Vintage PC Build for P99

[Harabec]

So I’ve been toying with the idea of building a vintage pc for classic gaming for some time now. I think I’d like to build one to primarily play Project 1999 for that classic feel, but I’m curious what specs everything thinks might work well. I know that windows 98 won’t work based on some Direct x issues I’ve been reading on other threads. So the machine will need to run xp, and I am leaning towards a P3 450mhz and maybe a GeForce 2 MX because these are the same specs I had on my original EQ machine (Or maybe I even had a riva tnt2 ultra originally I can’t quite remember).

Do you think this might run P99 fine? I know P99 runs off the titanium eta client so the required specs are definitely different than original original EQ. The other question is the resolution I’ll be running the game at. I lack the desk space to run a second monitor to have an OG CRT monitor so I’d prefer my 1080p lcd. There’s no way these specs would run EQ at 1080p, so maybe I either increase the specs on the build or bite the bullet and get an old monitor or see if my screen will run at a lower resolution? Anyone have some thoughts?

[ludovician]

Why though?

[Harabec]

Well the primary benefit is to play p99 like I did as a teenager, but also to use the same machine to play some older games that aren’t compatible with newer windows (or even dual boot with a win 98 drive. The same argument can be made for why would you play classic video games on an original console when you could just emulate

[Gustoo]

Yeah a GE force 3 and pentium 3 is going to be your best bet.

I had the weirdo setup, an AMD thunderbird 1ghz and a Voodoo 5 5500 as the foundation of my year 2000 peak gamage, and before that had a weaker p3 rig.

[Skarne]

Cool idea

[Skarne]

Maybe you’ll be able to get Lionhead’s Black and White to run which doesn’t on modern PCs.

[Danth]

Don't think this is recommended. P1999's custom lighting seems to be a massive resource hog and the client runs dramatically slower than regular unmodified Titanium does, which is already slower than classic EQ circa 1999-2001. No point using classic hardware if you aren't running classic code on it--you won't get era-appropriate performance.

Danth

[Arvan]

Its a cool idea but performance will prob be unbearable with how p99 client is

[Shourty]

I was at Costco a couple days ago looking at the TVs. I have room for a four foot wide monitor. Not classic but still the same game but BIGGER.
If you want to get that classic feel, go for it. I'm pro-choice on some things.

[Shawk]

It works, just have to know what you are doing.

[strongNpretty]

Maybe you’ll be able to get Lionhead’s Black and White to run which doesn’t on modern PCs.

I knew very few people who played this game, let alone actually enjoyed it.. I loved the shit outta this game!!! I need to play it again cause i dont think i really knew what i was doing as a youngin.. I just liked my pet god growing in size :)

And Giants:Citizen Kabuto.. That game is a blur to me as well, but i remember loving the hell outta it!

[Harabec]

Its a cool idea but performance will prob be unbearable with how p99 client is

How much more demanding is the p99 client? A little is ok but if it’s significantly more demanding..

[Shawk]

Kunark Requirements:
200 MHz+ Intel
64MB Ram
Direct3D or Glide-compliant video card with 8MB Ram
600MB HD space
DirectX-compliant sound card
Direct X 7.0

Recommended:
266 MHZ Intel
128MB Ram

Trilogy Requirements:
Same

Recommended:
350Hz+ Intel
128MB Ram

Gates of Discord Requirements:
Pentium III 400+
246MB Ram
ATI Radeo 7500/NVidea GeForce 1 +
Direct X Sound Card
Direct X 9.0

Recommended was:
Pentium 4+
512MB Ram
Nvidia Geforce 3/ATI Radeon 8500+
1.5GB+ HD space
DX 9

[Harabec]

Huh. Is the lighting engine different from the original client? If it’s significantly more demanding than hardware that could run it back in the day then that might be a problem..

[Shawk]

Huh. Is the lighting engine different from the original client? If it’s significantly more demanding than hardware that could run it back in the day then that might be a problem..

Like I said, you gotta know what you're doing because I had to use unofficial drivers for the majority of the hardware, I Flashed my mobo bios with unofficial drivers for example.. It is a lot of work, I spent a while getting it all together. Fun though, least for me it was.

If you go with the hardware you have, and play at 640x480 or something like that then sure but you gotta be real about it. I run old hardware on another PC and it runs at 40FPS, it isn't great but I did it for Nostalgia. Old Sound Card, old 800x600(native) samsung monitor, Geforce 2 and a Pentium III. Usually finding all this hardware is the hardest part as you want a good motherboard and lots of SDRAM ram or DDR1 ram.

Their hardware spec requirements are usually with big resolutions in mind so can counter with lower res.

For lighting you gotta turn all that off. Dynamic reflective clouds, shadows, all of it. I also pushed much smaller models/textures in .s3d files and deleted a ton of bloat in the directory.. Can't run on Win10 or anything either obviously so you gotta do some unofficial work on the OS you're using to make it remotely compatible..

[Danth]

Huh. Is the lighting engine different from the original client?

It's different (modified) even from stock Titanium. P1999 forces certain types of lighting ON and uses shader effects to enforce night blindness. It slows the client down quite a bit relative to how it performed years ago before this stuff was implemented.

