Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Author Topic: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?  (Read 14940 times)

Description:

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline fishy_fiz

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jan 2005
  • Posts: 1813
    • Show only replies by fishy_fiz
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #29 on: March 27, 2011, 04:52:20 PM »
Alien to the system ? They existed before AGA. Heck they existed before ECS. RTG is so much better an experience than custom chipsets. As for superaga, it might be better than AGA(not hard) but I doubt it'll come close to an RTG system. As for new software, I wouldnt hold your breath minus a few showpieces.
Near as I can tell this is where I write something under the guise of being innocuous, but really its a pot shot at another persons/peoples choice of Amiga based systems. Unfortunately only I cant see how transparent and petty it makes me look.
 

Offline Darrin

  • Lifetime Member
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: May 2002
  • Posts: 4430
    • Show only replies by Darrin
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #30 on: March 27, 2011, 04:58:17 PM »
Quote from: fishy_fiz;625074
Alien to the system ? They existed before AGA. Heck they existed before ECS. RTG is so much better an experience than custom chipsets. As for superaga, it might be better than AGA(not hard) but I doubt it'll come close to an RTG system. As for new software, I wouldnt hold your breath minus a few showpieces.


Agreed.  While I might be running most of my games in OCS/ECS/AGA screenmodes, I couldn't life without RTG for Workbench, word processing, web surfing, etc which is probably why I tend to ignore my A1200s.
A2000, A3000, 2 x A1200T, A1200, A4000Tower & Mediator, CD32, VIC-20, C64, C128, C128D, PET 8032, Minimig & ARM, C-One, FPGA Arcade... and AmigaOne X1000.
 

Offline fishy_fiz

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jan 2005
  • Posts: 1813
    • Show only replies by fishy_fiz
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #31 on: March 27, 2011, 05:20:07 PM »
It's "funny" though. To program I much prefer ocs/ecs/aga, and I like the idea of seeing what results can be obtained from such a limited source as the custom chipsets, and I enjoy lots of custom chipset games and so on, but for anything remotely serious and/or system friendly (including games that support it) RTG is soooo much better that theyre incomparable. Im not sure some people understand just what a drastic improvement an rtg card is.
Near as I can tell this is where I write something under the guise of being innocuous, but really its a pot shot at another persons/peoples choice of Amiga based systems. Unfortunately only I cant see how transparent and petty it makes me look.
 

Offline Magitius

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Join Date: Sep 2010
  • Posts: 22
    • Show only replies by Magitius
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #32 on: March 27, 2011, 05:21:48 PM »
Quote from: fishy_fiz;625074
Alien to the system ? They existed before AGA. Heck they existed before ECS. RTG is so much better an experience than custom chipsets. As for superaga, it might be better than AGA(not hard) but I doubt it'll come close to an RTG system. As for new software, I wouldnt hold your breath minus a few showpieces.

I doesn't matter to me when those existed, it's just that I like the custom chipset way. I believe SuperAGA will come close to an RTG system, but time will tell.
 

Offline ElPolloDiablTopic starter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: May 2009
  • Posts: 1702
    • Show only replies by ElPolloDiabl
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #33 on: March 27, 2011, 06:08:44 PM »
If you don't like rtg set it to 256 colour. I'm pretty hooked on 1024x768 for my desktop, but for the games I'm doing 640x480 x 256 is easy and I will be able to translate them to Amiga AGA.
I don't think the classic Amiga needs 24-bit, but in a few years we should up the minimum spec anyway.
Go Go Gadget Signature!
 

Offline Motormouth

Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #34 on: March 27, 2011, 06:39:56 PM »
I would like a Natami....
 

Offline Digiman

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: May 2010
  • Posts: 1045
    • Show only replies by Digiman
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #35 on: March 27, 2011, 07:06:43 PM »
Quote from: Forcie;625067
Just saying, Natami boots software from floppy just like any other classic does :)


That's fantastic news :) I still want an A3000 and a replacement 2000 sometime this year so probably wont have any cash to spare in 2011.
 

Offline Rebel-CD32

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Apr 2004
  • Posts: 288
    • Show only replies by Rebel-CD32
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #36 on: March 27, 2011, 07:53:51 PM »
I would love a Natami and a FPGA Arcade, but I can't afford either and probably never will be able to, so I can't answer the poll.
Amiga user forever.
 

Offline amigadave

  • Lifetime Member
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jul 2004
  • Posts: 3836
    • Show only replies by amigadave
    • http://www.EfficientByDesign.org
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #37 on: March 27, 2011, 09:00:36 PM »
Quote from: Digiman;625112
That's fantastic news :) I still want an A3000 and a replacement 2000 sometime this year so probably wont have any cash to spare in 2011.

