Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Author Topic: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?  (Read 20282 times)

Description:

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline DiskDoctorTopic starter

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jan 2009
  • Posts: 308
    • Show only replies by DiskDoctor
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #59 from previous page: January 23, 2009, 07:29:09 PM »
Quote

ferrellsl wrote:
What you're talking about has already been done.  It's called Amithlon.  Works very well on older hardware.


But isn't it like discontinued now?  If I can get it, working, I'm ready do pay much.
Was: Mac Mini PPC running MorphOS 2.4
Now: Amiga Forever 2010 with AmiKit and AmigaSYS
Not used: Icaros Desktop 1.2 (reason: no wifi)
Planned soon: an OS4 system
Shortly then: a MOS notebook (wifi is a must-have)
 

Offline ferrellsl

Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #60 on: January 23, 2009, 07:40:32 PM »
It was once a commercial product but is no longer being developed.  You can find torrents for it on the net.  It has a fairly active user group on Yahoo and several people still work on updating the linux kernel and hardware drivers.
 

Offline DiskDoctorTopic starter

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jan 2009
  • Posts: 308
    • Show only replies by DiskDoctor
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #61 on: January 23, 2009, 07:54:32 PM »
Quote

ferrellsl wrote:
It was once a commercial product but is no longer being developed.  You can find torrents for it on the net.  It has a fairly active user group on Yahoo and several people still work on updating the linux kernel and hardware drivers.


So provided that I get sufficient PC hardware (buy tomorrow), can I use it?  Can you drop me a link?

***

BTW I should have mentioned previously MiniMig and NatAmi (soon?) are, too, classic emulators.  If I wanted NEW A500, I'd probably get one since hardware emulation is always best I can trust (BTW I am seriously interested in benchmarking both Amis, once NatA released...)
Was: Mac Mini PPC running MorphOS 2.4
Now: Amiga Forever 2010 with AmiKit and AmigaSYS
Not used: Icaros Desktop 1.2 (reason: no wifi)
Planned soon: an OS4 system
Shortly then: a MOS notebook (wifi is a must-have)
 

Offline ferrellsl

Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #62 on: January 23, 2009, 08:11:09 PM »
I ran it on a P-III at 800Mhz and it flew!

Here's a link for it on the bay.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3753842/AmigaOS_Amithlon_for_x86
 

Offline DiskDoctorTopic starter

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jan 2009
  • Posts: 308
    • Show only replies by DiskDoctor
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #63 on: January 23, 2009, 08:21:03 PM »
Oh, man...

By saying "get" it, I meant buy it...
*EDIT PIII doesn't make it work now.


Nice project, though.
Fortunately nowadays PC hardware (e.g. graphics) is less diverse, so maybe some time...
Was: Mac Mini PPC running MorphOS 2.4
Now: Amiga Forever 2010 with AmiKit and AmigaSYS
Not used: Icaros Desktop 1.2 (reason: no wifi)
Planned soon: an OS4 system
Shortly then: a MOS notebook (wifi is a must-have)
 

Offline Hammer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 1996
  • Country: 00
    • Show only replies by Hammer
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #64 on: January 23, 2009, 08:30:49 PM »
Quote

amigaksi wrote:
>by DiskDoctor on 2009/1/18 9:57:56


>Hello,

...
>Also, some time ago I encountered some post on some other forum stating that "no one has ever managed to re-create the original chipset as a Virtual Machine because it was SO PERFECT it is hardly possible if ever."

If you go by PC standard hardware, it is impossible to do the cycle-exact emulation of the Amiga.  Now if you have some specialized PC hardware like a multi-channel audio card, sprite-based video card, digital joystick interface, PC w/HPET timers, etc. that are all superset of the hardware of your Amiga in every respect and have software that uses these directly (not through an API or buffered scheme), then it is possible.  
(SNIP)

To have design for Windows Vista logo on PCs, the PC must have HPET timers.

Refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb931844.aspx

Amiga 1200 PiStorm32-Emu68-RPI 4B 4GB.
Ryzen 9 7900X, DDR5-6000 64 GB, RTX 4080 16 GB PC.
 

Offline Hammer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 1996
  • Country: 00
    • Show only replies by Hammer
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #65 on: January 23, 2009, 08:33:56 PM »
Quote
Regardless, of how fast your CPU is, it won't make your beep speaker (1-bit resolution) do 4-channel 16-bit 44Khz audio. Regardless if your CPU is Pentium IV at 4Ghz, it won't improve your timers. And you can't time things equally or better with 1.19Mhz timer vs. a 3.57Mhz timer-- just seems to be violating some laws.

Just look for Vista logos on PCs for HPET(high performance event timing) aka MMT(mutimedia timing).
Amiga 1200 PiStorm32-Emu68-RPI 4B 4GB.
Ryzen 9 7900X, DDR5-6000 64 GB, RTX 4080 16 GB PC.
 

Offline bloodline

  • Master Sock Abuser
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 12113
    • Show only replies by bloodline
    • http://www.troubled-mind.com
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #66 on: January 23, 2009, 08:46:49 PM »
@amigaski

Just for your info, the HPET is a 64bit, 10Mhz Timer...

Offline Hammer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 1996
  • Country: 00
    • Show only replies by Hammer
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #67 on: January 23, 2009, 08:48:42 PM »
Quote

bloodline wrote:
@amigaski

Just for your info, the HPET is a 64bit, 10Mhz Timer...

Does AROS use HPET?
Amiga 1200 PiStorm32-Emu68-RPI 4B 4GB.
Ryzen 9 7900X, DDR5-6000 64 GB, RTX 4080 16 GB PC.
 

Offline bloodline

  • Master Sock Abuser
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 12113
    • Show only replies by bloodline
    • http://www.troubled-mind.com
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #68 on: January 23, 2009, 09:13:06 PM »
Quote

Hammer wrote:
Quote

bloodline wrote:
@amigaski

Just for your info, the HPET is a 64bit, 10Mhz Timer...

Does AROS use HPET?


No, IIRC AROS uses the millisecond timer, and generates a fake VBL at 50Hz :-)

Offline Hammer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Mar 2002
  • Posts: 1996
  • Country: 00
    • Show only replies by Hammer
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #69 on: January 23, 2009, 09:41:58 PM »
Quote

DiskDoctor wrote:
Oh, man...

By saying "get" it, I meant buy it...
*EDIT PIII doesn't make it work now.


Nice project, though.
Fortunately nowadays PC hardware (e.g. graphics) is less diverse, so maybe some time...

The GPU race is basically down to NVIDIA, AMD/ATI and Intel.

Tsang Labs = Gone. Assimilated by AMD/ATI
SIS = insignificant.
3DFX = Gone.  Assimilated by NVIDIA.
PowerVR = insignificant in desktop market
S3 = insignificant.
3Dlabs  = insignificant. Its software engineering teams assimilated by Intel (for Larrabee).

Pricey IBM’s CELL BE has the potential to enter PC GPU race.
http://www.mc.com/uploadedFiles/Cell-accelerator-board-2-ds.pdf

Pixelshading on CELL BE (PS3)
http://research.scea.com/ps3_deferred_shading.pdf

Amiga 1200 PiStorm32-Emu68-RPI 4B 4GB.
Ryzen 9 7900X, DDR5-6000 64 GB, RTX 4080 16 GB PC.
 

Offline ferrellsl

Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #70 on: January 23, 2009, 10:49:54 PM »
@DiskDoctor

It's no longer sold in stores and I doubt that anyone will resurrect it for commercial purposes....just not enough demand.

I suppose if you're insisting on paying for it, you might find a copy on E-Bay, but it will be terribly out of date.  The torrent version has been updated to a much more recent kernel and updated video and network drivers as well.

I ran it on a P-III.  It also runs on the latest processors too.  You can run in on whatever x86 system you want.  I really don't care.
 

