Old pick up n play PC games

Potential-Monke

Right, my laptop seems to have finally settled with the new (refurb) graphics card and all seems rosy, except for i have only 2gig ram instead of 3.75 as one of the ram seats has failed.

So, i'm looking for some older games that are not very gpu/ram dependant that are pick up and play, nothing that is time demanding as i don't want to overdo the lappy again! Something along the lines of Age of Empires 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 (even though 3 plays well, it does start to lag after a small while of building).

Any suggestions people! Also, do those laptop cooling trays work well? My laptop is known for overheating.

Specs:

Dell XPS M1710
Intel Core 2 CPU T7400 @ 2.16GHz 994MHz
nVidia GeForce Go 7950GTX
Windows SP Pro Version 2002 SP3
2Gig DDR2 Ram

marshbaboon

Master of Orion 2.

Was playing it recently, still a gem & easy to dip in and out of.

ShadowHearth

Starcraft 1, Warcraft 3, Diablo 2.

MarkusBrady

Realm of the mad gods(F2P), Cthulhu saves the world, VVVVVV, Some of the source games may run, Lone survivor, any of the humble indie bundle games. None of these may really be pick up 'n play (except the first and third) but they should all run and are all pretty decent

cherryghost

About the cooling pads, most are crap. Some can shave about 10 degrees off your temps and work well enough. I have the Targus chills mat, seem to do the job.

Vikings

The original Cossacks trilogy is on sale with good old games for $2.99 picked that up this morning then realised I still had hard copies of the originals.. oh well. Similar enough to age of empires and games can be quick or long depending on your play style.

marko93

cherryghost wrote: »

About the cooling pads, most are crap. Some can shave about 10 degrees off your temps and work well enough. I have the Targus chills mat, seem to do the job.

I hear this one does a good job. Plan on ordering one myself soon enough.

http://quietpc.ie/products/notebook-coolers/zm-nc3000

ShadowHearth

warhammer 40k down of war 1. cheap to buy and can run on old pcs too. some say its even better then DOW2

marko93

ShadowHearth wrote: »

warhammer 40k down of war 1. cheap to buy and can run on old pcs too. some say its even better then DOW2

Yes!

Have both myself, laptop can't run 2 very well, but 1 is extremely fun!

Turtwig

It depends what you mean by Pick up and Play. I'd regard all of these ideal for 30-40 mins bursts. But, everyone is different.

Splinter Cells 1-3.
Thief 1&2.
Hitman 1-3
Carmageddon 2.
Star Wars : Too many to name. - Ask and we'll tell you whether to avoid them or not lol.
Monkey Island 1,2,3,4, Monkey Island Special Edition.
Rainbow Six 1-3
Swat 1-4(+TSS)
Grand Theft Auto I- III + VC + SA.
World of Goo.
Super Meat Boy.
Worms Armageddon.
Ghost Recon - all the way up until Advanced Warfighter.
Unreal Tournament -everything except Unreal Tournament 3, which is no loss.
Fifa 2002 - Lots of fun. Haven't played any of the other Fifa's on PC, so don't know.
Plant Vs Zombies.
Age of Mythology.
Command & Conquer : Red Alert 2.
C&C Generals + ZH. (RA and Generals+ZH are very different types of games but they are the two C&C titles I highly recommend.)
Theme Hospital.
Football Manager - take you pic..
Crazy Taxi.

Actually, there's a tonne more, would you mind refining your interests or are you interested in trying out new things?

Mr.Saturn

The Path.

http://tale-of-tales.com/ThePath/index.html

It's a pretty interesting horror-game, good for killing a few hours and it keeps you guessing. Also, it seems to come well under the specs you listed.

MadYaker

Counter Strike Source.

TerrorFirmer

Why are we recommending really old games? That 7950GTX would easily get through the likes of COD4 and newer at high settings, no need to be so reserved!

I entirely support Dawn of War though....I have all of the Dawn of War games and their add-ons, and nothing is better than Dawn of War: Winter Assault! Dawn of War 2, I actually didn't like too much...but the original is awesome, and skirmishes would nicely occupy about 30-45 minutes of your time.

Company of Heroes is another absolutely stellar RTS, the best of the last decade alongside DOW in my opinion....the funny thing is that I'm not usually a mad RTS fan but those two games are just incredible.

ShadowHearth

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Why are we recommending really old games? That 7950GTX would easily get through the likes of COD4 and newer at high settings, no need to be so reserved!

I entirely support Dawn of War though....I have all of the Dawn of War games and their add-ons, and nothing is better than Dawn of War: Winter Assault! Dawn of War 2, I actually didn't like too much...but the original is awesome, and skirmishes would nicely occupy about 30-45 minutes of your time.

Company of Heroes is another absolutely stellar RTS, the best of the last decade alongside DOW in my opinion....the funny thing is that I'm not usually a mad RTS fan but those two games are just incredible.

that is 7950 mobile gpu though, i would not expect much of power lifting with that thing.

TerrorFirmer

ShadowHearth wrote: »

that is 7950 mobile gpu though, i would not expect much of power lifting with that thing.

Yes but some of the games being suggested, while good games no doubt, are treating the OP like he has an ancient old laptop. The Go7950GTX would play Call of Duty 4, Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company, Starcraft 2, and other games like that pretty well....

Cravez

- System Shock 2 if you can get it working. Can be tricky with some Operating Systems, but definitely worth it.

- Someone mentioned Carmageddon 2 but there is also Carmageddon 1 (kinda prefer the first one)

- Xcom Series. More of a Apocalypse fan over Enemy Unknown & Terror from the Deep

- Get the original DOOM's and download the Brutal Doom mod. Adds so much to the game including new Animations, sounds and the Graphics are better

- Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. In terms of gameplay it's generally better compared to Oblivion or Skyrim. Slightly out-dated graphics but there are graphics mods available to spruce it up a bit.

K.O.Kiki

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Yes but some of the games being suggested, while good games no doubt, are treating the OP like he has an ancient old laptop. The Go7950GTX would play Call of Duty 4, Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company, Starcraft 2, and other games like that pretty well....

But the thing is, the first 3 games you listed are modern rubbish (and the last is debatable)! :pac:

muppetkiller

Company of Heroes should work for you and is a brilliant title.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

http://www.gog.com/en/promo/fps_weekend?pp=40f7c01f4189510031adccd9c604a128adaf9b00

already posted this in gaming bargains thread but just in case op wasnt watching

some quality old pc games here for cheap, drm free.. just download the installer to your hd and install away. you owe it to yourself to play blood. blood 1 anyway.

Stylesclash07

Dungeon keeper 2 great game

the_syco

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Any suggestions people! Also, do those laptop cooling trays work well? My laptop is known for overheating.

Remove the fans, and blow compressed air through the fans to clean them. Also ensure the vents are clean as well.

No matter what cooling tray you use, if the fans and the vents aren't clear of dust, you won't get the full effect.