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Thread: Model Recommendations for Each Platform

  1. #41
    Red (Level 21) Jorpho's Avatar
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    What about a modded C64 DTV?
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    Apple (Level 5) Arkhan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jorpho View Post
    By the way, would there be much point to getting an MSX Turbo R at this point? Does it break any compatibility?
    hell no there is no point unless you have a raging boner for the voice overs in Fray that you get in the Turbo R version, and want to play a few other good Turbo R exclusive games.

    They are expensive. VERY expensive. 500$ expensive for a loose one and sometimes 1000+$ if its boxed, plus shipping, and usually have broken FDDs like everything else old and MSX. If you find it stateside, good luck. the seller will probably want 1000$ for a loose one.

    They are fully compatible with everything MSX, and should only be bought if you really have a fist full of spare money. You get the R800 processor and 512k RAM which is really only important to you if you're doing dev-stuff. It does nothing for you gamewise.

    and, as for next cubes, Nooooo. Noone should buy a nextcube. they are junk. B&W screen? bleh.

    the cheaper alternative to a 1541U is buying the 12$ X transfer cable and writing .d64s direct to 5.25".

    plus then you can hook your disk drives up to your PC and use them in winVICE, which is great. I used to take a 1541 around with me and play games on my laptop, lol.
    Last edited by Arkhan; 11-10-2009 at 02:21 PM.
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    Apple (Level 5) Arasoi's Avatar
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    Does anyone own any of the the MSX/Laserdisc combo systems? The game lineup on them seems fairly decent, if you're a fan of the genre.

    Info:

    http://www.mccw.hetlab.tk/93/msxlaserdisc/en.html

    I've been contemplating acquiring the LD player/MSX necessary for it, as Badlands and a few other ones are on it I'd like to play on the real hardware.

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    Apple (Level 5) Arkhan's Avatar
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    theyre kind of a neat novelty, but a money pit...

    if you dont already have a way to play laserdiscs it might be cool, otherwise just get an MSX system by itself!
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    drowning in medals Ed Oscuro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by blue lander View Post
    Is Geograph Seal better on a 68030? I've only played it on a 68000 based X68000, and it's not too bad considering the hardware it's running on...
    Whoops, I wasn't being clear there. What I mean is that theoretically they could have - obviously a hard thing to expect on a system with fixed specifications throughout most of its lifetime - Metal Sight is another possibility. I'd actually not expect any of them to make use of the better hardware, including Gunship which came out relatively early in the system's life; the back-of-box quotes are all English and range from 1986 to 1988 at the newest; this game is copyrighted 1990. A bluish quick user card mentions "X68000 series," by 1990 this would maybe have included the Ace HD or something. No faster CPU by that time that I know of.

    Out of the blue - looking at my copy of Gunship, the user disk (third party brand) which I assume was used to save game data has another sticker on the top with a rather round anime girl, looks familiar; there's the word "POPCOM" on the side. This should mean something to me, I think.

    Incidentally, the warranty card on mine has the serial number 600090X; perhaps this game didn't get a very high print run. Box is a little worn, but I hadn't carefully inspected the contents which are in very nice condition.

    Quote Originally Posted by Arkhan View Post
    if you dont already have a way to play laserdiscs it might be cool, otherwise just get an MSX system by itself!
    Arasoi is serious about this, I assure you

    I've read that the MSX LDs have mono sound only; one track is data (only a little bit, but enough to be a problem), so playing it on a regular LD probably won't work well. It wouldn't be very satisfying anyway. There also needs to be a data interface between the player and the MSX; you can't use just any player off the shelf.

    Myself, the only LD game I would really like to own is Rocket Coaster, but eh there's other racing games out there
    Last edited by Ed Oscuro; 11-10-2009 at 04:52 PM.

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    Flawless Rawkality Flack's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jorpho View Post
    What about a modded C64 DTV?
    I would put it far down my list of "model recommendations". From what I understand approximately 25% of games don't work, plus there's a lot of work involved in making the system. I'd consider it a novelty more than a serious system, and certainly wouldn't use one as my primary system. That being said I wouldn't mind having one someday just to play with the new 256 color mode.

