Lost Computers - The Acorn Archimedes - Page 4

Methanoid · 23 July 2007, 08:56

I'm just blagged an A3000 and A3020 myself. I'm looking forward to having a play. There are good Arch emulators but as always the real thing is best. Picked up an A3000 network interface for £0.99 off the Bay so should be sorted soon.

Coagulus · 23 July 2007, 11:24

One of the things I loved about the Archimedes was the 8-Channel sound. I helped my friends convert the Amiga Protracker to the Archimedes by ripping all of the graphics in it using my Action Replay! And every now and again writing weird modules usings obscure effects in the Miggy version just so they'd have to implement the effect in the Archie version!

frikilokooo · 10 November 2007, 14:34

I don't know anything about Archimedes but it seems that has good exclusive games!

ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/si...ine2700045.jpg

If there are more exclusive games like this one I will try to use an emulator for this computer

Charlie · 10 November 2007, 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by frikilokooo

I don't know anything about Archimedes but it seems that has good exclusive games!

ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/si...ine2700045.jpg

If there are more exclusive games like this one I will try to use an emulator for this computer

I'll try to dig out a few links when my brain is working better.

The fundamental pluses of this system:
The architecture is rather simpler than the Amiga but with a flexible chipset backed up by a very powerful for the time RISC-CPU, and proper VGA output.

This gives us some nice advantages today:
-It's bloody easy (relatively speaking) to produce 'authentic behaving' emulators for the PC. The better ones are nearly indistinguishable form the real thing. You don't have to buy real hardware to get the 'experience' unless you want to...
-The simple but flexible chipset combined with the brute force of the CPU made ports of many of the best games on other platforms a piece of piss. IMO many Acorn ports play better than the Amiga versions.

-Though at the time it was a problem the smaller market couldn't justify writing/porting bad games as they wouldn't sell. There a very few!
-Finally there were some brilliant originals that never made it to other platforms. (often because they didn't stand a hope in hell of running on other contemporary hardware)
Some examples:
Starfighter3000
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
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[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
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[ Show youtube player ]
[ Show youtube player ]
FTL by TBA software is weirdly brilliant. (can't find a link)
Virtual Golf, probably the best version you'll play (link?)

For comparison most of these were written when the A500 was king of the hill. Yes, a couple of ports have sneaked into the above list.

Then there's the Flashback, Lemmings, Gods, Paradroid, ChuckRock's etc that all were ported very well. Mostly by Krysilis Software.

More..?
Well, if you want real hardware you can still pick up a RiscPC with included x86 card for very little. It's a good system & with said x86 card will make a good DOS/3.1/95/98 box for all your retro PC games too!
or
If that's too modern an A310->A440 or A3000 (see my modded one) -> A3020 may be more your cup of tea.
or
Maybe you want a 'modern' one. New RiscOS computers are still being made!

(Just don't buy one with a Viewfinder Card or I'll have to come round your house and murder you for it.

)

Hmmm, enough gushing I think.

frikilokooo · 10 November 2007, 16:56

Thanks for the complete information,Archimedes is a great computer

It has good polygonal games although it doesn't seem to have good 2D games.

Charlie · 10 November 2007, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by frikilokooo

Thanks for the complete information,Archimedes is a great computer

It has good polygonal games although it doesn't seem to have good 2D games.

Thanks

Yes a lot of the native 2D games look a bit 'sucky'. There are some very good ones (the above is far from an exhaustive list) but the 'Acorn scene' if I can use such a term tended to have more of a 'home-brew' flavor to it than the 'Amiga scene'. Strong on game play, not so hot on graphics. Cataclysm and Enter the Realm would be a good examples of this.

Revolver's a pretty cool puzzle/arcade game that I bet a half-decent miggy demo-coder could reproduce.

frikilokooo · 10 November 2007, 17:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie

Revolver's a pretty cool puzzle/arcade game that I bet a half-decent miggy demo-coder could reproduce.

it's very impressive that game

,it seemed to Bob Bad Day.

Charlie · 10 November 2007, 17:22

Ooops, how could I forget:
[ Show youtube player ]

Possibly the funniest sick arcade game I've ever played.
Large mallet, fluffy kittens... you get the idea.

rsn8887 · 10 November 2007, 18:04

Great list thank you so much, checking them out now, too

But, lol, Saloon Cars another one of those wacko driver perspective with mutant arms. ROFL!

Charlie · 10 November 2007, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsn8887

...with mutant arms. ROFL!

What do you mean? My arms look like that!

FWIW I found that perspective a bit off-putting but you can change it.

DrF · 10 November 2007, 20:13

You know I once found some kind of Acorn in a pile of dog sh*t (the people where piling it up in a corner) when I was given the job of clearing peoples garden, I cleaned it and it worked first time, I sold it on eBay for £15 I cannot for the life of me remember what it was though, it did have Risc OS though.

