Hi community!

[Gilthanaz]

Ahoi!

Today I'am 30 years old (ya... FML ), but already registered here a while ago. How that relates? Well, I decided to wish for something I actually wanted when i was way younger, but could not afford: An Amiga 1200

However, my knowledge of Amiga Soft- and Hardware is basically not existant; Except for games. Lots and lots of games. I think i still know most cheat codes for the games I had for my A500, which is a lot

That said, I'am primarily here to meet people who also love Commodore machines. I'am sure I can learn a lot and will bathe in nostalgia to keep myself from thinking of how old I just turned :/ (subjective feeling, I'am not saying that anyone else 30+ is old or has to feel old just because i feel that way).

So on friday I shall get my new toy, an Amiga 1200 in great condition with a 4GB IDE-CF Adapter+Card, 030 Turbocard, ADF Transfer Kit and a lot of other things, together with a lot of original games - basically all my favourites from back in the earlier '90s.  

I'am sure I'll ask a lot of questions and hope to find answers. Also i want to fix my A500 and C64 and hope for people with more hardware knowledge to help me find the broken parts.

Oh, and my first language is not english, but german, so please correct me if I have wrong spelling or grammer

KR,
- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

Darn, I had it correct first and corrected myself wrong

Well, the fun will definitly begin when I have to install the turbo board and CF HDD - however, i think the latter will not pose much of a problem. So far i could not find out yet if the A1200 IDE Bus allows for two IDE devices to be connected per Master/Slave, as known from PC compatible. Probably it can even fit two CF-HDDs then, if there's enough space

After I get all the hardware working, i'll try to install Workbench 3.1 on the HDD and get the machine to boot from it. So far i've read on many forums that a WB 3.1 installation to HDD can be pretty stressy

AmigaOS of the native 3.1 appears to be a lot like a *nix/DOS hybrid, so as a *nix Sysadmin and Oracle DBA I'll probably feel right at home once i've got the default device names memorized

Yesterday I built shelves for the Original Games in my computer room. Right now I'am pondering how to protect them from smoke so they dont turn yellow over time - I guess some of those freezer bags to keep food fresh with ziplock should do a good job

Picture of my Computer/LAN Party room (sorry, its a mess - picture is pretty old, too). On the left side where the big CRT TV is, the Amiga will get his new home. The shelves would be on the left side wall which can't be seen on this picture - but i'll get some more when the Amiga is set up and the boxed games found their place




I'am collecting a lot of machines and we're having LAN Parties quite often, so all of this eats a LOT of power But, well, there is a solution for every Problem SOLAR POWER! WEEEE!







KR,
- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

Nope you spelt it right the first time. Wow how easily you just fit in amazes me. You truly are an Amigan! Welcome home buddy  

http://www.amiga.org/forums/group.php?groupid=50

Such a warm welcome

Let's see... usually I start/go-back to a hobby, all easy in the beginning... to then get utterly insane with what I want to get to work up to really weird hardware modifications Like setting up a 286' Webserver or control all the light switches in my house via parallel control of a linux machine, triggering relays XD

Or I'll just get stuck playing A-Train, Apidya, The Clou and UFO: Enemy Unknown AGA for a loooong time...

- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

Pure gold
 My money's on UFO Enemy unknown You'll lose weeks with that one.

I do a complete playthrough of X-COM 1+2+3 at least once a year ever since they have been released Interceptor about every 3rd year, and Enforcer only in LAN Coop if I'am really bored. I also helped Scott with XCOMUTIL many years ago. I own every X-COM game several times, even from the pre-X-COM (when it was still named UFO) era That reminds me, I must complete my X-COM shrine soon.....

Hm, I guess I've literally spent months of my life playing X-COM 1 to 3 over and over and over again up to superhuman difficulty

I'am really looking forward to games that I couldn't play back then, tho. I never played Syndicate and other famous titles, and since they are supposedly incredibly good, I'll be busy with them for a while.

Well, given I get the Hardware to work together and can set up the sytem to boot from HDD and so on, I'am off work the next two weeks and might just waste all those free days with gaming I'am just glad my wifey is a gamerchick and plays as much as I do, also cross-platform So no one will whine if I play a lot, heh! Except for me if she kills my highscores that fast again....

