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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Gaming => Topic started by: mugenakuma on February 05, 2004, 02:43:50 AM
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Hello all,
I am interested in finding and purchasing an Amiga computer, specfically for gaming. I want to get the best and most powerful Amiga system, at least when it comes to games.
So what Amiga model should I get?
What specific features, RAM, drives, etc. should I look for?
Should I just get the system on Ebay or is there a better place?
Lastly where is good place to get some cool games? I am looking for games like Shadow of the Beast or other well done graphically & sound "intensive".
I would really appreciate any info provided. I will never forget when I was 10-13 yrs old, gawking at my cousins Amiga games & system. It put to shame the computer I had. I would love to relive those days, but with my own system! :-D
thanks,
Glenn
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depends-------
A PAL A500 running 1.3 will be great for old games!
A A4000 with a 68060 or PPC and a SD/FF or graphics card for the new ones
Or Amitholon!
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"Best" Amiga gaming system? A plain old A500 with 512k chip and 512k fast RAM. (no foolin). And they're really cheap to buy (ask redrumloa for one, he has a whack of them, brand new and he's very reliable).
Then you can always get an A1200 for the AGA games afterwards and you're set [ohh, I have a couple of those too!] :-D
Nothing runs as many Amiga games as an A500.
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Mind you... if you already have a nice PC, go download WinUAE and grab "Amiga in a Box" while you're at it, and you will have the fastest Amiga ever made right inside your PC through emulation. (You may want to buy the Cloanto Amiga Forever package so you get the ROM images as well).
You can download over a thousand Amiga games and other goodies from Back2Roots and more elsewhere.
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There are two types of Amiga gaming:
There's classic Amiga gaming, the older stuff from when the Amiga was more popular.
Then there's the more recent stuff that'll require a PPC accelerator, 3D accelerator, etc.
I assume you're after a machine for the former :-)
An A1200 should suit you pretty well, although you should make sure it's a Commodore model, not an Amiga Technologies model, as those have trouble with bootable floppy games (copy protection issue). An Amiga Tech model should be fine if the floppy's been replaced.
A 200MB hard drive sounds like it'll be enough for what you're planning to do.
You'll probably want an 030 accelerator with some RAM. You should be able to get by with less than 16MB.
This'll probably go for $200 US on ebay. You can get it cheaper in a direct sale.
You could also get an A500, but you won't be able to run AGA games. It's also harder to expand (based on the availability of hardware at present). It's considerably cheaper, though.
Welcome to the Amiga!
If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask!
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Thanks for all the quick and helpful suggestions.
I am actually not really into 3d games. What I really love are cool 2d games! Shooters, action adventures, etc.
Cosidering this maybe the A500 would be best. I saw a bunch of new refurbished A500's on ebay.
So if I am looking for cool 2d games what system should I get? An A500?
Do those refurbished A500's on ebay have the features I want/need?
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The people saying you should try UAE are probably right. Because many games will only run with specific hardware and roms and that's only a mouseclick away when using UAE. I for one can remember having to rip out the 512KB expation to play one game only to be forced to put it in to play the next. And having to re-kick it to run pre WB 1.3 games.
So if you buy hardware don't expect to be able to run anything that claims to run on A500, nor advertized as being non-aga.
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I guess I could do that. Emulation just kinda seems like a half a*% way to go.
So most games won't work on an A500?
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mugenakuma:
Listen carefully...believe me........one thing you don't want to relive of the Amiga days.is the Disk LOADING and disk SWAPPING!.................this is what I recommend and is really easy to get on eBay:
get an Amiga 1200 with a 68030 50mhz accelerator and 16 megs of RAM ( the 68030 and memory you can get later but its better to save the trouble)
Also get it with a 2gig Harddrive.
Almost all A500 games can work on it or made to work see........there is this package called WHDLoad that lets you install alot! and I mean alot! of floppy games onto the hard drive that werent even meant to be installed..get this package! you can download it on Aminet (register it later but it still works)
Then once you have this you can escape out of most games and load another one without having to reboot. You can force some to run on NTSC that were meant to be run on PAL (England's TV format) or you can force some to run in PAL that were meant to be run in NTSC...NTSC gives a slight speed up on games.
the 2 gig HD is so that you can fill it up with tons of games.......get them free on Back2theRoots website.
Trust me this is the best setup because you can play both Old games and New AGA games..as I said, WHDLoad enables you to play many of the games meant for the A500
Get MagicMenu and ToolsDaemon so that you can run all the games straight from the Menu bar with complete ease instead of opening windows and drawers searching for games on a 2gig HD understand?
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I am actually not really into 3d games. What I really love are cool 2d games! Shooters, action adventures, etc.
Get an A500 with 1MB of memory and one ore two decent joysticks = TAC2. That is one investment that you will not regret!
You can use an emulator for checking games out, but for serious playing, you WILL miss having a joystick!!! Keyboard tapping just makes you feel ridiculous...
Good Luck!
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So most games won't work on an A500?
Wrong, most games DO work on the A500!!Especially those type of games that you are talking about shooters and so on... In fact some of the best shooters of all time was produced for the A500.
I could agree with the above poster, but:
There's a massive difference in pricetag between an A500 and an A1200HD/030.
The A500 is ready for a gaming session out of the box, the 1200HD/030 requires some knowledge and tweaking to get those oldies running.
Those golden oldies that you seem to want to play mostly comes on one or two disks so the diskloading on the A500 wont be a huge problem. Unless you are extremely inpatient.
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O.k so I guess I want an A500.
What's the deal with this A500 that redrumola is selling: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2784781315&category=4598
Does this computer work? If not how much should I expect to pay for a A500?
Does anyone know of any good places to buy good 2D software?
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mugenakum
"Does anyone know of any good places to buy good 2D software? "
Software Hut (http://www.softhut.com) Check out the Daily specials.
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Thanks for the link.
Well now I am getting more and more confused.
I just saw some stuff on the Atari ST, specifically a review of this game for the Amiga called Lionheart. This game looked AWESOME and the article I read mentioned the Atari ST and it taking advantage of some sound features the game has.
I went to ebay and found a Atari 520 ST 520STFM. How is this compared to an Amiga 500?
Anyway I still am looking at those refurbished "defective" A500's on ebay. If anyone has any opinions on those please let me know.
I am pretty handy with hardware and built all my own personal computers so modding an Amiga, if necessary, shouldn't be heard.
Anyway after looking at this one page, http://www.cus.org.uk/~alexh/games/games.html
I am DYING to get an Amiga or and Atari ST?
Those Thalion brand games look beautiful! Those are the types of games that I want to play on my future Amiga system, colorful, animated 2D stuff!
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Atari software and Amiga software are incompatible, so to run Atari software you'll need an Atari machine. A500s are more compact, but A2000s are a better machine for expandability. They're both the same generation so they will generally run the same software. Rom versions are important, too as some software will only run on 1.2 or 1.3 roms. 2.04 roms are better and the latest is 3.1 roms which will run the latest OS version 3.9 (providing you have an accelerator) The accelerators are easier to fit into an A2000, but some are available for the A500 as well.
These machines will _not_ run AGA games. It is possible to get graphics cards for the A2/3/4000 models to run VGA resolution games, most of which also require a fast accelerator. AGA games will only work on A1200 and A4000 machines. Degrader software is available to give backwards compatibility for games. Amigas have always been amazingly expandable (with the exception of A600s and CDTVs) with A1200s towerized running PPC processors and A2000s running 68060 processors.
Don't know if you're in Europe or North America or elsewhere, but certain models are more common in one area than another. Me I like my A3000T with Cyberstorm PPC and 060 processor with a Cybervision graphics card. Still won't run AGA software though :-(
Overall, if I were you I'd be tempted to go for the A1200 with a 3.1 rom and at least an 030 processor if you're looking to the best of Amiga's past and an A4000 or A3000 if you're looking to upgrade to Amiga's future. Hang around Amiga Org and you'll get an idea where we're heading. 8-)
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I'd say if you want a great Amiga to go for tha A500 as well for games. Its what most all the game makers had in mind in the glory days of the Amiga nad made the games for. Sure the FEW AGA games that are good wont work on it, but thats what UAE is for. Most of the AGA games had an ECS version as well. I've never had AGA. I've used a A1000 and then upgraded to an A3000 when they came out. Look on ebay and get a nice used A500. Your going to need a monitor as well unless you can find aTV adapter for it.
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[color=CC0000]!! LISTEN TO LEIRBAG !![/color]
Don't get an A500. The PERFECT classic gaming setup is an A1200 with 030, fastram and HD, with WHDLoad.
WHDLoad fixes problems that would otherwise prevent games running on the 1200. It allows you to install the games to the hard disk for instant loading, and you can quit them without rebooting.
There are over 1000 WHDLoad installers.
Check out this option before you buy an A500, because floppy disks are really sloooooooooooow.
The WHDLoad homepage (http://www.whdload.de).
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Don't get an A500. The PERFECT classic gaming setup is an A1200 with 030, fastram and HD, with WHDLoad.
But... Where is the beef? Waiting is part of gaming experience :-) And really loading times were not that bad.
And problem with A1200+HD setup is that HD should be max 4GB. Unless you have an OS upgrade which costs even more
money... Some Amiga games like Wing Commander and Bullfrog's games benefit from A1200 but A500 would be my choice still.
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@itix
Well, i think you're crazy :-) My 1200 has Superfrog, Project X SE, Stunt Car Racer, Speedball II, Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge 2, Alien Breed 2, Pinball Fantasies, Slam Tilt, Addams Family, Robocod, Gravity Force 2, Spacial Hyperdrive, Super Stardust, Xtreme Racing, and loads more all installed on the HD, available at the double click of a mouse.
