Hello.

I've owned an Amiga 500 and Amiga 1200. I still own the Amiga 1200 to this day.

You can only use a VGA monitor from the Amiga's video port that outputs at 15 Hz.

http://15khz.wikidot.com/

The 'Gotek' floppy emulator is good but if you have lots of floppy disks to use, you then need to have an external floppy drive to access the disks. Or run the Gotek externally and keep the internal drive.

The CF hard drive is a winner. If you look at 'WHDLOAD', you can the run games directly from the CF drive through Workbench and return to Workbench when you've finished the game via a hotkey.

At a minimum, you'll need a 512KB Upgrade, the more RAM the merrier.

Start reading:

https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-m … ort=titleSorter

by far the easiest method to get into amiga gaming is:
Amiga1200 + CF HDD + ram expansion or accelerator + whdload
you need the ram expansion (or better yet accelerator) for whdload, it allows you to play games from the hdd so no floppies/emulators/loading times and it cures incompatibility problems that games have so your A1200 will play the whole library from early a500 titles to the latest a1200 ones.

For VGA you need a device called a scandoubler or some sort of upscaler like the framemeister or the ossc. All these options are on the expensive side though.

You can do the same with an A600 but you will lose the ability to play AGA games (made for A1200/A4000/CD32).
A500 is a choice but I don't recommend spending money to modernize it with ide controllers/accelerators - just get a gotek and play with fdd images.

Remember though, everything amiga demands a certain amount of money 🤣

500's are common and cheap.

1200's are not reguarly on sale on ebay, and are expensive.

Majority of games are not AGA (1200/4k) games, they are ECS/OCS.

red_avatar wrote:

I never owned an Amiga but being a big DOS fan, I have a keen interest in Amiga games from 1985-1994 which overlaps with many quality DOS games - many games were lacking on PC or had worse graphics or sounds and I want to close that gap. The idea is not to have a full authentic Amiga but rather to give me easy access to Amiga games without too much faffing about.

True that, though around 1991, Dos games was starting to become better. Around 1992 it was equal and by 1993 it was mostly Dos games that were the best versions. Check out games like Syndicate and Settlers. Sound was better on the Amiga releases and the graphics was better on the Dos versions. And so it was with a lot of other games. This means that around 95% of all the best Amiga games, can be played with an Amiga500 that has 512k memory expansion. Price versus what you need of hardware, then it is insane to rush out and get an Amiga1200 these days.

red_avatar wrote:

I've watched quite a few Youtube vids over the years and have messed around in WINUAE but I could still use help. For a start, is the Amiga 500 a good bet or should I go for the Amiga 1200? Are there things to watch out for (I recall power bricks being a problem)? Are there must-have mods? Are accelerator cards a must or recommended or should I start without one first? And which Workbench should I use?

Regarding accelerators, then you do not really need one. As most games, like I stated above, does not need faster machines than a near stock Amiga500. You actually only need that 512k trapdoor expansion. Regarding the power brick. Then you need to figure out if the voltages are well regulated and stable. Of course you can recap them, yet you can go ahead and use a MeanWell RT-65b PSU that will fit right into the PSU power brick. And then you are safe for the next at least 10 years. I just recently found out by asking around, that they are extremely stable and you get really much for the money, by buying a MeanWell.

red_avatar wrote:

I had an (uneducated) look and think the following mods looks good for a start:

- for letting me use my VGA monitor on the Amiga:
https://amigakit.amiga.store/product_info.php … products_id=183

That will only work, if the monitor it self support 15khz signal. Go for the Scandoubler way. Now there are some things you need to know. First is that PAL games are written for 50hz refresh rate and you need a monitor that supports it. In other words 50hz smooth scrolling. Then there are other scandoublers that can go 50hz and go 62 and go 73hz refresh and so on. They are a bit more expensive than those that can go 50hz only. Yet the 50hz are just plug and play and cheaper. The more advanced cost more and need more fiddeling with settings.... Anyway....

