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Absolutely! I just finished GK with 954 out of 965 points, although I was really going for full score. I'm wondering what I missed - but am sure I missed the cat fights between Grace and Madeline on day 3.

Playing it again - I installed it, noticed the flickering and immediately set it to Software Renderer and to 640*480 to get the optimal 1998 experience. As a major plus, there was no issue with the videos crashing and giving an Unrecognised Fatal Error. I saved before every RAD file was supposed to play, but it never crashed and I was able to enjoy the game from start to finish in full.

Have you tried the GK1 remake? There are no troubles with videos crashing (although to be honest, I never had the videos crashing problem in the original game either).

Just wondering: what is a RAD file?
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So what am I playing? Well ... I am a big fan of the Age of Empires series, and have been since the very old days (cough) when dinosaurs walked the earth (cough, cough ) otherwise known as the mid-1990s, when I first saw Age of Empires (the first one), which dealt with ancient civilisations - the Babylonian, the Hittites, the Greeks and Romans, the Shang and so on. It also presented the stories of these people, which it called "campaigns", and individual battles called "scenarios".

Since then, various sequels have come out - the 2nd game dealing with the medieval world, the 3rd with the 15th-to-19th centuries, and the 4th returning to the medieval world (but presenting a much greater difference between the civilisations, and recreating campaigns and scenarios in astonishing, realistic videos about aspects of various civilisations).

Of course, nowadays there are many, many games like this -- but "Age of Empires" was one of the first, the other being the venerable "Civilization" franchise. In fact, it was the second "Age of Empires" game that inspired me to learn history and - eventually - to write historical fiction. (I'm a major history nerd, as I'm sure you know).

So again - what am I playing? I'm considering the new expansion to the 3rd game, called https://store.steampowered.com/app/4308 ... ic_Powers/. It allows me to play as either the Danes or the Poles, with scenarios depicting The brutal Thirty Years' War, the Great Northern War (Russia and Sweden combating over the fate of northeastern Europe), the Great Turkish War (which ended at the gates of Vienna), the Livonian War (in which the last Teutonic Knights attempt to take on the might of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), and more. There are historical maps, royal houses of the time to lend you aid (if you can persuade them to! ), trade, and more.

I am only sorry that so far, there haven't been any official scenarios or campaigns that involve The Netherlands. It would be interesting to explore some of the pivotal moments of The Netherlands in this period, like the Spanish-Dutch Wars and the Anglo-Dutch Wars (one of which ended, hilariously, with the Dutch sailing up the Thames and taking away the English ships!) But I can definitely play as "the Dutch", and the units (like settlers, explorers, traders etc.) all speak modern Dutch. (I suppose medieval Dutch was too hard).

Then again, the new expansion for "Age of Empires 2" (which focuses on the Vikings, and appropriately called The Viking Sagas) also looks very fun. I've been studying the Vikings for ages -- in fact, I'm writing a book set in early medieval Iceland! -- so I'm looking forward to this, although (obviously) it's impossible to make a game that lets you participate in all of the Viking sagas. Still, this one tells the full saga of Harald Hardrada of Norway, and previous entries in the series also told the stories of Leif Erikson, Ragnar Lothbrok, Bjorn Ironside, Harald Finehair, and others (like Erik the Red and Ingolfr Arnarson in Iceland).

And if "Age of Empires 4" is more to your liking, they are also getting an expansion soon called Raiders of the North, which will allow you to command the Vikings and the Scots. I am not yet sure what to think of this one, but if prior expansions are anything to go by, it could (and should) be fun.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I should do the GK1 remake. GK1 is ingrained in my veins. Though not nearly as much as GK3, which is responsible for me still being here.

I can confirm that being Dutch is fun.

(waits for Qbix and Spikey to chime in)

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In GK3, the larger videos, such as at the end of most later chapters, are BINK files (extension is *.bnk), rather than the characters moving ingame. These are played with RAD media player. For some reason, the game would toss me out with an Unrecognised Fatal Exception - this would happen during a Bink file, and always at the exact same spot within that Bink file.

BBP wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 2:44 pm Honestly, I'm not sure if I should do the GK1 remake. GK1 is ingrained in my veins. Though not nearly as much as GK3, which is responsible for me still being here.

I agree, Tim Curry and other actors make the original GK so much fun. The big difference between the original and the remake (other than, obviously, graphics) is puzzles - there are more of them and sometimes different ones, so you won't be bored.

BBP wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 2:44 pm I can confirm that being Dutch is fun.

(waits for Qbix and Spikey to chime in)

Ik eis dit forum op in naam van Nederland!

BBP wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 2:44 pm In GK3, the larger videos, such as at the end of most later chapters, are BINK files (extension is *.bnk), rather than the characters moving ingame. These are played with RAD media player. For some reason, the game would toss me out with an Unrecognised Fatal Exception - this would happen during a Bink file, and always at the exact same spot within that Bink file.

OK, I had no idea about that. I think the RAD media player rings a faint bell (they played *.rm files, right?) but I can't be sure.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 5:43 am
Just wondering: what is a RAD file?

As a child of the '80s, that's an easy one:

A RAD file is a computer file that's both awesomely bodacious and totally tubular.

I'm certain Tawmis would agree.

goatmeal wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2026 12:00 am

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2026 5:43 am
Just wondering: what is a RAD file?

As a child of the '80s, that's an easy one:

A RAD file is a computer file that's both awesomely bodacious and totally tubular.

I'm certain Tawmis would agree.

Aw, bogus, dude. (I'm sure Bill and Ted would agree ... and yes, I was a child of the '80s too).

As for what I'm playing now - I haven't been playing anything recently, but I noticed Steam has Colossal Cave on a 40% sale. I think I'll grab it while it's still on!

Have you played it? Was it good? The original Colossal Cave came out before I was born (I'm not that old!), so it'll be interesting to play it as a fresh punter.