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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Gaming => Topic started by: Hiddenevil on August 20, 2020, 11:57:25 PM

Title: Wing Commander
Post by: Hiddenevil on August 20, 2020, 11:57:25 PM

Just installed WC on my A500+, which is running a 68EC020 TK 25Mhz. For a card that pulls 5.35MIPS, I was a little surprised by the performance, music slowing and speeding up depending on what was happenig on screen. Note i installed the game using the WC hard disk installer and not WHDload. Though I wonder if WHDload would make a difference.
Title: Re: Wing Commander
Post by: Oldsmobile_Mike on August 21, 2020, 05:35:59 AM
Bad port.  Just noticed on Wikipedia that a 256 color CD32 version was released a year after the original Amiga port.  Wonder if that is any better?
Title: Re: Wing Commander
Post by: TribbleSmasher on August 21, 2020, 05:40:07 AM
The WHDLoad install includes some fixes and optimizations, but mostly for the AGA/CD32 version, which can be heavily improved if you have a beefy CPU.
http://whdload.de/games/WingCommander.html
A 25MHz 020 will not cut it, i'm afraid. It is a demanding game. But you can try?
Title: Re: Wing Commander
Post by: kolla on August 21, 2020, 02:42:17 PM
With a fast 060/AGA system, this game becomes really tricky... hehe :)
Title: Re: Wing Commander
Post by: Hiddenevil on August 22, 2020, 10:01:19 PM
Might look at sticking an 030 in my A500, I've seen one what does 11MIPS
Title: Re: Wing Commander
Post by: BozzerBigD on August 23, 2020, 10:06:23 PM
@Oldsmobile_Mike 
Quote
Bad port.  Just noticed on Wikipedia that a 256 color CD32 version was released a year after the original Amiga port.  Wonder if that is any better?

Yes, the 256 colour version is A LOT better especially with the WHDLoad optimisation with at least a 030/50 processor. The A500 version runs at a playable speed on an A1200. The A500 should NEVER have been a porting candidate for this game and people who wanted Wing Commander and Doom should have upgraded their Amigas not expected decent performance from these demanding PC game ports on a A500!
Title: Re: Wing Commander
Post by: blakespot on September 04, 2020, 12:26:16 AM
@Oldsmobile_Mike 
Quote
Bad port.  Just noticed on Wikipedia that a 256 color CD32 version was released a year after the original Amiga port.  Wonder if that is any better?

Yes, the 256 colour version is A LOT better especially with the WHDLoad optimisation with at least a 030/50 processor. ...

Had to jump in. Annoyingly, WHDLoad sometimes runs games on accelerated machines slower than when loaded from floppy. I noticed this with ZeeWolf 2 on my A2000 ‘020. Have a look at the comparison vid: https://youtu.be/gXs0AX9LlEI

So now I try both versions of everything I want to play, that I used to run from WHDLoad always.

bp
Title: Re: Wing Commander
Post by: BozzerBigD on September 05, 2020, 10:59:03 PM
@blakespot

Quote
So now I try both versions of everything I want to play, that I used to run from WHDLoad always.

Well in the case of the CD32 version of Wing Commander it's a patch as much as a hard drive installer. The CD32 Akiko chip was used as a Planar to Chunky accelerator but the game had a small but significant error in the software code (a bit like Aliens: Colonial Marines A.I. code) and hence ran like a dog. The error was found and the game was patched to run well with accelerator instead of the Akiko. Hence, the WHDLoad version is the definitive version of this game!  8)
Title: Re: Wing Commander
Post by: Hiddenevil on January 10, 2021, 10:25:42 AM
Just thought I’d post back.

I upgraded to a TF536 and the extra 4+ MIPS certainly helped performance