Jump to content

How to Get Steam Games (without using steam) to Work On Windows 98?


Bracamonte

Recommended Posts

Now I obviously know that Steam itself does not work on Windows 98, not since 2007. However, there are games that originally came out for windows 9x (Half-Life, Team Fortress Classic, Counter Strike, etc.) that can be bought on Steam. Is there anyway to play those games that are bought on steam on 98 without the steam interface? I also have the original retail versions of those games, and so far, the only way to play those games online is through the unofficial WON2 service. As much as I enjoyed playing on those servers, they are limited and not many people play on them. To play on the current servers for those games, you need to have the steam versions.

So far, I am able to play Counter Strike 1.6 on my Windows 98 computer and I am able to play on the latest servers. I wish I could say the same for Team Fortress Classic 1.6.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


How does that work? Cause normally, I tried connecting to servers listed on websites like game tracker and it doesn't work. I was told that those servers were only for the steam version.

Is there something in the game folders that can be modified so that it picks up servers from steam? Similar to how the unofficial WON2 patch modified a certain file that can direct to WON2 severs?

Edited by Bracamonte
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, game servers for Steam games, outside of large publishers, will use VAC or PunkBuster. They make it so if you join the game, you need to have the appropriate version of that on the client side running. For example, it was a PunkBuster issue I ran into recently that wouldn't let me play COD4:MW online. I have the newest PunkBuster for another game, but it did not cross-over to COD4, so it wouldn't let me connect. This was a new install, actually parts of the COD4 installer from Steam did show an HTTP 404 error, so something was missing.

So you could still play on unprotected servers, but you are more likely to run into people using bots, unless it is an actively maintained clan server. And then in that case, you may not be allowed to play if you are not known to them, which is another thing I've also seen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/12/2016 at 10:04 PM, Bracamonte said:

Now I obviously know that Steam itself does not work on Windows 98, not since 2007. However, there are games that originally came out for windows 9x (Half-Life, Team Fortress Classic, Counter Strike, etc.) that can be bought on Steam. Is there anyway to play those games that are bought on steam on 98 without the steam interface? I also have the original retail versions of those games, and so far, the only way to play those games online is through the unofficial WON2 service. As much as I enjoyed playing on those servers, they are limited and not many people play on them. To play on the current servers for those games, you need to have the steam versions.

So far, I am able to play Counter Strike 1.6 on my Windows 98 computer and I am able to play on the latest servers. I wish I could say the same for Team Fortress Classic 1.6.

this may not be completely relevant but does anyone know if you can install the latest or more recent versions of steam on 98SE with kernelex installed or even the battle.net app? also to the op, if i understood clear, you said you were able to get cs 1.6 to run on windows 98 with the latest servers without steam by using the unofficial WON2 service?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Current Steam (like most PE applications of today's era) relies on many, many, many DLL files, which are simply impossible to run under 98SE no matter how much you KernelEx. Running modern apps, would require rewriting the whole OS, most notably, the NTKERN.VXD from SCRATCH! Unless you meet with the people who actually developed the 98SE...which is probably impossible too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

steamcmd.exe runs on SE with KernelEx, needing help for only five functions:

[KERNEL32.dll]
HeapSetInformation=
HeapQueryInformation=
OpenThread=
GetFileSizeEx=
SetFilePointerEx=


I don't know enough about STEAM to know if it "works" or not. It seems to be an updater, downloading an 8MB file for starters. I aborted the execution at:
[2017-01-04 10:46:52] Downloading update (60 of 8,886 KB)...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oops, clicked on the wrong button (Dang IPB and FontAwesome!). How do I remove "Reputation" ? (-1 for MrMateczko)

> which are simply impossible to run under 98SE no matter how much you KernelEx
Nonsense! It's only code.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GPU drivers are code as well! Those are equally as important as the OS itself. No one made new GPU drivers for 98SE since 2006.

I doubt any human knows how to make new 9x VXD GPU drivers anymore. (VBEMP doesn't count)

I've tried running GTA 4 on 98SE, and was greeted with an Out of Video Memory error. Which is false, as the same GPU (6800GT) runs GTA 4 under XP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...