The errors I reported in my previous column did not go away. I ended up formatting the DH2 partition using SFS/02 to see how that will work. It has the same problem as JXF that there are no recovery/fixing tools once something goes bad. Seeing as it only happened once with JXF I don’t worry much about it. Programs can be re-installed and with regular backups moved to a different storage device I should be pretty safe.
I posted about it on AmigaWorld which caused a massive amount of replies and discussions.
I thought I would play Shadow of the Beast on my A1200. I used Multi Kickstart to get Kickstart 1.3 running and start the game. It look promising since it runs smooth till the title screen. But once you start to play the game it looks all messed up and when you start playing it crashes. I really need to get a TV modulator for my A500 so I can play those classics. Most classic games won’t run on my A1200 even with a degrader like Multi Kickstart. Or I need to get another monitor so I can use my A500 again. I probably look into this later this year since I am sure I can pick on up cheap at one of the Amiga meetings / gatherings.
But why not try the A600HD I have? That always had a better ratio of working classic games. It is just sitting in the box anyway. I tried Shadow of the Beast which failed on the A1200HD and it works perfectly. So it was that easy? Oh no, not at all. There are always issues. Turns out I had picture but no sound. I even tried two televisions set. The plus from that was that the other one I tried had a better picture. After posting on AmigaWorld it was suggested to use a composite connection. It took me a bit to find out that I need to set the television set to AV to get it to work. Better picture and sound. Of course there was another problem. The sound is not correct. It is not playing all the sounds like it suppose to do. Come to think of it I remember having this issue before with my A600HD and 1084 monitor. So being a hardware issue there is nothing I can do. I did see a cable on AmigaKit that can be used to get get the video and sound from my A500 to the television set. Maybe I order such a cable in the future when I order something from them again. Who knows I might even pickup a cheap monitor before that. At least I have a better picture with my A1200HD on my television set now.
Due to this two issues I spent a lot of time on AmigaWorld this week. It has been a long time that I spent some time on there. Usually it is just for a quick look for news. This coming week I want to spent some time on my programming. I will focus on the Redhouse File Manager so I can get some more programming done on it. At the same time I will write about it. I will also post something about the Redhouse Editor. It sure is going to be a busy week when it comes to the Amiga. Just how I like to see it.
Thursday afternoon around 3:00pm and enjoying a nice cold beer outside when the temperature is just a bit above the 35 degrees. This is a time when fast drinking is advised since this heat will make that cold beer a warm beer in just a matter of minutes so to speak. Good thing there is a bit of a breeze otherwise this heat is just killing you. Now would be a good time to compile my top 10 list of old school Amiga games. If you read my blog before you know I could never make a permanent top 10 list. It is more of a feeling at that moment when making such a list. Chances are I would make a few changes within a week anyway. Mostly I would be adding “forgotten” games or move a game somewhat up or down the list. If I would have to make the list right now it would look like the one below.
1 – Kick Off 2
2 – Shadow of the Beast
3 – License to Kill
4 – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Adventure Game)
5 – Run the Gauntlet
6 – Hybris
7 – Thundercats
8 – Ikari Warriors
9 – Dogs of War
10 – Pirates
Remember this is just a snapshot of my findings at this very moment. A lot of games I surely must have forgotten which will come to me at a later stage which will influence my top 10 list. Like I said before my top 10 list (or more) is never permanent.
Kick Off 2 is number one because I played this game the most. No game got played more on my Amiga’s. I did play the first version for a bit but when version 2 came out I jumped on it and never looked back. I never really played modern soccer games but I can tell you that none of them could give me the feeling that Kick Off 2 did. Anyone remember when the game just got stuck and nothing happened anymore no matter how long you waited? If you did a substitute the game would come back to life again.
Shadow of the Beast is just one of those games you showed everyone to impress them with the capabilities of the Amiga. The music, the graphics…. The first one is still the best one of all three versions. Remember you had to press and hold the left mouse button and joystick button (cracked version) after the intro for the trainer?
From all 3 versions of James Bond games released on the Amiga License to Kill was by far the best one. What I liked about it is that it followed the movie story a bit. That came in handy when I did not know what you do after I shot the harpoon into the back of the airplane. I was stuck behind it thinking I had to do this for a while to get to the next level. After watching the movie I saw he got into the airplane. After figuring out how to get closer to the airplane I indeed got into the airplane and to the next level. This is a game I really wanted to finish and did. Not many games gave me that urge of wanting to finish it as badly as this one.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Adventure Game) is one of those games you give up on a thousand times and also try it again a thousand times. A friend of mine had the PC version and together we tried to figure out the clues and get further in the game. After giving up once again you watched the movie (I remember always around Christmas) and you gave it another try. The best adventure game on the Amiga, period.
Run the Gauntlet was a game I played a lot mainly because I was also watching the event on television. Soon they also had a Dutch version of Run the Gauntlet which made we want to play the game even more. I have some really fond memories of playing this game.
Hybris was a stunning looking game for a 1987’s game. This one I also played a lot and was really addictive. It is hard to explain having Thundercats up there but for some reason this game grew on me. I played it not so long ago to see if I was not mistaken and I started to even love it more. When I played it first it did not do much to me but this is one of those games you just start to love more and more over time. I am also really fond of Ikari Warriors. My fondest memories are the two player mode. Dogs of War is also one of those games that is in everyone’s top 10 list. To end the list I have Pirates. A game I seem to play a lot during the winter season. I have some really fond memories of snow outside and having hot coco in front of the Amiga playing Pirates.
I am really a sentimental geezer. 🙂
Coder's Blog 