EA just added classics like Dungeon Keeper, SimCity 3000, and Populous on Steam

There hasn’t been a lot of good news out of EA lately, but here’s some: the company just launched a bunch of classic games on Steam. The new (old) releases include nine games in total, spanning franchises like Dungeon Keeper, Populous, and SimCity.

Here’s the full list:

Command & Conquer The Ultimate Collection

SimCity 3000 Unlimited

Populous

Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods

Populous: The Beginning

Dungeon Keeper Gold

Dungeon Keeper 2

Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack

The Saboteur

FlyingSquid,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

It sort of seems like another shot across the bow at abandonware archiving.

I just picked a title at random- archive.org/…/DungeonKeeperGoldEditionUSAEnFrEsNl…

As long as companies think they can keep making money from old games, they will keep trying.

Gimpydude,

I’m OK with them wanting to keep making money from it as long as they update it for compatibility with newer operating systems. Selling something they have completely abandoned us not cool.

FlyingSquid,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Sure, but the abandonware version should still be archived and playable and the goal here is to make that impossible.

MufinMcFlufin,

What makes you say that this is aiming to make that impossible? I picked up RA2 because it was cheap and I figured if I didn’t like the port (doesn’t work well, forces you to play on their application, etc) I’d just return it and so far it’s been good enough for me to use. The installation process was a lot easier than the original game and I was able to hop straight in and play. Haven’t had any issues with it yet.

So far I haven’t seen anything to suggest that this is anything but them catering to a different market that being the steam community.

FlyingSquid,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

There’s a reason why Nintendo keeps suing companies making emulators out of existence.

MufinMcFlufin,

Yes I both am aware and agree that that would be acting against archives and the like. EA making these games available on Steam however is not the same as Nintendo suing emulators.

Black616Angel,

Where is Themen Park™ Manager?

I want to play that again so badly and its not even in GoG (unlike another Theme Park, I didn’t play back then).

A_Random_Idiot, (edited )

Simcity 3k unlimited on sale for 2 bucks?

i was just searching for my cds this morning! Fuck yeah i’ll buy it for 2 bucks!

edit

So excited over SC3KU for 2 bucks I missed Alpha Centauri, which is also two bucks! bought that too :D

edit again

Command and Conquer games are still way to expensive for how old they are, though. To bad.

loudWaterEnjoyer,
@loudWaterEnjoyer@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

You can get the whole ultimate collection for below 10 bucks

A_Random_Idiot,

Huh, isnt showing up for me, had to view an individual games store page and just click add bundle to get it.

loudWaterEnjoyer,
@loudWaterEnjoyer@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Yes it looks like each game is 10 bucks if you look at it from the store browser.

pacoboyd,

Used to play the crap out of some Populous (all of them) was a great game. Not giving EA any money though. Just get them on GoG so you don’t rent them.

Regrettable_incident,
@Regrettable_incident@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah I’d forgotten about Populous, used to play it on my Amiga back in the day. It was the first. RTS type game I played iirc.

blahsay,

If it needs origin I’m not interested

loudWaterEnjoyer,
@loudWaterEnjoyer@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

It does not

Stalinwolf,
@Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca avatar

Holy shit! Will DK1 and 2 run on Windows 10 now?

jeeva,

From what the steam reviews say, it’s using Dosbox for the former.

aksdb,

Now do Black and White, please…

berg,

Oughh, Dungeon Keeper… That was one of my favorites as a child, the Swedish voice acting was top notch!

ampersandrew,
ampersandrew avatar

EA's launcher still requires internet access though, right? If so, you're probably better off sticking to the GOG versions. I booted up Jedi: Fallen Order on a train, and EA told me "no".

Jambalaya,

I don’t think these games require the EA launcher.

ampersandrew,
ampersandrew avatar

Maybe not. The disclaimers on the side of the store page appear to be different between these and some other EA games. I hate how hard it is these days to discern if a game has a stupid always-online requirement.

Jambalaya,

Can confirm at least on the C&C bundle there is no EA app requirement

FrankTheHealer,

That is so fucking annoying. How they gonna say you can’t play a game that you bought.

Ffs.

I was having similar issues with Red Dead Redemption 2 on Steam. Like RDR2 is still a great game but that DRM bullshit can go fuck itself.

jeeva,

Just FYI, it generally seems that none of these require origin or the EA app or any more than Steam as DRM.

stufkes,

I don’t know about these newly added games but I can launch Sim City 4 from Steam without Origin.

RGB3x3,

I always loved SimCity 3000. It was the first city builder I’d ever played.

I can still hear that smooth jazz playing and the sound of screams when I sent a robot and a tornado barreling through the city.

gwildors_gill_slits,

I honestly had no idea there was a SimCity 3000. Last one I played was SimCity 2000

homesnatch,

Don’t skip over SimCity 2001-2999, you’ll be totally lost…

gwildors_gill_slits,

lol

fidodo,

I really want a modern old school style city builder. I tried cities skyline but it was too complicated. Like parkitect is to planet coaster.

Nighed, (edited )
@Nighed@sffa.community avatar

Skylines is complicated?!?

Fair enough I guess, have you tried citiesXL? Older and dead but even more of a city painter I believe.

oKtosiTe,
@oKtosiTe@lemmy.world avatar

Compared to Sim City 3000 and Sim City 4, Cities Skylines’ UI feels really convoluted to me.

deus,

Same here, Sim City 3000 and The Sims were my jam and I still listen to their soundtracks every once in a while, they’re so good. There was something truly magical about Maxis back then.

thezeesystem,

Added but not updated to work well on modern systems. Can’t play one of my favorites games (red alert 2) because it just isn’t built for it.

Like they could of invested some time to update it a bit so I can play games that’s not 640-480.

UKFilmNerd,
@UKFilmNerd@feddit.uk avatar

There is OpenRA. An open source engine to get those classic C&C games running on modern machines but it only supports C&C, Red Alert 1 and Dune 2000.

They are working on the next engine with Tiberian Sun currently under development.

If you’re interested in Dungeon Keeper, I highly recommend a similar project called KeeperFX. Play the game on modern systems, in higher resolutions, with game fixes as well.

Dkarma,

Populous was so much fun back in the day

DarkThoughts,

I wish there were more god games, especially more complex / ambitious / large scale ones. Like a mixture of god game, 4X, and cult simulator.

cricketyrickets,
@cricketyrickets@midwest.social avatar

Can a bitch just get Sim Tower?! I miss that game the most from childhood…

Thassodar,

This one and SimCopter took way more of my time than any of the other Sim games by a mile. I was especially surprised because SimCopter was full 3D and my old hardware could run it.

I don’t know how well a remaster of either would sell, but I’d buy them. SimCopter could even be a mobile game at this point.

tux,

Check out Project Highrise. Felt pretty similar to the nostalgia.

Or myabandonware.com/…/simtower-the-vertical-empire-…

Broken_Monitor,

Populous The Beginning! I never played the other populous games but I have some very fond memories of this one. As a kid I just loved using spells to reshape the worlds and mess with the enemy AI. Dropping a volcano in the middle of their village and watching them go nuts was always so much fun.

LaserTurboShark69,

I remember spending hours on the first level raising land across the entire planet to make a gigantic village

LordOfLocksley,

Damn, Populous was my go to game back in the day. So much fun

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