Penny Arcade Forums› Games and Technology
The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.

Games to play on a crappy laptop

vrstvrst Registered User regular
edited January 2009 in Games and Technology
It seems like we didn't have one of these lately!

In any case, most of us know the feeling: you have a crappy laptop for college, so you can't play the latest games on it. However, there are of course gems of the past that will get you gaming on the laptop like no tomorrow. This is the thread to suggest those games and talk about them!

Now, my laptop has a AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile TL-58 @ 1,90 Ghz with 2 GB RAM and no video card to speak of, so it is not even that bad in the processor department (I can play Civ 4 just fine), but severly lacking in the graphical power department, and I figure most college laptops are like that...

As said, my favorite now is Civ 4, but and old school game that will always be good is of course Baldur's Gate II...


So fire away! What do you play on your laptop?

vrst on
«1

Posts

  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    I had DOSBox on my old laptop, which opened up plenty of old games.

    The most modern games I could run were Thief 2 and Dungeon Keeper.

    Rhesus Positive on
    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • psyck0psyck0 Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    SoaSE. Runs on just about anything (at lowest graphical settings, though. I don't get to see the pretty explosions :()

    psyck0 on
    Play Smash Bros 3DS with me! 4399-1034-5444
    steam_sig.png
  • Toxin01Toxin01 Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    LOoking at my desk, which is littered with old games:

    Baulders Gate II
    Starcraft
    Call Of Duty 1
    Half Life 1
    Ground Control (Which is free now, I think)
    Mech Warrior 4
    Shogun: Total War
    Battleifled 1942

    Toxin01 on
    Aiden Baail: Level 1 Swordmage: 19 AC 14 Fort 15 Ref 13 Will (Curse Of The Black Pearls)
    GM: Rusty Chains (DH Ongoing)
  • vrstvrst Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    I should've mentioned that if anyone knows games that do not require heavy mousing (since I and many other dont use separate mouses) feel free to post them ;)

    vrst on
  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    vrst wrote: »
    Now, my laptop has a AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile TL-58 @ 1,90 Ghz with 2 GB RAM and no video card to speak of, so it is not even that bad in the processor department (I can play Civ 4 just fine), but severly lacking in the graphical power department, and I figure most college laptops are like that...

    Really, if you have modern NV or ATI graphics in your laptop, you can probably dumb down the Source engine enough. I play TF2 and ZPS on my laptop quite well, and it only has an ATI X1300 64MB. All I needed to do was run in DX 8.1, turn off AA/AF, and put textures to Low - and it's 40-60fps.

    Edit - And buy a mouse :P

    PeregrineFalcon on
    Looking for a DX:HR OnLive code for my kid brother.
    Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
  • EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator, Administrator admin
    edited October 2008
    World of Goo was just released and should run on mostly anything. Try the demo.

    Echo on
  • ImpersonatorImpersonator Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    PeregrineFalcon wrote: »
    vrst wrote: »
    Now, my laptop has a AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile TL-58 @ 1,90 Ghz with 2 GB RAM and no video card to speak of, so it is not even that bad in the processor department (I can play Civ 4 just fine), but severly lacking in the graphical power department, and I figure most college laptops are like that...

    Really, if you have modern NV or ATI graphics in your laptop, you can probably dumb down the Source engine enough. I play TF2 and ZPS on my laptop quite well, and it only has an ATI X1300 64MB. All I needed to do was run in DX 8.1, turn off AA/AF, and put textures to Low - and it's 40-60fps.

    Edit - And buy a mouse :P

    This man speaks the truth, a mouse is pretty essential, just buy a notebook one, they're the tiny ones

    Impersonator on
  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Heroes of Might and Magic III. Turn-based strategy game, with a touch of RPG mixed in. Seriously, it was the first game I installed on my Laptop, and I haven't uninstalled it since.

    Shadowfire on
    PSN: Bradcopter | Steam: Shadowfire
    https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
  • PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Heroes of Might and Magic III. Turn-based strategy game, with a touch of RPG mixed in. Seriously, it was the first game I installed on my Laptop, and I haven't uninstalled it since.

    I'm not sure I've ever finished a game of that. It takes a very long time to play.