50hz:
https://www.amedia-computer.com/en/accueil/29 … -a500-2000.html
This one I have in my Amiga500, and it delivers a perfect picture. Wonderfull colours and 99% perfect vertical and horisontal scrolling in games like Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Dreams. The downside is that you need a monitor that can do 50hz. Most CRT's can do it, not all LCD's can.

62hz and up:
https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/product/F … fi_type=OCS_ECS
Now this I have in my Amiga600. As it is the only internal product that can work in that Amiga600 model. It needs a lot of settings and fiddeling, yet once it is set up, then it is working like a charm. Yet... You need a high grade LCD monitor, as the cheap ones will show ghosting.

On an 500, I recommend the ScanPlusECS if you have a monitor that can handle 50hz. As 50hz still gives the best gaming experience.

red_avatar wrote:

- for emulating floppies:
http://amigakit.amiga.store/product_info.php? … roducts_id=1284 (I have a Gotek for PC - isn't that compatible?)

Nope.... A pc drive are not directly compatible. The Amiga and other machines like that, uses a standard called something like shugart. A bit more reading here... http://dliapp.wizhut.com/blog/?p=59 Basically Amiga need disk change and drive ready signal and then need to have the device ID set to 0. The PC have it's drives ID set to "1". On my Amiga 500's I have used a special floppy cable and a specially 3D printed eject button and just a standard PC drive... Check my blog. I have the two machines described there...

Here and here.

red_avatar wrote:

- CF hard drive:
http://amigakit.amiga.store/product_info.php?products_id=883

If you go for the Gotek way, or decide to use a mod cable as I for internal drive and Gotek in external drive box. Then you do not need any internal harddrive.

red_avatar wrote:

I had my eye on the following for example:
https://www.2dehands.be/computer-game-console … -494670946.html
€75 for a 500 in pretty good condition but no monitor, no extras - think that's a decent deal?

It is a pretty good deal. And you still need some equipment and upgrades and all that. Just remember, that if your aim is to play Amiga games up untill the time in were Dos games surpassed Amiga games in quality. Then you are in the time frame were the Amiga1200 was not released. So a 1200 will just be overkill, and looking at the current value, then it is a waste of time. You also need at least 68020 CPU and more than 2mb of ram, in order to be able to run WHD-Loader correctly and without ant issues at all. This means accelerator on the Amiga500 and even accelerator on an Amiga1200. Amiga + and between 150 and 250 Euro for an accelerator on top.

Personally I recommend an Amig500 with scandoubler and gotek solution. And you can even get a boot swap thing, so you can use the external drive as if it was the internal drive.

Thanks for all the help - it seems I underestimated the cost :p

It's true, the 1200 is 3-4 times more expensive but when I factor in the cost of all the addons mentioned, it seems I might as well aim high and have access to all Amiga games - there's still some exclusives that never came to DOS like Liberation, Ambermoon, Ruff n Tumble, ... . I think I'll save up a bit and keep an eye on local sales. There's one sale of a complete 1200 with monitor and hundreds of disks for €400 but they won't ship it by post 😠

https://www.2dehands.be/computer-game-console … -497373234.html

^ wise choice - I am pretty sure that swapping virtual floppies in 2019 with a kickstart 1.3 A500 will become boring REALLY soon - not to mention you'd have to swim through a bazillion cracked versions of images and forget about a decent workbench.

With a 1200 like the one on the sale you linked you could install a workbench like this: http://classicwb.abime.net/classicweb/full.htm and have games with icons or in a launcher running from the hdd just like windows games. No loading times, no half-working cracks no weird issues. You get all.

The pc never really caught up with the amigas in the platform/shooter sections. Adventures, RPGs, 3DFPS , strategy games sure a VGA pc is way better.

Or have all them ADF files on an extern gotek, load up xcopy/d-copy, and them re-create real floppy disks on the internal floppy disk drive. 😉 If real disks are still your thing. Just choose source "DF1" and destination "DF0".

keropi wrote:

The pc never really caught up with the amigas in the platform/shooter sections. Adventures, RPGs, 3DFPS , strategy games sure a VGA pc is way better.

