumbersome than DosBox.

Have you tried using Microsoft Virtual PC? I was able to install Windows 95 on that and play Faery Tale Adventure II: Halls of the Dead (1997) without any problems.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

4D Sports Boxing (Mindscape, 1991)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_Sports_Boxing
Used to play this a lot back in the day. Game had character customization, several camera angles to choose from (including first person from players or opponents point of view), taunts and career mode, though I never have beaten The Champ.


Triplane Turmoil (Dodekaetron Software, 1996)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplane_Turmoil_series
Finnish shareware game. Sidescrolling flying game with focus on dogfighting though you could also use bombs as air-to-air weapons.
It had 6 mission campaign for each of the factions (Finland, Germany, Japan and England) and 2-4 player multiplayer mode with teams or deathmatch.

 

[DwarvenFood]

4D Sports Boxing (Mindscape, 1991)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4D_Sports_Boxing
Used to play this a lot back in the day. Game had character customization, several camera angles to choose from (including first person from players or opponents point of view), taunts and career mode, though I never have beaten The Champ.

I played that one to death as well, loved the "money for nothing" style polygon characters, and the different views you could play this in, first person, various angles, TV view that's moving around all the time (IIRC). Though I also never beat The Champ - my fighter always had to retire due to old age two or three fights before I got to the top.

Funny enough, I never had the chance to play 4D Sports Tennis. 4D Sports Driving (Stunts) I did play ofc, to death and beyond.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I played that one to death as well, loved the "money for nothing" style polygon characters, and the different views you could play this in, first person, various angles, TV view that's moving around all the time (IIRC). Though I also never beat The Champ - my fighter always had to retire due to old age two or three fights before I got to the top.

I tried the match against The Champ several times; always got beaten, those perfect stats were just too much for me.
Won second highest ranked dude several times.
Trick in the career mode was to skip as many opponents as possible on the first third of the ranking, to alleviate the aging problem.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

A few months back I mentioned how I know of only one game that allows for playing in the second person perspective - you seeing the game through the eyes of the enemy.

That game is 4D Sports Boxing, and there were guys playing it back in the day that preferred that perspective.

Has there really been a boxing game released that equalled or surpassed 4D Sports Boxing, in terms of customization, options and versatility?

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I'm going to show my age here, but I really wish there would be a modern remake of Mail Order Monsters. I didn't think anyone else remembered this game, back from when Electronic Arts was cool.

Matt Chat is the only one I know who ever covered the game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzPT9xLhc2I

 

[Sykar]

The greatest classic of all times no one under the age of 30 remembers:



Which I played on my very own Atari 2600.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I like the fact that despite there being dozens of dedicated consoles released that played nothing but Pong and variants upon it, people can say "no one under the age of 30 remembers" about the game...and be right.

 

[sullynathan]

pong is popamole anyway

 

[Sykar]

pong is pongamole anyway

/fixed

 

[Monk]

Mentioned previously, and recently in this article:

"How a forgotten ’80s gem created the formula for video game horror"

http://www.avclub.com/article/how-forgotten-80s-gem-created-formula-video-game-h-244009

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Airborne Ranger (Microprose, 1987)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_Ranger

Probably the granddaddy of somewhat realistic military shooters.
Although it would be classified as rogue-lite nowadays (would be quite good too, if something was done to fix enemy spawning to something less immersion breaking.)
Game was presented as top down shooter, but it was mission based (destroy building, rescue POW, etc). Player had to choose equipment and decide what load out use in mission and what would go to containers that would be dropped into (procedurally generated) level.
It also had rudimentary stealth mechanics, so knifing enemies was advisable.



edit.
It had a sequel Special Forces that wasn't as good.

 

[Lady_Error]

Mentioned previously, and recently in this article:

"How a forgotten ’80s gem created the formula for video game horror"

http://www.avclub.com/article/how-forgotten-80s-gem-created-formula-video-game-h-244009

Xenophobe on the Atari 2600 had similar gameplay and story even earlier.

 

[pippin]

Two games I remember from a very old demo cd:

Urban Assault - FPP and Strategy mix from 1998



Hellbender -Descent clone apparently

 

[WizFiz]

Had to signup to give my props to Unkillable Cat on Street Rod, unfortunately, that was long forgotten, but no longer.

And here is my addition:

Jet (1985) by subLOGIC

I remember having no clue what to do, but I did enjoy taking off then crashing to see what I thought was amazing effects.. how far we have come.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Thanks for that. Looking at Jet, that looks pretty advanced considering it's 1985. Earlier in this thread I bring up The Dambusters from the year before, and this blows that out of the water.

Seeing as we're into old vehicle simulators, I want to present one of the earliest PC-exclusive titles - Flightmare.

Here's the plot:

And here's the overview map. The airplanes on the right represent your lives and starting point. The purple blob is a blimp you can refuel from in mid-air, the building is one of the factories you must protect, and the approaching vehicles represent the "waves" of enemies you must destroy.

Once you pilot your plane over to an enemy, the view changes to this:

Welcome to Abstract Game Design 101. "Normal" flight simulators would have gone about this differently. Flightmare splits the screen into two: The upper screen gives a side-view, the lower screen a bird's eye view.

The bread and butter of the gameplay of Flightmare is to align the plane on both screens so that the baddies can be destroyed. For ground vehicles that's not much of a problem, but when you add in the enemy planes...

Those lines of dots are bullets. Yes, the enemy planes shoot back!

The controls make this game a twin stick shooter, as you use the numeric keypad for controlling one screen and WAXD for the other. Good luck with that, I certainly had enough trouble playing it back then.

Checking online for fan sites, I only found this one, which pays homage to the writing of the game, as well as a handful of YouTube videos.

 

[ghostdog]

, I want to present one of the earliest PC-exclusive titles - Flightmare.

YES! That's probably the first game I ever played. It was in an IBM 8086 along with qbasic gorillas and that game where a frog tries to get to the other side of the road.

 

[WizFiz]

, I want to present one of the earliest PC-exclusive titles - Flightmare.

YES! That's probably the first game I ever played. It was in an IBM 8086 along with qbasic gorillas and that game where a frog tries to get to the other side of the road.

Oh man, QBasic that brings back memories. My first IBM games Gorillas, Nibbles (Snakes) and (don't remember the QBasic name for it) Frogger.

* Gorillas
* Nibbles
* Frogger Can't find the QBasic version for it so the Atari 2600 version will do, man gotta love that intro music.

 

[Barnabas]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pB1NbohEvKw

 

[octavius]

Anyone played Ancient Evil, an obscure (I found only one mention of it on the Codex) Diablo clone from 1998?