Emulation vs Actual Hardware - is there a difference?

[cv643d]

I think music sounds better on a real Paula.

[acidbottle]

Nothing beats the feel of real hardware, though the cost and time to set it all up is a huge drawback. My original 1200 is lost somewhere in time and space, no idea where it went so had to stump up for a new one about 10 years ago. Luckily I hopped on board with the real deal just as the prices were starting to rise, Im not sure I would pay the prices they go for now. The only original thing I havnt used is a hdd for storage, the CF card option is really what makes using the machine so much nicer now than it did back in the 90s. Still need to send it off for a recap to, something I dread doing as the fate of my amiga is then in the hands of royal mail!

On the other hand, am in the process of doing the whole piamiga thing, since emulation is really getting it together now and its super simple to get a full on pimped Amiga running smoothly and for a very fair cost. Will help save some wear and tear on the real machine.

[stevelord]

Originally Posted by jotd

what? even with whdload? examples? 68060 isn't an issue with whdload when the .slave has been properly done (unlike my first release of Danger Freak...)

Lots of games need substantial tweaking to work. Robocop 3 for example needs various options set to run on my Amiga, which I had to hunt down. Civilization randomly out of memory'd on me earllier today (I have over 512Mb of RAM). Then there are games like Wing Commander which are too fast with an 060.


WHDLoad is great, and it definitely helps improve compatibility but it's not perfect (nothing is) and I'm certainly not when it comes to configuring it. On the other hand I have a WinUAE set up for A500 compatibility with tons of games so if something OCS doesn't work on the A4000 I can often just switch over rather than faff with settings.


I also have a really good VHD on my MiSTer setup.

[Anubis]

Originally Posted by yelworC

Emulation often lacks bad lighting and a beer :-D

You got it bit wrong - with emulation you have more room to place beer and other beverages around...

[Wavemaker]

I love using Amiga but there's nothing like the feeling you get when you see younger people getting interested in the retro world. And sorry guys but nobody's going to pay any attention to you WinUAE screen, people would probably think you're playing a flash game if that was still a thing.

Now turn on a real A500 ("are you serious this is the whole computer here?") and load your favourite game or demo off a floppy and watch them fascinated at the whirring of the drive. Bonus points if it's a copy protected disk making funny noises

[NovaCoder]

I love playing Amiga games on my MiSTer FPGA computer it feels exactly like using my old A1200 did, it even makes the same strange audio noises when loading games that my old A1200 did

[ Show youtube player ]

[Mathesar]

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

I love playing Amiga games on my MiSTer FPGA computer it feels exactly like using my old A1200 did, it even makes the same strange audio noises when loading games that my old A1200 did

Do I see a Ducky keyboard there? With the two-tone beige "Amiga" key colors???

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by Mathesar

Do I see a Ducky keyboard there? With the two-tone beige "Amiga" key colors???

Possible

[Valken]

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

I love playing Amiga games on my MiSTer FPGA computer it feels exactly like using my old A1200 did, it even makes the same strange audio noises when loading games that my old A1200 did

[ Show youtube player ]

Amazing.... AGA accelerated Amiga in that sleek black Checkmate case! Beautiful!

[ztronzo]

Emulation is by far the best choice, you can choose any model you want.. and doesnt cost you anything than owning a modern computer.. you can do so much that cannot be done with real Amiga's. Whoever says its not, has probably no experience and is using the wrong emulation settings. and yes you can also emulate funny floppy noises..

Although the slick design of an A1200 might make you re-think of owning one...

[blanka]

I still haven't found an emulator, that has read errors on working disk(images) or corrupts working disks with his dirty drive.
So real hardware is a totally different game.

[Agrajag]

I have an old(ish) i5 USFF PC which I use specifically as a 1980s emulation machine. I do own a 1MB Amiga 500 with Gotek, but that rarely gets taken out of storage as it's really not worth the effort.

I thought about upgrading the 500 with more RAM and some kind of hard drive solution, but find it hard to justify the cost.

My virtual WinUAE Amiga 500 is much cheaper to upgrade, looks more authentic on a LCD screen with the right filters and as others have said, it allows me to save games.

[Total Eclipse]

I've been using a MiST (not Mister) for the past 5 years, and from my point of view, nothing comes closer to the experience of actual Amiga hardware.

As standard it has analogue video output, so can display on any screen that my real A1200 works with, including CRT's. Also, it has two DE-9 ports (that even work with Amiga mice) so I can also use all my old joysticks. I still have one A1200, but that's now relegated to the loft, along with my ST and Spectrum. The MiST has replaced all my old computers, in fact the HDD image file I use for the MiST Amiga is cloned from the CF I have in the real Amiga. I still keep the real hardware, mostly for nostalgic reasons, and also because occasionally it's nice to experience the feel of original hardware, but for convenience I can't fault the MiST.

[yelo]

Using real hardware has a certain "feel" to it, but I wouldn't really recommend anyone going down that (expensive and convoluted) path. Grab a Mister, or play around with any of the emulators.

I really enjoy using my chicken lips or my 1200, but frankly, most of the time nowadays I spend my "amiga time" playing around in WinUAE.

[robinsonb5]

Originally Posted by yelo

Using real hardware has a certain "feel" to it, but I wouldn't really recommend anyone going down that (expensive and convoluted) path.

MiST's certainly not the cheapest option (though the Spanish clones are pretty cheap) - but I wouldn't call it "convoluted". MiSTer is undeniably good value, but it's still not *that* cheap once you've picked a selection of add-on boards, better power-supply, USB hub and a suitable enclosure.

[Edit: apologies, as Konrad pointed out, I misunderstood, and you're referring to original hardware, not MiST?]

[Konrad]

I think he meant original hardware being expensive and convoluted

[robinsonb5]

Originally Posted by Konrad

I think he meant original hardware being expensive and convoluted

Ah, yes indeed - you're probably right

[dreadnought]

But it isn't, really. Well, at least it wasn't before The Great Covid spike. A500+Gotek costed me ~100 quid a year ago.

[yelo]

Originally Posted by robinsonb5

[Edit: apologies, as Konrad pointed out, I misunderstood, and you're referring to original hardware, not MiST?]

Yeah, sorry, maybe I was a bit unclear. FPGA solutions aren't the cheapest option either, but it's cheaper then the black hole that is "real" Amiga gear nowadays.


I guess you could score a 500 kinda cheap, and when the PiStorms are more readily available, I could see that as a cheap-ish alternative. Although I'm not sure running a PiStorm is considered running on "real" hardware anymore.

[AF2013]

I getting Coin ups Emulator hard drive this week and see what Games I can played but you cant beat the real things(software either disk or carts or whatever) with real hardware