I wouldn't change that for disk swapping on an A500 for anything ;-)
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I have 4 more good tested new C= refurbished A500s for $150 each including free shipping to the us lower 48 states. After those 4 are gone, I don't know if I will be able to secure more stock, probably not.
HERE (http://www.anachronismindustries.com)
BTW- Personally I'd have to agree that for old school games, an Amiga 500 with KS1.3 rom is by far your best bet and bt waaaay far the most compatible. An A1200 would be o-k, but AGA and KS2.0+ will helplessly break many games. This can't always be fixed by degraders, as helpful as they are you just can't beat a real A500 with KS1.3.
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redrumloa wrote:
bet and bt waaaay far the most compatible. An A1200 would be o-k, but AGA and KS2.0+ will helplessly break many games. This can't always be fixed by degraders, as helpful as they are you just can't beat a real A500 with KS1.3.
WHDLoad is not just a degrader; the faulty code of the original game is patched with better code. There are 1511 installers on WHDLoad.de, and the vast majority work on expanded A1200s, even when the original disk versions are hopelessly broken on 1200s.
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My 2 cents worth:
Advantages of A500: lots of older games will work.
Advantages of a1200: faster, easier and cheaper to get hard drive, which means that lots of games can be installed on a 4 gig hard drive, prettier graphics, many a500 games can work if you use WHDload,. Hard disk installability is something you will not go without once you have experienced it.
Go for A1200..
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WHDLoad is not just a degrader; the faulty code of the original game is patched with better code. There are 1511 installers on WHDLoad.de, and the vast majority work on expanded A1200s, even when the original disk versions are hopelessly broken on 1200s.
WHDload is an excelent program and it's support is growing, but it is still spotty. I can go through my personal collection of original games and still 80% of them are not supported. There is also the fact that it wasn't uncommon for their to be mutliple revisions of the same game, with only one of them working with WHDload. Even of the ones that are supported and supposedly work, many of them still did not work on my old A3k/060 system.
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Hmmm.... maybe I've just been really lucky then... There are a couple that don't work on my 060 systems that do on my 030 machines, which is why I recommended an 030 card, but apart from that i've had little or no problem.
Of course, in the original article, it sounded like he's prepared to pay some cash to get the ultimate, so why not get both an A1200+030+HD, and an A500 for anything that won't install on the 1200 :)
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mugenakuma:
Well as I said you would be better off with a 1200, Lionheart (great game!) runs crappy on a 500 it runs much smoother on a 1200, too many glitches on the 500 with it. Maybe get some ram maybe 2 megs.
Anyway if you ecide on the A500, here are games to get wich are the best looking 16 bit games for the Amiag 500:
Ruff N Tumble (looks like 256 colors!)
Elf Mania (LOOKS LIKE 256 COLORS!)
LionHeart (Looks like 256 colors!)
SuperFrog
ProjectX
Ruffian
Pinball Fantasies (Better than the SNES version)
Hired Guns
Zool 2
Other good games:
Shadow of The Beast III
Hybris
Battle Squadron
Outfall (used to be shareware)
ShufflePuck Cafe
Chaos Engine (Better than SNES Soldiers Of Fortune)
Another World (AKA: Out of This World better than SNES)
FlashBack (better than the SNES version)
Gods (better than the SNES version)
Apprentice (By Raibow Arts)
Turrican (Rainbow Arts)
Turrican II
SNES = Super Nintendo
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Wow. LOL And I thought I was bad with big fonts. :-D
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The AMIGA is vastly superior to the Atari ... It's able do show has a lot more colours on the screen, it has some special custom chips for graphics and sound (the "equivalent" of the PC graphics cards) that made a BIG difference between the competition.
I think there was some of the Atari games better than the AMIGA versions : about 2% of the Atari games :-D
If you get an A1200, you'll get best operative system I ever saw (it also crashes, but at least you dont' need to re-install it every 3 months 8) )
The Atari op. system was a piece of s....
Believe me, go for an AMIGA.
If you want a machine only AND really only for games, maybe the A500.
If you get a A1200, you'll get a faster machine and capable of serous work (just add it a hard drive and some more RAM and off you go)
Another important question is : how will you get the game disks ? From the Internet there are legal sites like backtoroots, but how will you tranfer them from a PC (with Internet connection) to your AMIGA without a hard disk ?
Maybe it's better to get a A1200 + hard disk ...
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You need to be insane if you don't like WHDLoad. It makes any expanded Amiga run any supported game (unless it's a non-AGA unit trying to run an AGA game). And oh yes, everything worthwhile playing is supported. Even if some games don't work they will just after some minor settings (read the manual).
Now as for getting an A500 with 1.3rom, you guys are failing to mention that he's bound to run into PAL/NTSC differences, especially if he opts for an NTSC A500 unit as it is the least compatible with majority of games out there. He will have a hard time tracking down NTSC ports of the games he wants, and when he tries PAL versions he'll notice the timing problems with GFX and sound. If he's from a PAL country, he's fine then.
My suggestion:
A1200 w/3.1rom, OS3.9, 2GB or more HD, 030 accelerator with SCSI and CDrom + Zip drive connected to it, and of course and Amiga monitor in order to be PAL/NTSC independent..
Perfect for gaming and backup.
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You need to be insane if you don't like WHDLoad. It makes any expanded Amiga run any supported game (unless it's a non-AGA unit trying to run an AGA game).
Who says they don't like WHDLoad? I only stated that it is wrong to claim it magically makes every single game work, it doesn't. It supports a specific list of games.
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A specific list of games? More like almost all released games. I am sure there are titles missing, but everything worthwhile playing is supported.
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Right actually ANSWERING his question:
Most powerful Amiga for games: Amiga 4000 PPC with Mediator and Voodoo 3 graphics and 256 meg RAM, nice big hard drive (go for whatever u want)
Oh, and of course.. a CD-ROM drive :-)
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AmigaOS 3.9 would make things even better, and a good monitor.
For some games you may want a good joypad.
You can get Playstation joypads to work on your Amiga.
Go a google search for Amiga PSX Port.
Another thing you might want is good sound.
If you get an Amiga without a sound card you may well want to invest in one with some good speakers.
Make sure Amiga drivers are available (Amiga drivers are very scarce, even harder to find than Linux drivers not surprisingly of course - especially with newer cards)
I hope you get a nice gaming rig going!
Show us pictures and specs if you do!
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If you want classic games, then you want the good old standard a500 with 512k memory upgrade "1mb total"
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Wow this forum rocks! I am very impressed at the amount of helpful responses I got!
First off I live in the US and would definitely want an Amiga capable of playing PAL and NTSC games. Considering this what should be my plan?
Also loading time is something I definitely would rather not have to deal with BUT I don't mind some loading time. To be honest I dont feel like spending even close to $500 on a system. Would this then rule out a A1200?
Lastly why would I need a monitor? Can't I just hook up any Amiga to my current PC 19"?
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mugenakuma wrote:
First off I live in the US and would definitely want an Amiga capable of playing PAL and NTSC games. Considering this what should be my plan?
Also loading time is something I definitely would rather not have to deal with BUT I don't mind some loading time. To be honest I dont feel like spending even close to $500 on a system. Would this then rule out a A1200?
Lastly why would I need a monitor? Can't I just hook up any Amiga to my current PC 19"?
From what you just stated, get an Amiga 3000. It is the only Amiga model that from the factory will hook directly up to a PC monitor. It has a scsi hard drive controller, and will let you switch from PAL to NTSC in the early startup menu. you can pick up a second hand A3000 on eBay for about $200.
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Thanks redrumloa,
Sounds like the A3000 would be the way to go.
Are there any specifc mods or features I would want to look for before buying an A3000?
Any notorious problems with them I should watch out for?
I could only find one available on ebay, and it supposedly has some distorted/fuzzy display problems. Either way it didn't look like a well kept cpu.
Are these hard to find on ebay? Any where else I could look?
One final thing. Where would I look for legit versions of Thalion brand games/shooters?
thanks again for the help,
Glenn
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mugenakuma:
Boy you must be really confused. Let me help you.............first read wvwrything I said in my last posts.now read this:
I am American and live in New York....... I have had Amigas since approx 1988...... I have had almost every Amiga model made................
If you want games worthwhile playing Listen one more time.
Get a basic A1200 if you dont want all the upgrades because even a basic 1200 has a 68020 processor with 2 megs chip. This will cover 95% of Old A500 games and 95% of AGA games without getting too complicated just for a simple game machine. Just add a Harddrive to the 1200 which is extremely easy (1gig or 2gig if only installing games) the Amiga 500 is difficult to get these size drives, but if you can real easy..then get a 500 if you want.
DO NOT get any joystick that was ever made for Amiga unless its a CD32 joypad. Otherwise get a SEGA Genesis 3 button or six button joypad...why? because you can use the B and C buttons on it versus the Amiga made Joysticks wich only have one........... Project X and Turrican I and Turrican II supports these and other games so that you dont have to press the stupid space bar for other weapons. In the future if you ever want to modify the SEGA pad, you can, there are hacks which supposedly turn it into a full CD32 pad by reversing the number 9 pin and the one below it ( i never tried it but soon will). Some people may tell you that a SEGA pad will damage the Amiga..........I have allways used them and NEVER ever had any problems.
This is the cheapest best possible game setup you can get.........You can buy a 1200 for like $120.00 on eBay or from redrumloa or others who probably sell them.
Oh! and as for PAL and NTSC problems........NOT a problem at all! just press and hold both mouse buttons when you turn on your 1200 and select PAL if you want to boot in PAL.if your booting a floppy.............notnecessary if You use the WHDload installer.....with WHDLoad most games are set for PAL but if you want to run them in NTSC like me! just TYPE: NTSC in the ToolTypes by highlighting the game icon and selecting INFORMATION on the Workbench menu. select NEW, and Type: NTSC or if its already there, just take away the parenthesis.
