Hello from Oklahoma City

Shaggy · 05 March 2022, 05:55

Hello,
Just joined, but have been a lurker for years. Actually thought that I had joined years ago.

Anyway, I lusted over the A1000 way back when Commodore first anounced it, but couldn't afford one. Bought an A500 in 1989 in Suwon Korea, where I was stationed in the US Air Force.

In Korea you could buy pirated games and programs for the PC and Amiga for $5 a disk. I was pretty broke at the time, while making monthly payments on my Amiga, so this was pretty much the only way I could afford to get games. My first games were Test Drive, Barbarian, Capone, Mean 18 golf and Shadowgate. I also picked up KindWords to do some word processing for work.

Once I got out of the Air Force, I worked on and off for a computer store in Oklahoma City that for years had only sold Commodore computers. In 1990, they were starting to sell PC clones as wella, as Commore and Amiga Computers weren't as profittable.

I was mostly was the Amiga guy fixing hardware and software issues, with the occasional repair of a C64 here and there. Like I said, I worked there on and off for the next 7 years, eventually I was mostly just building and repairing PC clones.

So I still have an Amiga 500. I traded my original KS1.2 one for a KS1.3 A500 so that the Xtec Hard Drive I bought would Autoboot. I wished I would have hung onto the Xtec Hard Drive, but got rid of it when I got a A570 with the SCSI Hard Drive expansion.

I also have two CD32s. I bought the first one brand new with a SX-1 expansion. Bought the other one off of Ebay with a bunch of Amiga books.

All my Amiga stuff is packed up, but hope to soon be able to get my stuff back out and do some playing around and upgrade my A500 with a PiStorm.

When I'm in the mood to play an Amiga game, I'll do some emulation on a Raspberry Pi 400 (with PiAmiga 2.0), or WinUAE/Amiga Forever, or AmigaKit XE on my PC.

I pre-ordered "The A500 mini" and will most likely pick up the Maxi version as well.

My day job for the last 20 or so years has been an Electronics Technician repairing Aircraft Avionic Systems.

chip · 05 March 2022, 09:25

Welcome to the forum !

Nightshft · 05 March 2022, 12:23

Welcome to the EAB

tiim · 05 March 2022, 16:13

Welcome, friend

Matt_H · 05 March 2022, 19:20

Welcome! Always nice to see someone new from this side of the pond.

redblade · 05 March 2022, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Hello,
Anyway, I lusted over the A1000 way back when Commodore first anounced it, but couldn't afford one. Bought an A500 in 1989 in Suwon Korea, where I was stationed in the US Air Force.

In Korea you could buy pirated games and programs for the PC and Amiga for $5 a disk. I was pretty broke at the time, while making monthly payments on my Amiga, so this was pretty much the only way I could afford to get games. My first games were Test Drive, Barbarian, Capone, Mean 18 golf and Shadowgate. I also picked up KindWords to do some word processing for work.

Hi.

I'm guessing you joined the Air Force to get qualified as an Electronic Technician? Can you go into more detail about the piracy scene in Korea.

Did the disks have cracktros at the beginning of the game? Were there any local Korean games available?

Thanks and welcome to the forum.

Shaggy · 07 March 2022, 21:24

Yes, I joined the Air Force to receive training to be an Electronic Technician.

Shaggy · 07 March 2022, 21:27

The computer store that I bought Amiga games from was in the town of Songtan, just outside the gates of Osan AB. The store seemed to mostly cater to American Air Force, but I occasionally saw some South Koreans in the store.

They had a couple of big binders that listed all the games they had, with the amount of disks listed. So, you would pick the game you wanted and the owner would pull the disks and then let you check out the games or he would make copies on one of his Amigas. He would use X-copy to copy the disks.

Shaggy · 07 March 2022, 21:34

I do recall him using the disk copiyng program Maurader at first, but I believe it became unreliable and he switched to X-copy.
The cost was $3 if you provided the disks or $5 if he provided the disks.

All of the games and programs had cracktros and had been cracked by the usual cracking groups I never saw anything that was from Korea.
They also had some pretty good copies of manuals for some of the applications that needed good documentation, like DPaint.

redblade · 12 March 2022, 22:16

Thanks for the info, the Amiga you brought in Korea was it a US NTSC one? With your electronic skills were you able to build a 512K ram expansion?

