Retro Gaming #1: The Need for Speed (Road & Track)

[Ryzza5]

This will probably be one of the hardest games to find (search for 'The Need for Speed 1 SE full DOS'), but there is a free playable demo available here:

 

Download The Need For Speed | DOS Games Archive

 

 

To get this game working, you will probably need to install DOS-BOX, an emulator for DOS (which for all you n00bs, is the operating system we used before Windows came out).

 

How to get the game working: Running The Need for Speed SE [NFS1] on Vista and XP - NFSCars Forums

 

 

So, as part of the TDUCk retro gaming concept, we'll pretend that this game has just been released and share screenshots, videos, discussions, etc, etc.

[Milli]

Tomorrow i will start play this game as the Playstation version, which probably is the same. :lol:

[Ryzza5]

Possibly depends on whether or not it's the SE version.

 

AFAIK, the first version was DOS only, and then the SE version came out to work with Windows 95, and it also had 2 extra tracks, rewritten rally code, DirectX 2, and networking support. I don't know which version the PS1 copy compares to. IIRC the game had police chases too. :)

[Paladin Skylark]

I assume we're pretending we don't know any better about car physics/graphics - so let's say that we're literally living in 1994 lol

[superhyper]

Read the OP more carefully :cheeky: You're correct btw.

[Paladin Skylark]

I've seem to have found a uh... bigger than the demo version ;) you can PM me if you want a link.

[Milli]

So, as i said, i started play this game. The intro is cool, as it is made by real cars... lol.

 

I did few single races just to practice, before start the tournament itself, and i found... something curious... THIS GAME IS HARD! :lol:

 

I did a Viper race on tournament, i had to restart the race few times, took a few screenshots.

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Look the lap times, lol... like a clock (Viper times)

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Here you can see i have raced on same track with different cars, i have done a lot of races with the NSX to get that time, few races with the 512 and then i did the tournament one. (Viper)

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So far that is all what i have done... was doing other tournament race, but it is so hard to beat this dude

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Yes, that is the finish line, last lap, last seconds of race... :lol:

 

 

Edit: I would prefer a interior like this in standard cars in GT5 than the dull blackness they have done. :lol:

[TheXRacer]

Are we going PSX or DOS versions here?

[Milli]

Are we going PSX or DOS versions here?

Both.

[TheXRacer]

Good, because I practically MADE my copy of PSX and I don't know how to use DOS.

[Ryzza5]

Nice screenies there Millena - yeah the older games were harder (that said I wasn't sure if they were actually harder or it was due to me being a lot younger and less skilled back then) :p

 

 

You may use the DOS or PSX version (either way you probably need an emulator) ;)

I'm still in the acquisition stage but should be able to start playing Friday evening hopefully.

[Ozzmcom]

ooh this was the first proper racing game I've ever played. Man it felt good, the cockpit the views it was amazing downloading it now as we speak , I might put up some vids tomorrow.

[Milli]

Seems like i got the way of how to play this... done almost all races now, need do only one. :D

 

I also could notice something that was not expected. :lol: The car understeers because braking too hard! While taking a really tight corner with the Ferrari, it was going out of the road, when i stop braking and accelerated, i noticed the car getting the front up and it stop understeering.

 

Not sure, but i guess that is such an advanced physics-wise thing for a game 3 years old younger than me.

 

Here is a picture of me maxing out the NSX. :lol:

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Edit: Play this game using the square button as accelerator made my thumb gets hurt. Lol, like if press it harder will make the car run faster. :lol:

[Prophecy]

Would the PC/DOS version be at all compatible with a modern wheel? Like the Driving Force GT?

[Ryzza5]

Maybe but unlikely. I played all the old NFS games with a keyboard back in the day so that's how I plan on doing it again. For controllers you would have better chances using the PSX emulator rather than the DOS one (since DOS didn't really support controllers... it was hard enough just to get sound and VGA working in some games) ;)

[Prophecy]

Yeah i'm sure I could get my ps3 controller (I still have my non-sony ps3 controller left over, couldnt trade it :p) to work with the PSX emulator version. I'll have a look around for some stuff later on.

[Ozzmcom]

I couldn't get the game to work , unfortunetely I'm not very good at these things and dosbox is far too complicated for me. I've followed the instructions but I'm sure I've done something wrong , the disc is in my drive I've typed mound d e:\ but it keeps giving me nfs illegal something. quick launch doesn't work either because the game is not installed. and I can't install the game all together because I have 64 bit.

edit I've copied files from my disk to hard drive , mounted that file in dosbox but it won't run the installer still.

[Ryzza5]

Yeah I was thinking about how I might install it (hopefully I can run setup from inside DOS-BOX). If I get it working I'll let you know how, but probably won't try it until tomorrow.

 

Otherwise you could try installing it in a Virtual PC if you have one (or perhaps you even have an old PC or laptop lying around that's 32-bit).

 

 

[+] I've installed the game ok in DOS-BOX but the emulator seems to crash when I launch the game which is weird (since others have got it working, plus I've had success playing other DOS games such as Toonstruck in the emulator). I'll see if I've still got a Win95 Virtual PC floating around on one of my HDDs otherwise will look at the PSX version.

 

 

[Ryzza5]

I found my old Windows 98 virtual PC and booted it up (have a bunch of VMs running different version of Windows for back when I tested programs that I created), had no issues installing and launching the game, except for too much lag that made it unplayable. I'll see what can be done about it, otherwise will look for the PSX version:

 

 

 

 

 

Parts of the game look like a massive achievement considering the technology + PCs that were around back then.

[Milli]

Computer version looks better than Playstation... :lol:

[Ryzza5]

That is pretty much always the case ;)

[Ryzza5]

Tried the PSX version today and had a go on two tracks. Driving is not stupidly arcade, not proper sim, but not too bad. Let's just say you probably won't win your first race, esp if you pick one of the harder tracks :) The crash sound effects when I under-steered, hit the barrier and rolled over were pretty cool. If you try and use the handbrake in bumper cam, the camera pulls back to 3rd person (or vehicle) view. Drifting (if successful) will slow you down though, but the brakes seem very slow to work (or they don't work when you're trying to steer).

 

If you can get ePSXe (Ehanced PSX Emulator) and the CD it'll probably be easier to get working compared to the PC version for this particular title.

 

 

My first attempt at the first track in a Supra.

[Ryzza5]

If you haven't got around to getting this one working or sharing your screenies and experiences with us yet, now's the time since we'll be moving on up to Need for Speed 2 (SE) tomorrow (24 hours). I'll try to get around to finishing the tournament in a few hours. I might even try to Live Stream it for those who weren't able to get it working (don't expect me to know the tracks or win races though) :p

[Milli]

Just finished the tournament and opened a new track. Here is the screenshots that i took.

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TOP SPEED!! :lol:

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Edit: Beating Ryzza's time. :lol:

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[Ryzza5]

I presume you unlock that track by finishing the tournament...

 

 

So what's your final review of this game, Milli?