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Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: runequester on February 04, 2011, 09:43:48 PM

Title: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 04, 2011, 09:43:48 PM
For the past week or so, I've lived my computer life almost entirely on the amiga. Planning to keep it that way.

Im still using my linux box for a few things (loading my ipod, some work stuff, and watching some tv shows online as I dont really watch TV) but as far as "primary computer", its certainly the miggy.

I must say, even with humble specs, things are working just fine. Sometimes, intensive web sites are a bit slow, but its still very doable, and I am surprised at how well most sites render in Ibrowse, at least for my needs.

Not really any youtube or any of that stuff, but life is just as fine without it. I spend the time playing lots of old games, or slowly working on various word processing stuff. I can keep in touch with my friends through MSN messenger easy and simple.

Still waiting for the postal service to deliver me a few manuals I am waiting for, so I can get started proper on AMOS and Deluxe Paint (again)


The 030 is serving me well too. Everyone talks about 060 and RTG as if its a must-have, but I honestly don't think so.

Don't want to tower the beast either. Although I would like to own a 4000 at some point, once you tower the poor 1200, fill it up with crazy hardware and pci slots, it starts feeling like some sort of weird PC rather than an amiga.
Maybe thats just me though :)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: ognix on February 04, 2011, 10:33:40 PM
Good mood! :)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 04, 2011, 10:45:11 PM
I figured we could use a "happy" post or two, with all the bickering :)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: rvo_nl on February 04, 2011, 11:22:52 PM
Quote from: runequester;612537
once you tower the poor 1200, fill it up with crazy hardware and pci slots, it starts feeling like some sort of weird PC rather than an amiga.Maybe thats just me though :)

Im afraid it is :) But Im glad you enjoy your machine! I would never go back to 68K-only + AGA. And I doubt I would manage with just the Amiga.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: save2600 on February 04, 2011, 11:30:57 PM
It's doable. Just depends on your needs and expectations. Much of the internet is a virtual junkyard any more, 'cept I do likes me thousands of colors for them purdy pictures. Talkin' about vintage gaming and computing hardware of course  :lol:
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: amigakit on February 04, 2011, 11:41:24 PM
The Amiga can still be put to good use in 2011: we have two Amiga 1200Ts with Mediator/Radeon etc in the office and an A4000T that are all networked together and are used every day for printing / invoicing / net tasks.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 05, 2011, 12:04:36 AM
Quote from: save2600;612552
It's doable. Just depends on your needs and expectations. Much of the internet is a virtual junkyard any more, 'cept I do likes me thousands of colors for them purdy pictures. Talkin' about vintage gaming and computing hardware of course  :lol:


was your wife looking over your shoulder while you were posting? ;)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: TheGoose on February 05, 2011, 12:24:10 AM
Quote from: runequester;612545
I figured we could use a "happy" post or two, with all the bickering :)


Very cool runequester, and you're right about towers I think. They cause new trouble down the road. Like my topic about "crappy state of 90 degree PCMCIA adapters". You know what, I was able to use 2 to make a 180, but after the case closed up, the signal now seems too weak, flaky! So one side of the tower case will remain open.

Cheers! :pint:
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Arkhan on February 05, 2011, 12:31:29 AM
If Amiga had an MMO, maybe we could talk.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 05, 2011, 12:59:07 AM
Quote from: Arkhan;612561
If Amiga had an MMO, maybe we could talk.


Does playing Heroquest 2 or Hilt hot seat count? ;)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: fishy_fiz on February 05, 2011, 02:13:42 AM
Yeah, as already mentioned it all comes down to what you want to do. Personally I've spent more time on my a1200 in the last 3 or so weeks since I got it than I have any other machine, and until my "new" 040 card arrives it's just a stock a1200. My main computer interests are things like hand pixelling graphics, making retro style games, programming (implied already I guess), and these are things that are very doable on an amiga still as well as anywhere else, and for my tastes, in a more enjoyable way. 3d rendering however I'd probably do on pc, but as much as anything because 3dsmax is what I know best (although lightwave/cinema4d/etc. are options if I was to do 3d rendering on my amiga(although I'd probably use my amithlon box :))) The main thing that comes to mind I guess is the webbrowsing experience, with which you'll need to make some sacrifices, but really it's not as crippled an experience as is commonly suggested.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Arkhan on February 05, 2011, 02:42:10 AM
Quote from: runequester;612568
Does playing Heroquest 2 or Hilt hot seat count? ;)


no lol.  not even close sucka.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 05, 2011, 02:55:17 AM
Quote from: Arkhan;612580
no lol.  not even close sucka.