Pyromania · 12 March 2022, 22:38

Welcome, enjoy!

Dale423 · 13 March 2022, 02:03

Welcome! We are almost neighbors. I am in NW Arkansas

05 March 2022, 05:55	#1
Shaggy Registered User Join Date: Feb 2022 Location: OKLAHOMA CITY Posts: 10	Hello from Oklahoma City Hello, Just joined, but have been a lurker for years. Actually thought that I had joined years ago. Anyway, I lusted over the A1000 way back when Commodore first anounced it, but couldn't afford one. Bought an A500 in 1989 in Suwon Korea, where I was stationed in the US Air Force. In Korea you could buy pirated games and programs for the PC and Amiga for $5 a disk. I was pretty broke at the time, while making monthly payments on my Amiga, so this was pretty much the only way I could afford to get games. My first games were Test Drive, Barbarian, Capone, Mean 18 golf and Shadowgate. I also picked up KindWords to do some word processing for work. Once I got out of the Air Force, I worked on and off for a computer store in Oklahoma City that for years had only sold Commodore computers. In 1990, they were starting to sell PC clones as wella, as Commore and Amiga Computers weren't as profittable. I was mostly was the Amiga guy fixing hardware and software issues, with the occasional repair of a C64 here and there. Like I said, I worked there on and off for the next 7 years, eventually I was mostly just building and repairing PC clones. So I still have an Amiga 500. I traded my original KS1.2 one for a KS1.3 A500 so that the Xtec Hard Drive I bought would Autoboot. I wished I would have hung onto the Xtec Hard Drive, but got rid of it when I got a A570 with the SCSI Hard Drive expansion. I also have two CD32s. I bought the first one brand new with a SX-1 expansion. Bought the other one off of Ebay with a bunch of Amiga books. All my Amiga stuff is packed up, but hope to soon be able to get my stuff back out and do some playing around and upgrade my A500 with a PiStorm. When I'm in the mood to play an Amiga game, I'll do some emulation on a Raspberry Pi 400 (with PiAmiga 2.0), or WinUAE/Amiga Forever, or AmigaKit XE on my PC. I pre-ordered "The A500 mini" and will most likely pick up the Maxi version as well. My day job for the last 20 or so years has been an Electronics Technician repairing Aircraft Avionic Systems.

07 March 2022, 21:27	#8
Shaggy Registered User Join Date: Feb 2022 Location: OKLAHOMA CITY Posts: 10	The computer store that I bought Amiga games from was in the town of Songtan, just outside the gates of Osan AB. The store seemed to mostly cater to American Air Force, but I occasionally saw some South Koreans in the store. They had a couple of big binders that listed all the games they had, with the amount of disks listed. So, you would pick the game you wanted and the owner would pull the disks and then let you check out the games or he would make copies on one of his Amigas. He would use X-copy to copy the disks. Last edited by Shaggy; 07 March 2022 at 21:43.

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05 March 2022, 09:25	#2
chip Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Italy Age: 49 Posts: 2,942	Welcome to the forum !

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07 March 2022, 21:24	#7
Shaggy Registered User Join Date: Feb 2022 Location: OKLAHOMA CITY Posts: 10	Yes, I joined the Air Force to receive training to be an Electronic Technician.

07 March 2022, 21:34	#9
Shaggy Registered User Join Date: Feb 2022 Location: OKLAHOMA CITY Posts: 10	I do recall him using the disk copiyng program Maurader at first, but I believe it became unreliable and he switched to X-copy. The cost was $3 if you provided the disks or $5 if he provided the disks. All of the games and programs had cracktros and had been cracked by the usual cracking groups I never saw anything that was from Korea. They also had some pretty good copies of manuals for some of the applications that needed good documentation, like DPaint.

12 March 2022, 22:16	#10
redblade Zone Friend Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Middle Earth Age: 40 Posts: 2,127	Thanks for the info, the Amiga you brought in Korea was it a US NTSC one? With your electronic skills were you able to build a 512K ram expansion?

12 March 2022, 22:38	#11
Pyromania Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 3,375	Welcome, enjoy!

13 March 2022, 02:03	#12
Dale423 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Bentonville, AR USA Posts: 74	Welcome! We are almost neighbors. I am in NW Arkansas

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