As far as I understand, then it is because Amiga uses a way different aproach to how the image is generated. Compared to VGA. Something with chunky and bitplane/map/? (I really can not remember). All I know is that this is why Doom works so well on VGA.

red_avatar wrote:

Thanks for all the help - it seems I underestimated the cost :p

If you have access to an old 14 to 20 inch CRT television that has SCART input. Then you do not need an expensive scandoubler. So that is cost you do not have to give out. And if all you want to play, can run on an 500 anyway. Then you do not need that 1200. There are RGB to Scart cables, and that is actually how we used to play on the 500 back then. And it will give you the best and most authentic experience.

yes , it's all in the hardware - that's why for example 3D shooters of the era are horrible on amiga.

brostenen wrote:

As far as I understand, then it is because Amiga uses a way different aproach to how the image is generated. Compared to VGA. Something with chunky and bitplane/map/? (I really can not remember).

No. VGA ModeX is also bitplane plannar like Amiga graphic modes. What amiga had is blitter, copper etc custom hardware asics where VGA was nothing but raw bandwidth with evereything in software.

Yeahh.... Vampire V2 are a god sent.
(Still wonder why no music in all them youtube clips)

BloodyCactus wrote:

brostenen wrote:

As far as I understand, then it is because Amiga uses a way different aproach to how the image is generated. Compared to VGA. Something with chunky and bitplane/map/? (I really can not remember).

No. VGA ModeX is also bitplane plannar like Amiga graphic modes. What amiga had is blitter, copper etc custom hardware asics where VGA was nothing but raw bandwidth with evereything in software.

Ahhh.... I still think I had it explained as VGA have chunky, and that what made doom possible on relatively low (486dx2) CPU power.

yeah. chained vga is chunky, often the default vga mode. unchained is planar, mostly modex modes.

Sooo ... an old school CRT monitor needs a scandoubler as well? All this is incredibly alien to me 🤣

red_avatar wrote:

Sooo ... an old school CRT monitor needs a scandoubler as well? All this is incredibly alien to me 🤣

Not all.
It is the signal's frequency, that are running through the cable we are dealing with. The reason behind it, is that the Amiga was born as a multimedia machine, computer and game console in the same package. And because consoles uses televisions, then they chose the signal that was used in the tv industry. Of course the Amiga evolved as any other computer, yet the tv aproach stuck on as the primaery default output. That means gaming or programs from floppy. Yet you can enable higher output in workbench. Yet that does not help for gaming.

Now...
Some CRT monitors can do 15khz. (Commodoere and so on).
Wery few LCD's can do 15khz (few Dell, and so on).

You can buy that scandoubler, get a VGA monitor that can do 15khz or go the Television way. If you choose the television way, then you need RGB (23-pin on the Amiga side) to SCART input on the TV. It is a strange world, yet it was invented with video editing and gaming on televisions in mind.

Amiga outputs analog 15khz signal . AGA ones had the option to output a vga signal in workbench but games would still switch to 15k. So unless you get a scandoubler you need to use a 15k monitor like a 1084, a pvm/bvm or a TV set that has preferably a scart rgb input.

Dang took me longer to write that post I was beaten to it 🤣

I forgot to add, that for gaming only, then a good brand of television and scart cable. Will provide a really good quality for gaming. For word processing and other productivity software. Photo editing included, you need a real monitor. So if your goal is still gaming only, then you can get by with a tv. Especially something like a Sony Trinitron or if you have a Sony PVM Trinitron monitor, then you have the absolute best for "non-monitor" setup. Well... That is if you are using scart.

keropi wrote:

Amiga outputs analog 15khz signal . AGA ones had the option to output a vga signal in workbench but games would still switch to 15k. So unless you get a scandoubler you need to use a 15k monitor like a 1084, a pvm/bvm or a TV set that has preferably a scart rgb input.

Dang took me longer to write that post I was beaten to it 🤣

Yup.... TV's was what we used back then for gaming in our childhood bedrooms. Well... Those that had an Amiga. And it will be what gives the original experience, as if it was "gaming like it was 1989 again". :-p