We did hook up a normal VGA monitor, a mouse and a keyboard from a PC, I remember it having a game called Knights on it, it looking kinda like a PC desktop box, I have the pics somewhere...

Charlie · 10 November 2007, 20:23

Sure it wasn't squirrel sh*t?
Didn't know dogs eat acorns.

List of Computers

rsn8887 · 10 November 2007, 22:18

E-Type 2 driving game, perspective cracks me up too

Like, ok, in this one, there's no hands and you're "Thank god". Then suddenly hands appear LOL, they only ever show for a split second, and you try to catch a glimpse - does he have a ring, etc?
LOL

Ok I will stop now, sorry, but couldn't help it.

danwood · 11 November 2007, 00:39

i had a acorn electron and a spectrum i retired them both in 1991 when i bought a amiga 500 the pack with escape from the planet of the robot monsters with it. i can only imagine the awesomeness which is the acorn archimedes.

rsn8887 · 11 November 2007, 09:22

Yes, I guess it is awesome, but of course NO comparison to Amiga

Mad-Matt · 11 November 2007, 11:09

Chocks away / chocks away2 will be my fondest memory of the archie. took up many a school dinner time playing that. 2 player fliughtsim hudling around the keys one one keyboard . Sometimes just having player2 around for flight recording

was also themost requested game in the computer room so had to take FastRat disk copier as well.

Bloodwych · 11 November 2007, 14:38

Great to see this thread still generating interest. Akira still needs to write his Sharp x68000 review. Perhaps if we find that darn tetris game he's been chasing, he'll make a come back to EAB and hold true to his promise.

Like I outlined in the opening post, the Arch was so close to being a perfect computer - all it was missing were those dedicated video chips like found in the Amiga, consoles and x68000. Not having a blitter was a real shame.

amigarobbo · 11 November 2007, 22:39

I've got a Acorn 600 with a 287mhz Strong Arm Processor, and a Atari Falcon.

And you know what, it does make me happy.

Oh, right, RISCO is pretty nice, argubly at least as good as AmigaOS, well depends which A(miga)OS I suppose, it's also rather Mac X like...

It's a nice little machine, plugs straight into a VGA Monitor, upgrade the Roms to 3.7 (I think) and the CD rom drive works straight away, unlike the fannying about you have to do with a 1200/4000. Not really had much chance to have a look at ArcElite, but other than not being able to control the ship with the mouse, it does look a like very good version.

Atari Falcon, not really had much time to play with this, but OS actually feels like a, errr OS unlike the ST version! Also this worked plug straight into a modern flatscreen Monitor, but I did have trouble getting it to play old ST games, but as I say, not had much time to play with it...

Still prefer the Amiga to, well, everything else at the moment...

Angus · 12 November 2007, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroMan

The so called game Virus was released on the Archie and renamed to Zarch

Still worth a look (great game

) !

Isn't it the other wat round? Zarch was released fro the Amiga and St but renamed Virus?

There was a demo of Zarch (on the Arch) called Lander too.

I played Zarch ona colleagues Arc and it was great. I think you could hover with the middle mouse button, which was okay, but there was some seriously impressive effects going on in the way the landscape horizon was drawn.

I love Virus on the Miggy though although I've never really been a match for those small, fast ships.

rsn8887 · 12 November 2007, 18:31

Can someone zone me zarch/archimedes, please? Thanks in advance. I cannot find it for the life of me.

BTW, there was a sequel to Virus/Zarch, by original coder David Braben. It was out for PC and PS1, and was called V2000:
http://www.frontier.co.uk/games/v2000/index.html

I got it for both PC and PSone. I think on PC it used same cool control scheme as Zarch, but am not sure. On PS1 it is nigh on impossible to control. Its pretty cool but so hard...

Very neat still.

10 November 2007, 20:13	#71
DrF Blessed A1200 Of TeH Rat Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Bham, UK Age: 42 Posts: 496	You know I once found some kind of Acorn in a pile of dog sht (the people where piling it up in a corner) when I was given the job of clearing peoples garden, I cleaned it and it worked first time, I sold it on eBay for £15 I cannot for the life of me remember what it was though, it did have Risc OS though. We did hook up a normal VGA monitor, a mouse and a keyboard from a PC, I remember it having a game called Knights on it, it looking kinda like a PC desktop box, I have the pics somewhere... Last edited by DrF; 10 November 2007 at 20:18.*

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23 July 2007, 08:56	#61
Methanoid Retired Quartex Sysop Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Roman Verulamium Age: 58 Posts: 1,874	I'm just blagged an A3000 and A3020 myself. I'm looking forward to having a play. There are good Arch emulators but as always the real thing is best. Picked up an A3000 network interface for £0.99 off the Bay so should be sorted soon.

