Amiga 2000 3000 or 4000

[CoreAmigaFan]

Hi all,

Do games from the amiga 500, the amiga 1200 all work on an amiga 2000-4000?

Back in the early days I've never owned one of these higher models. Just went up to the amiga 1200 and stopped there. So now I'd like to know what is the wiser decision. Buy a 1200 or buy a 4000 with bigger hard drive, ram, speed and such.

Cheers

[VingtTrois]

Welcome here,
A500 - A2000 = almost identical (if the ROM is the same and if A2000 without any expansion & cpu card): if the game has been correctly programmed, then yes it should work correctly.
A1200 - A4000 = AGA system...I don't know if the games are worked on both...but I have not seen video games specific to the Amiga 4000!!!

[Cammy]

As VingtTrois said, the main difference in Amiga games is the chipset they require. Most games are designed for OCS systems, while others are either enhanced for AGA or written specifically and only for AGA Amigas. You will sometimes see mention of ECS, but this was only a slight enhancement over OCS which adds more screenmodes to Workbench but wasn't ever used by games.

OCS (Original Chip-Set) Amigas include:

A1000
A2000
A500
A1500
A2500
CDTV

ECS (Enhanced Chip-Set) Amigas include:

A500+
A3000
A600
A3000T

AGA (Advanced Graphics Architecture) Amigas include:

A1200
A4000
CD32
A4000T

Sometimes games will also require a specific Kickstart ROM, CPU, or a certain amount of RAM to run. Thankfully all Amigas can be upgraded to Kickstart 3.1, the latest ROM revision, and can also make use of ROM-switcher hardware so they can keep their original Kickstart (for compatibility or nostalgia) as well as use the best. A1000s don't have a Kickstart ROM, and need to read the Kickstart from a floppy disk unless they have been hacked/modified. You can also get accelerator cards which offer faster CPUs and more RAM for all Amigas (although some of these are as rare as hens' teeth!).

[dougal]

As VingtTrois says, the A500, A500+, A600 and A2000 are all 68000 machines in standard form and are for most of the time almost 100% compatible.

A slight exception is the A500+ and the A600 which both have Kickstart 2.0 as standard and about 85% of games are compatible. But it can take 2 roms (using a switcher) or use Relokick and becomes 100% compatible.

The A3000 is 68030 and kickstart 2.0, so it may not be as compatible as the other models.

The A1200 and A4000 are AGA as VingtTrois said and Kickstart 3.X, so they are even less compatible than the older Amiga's. The A4000 for some reason is even less compatible for games than the A1200. Again Relokick helps in both these machines.

If you want a "big box" Amiga like the A4000, you can always install WHDLoad which installs almost any Amiga games to your HD and patches them for compatibility with newer faster Amiga's.

[tone007]

As VingTrois said, "Welcome here."

1200 can do most of what you need, I'd suggest getting it WHDLoad capable.  The cheapest '030 card with RAM is good enough, and you could even get away with less.  4000s are a pain, too many of them have leaked batteries, but one would work about as well as the other.

[amigakid]

The A4000 and 1200 will play almost all the games.  1200 and 4000 use th AGA chipset, but some of the older games such as shadow of the beast will only play on an a500, 2000 or 2500 because they require the OCS (original chipset) and AGA will start the game but it will freeze shortly after start up.  A few games I know will not work on and AGA(A4000 or 1200) or ECS (A3000) is Shadow of the beast and Defender of the crown.  If you have an A500 and A4000 to say you will be pretty much covered.  Also to note Amiga CD32 games will work on an Amiga computer, but requires the AGA chipset.

[runequester]

for game playing other than some of the msot hardcore FPSs, a 1200 with an 030 card and a bit of extra ram is all you need.

For a big box machine, get a 3000 or 4000.

[magnetic]

Cammy
You made a mistake there. Amiga 2000s can have ECS chipset as well. Most of the Amiga 2000HD had 2.x roms and ECS afaik

[dougal]

The A4000 and 1200 will play almost all the games.  1200 and 4000 use th AGA chipset, but some of the older games such as shadow of the beast will only play on an a500, 2000 or 2500 because they require the OCS (original chipset) and AGA will start the game but it will freeze shortly after start up.  A few games I know will not work on and AGA(A4000 or 1200) or ECS (A3000) is Shadow of the beast and Defender of the crown.  If you have an A500 and A4000 to say you will be pretty much covered.  Also to note Amiga CD32 games will work on an Amiga computer, but requires the AGA chipset.

All these games and practically any game WILL WORK on the A4000/A1200 if you have WHDLoad installed. An A1200 is pretty cheap to buy and all you really need is a cheap 2.5" laptop hard drive and maybe a 68030 accelerator.

You don't need an A4000 unless you want to use RTG graphics etc..

[stefcep2]

Back in the day, I always wanted an A4000, because i wanted to run "serious software" which really needed a  graphics card but couldn't afford it for a long time.  So I spent a lot of money and time souping up an A1200, and pushing the A1200 to its limits with accelerators, more ram, CD rom, big hard drives, and a ton of software patches to eek every last bit of performance from it.  Nowdays, the type of software that needs an RTG amiga is cheaper, better and faster on a PC, so I only run native chipset software on Amiga, stuff like DPaint, Brilliance.Scala, Amigavision and the odd game.  And to do that an A1200 with as little as just a 4meg ram expansion will do.

[stefcep2]

All these games and practically any game WILL WORK on the A4000/A1200 if you have WHDLoad installed. An A1200 is pretty cheap to buy and all you really need is a cheap 2.5" laptop hard drive and maybe a 68030 accelerator.

You don't need an A4000 unless you want to use RTG graphics etc..

IMO Whdload is indespensible in any Amiga set up.  I registered it and i think its brilliant, especially when coupled with an A1200, compact flash card and at least 4 meg ram.  A perfect amiga "console" if there ever was one!

[Darrin]

Cammy
You made a mistake there. Amiga 2000s can have ECS chipset as well. Most of the Amiga 2000HD had 2.x roms and ECS afaik

Yep.  My first A2000 (B2000) was OCS and when it died I replaced it with an ECS A1500 (peel off the sticker to make it an A2000).

My current A2000 is an ECS model.

[mousehouse]

IMO Whdload is indespensible in any Amiga set up.  I registered it and i think its brilliant, especially when coupled with an A1200, compact flash card and at least 4 meg ram.  A perfect amiga "console" if there ever was one!

Agreed. Registered my copy as well, it's great to support software that has been around for this long and is still supported!

I would like to add to your setup an IndivisionAGA or comparable solution. That way you can use your TFT / monitor setup at home and skip the added desk-filler.

My setup is a A4000D - one because I was never able to afford one "back in the days"... two because I like to play with it with things like DENEB (USB card) and RTG.

[bm07]

Just do what lots of us have done... get one of each. :-)

[CoreAmigaFan]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the information you've given me!

Only two games that don't seem to work on the A4000. That ain't too big of a deal.

But as Dougal stated :
The A1200 and A4000 are AGA as VingtTrois said and Kickstart 3.X, so  they are even less compatible than the older Amiga's. The A4000 for some  reason is even less compatible for games than the A1200. Again Relokick  helps in both these machines.

If you want a "big box" Amiga like the A4000, you can always install  WHDLoad which installs almost any Amiga games to your HD and patches  them for compatibility with newer faster Amiga's.    

That contradicts what amigakid stated.
Me confused now.

I did gather that using WDload solves most of these issues.