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PC gaming questions
ohhaythar
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Oh do please be kind, for the questions I am about to ask are very dumb. I am utterly clueless about how to get into fps pc gaming. The games that I hear are popular are ones that are old such as CS 1.6 and Q3. I (for unspecified reasons) am not able to pay for games over the internet such as steam and gametap. Is there a way to obtain these through retail in anyway? If it is not, then what popular shooters have a good following? I ask this because I’ve heard that UT3 is dead and TF2 is slowly depleting. Correct me if I am wrong.
My second issue is vista. Even if I was to get a hold of one of these old games would they still play on vista? I ask this because I saw CS source (another game I am interested in) at best buy only going up to xp.
I was able to download ut99 (legal now) and tried to play multiplayer and saw that most of the matches are locked. I tried to create my own server, but don’t know how to get my friends to join. Is there a way for them to search for my server? And what is a dedicated server versus a regular one? I’m so used to xbox live matchmaking.
I also see that most people create special computers themselves to play these games. Do I have to do this or can I be a pc gamer on a laptop? I don’t have the budget, the time, or the knowledge to make a computer.
Sorry to all who will have to point out the obvious and thank you.
My second issue is vista. Even if I was to get a hold of one of these old games would they still play on vista? I ask this because I saw CS source (another game I am interested in) at best buy only going up to xp.
I was able to download ut99 (legal now) and tried to play multiplayer and saw that most of the matches are locked. I tried to create my own server, but don’t know how to get my friends to join. Is there a way for them to search for my server? And what is a dedicated server versus a regular one? I’m so used to xbox live matchmaking.
I also see that most people create special computers themselves to play these games. Do I have to do this or can I be a pc gamer on a laptop? I don’t have the budget, the time, or the knowledge to make a computer.
Sorry to all who will have to point out the obvious and thank you.
ohhaythar on
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Anyways, I still see CS 1.6 in Best Buy. No such luck on Q3, though. I think you're going to have to buy online.
As for your Vista questions, if no one has an answer for you here, I'd try and find a prominent forum group for that particular game and see what you can find.
You'll be able to play those games on older computer. Investing in a new gaming computer (which is just as good at everything else a PC can do - media, internet, etc.) is to enhance the experience. By enhance I mean things like stronger visuals, perhaps 3D sound, and the like. I think it is wise to invest up to a point, but not always necessary to enjoy a game.
A Dell XPS M1530 with an 8600GT and 2Ghz processor will cost a little bit over $1000 depending on how much you shop around. It'll play all the games out there but you'll be fidling with detail sometimes to get it to work satisfactorily. A desktop that would easily outclass it could be built for about half the price.
Vista, despite the negative press is a fine operating system and you're unlikely to encounter much difficulty using it with modern hardware.
Dedicated servers are machines that are setup to do nothing but host the game (so no playing on it). Most of the time dedicated servers are setup by clans, companies and groups. A non dedicated server is one where a person is both acting as the server and playing a game. As most people don't have dedicated internet connections gameplay can get very laggy with more players. Finding a dedicated server is usually preferable but not necessary. When you start a server you usually give it a name, and that's how people can find your game in the server browser. Otherwise giving your friends your ip address will allow them to connect directly.
As for games, both CS1.6, Q3 and UT99 are extremely old. The people left playing them are probably pretty dedicated which is why most of the UT99 servers were passworded. You can still find boxed copies of CS in stores as it's a lot more popular than UT99/Q3. id are also making Quake Zero, a free web based version of Quake 3. But none of these games will be great first experiences.
TF2 is still played extensively by many 1000s of people all the time, it's not hard to find a game at all. It's also fairly newbie friendly. Other popular online games at the moment are Counter Strike: Source. A graphically updated version of CS1.6. Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare. plays like a mix of counterstrike and quake. Battlefield 2/2142 objective based FPS with vehicles and squads, EA are busy making Battlefield Heroes - another free web based version of this franchise. Quake Wars: Enemy Territory, similare to BF2/2142 although a lot more focused and mainly popular in Europe. Unreal Tournament 2004 still has a lot of people playing, and whilst UT3 isn't exactly popular, you can still get a game of it in without too much trouble.
If you personally can't buy games online, Steam allows other people to gift them to you, and there's also many game demos, free play weekends and other ways to get playing without needing to sign up for anything.
o rly? hell, ill just get my friend to gift me everything and ill pay him. ty man.
Like Rook said, pretty much, popular games are TF2, Counterstrike 1.6, Counterstrike: Source, Call of Duty 4, Battlefield 2 or Battlefield 2142, and Unreal Tournament 2k4. UT3 isn't exactly dead, it's just not in the stratospheric levels of popularity enjoyed by, say, Ut2k4.
Hell, you can have mine if by some chance you don't have a friend who has extra copies to give away. I think you can play CS: Source for zero extra monies as long as you have a copy of HL2, so that could be a good free way to see how well Source engine games run on your current rig.
I don't know about UT3, but I have no problem finding TF2 games. I imagine TF2 will sustain a decent player base for quite some time to come now that Valve is regularly adding new maps, class-specific achievements, and weapon unlocks tied to those achievements. I like the new Gold Rush map, the Medic achievements have been in for a while now, and the Pyro achievements should be coming out in the next month (EDIT: it's this Thursday!) or so.
BONUS EDIT: This weekend is a free play weekend for TF2! If you install Steam and preload TF2, you can play it for zero dollars, from Friday through 'til Sunday I think.
I played Quake 3 for around 6 - 7 years and will still try to get on from time to time. Don't like it that much now. So I would recommend getting it. You should be able to find it on ebay for a pretty decent price, but the CDkey may not be valid anymore, so be aware of that.
http://www.xfire.com/
At anyone one time you can see up to 17000+ servers to hop on and start fragging.
ps i have tried to ctrl alt dlt out of it and can't even get to my desktop backround.
Personally I like battlefield 2. Kind of a halfway real halfway run and gun one.
Or for crazy run and gun action get UT2k4. It has about 10 million different maps and mods so its somthing new almost everytime you join a server.
If you want some serious, you-die-around-ever-corner-because-you-are-such-a-noob-and-will-take-weeks to-even-get-a-decent-kill-score, games then get CS 1.6
but they're listening to every word I say
does your computer have the hardware to handle it?
but they're listening to every word I say
yes
i don't believe i have and they may be the problem, but as i stated in OP im completely oblivious on this. how do i know what to download. (ati, nvidia, creative, etc.) and after i do that how do identifiy which graphics card i have?
Start > Run > type "dxdiag" without the quotes and hit enter.
Once it's done go to the "display" tab. A quick glance around here should tell you whether you've got nVidia, AMD, or Intel as your display device (and what device you've got!). Once you know, you can go to nVidia.com, ati.amd.com, or downloadcenter.intel.com and download the latest drivers. Some people will tell you to uninstall the old ones first, so if you want you can do that (Add/Remove Programs or a driver cleaner program off Google). If you do, restart. Otherwise install the new drivers and restart.
Video card drivers are responsible for approximately 250% of games crashing, with the other negative 150% being due to gremlins, but if this doesn't solve your problem you might want to repeat this process with your sound card (if you even have one), your onboard audio (if you don't).
Also what the hell are you doing buying TF2. You should have bought The Orange Box. You are nuts. Completely bonkers man. What is wrong with you.
lol very helpful. as for orangre box, i have it on xbox allready. i just wanted to play tf2 with the new updates and stuff.
Are you running AVG antivirus? Because that can mess up Source engine games like TF2.