gaming silliness

honegod

honegod

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Aug 31, 2000
Messages
8,327
I used to game, I bought a box with a CD in it, and loaded the game into windows XP.
I could download user made extra levels to install and play offline because I needed the phone line for other stuff.
then I got hit with a wedding ring and all of that went away.
I recently started waking up and built a computer that is MUCH better than the XP box and runs win10.
I went to gamespot or such and was told that I cannot buy CDs to load games onto my computer anymore.
now all gaming must be entirely online by subscription.

I would like to play RtCW quake, unreal tournament, and doom again, the topless elites mod on a 65" screen could be quite fun.
but I am NOT interested in a subscription online.

have I totally missed the bus on this ?
I would pay to do a one time download of the the install file/buy a license, but not an ongoing account.
I got a thumbdrive from newegg with win10 and license for $100ish and would go for something like that.
 
Just download Steam and Epic launchers or installers for Unreal Tournament no sub needed. You have to purchase the games again but I'm sure they are cheap the only games that require subs are Big MMOs like World of Warcraft where they use severs to expand the game.

Those Game Stop people have zero idea what they are talking about they might have been fooling around they do that one time they said my PS4 was broken it wasnt.

Congrats on getting married...

https://store.steampowered.com/about/download

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/download
 
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Most AAA titles nowadays are too large to economically fit onto DVD's and Bluray drives on PC's aren't that prevalent so you are relegated to digital downloads.

I bought the Unreal Tournament series on Steam and Epic, they were one time purchases.
unreal.jpg




Also, the last few physical games I bought was just the box with a slip of paper with a code on it.
IMG_0710.JPG
 
honegod said:
I used to game, I bought a box with a CD in it, and loaded the game into windows XP.
I could download user made extra levels to install and play offline because I needed the phone line for other stuff.
then I got hit with a wedding ring and all of that went away.
I recently started waking up and built a computer that is MUCH better than the XP box and runs win10.
I went to gamespot or such and was told that I cannot buy CDs to load games onto my computer anymore.
now all gaming must be entirely online by subscription.

I would like to play RtCW quake, unreal tournament, and doom again, the topless elites mod on a 65" screen could be quite fun.
but I am NOT interested in a subscription online.

have I totally missed the bus on this ?
I would pay to do a one time download of the the install file/buy a license, but not an ongoing account.
I got a thumbdrive from newegg with win10 and license for $100ish and would go for something like that.
Click to expand...
A subscription isn't required to buy anything online. You just create an account with the launcher(s) of your choosing and buy them like you do anything else. They are yours to "keep" afterward.

The best place to purchase older games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, in my opinion, is GOG. GOG does not require a launcher like most other stores, so you can sign into your account and download the standalone installers to keep. Since you have the installers you don't need to be online to install and use them. GOG does have an optional launcher called Galaxy if you want to use it, but you don't have to use it. GOG also hosts new games if the developer/publisher makes a DRM-free version available.

https://www.gog.com/
 
Armenius said:
You just create an account with the launcher(s) of your choosing
Click to expand...
that sounds like exactly the online thing I want nothing to do with.

GoG looks like what I am after, although it requires 'creating an account' which I HATE, it looks required to buy stuff online, so, feh.

thanks
 
honegod said:
that sounds like exactly the online thing I want nothing to do with.

GoG looks like what I am after, although it requires 'creating an account' which I HATE, it looks required to buy stuff online, so, feh.

thanks
Click to expand...
There is no other way to be able to track your digital purchases. It's really no different than having a bank account with the way your data is treated. Since GOG is based in Poland they follow the stricter European privacy laws when it comes to handling personal data.
 
honegod said:
that sounds like exactly the online thing I want nothing to do with.

GoG looks like what I am after, although it requires 'creating an account' which I HATE, it looks required to buy stuff online, so, feh.

thanks
Click to expand...
welcome to 2022, yes you need an account for most games now. you could always scrounge up some abandonware....
 
honegod said:
that sounds like exactly the online thing I want nothing to do with.

GoG looks like what I am after, although it requires 'creating an account' which I HATE, it looks required to buy stuff online, so, feh.

thanks
Click to expand...

You can always do what I do and buy your PC games off of eBay on a physical CD or DVD-ROM. I don't like making an umbrella account either after Impulse shut down and I lost all of my digital games.
 
Armenius said:
There is no other way to be able to track your digital purchases.
Click to expand...
yeah, I get that. I just HATE passwords because I hate typing and I have difficulty remembering the silly crap I come up with,
so I ALWAYS have to do the 'lost your password ' thing, which is time wasting and annoying.
 
honegod said:
I would like to play RtCW quake, unreal tournament, and doom again, the topless elites mod on a 65" screen could be quite fun.
but I am NOT interested in a subscription online.
Click to expand...
https://www.gog.com/en/games?query=quake&order=desc:score
https://www.gog.com/en/game/return_to_castle_wolfenstein

No sub needed, although you may need an account. DRM free, you own the game after purchase, it's up to you to ensure it's backed up in case their server goes down, of course.
 
wrt passwords, get lastpass or keepass (if you don't want a lastpass account), make a strong master password, and generate all your account passwords. Just make sure you back up the database and keep your recovery info up to date if you go with keepass.