By the way everone here should check out the Game OUTFALL its a tetris like game but with globs of jelly or something........Anyway This game has the best use of PAL and NTSC switching I have ever seen!!! the timing and position of the screen remains exactly the same when you switch..this guy should talk with every game developer including the WHDLoad guys so that they can implement this PAL NTSC code to the installers instead if Nico Fracois's PAL one.
This will fix every single Amiga game ever made and make it function exactly the same way wether your in UK or USA.no more cutoff screens at the Bottom!
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Oh if your still confused..then get an A500 and practice with that for a while......you cant lose cuz they are really really cheap, then you can sell it later or just give it away.
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Interesting ideas leirbag.
So you are saying an Amiga 1200 will use Sega Genesis controllers? I have a few of these, one regular 3 button, a JVC Xeye model and a Sega 6 button. Do these just plug into the ports on the bag of the 1200?
Do you have a Amiga32? That system looks interesting. To bad it can't run any of those old disk games, or can it?
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Here are some more big questions:
Can I use the 1200 with my 19" monitor?
I saw 2 different types of 1200's, a tower model and a all in one keyboard/system unit.
Thanks for the info
Glenn
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SO...HARD...TO...RESIST...URGE...TO...MAKE...DOOMMASTER...POST
Urge..to recommend...professional...2000...too...great!
Want...to...tell...everyone...they...don't....know...what....they're...talking...about!
must...jam...stick...in...eye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:whack: :whack: :whack: :whack: :whack: :whack: :whack: :whack:
aaaah! That's better.
So, yeah...an A500 is more compatible, but a 1200 tends to be a bit more convenient. An A3000 will support your current moitor without additional hardware, but they're often harder to find. 500's and 3000's don't support the AGA games the 1200 does, but there are MANY more games that use the original chipset, and that's what stuff like Shadow of the Beast uses.
This is why several people on here are recommending the emulator, there are so many different options, and all of them have certain specific limitations.
You can use a 1200 with your monitor, but to be able to play old games on it, you'll need additional hardware (A scandoubler/flicker fixer). Most screenmodes used in games are set up to send television type signals, and the refresh rates aren't high enough for a VGA monitor to recognize
EDIT - made more coherent...I'm tired.
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Hi,
I use an A2000Hd with an 060 accel & OS3.9. What few games I have that won't run from HD or floppy
just reboot to Native Processor and there it is. Most games run on the accel card and they are very fast
and smooth.
Chris
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mugenakuma:
Yes, I am saying SEGA joypads work..just plug them right in...........DO NOT however plug in wireless SEGA pads...........they wont work unless you modify them.
And yes, I do have an Amiga CD32 with an SX32 Pro 68030 50 Mhz and 128mb and 2.1gig HD (getting ready to attach a 40gig I just purchased). And Yes this play all the Amiga games because this is essentially an Amiga 1200 inside a console box with a CD-ROM drive. This is my main setup and probably the best set up for most Amiga games.................Now why didn't I recomend it to you before? because this set up will cost you more than most other set ups unless you get an SX-1 instead of the SX32.......basically an SX1 and SX32 simply add all the ports of a computer plus a hard drive and memory to the Amiga CD32 console.
See the Amiga CD32 can not only play most A500 games and A1200 Games (AGA), but it can also play CD32 games and Amiga CDTV games as well as music CD's, CD+G (Karoake CD's) and even Video CD movies if you have a Full Motion Video Cartridge like I have. (VideoCD was the format that was introduced before DVD came out). Like I said, I have many many old games working on this flawlessly.like Project-X, Sword Of Sodan, Hybris, Zool, Shadow of the Beast 1,2 and 3, Turrican I and II, Pacmania, MotherLode, Shufflepuck Cafe, Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies, Pinball Illusions, SlamTilt (probably the best game made for AGA amigas) love that game darn it!
If you do want one of these, they are fairly easy to get..but not so easy to get an SX-1 and even 10 times harder to get an SX32 pro.........I happen to have an extra SX32 pro 50Mhz but it doesnt work and one chip fell off and needs to be soldered on.
Now as for the A1200 in a tower.....dont bother...........(hey that rhymes).its not a real A1200. well it is but, it was towered up by someone.they don't come that way and I DONT recommend it right now for your needs......remeber yo can always buy...and then sell what you don't want on ebay very easily. So the 1200 in a keyboard style is the way to go....thats the way it comes from the factory.
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Also towered A1200 systems are known to be hacky and unstable.
But seriously.. for classc games I would recommend an A600.
It will run practically any classic game.
I think 95% compatibility with old A500 games is a bit optimistic, just the other day I took my A1200 to a friends and a lot of the games he has (he has a dodgy A500 - I'm getting a 600 for him soon) do not run properly.
I think A600. It will run a large majority of the games and comes in a nice Amiga style case, but smaller.
A600's are typically cheaper than A1200s and Ax000 machines as well, and don't yelllow and are known not to break as easily.
I have had an A1200 since 2000, and trust me, theyre not as rosy for classic games as people make out.
A1200's to me, are a cheap route for an upgradable classic Amiga.
It was for this reason that 2 or 3 weeks ago I iinvested in an A600 off Amibench.
It arrived last Tuesday (3rd February) and I got all my old A500 games out of the loft and could enjoy playing them again - there was a good 200 disks worth of games which would simply refuse to run on the A1200, whatever patches or things I did to the A1200 which sometimes works.
It's a bit wierd, but I think if you invested in an A600 you would have a good little classic games machine.
But drawbacks include the fact that it isnt as easy to switch from PAL AND NTSC and you will need some extra hardware to get it to work on your PC monitor (same story with the A500 a few people have suggested you should get)
But I think the A600 is the most compatible Amiga regardless of what people say about the A500.
For A500 games (the small amount which will not work on the A600 - and I mean VERY SNMALL) then you can get a copy of Relokick or similar software which lets your A600 boot the Workbench 1.3 prompt to trick it into acting as an A500 style Amiga.
A600's you can also get an Apollo 630 to run slightly more demanding games, a Squirrel SCSI Interface and CD-ROM drive, extra RAM etc if you really want to, without losing compatibility to the old games thanks to the ECS chipset, which is a sort of middle chip in Amiga.
You get more out of Original Chipset games yet don't lose the compatibility you would have if you were running AGA.
A600! :-)
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It is truly amazing how many different opinions you all have! Everyone seems to have completely different ideas about what system I should get.
Every time I read a new post I think I have decided what to go with, that is until I read another post.
I guess I will go look around for A600s?!
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If you want a classic gaming amiga then yes definitely, as long as you dont mind the factors i stated in the above post.
if not, then go for the A3000 the other person suggested.
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mugenakuma wrote:
Every time I read a new post I think I have decided what to go with, that is until I read another post.
I guess I will go look around for A600s?!
You have a big group of die hard Amiga users in here. Any time the subject comes up, a big arguement ensues. Luckily there really is no wrong answer. I'll try to sum it up as fairly as possible.
A500:
Strengths:
My personal suggestion (Please note I do sell these so I am biased)
With 1.3 roms it is compatible with 95%+++ of all games ever written for the amiga, no tricks or hacks needed.
Weakness:
Expansion possibilities are costly and limited.
Doesn't play AGA only games (only a few made).
Doesn't work with VGA unless a costly adapter is bought.
A1200
Strengths:
Built in HD, AGA, 020.
Weakness:
More expensive than A500
Expansions are ackward, hackish and weird
Playing many older games requires degraders or simply don't work.
Doesn't work with VGA unless a costly adapter is bought.
A3000:
Strengths:
Built in SCSI (fine controller), 030, ONLY AMIGA THAT WORKS WITH VGA STOCK.
Likely the best Amiga ever made overall.
Expansions are plentiful and inexpensive(relative to Amiga market)
Has ECS so is fairly better compatible with older games than AGA.
Weaknesses:
Doesn't play AGA only games (only a few made).
Also you have the options of:
A600(miniturised A500 with HD)
A2000(A500 in a big box with plenty of cheap expansion possibilities)
A4000(Not recomended for games, most expensive second hand)
CDTV, CD32(neat pre-settop boxes)
You really can't go wrong with A500, A2000, A3000, A600 or even A1200. All have their strengths. Whatever you get there will be plenty of people here to assist you:-)
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If the A3000 can play most A500 games then perhaps he should go with that. It seems like a really nice system. However, does'nt the 030 processor cripple the 'old-game' compatibility severely? Or can you degrade the A3000 to work as a 500 for games?
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O.K. redrumloa, I think your recent response helped me get a handle on things. Now some more questions.
1. So if I got an A500 what kind of modificaitons or add ons would I want? Can I play all those 2d games, thalion games like lionheart, without any mods to the A500?
2. Since the A500 won't work with VGA does that mean I need a special Amiga/Commodore brand monitor?
3. If I get an A3000 will it work with my NTSC 19" PC monitor?
4. Lastly, where can I get an A3000 and how much should I pay? I only saw one on ebay?
thanks
Glenn
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HopperJF wrote:
But seriously.. for classc games I would recommend an A600.
A600 is the only model I would not recommend. It lacks the num-keys. If you need the HD, go for the bigger desktop models, or the A1200.
But the best (most powerful) unexpanded Amiga is the 4000-040. It's an AGA machine like the 1200, but way more powerful. The compability to older games is same as for the 1200.
With my 4000 I could* play most of the old games. In the Early Startup menu you can disable cpu cache and the AGA chipset, making it more similar older models like the 500.
But it's also the most expensive Amiga.
*It broke down almost two years ago, used IBM-PC since then...
Warning:
Whichever of them you choose, check the battery if it got one. A leaky battery will damage or utterly destroy your Amiga. And if it doesn't leak - replace it anyway, if you don't know its age.
There is much useful info about this here at amiga.org, if those threads still exists. Maybe someone got a link?
