When nostalgia kicks in

[djukon]

Greetings,

From what I've read so far, EAB seems to be the best Amiga forum to focus on. I will place my time here and hope I may be able to help out.

A little background. My very own first computer was an A500+. I still own one and wish to preserve this short-lived model for as long as possible.

I've been following the Amiga scene from a distance since 2007 when Amiga nostalgia kicked in. I am continuously being amazed at the hardcore level of Amiga enthusiasts keeping the scene alive, I bow to all your efforts.

Future projects: Besides pimping out my A500+ with more memory, drives, video connections, yellowing-protection, etc., I have in mind developing an OCS space trading/combat 2D game. The idea is largely inspired by Escape Velocity (Mac/Win) with a touch of strategy drawn from the Star Wars Rebellion gameplay (Win).

My General Computing/Amiga beliefs & values are as follows:

• Current generation hardware I purchase will always be cheap and portable, at this moment it means PC netbooks docked to normal scale peripherals; I have no reason for powerful machines anymore or Mac luxury;
• The Classic Amiga Computing Architecture was the most revolutionary of its time (and some might argue to this day); and though as it is not used in mainstream anymore, I believe classic Amiga should be looked upon as Latin is to many natural languages, a legacy to be remembered and explored;
• Placing limits on available resources drives ingenuity, a skill I wish to keep exercising; for me the 16-bit sprite era is timeless and the Amiga a hallmark, it is where I intend to practice resource limitation;
• New inroads into Amiga technology are something I keep an eye on, the Natami and (ic)AROS being my favorites;
• Emulation with *UAE is great for on-the-go and testing on different machine configurations, however, there is nothing like the real thing .

Additionally, my educational background is in IT.

I wish to contribute to the Amiga community as much as possible. I will probably be a very light forum poster, chiming in whenever I might have something useful to add.

[Pyromania]

Welcome to EAB.

"I believe classic Amiga should be looked upon as Latin is to many natural languages, a legacy to be remembered and explored;"


Nice concept you have there.

[Hewitson]

Welcome! May I suggest you crack open your A500+ and remove the barrel-type battery and replace it with a coin-cell as soon as possible, these have a very nasty habit of leaking and destroying the motherboard!

[Graham Humphrey]

Welcome aboard! Nice first post

[TCD]

Hi djukon and welcome to EAB!

I smell a new A1200 'customer' Enjoy your stay

[Kitty]

Welcome to EAB djukon, don't forget to also check out HOL (Hall of Light) which is
also part of the abime network, maybe you have some Amiga scans/screens you could contribute to HOL?
We also have an IRC channel too

Have fun =^,^=

[BrooksterMax]

Follow Hewitson's advice as soon as possible. I had a A500+ as my first Amiga back in 1991/92 and this year it stopped working but now its been fixed and cleaned up.

Anyway welcome to EAB I recommend getting an Amiga 1200 to complement your A500+ as it is very versatile and allows you try some of the AGA stuff you may have missed like me.

[prowler]

Hi djukon,

We've already met in your Aztec C v3.6a disk thread.

Thanks for sharing your background and aspirations with us by way of introduction here.

I'm sure you're all set to make a significant contribution to the Amiga community. It's great to have you aboard!

[djukon]

Thank you all for your hospitality, tips and warm words of encouragement .

Originally Posted by Hewitson

May I suggest you crack open your A500+ and remove the barrel-type battery and replace it with a coin-cell as soon as possible, these have a very nasty habit of leaking and destroying the motherboard!

Originally Posted by BrooksterMax

Follow Hewitson's advice as soon as possible. I had a A500+ as my first Amiga back in 1991/92 and this year it stopped working but now its been fixed and cleaned up.

Yeah, that happened to my first A500+, I didn't know any better . The current one I own has a new barrel-type battery, which is scheduled for replacement in Q3. I've been waiting for a dead PC motherboard to show up from friends and family so I can desolder the coin battery holder.

Anyone know where I can purchase one that will fit the A500+ easily? I saw one on Red's Retro a few months before it went out of business. Any place else?

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

I smell a new A1200 'customer'

Originally Posted by BrooksterMax

I recommend getting an Amiga 1200 to complement your A500+ as it is very versatile and allows you try some of the AGA stuff you may have missed like me.

If it were up to me, I would already have one. Unfortunately, I have to abide by the dreaded SAF (Spousal Approval Factor) which mandates that there can only be one historical computer in the house.

That said, I could have either an A500+ or an A1200. From what I've read, the pre-A600/A1200/A4000 board manufacturing process makes the machines easier to maintain in case of malfunction, which boosted a point towards my preservation focus. Don't worry, the miggy gets a spin every once in a while .

If emulation hadn't become as good as it has, I might have been swayed to get an A1200 instead.

Originally Posted by Kitty

don't forget to also check out HOL (Hall of Light) which is also part of the abime network,

That is awesome work you have there on the HOL. It is difficult to miss after a few Amiga search queries on Google. Great stuff.

Originally Posted by Kitty

maybe you have some Amiga scans/screens you could contribute to HOL?

I'm not sure if I still have some Amiga Format issues in my parents' attic, I'll have to dig in some time soon. The AFs on the AMR are incomplete as opposed to other mags like Amiga Computing, or is it supposed to be that way?

Originally Posted by prowler

Thanks for sharing your background and aspirations with us by way of introduction here.

I'm sure you're all set to make a significant contribution to the Amiga community. It's great to have you aboard!

Thank you all again, you definitely know how to make one feel welcomed into the EAB community .

[Hewitson]

Originally Posted by djukon

If it were up to me, I would already have one. Unfortunately, I have to abide by the dreaded SAF (Spousal Approval Factor) which mandates that there can only be one historical computer in the house.

