games that can run on potato PC(s)

[Patrick_Plays_Doom]

3 minutes ago, Panzermann11 said:

What about your graphics card? Nvidia? AMD? Anything?

Nvidia

[Panzermann11]

4 minutes ago, Patrick_Plays_Doom said:

Nvidia

What model, exactly?

Edited December 30, 2023 by Panzermann11

[Patrick_Plays_Doom]

3 minutes ago, Panzermann11 said:

What model, exactly?

By model i suppose you mean version, ill admit im not that good at computer stuff so i cant really go into amazing details so here are some extra stuff(s)

nvidia version: 391.35

NVS 510

[plums]

1 hour ago, Daytime Waitress said:

 

If someone wants to do more research on the etymology of it than Generic Gaming Site I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but that 100% sounds like some urbandictionary-tier shit they pulled out of their arse.

I'm fairly certain the term "potato" for bad quality came from low-resolution jpgs/movies described as being "potato quality," which isn't a reference to anything but just a way of saything "the quality of this is not very high" since potatoes are not expensive. From there it spread to a term for PCs as well.

 

One of the earliest references is a comment in this video, this might be what was responsible for starting the spread of the term, the internet being what it is it's impossible to say for sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1unPb0oIQ9Y

 

Whatever the case I'm 100% sure it has nothing to do with Oblivion.

 

On topic: try platformers and other side-scrollers. Spelunky HD & Spelunky 2, Aeterna Noctis, Salt & Sanctuary, Axiom Verge are all metroidvanias and/or roguelite platformers that I have enjoyed. (edit: Hollow Knight was so obvious I forgot to even mention it.) Dead Cells and Bloodstained are also highly regarded but I haven't gotten to those yet. Blasphemous I also really enjoyed (haven't played the 2nd one yet) but I have a bit more reservations about recommending because some people find it overly frustrating/bleak. Strategy/turn-based games might be good too. Depends what you're interested in. I really liked the Shadowrun games from the mid-2010s, especially the 2nd one, and they're on right now as a bundle for pretty cheap on Steam and GOG.

Edited December 30, 2023 by plums

[QuaketallicA]

13 hours ago, Patrick_Plays_Doom said:

for a whole year i was looking for new games ive gone crazy! i only hot 4gb of ram and a shit graphic card what good games are there?? i beg for good games ive been game deprived for a whole damn year!!

edit: im not looking for retro games

(by retro i mean like doom-quake-y games"

 

I used to play Star Wars Battlefront II on a cheap laptop from like 2012 that only had integrated graphics. Granted it didn't run terribly well, but it's a 2005 game.

 

I mean basically the older something is the easier it is to run, obviously.

[QuaketallicA]

32 minutes ago, plums said:

I'm fairly certain the term "potato" for bad quality came from low-resolution jpgs/movies described as being "potato quality," which isn't a reference to anything but just a way of saything "the quality of this is not very high" since potatoes are not expensive. From there it spread to a term for PCs as well.

 

One of the earliest references is a comment in this video, this might be what was responsible for starting the spread of the term, the internet being what it is it's impossible to say for sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1unPb0oIQ9Y

 

Whatever the case I'm 100% sure it has nothing to do with Oblivion.

 

On topic: try platformers and other side-scrollers. Spelunky HD & Spelunky 2, Aeterna Noctis, Salt & Sanctuary, Axiom Verge are all metroidvanias and/or roguelite platformers that I have enjoyed. (edit: Hollow Knight was so obvious I forgot to even mention it.) Dead Cells and Bloodstained are also highly regarded but I haven't gotten to those yet. Blasphemous I also really enjoyed (haven't played the 2nd one yet) but I have a bit more reservations about recommending because some people find it overly frustrating/bleak. Strategy/turn-based games might be good too. Depends what you're interested in. I really liked the Shadowrun games from the mid-2010s, especially the 2nd one, and they're on right now as a bundle for pretty cheap on Steam and GOG.

 

 

I was under the impression the "potato" joke came from the fact that potatoes hold a certain amount of electrical charge, and can act as a battery. People have done experiments connecting dozens of potatoes together to power like a TI-83 or something. The joke is your PC is so trash it can run things not much better than a potato.

[QuaketallicA]

6 hours ago, Darkcrafter07 said:

Battlefield 2, 3, 4, bad company 2, chronicles of riddick escape from butcher bay, half life, half-life 2s, counter-strike 1.6, condition zero, source, chaser total recall, starcrafts, warcrafts, call of dutys and other shit ton of good games like doom, quake, quake 2, 3, 4, doom 3, duke nukem 3d that don't need to a busty pc.

