I think it is my first time posting on these GOG forums and I'd like to ask for your views.

I upgraded to Windows 10 Home 64-bit less than 2 weeks ago. Prior to that I used to have Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit for 4 years.

My general question is how well do old games from say the year 2000-2010 run under Windows 10? I ask this question on these GOG forums since this is a place to discuss Good Old Games with a community who have a great deal of experience playing old games under modern operating systems. Do most games run well without issues under Windows 10?

I used to play Max Payne 1 on Win 8.1 (which I have completed) and old games like Diablo 2 and Classic Tomb Raider games such as the Last Revelation and and did have various issues which fortunately I managed to fix with unofficial patches and mod tools.

I was wondering whether I'll be running into any of these issues under Windows 10? For example I still have a good few old games like Max Payne 2, Splinter Cell 1, Torchlight 1, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, Dead Space, ARMA: Cold War Assault, Prey (2006), etc.

For example I had crash issues with Enclave which is a 2003 game. It would randomly crash on Win 8.1 despite the game running very well.

My fear is whether I will run into greater deal of issues running Windows 10? Are there any games that don't run well or all under Windows 10?

Many thanks!

Maybe I am super lucky, but I have never had any compatibility problems running GOG games in Windows 10.

That's not been the case for everybody though. Issues will be different for any game, and might also depend on your hardware. You can check the game store page for every game to see if Windows 10 is supported (although there will usually be a disclaimer explaining that a sudden update might create compatibility issues). Or visit each game specific subforum to see what's being discussed about.

Some games I've played that worked fine.

Torchlight 2
Stalker Shadow and Clear Sky (some crashes, but they were common crashes. Buggy games anyways.)
Unreal Gold
Duke Nukem 3D, with and without eDuke32
Thief 1
Nox
Divine Divinity

No problems on any of those except Stalker series, but as mentioned above, they were problems that existed before Windows 10.

Always check PCGamingWiki - there are many details about settings, patches, issues and fixes.

This is about games running on DosBox (I know, older than your query, but still worth mentioning, perhaps). DosBox works just fine on Win10 but, if Windows Update for some reason runs into problems updating, such as lack of storage space, it will crash your party and leave you with a tiny window to play in while displaying its messages and drawing attention to the processes it cannot complete. Windows Update's licence to override anything you do on your own machine is obnoxious to say the least.

no problems here

I should note that some games have received terrible reviews for being unplayable on GOG. Pizza Connection 2 comes to mind.

Also, remember that games purchased here may work when their Steam counterparts don't (Fallout 3 here is less crash-prone on Windows 10 than Steam's version, for example).

I have been able to get every game I own to run on Windows 10, though some require googling and/or tweaking some settings to get running smoothly.

It seems more compatible than 8.1, but slightly less "out of the box" compatible than 7.

It really depends on the game. For a lot of them there'll be no difference. For some, they either won't run well or will require more hoops to jump through due to changes in DWM made from Windows 8. Many popular older games have been unofficially patched by modders / received alternative renderers. Some games have issues with fullscreen in W8-10 that they never had in W7 but work fine using Borderless Windowed. Others may require right-click properties (on .exe) Compatibility Mode (XP-W7). As for your list:-

- ARMA Cold War Assault works fine. Adding -nosplash to the command line skips the startup logo's. To change FOV for 16:9 displays, edit Users\Username\UserInfo.cfg in the game folder and change:-
fovLeft=1.333333; uiTopLeftX=0.125; uiBottomRightX=0.875;

- Diablo 2 works but you need to use a couple of tweaks first : 1. DirectDraw / DirectPlay has been "deprecated" in W10 and isn't included by default, but it's still available on the install image. You need to go into Programs & Features -> Turn Windows Features On/Off -> Legacy Components -> DirectPlay and tick that to install it and it should work fine. 2. If you're seeing color corruption then DirectDrawFix will fix this (it also works for the same color problem in other DirectDraw games like Age of Empires 1-2, Commandos Behind Enemy Lines and Worms Armageddon). 3. D2MultiRes mod works well if you want higher res widescreen.

- Torchlight 1 works fine out of the box.

- Prey (2006). Patch v1.4 removes Securom disc DRM and then it works fine (and DRM-Free) after that. To add widescreen : Edit Prey\base\preyconfig.cfg. Change seta r_customHeight and seta r_customWidth to your desired resolution. Change seta r_mode to "-1". Change seta r_aspectRatio to your aspect ratio. "0" is 4:3, "1" is 16:9 and "2" is 16:10. Change FOV in-game : Open console with Ctrl+Alt+~ and use g_fov X command.

- As for the other games, PCGamingWiki is one of the best resources for troubleshooting / finding patches / known issues. If you need help with above tweaks or any other specific games feel free to post.

There's literally only two games the past 10 years I had issues running on modern Windows, and GOG fixed and re-released both (Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire). There were many I needed to download fan patches for, or tweak a setting for, however. As said above, PC Gaming Wiki is your friend, as well as just general googling.

Well, hello there, old feller! Haven't seen you around these parts lately.

It varies wildly. Most will run fine or better than fine, but there are a few that won't run at all or will run like tart.

Those were both Lucas Arts games that I also had a lot of trouble with on Win 7.

Well, it depends. I've managed to play some of my older games on Windows 10 almost flawlessly. With a bit of effort.

Many thanks for all your responses! :)

That's very reassuring & helpful to know that most games run fine without too much troubleshooting on Win 10!

Of-course I can always play some of the more problematic games under Windows 7 in another PC should it have any difficulties running under Windows 10. But of-course it's always better to be able to play them all under 1 OS without having to switch back to another OS.

Actually I also have Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb on Retail CD that is by Lucas Arts. I haven't tried playing it yet under 10 or before that on 8.1. But it worked on 7 and judging by the System Requirements on the GOG.com page it shows that, that game works on Windows 10 as well.

So long as most of the games run fine, that's all that matters. Regarding Stalker: Clear Sky, if it is some occasional crashing I wouldn't mind. I have it on Retail DVD and also managed to register it to my GOG account 2 years ago. If it is a game specific problem then I wouldn't blame the Operating System.

Diablo 2 worked perfect for me on Win 8.1 and I am aware that the latest update adds support for 10 as well, so I don't have worries about that game.

If only a handful number of games struggle under Windows 10 that's not a big deal for me, especially if it is for games that I do not own or wish to play.