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    Flawless Rawkality Flack's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arkhan View Post
    the cheaper alternative to a 1541U is buying the 12$ X transfer cable and writing .d64s direct to 5.25".

    plus then you can hook your disk drives up to your PC and use them in winVICE, which is great. I used to take a 1541 around with me and play games on my laptop, lol.
    If I had a nickel for every hour I spent fiddling with x1541 cables, it would have been cheaper for me to just buy the $200+ 1541 Ultimate in the first place (if only it had existed back then!). I've never got the x1541 to work with any of the parallel ports on my laptops. I ended up keeping an old 486 dx4/100 around for years just for doing disk transfers. The 1541 Ultimate does it quicker and moving SD cards back and forth is much more convenient than having an old machine set up in the corner that I use a few times a year.

    As for using 1541 drives on a PC laptop for emulation, I don't see the purpose at all. If you're already emulating the game, lugging around a big drive and sticking disks in it doesn't add anything to the experience for me. If I want portable, I'll tote a SX64 around I guess.

    If we're making a list of "model recommendations", using a PC Laptop with a physical 1541 connected via an x1541 cable would be so far down my list that it might actually receive a negative rating.

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    Pear (Level 6) Soviet Conscript's Avatar
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    alot of people seem to prefer the atari 800XL over the 130XE even though the XE seems more powerful out of the box

    is this based solely on the better keyboard on the 800? are there any games or applications that take advantage of the 130?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flack View Post
    I believe there are around two dozen C128-specific games, and since there are something like 20,000 C64 games, it's really not a big deal for me.
    Indeed... despite previously recommending a C128, it has almost no advantage if all you're doing is playing games... It's extra features are very useful for programmers, and in case you want to screw around with CP/M (which you won't find many games for).

    Monitor: Any Composite monitor will work. Commodore monitors have fantastic pictures, but you can run it into your flat screen TV, too.
    If you want to use the C128 in 80 column mode, then you need something with a digital RGB port... this means either a 1902 (the monitor that Commodore designed for the 128) or a 1084S. Not much uses 80 column mode, but it's far nicer for productivity apps like word processors and terminal emulators (I used this a lot back then, but I doubt many of you will ever bother with it). Also, even with digital RGB, you still need a composite or separated hookup for 40 column mode, so you have a weird situation where you have two video cables hooked up to the same monitor. It's really weird.

    Fast Load Cartridge: My favorite is Epyx's FastLoad, but there are dozens to choose from. Some of the other models add other features like freezing games, editing memory, etc.
    The Epyx Fastload is relatively slow compared to other devices... but considering it's only about $5, and most of the faster options are around 10x that price, I'd certainly say it's a good investment!

    a Datasette is pointless.
    In Europe, it might be useful. In North America, almost no software for the C64 came out on tape.

    Quote Originally Posted by Arkhan View Post
    the cheaper alternative to a 1541U is buying the 12$ X transfer cable and writing .d64s direct to 5.25".
    Oh man, that doesn't even come close to replacing the 1541U... The 1541U has so many features it's crazy. It has literally replaced all my disk drives and mountains of disks. I have an SD card with around 20,000 .d64 files on it, they all load super fast without any disk swapping. I have all the benefits of whatever freezer cartridge I want it to emulate (including fastload), an REU if I need one, tape drive emulation (this may seem pointless, but .t64 files can be surprisingly convenient in some situations!), and so on.

    Sure, you can use the 1541U to write disks easily... but the whole point of owning one is that you no longer need disks at all! It may be expensive, but if you add up the price of all the hardware it can replace, it's not so bad at all.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jorpho View Post
    What about a modded C64 DTV?
    Seems like a lot more work than it's worth to me. Speaking of which, there's also the C-One. I've always wanted one, but things are progressing very slowly with it, and in the end I still wouldn't have a machine that I could feel confident enough with to dump my C128.

    I'm surprised no one has asked about it yet... but what are minimum/recommended/excessive setups for a ZX Spectrum? I've always wanted to set one up, but importing everything from Europe isn't an attractive option (then again, no worse than dealing with Japan I suppose, and I see plenty of X68k and MSX talk)

    --Zero

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    Cherry (Level 1)
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    X68000;

    Like said before, every model with 2mb ram is enough for gaming. Look for a refurbished unit with new power source and sram, also both disc drive should work !

