Non AGA games that utilize extra memory?

[mailman]

My list concerns only extra features when extra memory in the amount of more than 1 MB was available:

4D Sports Boxing - reduced loading, game goes faster
4D Sports Driving - reduced loading, game goes faster
Alien Breed 2 - The Horror Continues - reduced loading after some time of play
Colonization - reduced disk access during the game, possible to run the game from WB
Dune - reduced loading after some time of play
History Line 1914-18 - reduced disk swapping a lot (you could also do the trick and copy one of the disks into RAD, do the assigns and keep on playing basically with one disk in drive)
Larry 5 - reduced swapping and loading time
Lemmings - reduced loading after some time of play
Mortal Kombat - see my post above
Skaut Kwatermaster - the whole game was loaded into memory
The Adventures of Willy Beamish - extra music, copying one of the disks to RAM reduced swapping and loading time (it is even mentioned in the manual)
UFO: Enemy Unknown - reduced loading times and aliens movement time
Winter Olympics - in game music (this is funny thing. I remember that my A500 (512 kB Chip/512 kB Fast) didn't have music in this one but my friend's A600 1 MB Chip had. So I thought that music depends on Chip Ram in this one. But when I expanded my A500 with 2 MB of Fast, I also had music)

And one important thing. Not every game has extra features beacuse of 1 MB of Chip Ram. My configuration was a good example that this is not true. Extra memory was enough to have extra features. There were not many games that in fact used extra Chip for something. From my experience I remember only "Hired Guns" (sound effects) and "Walker" (in game speech) to be such games. The rest of my games just used extra memory (no matter what kind).

[BarryB]

Add Nicky II - Full music and sound played if 1mb available!

[lordofchaos]

Their Finest Hour - The Battle Of Britain

Just added this to the list, the games manual confirms the use of extra memory, with machines with more than 512k RAM.
Sound effects, enhanced graphics, and the ability to run the game from HD. Also added more from mailman :-)

I plan to test some more games using my A500+ with 2mb chip ram, I shall update the list once I can confirm 100%.

[retrogamer]

Bump 'n' Burn

Extra sound FX will be loaded on machines with at least 1Mb chipram..

Fightin' Spirit

[2] Disk loader auto-detects extra chipram, fastram and floppy drives for enhanced gameplay.

[Sandro]

Originally Posted by mailman

And one important thing. Not every game has extra features beacuse of 1 MB of Chip Ram. My configuration was a good example that this is not true. Extra memory was enough to have extra features. T

a few games requires 1mb chip to run, will fail if you have only 512kb chip +8mb fast

also there is 1 ECS game which requires 2mb chip to run (wasted dreams) will not work if you have less than 2mb chip ram

[lordofchaos]

Two more games added, thanks Retrogamer!

[retrogamer]

Kingpin: Arcade Sports Bowling

2 MEG of chipmem allows for extra speech samples

[spud]

Not sure if this list includes new released but my recent game The Incredible Adventures of Moebius Goatlizard caches stuff in extra memory if it finds any to reduce in-game loading.

[lordofchaos]

Originally Posted by spud

Not sure if this list includes new released but my recent game The Incredible Adventures of Moebius Goatlizard caches stuff in extra memory if it finds any to reduce in-game loading.

Cool, added to the list! Looks like a pretty decent game, i`ll have to give it a try myself

[retrogamer]

I found another one.

If you are playing Arabian Nights on a machine with a faster processor or extra memory, you will benefit in the game. With a faster processor, you will be given more action on the screen. More detail will be assigned to the levels. With more memory the game stores the levels If memory allows, the whole game can be kept in memory cutting down on disk access. With a little extra memory some recently played sections will be stored.

[lilalurl]

The part of about the memory is quite clear but that part:
"With a faster processor, you will be given more action on the screen. More detail will be assigned to the levels" is rather vague

Thanks anyway for posting about it.

[lordofchaos]

Originally Posted by retrogamer

I found another one.

Cool! Added to the list! By the way is this info from the games manual?

[ancalimon]

Not really an extra feature but for some weird reason, Flight Of The Amazon Queen only ran on my A500+ (1mb chip) when I inserted a 512K ram (to make it 1.5mb chip) from the A500.

