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· Entertainment
#ST & Amiga
13 messages in this thread
Yes, I do use the 8-bit just for games (and the kid's sort-of educational
games). While it could no doubt do more, my IBM-AT not only is compatible with
the machines at the office, it's the only one I have desk space for! We like
several types of games, depending on who you were to ask. Things like Ancient
Art of War and Where in the USA is Carmen San Diego get as much as Shamus,
Jaybird, MIner 2049er, and Missile Command (mixing up the computers here). I
bought the Atari 400 just to get Missile Command, and I'm on the verge of
buying the AM*GA just to get Marble Madness, but I'm trying to be sure I'm not
making a mistake.
I notice that the technical specs on the Amiga seem to be generally better than
for the ST: number of colors possible, type of sound, etc… is anyone willing
to say that these things aren't in g{neral better to have if available and
within the budget? Or that the potential hasn't actually paid off in better
games or programs?
George
The Amiga soes have better sound and more colors than the ST, the only thing we
have found disturbing is the slow disk access speed (Operating System) and the
poor text quality. Also the multi-tasking operating system tends to crash if
one of the current jobs made a wrong call or called for too much memory. Most
of the more stable programs turn the Multi-tasking off. Also you will find that
the people writing programs for it generally writ on an IBM AT and cross
assemble. Seems it isn't productive to write on the Amiga….enough said, the
Amiga Hardware is very good the operating system still isn't finished…thats
my thought on the subject.
The operating system on the Amiga is finished. Software which does not follow
the rules will hang any machine. There may be more of that kind of software for
the Amiga because writing for a multitasking machine is always more complicated
than writing for a dedicated (single task oriented) CPU.
Actually the dificulty of programming for a Multi-Tasking system is dependant
on the OS is't self. The O.S. I work on (for a Super-Mini), is multi user,
Multi-tasking and mapped. The Multi-Tasking is totally tranparet to the
applications programmer and user. The more sophisticated the O.S. the less
user/program impact you can expect.
Dan Rhea 76703,4364
There is some truth to that Dan. I've got plenty of experience in the IBM MVS
and DOS environments(also multi-user, multi-tasking, mapped environments) and
depending upon the level you are programming at the multi tasking may be
transparent to you (applications or systems programming). But these
environments have had years and years to mature. The Amiga is quite wonderful
for the first iteration on a new PC for $1000 and as better development tools
(read easier), such as Turbo Pascal, come along it will be easier to do many
things. It's pretty amazing that I can have spreadsheet calculations running in
the background while I type this note to you, and, in addition, if I wanted to,
open an MS-DOS window(2 in fact) on my SIDECAR and run DBASE or Flight
Simulator in another window. I think the architecture is on hte cutting edge
and is quite mature at this stage of the game.
There is some truth to that Dan. I've got plenty of experience in the IBM MVS
and DOS environments(also multi-user, multi-tasking, mapped environments) and
depending upon the level you are programming at the multi tasking may be
transparent to you (applications or systems programming). But these
environments have had years and years to mature. The Amiga is quite wonderful
for the first iteration on a new PC for $1000 and as better development tools
(read easier), such as Turbo Pascal, come along it will be easier to do many
things. It's pretty amazing that I can have spreadsheet calculations running in
the background while I type this note to you, and, in addition, if I wanted to,
open an MS-DOS window(2 in fact) on my SIDECAR and run DBASE or Flight
Simulator in another window. I think the architecture is on hte cutting edge
and is quite mature at this stage of the game.
Actually the dificulty of programming for a Multi-Tasking system is dependant
on the OS is't self. The O.S. I work on (for a Super-Mini), is multi user,
Multi-tasking and mapped. The Multi-Tasking is totally tranparet to the
applications programmer and user. The more sophisticated the O.S. the less
user/program impact you can expect.
Dan Rhea 76703,4364
The operating system on the Amiga is finished. Software which does not follow
the rules will hang any machine. There may be more of that kind of software for
the Amiga because writing for a multitasking machine is always more complicated
than writing for a dedicated (single task oriented) CPU.
