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Anonymous
November 7, 2020
Answered

Gathering a backup set to play flash games in the future.

  • November 7, 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 1729 views

I have some flash games that I downloaded and enjoy playing from time to time. I want to gather the latest version of everything so I can maintain my ability to play these games in the future. I noticed a mention of a stand alone flash player which would be perfect for this purpose.

 

So, is the flash player projector the stand alone version?

 

Also, anything else that might be suggested for me to download and add to my backup to maintain the ability to play these legacy games? (I know there is no recomendation for playing stuff off the internet due to security, but I'm playing downloaded local files, something that was strangely inhibited)

 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer jeromiec83223024

    > I know there is no recomendation for playing stuff off the internet due to security, but I'm playing downloaded local files, something that was strangely inhibited.

     

    The problem there is that you're loading content on your local machine, but that content can send requests to the Internet.  There's actually a whole bunch of extra security considerations in play when you're running locally.

     

    The right way to do this is to build a virtual machine using VirtualBox or VMWare or something, populate it with all of the software that you want to use, get it working, set the date and time way back, disconnect it from the Internet, make a snapshot, and then save and use that virtual machine for archival purposes.

     

    The details on how to do that are way beyond the scope of what I'm prepared to support through this venue, but that's the general shape of it.  Some youtube and google searches should get you on the right path.

    5 replies

    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 21, 2020

    Best advice, find other interests that don't rely on Flash Player.  Most games and apps have already switched to non-flash based technologies.  If yours haven't switched by now, it's unlikely they ever will and their obsolescence is just around the corner.

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    A
    Anonymous
    November 21, 2020

    First, old stuff can still be worth being kept around, especially art and games. I'm never going to say that a game should be thrown away just because it is old.

     

    Second, not everyone can afford to keep up with the latest and greatest. My laptop was a bottom of the barrel model a decade ago, it has no hope of running modern software.

     

    I can understand a company focusing on the lwading edge, that makes sense and can't be faulted. But there is a whole spectrum of people and products that trail behind that edge. Not all those products are worthless. Heck, I still enjoy playing Independence War, a game for windows 95. And your suggestion equivalently says to stop playing that fun game because it's old and hasn't been remastered, and that's not right. I play several flash games, such as thing-thing, which were made by amatuers and have no chance of being remade (to say nothing of remakes worse than the original), and you suggest I just toss them away?

      Nancy OShea
      Community Expert
      Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 21, 2020

      Before CDs and DVDs, we had Sony Betamax, 8-track, cassettes and VHS tapes. But without a suitable player, those media formats are obsolete now.  After Dec 31st, the same will be true for Flash.  Here today, gone tomorrow.

       

      Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
      A
      Anonymous
      November 21, 2020

      Yes, I understand that, though my laptop is generally not connected to begin with due to lacking home internet. Further, several of these are well known to me and blah, blah, blah. My point is that I am aware of the risks and how to mitigate them and do not need a nanny to treat me like an ignorant child, not so much your response, but rather the timebomb in the software to "protect me from myself." I hate that kind of stuff. Sometimes I fear that twenty years from now amatuers won't be allowed to learn programming or more likely OSs won't allow amatuer written code to run or something like that with only executables written by other companies and paid to the OS owning company to be put on a whitelist and all other code will be denied, and the idea both disgusts me and terrifies me. If I am allowed to skydive at the risk of death, then I should be allowed to use an outdated and unsupported piece of software. Just saying.

       

      In any case, I still would like to know the most recent version that does not have the time bomb.

      T
      Test Screen Name
      Legend
      November 21, 2020

      "Sometimes I fear that twenty years from now amatuers won't be allowed to learn programming or more likely OSs won't allow amatuer written code to run or something like that with only executables written by other companies and paid to the OS owning company to be put on a whitelist " The future is here. This is exactly the situation in Mac OS since a year ago. I doubt Microsoft will be far behind.

        jeromiec83223024
        Community Manager
        jeromiec83223024Community ManagerCorrect answer
        Community Manager
        November 16, 2020

        > I know there is no recomendation for playing stuff off the internet due to security, but I'm playing downloaded local files, something that was strangely inhibited.

         

        The problem there is that you're loading content on your local machine, but that content can send requests to the Internet.  There's actually a whole bunch of extra security considerations in play when you're running locally.

         

        The right way to do this is to build a virtual machine using VirtualBox or VMWare or something, populate it with all of the software that you want to use, get it working, set the date and time way back, disconnect it from the Internet, make a snapshot, and then save and use that virtual machine for archival purposes.

         

        The details on how to do that are way beyond the scope of what I'm prepared to support through this venue, but that's the general shape of it.  Some youtube and google searches should get you on the right path.

        _maria_
        Community Manager
        _maria_Community Manager
        Community Manager
        November 7, 2020

        Microsoft recently released an Update on Adobe Flash Player End of Support which includes information on when they will be removing the embedded Flash Player in IE/Edge on Windows 8.x and above.

         

        They've also released the currently optional update KB4577586 which removes the embedded Flash Player.  Note that this is destructive and the only way to get Flash Player for IE/Edge after applying this update is reset the device to an earlier restore point, or reinstall Windows OS and do not apply this update, as indicated in KB4577586.

        T
        Test Screen Name
        Legend
        November 7, 2020

        To late. All the available versions have a time bomb, to stop specifically this for people who don't understand the huge risks of trying to keep this old tech running. For everyone who understand the risks there are ten who will download any old untrusted stuff, and it is to protect from this that the closedown is happening!

        A
        Anonymous
        November 10, 2020

        Hmm, what about the internet archive, what is the mosr recent version without the timebomb?

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