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Offline TheDaddyTopic starter

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Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« on: February 11, 2015, 06:48:23 PM »
Hi,

What is the best way to do classic Amiga gaming, including AGA games?

Hardware required?
FPGA Replay board?
Ideally connected to a TFT monitor.

Would loading adf files be the quickest way to load games?
How would you run games intended to be installed on a hard drive?

Also I find it important to use Commodore/Atari joysticks (Competition Pro...yeah!) so what are your gaming set ups/advice?

Thanks! :)
 

Offline AmigaOldskooler

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2015, 06:58:09 PM »
Hi TheDaddy,

My favorite setup to run Amiga games would be an Amiga CD32 console with the SX32 pro expansion and an external floppy disk drive. Expensive, I know, but so cool!

You could run games directly from HD through WHD-Load or boot CD32 titles directly from CD. There are also many CD-compilations with tons of commercial Amiga games ready to go with a single click from a nice menu! Can't go wrong with that. ;)

I have an Amiga 1200 myself, but when I read what I've written above I suddenly got the urge to get a CD32. :D Used to have one in the past.

There are many other solutions as well, but personally I'd love to have the setup above for gaming.

Offline TheDaddyTopic starter

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2015, 07:21:28 PM »
Thanks for the advice...I might look into a CD32 but it sounds expensive, any other ways?
I'd like an Amiga gaming rig...connected straight to a monitor or modern TV... :)
 

Offline utri007

Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2015, 07:34:19 PM »
If you are from Europe, you can connect your Amiga to LCD-TV with scart cable, most of them works also as a  flickerfixer.

Best machine is A1200 with at least 8mb ram and hard drive.
ACube Sam 440ep Flex 800mhz, 1gb ram and 240gb hd and OS4.1FE
A1200 Micronic tower, OS3.9, Apollo 060 66mhz, xPert Merlin, Delfina Lite and Micronic Scandy, 500Gb hd, 66mb ram, DVD-burner and WLAN.
A1200 desktop, OS3.9, Blizzard 060 66mhz, 66mb ram, Ide Fix Express with 160Gb HD and WLAN
A500 OS2.1, GVP+HD8 with 4mb ram, 1mb chip ram and 4gb HD
Commodore CDTV KS3.1, 1mb chip, 4mb fast ram and IDE HD
 

Offline giZmo350

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2015, 07:41:46 PM »
Wow! If I didn't know better, I'd say someone hijacked TheDaddy's account and is trolling. Some part of me says "There's no way TheDaddy doesn't already know the answer to his question". Hmmmmm.... :confused:
 
 But my .02... get an REAL A1200 and a scart cable and some addons. :)
A500: 2MB Chip, 8MB Fast, IndiECS, MiniMegi, IDE4ZorroII on Z-500, KS1.3/KS3.1, WB3.1&BWB
 
A2000HD: 2MB Chip, 128MB Fast, P5:Blizz 2060@50MHz, PCD-50B/4GBCF, XSurf100, RapidRoad, IndiECS, Matze RTG, MiniMegi, CD-RW, SunRize AD516, WB3.9
 
A1200: 2MB Chip, 64MB Fast, 4GBCF, GVP Typhoon 030 @40MHz w/FPU, Subway USB, EasyNet Ethernet, Indi AGA MKI, FastATA MK-IV, Internal Slim CD/DVD-RW, WB3.5

Surfing The Web With AMIGA Is Fun Again!
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2015, 07:54:00 PM »
Quote from: gizmo350;783670
Wow! If I didn't know better, I'd say someone hijacked TheDaddy's account and is trolling. Some part of me says "There's no way TheDaddy doesn't already know the answer to his question". Hmmmmm.... :confused:

Seriously, amnesia?  :lol:

For a games machine I'd get the following things:

- WHDLoad (I hate "floppy emulators")
- An Indivision to be able to use modern monitors and TV's (AGA or ECS)
- An accelerator isn't really necessary if you're just playing games, but it depends on what type of games, obviously.  If you're using a stock 68000-based A500/A1000/A2000, you can plug in a 68010 chip for less than $10 that will allow you to use the Quit key in most games to exit back to Workbench.
- As much ram and hard drive (or CF) space as you can comfortably afford.
- Oh, you needed a joystick too?  This is what I use.

Done.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2015, 07:57:24 PM by Oldsmobile_Mike »
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline paul1981

Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2015, 08:08:44 PM »
As gizmo350 says... An A1200, hard disk or CF drive, WHDLoad, 8MB RAM expansion in the trapdoor, IndivisionAGA or Scart LCD/Scart Plasma tv.
If you want better 3D performance for flight sims etc buy a 40MHz 68030 card or above instead of the standard RAM card.

Job's a good'un.
 

Offline TheDaddyTopic starter

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2015, 08:10:24 PM »
Quote from: gizmo350;783670
Wow! If I didn't know better, I'd say someone hijacked TheDaddy's account and is trolling. Some part of me says "There's no way TheDaddy doesn't already know the answer to his question". Hmmmmm.... :confused:
 
 But my .02... get an REAL A1200 and a scart cable and some addons. :)



LOL! :)

No trolling...I haven't used an Amiga in ages... :( but the fever is creeping slowly back in. :)

A1200 is the way although a bit too big for the limited space I have...that is why I was thinking a Rasp 2 or FPGA Replay board... Thanks for the advice though. ;)
 

Offline danwood

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2015, 08:55:13 PM »
Quote from: TheDaddy;783664
connected straight to a monitor or modern TV... :)

That's definitely not "the best way" to play Amiga games, imho they look terrible on an LCD.  A CRT is infinitely superior for Amiga games.

