The year is 2024. I purchased a new game on Steam. Open the library (or click the prompt on the receipt page) and direct the storefront to his SSD. Hang around for a while, check how fast your download speed is, worry if your internet suddenly cuts out without you noticing, meet the prerequisites, and then go back to your normal life.
This is not a process of building hype. That said, it works most of the time. Even stress-free. However, we chose the theater for convenience. Back in the day, game installers provided a sense of transition from the mundane. As a reward for purchasing and inserting the disc, you get animations, music, a terrible font selection, and other little bits of fun until you get your computer back up and running.
However, if this all sounds a little ahead of its time; autorun.ini on Twitter I'm here to help.
autorun.ini is named after the type of file that was commonly packaged on CDs at the time. autorun.ini is on a mission to catalog “retail game installers” and has been doing so since (appropriately) Windows 2000 since June of last year. After all, you have to install it before downloading any of his other early 2000s essentials. Something like MSN Messenger. Or team speak. Remember Team Speak?
Other treasures among their treasures include OG World of Warcraft, the theatrical and eerie greeting theme from the original Baldur's Gate, and the explosive initials from 1995's The Ultimate Doom. This perfectly times the appearance of the window with a blast followed by the cocking of a chunky compressed shotgun. . Music was playing in my ears.
Ultimate Doom (1995) for Windows 95, developed by Microsoft and published by GT Interactive pic.twitter.com/ttvmHHTnMQJune 6, 2023
But my absolute favorite is this Final Fantasy 8 screen. It's a blurry jpg of him featuring CGI from the early 2000s in what actually looks like a stock photo. It has a blocky italic font with a small wing graphic superimposed next to it. It's like a fan site. In other words, perfect.
Unfortunately, most of these things went the Dodo's way. The closest thing we can get is an in-house launcher for his MMORPGs like Final Fantasy 14. In some cases, studios like Larian offer all-in-one launchers for games, but this launcher is the closest you'll get to that feeling of soaking in the bath. These days, on first boot, or something like the World of Warcraft login screen, you're patiently waiting for your game's shaders to compile.
Personally, I think the old school game installer should make a comeback. Of course, you can compile shaders when the game starts, but there's something magical about that window popping up and blaring. I want the dirty fonts and compressed noise, but I also want the physical box and instruction manual, but those are lying in the grave, passed down mainly to collector's editions. It's a really simple time.