One more reason amiga is better then ;)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Khephren on February 05, 2011, 03:16:35 AM
@runequester
a lot of the problems with the Amiga and the internet are more due to outdated software than hardware. if the browsers were updated for CSS and ran on a custom chunky window, things would be ok I think (well, accept for flash video, but i would not miss it that much)
I mean,my shapeshifter runs in chunky ham8, so the hardware can do it, no problem.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: smerf on February 05, 2011, 06:51:08 AM
Quote from: save2600;612552
It's doable. Just depends on your needs and expectations. Much of the internet is a virtual junkyard any more, 'cept I do likes me thousands of colors for them purdy pictures. Talkin' about vintage gaming and computing hardware of course  :lol:


Hi,

@save2600,

I like them prudy pictures too!

Talking about porn and oops! did i say that?

smerf
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: trekiej on February 05, 2011, 06:57:01 AM
Has anyone seen the youtube video of a user who played Transformers Movie on his machine?
He changed the format.
Can anyone verify it?
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Digiman on February 05, 2011, 06:47:13 PM
Someone pointing a cheap ass camera at a monitor and recording them, those ones? Probably using the Damage X bespoke format software player intended for OCS + 030 25mhz or something.

You could write something more efficient using uncompressed lores 320x??? HAM6 frames as your source to cut down CPU decode time. Well within the chipset bandwidth. I couldn't crack the method of interleaving the sample data just yet so it got shelved. A600/1200 IDE bandwidth may limit your FPS though.

Interestingly there is also a function in Blitz Basic 2.1 to play ANIM files from HDD, not tried it though.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 05, 2011, 06:53:01 PM
huh interesting.


Somewhat unrelated (or not, maybe), I am pleasantly surprised at how well showing jpg's in HAM format works. That's a pretty neat trick.

Even if its a bit of a pain, I am becoming a huge fan of Multiview. Toss in pictures, documents etc, and it'll figure out what to do with it, datatypes pending of course. Wicked
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: desiv on February 05, 2011, 06:59:44 PM
Quote from: trekiej;612614
Has anyone seen the youtube video of a user who played Transformers Movie on his machine?
This video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNWLtSWXtD8

It is DamageX's player..

desiv
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Arkhan on February 05, 2011, 07:02:45 PM
Quote from: runequester;612582
One more reason amiga is better then ;)


Better because it has no MMOs?

O_o blasphemy.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 05, 2011, 07:11:35 PM
Quote from: Arkhan;612753
Better because it has no MMOs?

O_o blasphemy.


For RPG's I prefer the face-to-face tabletop kind :)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Khephren on February 05, 2011, 07:13:45 PM
Quote from: runequester;612745
huh interesting.


Somewhat unrelated (or not, maybe), I am pleasantly surprised at how well showing jpg's in HAM format works. That's a pretty neat trick.

Even if its a bit of a pain, I am becoming a huge fan of Multiview. Toss in pictures, documents etc, and it'll figure out what to do with it, datatypes pending of course. Wicked


Yeah, using datatypes/datachrome has meant I can use my amiga software at work withhout any problems -such a neat idea!
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Arkhan on February 05, 2011, 07:15:58 PM
Quote from: runequester;612756
For RPG's I prefer the face-to-face tabletop kind :)


me too, but that involves having friends that actually want to play.

usually I set up a sweet adventure and everyones too busy eating doritos and trying to steal shit from the town to do anything else.   Its like GTA with dice. lol
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 05, 2011, 07:17:38 PM
Quote from: Arkhan;612758
me too, but that involves having friends that actually want to play.

usually I set up a sweet adventure and everyones too busy eating doritos and trying to steal shit from the town to do anything else.   Its like GTA with dice. lol


hah, yeah. What games do you play, out of curiosity?

Im a bit of an old schooler... Runequest, Rolemaster, some old AD&D, Traveller. Toss in some GURPS 4 and Burning Wheel to mix things up :)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Arkhan on February 05, 2011, 07:20:41 PM
Quote from: runequester;612759
hah, yeah. What games do you play, out of curiosity?

Im a bit of an old schooler... Runequest, Rolemaster, some old AD&D, Traveller. Toss in some GURPS 4 and Burning Wheel to mix things up :)


I play

AD&D 1st edition, because 3rd blows, and 2nd's books are too thick to carry around :D

Big Eyes Small Mouth (1st/2nd edition since theyre compatible.  3rd is a broken min/max disaster)

Bubblegum Crisis (Part of the Fusion system)

RIFTs (Rarely since people are afraid of all the numbers)

TORG (This shits so fun its unbelievable.  Cyberpope.  Seriously.)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Franko on February 05, 2011, 07:20:50 PM
25 years of living entirely with the Amiga has been a blessing to me, why... cos until I got that old iMac last June and went on the net I was blissfully unaware that the world was full of Amiga users that seem to like nothing more than arguing amongst themselves over the pettiest of things and spending more time dissing & moaning about the Amiga rather than doing something useful or creative with it... :)

Wouldn't be without my towered A1200 though, much neater and easier to maintain or put add ons in than mucking about trying fit lots of external devices and cables neatly on a desktop... :)

Having said that though I don't mean a PC style tower case that's way to big and so deep you need a extension on your house to fit the ruddy thing in, I'm talking about building your own tower case that fit's a A1200 MB and is much more compact and neater than any PC tower case I've ever seen... :)

My Amiga conclusion: I DO live like this... :)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 05, 2011, 07:22:55 PM
Quote from: Arkhan;612761
I play

AD&D 1st edition, because 3rd blows, and 2nd's books are too thick to carry around :D

Big Eyes Small Mouth (1st/2nd edition since theyre compatible.  3rd is a broken min/max disaster)

Bubblegum Crisis (Part of the Fusion system)

RIFTs (Rarely since people are afraid of all the numbers)

TORG (This shits so fun its unbelievable.  Cyberpope.  Seriously.)