Tell her if you can only have one historical computer, she can only have one pair of shoes.

[Photon]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Tell her if you can only have one historical computer, she can only have one pair of shoes.

Hmm... Is there a connection from this to the fact that Kitty only has one pair of shoes??

Anyway, welcome djukon! One of the nicest things with Amiga is that newly made hardware is still coming out for it. You can get the ACA520 for your A500+ and a CF card+CF-IDE-adapter for a total of 120 EUR, if that's more ok with the spouse. Motivation: "At least it's not another computer. It will allow me to waste less time on the computer because it's faster and I don't have to muck about with disks" (the latter is of course a blatant lie, time spent on the Amiga will be the same )

For the same money+20 EUR you could get an A1200+CF+CF-IDE-adapter and you could argue that you would put the beige older looking one in storage.

Another tip I saw from other married users is to get/fix up an Amiga so it looks modern or at least looks good, they say if it doesn't look like old crap they aren't so angry about keeping it visible, or something to that effect.

Amigakit has white and nice A1200s; a PS/2 mouse adapter is 30 EUR(?) and a nice looking optical mouse is 12 EUR up to 50 EUR. If you're using an old looking TV or monitor you can get the Indivision AGA MK2 coming real soon for around 130 EUR and use it with a PC flatscreen. (If you already use a nice TV with your Amiga you don't need that of course).

Just some strategies... Again, welcome and if you plan your game to work on A500 you probably need to code in assembler, but there are alternatives if it's not heavy on graphics/action.

I hope to get my thumb out and start the assembler school site soon if you decide on assembler.

[djukon]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Tell her if you can only have one historical computer, she can only have one pair of shoes.

My spouse doesn't have a collectable interest to argument against, so no luck there.

Originally Posted by Photon

One of the nicest things with Amiga is that newly made hardware is still coming out for it.

Here, here .

Originally Posted by Photon

You can get the ACA520 for your A500+ and a CF card+CF-IDE-adapter for a total of 120 EUR

I already have an Alfa Power A500/A500+ with a 3.5" normal HD. Still missing a CF to IDE adapter and a decent sized CF card. Not currently in a hurry, though. And yes, I do have 8MB of fast RAM, but I haven't yet tried those Zips since I bought them (long story). I hope to in two weeks time. I'm still not sure if they are the right speed/configuration.

Originally Posted by Photon

and you could argue that you would put the beige older looking one in storage.

That argument didn't fly the last time I tried. However I may get around it soon enough.

Originally Posted by Photon

Another tip I saw from other married users is to get/fix up an Amiga so it looks modern or at least looks good, they say if it doesn't look like old crap they aren't so angry about keeping it visible, or something to that effect.

My desk can fit in 3 PC mid-towers hidden from sight. I only need the space for one PC Tower (and soon maybe none as I seem to only use the netbook). The problem is keyboard space. I need a PC keyboard and my spouse says it has to stay on the (only) slide out platform so it can be tucked away (the desk is in the living room). Currently to be able to use the A500+, I have to bring it in from another room and hook up the cables for a weekend session, putting it away after use.

Maybe KVMing the PC and an A1200T using a PC keyboard and mouse could be a solution. A Lyra 2 Keyboard Interface would do the trick.

Better yet, if I could get the Keyrah to output to PS/2, I could use the empty A1200 case and its keyboard for controlling the PC and the A1200T.

beautiful...

Has anyone had success connecting a Keyrah via PS/2 to an A1200T with a Lyra 2? Any specific USB to PS/2 keyboard adapter that you recommend?

Originally Posted by Photon

Amigakit has white and nice A1200s; a PS/2 mouse adapter is 30 EUR(?) and a nice looking optical mouse is 12 EUR up to 50 EUR. If you're using an old looking TV or monitor you can get the Indivision AGA MK2 coming real soon for around 130 EUR and use it with a PC flatscreen. (If you already use a nice TV with your Amiga you don't need that of course).

I convinced my spouse to purchase a 23" LCD monitor/TV (with a SCART input ). The downpoint, I had to get rid of a gorgeous 19" Samsung CRT. I still have to make the RGB to Scart cable (just missing the 23-pin connector).

Mouse-wise, I have an original working Tank mouse. Amiga love aside, it is ugly and clunky as hell. The Micromys v3 has to be next on my list.

Originally Posted by Photon

if you plan your game to work on A500 you probably need to code in assembler, but there are alternatives if it's not heavy on graphics/action.

I hope to get my thumb out and start the assembler school site soon if you decide on assembler.

C mixed with Assembly when required (the action part) is my current approach. I would start with the action part as it is central to the game. I have been reading some material on 68K Assembly lately. I'm coming from pseudo-x86 Assembly language experience, so I'm still trying to get my head around 68K.

Photon, I wish you the best of success getting the school up and running. Enroll me in .

[BrooksterMax]

I don't think you need to actually have a battery replaced on the A500+ board, removing it is enough. Obviously it won't keep time, but it won't damage your board either. Zetr0 taught me and helped me resurrect mine, it does not hav a battery at all right now But eventually I will pop a replacement.

My wife does not like me collecting either, but it has not stopped me having 3 x 1200s nor all the sega stuff etc. etc.

You are going to have a lot of fun here!

[djukon]

Originally Posted by TCD

I smell a new A1200 'customer'

Indeed you did, TCD, 5 years ago.

Originally Posted by BrooksterMax

I recommend getting an Amiga 1200 to complement your A500+ as it is very versatile and allows you try some of the AGA stuff you may have missed like me.

I took your advice and eventually got around to acquire an original Commodore one yesterday with an 030/50 accelerator and tons of other goodies that came along with it.

Now the drooling over the exciting extras is over. May the shopping and fun begin!

[onkelarie]

hehehe good on you, have (even more) fun!!