I'm getting pretty frustrated trying to find original Dos versions of games. It seems like GOG has the rights to all of them and they have been removed from other sites that had them for free in the past. So, I'm supposed to buy an original version of Ultima VI on ebay for a $100, just to play it? This is just an example but most of these games were considered abandon-ware a few years ago. Am I wrong?
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GOG Ruining it for Old School Gamers on Original Hardware
- Thread starter Fanatik
- Start date
Megatron-uk
Experienced Member
There is no such thing as abandonware. The rights to the games (in almost all circumstances) still rest with some legal entity; whether that's a giant like EA that swallowed up dozens of smaller developers over the years, or perhaps even a sole developer in the case where a publisher simply went bankrupt and their assets never bought up. Software is way, way too young for copyright to have expired on it yet.
What has happened, however, is that most rights holders have now become aware of the fact that a reasonable amount of people are still willing to pay to access older games. Hence the success of GOG and others, and now you have the illegal download sites being targeted more than they would have done previously.
What has happened, however, is that most rights holders have now become aware of the fact that a reasonable amount of people are still willing to pay to access older games. Hence the success of GOG and others, and now you have the illegal download sites being targeted more than they would have done previously.
IBMAT5170
Banned
I'd be willing to pay for the older games provided I get physical media and not just a digital download. For me, a large part of experiencing vintage computing is the feeling and touching of tangable stuff. Disks especially. Just seeing the resulting output on a screen doesnt do it for me.
IBMAT5170
Banned
I have no choice but to agree with what you have stated. But I'd also argue that if they are gong to ENFORCE that copyright, then they have an obligation to provide a means of obtaining their works legally. For example if Microsoft doesn't want me pirating Windows 3.11 or 95/98, then they have an obligation to sell it to me. Simply discontinuing it is not an option. If they do that, then I will pirate it. I have a right to obtain the software in some manner.
Stone
10k Member
Will this do?
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
A quick check on GOG show you can get Ultima 4-5-6 for $5.99 USD.
https://www.gog.com/game/ultima_456
The thing to watch, however, is if it's an "enchanced" verson which may not run properly on some older PCs.
GOG is for people who want to play old games on new hardware. The installers are for newer operating systems (XP to W10). I have purchased a few games from GOG, but don't have a massive library (69 titles) .
I don't mind digital downloads as long as they are super cheap and I get to have the installers in case the company goes bankrupt. Just today I got in the mail from ebay a shrinkwrapped copy of Command and Conquer the Ultimate Collection from EA, 17 games that cost me $12.59 shipped. Assuming the unused key still works I think that is a super deal. Last year (also from ebay) I purchased the Command and Conquer Theater of War pack for cheap (original Command and Conquer, Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 1 and 2 with original CD installers (so you can play on vintage gear 8 CDs total). I still have my original copy of the first few C&C but buying each one now can get pricey.
To be honest most old games can be found using torrents or download sites. Most people who pay crazy money for hardware tend to pirate software (from what I have seen). The people who collect the originals boxed probably don't play them much. I have a bunch of originals purchased over the years, even went crazy buying boxed Amiga and Atari ST games when they were being dumped ages ago.
I don't mind digital downloads as long as they are super cheap and I get to have the installers in case the company goes bankrupt. Just today I got in the mail from ebay a shrinkwrapped copy of Command and Conquer the Ultimate Collection from EA, 17 games that cost me $12.59 shipped. Assuming the unused key still works I think that is a super deal. Last year (also from ebay) I purchased the Command and Conquer Theater of War pack for cheap (original Command and Conquer, Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 1 and 2 with original CD installers (so you can play on vintage gear 8 CDs total). I still have my original copy of the first few C&C but buying each one now can get pricey.
To be honest most old games can be found using torrents or download sites. Most people who pay crazy money for hardware tend to pirate software (from what I have seen). The people who collect the originals boxed probably don't play them much. I have a bunch of originals purchased over the years, even went crazy buying boxed Amiga and Atari ST games when they were being dumped ages ago.
Stone
10k Member
The CD above is the original DOS game(s).
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
You may have an option to obtain it legally.
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
Not all of it - you have to be careful and look it over before you buy. The item will usually tell you that it 'enhanced'
ngtwolf
Veteran Member
I'm honestly finding it hard to sympathize at all with this thread. You do have many ways to get this software, there are still disks and stuff on eBay, they're just expensive. I'm pretty sure you can make the GOG stuff work on old hardware, unless it's enhanced where they had the code and changed and recompiled the executables, but from all the stuff I've seen it was the original programs with the DOSBOX cfg files and maybe a few other supplemental files to make it work on new systems. I actually own the GOG files for some programs, I'll copy them over to my PS/1 and see if they work, but I'm almost positive they will. I saw mention of physical disks, but that's not really on the table anymore (unless you buy from ebay, etc). You're not downloading physical disks, but you can get the GOG files and copy them to physical disks. $6 is pretty dang cheap for 3 great games.
in the case of ultima games, you can still get them for other platforms under the questionable 'abandonware'. I'm guessing the PC platform is the issue here, but honestly, up until Ultima 6... the Amiga, Atari ST and likely even Commodore 64 versions were actually better due to the poor graphics capabilities in the early PC's.
in the case of ultima games, you can still get them for other platforms under the questionable 'abandonware'. I'm guessing the PC platform is the issue here, but honestly, up until Ultima 6... the Amiga, Atari ST and likely even Commodore 64 versions were actually better due to the poor graphics capabilities in the early PC's.
ngtwolf
Veteran Member
Yup, I remember with the older Ultima games (and many others), the "copy protection" was using parts of the manual for keywords.
2icebitn
Banned
Can Atari ST system/development/productivity/game titles be legally purchased anywhere? Digital download is fine, as long as docs are included. What about Atari 8 bit stuff? Or Commodore for that matter?
Megatron-uk
Experienced Member
Not specifically an answer to the above, but the titles available on www.worldofspectrum.org are available with the rights-holders permissions; where some titles have come into questionable status they are removed. For example, none of the Dizzy games are available, since Codemasters declined to make it available (they're still sold in some manner). I assume there are similar curated collections of software for other platforms (C64 springs to mind) where the rights holders have agreed to make them available.
Trixter
Veteran Member
Everything purchased from GOG is just the original files, cracked to remove copy-protection, running with the DOSBox emulator. You can transfer these files to older systems and run them there, although reconfiguration of the sound/video options might be necessary. In a few rare instances the files might have been modified to require a 386 or higher, but you can blame whoever originally cracked them and not GOG.
This is how it is for most cases. The problem is with a few games, just a few fortunately, that come with ScummVM (so without the executable) or with missing files like the setup/config program or executables for different graphics cards. I agree though that it's a good starting point if you want to purchase an old game and attempt to run it on the originally intended hardware.
retro-pc_user
Veteran Member
Most of the games run in ScummVM, which I hate since that program always crashed my system for no reason. The only way I can get the games to work in pure DOS or DOSBox is to purchase the physical copies. There are some online, but, the ZIP or RAR files are corrupt to begin with.