 

Battlefield 2...maybe.

 

Battlefield Bad Company 2? 3? 4?!?! Yeah, right! If you don't have a good graphics card, I doubt you can run Battlefield 3, certainly not 4.

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

Okay, so your GPU is indeed shit. Your processor, however, isn't that bad. My advice would be to buy a cheap used GPU like a GTX 1060, and another 4GB of RAM. Shouldn't run you much more than $100 and you'll be able to play pretty much whatever you want. Other than that, you'll be looking at games that came out before 2012 for the most part (rough estimate). For example, your PC more than meets the requirements to run Bioshock 2, which came out in 2010. The main bottleneck here is your GPU, then your RAM. It won't cost much at all to upgrade. Installing RAM and a GPU is very simple even if you don't know about computers. We'll help you out if you need it. Installing RAM is just snapping it into a socket, a child could do it. GPU is sticking it into a socket, plugging in a cable, and turning a couple screws to mount the bracket to the back of your case. It's simple, cheap stuff. You're lucky because your CPU isn't terrible (it's not great, but I had a 3570 and it got me pretty far). Installing a CPU is a little more difficult (FUCK INTEL PUSHPIN HEATSINKS!) as you'll be pulling a lever to remove/place it, applying thermal paste and installing a heatsink.

Edited December 30, 2023 by TheMagicMushroomMan

[Xeebleton]

play Max Payne. its a low-end game (can even run on Win95!), really fun, and has a great story. dont forget to install mods such as the startup hang fix and the difficulty fix

[Patrick_Plays_Doom]

1 hour ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

. Shouldn't run you much more than $100 

Lets just say im not in the usa and its way way way WAY pricier then 100 over here

Edited December 30, 2023 by Patrick_Plays_Doom

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

1 hour ago, DoodlesGDX said:

play Max Payne. its a low-end game (can even run on Win95!), really fun, and has a great story. dont forget to install mods such as the startup hang fix and the difficulty fix

Play it in memory of James McCaffrey.

Can't fucking believe he died.

 

16 minutes ago, Patrick_Plays_Doom said:

Lets just say im not in the usa and its way way way WAY pricier then 100 over here

I don't live in America either, I live in Florida.

[Redneckerz]

3 hours ago, Patrick_Plays_Doom said:

By model i suppose you mean version, ill admit im not that good at computer stuff so i cant really go into amazing details so here are some extra stuff(s)

nvidia version: 391.35

NVS 510 

So that's comparable to a GT630 (The 192 shader variant that you have, that is). I expect up to 2007 games to work well at around 720p.

[Patrick_Plays_Doom]

1 hour ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

 

I don't live in America either, I live in Florida.

lmao

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Patrick_Plays_Doom

[Patrick_Plays_Doom]

27 minutes ago, Redneckerz said:

So that's comparable to a GT630 (The 192 shader variant that you have, that is). I expect up to 2007 games to work well at around 720p.

kthx

[bLUEbYTE]

Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance 1 & 2
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Blur
Celeste
Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition
Chicory - A Colorful Tale
Cuphead
Dead Cells
Defense Grid
Defense Grid 2
DiRT2
Doom
Dungeon Crawl - Stone Soup
Fez
FlatOut - Ultimate Carnage
FlatOut 2
Hades
Hollow Knight
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
INSIDE
Into the Breach
Mark of the Ninja
Need for Speed - Underground
Need for Speed - Underground 2
PAC-MAN
PixelJunk Monsters HD
Poker Night
Popcap Game Collection
Psychonauts
Quake II Enhanced
Race Driver GRID
Rayman Origins
Raze
RetroArch
Sausage
Serious Sam HD - The First Encounter
Serious Sam HD - The Second Encounter
Spelunky
Stardew Valley
Super Meat Boy
Terraria
Tetris Effect - Connected
Undertale

[Patrick_Plays_Doom]

27 minutes ago, bLUEbYTE said:

Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance 1 & 2
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Blur
Celeste
Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition
Chicory - A Colorful Tale
Cuphead
Dead Cells
Defense Grid
Defense Grid 2
DiRT2
Doom
Dungeon Crawl - Stone Soup
Fez
FlatOut - Ultimate Carnage
FlatOut 2
Hades
Hollow Knight
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
INSIDE
Into the Breach
Mark of the Ninja
Need for Speed - Underground
Need for Speed - Underground 2
PAC-MAN
PixelJunk Monsters HD
Poker Night
Popcap Game Collection
Psychonauts
Quake II Enhanced
Race Driver GRID
Rayman Origins
Raze
RetroArch
Sausage
Serious Sam HD - The First Encounter
Serious Sam HD - The Second Encounter
Spelunky
Stardew Valley
Super Meat Boy
Terraria
Tetris Effect - Connected
Undertale

Man! Thanks!

