This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (45 messages)
Steve, Nicely explained, thanks! Now I know why I've been addicted to these things since 1983! — steve
Steve, I also think there's alot of misconception about why "Joe and Jane potential home computer user" don't really exist. It ain't the interface, it's just still easier to balance a checkbook with a pen (or not balance it at all for awhile), and certainly not worth hundreds or thousands…
Rebecca, Well hang in there! We all understand your frustration but in time things will work out, be assured. At least a drive from El Paso to Albuquerque can be a nice way to spend some time (maybe with an overnight car-camping outing planned in-between?) together. 😉 — steve
Bill, Sounds like he's a new user, and is having the same problem I had my first couple of days as an Amiga user. The disk drive light, when a disk is being written to, will sometimes turn off (and the drive will stop) for a brief moment, and then…
Aargh, well it sounds like a trip to the nearest Commodore dealer may be in order, then. Don't futz around with opening the back of the monitor if you're not _real_ familiar with that kind of stuff, it can be a rather shocking experience (and sometimes fatal). — steve
You've probably tried this, but there's a switch in the front panel all the way on the right that's labelled "Video Mode." This should be pushed all the way to the right to the "RGB" setting. If it's on anything else you will get a dark monitor. Hopefully this is…
Betty, This is the first I've heard of this. I have an uncle who also had a quadruple bypass about 10 years ago, and he's still going strong at 74. You and your husband are in my thoughts, take care! — steve
What a great story! Moral is, "never rush blindly across wool rugs to impress your mother." I wish Saddam Hussein had learned this lesson earlier in life. (non sequitur, I know)
thanks for the report on your experiences, I think I'll be very careful around my ports from now on (as if I'm not already!).
Hmmm, this is something to watch out for should one ever purchase third-party mice and stuff. I've noticed most joystick connectors don't have such a ground, is this something to start worrying about?
Interesting! This suddenly makes me realize that maybe some third-party mice and/or joysticks do _not_ have that metal shell, is this risky? Or is the ground across the pins adequate enough?
Ben, Is there any, uh, convenient way to ground my mouse, then???……. 🙂 — steve
#32bit vs. 16bit
Message #10535
Kevin, While Ethan has you in this mood, can I ask a perhaps tangential question? A number of people have wondered to me about why the 32-bit CPUs often will not run games designed for 16-bit A500 systems (many will, of course, but some won't). I'd _like_ to have a…
Ethan, Wow, this is all great news!!! I'm not saying a _word_ about it though until it's finally out in final release and CBM has made its own determinations on who and what for and how much and where and why. Nice to know they're busy, though — I _knew_…
Steve, Just thought I'd mention, there's a little slider in POWERMONGER that allows one to set gamespeed to match different CPU rates. So it doesn't have the problem (if one thinks of it as such) of excessive speed that POPULOUS does on the faster machines. — steve
#POWERMONGER Specs
Message #3549
Menachem, To keep the thing as widely use-able as possible, it requires only 512k and comes on one disk, which you will need a disk copy utility to copy. I used AmigaDOS DiskCopy and it seemed to work okay, though it reported an error trying to validate the disk (it's…
Gale, Yep! It would be dumb _not_ to have tested out the game on the A3000, and the box indicates that it will work with same. I haven't checked it out myself yet, but I'm sure they wouldn't advertise it as having the support if they hadn't tested it. The…
#POWERMONGER!
Message #3533
All, Just wanted to confirm that it's all true, every word of it… POWERMONGER is here and it's FABULOUS! Definitely different from POPULOUS and still quite playable despite an amazing enrichment of the simulated gameworld. Take a look! — steve
ELVIRA: MISTRESS
Message #3532
Jake, Yes! My local dealer said they're getting them in now — thanks for the advance warning. Amiga CRPGs have really taken off this year — just got my first glimpse at Horrorsoft/Accolade's ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK CRPG, and it's quite amazing graphically and aurally, hope it lives up…
FTL/CSB!
Message #3427
Okay, I'll be putting a little prayer into my startup-sequence file for the next week in the hope this actually comes tru — thanks for the inside info! How's FTL doing these days, BTW? What new projects have they embarked on, if any? — steve
Ben, Guess so. Or sounds like AWESOME sits for a long while until current drive is _really_ in trouble. 🙂 Or is that living dangerously? — steve
Ben, Well, I cleaned it thoroughly (opened up the old A500, took the cover off the drive, and did a careful job with a cotton swab and the right kind of rubbing alcohol and a very light touch), and it helped for a few reads. My drive may be very…
Oh, no!!! Just when I thought it was safe to walk out the front door with my wallet in my pocket…… thanks for the info, Jake — this _isn't_ just a sick joke in retaliation for all the buffeting you've been getting here, though, is it?? — steve
Ben, Unfortunately, I've gotten the updated disk and, well, I still have problems. I guess I'm going to give up on this one. Psygnosis have been very helpful trying to get me going with AWESOME, I've just run out of luck, I guess. — steve
Disk Read: HELP!
