Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!wuarchive!usc!apple!sun-barr!rutgers!cbmvax!daveh From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Amiga 3000 questions Message-ID: <17635@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 15 Jan 91 19:58:42 GMT References: <1991Jan6.040457.3959@cl.cam.ac.uk> Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 57 In article <1991Jan6.040457.3959@cl.cam.ac.uk> ksh@cl.cam.ac.uk (Kish Shen) writes: >2) How compatible is the Amiga 3000 with older Amigas? From what I have seen >in this newsgroup, it seems that some games are not runnable, and quite often >the reason is copy protection. For games that run, do they run faster? It is >not always a good idea -- you definitely don't want action games to run faster! I just recently posted a blurb in one of the new groups on the compatibility issues surrounding the A3000. Most non-game software works, though there are a few exceptions. I hear tell that lots of games don't work, though apparently I don't have any of those games (I will admit I only own a few of them). There is no real problem writing a game that works, its just that more game programmers have [a] thrown out the OS, [b] considered the Amiga a big C64 and written accordingly, and [c] ignored most or all of our programming rules. When written correctly, a game will work fine. Will it go faster? Maybe. A realtime video game is the only one that matters in this context. A good one will be synched to the video display, for nice, clean, display. If, as in the case of some of the flight simulators, generation of the images is taxing the 68000 in the older machines, than the game will usually run faster on the A3000. If everything is based on the display and hardware timers, you won't notice the difference between a game on a 3000 vs. a 500, except that the mouse or joystick may be more responsive on the 3000. >Are there people besides CBM that are making PC cards for the Amiga? Yes, but to date, only things that fit in the A500 RAM Card slot or similar places. C= is the only one to make a real Bridge Card so far. >How is the existing 286 card like? How compatible is it with "real" PCs? It's a basic 8MHz AT, which is really nothing special these days. >Is the standard Amiga colour monitor VGA compatible? Do I need a VGA card to >get VGA output? The standard A3000 monitor, the 1950, is VGA compatible. The bridge card will only generate CGA and MDA compatible displays in Amiga windows, at present. You can add a VGA card, though on the A3000 that'll leave you with one slot free, since the AT card takes up two. >Does anybody know if there are any problems with using these cards on >the A3000? You have to either run some kind of MMU tool, like a special version of the Enforcer, or else turn off the data cache on the A3000 (via SetCPU V1.6 or the supplied CPU command), for correct operation of the bridge card. Since bridge memory is shared, allowing it to be cached is a no-no. >Kish Shen -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "Don't worry, 'bout a thing. 'Cause every little thing, gonna be alright" -Bob Marley