Playing Old PC Games in 4K

Parts(pun intended) of the 1st two Dead Space games can be pretty fun in 4k(more so the 2nd) too. Main problem I have with them is the constant back tracking re-hasing of each level. Lot a of fun otherwise.
 
I recently played through NOLF and NOLF2 in 4k and it worked quite well!

Some of the GUI elements were messed up, but it was still playabale, and I suspect this had more to do with wide screen than 4k.

I also played through the original Deus Ex not TOO long ago, but I can't remember if that was on my 4k screen or if it was on my 2560x1600 screen.
 
jnemesh said:
Someone needs to get "Tie Fighter" running at 4k! :)
Click to expand...

Not going to happen with pre-DirectX/Direct 3D titles.

You might get DOSBox to do some clever upscaling, but I'm going to go ahead and guess that it is probably more enjoyable in it's original 256 color 320x240 :p
 
exiled350 said:
Crysis at 4k... The only way to kill a video card faster than mining on it.
Click to expand...

Nebell said:
Except that, you know, mining doesn't kill video cards faster than gaming. My mining cards run at about 50-55C
Click to expand...

This.

I'm not a fan of mining, but it doesn't negatively affect the lifespan of GPU's in any way.

GPU's are designed to run hot and with heavy loads, and unless something else is wrong (Like Nvidias solder issue on the G84-G92 chips) even if heavily loaded with mining, the GPU's will still be functionally obsolete long before they cease functioning.

Unless you volt mod them, that is. With volt modding all bets are off.
 
oROEchimaru said:
I did Ultima Online
Click to expand...


ahhh, UO. man i loved that game. it also gave me one of my funniest, to me at least, video game chats in public moments.. Me and my bro were out in public and chatting about what we were planning on doing for our next session and i said aloud.. Im going to spend some time naked tonight standing in the bushes playing my flute..

hahaha, and that was overheard by someone who had no idea of the context.. and gave me a HOLY SHIT you weirdo look..

it was something you would do to raise one of your stats.. standing around auto playing a instrument.


Anyways, yeah it was a good game, and they totally lost on opportunity to keep expanding the game.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I recently played through NOLF and NOLF2 in 4k and it worked quite well!

Some of the GUI elements were messed up, but it was still playabale, and I suspect this had more to do with wide screen than 4k.

I also played through the original Deus Ex not TOO long ago, but I can't remember if that was on my 4k screen or if it was on my 2560x1600 screen.
Click to expand...

NOLF2...still on my short list of greatest PC games ever made.

I still laugh and giggle almost the same as I did the first time playing through the tricycle sequence. (Heavy Scottish accent): "I'll drive...you shoot". I was like "holy shit, I'm shooting a machine gun...at bad guys...in centuries old streets...on the back of a tricycle being pedaled by a mammoth...this game hilariously rules!"
 
N4CR said:
Wish this could be done with ff7 and ff8. Do you think it's possible? Square said no and made that whatever thing with ff8 name that's nothing like it...
Click to expand...

well they actually recompiled a new engine using modern libraries... it is possible but would probably get shut down
 
katanaD said:
ahhh, UO. man i loved that game. it also gave me one of my funniest, to me at least, video game chats in public moments.. Me and my bro were out in public and chatting about what we were planning on doing for our next session and i said aloud.. Im going to spend some time naked tonight standing in the bushes playing my flute..

hahaha, and that was overheard by someone who had no idea of the context.. and gave me a HOLY SHIT you weirdo look..

it was something you would do to raise one of your stats.. standing around auto playing a instrument.


Anyways, yeah it was a good game, and they totally lost on opportunity to keep expanding the game.
Click to expand...


oh yea those were the days! now you need to be macro l33t and the client is out of date. that game has a special place in my heart
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
This.

I'm not a fan of mining, but it doesn't negatively affect the lifespan of GPU's in any way.

GPU's are designed to run hot and with heavy loads, and unless something else is wrong (Like Nvidias solder issue on the G84-G92 chips) even if heavily loaded with mining, the GPU's will still be functionally obsolete long before they cease functioning.

Unless you volt mod them, that is. With volt modding all bets are off.
Click to expand...

e37.png
 
lostin3d said:
I actually did some testing with 1, 2, 3, and Warhead about a month or so in 4k and 1440p/3d with max settings on all games. Didn't have any UI issues. Their AA settings can still cause a dent in FPS. Thankfully they always committed to SLI support so my 1080's easily held 60+ for Warhead, 2 and 3. Cryengine 1 doesn't seem to optimize as well. Hitting that nail with my SLI or TI rigs still had some issues in terms of 60+ with max settings. It wasn't horrible by any means but I got the feeling that engine just wasn't utilizing all that modern cards can offer, unlike Cryengine 2 or 3.