[Master O]

22 hours ago, Patrick_Plays_Doom said:

for a whole year i was looking for new games ive gone crazy! i only hot 4gb of ram and a shit graphic card what good games are there?? i beg for good games ive been game deprived for a whole damn year!!

edit: im not looking for retro games

(by retro i mean like doom-quake-y games"

 

DOS Games (via DOSBox Staging)

 

Carmageddon Splat Pack
Crystal Caves
Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion
Dangerous Dave’s Risky Rescue
Dangerous Dave’s in The Deserted Pirate's Hangout!
Dave Goez Nutz!
Exhumed / Powerslave (the game, not the Iron Maiden album)
Lands of Lore 1: The Throne of Chaos
Lands of Lore 2: Guardians of Destiny
Leisure Suit Larry 1
Leisure Suit Larry 2
Leisure Suit Larry 3
Leisure Suit Larry 5
Leisure Suit Larry 6
Megarace
Megarace 2
Redneck Rampage
Redneck Rampage Rides Again
Redneck Rampage: Suckin Grits on Route 66
Secret Agent
Tomb Raider 1
Ultima Underworld 1
Ultima Underworld 2

 

Windows:

 

Broforce

Daikatana

Deus Ex GOTY
F.E.A.R Platinum
F.E.A.R. Extraction Point
F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate
Freespace 2
Jazz Jackrabbit 2: Christmas Chronicles
Jazz Jackrabbit 2: The Secret Files
Lands of Lore 3
Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail!
SNK 40th Anniversary Collection (arcade games)
System Shock 2
Thief 2: The Metal Age
Thief Gold
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Tomb Raider 2
Tomb Raider 3
Total Annihilation: Commander Pack
Unreal Gold
Unreal 2: The Awakening (Special Edition)
Unreal Tournament GOTY (aka UT99)
Unreal Tournament 2004

Edited December 30, 2023 by Master O

[CrocMagnum]

Splatter Zombiecalypse Now (available on Steam or GOG)

 

TLDR: Top-Down Shooter Indie Zombies Noir with main character talking like Max Payne. 

 

This modest game is dear to me, and it works on a potato. Imagine a top-down Noir shooter where you kill zombies. This one-guy endeavour (Unity engine) is a very polished experience, the dev listened to feedback and one day he even made an update to include voice acting. 

 

You can upgrade your weapons at workbenches, find secret pistol parts (to unlock a golden gun). 

 

and look for secrets-caches in the environnement. They are a few small sidequests too. Highly recommended for when you need to unwind for a few minutes after a very long day. Lastly, it's damn cheap (3 bucks^^)  

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by CrocMagnum

[Herr Dethnout]

14 hours ago, Patrick_Plays_Doom said:

By model i suppose you mean version, ill admit im not that good at computer stuff so i cant really go into amazing details so here are some extra stuff(s)

nvidia version: 391.35

NVS 510

My PC is far worse than yours and I'm able to play New Vegas at decent framerate, so I recommend that game.

 

Another is Duck Game, you can play alone but is best if you have friends to play online or local.

 

Also Postal Franchise should work very well (Although Postal III and 4 are unoptimized)

[Jello]

12 hours ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

I don't live in America either, I live in Florida.

I don't know why, but this made me laugh my fucking ass off. Thank you.

[Dr. Zin]

Megamek should run for you and is free, though it can be a bit of jumping off the deep end to learn how to play (it's a full turn based implementation of the rules for the Battletech tabletop wargame).

Edited December 30, 2023 by Dr. Zin

[Artman2004]

Flashpoint Archive. It allows you to play a wide variety of web games (especially Flash games). 

[MrFroz]

I'm going to suggest a couple of games that I played back when I had a Windows XP PC with only 1 GB of RAM and an Intel HD graphics:

-American McGee's Alice.

-Grim Fandango.

-No One Lives Forever 1 and 2.

 

Hopefully, you'll enjoy them as much as I did.

[QuaketallicA]

18 hours ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

 buy a cheap used GPU like a GTX 1060

 

1060 is considered "cheap, used" now?

