Check out http://www.whdload.de ... basically, these are 'slave' programs that will take a non-compatible game, make it hard drive installable and compatible. Many games will work with a stock machine.Originally Posted by AB Positive
3.9 can look good on the right system... here's an old screenshot of mine...
http://www.amiga.org/modules/myalbum...id=2758&cid=22
Last edited by icbrkr; 01-09-2009 at 05:33 PM.
Yea just get a 1200 and Whdload, it's the best overall solution. You should probably invest in some extra RAM at least though, or get an accelerator card.
Wii: 8285 8147 1575 6278
I think a lot of 'slaves' might require an MMU to remap the kickstart properly? An 030 accelerator card with a few megs of ram should run under $200 I think.
Well, I tested it right before I wrote that reply, and it worked perfectly fine for me! When was the last time you tried? Perhaps there are several versions or something?
As mentioned, WHDLoad is what you need. What WHDLoad basically does is take a game disk and installs it to your hard drive (most Amiga games didn't play nice like this, usually because of copy protected disks). Along the way, it has to modify the executable, so the guys who work on this stuff often go in and fix most of the compatibility problems that prevented games from working on newer Amigas.
Now, instead of ripping the games from disk yourself, it's probably a whole hell of a lot easier to just go here and download the games pre-ripped. All you have to do is decompress them and stick them on your hard drive.
Keep in mind that WHDLoad is shareware, and it'll cost $30 to register it (If you don't register it, you have to endure a nag screen... but you don't lose any functionality otherwise). You also need some Kickstart ROM images, though you should be able to find these easily enough on the internet.
Naturally, an Amiga 4000 is the ideal system... but good luck with that. A 1200 is the second best choice, and far easier on the pocketbook. It's fast enough for most things, but it only has 2MB of RAM, which isn't enough for most WHDLoad games (Actual memory requirements vary by game, but you'll ALWAYS need more memory than the original game required, because WHDLoad takes up some memory too and may need to load a Kickstart ROM). You can buy cheap memory expanders, but it's probably a better choice to buy a low-end 68030 accelerator, as they always have standard 72-pin SIMM slots for RAM. Luckily, accelerators for the 1200 are somewhat cheaper and easier to find than those for other Amigas... though be aware that some of the higher-end cards may require the motherboard to be transferred into a tower case.
Oh, and the 1200 comes with a very small hard drive (80MB? I can't remember). It's a standard 2.5" IDE drive, so it's easy enough to replace. I wouldn't recommend using anything over 4GB though, as there are some known problems with large drives.
If you prefer to deal with disks, and think all of this sounds like a whole lot of trouble, then your best bet would be to just get an Amiga 500 with a 1MB memory expansion (These expansions are cheap, like under $20). Most games were made with the 500 in mind, and I think the only games you'll be missing out on are the AGA games that were meant for the 1200/4000 (though in most cases, companies released AGA and OCS/ECS versions, so you'd still be fine). You might have some problems with Kickstart compatibility though.
I don't think any of it requires an MMU, though it will definitely take advantage of it if you have one. Though on the flip side, there are some games that will crash if you DO have an MMU (In which case you have to add the "NOMMU" tooltip to disable it).
--Zero
Last edited by Ze_ro; 01-10-2009 at 09:06 AM.
Actually, there's a few options disabled. I'm not entirely sure what they are, I sure don't come across it very often, but it'll throw up a 'you'll need the registered version for this game' on occasion.
You could technically buy PCMCIA based memory to bring it up to a whopping 6MB (/sarcasm) if you're able to find it.
. A 1200 is the second best choice, and far easier on the pocketbook. It's fast enough for most things, but it only has 2MB of RAM, which isn't enough for most WHDLoad games (Actual memory requirements vary by game, but you'll ALWAYS need more memory than the original game required, because WHDLoad takes up some memory too and may need to load a Kickstart ROM). You can buy cheap memory expanders, but it's probably a better choice to buy a low-end 68030 accelerator, as they always have standard 72-pin SIMM slots for RAM. Luckily, accelerators for the 1200 are somewhat cheaper and easier to find than those for other Amigas... though be aware that some of the higher-end cards may require the motherboard to be transferred into a tower case.