Offline AmiKit

Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #71 on: January 24, 2009, 09:44:21 AM »
@amigaksi

Quote
There is a difference so let's not put that into doubt as we only need to show one example to prove they are different. And we already know the latency is purposely there.

What is this discussion about actually? While you are still pointing at the subtle and objective difference between real and emulated game, I am saying it doesn't matter.

Let's say I admit that the difference exists. But from the subjective point of view the result is the same, because:
1)  the difference is subtle
2a) the difference is hardly noticeable by human perceiving
2b) even though the difference is noticeable, it won't affect your game experience or a whole enjoyment of the game because of what is mentioned in 1).

Yes, you can train people to identify those subtle differences but why would you do that? Just to be a winner who can say: "I told you there was a difference!". And I would say: "I don't care, let me play."
What I am trying to say here is that human perceiving works differently compared to precise computers. For example Gestalt says that:

"...the operational principle of the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies; or, that the whole is different from the sum of its parts. The Gestalt effect refers to the form-forming capability of our senses, particularly with respect to the visual recognition of figures and whole forms instead of just a collection of simple lines and curves."

Sorry but in such a context the subtle differences between real and emulated game are simply irrelevant.


Quote
I can write software where even YOU will notice a difference.

Quote
That would be interesting.

Quote
Not "would be". It is already existing.

Link please?

Offline amigaksi

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2006
  • Posts: 827
    • Show only replies by amigaksi
    • http://www.krishnasoft.com
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #72 on: January 24, 2009, 12:24:17 PM »
>by AmiKit on 2009/1/24 4:44:21

>@amigaksi

>>There is a difference so let's not put that into doubt as we only need to show one example to prove they are different. And we already know the latency is purposely there.

>What is this discussion about actually? While you are still pointing at the subtle and objective difference between real and emulated game, I am saying it doesn't matter.

I was pointing out that differences exist even in cases where YOU did not perceive them.  I gave you the example of MP3 vs. linear uncompressed audio.  But the small differences is not the entire story.  Major differences also exist depending on target hardware used by emulator and it's spec.

>Let's say I admit that the difference exists. But from the subjective point of view the result is the same, because:
>1) the difference is subtle
>2a) the difference is hardly noticeable by human perceiving
>2b) even though the difference is noticeable, it won't affect your game experience or a whole enjoyment of the game because of what is mentioned in 1).

No, the difference is "subtle" for YOU that's why you don't notice it unless YOU are trained.  As I stated, some people like some musicians can easily notice difference between MP3/uncompressed 16-bit audio.  Objectively, you can measure the difference and that approach has to be taken since YOU are not the only user.  

>Yes, you can train people to identify those subtle differences but why would you do that? Just to be a winner who can say: "I told you there was a difference!". And I would say: "I don't care, let me play."

No, I already win even if I accept you don't notice any differences since it's better to have real Amiga that works 100% for everyone than an emulator which is good for some games for some people.

>"...the operational principle of the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies; or, that the whole is different from the sum of its parts. The Gestalt effect refers to the form-forming capability of our senses, particularly with respect to the visual recognition of figures and whole forms instead of just a collection of simple lines and curves."

That's true but it actually supports me.  Emulator is not an Amiga as a whole although some parts (like the static visual output) look the same.

>>I can write software where even YOU will notice a difference.

>>Not "would be". It is already existing.

>Link please?

I can post source code or an ADF to a sample code I wrote.  I don't have a record of everyone else's work.
--------
Use PC peripherals with your amiga: http://www.mpdos.com
 

Offline amigaksi

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2006
  • Posts: 827
    • Show only replies by amigaksi
    • http://www.krishnasoft.com
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #73 on: January 24, 2009, 12:42:39 PM »
>by shoggoth on 2009/1/23 3:51:30

>>by amigaksi on 2009/1/22 12:25:08
>>That's a false statement. Claiming that cycle-accurate should mean 1/7.16Mhz timing accuracy on OCS Amiga is false right?

