MiniMig + Demo's

[Ohno]

Thanks to Wizard66 I've had a MiniMig sitting on my desk for a couple of days now. The MiniMig works great and Wizard66 clearly put a lot of effort into it. The device looks amazing.

I've pulled out my old Euroscene CDs and started testing some demos and I put the results so far on the MiniMig compatibility list.

It's been a long time since I last used my Amiga and watching those demo's sure brought back a good feeling.

Also it was obvious that most of the effects on those demos ran far more smoothly than I've seen anything run on Windows, even though modern Windows games run at hundreds of frames per second.

Of course the low resolution is very obvious on modern TFT monitors and some demos are too long winded and end up being pretty boring by todays standards. But there are some masterpieces out there that I really enjoyed.

Thank you Dennis and Wizard66 for making it possible for me to bring back those good memories!

[alexh]

Also it was obvious that most of the effects on those demos ran far more smoothly than I've seen anything run on Windows, even though modern Windows games run at hundreds of frames per second.

D'oh! Another user who cant set-up WinUAE. Oh the shame :-)

Create a Windows screen mode of 720x576.

Enable 50Hz refresh.

Use PowerStrip if you need to, although Nvidia control panel is a lot better these days.

Fire up WinUAE, select 720x576 50Hz, vsync, full screen.

Voila, smooth scrolling.

[Ohno]

Oh come on, are you trying to spoil my fun? :-P

This has absolutely nothing to do with either WinUAE (I hardly ever use it), nor with enabling vsync (I always enable that in games when I can).
Windows just interrupts every program too often, causing stuttering in the application once every couple of seconds. This kills smoothness and the MiniMig just made me clearly aware of that running side by side with my Windows machine.

[Magic-Merl]

Thanks for the list.  Don't let negative comments ruin your fun.  Enjoy your Minimig for what it is.  How about a thorough review of the hardware though?

[Ohno]

Magic-Merl wrote:
Thanks for the list.  Don't let negative comments ruin your fun.  Enjoy your Minimig for what it is.  How about a thorough review of the hardware though?

Don't worry, I won't let any forumpost spoil my fun, Alexh must just be jealous :-D

I wouldn't know what to write about the hardware. I'm not really a hardware kinda guy, that's why I didn't solder together the MiniMig myself.

[alexh]

Magic-Merl wrote:
Don't let negative comments ruin your fun.

They are not negative comments, they are positive comments in the form of technical help!

[Damion]

Ohno wrote:
Oh come on, are you trying to spoil my fun? :-P

This has absolutely nothing to do with either WinUAE (I hardly ever use it), nor with enabling vsync (I always enable that in games when I can).
Windows just interrupts every program too often, causing stuttering in the application once every couple of seconds. This kills smoothness and the MiniMig just made me clearly aware of that running side by side with my Windows machine.

I agree with alexh, you need to tweak your WinUAE settings and/or tune your Windows install.

I've been doing some back to back comparisons between WinUAE and a real A1200, and WinUAE can be 95% as good if setup properly. You may still get an occasional hiccup, but it's rare and certainly not every few seconds. As an example, try "Hostyle Takeover" by Loonies... should be super smooth (especially the second half "oneframe" effects), as it is on a real 50 Mhz A1200/1260.

Something to keep in mind -- there are plenty of PC demos which run 100% smooth, and plenty of super-picky PC FPS gamers who are NOT complaining about hiccups.

[Ohno]

I agree with alexh, you need to tweak your WinUAE settings and/or tune your Windows install.

No I don't. I've got a MiniMig :-D

Something to keep in mind -- there are plenty of PC demos which run 100% smooth,

I've seen a lot of them and although there are some really beautiful ones, they suffer from the same issues on all Windows systems I've seen. It's not the programmers' fault. it is simply Windows.

and plenty of super-picky PC FPS gamers who are NOT complaining about hiccups.

 

First of all, most of those gamers are not used to the way things were with Amiga and even if they were, they long forgot all about it and only compare things to other PC games.
I've had numerous discussions with some of those gamers. They say something runs smooth, while I see hickups. Also, lookup any guide on modern games programming. The thing they teach these days is to measure the time that elapsed between your last redraw and the current and adapt your motion and actions to that time.

Why? Because timing is not constant and if you want to keep your game running as smoothly as possible, you need to work around that.

[alexh]

Ohno wrote:
I've seen a lot of them and although there are some really beautiful ones, they suffer from the same issues on all Windows systems I've seen. It's not the programmers' fault. it is simply Windows.

Doesn't happen here. Maybe you should uninstall Norton Antivirus and whatever else you've got lurking in the background.

Out of interest, what did you pay for your MiniMig?

[Tomas]

alexh wrote:

Also it was obvious that most of the effects on those demos ran far more smoothly than I've seen anything run on Windows, even though modern Windows games run at hundreds of frames per second.

D'oh! Another user who cant set-up WinUAE. Oh the shame :-)

Create a Windows screen mode of 720x576.

Enable 50Hz refresh.

Use PowerStrip if you need to, although Nvidia control panel is a lot better these days.

Fire up WinUAE, select 720x576 50Hz, vsync, full screen.

Voila, smooth scrolling.

I have tried every trick in the book, but never got it as smooth as the real thing.. It just aint possible when hosted ontop of a OS like Windows. Background processes will ALWAYS cause a jerk here and there.
Also another problem is lack of video/audio sync.. Even with a modern computer and audio buffer set as low as possible, it will still be lagging a few ms behind graphics. This is to me very noticable, especially with some games.

And no, there is nothing in the backgrond taking redicilous amounts of cpu cycles.

[Ohno]

Doesn't happen here. Maybe you should uninstall Norton Antivirus and whatever else you've got lurking in the background.

I indeed have a lot of stuff running in the background and my machine is optimized for web development, not for running games and that's not my intention either.
The thing is that I've never seen a Windows machine run anything without a stutter here and there. Even at friends that are gamers and have their machines optimized for games. Obviously you don't share the same experience and that's fine. The point I was trying to make is that the MiniMig runs very smoothly and I like it.

Out of interest, what did you pay for your MiniMig?

I used the 'buy it now' option on eBay (€ 305) and an extra € 15 for the power supply.

[alexh]

Tomas wrote:
I have tried every trick in the book, but never got it as smooth as the real thing..

What speed is your PC? Maybe it's too slow.

It just aint possible when hosted ontop of a OS like Windows. Background processes will ALWAYS cause a jerk here and there.

It NEVER happens here. I find it hard I am in the minority. Try the "filtered low resolution" setting that drops CPU overhead a lot, and try increasing the ACTIVE task priority which you can do in WinUAE now. Double check you really have a 50Hz screen, XP screws up refresh rates a lot. Manually force a 720x576 50Hz screen before launching WinUAE. Make sure your desktop colour depth matches the screen you choose in WinUAE

Also another problem is lack of video/audio sync.. Even with a modern computer and audio buffer set as low as possible, it will still be lagging a few ms behind graphics. This is to me very noticable, especially with some games.

Out if interest, what games? I'm pretty good at spotting av sync. Many times I'm watching a film, and I spot it and no one else notices it until you point it out. I've tried games and demo's with easily noticable AV sync (Say the Lemon. Announce demo with thunder a lightning) and the audio delay with my Soundblaster Live! is imperceptible.