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For the controller discussion:
Don't get a Sega Pad when you can get something better that is also plug & play!
Use your PSX1/2 pads! Work in all games with 2 buttons + even the analog stick and ofcourse directional pad.
Here's the picture of it! (http://www.tototek.com/pio/main1/SUBMENU/PARTS/LINKS/OS/mdclassicconverter.htm)
Cost just 15USD from various placed like lik-sang or www.tototek.com. Shipping is fast, just tell them you will be using it on amiga, so he can do a CD32 version of it...what we miss at the moment!
You just need to do one minor change to the adaptor to make it work perfectly with X+0 as fire1/2 on amiga.
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1)If you get an A500, you would probably want.
a) An A501 or equivelant 1/2meg expansion. This will give your A500 1Meg total, enough for most games.
b)1 external floppy drive. This helps eliminate alot of disk swapping.
2)Yup you will need to get an Amiga monitor like 1084, 1080 or a C= monitor like 2002. There are RGB->VGA adapters, but the *current* offering are insanely expensive.
3) Yup, absoluetly. Uh-huh, yup!! :-D
4) Nowadays you should be able to get a decent bare system for under $200 with keyboard and mouse. Either watch eBay for a while if you are in no hurry. Otherwise start a new thread here offering to buy an A3000, someone will come forward to offer to sell you one:-)
Good luck!
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You can also buy an A520 or similiar and use your 500 on a TV, the 500s built in composite out is only B&W... (I'm saying this cause I've been needing one of each A501/A520 since I bought my 500)
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Thanks again redrumload,
looks like I will probably just wait around for a 3000, since then I could use my existing 19".
I dont have the cash now for it, unless I can find one for super cheap. Next month, after the 15 I will be looking to by one for sure.
thanks again to everyone for all the overwhelming support, help, info, etc.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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@mugenakuma
If you get an A500, the easiest thing is just to pick up an A520 (RF-modulator) also and use your TV as screen. TV-resolution is good enough for games.
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Interesting.
SO what resolution would the A500 run when using an RF unit on a tv? What about color display?
Also what's the largest size monitor I could get for the A500 without spending a fortune?
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The A600 would be fine i think though
The A4000 isnt really compatible with the older games
Numerical keys? Big deal
HD? Old games dont even need one there
:-)
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mugenakuma wrote:
Interesting.
SO what resolution would the A500 run when using an RF unit on a tv? What about color display?
Also what's the largest size monitor I could get for the A500 without spending a fortune?
You get 320x240 or 320x256 in the vast majority of games. If you've got a monitor waiting and you have or will have cash for an A3000, I'd say go that route because you have a more modern machine with more potential, but the games will still run at 320x2xx even though you have a monitor capable of displaying higher resolutions.
Also, this sounds weird, but sometimes playing old games on a high-definition monitor actually makes the games look worse than on a standard TV (In My Opinion (TM)). The video is sharper on the monitor, so the "blockiness" of the image shows up more.
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The resolution is terrible. Games would be fine, but workbench is blurry.
Monitor size? All of C=/Amigas monitors were 14inch. The are fairly cheap but that's the biggest you will get without spending a fortune.
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Did I mention A600? :-)
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If you want an A3000 and money isn't an option you can get a referbished unit from Dividesoft (http://www.dividesoft.com/). They aren't cheap but they look new.
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Seems to be a common misunderstanding that WHDload doesn't cover that many games. I have just counted the number of games I have on my Amiga installed with mostly WHDload, but also JST. I think WHDload is more reliable though, and if there's a WHDload version available, I'd rather use that one.
Anyway, my count ended at exactly 379 games. And there's more to come. These are all games that work as good as or better than the original, considering the loading times and overall speed of the game. I'm certain you'll find more than 95% of all your favourite games that you want to play on your amiga in my collection.
And there's more to come, because I've just downloaded about 1,5 gigabyte of .lzx archives of pre-installed WHDload and JST games, and I have yet to unpack them all onto my HD. I'm betting there's about 40-50% left I haven' tried yet, which means about 150-200 more games. If you're still not happy with the compatibility of WHDload and A1200 with a 030 and 32mb fast, then I give up.
Just mention a game, I'm 90% sure I have it ready to run off my HD.
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Do you have Holo Squash? Gotcha :-P
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An A3000 sounds cool but I dont want to spend too much cash. How much would I have to spend?
Also from what I have seen the A3000 is really hard to find.
I am now leaning more towards an A500, especially since I am only looking for old school/classic 2D games.
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If you don't want to pay a lot but still play a lot A500 is THE choise. I'm not complaining on the other suggestions here, but they seem a bit over the top just for doing some classic gaming. Sure it's nice to have the games on HD, but at what price? Extra processing power will have no positive effect on those old games either, mostly its the other way around. Those old games are OPTIMIZED for the A500. A3000 seems nice but if you're only in it for the games, why spend extra cash on it? Sure you could also go with the A600 for gaming, its quite equal to the A500 when it comes to game support I believe.
Your real problem i think is not choosing machine but:
a) Getting hold of the software, the great golden games: R-type, Silkworm, Chaos Engine, Swiv, Gods, Speedball II... You know... Those;)
b) Overcoming the problem with PAL/NTSC on games or be sure to get NTSC versions.
Maybe the A600 has an early boot control, possibility to choose PAL/NTSC, like the 1200 has? Someone? If that is the case, the A600 should be your choise because it would solve problem b;)
About the software. Most retailers do not seem to sell those really good games that you want. They often have more recent stuff in stock that either did'nt sell too well or requires a beast of an Amiga to run or comes on CD or both. You'll probably have to look at second hand stuff, eBay or so. Ask around for which games to get (we'll help you:-) ) and then try to get hold of those games. I mentioned a few goldies for you already ;-).
Good Luck indeed :-)
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Oh, look... Three goodies available for download on one page. Shadow of the Beast, Speedball II and Turrican II. Great games. I hope they are legal, if so get them. Try them in an emulator or transfer to disk when you have your Amiga :-)
here (http://www.amigagames.com/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=2)!
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@leirbag28: There's no such thing as a 16-bit Amiga. It was 32-bit from day one. Busses and custom chips has nothing to do with the definition, only the CPU. The entire 68K family is 32-bit. Calling A500 16-bit is like saying every x86 with SDRAM or DDR is 64-bit.
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I am a longtime amiga 500 owner (going on 17 years). I am still using the original Amiga 500 I bought in 1986. It is true that this system does not come stock with a hard drive. However there are lots of SCSI controllers for this machine such as the A 590. CD-ROMs and hard drives are easy to get, and are also dirt cheap. A lot of classic original games for the Amiga, came in Non DOS format, which prevented copying to either other disks or hard drives. There's software available to install a lot of the non DOS games such as WHD-load.
It is true that the Amiga 1200 is a fantastic system that runs AGA games. However, there's tons of software out there, that was written specifically for the Amiga 500. If you wish to take a chance to purchase a real Amiga system, I would have to argue strongly in favor of the Amiga 500. The main reason simply price. They are a dime a dozen on ebay right now. In fact I have 7 of them. If you wind up being disappointed, then the investment is minimal. They are tough as nails too, as the beer stains, and cigarette ashes inside mine can attest to.
If you like the system, you can either expand the A500, or invest in an A3000/A4000's. I have always been in awe of the bigger Amigas, but have never actually purchased one as I have always been content with mine by expanding. Now I can burn music or data CD's, play music, or with a simple double click, revert the system to play the very first Amiga Classic game I ever purchased, (Darkside). My first PC is long dead, and is now stripped and reborn housing a SCSI CD-Writer, SCSI CD-ROM, and 6 GB of Hard-Drives externally connected to my A500.
There are a couple of issues to consider. First is the monitor (Commodores A1084/1084s). You need this to run the games. A520 Modulators that allow hook up to a normal TV, are not well suited for games( the original intent for the system). Next is the floppy disks. They are 720 KB, getting old, and harder to find. They are not the same format as PC 1.44MB. They are not readable with PC's either.
The monitor, and 1 hard-drive are the hardware failures I have experienced, that were easily replaced at inexpensive cost. As time marches on this will no doubt change...
I strongly suggest you first try Cloanto's Amiga Forever. I run it on Windows XP and find it quite amazing. I can assure you of one simple fact despite my argument in favor of the A500. You will enjoy ANY Amiga you decide to obtain!!!!
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@jjans
You have certainly pushed the old 500 to its limits. CDRW, nice:) Interesting post! But I disagree with a few things.
First is the monitor (Commodores A1084/1084s). You need this to run the games
I do not understand this. Why does he need a monitor to run games like R-Type or Silkworm. The TV-output of the A520 is as good as on any old games console, NES, SNES, MasterSystem, MegaDrive (Genesis) etc. You do not need a monitor for these do you? I could agree if the guy was going to play textbased adventures... but arcade games? I've played Amiga games on a TV-set since '89. Maybe theres something wrong with me;-)
Next is the floppy disks. They are 720 KB
Amiga floppys are 1MB unformatted, 880K formatted, as far as I know. But I agree they are hard to find, and of deteriorating quality. Hmm.. That is an argument for storing the games on HD that I did'nt think of... well, well..
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mepmepmep wrote:
@jjans
You have certainly pushed the old 500 to its limits. CDRW, nice:) Interesting post! But I disagree with a few things.
First is the monitor (Commodores A1084/1084s). You need this to run the games
I do not understand this. Why does he need a monitor to run games like R-Type or Silkworm. The TV-output of the A520 is as good as on any old games console, NES, SNES, MasterSystem, MegaDrive (Genesis) etc. You do not need a monitor for these do you? I could agree if the guy was going to play textbased adventures... but arcade games? I've played Amiga games on a TV-set since '89. Maybe theres something wrong with me;-)
Next is the floppy disks. They are 720 KB
Amiga floppys are 1MB unformatted, 880K formatted, as far as I know. But I agree they are hard to find, and of deteriorating quality. Hmm.. That is an argument for storing the games on HD that I did'nt think of... well, well..