AD&D 1 is awesome. Totally old school.

I used to own a copy of BESM 2. Looked really fun, but we never got around to playing it.

Only played Rifts once. Played a Coalition Ranger who rode a bicycle around the wasteland. Also was skilled at raising bonsai trees :D
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Khephren on February 05, 2011, 07:25:21 PM
man, we used to play a ton of AD&D, runequest, paranoia etc. when I was younger. We still get to fit in some cthulhu and D&D on a friday night. Unfortunetly most of the guys want a controller in their hands, at best we fit some board games in.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Arkhan on February 05, 2011, 07:31:14 PM
Quote from: Khephren;612767
man, we used to play a ton of AD&D, runequest, paranoia etc. when I was younger. We still get to fit in some cthulhu and D&D on a friday night. Unfortunetly most of the guys want a controller in their hands, at best we fit some board games in.


Yeah alot of people around here go "why play D&D if we can play WoW instead" and stuff.  It's not the same.  MMOs are fun, but not as involved.

We play with Cthulu involved in D&D.  It even sparked the joke:

"What does Cthulu do when hes horny?   He Hasturbates"

leave it to me to come up with something like that.

I had a Juicer in Rifts that tweaked out, tried to de-juice, failed all his insanity rolls, and ended up running into a crowded street naked, and blew his head off with a lazer pistol.  That was some hilarious crap.  Best death ever.


BESM is my favorite system.  It's open ended character wise, but not so open ended that it's a total mess.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Khephren on February 07, 2011, 02:52:36 PM
Yeah, a lot of my D&D crowd went onto WOW. Those who just liked bashing things mainly!
I guess they liked the roll rather than playing the role, if you know what I mean.

Played rifts a few times as well, Paladium wasn't it? They did robotech as well, which was ace.

Yeah, iv'e got a deity and demigods source book with cthulhu mythos stuff in it -they had to take it out for later editions.
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 07, 2011, 04:45:18 PM
These days we tend to do miniatures wargames more, as it takes less people, and doesn't generally expect a regular schedule.

Looks like this Friday we might be playing the old Star Wars game from WEG though :)
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Khephren on February 09, 2011, 03:00:44 PM
Quote from: runequester;613533
These days we tend to do miniatures wargames more, as it takes less people, and doesn't generally expect a regular schedule. :)

That's why we do a lot of board games.
most of us gave up miniature wargaming as a money pit.
recently it's started creeping back in. We started playing space crusade, then spacehulk (the new version), then adding some other 40k miniatures, then extra scenary...you can see where this will end ;)

I think in the end though, we will settle for space crusade with extra rules (snap fire, cover, prone etc). mainly from here:

http://www.ironhands.com/rcintro.htm#intro

but with some worldworks scenery.

I'd also like to do some sort of Advanced Wars boardgame using germy's 2mm range, they are very cute.  http://www.germy.co.uk/wargaming.html
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 09, 2011, 05:15:15 PM
Quote from: Khephren;614389
That's why we do a lot of board games.
most of us gave up miniature wargaming as a money pit.
recently it's started creeping back in. We started playing space crusade, then spacehulk (the new version), then adding some other 40k miniatures, then extra scenary...you can see where this will end ;)

I think in the end though, we will settle for space crusade with extra rules (snap fire, cover, prone etc). mainly from here:

http://www.ironhands.com/rcintro.htm#intro

but with some worldworks scenery.

I'd also like to do some sort of Advanced Wars boardgame using germy's 2mm range, they are very cute.  http://www.germy.co.uk/wargaming.html


we do 15mm ww2 and scifi, so the cost isnt too bad. (4 bucks for a pack of 8 figures). I used to mess with Rules Crusade quite a bit. Very cool little game :)

I actually have a set of rules I wrote myself. In case you are interested, you can find 'em at http://www.freewebs.com/weaselfierce
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: Khephren on February 10, 2011, 05:11:08 PM
Some nice work there, i'll give it a spin!
Title: Re: My amiga conclusion: I could live like this
Post by: runequester on February 10, 2011, 06:18:21 PM
Quote from: Khephren;614669
Some nice work there, i'll give it a spin!

Let me know how you get on, and dont be afraid to ask questions :)