Or, I don't remember correctly but adding extra ram allowed sound effects to be played. (or it was on my A1200 where extra sound effects played)

[ikonsgr]

What should be REALLY interested is a list of games that utilize the presence of TRUE FAST RAM only.
The most common amiga model was the 500 and as far as i know, there were very few people that haven't installed the 512kb trapdoor ram (which actually is slow fast ram, at ~3.6Mhz meaning that although chipset doesn't have access to, it's not directly connected to the 68000 memmory bus, like a TRUE fast ram is, which runs at cpu speed e.g. 7.14Mhz with 0 wait states, thus the big speed improvement in workbench by only adding true fast ram)
So it's well known ,even back at the old good days of amiga era, that having extra 512k ram gives extra features to many games, and because this was so common, in later years many ocs games REQUIRED to have the extra trapdoor ram!
So, i think we should distinguish all these games from the (rather few i suppose..) games that utilize TRUE FAST RAM.
It would be much appreciated if you can separate these games from the list where many games that mentioned, are not utlize TRUE fast ram but only the "slow" trapdoor fast ram.

[StingRay]

There aren't that many OCS games that require $c00000 fake fast. And there are much less OCS games which require REAL fast, I can think of exactly none.

[Overdoc]

I would have to disagree on this.
Quite a few of the newer Amiga games (that came out after about 1991) actually required the 512kB trapdoor expansion. Not just for enhancements, but these simply won't run at all if you didn't have the expansion.

On the other hand, you are very right that there are only very few no non-AGA games that required either more than 512kB chip/512kB fake (true fastram), or more than 512kB chipram (1MB or even 2MB)
I think Jaktar requires 1,5MB. Hare Raising Havoc required 1MB chip on my A-500, if I remember correctly. And also Sword I could only get to run with 1MB chip instead of 512kB chip & anything fast or fake ram.

I think it would be great if the info about required ram (or maybe even separately from that an info about enhancements, that come with more ram?) could be included in HOL

Also, what is understood by the chipset (OCS, ECS, AGA) ?
I am not sure, but I think even when this refers mainly to the grapfic abilities, an ECS chipset might need at least 1MB chipram ? (and at least Kick 2.0 ?), and AGA 2MB chipram (and at least Kick 3.0 ?) ?

[Steve]

Sensible World of Soccer used extra memory. The game requires 1MB of RAM but with 2MB these features are also available:

Press 'Space' to record the last few seconds of the game as highlights to be shown at the end of the game.

Press 'H' to watch recorded highlights (only operates when the full-time score is being displayed).

Press 'F9' to toggle the spinning 'S' logo in the top right corner of the screen on or off.

All these are listed in the manual as requiring A1200 and similar spec machines only. They are basically saying machines with 2MB of RAM, not machines with the AGA chipset.

[Leffmann]

Originally Posted by Overdoc

Also, what is understood by the chipset (OCS, ECS, AGA) ?
I am not sure, but I think even when this refers mainly to the grapfic abilities, an ECS chipset might need at least 1MB chipram ? (and at least Kick 2.0 ?), and AGA 2MB chipram (and at least Kick 3.0 ?) ?

The chipsets have no such requirements or dependencies.

You can run Kickstart 1.3 and Workbench 1.3 on your A1200 and it will see your full 2M chipmem, but can't offer you f.ex. 256 color screen modes since 1.3 doesn't know about AGA. You can also boot your A1200 into Workbench with just 256K chipmem, but you will have less than 50K left to use.

[Overdoc]

Originally Posted by Leffmann

The chipsets have no such requirements or dependencies.

You can run Kickstart 1.3 and Workbench 1.3 on your A1200 and it will see your full 2M chipmem, but can't offer you f.ex. 256 color screen modes since 1.3 doesn't know about AGA. You can also boot your A1200 into Workbench with just 256K chipmem, but you will have less than 50K left to use.

I meant it the other way round, like that for instance you might need at least Kick 2.0 and at least 1MB chipram if you wanted to use full ECS ?
Afaik, the A-500+ has 1MB chipram and the super fat Agnus 8375 because of this, and also needs the Kick 2.0 for ECS display.

Imho, ECS as 'hardware' does not even have to be mentioned in HOL, since there is not a single ECS only game that I would know of. All Amiga games are either OCS or AGA games.
In my opinion, there should be 2 fields in HOL for defining the hardware, which is required by a game:

-) chipset:
selectable between OCS and AGA (where OCS means OCS grafix, Kick 1.X, and 512kb chipram, and AGA means AGA grafix, Kick 3.X, and 2MB chipram)

-) required ramexpansion:
this can be a 512kB fake ram for OCS games, or also another 512kB chipram or bigger fastram for those few games that require it

[lordofchaos]

Can confirm 100% Lionheart stores assets in RAM for quicker load times. Finished it today using A500+ with 2MB Chip. Not so sure about it reducing slowdowns though, not on ECS/OCS machines anyway.