Maybe I even manage to resurrect the C64 and A500 (C64 boots but all keyboard input is garbled; The A500 stops before the "insert disc icon" appears, my guess is that the kick rom went *pfzfzfz*)

This appears to be a very nice community, I feel home already

- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

Hehe Franko

I have to google a lot of the long, complicated words you used for different pieces of Amiga hardware that I'am not familiar with. Need some easy words explaining

However, I'am pretty confident I can fit in two of those CF-HDDs into the trapdoor slot, and I know of at least one IDE cable (of the hundreds I store in plastic bags) that is only like 4 inches (~10 cm) with 3 IDE connectors that might be perfect for the job. However, so far I'am not sure if I ever need more than 4GB of storage on the A1200

I just read some threads about Aladdin 4D tho and since I also do some 3D modelling, I might check it out. For the native Amiga feeling, I guess I need AmigaOS 3.x+ and stronger hardware, so there might be a project.

Well, that happens if I get a rendering software in my hands and about half an hour of time. It's not that good but it was my first time ever to try Blender 3D:



Sometimes I wonder why almost everything I waste my time with is computer related - except for my ant colonies

- Gil

Edit:
@Lord aga:
Well for X-COM 1 it boils down to explosives - lots and lots and loooots of explosives, basically bomb away the whole map using fast runners (Agents with many time points and only explosives equipped). X-COM 2 is almost unbeatable on superhuman if you insist on never reloading even on a catasrophic fail-cascade of events

X-COM Apocalypse ... basically you have to know the research tree inside out, don't waste agents on not very important missions, raid the cult of sirius over and over and over again for cash, and pay the Gravball league (more human agents in recruitment), S.E.L.F. (more androids) and the mutant alliance (more Alien hybrids) for perfect standing. That way you get enough agents until you've researched heavy disruptors and personal + vehicle shields. Oh, also: Explosives + personal teleporter are your best friend later on

[Gilthanaz]

@Lord aga: As I understood Franko, yes ... I'll check on that issue in more depth if I ever decide i need more than 4GB HDD space Right now I wonder how I'll get the PCMCIA ADF Transfer Kit to be recognized by the hardware, since the 030 turbo card has 8MB of RAM; As I understood that is all the address room the A1200 can handle, so the PCMCIA Device might not get the necessary ressources. Weee! I like hardware problems and to solve them

@Franko:
You can't do/write anything that surprises me much. Why? Because I'am used to people who totally lost it, as I worked for a year in an institute for the mentally handicapped and insane. Besides that, I tend to have friends that are by no scale "normal" (tho, harmless). I myself get told often enough that I should get my mental state checked, and in fact I'am one of the very rare people in this country that have a letter from a psychatrist, explaining that I'am sane I'am pretty battle-hardened and a seasoned traveler on almost all continents, so even "weird" local cultural rituals don't shock me much. I like haggis ... that about sums it up I guess Also, I like your humour, and people like you are usually the heart of community forums (can tell from post count + special rank + location comment and some other hints)

Ohhh insane people! Me likey!

- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

Thread is moving fast... answer to your last post is above your newest post, Franko  <== Outdated again. Thread moving even faster! ZOOM! If this continues, we get the price for "Longest New User Introduction Thread Within 24 hours"

Also, why would you not want to use CF-HDDs? After all they are more reliable than old-school-platter-rotating-mechanically-fast-dying 2.5" HDDs

Also I've heard that Amiga supports SFS, which should be capable to also allow way bigger partitions (given that the boot partition is on the first 200-or-so sectors of the HDD, if its anything like LILO was in earlier linux days), so having 32/64GB CF Disks running as HDD shouldn't be much of an issue, mmmmh?

Impatient and in agony of not-knowing the answer already, I await thine post, full of sparkling wisdom in these dark ages of lost knowledge, Franko!

- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

Seriously, though - his English is fine. He has no reason worry about it one bit, you should see how bad/nonexistent my German is.

Thank you, fine Sir I shall inform you that I've learned all me english from scotsmen on the internet. I did not have any real english courses at school, but had internet when I was still pretty young; That caused me to find the wonders of IRC and hang out in a newbie channel where - seriously - people taught me english basically by linking pictures to words I did not know, and after I had acquired quite some vocabulary, correct my grammar over and over again

Later on, when VOIP came up with the first early tools, the same people went on voice chats with me to correct my pronounciation. The funny side effect is, that they were irish, scotsmen, aussies, british, americans (US) and some other countries - the outcome is that I can talk in several slangs now

And the part I like best is, that out of hundreds of people, I got the job of my dreams simply because I knew all the necessary technical stuff, but primarily because my english was the best XD Then again, thats not so great given that like, 90% of the people in this country can't even ask for directions to the bathroom without using international sign language and the must-go-potty-dance

In case someone did not notice yet: I really like to write on forums if I feel welcome, and for some weird reason I feel right at home here...

- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

Well, the madness beings - yesterday my first acquisitions of old computer magazines (Amiga Joker, ASM) and the first old boxed game (The Patrician) arrived, all in mint condition Also my wife found perfect protective see-through bags that I can pack the nice stuff into, and have them on display without degrading much. Of course there is also no sunlight in that room - it hurts the colors

Tomorrow.... soon..... MUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH! Can't wait to unpack that A1200 ... I'am eight years old again and waiting for Santa, s'bout the same feeling :/

- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

PS:I've always meant to ask, I notice you use a lot of FlatsScreen LCD monitors in your vast collection, do you notice a lot of blurring with scrolling games on them, as every flatscreen I've tried have been unusable due to the blurring on them and I've never found one that I was happy with...

The LCD/TFTs I bought in the last 18 months or so don't have that problem anymore. They have reaction times of 3 - 5ms so there can't be much of a blurr Tho, problems might arise if you run them in non-native resolutions, as the interpolation isn't that good on the cheaper models. Even on the expensive models you might get pixely artifacts and a general blurr over the whole picture..

I'am using Samsung and Hanns.G mostly, always been happy with their performance for the lower price range (the biggest one you can see is a 28" that I bought about a year ago for ~260 Euros).

Here at work i got BENQ G2420HDBL and also can not notice any blurr on native resolutions.

- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

I'd go and test my screens for you, but unfortunately the A1200 will be hooked up on a CRT TV, as I dont have a ... whats the thingy name... yarr... scandoubler/deflickererer..er.

@Cammy: Which servers/channels are you hanging out? I got pretty **meeped** about majority of IRC users on the bigger networks, so I'am hosting an IRC network for myself where I hang out nowadays. Pretty alone, but I can K-Line pricks

[Gilthanaz]

Well, I'am here for some days now. Sooo, I'll show some pics of what has happened so far


Amiga 1200 on a rather large CRT:




And the collection of Amiga Games (Some PC Games there too, right now - they're place holders until I get my hands on Maniac Mansion, Zak Mc Kracken, Monkey Island and some other Games I'am missing in my collection.


Behold! The games I wasted my youth with, mostly:



I'am rather proud about the original Apidya ... was expensive enough, too Unfortunately it is hard to see as the protective foils reflect the flash pretty bad.. or good, depends on point of view, I guess


If you excuse me now, its time for some....




Cheers!
- Gil

[Gilthanaz]

Hi Cammy!

Thanks for the heads up! Iam aware of the snapshot method used by workbench - I kind of had no other choice but to learn to use it after I've installed roughly a hundred WHDLoad Games and wanted to sort the Icons Then, I found out I can also just switch to "View as List" and Snapshot that. Easier to find things than with all those drawer graphics

Thanks for the hint with the overscan! I'll check on that soon. However, the picture on the CRT is pretty... 'wobbly', and since its also pretty large and the serial mouse / joystick / joypad cables are very short, I get a headache and hurting eyes quite fast. So, as you suggested in some other thread, I plan on simply getting a LCD/TFT TV - that should probably fix it for me

Also, thanks for remining me on getting protective covers for the magazines - those in that shelf are "only" from 2004 - 2009 and PC magazines, but I forgot to take pictures of the magazines I bought in mostly great condition And those are "ASM" and "Amiga Joker", two of the biggest back then. I've bought the issues that have the tests for my favourite games in them

Also, I found my first two computer magazines, from 1989. They're in great condition as well, I shall take care that they end up in protective covers and in some place where people can look at them.

Hm, my place is slowly transforming into a mix of computer museum and zoo ^^

Thanks,
- G

[Gilthanaz]

The photovoltaics was about 23.400 Euros. However, here you get back part of that money from the government, so in the end it was about 18k i had to pay myself.

I already got a 68030 in my A1200, thanks And i have a quite good private seller at hand who also offers quite good prices and a lot of support

- Gil