>No, cycle accuracy at 1/7.Mhz granularity is perfectly possible without using timers. Get those timers out of your head.

This is where we differ and you also differ from others who also claim you need higher precision timers than just a 60Hz WM_TIMER message.  I won't be getting timers out of my head since my work is mostly timing stuff.  I time stuff through the I/O ports in interfacing between Ataris/Amigas/PCs.  Here your WM_TIMER bullcrap won't cut it nor your updating frames at 60Hz be enough.  But I am trying to give you cases where this I/O is not involved since everyone knows that's not emulated.

>... based on facts about hardware - but not based on how emulators actually work. You've *assumed* that they work in a certain way using timers - which they generally don't (because it would be completely retarded to do it that way).

Again that's your flawed idea.  You can make the emulators cycle-exact if you had an interrupt of 1/7.16Mhz accuracy and did everything cycle at a time instead of frame at a time which is only makes it "visually" appear the same except for the VBI not being in sync with WM_TIMER difference.

>>Regardless, of how fast your CPU is, it won't make your beep speaker (1-bit resolution) do 4-channel 16-bit 44Khz audio.

>Now you're just being silly. Of course you need a soundcard to get proper sound. That wasn't the point - we were discussing emulation accuracy.

Emulation-- to equal or excel in my dictionary.  That means you have to equal or excel in every catagory including audio (DAC output/music/dynamic effects/etc.), video (color depth/sprites/blitter/etc.), timing, reading joystick ports (for games), etc.
 
>>Regardless if your CPU is Pentium IV at 4Ghz, it won't improve your timers. And you can't time things equally or better with 1.19Mhz timer vs. a 3.57Mhz timer-- just seems to be violating some laws.

>Drop timers. You don't use timers to achieve accurate emulation. That's *in* your *head*. You've chosen to compare this aspect of computers because it suits your ideas, obviously.

If your defintion of emulation means "an ATTEMPT" to mimic the target machine, yeah you can drop timers.  Otherwise, you should drop your ideas that you only need CPU speed to emulate any machine.

>LOL! So by this you claim that Marat Fayzullin has no idea what he's talking about?  Do you know who this guy is?

>"... as an ATTEMPT to imitate" - well that's *exactly* what emulation is. And emulation accuracy is defined by compatibility and perceived user experience. Both which can be realized on any PC today. If you ignore the latter, even a ZX81 can accurately emulate a modern quad core x86 class machine, given enough time and memory.

Okay, as long as you stick to this definition.

>I'll try to refrain from further comments now, since there is no point in discussing a topic such as this one with you. You're either incredibly ignorant or trolling, or both.

Your the one who keeps insulting and making straw man arguments like I am claiming "not accepting technology" or "Amigas can never be emulated" or "their divinity is preventing them from being emulated".  Your taking them out of context.

--------
Use PC peripherals with your amiga: http://www.mpdos.com
 

Offline ChaosLord

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Nov 2003
  • Posts: 2608
    • Show only replies by ChaosLord
    • http://totalchaoseng.dbv.pl/news.php
Re: Amiga emulators: is it worth it?
« Reply #74 on: January 24, 2009, 12:46:49 PM »
Everyone notices the lag and/or slowness of WinUAE when playing Total Chaos AGA.  I know because I am the one who has to listen to their zillions of complaints.

Everyone notices when games and utils crash while JIT is on.

Many people, such as myself, notice the laggy input when emulating AGA.  If you own a fearsomely powerful bgcPC, there is always a delay of 1/50th second or more when moving the mouse or typing.  Its quite annoying.  If you own a "regular" bgcPC the delay is more, around 3/50th of a second or more.  Really unusable.

This is why I am rewriting the game and porting it to WinUAE.

Wanna try a wonderfull strategy game with lots of handdrawn anims,
Magic Spells and Monsters, Incredible playability and lastability,
English speech, etc. Total Chaos AGA