[Harabec]

Interesting! I had no idea! Well I wouldn’t mind building a pc that’s a hair faster (maybe more 2001 era than 1999). Reading threads it looks like someone had good results with a P4 1.5ghz and a GeForce 2 ultra. I think I’d prefer to go the athlon route though. I remember having what I believe was a 1.2ghz athlon processor and I loved that machine

[Harabec]

If you go with the hardware you have, and play at 640x480 or something like that then sure but you gotta be real about it. I run old hardware on another PC and it runs at 40FPS, it isn't great but I did it for Nostalgia. Old Sound Card, old 800x600(native) samsung monitor, Geforce 2 and a Pentium III. Usually finding all this hardware is the hardest part as you want a good motherboard and lots of SDRAM ram or DDR1 ram.

Tell me more about your build. I'm wavering between a Pentium 3 and a AMD 1.0-1.4ghz. I don't mind running at somewhat low resolutions. 800x600 honestly would probably be fine.

[Shawk]

Tell me more about your build. I'm wavering between a Pentium 3 and a AMD 1.0-1.4ghz. I don't mind running at somewhat low resolutions. 800x600 honestly would probably be fine.

Yeah exactly can get away with 1024x768 but I try to just hard lock at 30FPS just to keep everything smooth.

Now that I am looking at it, it is a Pentium 4.- Pentium 4 1 Core, 2 Threads @ 3.2Ghz :eek: With HT TECH :eek: I have 2 of them, one is 2.8Ghz I think they're 800MHZ system bus 512 cache L2

2x1024MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM @ 500MHZ I think, overlocked, had to put some headsinks on them, Kinston brand.

80GB 7200RPM Ultra HDD :eek:

Windows XP pro

420 Watt PS

Use a Geforce 2 but I the FX 5900 are really popular have seen a few 5950s too.

Craiglist is good for Alienwares, Facebook marketplace is probably better but I don't use it.. Get a Old Alienware for like $50 and be done with it.. Maybe a Alienware from 2006, cause Titanium is 2006 while my setup is more made for 2003-2004 so you might get 50+ FPS with a 2006 system instead maybe. Also recycling places are good, just stand around and snag a tower out of a bin ;)

Cig stained looking beige-brown tower.. IBM ball mouse with no scroll wheel also cig stained looking beige-brown.. 15" full screen 800x600 monitor.

It's kind of pointless really but it is fun so whatever. If you throw a Floppy in there, the old hard-drive sounds will be enough to transport you back lol.

[Arvan]

P99 isnt velious specs its whatever the 13th expansion specs were + a bit more to not lag

[Harabec]

I wonder if anyone who worked on the p99 client can chime in about the additional system demands. I wonder if it is better to go slightly better on the cpu or the gpu. I might go socket A AMD 1-1.2ghz on this build in that case..

[toddfx]

I wonder if anyone who worked on the p99 client can chime in about the additional system demands. I wonder if it is better to go slightly better on the cpu or the gpu. I might go socket A AMD 1-1.2ghz on this build in that case..

I would very much love this too, or rather just system requirements! They are no longer one and the same as Titanium requirements.

I've attemped this numerous times, most recently in 2019 just before the launch of Green server, and I have not yet got P99 to run on anything older than a P4. Anything PIII or earlier, it would crash when attempting to join the P99 server. (and actually it got even worse beginning with patch v49c, now immediately crashing the game upon launch)

Titanium it's self works perfectly fine, even on Windows 98 with all original hardware. It's only once the latest P99 dsetup.dll is copied into the folder that things get screwy. It's evident the P99 dsetup.dll is perhaps using a more modern DirectX version that's incompatible with hardware beyond a certain threshold.

For anybody else interested in exploring this, I've attached here my data sheet with tests I conducted in 2019. Red rows were failures (crash when you connect to the P99 server), green rows were successes (playable P99). I gave up and settled for P4 after spending like $300 on eBay hardware hunting for the right combo lol.

This hasn't ALWAYS been the case apparently, as I have a P99 dsetup.dll patch file dated 10/8/2013 that works fine. It results in the "spell file out of date" error of course, but at least the game doesn't crash. So something changed in that file between then and now to cause the classic hardware incompatibility. :(

[Widem]

In my opinion, the only way to get a vintage experience is by inviting your dad over and having him pick up the phone in the middle of a pull in Cazic Thule.

Now that's EQ Classic.

[Shawk]

In my opinion, the only way to get a vintage experience is by inviting your dad over and having him pick up the phone in the middle of a pull in Cazic Thule.

Now that's EQ Classic.

Just throw a floppy drive in your PC and have it run a soundbite constantly so it just keeps turning the inside of he floppy disk. Throw a old hard-drive in there too..

Really though I think the best of both worlds is 1440p with a scaled up Interface to look like 800x600/1024x768 as all older games that can go into a higher resolution look amazing but few of them scale the interface to match.

[Harabec]

In my opinion, the only way to get a vintage experience is by inviting your dad over and having him pick up the phone in the middle of a pull in Cazic Thule.

Now that's EQ Classic.

Haha I remember getting yelled at to mow the lawn mid Hate raid once. And coming back to my tool all alone in such a scary place D:

[Rexin]

https://img.youtube.com/vi/5mLGJsxhCHk/hqdefault.jpg

[Harabec]

Does anybody know if the Titanium client (or P99) still uses the sound fonts for a sound blaster live card? Some threads said it might have been removed at some point from live.. they’re super cheap on eBay so it would be a great addition to this build if the P99 client still uses them.

[Shawk]

VirtualMidiSynth by Coolsoft is what I use for sound fonts, can change on the fly etc there are a few good ones not sure where i found it