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Internet Archive Adds Windows 3.1 Software Library

Areala

By Areala
in Retro Video Gaming!

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Areala

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Last year they released several thousand MS-DOS applications and games, all available for free and playable within your web browser:

http://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos for those who need the link.

This year, they upgraded to Windows:

https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_win3

Games, utilities, business software, and simple applications all playable/accessible within your web browser. For free. Freeware, shareware, and full commercial versions all reside within their archive! :)

So if you've got some free time (yeah, right) and want to play a few rounds of shanghai, chess, backgammon, checkers, or even an X-rated solitaire game or two (256 colours, baby!), go forth and check out the collection! Who knows...maybe you'll find an old friend. :)

Personally, I recommend "Castle of the Winds", an old Rogue-like game with cute little tile-based bitmap graphics that I spent FAR too many hours playing on my old laptop:

https://archive.org/details/win3_CASTLE1

*huggles*
Areala

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miketheratguy Explorer

miketheratguy

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So if you've got some free time (yeah, right) and want to play a few rounds of shanghai, chess, backgammon, checkers, or even an X-rated solitaire game or two (256 colours, baby!), go forth and check out the collection! Who knows...maybe you'll find an old friend. :)

X-rated Solitaire? I already play that like 4-5 times a week.

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kitsunebi Proficient

kitsunebi

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The second computer my family ever owned was WIN3.1-based, but when I recently loaded up a WIN3.1 emulator on DOSBox to play a game, it was practically like seeing it for the first time - I'd more or less forgotten what WIN3.1 looked like. I think it was because hardly any games ran in Windows back then, so I would boot into Windows and then immediately exit into DOS to play games, never giving Windows the chance to worm its way into my brain and stick with me years later the way DOS commands did. Of course, then came Win95 which changed the face of PCs completely...

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Areala recommends:

Bush Buck - Global Treasure Hunter

https://archive.org/details/msdos_Bush_Buck_-_Global_Treasure_Hunter_1991

This is a globe-trotting treasure hunt in a similar vein to the Carmen Sandiego series, only instead of tracking down criminals, you're on a race against either the AI or another player to be the first to track down a bunch of artifacts strewn around the globe. You begin with a certain number of tickets, spend them to fly to various destinations, and get more when you turn your treasures back in at home. Along the way, you're treated to some cute animations, small nuggets of local history, and you wind up learning a crap-ton of stuff about geography and culture. My school had this and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? on all the computers in the lab, and it kicks ass for an edutainment title. :)

*huggles*
Areala

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Areala

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If nothing else, this will be handy for identifying software and games whose names are forgotten, with the thumbnails available. The DOS emulation is okay, but without being able to throttle the clock speed with a turbo switch, ugh.

You can raise and lower your cycle count, thus virtually adjusting your clock speed, from within the emulator. I don't recall the exact keys you use for it, but it can be done. :)

*huggles*

Areala

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KiwiArcader Enthusiast

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I have the complete collection of Win 3.1 games that they got this from and I have to say the MS-DOS games were so much better than the Win3.x lot. It was the introduction of Windows 95 that finally saw the great games of DOS migrate onto the Windows Platform. DirectX was a beautiful thing and the driving force for change .......

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