In regards to the floppies, I stand corrected as they are indeed 880K, and I'm not sure where I got 720 K from.?*&?? Must have had a brain fart...
As for the A520, you just peeked my interest, as I had no idea they worked that well. I must confess to claim ignorance. It was my understanding from prior reading , that TV's had trouble showing the correct colors of Amiga games. I'd love to see a screen shot of an A520 in action. I have also seen them on ebay for reasonable prices. My wife is gonna kill me thanks to you!!!
The reason I wanted the CDRW was for burning ADF's of my games as bakups, and raw images that I submit to the CAPS project...
Thanks for sorting me out on the errors!
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well I definitely have been having a hard time finding some of the games I want.
Looking on ebay was difficult too since I dont know exactly what to look for.
If you anyone could throw out some suggestions for cool 2D Amiga games, which are somewhat attainable I would appreciate it.
So what's the deal with running a hard drive on a A500? What would I need to do this?
Also are floppys that hard to get? If so a hard drive would definitely be a must.
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@mugenakuma
If you anyone could throw out some suggestions for cool 2D Amiga games
:-D Dont tempt me... This thread is NEVER going to end :-P
Well I'll put together a list of some of my favorites for you. And so will probably everyone else too ;-)
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Tons of games to check out:
http://www.back2roots.org/
A500 Hardrives:
http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/search.pl?product=A500&company=
http://www.amiga-hardware.com/gvphd+.html
http://www.amiga-hardware.com/hd500.html
http://www.amiga-hardware.com/supradrivescsi.html
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Cool, so I can get an A500 hard drive and install disk games on it, correct?
Now I am worried about finding good games for the system. I looked at EVERY page of Amiga games (20 pages) and couldn't really find anything that especially interested me. A few Psygnosis games looked cool.
I have seen some awesome games around the net but where are they?
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@jjans
I'd love to see a screen shot of an A520 in action
Look, see here (http://user.tninet.se/~lki651j/amiga_rf/). While I agree that it's not as sharp and clear as on a monitor, you cannot state that these games look totally unplayable and that the colors are wrong, right;-) Also know that it looks better in motion than these stills do.
The shots are from an A1200 and its internal RF but the A520 performs equally well.
I agree though that a TV-set is not totally suitable for workbench usage and text-based stuff as small text can get a bit blurry. I've managed that too however;-) My eyes have probably adapted :-D
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@mugenakuma
If you anyone could throw out some suggestions for cool 2D Amiga games
Your wish is my command. None of these games will disapoint you, but ofcourse some are especially good. All are A500 compatible. Here we go:
Platformers:
Addams Family (Very good)
Arabian Nights
B.C. Kid
Beyond the Ice Palace (Tough one)
Brian the Lion
Car-Vup
Chuck Rock
Chuck Rock 2: Son of Chuck
Cool Spot
Elf
Fire and Ice
First Samurai, The
Fury of the Furries
Gods (Must have)
Great Giana Sisters, The
Harlequin
Horror Zombies from the Crypt
James Pond
James Pond II: Robocod (Brilliant)
Kid Chaos
Killing Game Show, The
Leander (Beautiful)
Lion Heart (Beautiful)
Magic Pockets (Must have)
Mr. Nutz
Myth
P.P Hammer and his Pneumatic Weapon
Parasol Stars
Premiere
Prince of Persia (Must have)
Rainbow Islands (Very good)
Rick Dangerous (Almost a must have)
Rick Dangerous II (Very good)
Rick Dangerous II 1/2 (Very good)
Rodland (Cute)
Ruff'n Tumble
Second Samurai
Soccer Kid
Super Methane Bros.
Super Frog (Very good)
Toki
Venus the Flytrap
Wolfchild
Zool
Zool 2
Shooters:
Agony (Beautiful)
Alien Breed (Very good)
Alien Breed 2 OCS/ECS (Must have)
Alien Breed - Tower Assault (Brilliant)
Apidya
Apidya II
Apocalypse
Awesome (Once an Amiga showcase)
Battle Squadron (Brilliant)
Blood Money (tough one)
Cabal
Cannon Fodder (Must have)
Cannon Fodder - X-mas Edition
Cannon Fodder 2
Cannon Fodder 2 - Alien Levels
Chaos Engine (Must have)
Commando
Data Storm
Deluxe Galaga
Desert Strike
Disposable Hero
Dogs of War
Executioner, The
Fire Power (Needs 2 players)
Fire Power II (Needs 2 players)
Fly Harder
Gloom Deluxe (3D)
Hired Guns
Hybris (Brilliant)
Jetstrike (A bit of strategy too)
Menace
Narc
Narco Police
Operation Thunderbolt
Operation Wolf
Project X (Brilliant)
Project X - Special Edition '93 (Brilliant)
Rampart
R-Type (Must have)
R-Type II (Very good)
Saint Dragon
Scorched Tanks (Needs 2 players, Very good)
Silkworm (Must have)
Smash T.V. (Mayhem)
Starcontrol (Brilliant, atleast with 2 players)
Stardust (Showcase)
Starwoids
Swiv (Brilliant)
Take 'em out
Transplant
TurboRAKETTI
Walker (Very good)
Warzone (Very good)
Wings of Fury (Strategic and very good)
Virus (Very good but extremely difficult)
Worms (Must have)
Xenon II (Very good)
X-Out (Very good)
Z-Out (Very good)
Zarathrusta
Zombie Apocalypse II
Platform shooters:
Assassin
Assassin - Special Edition
Navy Seals
Night Breed - The Arcade Game
Persian Gulf Inferno
Robocop 2
Switchblade II (Brilliant)
Turrican (Very good)
Turrican II (Brilliant)
Turrican 3 (Very good)
Action adventures:
Another World (Must have)
Antheads
Bubba 'n Stix
Cadaver (Tough but nice)
Cadaver - The Payoff
Chambers of Shaolin
D/Generation
Dragonstone
Elvira II
Entity (Nice atmosphere)
Exile (Tough)
Flashback (Brilliant)
Heimdall (Very good)
Hostages
Hunter (3D)
Immortal, The
Indiana Jones III - The Arcade Game
It Came from the Desert
Jim Power
Last Ninja
Last Ninja II
Last Ninja Remix
Last Ninja III
Lethal Weapon
Lost Patrol, The
Moonstone (Very good)
Robocop 3
Sabre Team (Very good)
Shadow Dancer
Shadow of the Beast (Very good, beautiful)
Shadow of the Beast II (tough)
Shadow of the Beast III
Shinobi
Syndicate (Very good)
Syndicate - American Revolt
Unreal (Nice looking)
Voodoo Nightmare
Paradroid '90
Driving:
Badlands
Indianapolis 500 (Very good)
Indy Heat
Jaguar XJ 220
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (Very good)
Lotus III
Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Brilliant)
Major Motion
Miami Chase
Micro Machines
Microprose Formula One Grand Prix (Very good)
Nitro (Very good)
No Second Prize
Overdrive
Stunt Car Racer (Must have)
Super Cars (Very good)
Super Cars II (Must have)
Super Off Road (Very good)
Fighting:
Barbarian (Palace)
Best of the Best
Body Blows
Elfmania
Final Fight
Golden Axe
IK+ (3-player mayhem)
Mortal Kombat (Very good)
Mortal Kombat II (Very good)
Panza Kickboxing
Sports:
Aquatic Games, The
Archer Maclean Pool
Brutal Sports Series Football
Football Glory
Goal! (Brilliant)
Great Courts II a.k.a Pro Tennis Tour II (Brilliant)
Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker (Brilliant)
John Madden American Football
Kick Off 2 (Brilliant)
Kick Off 2 - Return to Europe (Brilliant)
Kick Off 2 - The Final Whistle (Brilliant)
Nick Faldo's Championship Golf
PGA Tour Golf (Brilliant)
Projectyle
Sensible Soccer (Brilliant)
Sensible World of Soccer (Brilliant)
Sierra Soccer
Ski or Die
Speedball 2 (Must have)
Wild Wheels
Winter Games
Zany Golf (Brilliant)
Strategy/RPGs:
Battle Isle (Very good)
Battle Isle - The Moon of Chromos (Very good)
Black Crypt
Captive
Carthage
Castles
Celtic Legends
Centurion
Chaos Strikes Back
Civilization (Brilliant)
Defender of the Crown
Dune II (Brilliant)
Dungeon Master
Elite
Escape from Colditz (Very good)
Eye of the Beholder
Eye of the Beholder II
Frontier
Genesia
HeroQuest
K240 (Must have)
Knightmare
Lord of the Rings
Mega-Lo-Mania (Very good)
North & South
Pirates (Brilliant)
Populous (Must have)
Populous - Final Frontier
Populous - Promised Lands
Populous II (Must have)
Populous II - Challenge disk
Ports of Call
Power Monger (Very good)
Power Monger - 1st World War
Railroad Tycoon
Settlers, The (Brilliant)
Shadow Lands
Silent Service
Silent Service II
Sim City (Very good)
Space Crusade (Brilliant)
Space Crusade - The Voyage Beyond
Space Hulk
Supremacy
Theme Park
UFO: Enemy Unknown (Very good)
Utopia (Very good)
Utopia - The New Worlds
Warlords
Flight Sims:
Combat Air Patrol
Dog Fight
Epic
F/A-18 Interceptor (Runs nicely on the A500 and probably the best one too)
F-15 Strike Eagle II
F-29 Retalliator
Falcon
Gunship 2000
Killing Cloud, The
Knights of the Sky
Wings (A classic)
Graphic Adventures:
Beneath a steel sky (heavy disk swapping involved but a brilliant game)
Conquest of Camelot
Conquest of the Longbow
Cruise for a Corpse
Curse of Enchantia
Dark Seed
Deja Vu (Mostly text based, but nice)
Deja Vu II
Dune
Flight of the Amazon Queen (Lotsa disks)
Future Wars (Must have)
Heart of China
Hero's Quest: Quest for Glory
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Indy III - The Graphic Adventure (Very good)
KGB
Kings Quest VI
Leisure Suit Larry (Brilliant)
Leisure Suit Larry 2
Loom (Very good)
Lure of the Temptress (Very good)
Manhunter: New York
Manhunter: San Francisco
Monkey Island 2 (Must have)
Operation Stealth (Must have)
Perihelion
Police Quest 2
Rise of the Dragon
Secret of Monkey Island, The (Must have)
Space Quest (Ugly but brilliant)
Space Quest II (Very good)
Space Quest III
Uninvited
Universe (Very good)
Valhalla
Valhalla II
Valhalla III
Puzzlers, thinkers and misc. arcade:
Arkanoid
Arkanoid 2
Bill's Tomato Game
Brat
Chip's Challenge
Corx
Cover Girl Strip Poker (If this stuff appeals to you;))
Dynablaster (5-player bonanza)
E-Motion
Hollywood Poker Pro (If this stuff appeals to you;))
Klax
Lemmings (Must have)
Lemmings 2 (Brilliant)
Light Corridor, The
Logical
Marble Madness (Very good)
Megaball
Nebulus
Nebulus 2
Night Shift
Oh No! More Lemmings (Brilliant)
One Step Beyond
Paperboy
Paperboy 2
Pinball Dreams (Brilliant)
Pinball Fantasies (Brilliant)
Pong '91 (Needs 2 players)
Push Over
Puzznic
Rock'n Roll
Spindizzy Worlds
Twintris (Brilliant)
Vaxine
X-mas Lemmings '92 (Brilliant)
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And if a particular game intrests you. Just look it up here (http://hol.abime.net) to get some more information on that title!
