jimsa@milton.u.washington.edu (Jim Sather) (09/12/90)
I was considering buying an amiga for a game machine, but never having used an amiga, I don't know what machine to get. Can a 500 play all existing games? How many bit's deep is the graphics on a 500, does it have 4096 on screen colors? I remember reading that an amiga will output NTSC for use with television and thus I could save the monitor cost. Is this true? Does the 500 do this? As you can see I am totally in the dark so any suggestions on which configurations are best and cheapest for gaming would be much appreciated. Thanks, -Jim jimsa@milton.u.washington.edu
GALETTI@uservx.afwl.af.mil (09/12/90)
In article <7383@milton.u.washington.edu>, jimsa@milton.u.washington.edu (Jim Sather) writes: > I was considering buying an amiga for a game machine, but never having > used an amiga, I don't know what machine to get. Can a 500 play all > existing games? How many bit's deep is the graphics on a 500, does it > have 4096 on screen colors? I remember reading that an amiga will > output NTSC for use with television and thus I could save the monitor > cost. Is this true? Does the 500 do this? As you can see I am totally > in the dark so any suggestions on which configurations are best and > cheapest for gaming would be much appreciated. > > Thanks, > > -Jim > jimsa@milton.u.washington.edu IMHO, the Amiga is the BEST game machine available for an affordable price. I don't know of any games the 500 can't play. The type of machine (500, 2000, etc.) really isn't the issue. However, a significant number of games require 1 Meg of RAM which is not standard on a 500, meaning you might have to buy more RAM to play a few games in particular. Some games include two versions, one for an Amiga with 1 Meg or more of RAM, and a "watered down" version for 512K of RAM. The 500's graphics, like all Amigas to date, allows for up to six bitplanes of graphics. Yes, you can display all 4096 colors on the screen simultaneously using the Hold-And-Modify (HAM) mode. There are some limitations, though. The Amiga 500 has a composite video output, but it's in black and white. What this means is that if you have a VCR or an RF modulator, you can plug the composite output into your VCR and your VCR to your TV to display black & white (actually gray) pictures from your Amiga. Another option, if you can't live without color (I know I can't!) is to buy an RF modulator from Commodore which allows you to use your color TV as a color monitor. The resolution isn't as good as a real monitor because of the limitations of NTSC video, but the color is there, and I think the RF modulator only costs around $25. (Don't quote me.) A friend of mine has an RF modulator with his A500 which he got with the computer as part of a package deal. For gaming, I'd recommend the same package. I think he bought his A500 at Software etc. Hope this helps! -Ralph Disclaimer: The only thing I claim is that I don't claim anything. Oops!
GALETTI@uservx.afwl.af.mil (09/12/90)
> In article <7383@milton.u.washington.edu>, jimsa@milton.u.washington.edu (Jim Sather) writes: >> >> Thanks, >> >> -Jim >> jimsa@milton.u.washington.edu > > I don't know of any games the 500 can't play. The type of machine (500, 2000, > Before I get any flames, what I mean here is that I don't know of any AMIGA games that the 500 can't play. There probably are some, especially now that the 3000's out, but I don't know of them. Fair enough? -Ralph
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (09/12/90)
In article <7383@milton.u.washington.edu> jimsa@milton.u.washington.edu (Jim Sather) writes: > >I was considering buying an amiga for a game machine, but never having >used an amiga, I don't know what machine to get. Can a 500 play all >existing games? Nearly. There are already *some* games on the market that need 1 MB (available by adding an A501), but I don't know of any *game* that needs even more. But there are many demos existing that cry for megabytes. > How many bit's deep is the graphics on a 500, does it >have 4096 on screen colors? Same as any other Amiga. Up to 6 bitplanes; 5 for normal 32-color screens, 6 for "Extra-Halfbright" or "HAM". > I remember reading that an amiga will >output NTSC for use with television and thus I could save the monitor >cost. Is this true? Does the 500 do this? If you have a color TV, then you need an extra RF/NTSC modulator. It's available from Commodore as A520. With this you can connect either to the antenna or the video input of your TV. If you can live with black & white, then you can use the output jack of the A500 directly and connect to the video input of a b/w TV (this way NOT to the antenna input!). -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
buffa@sardaigne.inria.fr (Michel Buffa) (09/14/90)
In article <7383@milton.u.washington.edu>, jimsa@milton.u.washington.edu (Jim Sather) writes: > > I was considering buying an amiga for a game machine, but never having > used an amiga, I don't know what machine to get. Can a 500 play all > existing games? A standard amiga 500 can play 99% of the games. An amiga 500 with one meg of memory can play 100% of the games. (including Dunjeon masters and most of the Cinemaware games which requieres generally 1 meg of RAM) How many bit's deep is the graphics on a 500, does it > have 4096 on screen colors? YES ! But not many games use this resolution (4096 colors are used generally during the presentation page, but not during the game itself). Games are genereally in 32 or 64 colors, even more if they use special effects like changing the palette at every scan line (Shadow of the beast, and many others do that) I remember reading that an amiga will > output NTSC for use with television and thus I could save the monitor > cost. Is this true? Does the 500 do this? Yes, but you'd better buy a monitor for a better image. As you can see I am totally > in the dark so any suggestions on which configurations are best and > cheapest for gaming would be much appreciated. A 500, with 1 meg (exp A501), 2 external drives, a good joystick. If you play only arcade games, you don't need 2 drives and 1 meg. ------------------------------------------ Michel Buffa: Projet Robotvis, INRIA, France Internet: buffa@sardaigne.inria.fr Surface Mail: Michel BUFFA, INRIA - Sophia Antipolis, 2004, route des Lucioles, 06565 Valbonne Cedex -- FRANCE Voice phone: (33) 93.65.78.39, Fax: (33) 93 65 77 65 ------------------------------------------
