CheckMag | Old is new: 3 free remakes that revive classic PC games

Before making the juggernaut that is Roller Coaster Tycoon, Chris Sawyer cut his teeth in the simulation genre with Transport Tycoon. This classic title (which kickstarted the entire “Tycoon” genre) puts the player in charge of a freshly minted transport company. It’s up to the player to manage transit hubs, build new lines for vehicles, juggle loans and repayments, and take their company from new to profitable over the course of 100 in-game years. 

Those that have played SimCity, Cities: Skylines, or Sawyer’s other Tycoon games (like the aforementioned Roller Coaster Tycoon) will feel familiar with the overall play style, although Transport Tycoon is a fair bit simpler than those games. 

While the original game can be found in various corners of the Internet, it can be tricky to get running on modern machines. Thankfully, there is a free and open-source version of the game called OpenTTD (where the TTD stands for “Transport Tycoon Deluxe,” an update Sawyer released a year after the original). 

OpenTTD is a fan-made rebuilding of the Transport Tycoon game engine and is very similar to the original Transport Tycoon with some nice modern updates. These include larger maps (up to 64 times bigger), improved pathfinding for vehicles, new modes of transportation, multiplayer support for up to 255 players, and improved graphics that stay true to the original design.

You can download OpenTTD for free here.

While Transport Tycoon made waves in the business simulation genre, Command & Conquer revamped real-time strategy games. The Command & Conquer series is known for its groundbreaking RTS systems, including base building, unit selection and movement, and those gloriously cheesy FMV mission briefings. 

OpenRA, like OpenTTD, is a complete rebuild of the Command & Conquer series, specifically Command & Conquer: Red Alert. While OpenRA is only the engine, there are three free games (called “mods” by the OpenRA team) that recreates Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert, and Dune 2000. There is also a free SDK available for those that would like to create their own RTS using the OpenRA engine.

While the missions and cinematics of the original games (Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert, and Dune 2000) require the original game files, players can engage in skirmishes against computer-controlled opponents or other players (via multiplayer) using the rules, buildings, and units of one of the three games. There are dozens of maps included, as well as options to modify the rule sets for each game.

OpenRA brings several modern conveniences, including either left- or right-click control schemes, hotkeys for building and unit production, increased resolution support, individual unit experience and upgrades, attack and move stances, and much more.

OpenRA is available for free for Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD. 

Before it became a household name in the Western RPG scene, Bethesda was a relatively small company known for making sports games, movie tie-ins, and a buggy-yet-ambitious game, known as The Elder Scrolls I: The Arena (or just Arena). While Arena failed to live up to the expectations of its creators, its sequel (released two and half years later) is still hailed as one of the most expansive and involved RPGs ever made. This game is, of course, Daggerfall.

Admittedly, playing the original Daggerfall is quite a chore. The graphics are rough, the controls have aged like milk, and the game’s systems can be quite esoteric. Thankfully, a remake engineered by fans alleviates many of these issues, updating the classic RPG for modern audiences by utilizing the Unity game engine. 

Daggerfall Unity (which is quite the explanatory name) updates the entirety of Daggerfall and brings quite a few quality-of-life improvements. These include clicking to attack (rather than flinging the mouse as the original required); improved and customizable controls; controller support; rebalances for weapons, armor, and magic; and mod support.

This last piece is an absolute game changer, as the Daggerfall community has released some incredible mods. These range from graphical overhauls to additional quests to rebalances for in-game systems and more. As massive as Daggerfall is, the addition of mod support makes this game essentially infinite in its scope. There’s no wonder why Daggerfall remains one of the best games Bethesda has ever released (and is still some Elder Scrolls fans’ favorite). 

Please note: GOG offers a version of the game, but it is discouraged by the development team behind Daggerfall Unity. While the GOG version is serviceable, it is out of date and preloaded with several mods, making it a bit slower and buggier than the standalone release. It is recommended to download the game directly from the developer’s GitHub page.

Daggerfall Unity is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.