    FM Towns;

    In my opinion, the marty system is a pain in the ass if you compare it with a FM Towns PC;

    - Unit has only Composite + S Video Output
    - Some games do not work on it
    - Some games have loading times from hell
    - Some games need HD install to be really playable

    If you buy a PC, get one with more then 16Mhz or else Mahou and a few other games will run to slow;
    http://www.youtube.com/user/danielsc.../7/QvVVy4jn2mc (The game in this video is not installed on HD / if it is installed, it runs much faster!)
    You should also look for a system with more than 2mb ram

    MSX;

    A MSX 2+ should be fine to play almost every game, if you need to play Turbo Games, get a Turbo R

    Sorry for my englisch !
    Last edited by danielscheil; 11-12-2009 at 04:15 PM.

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    Is there any list of games that won't run on the Marty? Or a specific example even? I haven't plugged my FM Towns PC in since I bought the Marty, I find it much more convenient to hook it up to my TV and use it as a game console.

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    Games i have testet;

    Ultima Underworld 1+2 (loading times from hell)

    Mahou Daikasen (needs more Ram)

    Wing Commander (game runs too slow, loading times from hell)

    Queen of Duellists (game runs too slow, loading times from hell)

    Sim City 2000 (Not sure that it starts on a Marty but when it does, loading times from hell, game runs too slow)

    + a few porn games i testet do not start on a marty.

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    Peach (Level 3)
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    Hmm, that's good to know. I'll have to plug my FM Towns back in and compare load times between the two. Also, now that I think about it, New Zealand Story doesn't work right on my Marty either. The game runs fine, but the music is all randomized. I'll try that on my Towns PC too.

    I'm suprised Mahou Daisakusen needs more RAM, the X68000 version runs fine on 2 megs.

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    Cherry (Level 1)
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    Quote Originally Posted by blue lander View Post

    I'm suprised Mahou Daisakusen needs more RAM, the X68000 version runs fine on 2 megs.
    Yep, it needs 3 MB, i have made a packshot;
    http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4175/bild0265.jpg

    The X68k Version runs much slower like the FM Towns Version (on the right hardware)

    I have buyed this beast today;



    FM-TOWNS HG20
    i80386DX(20MHz)
    10 MB Ram
    MO Drive
    Multisync LCD

    ^_^

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ze_ro View Post
    I'm surprised no one has asked about it yet... but what are minimum/recommended/excessive setups for a ZX Spectrum?
    So... no one here rocks the Spectrum then?

    --Zero

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    Peach (Level 3)
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    I've got a Spectrum, but only one model so I can't really compare and contrast the different versions. But from my limited knowledge I'd recommend getting an Amstrad built model with 128k RAM and an internal tape deck. The Amstrad versions are cheaper and more reliable (or so I'm told) than the original Sinclair versions, and they definitely have a better keyboard. They can be run of +5 volts DC so there's no need to import the power supply if you're in the US, you can just build one from Radio Shack. You can easily connect any old 15khz RGB monitor to it, so you don't need to worry about finding a PAL television. I do believe some really old 48k games aren't compatible with the +2, but I don't know if any of them are significant.

    The +3 has a built in 3 inch floppy drive so some might prefer that model, but I don't think there are too many games in that format. I like having the internal tape deck so I don't have to worry about connecting an external one and tweaking the tone and volume

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    For the 8-bit family, I'd definitely recommend the 800 XL or the 130 XE.

    The keyboard on the XL is nicer, but unless you're using the machine for writing essays or something I wouldn't pass up an XE because of the keyboard.

    (I actually wrote my essays in high school on a 400 with that flat keyboard - where there's a will, there's a way).

    The older models are cool (especially the 800 with it's second cartridge slot), but game compatibility is poor. At least with an XL you can run a translation program to get 99% of the OS-B games to work on an XL/XE.
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    what is a good nec pc 98 setup for gaming?
    i want a system that plays every game...

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    Apple (Level 5) Arkhan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by danielscheil View Post
    what is a good nec pc 98 setup for gaming?
    i want a system that plays every game...
    A good setup is to just use Nekoproject or some other emulator. that way it WILL play every game. Good luck finding and setting a real one up that has 5.25", 3.5", and CD-ROM drives...!

    plus, "real hardware" in this instance is a bit superficial since the only truly specialized hardware in them is the FM soundcards. PC-98s were just the run of the mill PC at the time. Direct competition with the IBM crap.

    What you can run into with PC-98 is that if you get a newer model (pentium) to play some of the more recent games, the old games don't exactly work right.

    also PC-9801 != PC98. PC98 (the newest, end of the era machines) games (newer stuff like Pretty Samy) wont run on a PC-98. It's kinda like trying to run Myst on a 286. PC98s came at the end of the PC-9800 era and are infact IBM compatible.

