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timppu: Ie. the floppy game doesn't install on the hard disk, but reads and writes all the game data to/from the floppy?

I guess I came to PC gaming after it had become a norm that PC games are completely installed on the hard disk, and if there was any "DRM", it would be something like asking for a keyword from the manual. The floppies were usually used only during the installation.

Then again, I have a faint recollection of playing Sopwith from a floppy disk as a kid...
Not just that, but you booted the computer from the floppy directly into the game. The game itself acted as an OS of sorts (though keep in mind that many OSes at the time called the BIOS for many basic functions, so the game wasn't a full-blown operating system by today's standards - or even by early 90's/late 80's standards).
Post edited October 07, 2015 by Maighstir
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Maighstir: Not just that, but you booted the computer from the floppy directly into the game.
I know Amiga had lots of games like that (maybe even most of Amiga's games had to be booted from the disk), but I didn't know it was at some point common also on PC. Oh well, glad I came to PC gaming after that.
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Strijkbout: It's a term used after harddisks becoming mainstream in PC's, basically PC Booter means that the game boots directly from floppy/media, which was normal on all early PC's and homecomputers.
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timppu: Ie. the floppy game doesn't install on the hard disk, but reads and writes all the game data to/from the floppy?
Yes, basically how videogameconsoles used to work until the previous last generation, which had HDD's.
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chadjenofsky: Anyone ever play Castle Smurfenstein?
Oh yes I played that one on my Apple II back in the day.
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Crosmando: Did John Carmack have anything to do with those games?
No. They were made by Silas Warner and were among John Romero's favorite games when he was growing up, so when id was hunting around for game ideas, Romero suggested that they create a 3D update of Castle Wolfenstein. The game eventually evolved into the form we know today because the team felt the stealth angle was too boring.

I would love to see these games on GOG. I still enjoy playing them. And I'm not sure if this goes for all versions, but I know the PC version had a feature in which you could make the safe-cracking speed up by holding down the space bar.
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andysheets1975: ...
I would love to see these games on GOG. I still enjoy playing them. And I'm not sure if this goes for all versions, but I know the PC version had a feature in which you could make the safe-cracking speed up by holding down the space bar.
Yes! The Apple ][e did the same thing when you held down the space bar. Also, you could sometimes make the clock go down significantly by shooting at it, unless the chest contained something combustible--then it was game over!
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chadjenofsky: Also, you could sometimes make the clock go down significantly by shooting at it
Shooting randomly removes something up to 200 seconds. I've shot at a chest at 100+ seconds before, shot it, and it took 3 seconds to open. Just don't shoot more than once...

Now you have me missing the game :P