Advice for a newbie?

[psxphill]

OR, if you are using a PC anyway, play the PC version of Quake, which is going to work better anyway.

Sure it will work better, but it's not so much "fun".

I'd recommend a PlayStation for retro 3d games.

[sammyfox]

OR, if you are using a PC anyway, play the PC version of Quake, which is going to work better anyway.

It was an exemple but since we're sticking on it, I like the thrill of getting something this resource-intensive running on older hardware. Sure I can play it on the pc and god knows I have (I even have it on steam) but where's the challenge in that?

[sammyfox]

$520 Canadian dollars for rent?
Oh hell, time to move north.
Minimum wage in Canada, with health care, doesn't sound so bad.
BTW - The iBook will run MorphOS.

Perhaps, but just like how I can get a snes emulator and all the roms I could possibly want online, I'd still rather have the real thing.

I've tried winuae, I've tried aros, they're fun but I feel something's missing just like I tried zsnes, I tried bsnes and snes9x but it just doesn't compare to having the actual console and cartridges and holding that venerable gamepad in your hands while playing, say, mortal kombat 2 on an old television via RF.

Had I been satisfied with either aros or winuae, I wouldn't be looking for an amiga 1200. I wouldn't be willing to put forth what is gonna be a relative ton of money in the long run for such an old computer.

[dovegrace]

Hi Sammy, I'm clearing out my computer room at home and have a spare A1200 I'd be willing to sell you.  It's a largely stock system with a 500 meg HD and 3.1 ROMs.  I think the floppy drive is dead, but I probably have a spare.  If not, consider it "Gotek ready"

I'm in Winnipeg, PM me if you're interested.

[Iggy]

Perhaps, but just like how I can get a snes emulator and all the roms I could possibly want online, I'd still rather have the real thing.

I've tried winuae, I've tried aros, they're fun but I feel something's missing just like I tried zsnes, I tried bsnes and snes9x but it just doesn't compare to having the actual console and cartridges and holding that venerable gamepad in your hands while playing, say, mortal kombat 2 on an old television via RF.

Had I been satisfied with either aros or winuae, I wouldn't be looking for an amiga 1200. I wouldn't be willing to put forth what is gonna be a relative ton of money in the long run for such an old computer.

NES or SNES? We are on different pages there. I definitely prefer that in emulation. No cartridge issues. And NES Galaga is actually a fairly good version.
For Amiga legacy, I prefer hardware myself.

[ElPolloDiabl]

Why not choose an A500 or A600? They are a lot cheaper. Wait for the Vampire A1200 to be ready, so you can buy both at the same time.

[Iggy]

Why not choose an A500 or A600? They are a lot cheaper. Wait for the Vampire A1200 to be ready, so you can buy both at the same time.

To heck with that. Find out how much dovegrace wants. When it comes to buying Amiga hardware, I've always gotten my best deals by talking directly with the owner.

[paul1981]

Welcome to amiga.org.

For a decent frame-rate in Quake you'll need an 80 MHz 68060, either Apollo or Blizzard. Are you intent on towering your A1200? If so, I believe higher frame rates are possible via a PCI graphics card with the Mediator. Your A1200 will obviously need towering if you go this route.

Alternatively, you could by a Blizzard PPC card and a Blizzard Vision graphics card (all in standard wedge case). Therefore you could run PPC versions of Quake (faster). You could also run the 68K version being as though those PPC cards have either a 68040 or 68060 CPU as well as the PPC CPU onboard too. The Blizzard Vision has to be plugged into a Blizzard PPC board though, and they're both terribly expensive.

Now, if you're serious about display quality, I'd go for a real CRT monitor with an Indivision Mk. I. The Mk. II Indivision supposedly has problems with smooth scrolling/tearing in games, but I can't comment on that, maybe someone else can share their experience. Mind you, some people have got the Mk. II's working just as well so I hear via certain config. settings in the Indivision config tool...again, can't comment. All I know is that a good quality CRT cannot be beaten when it comes to gaming. Also, I find a flat screen takes away some of that Amiga (or retro) feeling. It's not easy to explain, and I suppose it's down to personal preferences in the end.

As for programs, most programs will let you specify the screenmode that it will open, therefore you can run them in any resolution you like. Only old programs will be locked to 640 x 200 NTSC or PAL for example (well, by old I mean 1980's LOL) but 9/10 times you can promote these to your specified mode, at least that's my experience on my A1200.

[paul1981]

Why not choose an A500 or A600? They are a lot cheaper. Wait for the Vampire A1200 to be ready, so you can buy both at the same time.

Yes, a cute little A600 with a Vampire up its ars* will make a nice Amiga FPS capable box, and with RTG graphics to boot will be great with Workbench programs too. Maybe the OP wants to run a Motorola 68K though. Quake needs an FPU I think, not sure whether the FPU is complete yet on the Vampire. Vampire A1200 edition doesn't sound like it's coming out within the next couple of years, could mean a bit of a wait. It would save a fortune though true!