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bloody hell a bet that took a while :-)
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@HopperJF
What do you not do for your fellow want-to-become-an-Amigan;-)
And I do believe it's a quite accurate list of some of the best games in the Amiga universe. But to get a hold of those goodies? A whole different story... Definately has to be second hand or CD-collections of some description... Not an easy task.
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I'm not sure how popular the Amiga was in Sweden
But here iin the UK a lot of secnd hand stores and local markets sell sometmes systems and old games (even if a lot of them are copies)
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@HopperJF
The Amiga was very, very poplular in Sweden. If not as popular as in the UK atleast very close. But I have absolutely no idea about the Amiga status in the US where mugenakuma comes from? I get the impression that the Americans in general tends to move on faster and that the Amiga buffs left in the US are much more of buffs than the European buffs, and also not as common;) No harm intended, just an observation!!! ;-) But we shall remember that the Amiga origins from the US and its hard to become a prophet in your own country. Ask a swede if he/she likes ABBA for example;-) Enough of that already!
Second hand stores in the US, hmm. Absolutely no idea. Buying up a stock of illegal copies is ofcourse, the most likely option but that's... Illegal. A lot of really good games have been made free by their producers/publishers ofcourse. I wonder then if it is legal to aquire a pirated copy of a game that has been released from it's copyright by the copyright owner? Well, well... It is not our problem, right;-)
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Why the HECK does everyone seem to ignore the Ultima series of RPGs??
The greatest RPG of all time, Ultima IV, rocks on the Amiga!
:)
Have fun,
McTrinsic
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@McTrinsic
Sorry, never actually really played it:-( Have had a brief look at Ultima VI but that's it. I cannot state that a game is great if I never tried it, right;-) You've made a welcome addition to the list of great Amiga games:-)
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Wow mepmepmep! What a list!
Any reservations about not getting an Amiga due to a lack of game support are completely gone!
Now a MUST get one. Thanks so much for that huge list. I have seen a few screenshots of the games you posted and they look beautiul.
There is something about the Amiga and it's 2D graphics that is so unique, nostalgic and pleasing to the eye.
Right now I have to just get my cash together for a purchase.
As far as Amiga products in the U.S., well....what Amiga products? Honestly I don't remember seeing ANY Amiga games, or computers, not since I was 12 or 13 years old (over 15 years ago, 1988-1989)
What a shame :-(
Oh well no problem since I found this board and all the friendly Amiga fans of Europe to help me :-P
thanks again everyone :-D
Glenn
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I don't think the Amiga ever really took off in the US.
Here in the UK, they were in use in professional art studios, video editing businesses etc and still are in some of the most unexpecting of places (MTV UK for example) and were still in youth bedrooms as games machines until the late 90s.
Then of course there is a whole retro computing taking off in the UK at the moment, with new magazines being released for it, and ebay swarming with old computers and games for this new breed of retro gaming which is emerging
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You lucky Brits :-D
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@ Jetracer: @leirbag28: There's no such thing as a 16-bit Amiga. It was 32-bit from day one. Busses and custom chips has nothing to do with the definition, only the CPU. The entire 68K family is 32-bit. Calling A500 16-bit is like saying every x86 with SDRAM or DDR is 64-bit.
When I said an A500 is 16 bit, I don't mean in actuallity. I mean it's comparable bottomline to a 16 bit game system...for example:
A500 is somewhat equivalent of a SEGA Genesis
A600 somewhat comparable to a SuperNintendo
A1200 is somewhere between a SNES and a PLAYSTATION
as far as games are concerned.
I believe this to be extremely accurate when it comes to games. yes some amigas can be enhanced to do much better but I refer to a stock Amiga.
The reason A600 is comparable to a SNES is because it comes with ECS and 1 meg chip but it has to have 2megs to be really comparable.
They have Zool, Chaos Engine, Gods, Pinball Fantasies and Turrican for the SNES...and with the exception of Super Turrican, The rest suck! the amiga versions are better or comparable....... mind you the SNES can displa 256 colors on games all the time while very few amiga games have more than 32 or 64 colors......which is why I love Ruff N Tumble, Lionheart, and ElfMania so much, cuz they prove Amiga can take the consoles head on and win...........and a SEGA Genesis can only display a max of 64 colors with seriously awfull resolution.
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Well I have found a few ebay auction items that I am interested in.
Below are the links. One is for an A1200 package and the other is an A500.
I would really appreciate everyones input on these packages.
The A1200 is up to $300+! How much is this worth?
What about the A500 package? Whats the most I should pay for that?
Anyways here are the links.
The A1200
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2785023104&category=4598&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWA%3AIT&rd=1
The A500
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2785597053&category=4598&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWA%3AIT&rd=1
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Well in My opinion the A1200 would bring more split up into more auctions and is fully kitted out with the exception of being towerized and having a PPC processor :-)
The A500 has a HD which is a plus and 2.0 roms which would allow you to run Workbench 2.1. So I guess it depends on how cheap you want to be to get your feet wet :-D
Essentially either is a good deal at the current prices.
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O.k. so they both look like good setups but what is the most I should pay for either?
The A500?
The A1200?
Just wondering if I should prepare to rack up my credit card bill on the 1200, and if so how much to spend.
thanks
G
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Hehe, that's my auction (A1200) one. Obviously, you should bid on it. ;-)
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yea it just dawned on me that you and other members on this forum could be selling these systems.
I guess I'll just have to decide how much Im willing to pay.
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@mugenakuma
It's really up to how much you want to pay... And if you can get your own software? If you have no idea about how to obtain your own software, I would go for the 1200 package. Because there seems to be truckloads of software included!!! And quite a few gems too!
If you know how to find your games and do not bother about the software included. Go for the 500 because it's much cheaper.
If you go for the 1200, make sure that the games included actually WORKS for the machine that you will get!!!
If everything included in the 1200 package works for that machine, and If I was a newbie, and I had no idea about where to get some games for my system, I believe I would go for the A1200 in this exceptional case;-) It certainly looks set to give you an Amiga Kickstart :-D
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well mepmepmep I have already found quite a few 1200 compatible games on ebay!
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@mugenakuma
Yes, yes... But finding 1200 compatible games, and finding games compatible with THAT 1200 system is two different things. You know, add an 030 accelerator, suddenlys many games stop working. Add an scsi interface a few more drops out.. and so on. Some games expect to find 2 megs of memory and find 128 and then totally freaks out ;-) Man, I'm caring about your gaming health here!!! But if the dude that sells that 1200 states that all the software include works for that particular machine. Well, then... It's a gem!!
Your main problem seems to be software, and you certainly get some nice software with the 1200. The software that comes with the 500 is not bad but... ....compared to what comes with the 1200, it is;-)
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@mugenakuma
The A1200 is DEFINATELY not a bad system. I have one myself. And ofcourse one or two A500:s too :-D
1200 strengths: Much nicer overall system. Has HD included very often. Faster. More colors. More modern. Supports AGA games (only one or two good of those however;)). PAL/NTSC Selection.
1200 weakness: Many old games just wont run out of the box. Many does.... But many do not. With a lot of tweaking, know-how and general effort many more willl run however.
A500 strengths: For old games, nothing can beat it. It is compatible with 99% of the worthwile Amiga-games because those games were made for this machine quite simply;-)
A500 weakness: For anything but games. It's not a system I would recommend. Slow, old hardware, old software. Not compatible with modern software.
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If you go for the 1200 you just have to get your hands on Slamtilt. It's not just because it's a swedish game :-D Promise! This game is simply the best computer pinball game I have ever played, on any machine. This game is the only really good game that is only for the 1200 and not the 500! Next to that... Get Worms Directors Cut.. Also 1200 only and brilliant.
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THe followlng I would recommend for games:
Amiga 500 1 Meg - although later games require Kickstart 2.0
Amiga 500 Plus - these have 1 meg AND Kickstart 2.0, which is very useful indeed, and is similar to the A600, but a lot biggger
Amiga 600 - 1 meg, and kickstart 2.0, like 500 PLUS but smaller, cooler and more modern looking.