Visually all of them gain in going to 4k. Most vegetation and armor textures just get better. Faces, meh, they improve but not hugely or at least not as much as the other textures. Either way these games do continue to age well.

edit: If anyone knows of a vram hack for Crysis 1 I think that might help performance. It seems capped around 2-4GB. Similar for ram as well. Original was mostly 32bit, I found ways to run it in 64bit but it got pretty buggy.
Click to expand...
FSAA was actually supposed to be on its way out when DirectX 10 came around, as deferred rendering and a larger focus on pixels over polygons came into play. Traditional AA methods never played well with any game fully utilizing the DirectX 10 renderer.

You need Windows 10 1709 or later to get around the VRAM issue. The game should not have that problem running in DirectX 10 mode, though, with either the 32- or 64-bit version.

None of the so-called "patches" for 64-bit really work. You really need the original retail DVD to get the 64-bit version. Last time I played through it with the retail version it ran flawlessly in Windows 8.1. For some reason the 32-bit version stutters like mad. I don't know why 64-bit was removed from the digitally distributed version.

And as doubletake mentioned:
doubletake said:
CryEngine 1 is Far Cry; CE2 is Crysis, CE3 is Crysis 2/3.
Click to expand...
 
Too rich for my blood. I cant even get above 60fps on 1440p with my 1070 unless i start turning down stuff. My hopes of going from 30-40fps on medium on 4k to 144fps in 1440p were shattered when my new monitor came in :(
 
naturbo2000 said:
48"? That's not very [H] now, is it?
Click to expand...

My 48" Samsung JS9000 (same as Kyle's) is bloody amazing. The gaming experience is much improved becoming much more immersive (I know overused marketing term, but I can't think of a better one right now) when it fills the entire FOV including peripheral vision infront if you.

It was a little weird at first, but after having gotten used to it, I couldn't go back to a small screen.

It's not perfect though. IMHO, it would be better slightly smaller, maybe ~43"

Also, it would be nice to have a faster refresh than 60hz, but I can live with 60 for now until a 43" 120hz 4k G-Sync screen comes along.

I don't see why you would call it not [H]. I'd argue this is one of the most [H] setups you could have. My nearly 20 years on these forums have lead me to this moment. :p

IMG_20180304_220555.jpg


Why even bother with 4k if you aren't going to go large?
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
My 48" Samsung JS9000 (same as Kyle's) is bloody amazing. The gaming experience is much improved becoming much more immersive (I know overused marketing term, but I can't think of a better one right now) when it fills the entire FOV including peripheral vision infront if you.

It was a little weird at first, but after having gotten used to it, I couldn't go back to a small screen.

It's not perfect though. IMHO, it would be better slightly smaller, maybe ~43"

Also, it would be nice to have a faster refresh than 60hz, but I can live with 60 for now until a 43" 120hz 4k G-Sync screen comes along.

I don't see why you would call it not [H]. I'd argue this is one of the most [H] setups you could have. My nearly 20 years on these forums have lead me to this moment. :p

View attachment 72251

Why even bother with 4k if you aren't going to go large?
Click to expand...

This is like a "birds for scale" post when you see the keyboard and mouse. What are the side monitors, 24"?
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
It's very tough to tell.

You'd be surprised how many people wring their hands about their parts failing prematurely if they run them hard, and refusing to buy used GPU's because they "might have been used for mining, and are used up".
Click to expand...

The post was cooked with a bit of sarcasm and a dash of troll. Nothing more nothing less.
 
nightanole said:
This is like a "birds for scale" post when you see the keyboard and mouse. What are the side monitors, 24"?
Click to expand...

Side screens are the IPS versions of Dell's 20" 1600x1200 2007fp in portrait.

I originally got them like 6 years ago when I had a 30" 2560x1600 Dell U3011 as the were both dirt cheap, and matched the height and pixel density perfectly.

2018-05-08_01-09-53.jpg


My plan was to do PLP widescreen gaming, but it never really worked outside of a few titles, which was unfortunate.

Still got hooked on having the side screens for productivity and displaying hardware info while in game.
 
vegeta535 said:
Pff 4k. Where the 8k at?
Click to expand...

I was very surprised, but Ni No Kuni 2 could actually run at 8k. Well, run isn't exactly the greatest word, but you know what I mean. I'll have to fire up some Quake. But I'm not sure how to actually record 8k video yet.
 
lostin3d said:
I forgot to add that I had just got Rogue Squadron up and running in 1440p a couple of weeks ago. Once I found the weird trick to get the 360 controller to work it was awesome again. Main glitch for it is the AI ships move in a very jittery, spastic kind of way. Otherwise it looks pretty cool.
Click to expand...