 

My main gaming laptop has a GTX 1060 w/ 6GB VRAM. That stuff was pretty top of the line when I got it (apart from the 1070 and 1080 obviously). I can run pretty much anything I could ever want to with this...except Ray Tracing, but then I don't give a crap about that or most games recent enough to even have it.

 

2 hours ago, MrFroz said:

I'm going to suggest a couple of games that I played back when I had a Windows XP PC with only 1 GB of RAM and an Intel HD graphics:

-American McGee's Alice.

-Grim Fandango.

-No One Lives Forever 1 and 2.

 

Hopefully, you'll enjoy them as much as I did.

 

I just picked up Alice: Madness Returns recently during a Steam sale. Haven't tried it yet. Is it recommended to play McGee's Alice first? You can't buy that one digitally.

[Jello]

34 minutes ago, QuaketallicA said:

 

1060 is considered "cheap, used" now?

 

My main gaming laptop has a GTX 1060 w/ 6GB VRAM. That stuff was pretty top of the line when I got it (apart from the 1070 and 1080 obviously). I can run pretty much anything I could ever want to with this...except Ray Tracing, but then I don't give a crap about that or most games recent enough to even have it.

 

 

I just picked up Alice: Madness Returns recently during a Steam sale. Haven't tried it yet. Is it recommended to play McGee's Alice first? You can't buy that one digitally.

I would recommend playing both of them, but no, you really don't have to play Alice first. Madness Returns is a little more dumbed down, and it seemed to be made as a console game first and foremost, but it is really enjoyable. I think Alice is a better game, and it was more competently designed, and the way the Quake 3 engine was utilized is great. I don't think I've seen a more beautiful utilization of the Quake 3 engine; the use of color and level design is still just amazing. It reminds me of the absolute best of the original Quake user levels, on the same scale as the Nehahra Project and Arcane Dimensions. It was a beautiful game, and I would highly recommend it.

 

Madness Returns, it looks better, but it seemed to lack the creativity and surrealism of Alice. By all accounts it's more well put together, but it always came across as being more of a console friendly game. Not that I don't like consoles, but it just doesn't seem as ambitious. So yeah, you don't have to play Alice first, they aren't really tied together, but I would recommend playing it, because ultimately it's the better game.

[MrFroz]

37 minutes ago, Jello said:

I think Alice is a better game, and it was more competently designed, and the way the Quake 3 engine was utilized is great. I don't think I've seen a more beautiful utilization of the Quake 3 engine; the use of color and level design is still just amazing. It reminds me of the absolute best of the original Quake user levels, on the same scale as the Nehahra Project and Arcane Dimensions. It was a beautiful game, and I would highly recommend it.

 

I played it for the first and only time in 2012 and was really impressed. I don't remember much but from what I recall I really should do a second playthrough soon. I haven't played Madness Return but QuaketallicA I suggest that at any rate you try out Alice. And I didn't know you couldn't buy it digitally, it's a shame, but the same also happens with the two NOLF games.

[Jello]

1 hour ago, MrFroz said:

 

I played it for the first and only time in 2012 and was really impressed. I don't remember much but from what I recall I really should do a second playthrough soon. I haven't played Madness Return but QuaketallicA I suggest that at any rate you try out Alice. And I didn't know you couldn't buy it digitally, it's a shame, but the same also happens with the two NOLF games.

Yeah, apparently EA crammed some DRM into it that got it pulled from Steam, and then there were issues with Disney getting the rights to the "Alice" IP back, so McGee lost any future hope of making another Alice game, so I really wouldn't besmirch anyone who got it through less than legal means. It's damn near impossible to find otherwise, and it's a shame, because it's a great game. I'm lucky enough that I still own my original disc copy, but most people don't have that luxury. 

 

But Madness Returns is also a really well designed game, and American's attention to detail and level design really shines in it, but it's just not quite as good as the original Alice. It's absolutely the best use of the Quake 3 engine that I've ever seen. Yes, RTCW was really good, and Soldier of Fortune 2 was great, but I don't think any game really topped the visual creativity of Alice. I think it's probably my favorite third person shooter.

 

Again though, the visual design of Madness Returns can be absolutely stunning, and I love it:

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Jello

[thewhateverdude]

Any good OG Mac games? Most games run like trash in mac including Terraria.

[Patrick_Plays_Doom]

10 minutes ago, thewhateverdude said:

Any good OG Mac games? Most games run like trash in mac including Terraria.

uhm, if you want you can make your thread about then whereever but not here

[thewhateverdude]

1 minute ago, Patrick_Plays_Doom said:

uhm, if you want you can make your thread about then whereever but not here

I meant from the list but ok.