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Don't buy an Atari, they suck of course!!
Lionheart surely rules...
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Everyone keeps suggesting WHDLoad. WHDLoad is the answer. Avoid floppies with WHDLoad. But you need original disks to run WHDLoad.
I am not advocating piracy in the Amiga scene by suggesting that you should have a chestfull of Amiga games on "non-original" disks...but looking at how eBay auctions go for used Amigas - many come with a large sac of games / apps that are just on unmarked disks. And people sell sacs of these "blankable" Amiga disks by the hundred for $20 on eBay and I am sure many people get lots of Amiga apps this way.
I am just saying - it is probably not worth taking for granted that everyone who posts looking to setup a game system is looking to throw away the 100 disks that came with the used A500 they just grabbed and go out and try to find original games - so a qualifier to the WHDLoad suggesting might be wise to mention: that you need original disks (that is, un"broken" verrsions).
I just use my Amigas for demos - so I get to avoid even such temptation into the dark realms that I discuss here!
$.02.
blakespot
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@mepmepmep
mepmepmep wrote:
@jjans
I'd love to see a screen shot of an A520 in action
Look, see here (http://user.tninet.se/~lki651j/amiga_rf/).
Hey Thanks for the link! I'm impressed and have learned something new!
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This is honestly crazy! One second I want a 1200 then someone says something to convince me to get a 500, not that it's anyones fault. I guess that's what's great about a forum.
Well I was looking at games like Alien Breed II and Exile which looked BEAUTIFUL when playing the AGA versions. From what I have read the 500 is NOT capable of playing this AGA versions, while the 1200 is. Right?
To me it seemed like there were quite a bit of AGA games.
Would it really be that hard to get games running on the 1200? What kinds of things would I have to do?
As far as game demos go, I prefer original disks with boxes, manuals, etc. Call me strange but there's just something about having the original games that I like. That's exactly why I want an actual Amiga sytem and not just the emulator. :)
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Yes it is crazy, because most Amigans are nuts about their Amigas!
I'll say it again, no matter WHICH Amiga you choose, You will not be disappointed. The Amiga 500 will not play AGA Games. In regards to backwards compatibility question with the lots of older games and the A1200, I do not believe this is a difficult issue either, considering the WHDLoad option. As a registered user, I use it to install many of my NONDOS games to HD on my old beast to great result.
I think the AGA graphics are awesome too! If I were to upgrade, I would choose an A3000. But I haven't because I'm content with the old girl 500.
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I think the AGA graphics are awesome too! If I were to upgrade, I would choose an A3000.
...but the A3000 is not an AGA machine.
blakespot
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...but the A3000 is not an AGA machine.
blakespot
True, alas, but I like monitor support it has. Also does it not have flippable 1.3 or 2.0 AmigaOS Roms ?
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jjsans: DO NOT go by those screnshots of the Amiga RF modulator.........those screenshots look like crap and in no way do justice to what a A520 looks like........trust me it looks much better than that, I have 2 of them right here and just tested them and they look crisp.when connected with the Video composite. and im sure the RF looks pretty good too.
Someone metioned something about a 3000? anyone got the Super kickstart on a floppy they could send me? maybe as an adf file?
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mugenakuma:
just get the A500 and later get an A1200..........no big deal
they are both good for games
its not complicated at all.
And some people here keep saying it will be difficult to find games. BALONEY!!!!!
they are super duper duper easy to find..and best of all, for FREE!!!!
remember this: "back2theroots"
thats the website to get all your gaming needs and for free!....... they have some of the best Amiga games ever made there........ like ProjectX, SuperFrog, and so many more I cant remember at the moment.even AGA versions
so dont get complicated.......get a plain A500 and thats it........it will work fine just like that.no need to add anything.....there are plenty of games that run on 512k of mem if thats all it has.......so dont worry..just get it.and later sell it on eBay.and get a 1200.
ok?
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leirbag28 I see what you are saying and the sensible thrifty side of me says buy an A500. The devil crazy gamer inside me says buy the A1200. To have an internal hard drive and the AGA chipset is really appealing.
From what I have seen a nice A500 (mint condition) is going to cost at least $130-$200. For a bit more I could get a 1200 so why not just spend the extra cash so I don't have to worry about selling off the 500 later?
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Get both :-P
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mugenakuma:
I dont know where you saw an A500 for $130.00
but it should not cost more than $40.00 for an A500, and do not pay a dime more unless its upgraded. an A1200 you can get for about $120.00 and I would not pay a dime more for a basic setup. If you really do some searching, you can find an A500 for $20.00 or less!
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Hey leirbag28:
Thanks for the info on the A520. Very interesting. How do you find it for applications run from Workbench?
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Well redrumloa was selling a basically new refurbished Amiga for $150 shipped. Which I think is well worth it considering it's basically new.
I have looked on ebay and the A1200's I have seen are at least $130 now with quite a bit more auction time left.
There is one place I saw on the net called Visalia, I think, that is selling A1200's with a 6GB internal hard drive, basic software, 2mb ram, for $200 or so.
As far as getting a cheap Amiga, well I really don't want some dirty, yellowed, tape residue covered system. The cheap ones I find usually are in this type of conditon.
So far I haven't found ANYWHERE that seems good for Amiga computer purchases, other than ebay.
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jjans:
How do you find it for applications run from Workbench?
What do you mean? do you mean if it needs drivers?
the answer is NO..you just plug it in the RGB port and it functions just like if you were to connect a SEGA genesis or SNES or PSone to a TV.......using the composite.
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those screenshots look like crap
Well, I have some interference from electric equipment close to the antenna cable. Also the images are compressed with jpg which ofcourse is not the optimal compression to use in this case.What do you mean? do you mean if it needs drivers?
I believe he wonders if the output to your TV is so good that you do not find it bothersome to read small text and such from the screen.
@jjans
The best solution I have used was to connect a cable from the monitor output of the Amiga to the SCART on a TV-set. My big nice TV-set has collapsed now so I cannot do this anymore:( The AV channel on the TV-set has to be able to be set to display RGB! This produces the nicest image on a TV that I have seen! Then ofcourse you connect the audio left and right from your Amiga to your stereo with those huge speakers and of you go;-)
Your wife will be really happy about this solution :-D
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@mepmepmep
I'd like to add some classics:
4D Sports Driving (Motor, Mindscape 1992)
A-10 Tank Killer (Flight sim, Dynamix 1991)
A-Train (Strategy, Maxis 1993)
Air Warrior (Flight sim, On-Line 1993)
Alien 3 (Action, Virgin Games 1993)
Alien Breed Special Edition 92 (Shoot'em up, Team 17 1992)
Another World ("Out of this World" in the US), (Arcade/Adventure, Delphine 1990)
Arcade Pool (Sports sim, Team 17 1994)
Armour Geddon II: Codename Hellfire (Tactical wargame, Psygnosis 1994)
B-17 Flying Fortress (Flight sim, MicroProse 1993)
BAT 2 (Action Adventure, UBI Soft 1993)
Battle Chess ("Violent" chess, Electronic Arts 1988)
Benefactor (Platform/Puzzle, Digital Illusions 1994)
BlockOut ("Tetris-category", California Dreams/Rainbow Arts 1990)
Caesar Deluxe (Strategy, Impressions 1993)
Clue, The (Adventure, Kompart 1994)
Conflict: Korea (Strategy/Warsim, SSI 1992)
Cool World (Platform, Ocean 1992)
Colonization (Strategy, MicroProse 1995) *
Crime City (Adventure, Impressions 1992)
Crystals of Arborea (RPG, Silmarils 1991)
Cybernetix (Shoot'em up, 1995 PD)
Cytron (Shoot'em up, Psygnosis 1993)
Damocles (Arcade/Adventure, Novagen 1990)
Darkmere (Arcade/Adventure, Core Design 1994)
Demoniak (Adventure, Palace 1991)
Dreamweb, The (Adventure, Empire 1995) *
F-15 Strike Eagle III (MicroProse 1993)
F-16 Combat Pilot (Digital Integration 1989)
Fighter Duel Pro (Flight sim, Jaeger Software 1993)
Formula 1 Grand Prix (Motor, MicroProse 1992) *
Global Effect (Strategy, Millennium 1992)
Gravity Force 2 (Platform, Kingsoft 1989)
Harpoon (Naval strategy, Three-Sixty 1990)
Harpoon + Scenarios (Naval strategy, Electronic Arts 1992)
History Line: 1914-1918 (Strategy, Blue Byte 1993)
Hudson Hawk (Platform, Ocean 1992)
Impossible Mission 2025 (Arcade/Adventure, MicroProse 1994)
Kingmaker (Strategy, US Gold 1993)
Kingpin Bowling (Sports sim, Team 17 1995)
Kings Quest III: The Heir is Human (Adventure, Sierra On-Line 1987)
Knights of the Crystallion (Mixed but mostly Adventure. US Gold 1989)
Legend (RPG, Mindscape 1992)
Legend Of Kyrandia, The (Adventure, Westwood Studios/Virgin Games 1992)
Maniac Mansion (Adventure, Lucasfilm 1989)
Mean Streets (Adventure, US Gold 1990) *
MiG 27 Super Fulcrum (Flight sim, Domark 1991)
Mighty Bombjack (Platform, Elite 1991)
Might & Magic 3 (RPG, New World Computing, 1992)
Nightbreed - The Action Game (Action/Adventure, Ocean 1991)
No Greater Glory (Strategy, SSI 1992)
Oil Imperium (Strategy, reLine/Rainbow Arts 1988)
Outrun Europe (Motor, US Gold 1991)
Overlord (Flight sim, Virgin 1995) *
Panzer Battles (Strategy, SSG 1992)
Patrician, The (Strategy/Trade sim, Ascon 1993)