    Peewi on
    Switch: SW-6132-4331-5349 | Steam profile | I made a small video game. It's free on itch.io
    0hK3V5P.png
  • TheStigTheStig Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Civ:IV colonization is out. Diablo2, Myth1/2, any type of turn based strategy is usually low on requirements. Laser Squad Nemesis works great because you can run it in a window with easy and minimize when someone is looking on just about any cpu.

    TheStig on
    bnet: TheStig#1787 Steam: TheStig
  • augustaugust where you come from is gone Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    www.steampowered.com

    august on
  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Peewi wrote: »
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Heroes of Might and Magic III. Turn-based strategy game, with a touch of RPG mixed in. Seriously, it was the first game I installed on my Laptop, and I haven't uninstalled it since.

    I'm not sure I've ever finished a game of that. It takes a very long time to play.

    Pick a small or medium map, and play the Scenarios. They take no more than an hour, usually. Unless you want to be a cock, and make the computer think it can win. Then it can be kinda fun to leave an army of dragons on their doorstep waiting for heroes to come out and take a look...

    Shadowfire on
    PSN: Bradcopter | Steam: Shadowfire
    https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
  • HonkHonk Honk is this poster. Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited October 2008
    Homeworld 1
    Medieval: Total War
    Planescape: Torment (or whichever of the old rpg's of goodness you enjoy :))
    Source games with graphics on low.

    Honk on
    PSN: Honkalot
  • DaemonionDaemonion Mountain Man USARegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    RTS
    Red Alert 2
    Age of Empires II


    FPS
    Deus Ex
    Unreal Tournament
    Call of Duty
    Crysis (:P)


    3rd Person
    Max Payne


    Adventure
    Pretty much anything ...
    Syberia I & II
    Grim Fandango

    Honestly, there are a lot of good games.

    Daemonion on
  • mrsnackroadmrsnackroad Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Steam has the X-Com series: UFO Defense, Terror from the Deep and Apocalypse might fit the bill.

    GoG has Fallout, so if you haven't played those yet, that'd work out for you.

    Audiosurf doesn't look like it'd require too much of your system, but I'll let other people who know better be the judge of that.

    mrsnackroad on
  • DixonDixon Screwed...possibly doomed CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Yeah I am in the situation as you a T5460, 4 gigs of ram but no dedicated video card. Source stuff doesn't run on it very well. To the point where you can't enjoy it.

    Currently on mine though I have Master of Orion 2, Fallout 1&2, Diablo 2 with LOD and heroes of might and magic 3.
    I can't find my copy of baldurs gate 2 though and it is impossible to download digitally. I tried goozex but no one is offering it...

    I also have a bunch of Quest for Glory I want to stick on there.

    EDIT: Oh yeah I totally forgot about warcarft 3 as well, for my tower defense and DotA :P

    Dixon on
  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    edited October 2008
    Give mount and blade a go

    Tube on
  • ButtcleftButtcleft Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Arcanum
    Fallout 1
    Fallout 2
    Planescape - Torment
    Alpha Centauri


    They all may be old games, but oh halp me jeebus are they fun.

    Buttcleft on
  • Glenn565Glenn565 Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    Arcanum
    Fallout 1
    Fallout 2
    Planescape - Torment
    Alpha Centauri


    They all may be old games, but oh halp me jeebus are they fun.

    Yes, buy a mouse and get Planescape. You will not regret it.

    The others on that list are good too, I guess. Never played Arcanum.

    Glenn565 on
    3DS code:4511-0654-1976
    NNID: Glenn565
  • LukinLukin Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Unreal 2004 should run like a champ on that computer. Still the best in the series IMO.

    Lukin on
    cancer.jpg
  • cpugeek13cpugeek13 Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    My laptop is actually crappier than yours, so i know how you feel :P

    The games that I usually play are:

    Civ4
    Dawn of War
    Baldur's Gate II
    Rise of Nations
    Icewind Dale II
    Battlefield 1942
    World of Goo
    Rome: Total War
    Sid Meier's Pirates!
    Sins of a Solar Empire

    Also, i suggest you look into gametap. They have a bunch of free games that will run on your laptop (like Fallout).

    cpugeek13 on
    steam_sig.png
    My board games -->http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/cpugeek13
    My BGG wishlist --> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wishlist/cpugeek13
  • ButtcleftButtcleft Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Lukin wrote: »
    Unreal 2004 should run like a champ on that computer. Still the best in the series IMO.