ngoh@boulder.Colorado.EDU (NGO HIEN D) (09/19/90)
My suggestion about which Amiga 500 set-up to purchase would be to go through C= and get the educational Amiga 500 system. For $799 (when I checked last) you get a 1meg Amiga 500 with 2 drives (one internal and the other external) and a color monitor. I am not sure what software they are currently bundling the system with, though. It's the best deal that I have seen for a complete, new system. Of course, you have to be a university student/faculty member to make the purchase though..... Hien ngoh@tramp.colorado.edu ngoh@snoopy.colorado.edu
jac423@leah.Albany.Edu (Jules Cisek) (09/20/90)
In article <26517@boulder.Colorado.EDU> ngoh@tramp.Colorado.EDU (NGO HIEN D) writes: > >My suggestion about which Amiga 500 set-up to purchase would be to >go through C= and get the educational Amiga 500 system. For >$799 (when I checked last) you get a 1meg Amiga 500 with 2 drives (one >internal and the other external) and a color monitor. That's $759. All you need to do is get proof that you're in education, and go to a local dealer. >I am not >sure what software they are currently bundling the system with, though. AmigaDOS 1.3, Amiga BASIC, AmigaVision, and AREXX. >It's the best deal that I have seen for a complete, new system. >Of course, you have to be a university student/faculty member to >make the purchase though..... Or a faculty/student at a high school, even grade school. -- | // Amiga Student on Campus Consultant Jules Cisek I do think | | \X/ Computing Services Student Assistant SUNYA, NY USA it's good! | | AMIGA Computer Science Major/Music Minor jac423@leah.albany.edu |
amhartma@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Andy Hartman <Amigaman>) (09/20/90)
In article <3651@leah.Albany.Edu> jac423@leah.albany.edu.UUCP (Jules Cisek) writes: > >That's $759. All you need to do is get proof that you're in education, >and go to a local dealer. >Or a faculty/student at a high school, even grade school. >-- >| // Amiga Student on Campus Consultant Jules Cisek I do think | >| \X/ Computing Services Student Assistant SUNYA, NY USA it's good! | >| AMIGA Computer Science Major/Music Minor jac423@leah.albany.edu | Well, not wanting to argue with an Amiga consultant, but I thought it was just higher education (i.e. College...). AMH * Andy Hartman | I'd deny half of this crap anyway!| "Somedays, you just * Indiana University | amhartma@silver.ucs.indiana.edu | can't get rid of a * // Amiga Man | AMHARTMA@rose.ucs.indiana.edu | bomb!" * \X/ At Large! | or just "Hey putz!" | - Batman (original)
uzun@pnet01.cts.com (Roger Uzun) (09/20/90)
I doubt there will be any games that the 500 can't play for many years.
Many require 1M, and some play better on faster machines, but all
game developers use the 500 as the base fortheir amiga development.
-Roger
UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!uzun
ARPA: crash!pnet01!uzun@nosc.mil
INET: uzun@pnet01.cts.comjoseph@valnet.UUCP (Joseph P. Hillenburg) (09/20/90)
jac423@leah.Albany.Edu (Jules Cisek) writes: > In article <26517@boulder.Colorado.EDU> ngoh@tramp.Colorado.EDU (NGO HIEN D) > > > >My suggestion about which Amiga 500 set-up to purchase would be to > >go through C= and get the educational Amiga 500 system. For > >$799 (when I checked last) you get a 1meg Amiga 500 with 2 drives (one > >internal and the other external) and a color monitor. > > That's $759. All you need to do is get proof that you're in education, > and go to a local dealer. > > >I am not > >sure what software they are currently bundling the system with, though. > > AmigaDOS 1.3, Amiga BASIC, AmigaVision, and AREXX. Ok...you seem to have slipped a little here. With AmigaDOS 1.3.2, you get AmigaBASIC. With 2.0, Commodore dropped AmigaBASIC and added ARexx. AmigaVision only comes with Amigas that are factory equipped with 1 meg RAM (unless a dealer or somethin has added the extra 512k and AmigaVision free etc.) > > >It's the best deal that I have seen for a complete, new system. > >Of course, you have to be a university student/faculty member to > >make the purchase though..... > > Or a faculty/student at a high school, even grade school. > -- > | // Amiga Student on Campus Consultant Jules Cisek I do think | > | \X/ Computing Services Student Assistant SUNYA, NY USA it's good! | > | AMIGA Computer Science Major/Music Minor jac423@leah.albany.edu | -Joseph Hillenburg UUCP: ...iuvax!valnet!joseph INET: joseph@valnet.UUCP ARPA: valnet!joseph@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu
OEYO8729@TREARN.BITNET (Cem TURGAY) (09/21/90)
Hi, Amiga is not a game machine, but you can not find any machine better than Amiga-500 for game playing. Amiga can use your color TV with little RF modulator (A520). Some games which they are strategy or adventures in 2-3 diskets need 1Mb. But you can solve this problem with extra 512K. card (A501). Amiga has a standart 5 bitplanes with 640x400 pixel for graphic display, but some process can upgrade it with extra 6 bitplanes (4096 color) or 800x512 pixel graphic display. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Cem Turgay = Everything is possible but I can't do it yet = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = /// = = OEYO8729 @ TREARN : student of Computer Programming = /// = = : Ege University Computer Center = \\\ /// = = PROHVK32 @ TREARN : programmer at DAPRO Computer Co.= \XX/ = = AMIGA @ HOME : B-) = Amiga-500 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =========================================================================