Perfect General, The (Strategy, QQP 1992)
Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (Adventure, Sierra 1987)
Police Quest 3 (Adventure, Sierra 1992)
Pools of Darkness (RPG, SSI 1992)
Premier Manager (Football management, Gremlin 1993)
Premier Manager 2 (Football management, Gremlin 1993)
Premier Manager 3 (Football management, Gremlin 1994)
Pro Flight (Realistic bomber/flight sim, HiSoft 1992)
Pro Tennis Tour II (Tennis sim, UBI Soft 1991)
Ranx (Platform/Fighting, UBI Soft 1991)
Reach For The Skies (Flight sim, Virgin Games 1993)
Realms (Strategy/Action-adventure, Virgin Games 1992) *
Rings of Medusa (Strategy, Starbyte 1989)
Rings of Medusa 2: Return of Medusa (RPG, Starbyte 1991)
Road Rash (Motor (MC), Electronic Arts 1993)
Robin Hood - Conquest of the Longbow (Adventure, Sierra Online 1992)
Robocod (Platform, Millennium 1991)
Robosport (Action/Strategy, Maxis 1992)
Rocket Ranger (Arcade/Adventure, Cinemaware/Mirror Image 1988)
Rubicon (Platform shooter, 21st Century 1991)
Seek & Destroy (Shoot'em up, Mindscape 1994)
Sensible Golf (Sensible Software 1995)
Shadow Fighter (Beat'em up, Gremlin 1995)
Sim Ant (Strategy, Maxis 1992)
Simon the Sorcerer (Adventure, Adventure Soft 1994) *
Sleepwalker (Platform, Ocean 1993)
Space 1889 (Adventure/RPG, Empire 1992)
Space Gun (Shoot'em up, Ocean 1992)
Streetfighter 2 (US Gold 1993)
Strike Fleet (Naval sim, Electronic Arts 1991)
Super Monaco GP (Motor, US Gold 1991)
Surgeon, The (Surgical sim(!), ISM Inc. 1986)
T.F.X (Flight sim, Ocean 1995)
Tearaway Thomas (Platform, Play Byte/Head-On Technology 1993)
Test Drive 2 - The Duel (Motor, Accolade 1989)
Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain (Flight sim, LucasFilm 1989)
Tornado (Flight sim, Digital Integration 1993) *
Troddlers (Mix of Lemmings/Boulder Dash, ATOD Design/The Sales Curve 1992)
Trolls (Platform, Flair Software 1993)
Viking Child, The (Platform adventure, Electronic Zoo 1991)
Voyages of Discovery (Strategy, Black Legend 1995)
Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey (Bethesda Softworks 1989)
Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey 2 (Bethesda Softworks 1992)
Willy Beamish (Adventure, Dynamix 1992)
Wolfpack (Naval sim, Mirrorsoft 1990)
Wrath Of The Demon (Adventure, ReadySoft 1990)
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (Adventure, Lucasfilm 1988)
* Certainly some of the best games in its category / era
TEXT ADVENTURES:
The Lost Treasures of Infocom -a collection of 20 classic Infocom adventures, re-released by Activision in 1992. The probably best 10 of'em:
Leather Goddesses of Phobos (1986)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (1984)
Zork (1986)
Zork II (1986)
Zork III (1986)
Zork Zero (1989)
Planetfall (1983)
Stationfall (1987)
Lurking Horror (1987)
Spellbreaker (1987)
-A game not in this box - A Mind Forever Voyaging - written by the legend Steve Meretzky at Infocom (1985), is definately worth looking for.
@mugenakuma
I've not mentioned any AGA games. After 1994 most games worth mentioning is AGA versions. It means you'll miss alot if you choose a non-AGA model. One more way to run old incompatible programs on an A1200/4000 is simply to load an old Kickstart from floppy.
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@mepmepmep
No one here in North America knows what a SCART led is.......here in America we use S-Video (Chroma and Luma) and since no amiga except the CDTV and CD32 have S-Video out, you have to get a Genlock wich wil give you the S-Video out and then connect it to a S-Video TV and the picture looks almost as good as an RGB monitor
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@jjans: How do you find it for applications run from Workbench?
Ah ok, now I understand the question......(thanks mepmepmep)
For Applications run from Workbench, it does not look very readable especially because of the flickering...........BUT.......I have managed to make it look godd using Visual Prefs to reduce the fliskering and using larger fonts to make text more readable. Anyone whoever connects any kind of computer to a TV must do this anyway, unless you have a really large TV. The way Visual Prefs can help you is by changing the colors of the lines around the window borders to a light grey for the Shine and a dark grey for the shadow..because what causes alot of the flickering, is the contrast between the very thin white line and the very thin black line......ah, also double the thickness of the window border lines and the button borders.......youll see a huge difference. Thats why if you ver connected a Windows PC to a TV, you'll notice is flickers alot less than Workbench.............this is one of the reasons, because their window borders have thicker lines of 2 pixels or more, while workbench in Highres Interlace mode has a very thin one like maybe one pixel thick, that includes the little line under the Title bar.
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@mepmepmep & leirbag28:
Thanks for the info. Any ideas on how I can justify 'borrowing' the family's big screen TV without causing a riot????
What the hell was the original post anyway???
Oh yeah, mugenakuma, sounds like you want the A1200. There seems to be people here with that fine system, that are able to help you out with any A1200 questions.
Here is an interesting link:
http://www.amigau.com/c-amiga/A1200.htm
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sounds like you want the A1200
@mugenakuma
I agree. Judging from your latest statements, I think you should go for a nice A1200-setup with lots of included software.
Then, later, if you are not happy with the support for old games, just get a cheap A500 with some golden oldies included to make your gaming experience complete.
That is the route to gaming heaven.
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Well, I was in the same boat as @mugenakuma a few weeks ago, i.e. wanted Amiga mainly for the games (and hopefully if I find some time some programming).
Anyway, I ended up getting:
Amiga 600 with 2.04 Rom, 40 HD (without the cable, whoever had it beforehand had the HD outside, since there is an ugly cut at the back just wide enough for the cable :(, no mouse, stuffed floppy and most of all NO BADGE (anyone knows where I could get a replacement A600 badge??) . Luckily there is a dealer nearby which has a "Evergreen" mouse for $A15 and a replacement floppy for $A35 (BTW, are A1200 and A600 internal floppies different?).
Amiga 1200 with 3.0 Roms, Expansion board with 4 mb & RTC, 500 mb HD, PCMCIA network adapter and 2nd floppy.
I found the PCMCIA network adapter (with the A1200) VERY useful. If you got a PC and/or broadband internet it will make life a lot easier if you want to download stuff off the internet (such as WHDload patches or games) or copy stuff to or from PC.
Now I haven't tried the nic with the A600 (since the floppy is dead) yet but I don't see why it shouldn't work (except for transfers being slower maybe).
Anyway, I got a few questions:
Did the Commdodore 1084S come with cable for Amiga? I bought it so long ago I'm not really sure.
Also, is it worth getting an accelerator board for A1200 for games? Like how many good games run better with it than with a stock A1200?
PS. Forgot to mention this originally. There is quite a few freeware/PD games on Aminet:
http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/aminet/game/index.html
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Yea I definitely need a 1200! It seems to be the perfect system for my needs!
There was that crazy ebay auction for that 1200 and all those games. It sold for $435. I had to basically use every ounce of my strength to not but it! I was prepared to pay at least $500 but it would have come off my credit card something I CANNOT due, since I have such a huge debt.
Anyway I should be able to pick up a 1200 sometime by early or late March.
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It took me some time to actually realize what you people are saying here.
$ 130 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for an AMIGA 500!!!!!!!!!!!
In Germany, they go for, lets say, 40 Euros, and most of them with a truckload of discs and usually with the RAM expansion and often with goodies like joysticks.
Only bummer for non-germans: the keyboard. But you can exchange the keys with keys from a dead A500 and ready you are.
On getting an A1200:
The man who's patient will get a reward. :)
Just watch ebay for some time, and have a closer look at aucttions that end during daytime. Or generally, when you have to expect less competition. The worst time will be saturday or sunday evening, thats the tme when all the geeks freaks nerds and the like are online and will bid for the item.
You just need a bit patience, sooner or later it pays really. well.
Have fun,
McTrinsic
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Hey Mctrinsic,
That's exactly what I'm hoping. Eventually I'm sure I will get my hands on an A1200, I just need to be patient.
It's just hard when I'm itching to play all those cool Amiga games :)
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You should begin watching prices, though.
So you know what price range these things usually lie in, and I dont mean special auctions with a load of games or something like that.
Have fun,
And good luck!
McTrinsic
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Yea I think it would be nice to get a system with a lot of the extras. That way I don't have to hunt down all these parts.
Either way I'm thinking I need a decent sized hard drive and external CDROM for my A1200.
What ROM's do most A1200's come loaded with . Which would I want to have?
What about OS? I know there are a few different OS' out there. Which one would be best for gaming?
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mugenakuma wrote:
What ROM's do most A1200's come loaded with . Which would I want to have?
What about OS? I know there are a few different OS' out there. Which one would be best for gaming?
Amiga 1200s come with either 3.0 or 3.1 Roms. Mine has 3.0 :(. 3.1 of course is better, since it allows you to run OS 3.5 and 3.9 (3.0 can't run those can it?)
You'd want 3.1 since it costs some $$ for 3.1 roms if you only got 3.0. I paid around $A212 (about $US165) for my A1200 (with 500 Mb HD, extra FD and PCMCIA nic). To get 3.1 roms it would cost me around $A70 plus P&H, which is 1/3 of the computer's cost. So it is better to get them in the first place.
As for the best O/S, I don't know. I'm using 3.0 since my machien came with it and I can't really use anything else.