[Rob]

(I'm not sure if this is the right place to post it so if it's not then sorry!)

Hi there, my name's Sammy and I'm one of those dreaded french Canadians (although as you can note, my English is nothing to sneeze at)

I've been wanting to get an Amiga 1200 for so many years, and now that I finally have a job (video game tester, I get minimum wage but that's still three times better than welfare), I can afford to get one.

The thing though, is how much should I be expected to pay for an amiga 1200?

Basically, This is my current roadmap for now:

- Get an amiga 1200;
- yay.

I figure I should get one of those usb floppy disk emulators things I see on ebay too so I don't have to bonk my head against a wall. I know that it's the 500 model people get for all the games you can play on it but for some reason I don't really know how to explain I'm more attracted to the 1200, especially for the expansion boards you can throw into it.

Ultimately, this is gonna sound dumb but I'd like to be able to connect to the internet, and play quake on the one I'd get so...

What other things should I look for? and how much would I be realistically expected to pay for them?

I'm kinda giving up on ebay for this because everybody sells even crap stuff (think the worst of apple's 90s computers) at a premium, and since I'm Canadian, and from Quebec of all places, I doubt I'd be able to find one of these in a yard sale so where else could I look?

Web browsing isn't really realistic these days even on a 68060 setup but FTP, IRC and file sharing with a PC should be fine.  Amigakit sell both wired and wireless PCMCIA cards along with their Easynet software package.

Some extra RAM will be handy and will also allow you to use WHDload to play games direct from hard disks which is more convenient that Gotek etc.

http://whdload.de/

The cheapest option for adding RAM was the ACA 1221 for about $177 CAD.  Unfortunately they are not currently available but since you plan to upgrade in stages it not too much of an issue and maybe Vampire 1200 will arrive by the time you wish to upgrade.

There's a number of dedicated Amiga online stores across Europe but a new store opened to serve the USA and Canada called Amiga On The Lake.  They are mostly geared towards OS4 and X5000 at the moment but are adding more products to their range so it's worth dropping them a mail and asking you might like to see them selling.

http://amigaonthelake.com/

[paul1981]

The best 'bang for the buck' for an A1200 would be one of the ACA cards... for example the ACA1233(n) @ 40 MHz with 128MB RAM. Then get yourself a compatible PCMCIA wireless card with WPA2 capability. Both are readily available, the former new from Amigakit.com, the latter from AmiBay (and perhaps Amigakit too).

You can ran Doom and similar games at a decent speed with that card, but forget Quake or Duke Nukem. A 68040 card would be the next step up and the next most affordable (Apollo/Blizzard 1240). Bear in mind though, these would be 2nd hand just like the 68060 cards or PPC cards.

[sammyfox]

To heck with that. Find out how much dovegrace wants. When it comes to buying Amiga hardware, I've always gotten my best deals by talking directly with the owner.

I did :3 and if his machine still works (he told me in pm he'd test it first), I'll definitely buy it <3

[dovegrace]

He'll even send pictures once he's done cleaning it

Full disclosure, though: the A1200 I'm offering has not been recapped.  While the system runs like a top and looks pristine on the inside, it's also over 20 years old and it's only a matter of time until the capacitors go.

I haven't used his services (yet), but I hear Acill does great work in this area.  You may want to take that into consideration.

[sammyfox]

He'll even send pictures once he's done cleaning it

Full disclosure, though: the A1200 I'm offering has not been recapped.  While the system runs like a top and looks pristine on the inside, it's also over 20 years old and it's only a matter of time until the capacitors go.

I haven't used his services (yet), but I hear Acill does great work in this area.  You may want to take that into consideration.

I'll still get to try it out before getting it recapped :3

How much does it cost to get an amiga 1200 recapped? o:

And is it a widespread problem amongst amiga computers?

[Arnuph1s]

I got my A4000 recapped at Amiwest by Acill and he did a great job. His prices are very reasonable too.

The recapping is a problem that affects a lot of older computers. The caps leak and can do irreparable damage to the motherboard. I would say it's a priority once you get the machine. That way you can enjoy it for many years to come without that nagging worry in the back of your mind.

[James1095]

IMHO if you want to play Quake, just get a modern-ish PC, it's going to be a lot cheaper and provide a much better experience. If you want the really authentic retro PC gaming setup look for something like a Pentium-200 with a Voodoo2 card and a 19" CRT, that was my dream system back in the day. The charm of the Amiga is all the awesome classic games, most written for the A500 but they'll run on the other models too. Personally I'm a huge fan of CRT monitors, the classic stuff just looks wrong on a modern LCD but CRTs are getting hard to find.

Something you might consider if you're on a budget is something like the MIST FPGA based retro computer or other similar platforms that support the Minimig core. It's pretty reasonably priced compared to a real Amiga, under $250 I think and it's all brand new hardware so there's no messing around with vintage stuff in unknown condition. I personally like tinkering with old hardware but it's not for everyone and it tends to not be cheap.