    Seconding this cause I used to play the shit out of it on a Celeron with a MMX440 video card, Which is almost worse than having no video card at all.

    Buttcleft on
  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Play Cave Story and Iji. They're free and don't use a mouse. They also have the benefit of being really fun.

    joshofalltrades on
  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Buttcleft wrote: »
    Lukin wrote: »
    Unreal 2004 should run like a champ on that computer. Still the best in the series IMO.


    Seconding this cause I used to play the shit out of it on a Celeron with a MMX440 video card, Which is almost worse than having no video card at all.

    God damnit, I'm going to end up reinstalling this and losing hours to the Omnip]o[tents server and their delicious custom vehicles again, aren't I.

    PeregrineFalcon on
    Looking for a DX:HR OnLive code for my kid brother.
    Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Battle for Wesnoth has your name written all over it.

    citizen059 on
  • Rex DartRex Dart Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    How about Gametap? Some of the games mentioned here (Deus Ex and Fallout) are currently available on their free service.

    Rex Dart on
  • NerdtendoNerdtendo Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Any of the various Kenta Cho shoot'em'ups are great. Great way to blow a few hours.

    Crimsonland is pretty dated around now, but it's still pure awesome. Should also still be around 20 bucks. There's a downloadable demo that has limited features, and limited gameplay. It should be enough for you to get hooked.

    Various roguelikes as well (of course, and shame on all of you for not mentioning them). IVAN (Iter Vehemens Ad Necem) is a good option, as well as Angband, and DOOM the roguelike(even includes sound and music! Hilarious with the ASCII graphics). I'm sure you've heard about Dwarf Fortress already, as it's probably the best roguelike out there.

    Deathworm is a game I posted quite awhile back on here, and it was received really well. It's a small file and ridiculously simple gameplay, but awesome nonetheless. You're a giant sandworm in a desert, and you eat people. You get bigger as you eat more. The enemies get tougher as you eat more. You'd be surprised by how much time you can blow on this game.

    Finally, Soldexus is an awesome Metroidvania style game. The controls are pretty solid (but I do seem to remember some type of issue with it, maybe having to let go of the movement button when attacking or jumping? might be a different game), the graphics charming in their own way, and the game is hard as nails. When I say hard, I mean difficulty on par with Ninja Gaiden. For example, the first enemies you run into take a good ten or so swipes of your sword to kill, and you can only take about three hits before you die, but that changes pretty quickly. You could always wuss out and play on easy mode, though...

    Nerdtendo on
    IHZR47b.png
  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    If Soldexus is up your alley, I would recommend I Wanna Be The Guy as well.

    Only if you wish you were more psychologically traumatized, though.

    joshofalltrades on
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Nerdtendo wrote: »
    Any of the various Kenta Cho shoot'em'ups are great. Great way to blow a few hours.

    Crimsonland is pretty dated around now, but it's still pure awesome. Should also still be around 20 bucks. There's a downloadable demo that has limited features, and limited gameplay. It should be enough for you to get hooked.

    Various roguelikes as well (of course, and shame on all of you for not mentioning them). IVAN (Iter Vehemens Ad Necem) is a good option, as well as Angband, and DOOM the roguelike(even includes sound and music! Hilarious with the ASCII graphics). I'm sure you've heard about Dwarf Fortress already, as it's probably the best roguelike out there.

    Deathworm is a game I posted quite awhile back on here, and it was received really well. It's a small file and ridiculously simple gameplay, but awesome nonetheless. You're a giant sandworm in a desert, and you eat people. You get bigger as you eat more. The enemies get tougher as you eat more. You'd be surprised by how much time you can blow on this game.

    Finally, Soldexus is an awesome Metroidvania style game. The controls are pretty solid (but I do seem to remember some type of issue with it, maybe having to let go of the movement button when attacking or jumping? might be a different game), the graphics charming in their own way, and the game is hard as nails. When I say hard, I mean difficulty on par with Ninja Gaiden. For example, the first enemies you run into take a good ten or so swipes of your sword to kill, and you can only take about three hits before you die, but that changes pretty quickly. You could always wuss out and play on easy mode, though...

    Deathworm is a good choice. A buddy of mine would play it CONSTANTLY when he came over to my house till he finally got a computer of his own. :D

    Also, even though it's rather mouse-heavy, Warzone 2100 will run on damn near anything and is free now so look that up, it's a wonderful RTS with the ability to customize your units.

