Just picked up this bad boy.
570 pages.
Still wrapped in plastic.
One of the very last of these beasts still out in the wild. Why does living in the future suck so much?
I have some old manuals dating back to my C64 days.
One of the best was the (also ring bound) manual for LucasArts Their Finest Hour.
I've a footlocker nearly full of old games & manuals that I've lumped over quite a few years now, so yeah, I recall honest-to-god manuals fondly.
Amen on the future sucking.
Quote from: Dammit Carl! on July 14, 2022, 04:45:40 PM
I've a footlocker nearly full of old games & manuals that I've lumped over quite a few years now, so yeah, I recall honest-to-god manuals fondly.
Amen on the future sucking.
Several bins of them in the basement... and they will be included in our upcoming move. I still get almost as much enjoyment sorting through the manuals as I did with the original games, themselves.
Me too. I still got the map of game world from Might & Magic 1. :dreamer:
Quote from: Gusington on July 14, 2022, 03:27:27 PM
One of the best was the (also ring bound) manual for LucasArts Their Finest Hour.
Very true, still got it at home! I was 6 and as such not quite sure about what I was reading there in a foreign language, but all the small little aircraft silhouettes to explain the losses did stuck with me until this day 8)
First thing I'd do with a new game is sit on the couch and start going through the manual; so much excitement getting built up even further as I read through them. I truly miss those days and detest reading anything lengthily off of a screen.
I remember getting Janes Longbow AH64D with it's 300 or 400 page manual and learning everything there is to know about flying a military chopper. I really wish I still had some of those manuals. Heck, up until about two years ago when I moved again I still had the original stiffy disks of System Shock 1. That being said, the giant over-sized boxes games used to come in would quickly become a storage problem for me. As sacrilegious as it may sound, those would eventually end up in a bin. Original discs, cd's, dvds etc would go into generic storage and the manuals onto my bookshelves.
I loved the manuals back in the day as well but if I am honest with myself, I don't think I could even read them anymore as I have gotten older and my eyesight worse. I now can only read online books or kindle so that I can use their zoom feature to make the text big enough for me to even read. Stinks getting old:(
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on July 15, 2022, 05:15:08 AM
I loved the manuals back in the day as well but if I am honest with myself, I don't think I could even read them anymore as I have gotten older and my eyesight worse. I now can only read online books or kindle so that I can use their zoom feature to make the text big enough for me to even read. Stinks getting old:(
LOL...you described me to a T. Getting old surely does suck. Kindle has be a blessing to me.
This thread went from a joyous celebration of PC gaming manuals to a PC gaming hospice :/
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on July 15, 2022, 05:15:08 AM
I loved the manuals back in the day as well but if I am honest with myself, I don't think I could even read them anymore as I have gotten older and my eyesight worse. I now can only read online books or kindle so that I can use their zoom feature to make the text big enough for me to even read. Stinks getting old:(
While fate has been kind to my eyes despite my age, I now take 10 times longer to pee than I used to ;D :-[
Quote from: Gusington on July 15, 2022, 07:45:50 AM
This thread went from a joyous celebration of PC gaming manuals to a PC gaming hospice :/
Darnit wish I had seen this before I posted haha
^Hahaha the dirge continues
I haven't pooped for three days. Ooops, sorry, I thought I was writing a message to my doctor. Now if I can only remember his name....or is it her name?? :hide:
I love manuals - just reading B17 Flying Fortress Leader manual (its a board game) - It may be a while before I play the game, but reading the rules & appreciating the cleverness of the game is all part of the fun.
Quote from: Gusington on July 14, 2022, 03:27:27 PM
One of the best was the (also ring bound) manual for LucasArts Their Finest Hour.
You guys wouldn't believe what I still have on hand. Should do a group photo...
(https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/293732735_10209768352921728_5207830663490039389_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=Ho9ZwHhUH-4AX_u99te&tn=9aSPgL-a5IniY1mc&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AT89MQd1s7vk1fTDEJ73gbxjEMNTTDR0Z7SpZq2c4ai1bA&oe=62D60A9D)
Here's one of my personal fav's. Love love love this game! I could not play this enough and never got tired of the ability to both fly the F-22 and also act as airspace controller. The bound manual was just the icing on the cake. Still alive after all these years at https://community.combatsim.com/topic/20202-f-22-total-air-war-230-final-released/ (https://community.combatsim.com/topic/20202-f-22-total-air-war-230-final-released/)...
(https://i.postimg.cc/KjtnnXCj/IMG-1242.jpg)
Don't forget this guy. Never did master the game, but loved the manual. Still have it stowed away.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsimhq.com%2Fforum%2Ffiles%2Fusergals%2F2015%2F06%2Ffull-38939-104788-f4.jpg&hash=3ba5a113dade55c659e520b5c72b1606c5a1afc5)
^That is a beautiful thing.
If anyone knows where I could get a physical copy of the Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe from LucasArts, I am all [digital] ears.
I missed out playing that game (I can't remember why) and have been waiting for a new iteration since then :/
Quote from: Gusington on July 17, 2022, 10:52:21 AM
^That is a beautiful thing.
If anyone knows where I could get a physical copy of the Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe from LucasArts, I am all [digital] ears.
I missed out playing that game (I can't remember why) and have been waiting for a new iteration since then :/
I have the manual and code wheel somewhere. I saw it in the last year as I was making room in my computer desk. I put it and a bunch of other old game stuff into a box. No idea where I put the box. Disks are long gone I think (he says as he stares at the old 3.5" disk box on top of the desk). Note, my desk hasn't moved in 20 years so who knows what game skeletons I might find if I start moving things.
^Or other actual skeletons.
Well if you happen to find it and are willing to sell it let me know!
One nice thing about eBay is that you can find just about every boxed PC game there ever was there. If it's not there, one usually pops up within a few weeks of looking. I've built a pretty large collection of old boxed flight sims off of it.
^Good idea. Just checked eBay and there are multiple copies. But I also discovered that the manual is NOT like the Their Finest Hour manual - it's a small rinky-dink black and white manual. Oh well :/
Quote from: Gusington on July 17, 2022, 03:21:13 PM
^Good idea. Just checked eBay and there are multiple copies. But I also discovered that the manual is NOT like the Their Finest Hour manual - it's a small rinky-dink black and white manual. Oh well :/
Small? Mine is over 200 pages although it IS B&W. Copyright 1990! God I'm old.
Me too.
I guess I was expecting it to be a color ring bound behemoth of a manual.
I don't think anyone who played SWOTL confused it with a serious flight sim. It was just FUN. My memory isn't good enough to compare it with the Aces games (Pacific '92/Europe '93) which I also have manuals for. I do think they had better graphics though. Not sure I had a flight sim older than SWOTL except for Red Baron.