The Amiga soes have better sound and more colors than the ST, the only thing we
have found disturbing is the slow disk access speed (Operating System) and the
poor text quality. Also the multi-tasking operating system tends to crash if
one of the current jobs made a wrong call or called for too much memory. Most
of the more stable programs turn the Multi-tasking off. Also you will find that
the people writing programs for it generally writ on an IBM AT and cross
assemble. Seems it isn't productive to write on the Amiga….enough said, the
Amiga Hardware is very good the operating system still isn't finished…thats
my thought on the subject.
George,
The Amiga is, indeed, technically better but, personally, I would
hesitate to trust it with children. I could easily get stomped on but it seems
there's real danger in taking the disk out of the drive before it's stopped and
the light is out. Drive light, by the way, is green. It also has weird cables
and odd peripheral compatibility.
There are a couple of games which are available for the Amiga but are
not yet out for the Atari, Marble Madness most notably. However, this won't
last forever and it's not universally true as there is far more software in
general for the ST. EA is really the only company I can think of that has done
this historically and even they are in the in the process of changing that
policy.
Basically, the choice of a personal computer, especially one you expect
to reserve mostly for games, is very personal. For the next month or two the
Amiga has the edge with its 500, despite the fact that it's lacking some of the
more desireable features such as upgrade capacity. However, I have the same
sort of feeling about my ST as I did for my Atari 8-bit only more so. It's
trustworty, easy to learn and use, and has some really super features. With
the built-in midi port, the only thing the Amiga does better is color graphics.
B&W graphics are better on the ST. [Nice for writing school papers and such.]
Generally, I have yet to find any reason for thinking I lack anything.
The games I've been trying to get aren't out for the Amiga either and I'm going
to get them first. The Amiga is "touchy" and system crashes aggravate me. I'm
back to the personal again. I want to spend my time playing games, not trying
to satisfy my computer which distracts me.
Sara
I too am a game player and I have both the ST and the Amiga. I am satsified at
this point that the Amiga is in every way a superior computer to the ST. This
includes the quality of the games that are available. Compare Starglider ST
with the Amiga version or have a look at Alien Fires or Earl Weaver Baseball.
Or why not play a public domain missile command in the foreground while
downloading a file from CSERV in the background. The Amiga is a truly
remarkable machine. By the way, if you are a game player have a look at the
amazing graphics and music of Faery Tale Adventure.
I too am a game player and I have both the ST and the Amiga. I am satsified at
this point that the Amiga is in every way a superior computer to the ST. This
includes the quality of the games that are available. Compare Starglider ST
with the Amiga version or have a look at Alien Fires or Earl Weaver Baseball.
Or why not play a public domain missile command in the foreground while
downloading a file from CSERV in the background. The Amiga is a truly
remarkable machine. By the way, if you are a game player have a look at the
amazing graphics and music of Faery Tale Adventure.
George,
The Amiga is, indeed, technically better but, personally, I would
hesitate to trust it with children. I could easily get stomped on but it seems
there's real danger in taking the disk out of the drive before it's stopped and
the light is out. Drive light, by the way, is green. It also has weird cables
and odd peripheral compatibility.
There are a couple of games which are available for the Amiga but are
not yet out for the Atari, Marble Madness most notably. However, this won't
last forever and it's not universally true as there is far more software in
general for the ST. EA is really the only company I can think of that has done
this historically and even they are in the in the process of changing that
policy.
Basically, the choice of a personal computer, especially one you expect
to reserve mostly for games, is very personal. For the next month or two the
Amiga has the edge with its 500, despite the fact that it's lacking some of the
more desireable features such as upgrade capacity. However, I have the same
sort of feeling about my ST as I did for my Atari 8-bit only more so. It's
trustworty, easy to learn and use, and has some really super features. With
the built-in midi port, the only thing the Amiga does better is color graphics.
B&W graphics are better on the ST. [Nice for writing school papers and such.]
Generally, I have yet to find any reason for thinking I lack anything.
The games I've been trying to get aren't out for the Amiga either and I'm going
to get them first. The Amiga is "touchy" and system crashes aggravate me. I'm
back to the personal again. I want to spend my time playing games, not trying
to satisfy my computer which distracts me.
Sara