    Darmak on
    JtgVX0H.png
  • Milquetoast ThugMilquetoast Thug Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Nethack. such a tiny download, but what a great game.

    Milquetoast Thug on
  • SanderJKSanderJK Crocodylus Pontifex Sinterklasicus Madrid, 3000 ADRegistered User regular
    edited October 2008
    King's Bounty : The Legend may be for you. Best short description is that it's like HoMM except there are also WoW style quests and talent trees, and due to Leadership (max. # of creatures allowed) it doesn't seem to get out of control terribly fast.

    The game seems fairly long (I am level 7 after about 8 hours, I hear it goes to beyond 25 at least, it's somewhat slow to level up), but I don't think it'll have much replay value apart from some random loot / monster placing.

    SanderJK on
    Steam: SanderJK Origin: SanderJK
  • SceptreSceptre Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Max Payne?

    Sceptre on
  • VistiVisti Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Nerdtendo wrote: »
    Any of the various Kenta Cho shoot'em'ups are great. Great way to blow a few hours.

    Crimsonland is pretty dated around now, but it's still pure awesome. Should also still be around 20 bucks. There's a downloadable demo that has limited features, and limited gameplay. It should be enough for you to get hooked.

    Various roguelikes as well (of course, and shame on all of you for not mentioning them). IVAN (Iter Vehemens Ad Necem) is a good option, as well as Angband, and DOOM the roguelike(even includes sound and music! Hilarious with the ASCII graphics). I'm sure you've heard about Dwarf Fortress already, as it's probably the best roguelike out there.

    Deathworm is a game I posted quite awhile back on here, and it was received really well. It's a small file and ridiculously simple gameplay, but awesome nonetheless. You're a giant sandworm in a desert, and you eat people. You get bigger as you eat more. The enemies get tougher as you eat more. You'd be surprised by how much time you can blow on this game.

    Finally, Soldexus is an awesome Metroidvania style game. The controls are pretty solid (but I do seem to remember some type of issue with it, maybe having to let go of the movement button when attacking or jumping? might be a different game), the graphics charming in their own way, and the game is hard as nails. When I say hard, I mean difficulty on par with Ninja Gaiden. For example, the first enemies you run into take a good ten or so swipes of your sword to kill, and you can only take about three hits before you die, but that changes pretty quickly. You could always wuss out and play on easy mode, though...

    Admittedly I just glanced over the thread, but man does "crappy laptop" and "dwarf fortress" go together like... Uh.. my allegory imagination has run dry! Damn you, television! Damn you TO HELL!

    Visti on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    Yeah, I'm running a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and an ATI Radeon HD2400 XT graphics card, and Dwarf Fortress can still make it chug like a 90's Amstrad once I get a big fortress going.

    Rhesus Positive on
    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • VistiVisti Registered User regular
    edited October 2008
    More on the subject, though:

    scummvm_logo.jpg

    Visti on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • BTPBTP Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Another thread for you to peruse: The New PA Free Indie Game Thread There's bound to be lots of goodies in there. I should know, I posted in it. :lol:

    (Aw, someone beat me to the Kenta Cho games. That's a good thing.)

    Edit: Meant to put this post in another thread. Sorry for the bump.

    Edit 2: THE THREAD ENDED IN OCTOBER! LET IT GO!

    BTP on
    Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection & DS High Scores Thread
    I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
    Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
    My Friend Codes!

    More Friend Codes!
    Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
    Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
    TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123

    Nintendo DS:
    Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
    Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
  • TheStigTheStig Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    You could always try running tribes2 on it!

    TheStig on
    bnet: TheStig#1787 Steam: TheStig
  • Lord JezoLord Jezo Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Free:

    http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/beneath_a_steel_sky

    And it's free too.

    Lord Jezo on
    Clipboard03.jpg
    I KISS YOU!
  • riposte101riposte101 Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    X-Com series is $5 on Steam right now.

    riposte101 on
    My blog: http://www.limitlessunits.com
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    PC + Metroid + LoZ + Metal Slug = Cave Story

    Cave Story is absolutely amazing and free. But the Wiimake is coming out soon, and I'll totally buy it. Over and over.

    Cave Story.

    Cantido on
    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
Sign In or Register to comment.
Penny Arcade Forums› Games and Technology