Hello from Greece!

[plutonick]

Hello everybody, new member here, old Amiga owner. One of the biggest mistakes I ever did was to sell my old Amiga 500, 25 years ago.

I tried emulation years ago, but wasn't satisfied and quit. Lately I have been interested in replaying (or playing for the first time) old crpgs on DosBox and thought that some of those were better on the Amiga. So I got interested in emulation again.

Quick question in case someone reads this. Emulated shmups feel .. off. Like walking while underwater. Anyone know how to make movement more natural (ie like original Amiga)?

[Nibbler]

Hello and welcome

[djukon]

Welcome to EAB, plutonick .

Originally Posted by plutonick

Emulated shmups feel .. off. Like walking while underwater. Anyone know how to make movement more natural (ie like original Amiga)?

If you are playing PAL games, be sure to set the display refresh rate to 50Hz (or 100Hz) if your monitor supports it. For what I consider "feeling off", this usually fixes that perception. If this doesn't fix your issue, please point to an example, if possible.

BTW, another important improvement is to avoid sound lag by reducing the sound buffer as much as you can before you start getting skips in the emulation.

Then there are other slight tweaks that might improve your perception and/or compatibility, though too much to get into detail here.

Have fun!

[chip]

Welcome to the forum plutonick

[plutonick]

Originally Posted by djukon

Welcome to EAB, plutonick .


If you are playing PAL games, be sure to set the display refresh rate to 50Hz (or 100Hz) if your monitor supports it. For what I consider "feeling off", this usually fixes that perception. If this doesn't fix your issue, please point to an example, if possible.

Thanks for your suggersions, i will definately try them once I am back from work. How can I be sure if my games are PAL or NTSC? I use PleasureDome's whdload collection.

Then there are other slight tweaks that might improve your perception and/or compatibility, though too much to get into detail here.

Have fun!

Is there perhaps a guide or a page that summarize all those tweaks? I am very interested in trying them and getting a better Amiga feel.

[djukon]

Originally Posted by plutonick

Thanks for your suggersions, i will definately try them once I am back from work.

You are welcome, plutonick. Let us know how it goes.

Originally Posted by plutonick

How can I be sure if my games are PAL or NTSC? I use PleasureDome's whdload collection.

I'm not familiar with that collection.

What I can tell you, is that you usually know a game is definitively PAL if it doesn't fit vertically into the 320x200 resolution, since some take advantage of the extra lines in the PAL's 320x256 resolution.

From my experience, everything else depends. Sometimes ports for a particular region were not well done and have the music too fast, or too slow. Or even the 4:3 aspect ratio might be off: look for examples of circles in the games, make sure they are round. A positive aspect of emulation is that you can correct some game programming mistakes/oversights by adjusting some settings. I suggest trying out the Filter settings in WinUAE for correcting aspect ratios.

If you are unsure about aspect ratios and speed (50Hz vs 60Hz), also looking up examples of the same game on other platforms might give you clues.

Even commercially released emulated titles/bundles get the 50Hz vs 60Hz issue wrong, so be wary. Sonic Gems Collection on the PS2 comes to mind.

After I find the right setting, I usually append an additional string to the archive files. Something like "(U-N50)" which to me would mean a game which was released to run on a US/North-American machine, that will display properly with an NTSC aspect ratio ("taller" pixels), though runs at the appropriate speed when 50Hz is set (not a usual combination). For instance, on the other side of the scale, Sonic the Hedgehog on the MegaDrive/Genesis is better displayed with a PAL aspect ratio (for round rings) and running at 60Hz.

Originally Posted by plutonick

Is there perhaps a guide or a page that summarize all those tweaks? I am very interested in trying them and getting a better Amiga feel.

I'm sorry, I am not aware of a comprehensive Amiga emulation tweak guide in what you might be looking. I have been trying them out as I go. Maybe someone else might know of one.

What I am aware of are these guides, FAQs and tutorials (not updated recently): http://wiki.abime.net/emulation/useful_links .

[TjLaZer]

Just pick up a nice A1200 and call it good. With WHDLoad you can use a Tooltype to set PAL or NTSC and it will play fine, no worries.

[djukon]

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

Just pick up a nice A1200 and call it good.

Indeed. plutonic, if you eventually decide to go down the classic hardware route, be aware of additional costs such as:

• getting a reliable power source;
• making sure the A1200 is recapped (or will be soon);
• having a compatible display for it, or a conversion apparatus of your choice (scan doubler to VGA, RGB to SCART (to HDMI), etc.);
• getting an updated Kickstart version;
• getting an accelerator card for more RAM, faster processing power, and a real time clock.

Depending on what deals you can find in 2018, this might set you back 250€ to 500€.

[plutonick]

I am strictly insterested only in emulation (mainly due to lack of living space).

[Allen1]

Hi plutonic and welcome to EAB

I read your post about Greece and the games restriction still going on after 15 years. There are some games worthy of playing in "pitfalls thread" http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=90976 they are great quality and definitely worth downloading, they are set up and run in Windows. A big thanks goes to pitfall for providing them

[toples50]

Hello plutonick and welcome.I'm from Greece too.

[djukon]

Originally Posted by plutonick

I am strictly insterested only in emulation (mainly due to lack of living space).

I totally understand, I also have to live with the same constraint, mainly after my kids having been born. However, I did not give up and this may serve as inspiration.

My custom made computing rig furniture sits in a corner of the bedroom. From what I recall, it is 103cm wide, 68cm deep, and 220cm tall. It carries 3 retro PCs, the A1200 and a modern laptop, besides peripherals, books and other media. The innovative feature is having two slide out keyboard shelves. One is for the PCs, the other is for the Amiga. The A1200 shelf carries the A1200, space for using the mouse, 3 external floppy drives, 2 optical drives (one is SCSI), and a 3.5" HDD. When not in use, the executive style chair with elbow supports tucks in nicely into the space reserved for stretching your legs, which is a plus for additional spousal approval.

Edit: And I almost forgot, a PS2 is also hooked up, with a steering wheel and pedals ready to setup in less than a minute (PC and PS2).

[plutonick]

Originally Posted by toples50

Hello plutonick and welcome.I'm from Greece too.

Cool. I am sending you a PM!