    PC-98 games use the PC-98s non-IBM (cbus, video, sound) hardware, so you can see the problem here!

    and then comes twiddling with settings on the computer. If you aren't able to read Japanese, this will be your downfall!

    if you absolutely HAVE to ship one of them clunkers overseas to yourself, your best bet is to locate one with a CD-ROM drive, and 3.5" and kiss the 5.25" games goodbye

    you almost need TWO PC-98s to really get everything. One of the early dual 5.25" models, and then a newer 3.5"/CD-ROM one.

    ...pricey (shipping! ahh!), and tricky to locate.

    I speak from experience Only buy the real thing if you have random expendable cash.
    Last edited by Arkhan; 01-05-2010 at 07:10 PM.
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    MSX: I have an MSX-2, two 2+ machines and a Turbo-R. The Turbo-R does not have a cassette port, so obviously you can't load games directly from cassette. Also, many MSX1 games won't work at all even from disk, so I bought Nyyrikki's MSX1 emulator for the Turbo-R, and it works great (search for it on MSX.org). I am looking to sell my machines though, they take up too much room. Anyway, you should be looking for at least an MSX-2, the 2+ is obviously slightly more enhanced.

    X68000: The X68030 is not fully compatible with older games, some of them won't run and you need patches for them. However, the X68030 does have a better power supply than the older machines. My XVI has an 030 power supply and it's never been a problem. As was mentioned before, you'll need at least 2MB, and for Super Street Fighter 2, 4MB. Some games run better at higher speeds. The XVI is capable of 16MHz, the 030 of 25MHz. I tested all of my games and these were the results.

    These games ran better at 16MHz:
    F-15 Strike Eagle II
    Hishouzame (slightly better scrolling)
    Jack Nicklaus Championship Golf
    Mahou Daisakusen
    Populous
    Populous 2
    Populous The Promised Lands
    Powermonger
    Salamander (a lot better, almost no slowdown)
    Sim City
    Sim Earth
    Star Wars Attack on the Death Star
    Super Street Fighter II
    Viewpoint

    These games ran TOO fast:
    Arkanoid Revenge of DOH
    D-Return
    Full Throttle
    Granada


    These games exhibited problems:
    Dragon Spirit (music messed up)
    Fantasy Zone (music messed up)
    Gradius (music messed up)
    Naious (music messed up)
    Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball Bu (corrupt graphics)
    Twinbee (corrupt graphics)


    So, a very nice X68000 setup would feature:
    2MB RAM, preferably more
    Hard Disk drive. Later models used SCSI, so get a later model.
    MIDI card. Capcom and Konami games especially have great MIDI music.
    Keyboard and Mouse. A lot of people don't have these.


    Sinclair Spectrum: I have the 48K, 128K, 128K+2 (built-in cassette player), and 128K+3 (built-in disk drive) models. I've had the 48K model for as long as I can remember, just this year I modded it to give composite video output, and it works perfectly here in Japan. The power supply required for each model is:
    48: 9V 1.4A
    128: 9V 1.85A
    +2: 9V 2.1A
    +3: 5V @ 2A, +12V @ 700mA, -12V @ 50mA (special PSU, not like the others). This is the same power supply as used on the +2A/B which were basically +3's with a cassette player. They're black, the original +2 is grey.

    So you can run the first three models listed with any 9V PSU (centre negative). I sometimes run my 48K model off my MIDI synth power supply. The full 1.4A is not needed if you don't have any peripherals, my aforementioned synth PSU only supplies 1A, and the machine is fine. Usually though, I run all three models off my +2 power supply. I also have a DivIDE (http://baze.au.com/divide/) and all of my games are on that, so I can load them instantly. For those that don't work from the DivIDE, I still have all my cassettes, but to save them, I load from an iPod. The volume isn't loud enough so I connect the iPod to speakers, and then the speakers to the Spectrum, the speakers' amplification is enough for the games to load.

    There are not too many disk games, for a newcomer the +2 might be the best bet, BUT it doesn't have an external casssette port, so no loading from iPod. This IS possible on a +3. For the hardcore collector, an original 48K model is a must, the 128K models are hard to get, and quite expensive. I value mine highly as it's the last real Sinclair machine, before Amstrad.
    Last edited by an_turtar; 01-06-2010 at 01:02 AM.

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