Lyonsden Blog

Category - Amiga

Installing Amiga OS 3.1.4 – Part 4 – Installing Workbench

Having created the physical floppy disks in Part 1, installed the 8GB CF card and ROMs in Part 2 and partitioned the CF card in Part 3 it is now time to look at installing Workbench 3.1.4.

The first thing to do is boot up the Amiga using the 3.1.4 ‘Install’ disk. Once the desktop has loaded open the Install disk and look inside the ‘Install’ directory. There will be a bunch of different language installers so run the one that you need, which for me was the English one.

 

Installing Workbench

Various Workbench installers in different languages…

 

This will load up the Installer and give you a little introduction about what it will do. Click ‘Proceed’ to begin.

 

Starting the installation.

 

Now you will be presented with another window that will allow you to add additional languages to an existing install. As this is a clean install just click on ‘Install Release 3.1.4’.

 

Requester giving option of installing another language.

 

Next you need to choose the installation mode – I chose Intermediate.

 

Installing Workbench

Selecting Installation Mode.

 

Installation Mode?

After selecting either Novice, Intermediate or Export User and then ‘Proceed with Install’ you are presented with the Installation Options screen. Here you can choose to ‘Install for Real’ or ‘Pretend to Install’. I believe this could well be unique to the Amiga? I certainly don’t recall ever having the option to do a pretend install on any other system. It can be useful to perform a pretend install on occasions as it lets you discover any potential issues and gives you a chance to fix them before committing to the actual install. However as this is a clean install we’re going to select ‘Install for Real’ and then boldly hit that ‘Proceed’ button.

 

Install for Real… or Pretend?

 

You should see a brief message about ‘Release 3.1.4’ being installed on the Workbench partition. This is because it has detected it is the first bootable partition – if you gave yours a different name back in Part 3 then it will be shown here.

 

Installing Workbench

This is where the actual installation starts.

 

Click the ‘Yes’ button to begin the installation and then choose which language(s) you want installing on the next screen. For my install I just wanted English so just left that option ticked.

 

Installing Workbench

Pick what languages you want installing.

 

Next you need to select what printer drivers you want. I selected them all because space is not an issue and you never know what you might want to hook up to your Amiga in the future.

 

Amiga Printer Driver Request Screen

Choosing a which printer drivers to install.

 

Another decision needs to be made on the next screen about which keymaps are required. Or in other words what language setting do you want for your keyboard. In my case as I live in the UK I chose a British layout before clicking ‘Proceed’.

 

Choosing a keyboard language or ‘keymap’.

 

Let the Disk swapping commence!

After a few moments you will be asked to insert the Workbench disk. There should be no need to click proceed, your Amiga should detect the presence of the swapped disk and continue automatically.

 

Installing Workbench

Insert Workbench Disk Screen

 

A bunch of files will be copied across to your new System drive.

 

Amiga copying files across.

Workbench install – copying files.

 

And then you will be asked to insert the Locale disk.

 

Insert Locale Disk Screen

 

Which will copy more files across… before asking for the next disk – Fonts.

 

Insert Fonts Disk Screen

 

Then the Storage disk…

 

Insert Storage Disk Screen

 

And then finally it will ask you to re-insert the Install disk.

 

Insert Install Disk Screen

 

Now at this point I was faced with the following warning as I had an accelerator installed with a 68030 CPU. I was able to click ‘Proceed’ and carry on but a version of this warning would pop up every single time I booted up my Amiga until I sorted it. Click here and then head down to the bottom of the page for information on how to resolve this issue.

 

Installing Workbench

CPU Warning.

 

And that should be your Worbench 3.1.4 install complete!

 

Installing Workbench

Congratulations – Workbench Install Complete!

 

Remove the floppy disk from your Amigas drive and reboot it. If all has gone to plan your Amiga should silently boot into Workbench 3.1.4 looking a lot like the photo below with all your partitions visible on the desktop.

 

Amiga Workbench

Amiga Workbench 3.1.4 Screen.

 

And that concludes Part 4 of my Amiga OS 3.1.4 installation guide – Installing Workbench.

Now we could leave it here, after all we now have a fully operational installation of Workbench 3.1.4 on our Amiga. However there are a few more things we can do to tweak and improve the install and I will cover these in Part 5.

Installing Amiga OS 3.1.4 – Part 3 – Partitioning a Compact Flash Card

Compact Flash Card

Having created the physical floppy disks in Part 1 and installed the 8GB CF card and ROMs in Part 2 it is now time to set about partitioning and formatting the compact flash card so we can install Workbench 3.1.4 on it (in Part 4).

To start the process of partitioning a compact flash card I booted my Amiga off the 3.1.4 Install disk. Once it booted I ran the HDToolBox program found inside the ‘HDTools’ directory.

 

HDToolBox

HDToolBox Program

 

This brings up the window below where you can see all of your installed hard drives. Mine is listed as a SCSI unit which is normal as this is how the Amiga sees the internal IDE controller.

 

Amiga HDToolBox

Amiga HDToolBox Main Window

 

Clicking on ‘Change Drive Type’ brings up the window below. As this is a new CF card there is nothing on it yet so you must click on ‘Define New’.

 

Amiga HDToolBox - Selecting a Drive

Amiga HDToolBox – Defining a New Drive

 

Which brings up the the ‘Define a New Drive Type’ screen. You need to click ‘Read Configuration’ at this point which will bring up another message. Simply click ‘continue’ to move on here.

