Starting a project that will definitely not result in anyone yelling at me, a listing of computer games that state what the best version is and any fan patches/source ports/mods they should use.
Anyway, yell at me on here if you have opinions on games and what versions or other things they should use. All input is appreciated
@MichaelKlamerus A thing I have always thought should exist, while also understanding exactly why such a thing does not exist
@MichaelKlamerus that said if Civ I's best version is the MS-DOS one, please make sure to mention this patch, which adds additional sound drivers (stereo OPL support and MIDI-out!)
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/civdos-additional-sound-drivers.549674/
@greg I’ve never actually played Civ 1 so I’m happy to know this (is the best one MS-DOS?)
@MichaelKlamerus It is my opinion* that this is the best way to play the first two Monkey Island games: http://gratissaugen.de/ultimatetalkies/monkey1.html
* thus presenting what I assume will be the source of people yelling at you...!
@lunarloony yep, this is on my list. I agree (unless someone prefers the EGA of MI1 more)
@MichaelKlamerus Ultima VI: The False Prophet should be played with Nuvie to give you a large map rather than a tiny pinhole.
It's built into ScummVM, or the base game works fine with the 2014 version from https://nuvie.sourceforge.net/?page=downloads
@MichaelKlamerus it might get a bit complicated when you consider extras like sound cards, especially since the best in most cases will be Roland, even though most people had Adlib or Sound Blaster (which raises another question: does the popularity of a particular version count for anything?)
@mattwells I’m fully prepared for people to yell at me about accidentally leaving stuff like this out
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@MossRC @MichaelKlamerus Already this is contentious! Wouldn't most people have played the MS-DOS version? Doesn't that count for something?
(there are a number of Windows ports of Maxis games too - SimFarm, SimCity, SimAnt, SimLife etc - probably in the same boat!)
@MossRC @MichaelKlamerus @greg I suppose another factor to consider is: how easy is it to run the absolute best version, and should you settle for a "mostly best" version with a more straightforward setup?
@MichaelKlamerus Hence why I mentioned the UI change as a possible negative. And now we're getting into the troubling question of what defines "best"? It could very well become a flowchart/decision tree for many games.
@MichaelKlamerus @greg Indeed, like on all those adventure games that got a great FMTowns port, or how lots of PC games were actually best on Mac but are way easier to set up for most people and *nearly* as good on DOS with patch A plus the audio ripped from the Mac or Windows CD version.
@MichaelKlamerus Here's one for The Sims 2. It's a very messy game, so I wrote a list of essential tools and mods to get the best experience out of it.
https://lunarloony.co.uk/gaming/essential-mods-and-content-for-the-sims-2/
@MossRC @greg oof, yes. This is probably one reason why it hasn't been done. Maybe starting with a TLDR that just picks one, and then going into depth and presenting options after that?
There's also things like ease of setup, if a DOS version of something is 95% as good as an early windows one, using DosBox is much easier for most people than setting up a Windows 95 VM or whatever
EDIT: Tagging @lunarloony since multiple people have brought up the same good point
@MossRC @greg My original inspiration was just "Well there's a lot of versions of Monkey Island" and people understandably not knowing how to get into games with clunky UIs but are otherwise good or might be interesting to some people. And just a lot of neat source ports and fan patches that people probably don't know about
@MichaelKlamerus @MossRC @greg I wonder if it's more of a wording issue. People are going to argue about which version is 'best' - but would they argue if you presented a 'good way to experience the game'?
@lunarloony @MichaelKlamerus @MossRC I think the easiest solution is to say "best (in my opinion, and since I'm writing this thing, that's who counts)" lol
@lunarloony @MossRC @greg but I need the outrage clicks!
Yeah, I don’t think “best” is tbe right word and maybe it just needs to be presented more as “here’s what you should be aware of before playing”
@MichaelKlamerus the Game Boy’s Super Mario Land 2 has a ROM hack that is pure perfection. Turns it into a beautifully rendered Game Boy Color game and even adds Luigi as a playable character. It is the definitive way to play this classic. (Though having re-read your post perhaps console games aren’t in scope)
@wiredfire I still appreciate and want to play this now! It was just for scope reasons but there's no reason why I can't look at other things too
@MichaelKlamerus PCGamingWiki lists a good assortment of patches for various games and where to download them. Usually for things like Fallout where Bethesda just stopped giving a crap and let the fans fix the bugs.
@MichaelKlamerus @MossRC @greg @lunarloony I wouldn't know about Dosbox being "much easier" though, really depends on what you grew up with.
@MichaelKlamerus Another one... Fallout Et Tu, a very nice way to play the original Fallout using FO2's engine. Might seem a minor thing, but it gives you all the QoL improvements of the second game.
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/fallout-et-tu-release-v1-8.218045/