I'm using magikeyboard and KeePassDX on android, and have my database sync'd to my fastmail account.
 
honegod said:
yeah, I get that. I just HATE passwords because I hate typing and I have difficulty remembering the silly crap I come up with,
so I ALWAYS have to do the 'lost your password ' thing, which is time wasting and annoying.
Click to expand...
To be frank, that sounds like a petty reason to not create an online account. It's been the way of the world for over two decades, now.
 
oh yes, I am ill suited for modern life.
I was effectively in a coma for the last 15 or 20 years and technology moved SWIFTLY while I was away.
my basic understanding gets me through most difficulties but some things, like wifi, are entirely too complicated to study in enough detail to be comfortable, so I do not do wifi.
hence the silliness posts.
when I run into some new thing that I am clueless about that impedes my desired progress I ask for clues.
I now have a better understanding of current gaming tech, and how to go about what I want to do.
 
honegod said:
yeah, I get that. I just HATE passwords because I hate typing and I have difficulty remembering the silly crap I come up with,
so I ALWAYS have to do the 'lost your password ' thing, which is time wasting and annoying.
Click to expand...
You can make strong passwords that are easy to remember and easy to type while still having special characters and the like. Ask anyone who works in IT and they'll tell you its easier than you think.

honegod said:
oh yes, I am ill suited for modern life.
I was effectively in a coma for the last 15 or 20 years and technology moved SWIFTLY while I was away.
my basic understanding gets me through most difficulties but some things, like wifi, are entirely too complicated to study in enough detail to be comfortable, so I do not do wifi.
hence the silliness posts.
when I run into some new thing that I am clueless about that impedes my desired progress I ask for clues.
I now have a better understanding of current gaming tech, and how to go about what I want to do.
Click to expand...
WiFi is much easier to use than it was 20 years ago. That being said, it's never as stable or as fast as a wired connection. I don't bother with it for machines unless I have no other choice.
 
Hit up thrift stores, I've gotten quite a few boxed pc games that don't require any launcher.

Not goodwill though, they mark up their games and rarely have pc. Hit up the smaller thrift stores for the best scores.
 
You're going to need an account to order things online at many stores, same deal here. Just head over to Steam and Epic, create accounts. It is fairly straight forward. Look up some games you want to play and buy some. You just missed the big summer sales on Steam and Epic. Around October/November there will be another big sale, and then again in December. You can also try sites like CD Keys or Green Man Gaming as they often have lower prices than Steam and Epic.
 
This is actually super interesting to me.

What are your impressions of modern games in terms or graphics/community/etc vs back then?
 
You don't need to pay for multiplayer games anymore. The majority of them are "free to play" now and the good ones allow you to play the entire game without spending a dime and the only thing real money gets you is superficial cosmetics. Although not all free to play games are like this, some are pay to win so be careful about getting into those.

Also the Epic store gives away different games for free every week and other stores will often have games they're giving away for free too. These are often good games or even great games that normally sell for $50+.

I don't even remember the last time I actually bought a game with real money. There's just so much free content.
 
GoG is definitely the best recommendation for what you're after.

If you happen to be near a Half-Price Books, they have a HEFTY collection of disc-based games (boxes and all).
 
aeonrevolution said:
What are your impressions of modern games
Click to expand...
from what I see of them on youtube there has been no real advancement since the RtCW days.
the models are smoother, the textures are crisper, but they still do the same stuff the same way.
I notice that the characters still move robotically in cyberpunk and farcry 6
 
horrorshow said:
If you happen to be near a Half-Price Books, they have a HEFTY collection of disc-based games (boxes and all).
Click to expand...
the last bag of books I bought was from one of the two stores they have in indy, by the time I had crawled around picking the bottom science fiction shelves dry I just wanted to get home and did not check out the rest of the store, I will do that first next time.
which will be fairly soon, I am almost finished with the lenseman series, and only have the skylark series left before I have to restock.
thanks !
 
honegod said:
the last bag of books I bought was from one of the two stores they have in indy, by the time I had crawled around picking the bottom science fiction shelves dry I just wanted to get home and did not check out the rest of the store, I will do that first next time.
which will be fairly soon, I am almost finished with the lenseman series, and only have the skylark series left before I have to restock.
thanks !
Click to expand...

Happy hunting sir! (y)

(Outside of my obsession with collecting every copy of Divine Comedy / Screwtape Letters I can get my hands on & the occasional gift card for relatives.... I haven't purchased/read a book in an embarrassingly long time - so bravo)
 
horrorshow said:
GoG is definitely the best recommendation for what you're after.

If you happen to be near a Half-Price Books, they have a HEFTY collection of disc-based games (boxes and all).
Click to expand...
Of course, another good chain of stores that has no location in Florida...
 
Yeah the s#!t I hate is when I go to launch a game, say on steam, haven't played in few weeks, then "updating to latest version", or some similar bullshit...
WTH? it played fine last time it launched. Or worse, "updating Steam please wait"
you can still find/buy old school games with physical media, and you do own them. Steam can pull any title at any time on you, you don't own the game.
As far as quality of games, go play Unreal Tournament Onslaught mode, it's so much better than that namby-pamby crap like Fortnite.
I mean I get it I guess, the new gen has short attention spans, and haven't seen or worse, even played some of the games that define good game design and play-ability.
I asked some guys I know in their 20's if they had played Half-Life campaign, they said "what's that, is it like Gary's Mod?"
....sigh...
Games are like movies today, they make 1000's of them and you have to sift through that to find the 3-4 worthy of your time.
RDR2 comes to mind, or Titanfall2, or Cuphead...but for every one of the winners, you get crap like this
Really?
Uh OK...
Seriously?
 
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