OMG! You used "One Weird Trick" to get the 360 controller working? And you didn't even save it for a clickbait website????
 
X79.jpg


Left to right:
The 4k rig(x79)
27" Asus 1080p/120hz/3d
31.9" LG Cinema 4k(4096x2160) 10bit
55" HiSense HDR 4k t.v.
connected via HDMI to a Sony 7.1 receiver @ 24bit/192khz.
 
The only game I can't get working on my 4k TV is Quake 2. Because they declined to include the command line resolution settings (unlike Quake 1).

You have to download a mod just to change the resoluton above 1600x1200.

Luckily, my 4k TV's upscale is so good I can't tell the difference between 1080p and 4k at the TVs viewing distance.
 
Last edited:
defaultluser said:
The only game I can't get working on my 4k TV is Quake 2. Because they declined to include the command line resolution settings (unlike Quake 1).

You have to download a mod just to change the resoluton above 1600x1200.

Luckily, my 4k TV's upscale is so good I can't tell the difference between 1080p and 4k at the TVs viewing distance.
Click to expand...
There's a bunch of engine ports, it's not hard to get it working on 4k with one of those.

Azphira said:
Old games in 4k

Interstate '76: https://i.imgur.com/eijlzG2.jpg
Blood: https://i.imgur.com/xVjVuF9.jpg
Blood II: https://i.imgur.com/qKRw47Y.jpg
Crysis: https://i.imgur.com/1cqIiqS.jpg
Sim City 3000: https://i.imgur.com/I3J6XjO.jpg
Beyond Good and Evil: https://i.imgur.com/Gl6Umx3.jpg
Click to expand...
None of your links work.

EDIT:
Nevermind, had to make it http instead of https.
 
oROEchimaru said:
well they actually recompiled a new engine using modern libraries... it is possible but would probably get shut down
Click to expand...

I wonder if there is a way to get funding from a dedicated fanbase, to anonymous programmers ahem, hint, hint, (with some sort of trusted vetting system) who could get it done.. fuck square. If they don't know who to file a lawsuit on, it's pretty hard to stop. Bit like how the chans work..
Would mean no namefagging or credit to the programmers, hence payment.
Either way I still love the original graphics, something appealing about the lower resolution that your mind fills in the blanks.
 
BloodyIron said:
Btw, if you guys want to jump into quake (1), higher res is just the tip of the iceberg. Look into "dark places". It's an engine overhaul that adds a ludicrous amount of features, and you can also get really awesome high res texture packs to add to that too.

Be careful though, you may lose half a day just fiddling with the settings!

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Same goes with Quake II and the berzerker mod.
 
defaultluser said:
Luckily, my 4k TV's upscale is so good I can't tell the difference between 1080p and 4k at the TVs viewing distance.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you about some t.v.'s upscale abilities. I've seen moderate to minimum upscale improvements via players and receivers but huge differences depending on the t.v. Our living room t.v. is a LG(55UB8500-UA) 55" 4k(10 bit cinema 4k capable)/3d/120hz upscale and it makes just about anything look incredible. Meanwhile the HiSense 55" 4k/HDR I use with my 4k rig only looks great with 4k streams but anything less is a pixelated mess.
 
jnemesh said:
There IS a new Descent game, VR supported too! I dont know how good it is though...I remember I specifically bought a logitech controller with 6DOF for that game though!
Click to expand...

Actually their are 2 new "Descent" games being created right now (one is available pre-release, the other was a kixstarter that was available but i think they cut off availability when they gaot a big studio to pick em up) "Descent Underground" is the better one IMO, and "Overload" both groups own some but not all of the liscenced material......so they are both Descent 4....ish.
 
N4CR said:
I wonder if there is a way to get funding from a dedicated fanbase, to anonymous programmers ahem, hint, hint, (with some sort of trusted vetting system) who could get it done.. fuck square. If they don't know who to file a lawsuit on, it's pretty hard to stop. Bit like how the chans work..
Would mean no namefagging or credit to the programmers, hence payment.
Either way I still love the original graphics, something appealing about the lower resolution that your mind fills in the blanks.
Click to expand...

3d models are different than sprites though. i belive ff7's models are so low grade that they wouldnt look much better in 2k/4k but im sure they would look better to a large extent. then the menus/text would need to be increased for higher res.

ultima online however was 2d sprites.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I don't see why you would call it not [H]. I'd argue this is one of the most [H] setups you could have. My nearly 20 years on these forums have lead me to this moment. :p

Why even bother with 4k if you aren't going to go large?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, that's my point :-P

Gaming here on a 65" Panasonic EZ952 OLED.

Though as you suggest, it's a bit big to sit with my nose pressed against. :-D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top