For me the ultimate Amiga gaming set up is an A1200, 8GB CF Card, ACA 030 with RAM and an 030 and a stack of games via WHDLoad.  Hooked up to a Philips CM8833-II, if you want something bigger a nice Trinitron CRT.
 

Offline som99

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2015, 09:13:13 PM »
Quote from: danwood;783682
That's definitely not "the best way" to play Amiga games, imho they look terrible on an LCD.  A CRT is infinitely superior for Amiga games.

For me the ultimate Amiga gaming set up is an A1200, 8GB CF Card, ACA 030 with RAM and an 030 and a stack of games via WHDLoad.  Hooked up to a Philips CM8833-II, if you want something bigger a nice Trinitron CRT.

We have to look at the best way possible from his standpoint, he do not have space for a A1200 then he will probably not have space for an CRT either.

Btw got me thinking of trying my A1200 with Indivision on a big CRT TV with VGA or a big "modern" 21" CRT monitor, would be nice to compare to 15Khz monitor.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2015, 09:16:37 PM by som99 »
 

Offline danbeaver

Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2015, 11:14:59 PM »
How limited is your space if an A1200 won't fit?

You can use a Turbo Chameleon 64 and put it under your pillow if you need to save space, but the best way to run Classic Amiga Games might just be on a Classic Amiga (IMHO)
 

Offline wiser3

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2015, 02:17:52 AM »
I know many people don't consider it classic gaming unless your on classic hardware.

But, i have to mention the WinUAE emulator. Combine it with one of the prepacked WB setups, legal ROMs from Amiga forever, some WHDload packs, and a joystick (any Windows compatible) and it's great without using any additional desk space.
 

Offline agami

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2015, 02:54:54 AM »
The best way is to get into a time machine and go back to 1993. But before you do, go and get your memory of all modern games wiped. You can't take cash so you'll need to buy silver, gold, or diamonds. When you arrive in 1993 buy an A1200 and plug it into a TV or a 1084s monitor. Play the games as they come out. Get a modem and join a BBS. Buy Apple shares.

If you're interested in pre-AGA Amiga gaming then dial your time circuits to 1987. Buy an A500 with 512kB memory expansion or go for the king A2000.
---------------AGA Collection---------------
1) Amiga A4000 040 40MHz, Mediator PCI, Voodoo 3 3000, Creative PCI128, Fast Ethernet, Indivision AGA Mk2 CR, DVD/CD-RW, OS 3.9 BB2
2) Amiga A1200 040 25MHz, Indivision AGA Mk2 CR, IDEfix, PCMCIA WiFi, slim slot load DVD/CD-RW, OS 3.9 BB2
3) Amiga CD32 + SX1, OS 3.1
 

Offline danbeaver

Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2015, 04:05:02 AM »
Quote from: agami;783702
The best way is to get into a time machine and go back to 1993. But before you do, go and get your memory of all modern games wiped. You can't take cash so you'll need to buy silver, gold, or diamonds. When you arrive in 1993 buy an A1200 and plug it into a TV or a 1084s monitor. Play the games as they come out. Get a modem and join a BBS. Buy Apple shares.

If you're interested in pre-AGA Amiga gaming then dial your time circuits to 1987. Buy an A500 with 512kB memory expansion or go for the king A2000.

In 1993, will he have the space to set it up?
 

Offline fishy_fiz

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Re: Best way to do classic Amiga gaming
« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2015, 04:28:19 AM »
Best here is subjective, but really I'd say the best setup is the one youre most comfortable with.
As for display, it seems people tend to assume that what is true for them is true for everyone. Personally I loathe 1084s monitors, and instead plugged my a1200 into my 24inch 1920x1200 lcd monitor. Looks much nicer than the 1084, not blurry, and is usable at above ntsc/pal resolutions.
At 4:3 display this gives me a nice 400x300 display, which is enough for games with overscan. Id avoid something like 1280x1024 displays, as while it fit exactly into 320x256, it means a lot of software wont have the full display. Displays vary, as does peoples perception of things, so its pointless, and silly to say, "X is the best option".

An accelerator plus a1200 is a nice option though. Contrary to what a lot of people say ('030 users probably) an '030 is a bit weak.... sure it lets you play games intended for floppy well enough via whdload, but its not enough to have your bases covered elsewhere. To be brutally honest most games that were made for a500/floppy are pretty bad. Through sheer weight of numbers though there's a lot of good ones, but on average amiga games have dated terribly. Perhaps they just weren't that good to begin with.
Wasn't until mid to late 90's that amiga games peaked. Stuff before that (with some exceptions) was more miss than hit.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2015, 04:30:41 AM by fishy_fiz »
Near as I can tell this is where I write something under the guise of being innocuous, but really its a pot shot at another persons/peoples choice of Amiga based systems. Unfortunately only I cant see how transparent and petty it makes me look.