I have a couple of spare A2000's.  If you are looking for one contact me via PMail or email.  I already sold all my A3000D's, but I might sell my A3000T, if I get an offer I can't refuse.
How are you helping the Amiga community? :)
 

Offline ognix

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Oct 2004
  • Posts: 256
    • Show only replies by ognix
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #38 on: March 27, 2011, 09:30:47 PM »
I'm interested in NatAmi, since it provides backwards compatibility but, even more important, Amiga-like architecture and improvements over past chipsets.

Hope the target price will be ok (IMHO around 200/250 EUR) and there will be some software for demonstrating the new capabilities.
BY!
 

Offline TheGoose

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Nov 2002
  • Posts: 1458
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
    • Show only replies by TheGoose
    • http://www.amiga.org/forums/blog.php?u=827
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #39 on: March 27, 2011, 10:34:18 PM »
I think I will, I just don't know which. I sure hope the programming of the custom chips is done well. I would think the "feel" should be a few steps beyond the pure software emulation, likes of WinUAE / Colanto AF.

The Minimig turned out really good, yes (don't have one)? Any lessons learned from that?
G1200, A3000D, A1200 PPC AOS4.0C

I\'m on Google +
 

Offline KThunder

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Aug 2002
  • Posts: 1509
    • Show only replies by KThunder
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #40 on: March 28, 2011, 02:10:31 AM »
I'd like to build a minimig, but I am totally swamped with college right now. Course I'd like to do some Aros programming to but I have zero time for that right now.
Oh yeah?!?
Well your stupid bit is set,
and its read only!
(my best geek putdown)
 

Offline Iggy

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Aug 2009
  • Posts: 5348
    • Show only replies by Iggy
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #41 on: March 28, 2011, 04:27:13 AM »
Quote from: Darrin;625070
Since when has Blade Runner been obscure?  ;)

Personally, I prefer the book that that movie was derived from.

If I want power, I'll stick with PPC or X86.

For 68K based Amiga software, the FPGA Replay Board looks ideal.

The Natami is likely to suffer the same problem that plagues most niche system, while it will run legacy software, the number of new packages developed specifically for it may be limited.
"Not making any hard and fast rules means that the moderators can use their good judgment in moderation, and we think the results speak for themselves." - Amiga.org, terms of service

"You, got to stem the evil tide, and keep it on the the inside" - Rogers Waters

"God was never on your side" - Lemmy

Amiga! "Our appeal has become more selective"
 

Offline vidarh

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Feb 2010
  • Posts: 409
    • Show only replies by vidarh
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #42 on: March 28, 2011, 09:29:33 AM »
Quote from: Iggy;625232

The Natami is likely to suffer the same problem that plagues most niche system, while it will run legacy software, the number of new packages developed specifically for it may be limited.


That may be true, but if they produce proper drivers it'll still benefit from the improved graphics modes for the base system for RTG friendly apps, and the performance will still benefit most old M68k apps, and if they get decent compiler support for their new instructions for N68050/68070 they might get even more substantial performance boosts.

There's clearly still quite a few classic users that refuse to consider an x86 or PPC system that would still like those performance boosts, and for whom the boost they might get from a Natami might be enough to let them stay with a M68k compatible system for much longer.

It seems the Replay will be perfect for a low end classic replacement for a lot of people, while Natami will push the performance boundary - I think there's plenty of room for both. Neither need huge sales numbers to be viable and both will benefit as FPGA prices go down and size and performance keeps going up.
 

Offline vidarh

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Feb 2010
  • Posts: 409
    • Show only replies by vidarh
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #43 on: March 28, 2011, 09:31:22 AM »
Quote from: ognix;625138
I'm interested in NatAmi, since it provides backwards compatibility but, even more important, Amiga-like architecture and improvements over past chipsets.

Hope the target price will be ok (IMHO around 200/250 EUR) and there will be some software for demonstrating the new capabilities.
BY!


I think 200/250 EUR for the Natami is completely unrealistic. That's the range that's been indicated for the FPGA Arcade. I'd be surprised (pleasantly so...) if the Natami ends up at or below 600-800 EUR.
 

Offline alexh

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Apr 2005
  • Posts: 3644
    • Show only replies by alexh
    • http://thalion.atari.org
Re: Are you buying an FPGA Amiga?
« Reply #44 from previous page: March 28, 2011, 01:51:19 PM »
I never bought one, but I was loaned a MiniMig from ACube to help develop new cores. However they sent me one with a PIC without TinyBootloader and so I couldn't reprogram it. They said they would send a replacement PIC but never did and it has sat on the shelf in the office ever since.