Fujistsu Lifebook P Games

Video Games on the Fujitsu Lifebook P-2046

on MattShook.com

General Notes:

The P-series is not great for current games, but many 3D games from the 1996-98 era ran on 4-MB video cards. These games are still a lot of fun, and work decently on my P-2046. A good place to find these games is at 3dgamers.com. You can search for game demos by year. You can also find good games for $10 or less in the bargain bins at retail stores.

All tips are for a P-2046 with 256MB RAM, a 4MB ATI video card, an 800Mhz processor and Windows XP Home (because that is what I have). In joystick games, I use the USB Axis Pad by Interact. In mouse games, I use a CompUSA USB small laptop mouse. For some reason, the mouse conflicts with the gamepad, causing the analog stick on the left to be uncalibrated. Many games do not support resolutions above 640x480, and this will display as a small box on the Lifebook's monitor. Some games also need to read info off of the CD; this can create a drain on the battery.

The XP video drivers that come pre-intstalled with the P-series apparently do not support 3D. You must download the "Optional" video drivers from Fujitsu's download site.

Working Games - Updated June 7, 2002

MDK -Shiny, 1997- At first the full version didn't work well, but I was able to find a patch. If you place that file in the main folder, the game runs much more smoothly. This game is very hard to play with the trackpoint and I recommend using a joystick. It only supports a 640x480 resolution, so the display is kind of small, but the framerate is good. The full version requires the CD to play.

Motocross Madness -Microsoft, 1998- The full version installed easily, and I have found no glitches. It looks good too. I get good framerate at the max of 800x600. It plays well with my USB gamepad.

Jedi Knight -LucasArts, 1997- I've played the demo and full version, and they work decently. The game supports 1280x768, which is very cool, but the framerate is not all that good. I play it in 800x600, which still gets jumpy (about 10fps) during heavy action. The trackpoint is usable, but I would recommend using a mouse. The full version requires the CD to play.

Moto Racer -Delphine Software , 1997- The demo and full version of this game work great and the graphics are very smooth. A joystick is best, but this is one of the few games that is playable using just the keyboard. Moto Racer does not support a screen bigger than 640x480 and the full version requires the CD to play.

Non-Working Games

Quake II -Id Software, 1997- I can't get the demo version of this game to work in 3D. It will start in normal software mode, but crashes with error messages when I try to switch to 3D.

TIE Fighter (Collector Series) -LucasArts, 1998- During the install program, it fails a compatibility test. It says it requires Windows95 or 98, and detects Windows NT. It also tries and fails to install some DirectX stuff. If I run TIE95.exe, it will crash with an error message. I right-clicked on TIE95.exe, chose "Properties" and set the compatibility on Win95 (and 98). It gives me an error message saying there is no joystick installed. I have my USB AxisPad set as a legacy device in the Control Panel, but it doesn't seem to help.