Message #4836
Hello, I've been having a deuce of a time trying to get a recent Psygnosis release, AWESOME, to operate properly. The company has been _very_ helpful in trying to get me a disk that will read in my internal floppy drive, but so far to no avail. I have a…
Ben, Now if only disk 2 would read in my drive DF0: …. Am I alone in this problem? — steve
Ethan, The European press has been suggesting that a Spring 1991 release (over there) of the CDTV may well be within the realm of reality. According to one report, Commodore has been doing two interesting things. First, they've either already or are planning to ship a limited number of units…
Hey! We agree! Nice to have that experience, thanks for sharing it with me…. (I get too much of otherwise elsewhere sometimes, if you know what I mean). 😉 — steve
Oh. oh…. …. oh well. Guess I got overexcited there for a minute! Maybe someday, though (wish wish)…? — steve
Betty, I guess I missed the news on that one… good to hear Commodore clones are doing well overseas! I vaguely remember hearing negative reports about the Commodore "Colt" model (am I remembering correctly?) awhile ago, which may have been the basis of my apparently unfounded comments. That just revives…
Ron, Well, again I don't think CBM's helping itself if it starts spending time trying to turn into a competitive clone producer right now. That market's pretty well filled up, I'd say. So — again — R&D is better spent improving the _Amiga_ line rather than on trying to keep…
Ron, The other surprise I've heard CBM might have for us (those of us with 3000s, at least) is an upcoming 24-bit graphics card (designed by a company called Lowell something, I think). I think that turbo XT card is part of some "old" thinking at CBM that if they…
Mark, Sounds like a good idea to me — provided there's enough info in the A500 packs at MW to lead the new user to search out other dealers other than MW for extra peripherals. Seems to me if one is willing to take a chance on an A500 without…
Ron, I agree — _ideally_ maintaining enough modularity at the motherboard level to allow for chip-level upgrading of the system is a noble goal, and I'm sure one the Amiga started out with. But no-one can predict the future, and therefore no-one can design a system open-ended enough to take…
Pete, Hmmm, and these things won't work out of an expansion box connected via a SCSI or 86-pin port or something (don't have an A3000, just imagining here)? If there are a paucity of ports within the current design, it may well prove necessary for someone to create something like…
Pete, Good point — I'd forgotten about that. Do you think a version of the Toaster will be forthcoming for the A3000, or is that just too difficult to do? — steve
Ron, Well, thing is by the time one gets around to doing "unwarranted" upgrades of one sort or another on an A2000 or A500 they're probably out of warranty already, so I don't see that being much of an issue. If _new_ users are buying A500s and A2000s and trying…
Dean, I guess it's a catch-22 kind of situation… the largest component of the Amiga market is among those users without big bux to spend… so they're the least likely to be good targets for further development, extras, and so on, unless the average price for such things is around…
Ron, I don't have any idea what CBM plans to do, and will be pleased if 2.0 eventually shows up for my A500. But I can certainly see the logic of emphasizing the fact that future research, development, enhancement, improvement and so on will only take place on the higher-end…
Betty, Hear, hear! Nice to see a little level-mindedness injected into the midst of this swarming cloud of gnatty opinion! — steve
Jeff, It's made by a company called Gravis, and can be found for a good price at a mail-order house called Safe Harbor, which often advertises in the back of Amiga World. If you're leery about buying hardware mail-order, you might want to check with your local store to see…
Jeff, I still really like FLIGHT SIMULATOR II, from subLOGIC. You should definitely get a MouseStick to use with this one, to provide the precise analog input feel you are probably looking for. One _can_ use the mouse to emulate the yoke, but it's just not the same thing. The…
ZIP Utility?
Message #961
Thanks, guys — hope this helps the person who needs the info! — Steve
ZIP Utility?
Message #909
Anyone, Is there a utility for the Amiga that will handle IBM .ZIP-style compressed archive files? If so, can you point me to which LIB it might be in? Thanks! — Steven
Desi, I really like STORM ACROSS EUROPE, from SSI. It's not so hot on graphics or sound, but it's a great game to have in the background while you're doing other things, and is a really compelling grand strategy WWII game. You can "iconify" the game so that it's just…