Games with required HD installation (before HD became standard equipment)

[DaveTaylor]

Here is the right place for collecting names of games that require a HD installation.

I start with

Roger Rabbit in Hare Raising Havoc

http://hol.abime.net/662


It had been the first ever Amiga game that needed an install.

I remember a bad rating in my favourite Amiga mag "Amiga Joker" because of HD requirement. Didn't understand that decision. A heavy hardware requirement shouldn't lead to a bad rating. It's good for pushing the users to upgrade their machines.

http://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=15269


The next one please.

[Overmann]

Originally Posted by DaveTaylor

I remember a bad rating in my favourite Amiga mag "Amiga Joker" because of HD requirement. Didn't understand that decision. A heavy hardware requirement shouldn't lead to a bad rating. It's good for pushing the users to upgrade their machines.

I completely agree. I didn't understand it back then and it annoys me looking back at it now. Reviewers (and users no doubt) were complaining that games didn't run fluidly on A500 well into the 90's.

NEXT game:

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary
http://hol.abime.net/2098

Really quite fantastic game and a good port. It requires a powerful machine to run perfectly (HDD is just basic. I would say an 030 is a must for the 3D-parts) and it is a real treat for Star Trek fans!

[Cpt. Hindsight]

Well, you better read the Amiga Joker article again...it did not get the bad rating because of its hd requirement.

[Overmann]

I just have to throw one more in there while I'm at it:

Sim City 2000
http://hol.abime.net/1929

I notoriously bad port that (along with other bad ports like Fifa and Aladdin) got surprisingly good scores when it was released. I always thought the amiga-version was a complete hack job, but then learned that the single person responsible for it got a weakend to complete it and no doubt did the best he could. I've just built some DOS-machines and among them is a 386dx 40mhz and a 486dx2 66 with a vlb graphics card and I have to say that SC2000 is unplayable on the 386, and not at all as fast and responsive as I would have guessed on the 486. It plays about as well as the amigaversion does on a patched up 060-system. I guess whoever ported it to the Amiga had a difficult job. It should have been a 32 color game.

[DamienD]

... Capital Punishment
... Contraption Zack
... others that I can't be bothered to list ATM.

[dlfrsilver]

Reunion AGA

[idrougge]

After 1995, HD is usually a requirement.

[DamienD]

True idrougge; but these seem a bit silly given the year of release:

a) Contraption Zack (1992)
b) Hare Raising Havoc (1992)

[Nibbler]

Biing!

http://www.lemonamiga.com/?game_id=2614

[Overmann]

Originally Posted by Nibbler

Biing!

http://www.lemonamiga.com/?game_id=2614

19 disks? That is insane!

[idrougge]

Originally Posted by DamienD

True idrougge; but these seem a bit silly given the year of release:

a) Contraption Zack (1992)
b) Hare Raising Havoc (1992)

Exactly. When I saw the thread title, I read it as "Games with required HD installation (before HD became standard equipment)".

[Seiya]

Originally Posted by Overmann

I completely agree. I didn't understand it back then and it annoys me looking back at it now. Reviewers (and users no doubt) were complaining that games didn't run fluidly on A500 well into the 90's.

When some review a game, usally, use the disk version because in the Amiga era, HardDisk are so rare, to much expansive and not all people can have money to buy it.
So wen you review a game from floppy action is broken by floppy accessing.
In a review you have also to search to explain what you see in a game also in 90's and people that read you must be imagine in the mind how it runs thank to your words.
You have also keep in mind that in the 90's some many PC games run at great fluidity also with a very slow 286 with VGA and Amiga games some times not, so you expect much more.

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary

This game for Amiga games library is very good because there is nothing like that: Point & Click adventure with arcade action combat. Amiga version is good but very cut from PC version because they deleted many things that you can not notice when you play, but if review this game you notice.
It remain a good game for Amiga but requiring HD installation maybe some deleted object and animation are not very good.

Originally Posted by dlfrsilver

Reunion AGA

also Reunion OCS

[jotd]

after 1995, the other mandatory requirement were loooooong 16 million color palette fade ins and out. Soooo boring.

[Seiya]

nah..even if people expect much more quality and detail thanks to the various accelerator card with much memory.

[Mad-Matt]

I seem to recall one of the Street Fighter II (turbo?) games having a mandatory hd install.

After commodore died and big publishers had moved on, the game quality in general hit rock bottom with a lot of PD quality efforts getting a commercial release. I guess the only positive aspect was that most releases were workbench/HD compatible. At least for launching, not always quitting.

[Seiya]

yes, Street Fighter II Turbo require HD install. There are many games installable on HD even if not alls have installer script. Not much floppy games require mandatory HD installation (now i remember only Captial Punishment, Hare Racing Havoc, Street Fighter II Turbo, Star Trek 25th Anniversary).
Biing! has two versions: the 19 floppy version is mandatory hd installation, but the 12 disk version start from floppy.

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by Overmann

I just have to throw one more in there while I'm at it:

Sim City 2000
http://hol.abime.net/1929

I notoriously bad port that (along with other bad ports like Fifa and Aladdin) got surprisingly good scores when it was released. I always thought the amiga-version was a complete hack job, but then learned that the single person responsible for it got a weakend to complete it and no doubt did the best he could. I've just built some DOS-machines and among them is a 386dx 40mhz and a 486dx2 66 with a vlb graphics card and I have to say that SC2000 is unplayable on the 386, and not at all as fast and responsive as I would have guessed on the 486. It plays about as well as the amigaversion does on a patched up 060-system. I guess whoever ported it to the Amiga had a difficult job. It should have been a 32 color game.

So it might surprise you to know that if you use Shapeshifter the Mac emulator on Amiga, the Mac version of SS2000 runs quite a bit better

[Retro-Nerd]

Death of Glory (the later 3-disk release)
On the Ball (some versions)
Sixth Sense Investigations
Star Crusader

[redblade]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

So it might surprise you to know that if you use Shapeshifter the Mac emulator on Amiga, the Mac version of SS2000 runs quite a bit better

You must of had a beefy big box Amiga back in the day? I thought you just had a A500 with ARC 3 and a A1200 with a accelerator??

[DaveTaylor]

Originally Posted by Overmann

I completely agree. I didn't understand it back then and it annoys me looking back at it now. Reviewers (and users no doubt) were complaining that games didn't run fluidly on A500 well into the 90's.

Yes. Very strange. Can't remember bad ratings for PC Games because they didn't run fluidly on 286 in the 90s.