It will sometimes report the wrong filesize, but I have a 20GB in my A600 and my A1200.Oh, and the 1200 comes with a very small hard drive (80MB? I can't remember). It's a standard 2.5" IDE drive, so it's easy enough to replace. I wouldn't recommend using anything over 4GB though, as there are some known problems with large drives.
You can't make over a 4GB partition under WB3.1, and anything over 2GB is just asking for trouble. I keep my 3.1 systems to 1GB.
As funny as this sounds, but I'd recommend the A600 (if you can find it in the states easy) before the A500. Before I get kicked, let me explain -If you prefer to deal with disks, and think all of this sounds like a whole lot of trouble, then your best bet would be to just get an Amiga 500 with a 1MB memory expansion (These expansions are cheap, like under $20). Most games were made with the 500 in mind, and I think the only games you'll be missing out on are the AGA games that were meant for the 1200/4000 (though in most cases, companies released AGA and OCS/ECS versions, so you'd still be fine). You might have some problems with Kickstart compatibility though.
The A600 has the 1MB Agnus which is needed for a lot of games past 1990. Many A500s have 512K Fast and 512K chip which won't work in some cases. The downfall is that you occasionally have to run degrader or something to get games to work on the A600.
The A600 has a built in HD adapter....
And now the big reason... you can get a PCMCIA compact flashcard reader for cheap, use Amikit's EasyADF and create real disks without having to do much... no network stacks, no nullmodem, just easy file copies.
Ah. I registered quite some time ago, so it's been a while since I've tried it without the key file.
I'm not familiar with this option... are these standard memory modules, or is it something that was unique to the Amiga? How's the speed?You could technically buy PCMCIA based memory to bring it up to a whopping 6MB (/sarcasm) if you're able to find it.
Honestly, I find memory to be the biggest limitation of my 1200, and if I could upgrade to 6MB cheaply (less than $40), I'd be perfectly happy with that.
Do you just have the 20GB split up into a dozen partitions? Or are both machines running 3.9 or something?It will sometimes report the wrong filesize, but I have a 20GB in my A600 and my A1200.
You can't make over a 4GB partition under WB3.1, and anything over 2GB is just asking for trouble. I keep my 3.1 systems to 1GB.
My 3000 is sitting with a 512MB SCSI and a 1GB IDE drive, and that's more than enough space. I'd like to replace both of them with just a single 2 or 4GB SCSI drive, mostly for the sake of simplifying the setup (one less drive, and one less Zorro card) and maybe a bit of a speed boost, since my IDE controller isn't too fast.
--Zero
Way back when, if you remember, PCMCIA was supposedly to allow SRAM (?) where you could add 16 bit memory modules. It's not unique to the Amiga, but it's uncommon and it is 16 bit RAM so quite a bit slower.
Honestly, I have maybe 3 partitions under 3.1 and just leave the rest free. I'd rather do it this way with a newer drive than use a drive that's 15+ years old and on its way out. At least, I hope the newer one works better.Do you just have the 20GB split up into a dozen partitions? Or are both machines running 3.9 or something?
My 3000 is sitting with a 512MB SCSI and a 1GB IDE drive, and that's more than enough space. I'd like to replace both of them with just a single 2 or 4GB SCSI drive, mostly for the sake of simplifying the setup (one less drive, and one less Zorro card) and maybe a bit of a speed boost, since my IDE controller isn't too fast.
--Zero
On my 3.9 system, I can format to whatever size. 3.1 had a 4GB limitation of partition size, but if you ever had to validate something that large you'd run out of RAM and the system would die... hence the reason why you want to keep a reasonable filesize.
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