23 July 2007, 11:24	#62
Coagulus Gets there in the end... Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Wales Posts: 872	One of the things I loved about the Archimedes was the 8-Channel sound. I helped my friends convert the Amiga Protracker to the Archimedes by ripping all of the graphics in it using my Action Replay! And every now and again writing weird modules usings obscure effects in the Miggy version just so they'd have to implement the effect in the Archie version!

10 November 2007, 14:34	#63
frikilokooo Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Mallorca,Spain. Age: 44 Posts: 1,154	I don't know anything about Archimedes but it seems that has good exclusive games! ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/si...ine2700045.jpg If there are more exclusive games like this one I will try to use an emulator for this computer

10 November 2007, 16:56	#65
frikilokooo Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Mallorca,Spain. Age: 44 Posts: 1,154	Thanks for the complete information,Archimedes is a great computer It has good polygonal games although it doesn't seem to have good 2D games.

10 November 2007, 17:22	#68
Charlie . . Mouse . . Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 55 Posts: 1,792	Ooops, how could I forget: [ Show youtube player ] Possibly the funniest sick arcade game I've ever played. Large mallet, fluffy kittens... you get the idea.

10 November 2007, 18:04	#69
rsn8887 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,065	Great list thank you so much, checking them out now, too But, lol, Saloon Cars another one of those wacko driver perspective with mutant arms. ROFL!

10 November 2007, 20:23	#72
Charlie . . Mouse . . Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 55 Posts: 1,792	Sure it wasn't squirrel sh*t? Didn't know dogs eat acorns. List of Computers

10 November 2007, 22:18	#73
rsn8887 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,065	E-Type 2 driving game, perspective cracks me up too Like, ok, in this one, there's no hands and you're "Thank god". Then suddenly hands appear LOL, they only ever show for a split second, and you try to catch a glimpse - does he have a ring, etc? LOL Ok I will stop now, sorry, but couldn't help it.

11 November 2007, 00:39	#74
danwood Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: oldham/england Posts: 75	i had a acorn electron and a spectrum i retired them both in 1991 when i bought a amiga 500 the pack with escape from the planet of the robot monsters with it. i can only imagine the awesomeness which is the acorn archimedes.

11 November 2007, 09:22	#75
rsn8887 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,065	Yes, I guess it is awesome, but of course NO comparison to Amiga

11 November 2007, 11:09	#76
Mad-Matt Longplayer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lincoln / UK Age: 45 Posts: 1,855	Chocks away / chocks away2 will be my fondest memory of the archie. took up many a school dinner time playing that. 2 player fliughtsim hudling around the keys one one keyboard . Sometimes just having player2 around for flight recording was also themost requested game in the computer room so had to take FastRat disk copier as well.

11 November 2007, 14:38	#77
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Great to see this thread still generating interest. Akira still needs to write his Sharp x68000 review. Perhaps if we find that darn tetris game he's been chasing, he'll make a come back to EAB and hold true to his promise. Like I outlined in the opening post, the Arch was so close to being a perfect computer - all it was missing were those dedicated video chips like found in the Amiga, consoles and x68000. Not having a blitter was a real shame.

11 November 2007, 22:39	#78
amigarobbo Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 181	I've got a Acorn 600 with a 287mhz Strong Arm Processor, and a Atari Falcon. And you know what, it does make me happy. Oh, right, RISCO is pretty nice, argubly at least as good as AmigaOS, well depends which A(miga)OS I suppose, it's also rather Mac X like... It's a nice little machine, plugs straight into a VGA Monitor, upgrade the Roms to 3.7 (I think) and the CD rom drive works straight away, unlike the fannying about you have to do with a 1200/4000. Not really had much chance to have a look at ArcElite, but other than not being able to control the ship with the mouse, it does look a like very good version. Atari Falcon, not really had much time to play with this, but OS actually feels like a, errr OS unlike the ST version! Also this worked plug straight into a modern flatscreen Monitor, but I did have trouble getting it to play old ST games, but as I say, not had much time to play with it... Still prefer the Amiga to, well, everything else at the moment...

12 November 2007, 18:31	#80
rsn8887 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,065	Can someone zone me zarch/archimedes, please? Thanks in advance. I cannot find it for the life of me. BTW, there was a sequel to Virus/Zarch, by original coder David Braben. It was out for PC and PS1, and was called V2000: http://www.frontier.co.uk/games/v2000/index.html I got it for both PC and PSone. I think on PC it used same cool control scheme as Zarch, but am not sure. On PS1 it is nigh on impossible to control. Its pretty cool but so hard... Very neat still.

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