 

HDToolBox

Informational Message

 

The software will then take a moment to scan the CF and identify the size and parameters needed to access it.  After the scan has completed it will display this info in the window as seen below.

 

HDToolBox

Drive Parameters

 

Now you can simply click ‘OK’ to get back to the ‘Drive Type’ window and then click ‘OK’ once more. At this point you will be warned ‘Are you sure you want to change the drive type for the current drive?’ Clicking ‘Continue’ will return you to the main HDToolBox screen once more.

 

Amiga HDToolBox

Back to the main screen but now with a ‘Changed’ drive status.

 

Now that HDToolbox knows the ins and outs of our CF card it is time to partition it into drives. Of course we could just make it one big 8Gb partition, after all Amiga OS 3.1.4 now natively supports large drives. However I always like to split mine into at least 2 partitions to keep things organised.

To start this process click on ‘Partition Drive’.

 

Partitioning a CF (Compact Flash) Card

Select ‘Partition Drive’.

 

Which should bring up the partitioning window as shown below.

I chose to make my first partition 500MB, this will be my System/Workbench drive. To select the size you simply drag the little triangle pointer and slide it along the bar. It’s virtually impossible to size a partition exactly so just get it as close as you can.

You need to give the partition a name – I called it DH0. I also ticked the box to make it bootable as this is the first partition and will be the one the Amiga will boot off.

 

Partitioning a CF (Compact Flash) Card

Creating the first partition.

 

To create another partition you click ‘New Partition’. Don’t be tempted to click the ‘OK’ button until you have finished creating all your partitions. For my second partition I called it DH1 and made the size approximately 1.5GB. I will be using this to install applications and save documents to. I will probably keep a small selection of music on this drive too.

 

Partitioning a CF (Compact Flash) Card

Creating the second partition.

 

I left my biggest partition for last so it could use all of the remaining space on the card. This worked out at a little less than 6GB in total. I called this partition DH2 and this will be where I install WHDLoad games.

 

Partitioning a CF (Compact Flash) Card

Creating the third partition.

 

You can click each of your partitions in the bar to check their details. Once you are happy that they are all exactly the way you want them to be, hit ‘OK’. You should then be back to the main HDToolbox window.

 

Partitioning a CF (Compact Flash) Card

HDToolBox with ‘changed’ drive status.

 

You must now click ‘Save Changes to Drive’ for all the settings you have configured up to this point to be written to the disk (CF card). The window should then change to look like this:

 

Amiga HDToolBox

HDToolBox back to ‘Not changed’ status.

 

Congratulations! Your new Amiga drive has now been prepped and partitioned! The final step is to format the partitions. To do this you need to reboot the Amiga whilst leaving the Install disk in the drive so it can boot off it.

 

Uninitialized Amiga Disks

The three partitioned but currently ‘uninitialized’ drives created earlier.

 

When your Amiga has finished rebooting you should see a screen similar to the one above. You will notice that the partitions show either as ‘Uninitialized’ or just as a weird name (or both in my case).

 

Amiga Icons Menu

The Format Disk menu item.

 

They now need to be formatted so that the Amiga can actually use them. To format a partition you just click on its icon and then select ‘Format Disk’ from the ‘Icons’ menu.

 

Formatting a Partition

Formatting and Naming DH0.

 

In the above example I called my DH0 partition ‘Workbench’ but you can call yours whatever you like. If you are interested in the new long file names feature of 3.1.4 now would be a good time to select that tick box.

 

Disk Format Warning

First format warning…

 

Make sure you select ‘Quick Format’ or you’ll be waiting a very, very long time for the format to finish. You will get a couple of scary warnings that give you an opportunity to back out if you’ve accidentally selected the wrong disk to format.

 

Disk Format Warning

Second and final format warning.

 

Click ‘Format’ in response to both of the warning messages to seal the deal. A few seconds later a drive on your newly partitioned and formatted compact flash card should appear on the workbench screen. Now simply repeat this process for each partition you created earlier.

And that concludes Part 3 of my Amiga OS 3.1.4 installation guide – Partitioning a Compact Flash Card.

I must admit I had originally intended to include the Workbench install in this part too but decided against it as I thought this post was long enough already. Therefore I will be covering the installation of Workbench in Part 4 shortly.

Installing Amiga OS 3.1.4 – Part 2 (Fitting a CF Card & Kickstart 3.1.4 ROMS)

Having created the physical floppy disks in Part 1 of this guide it is now time to fit the IDE Compact Flash adapter and the 2 Kickstart 3.1.4 ROMS.

Fitting the IDE Compact Flash Adapter

For this I needed to open up my A1200 to gain access to the mainboard.

 

Location of the 5 case screws.

 

Removing the top half of my A1200’s case was just a matter of turning it over and removing five screws. I’ve circled their locations in the photo above. There were three along the front edge and one each side of the case. The two rear edges of the case are held together by some little lugs and recesses in the case itself.

 

Pin 1 of ribbon cable aligned with pin 1 on mainboard.

 

Fitting the IDE Compact Flash adapter simply involved fitting the 44 pin cable connector to the IDE header on the board. Notice how the coloured strip of the ribbon cable aligns with PIN 1 on the board. I chose an 8GB CF card for my install as Workbench 3.1.4 now natively supports large drives. However a smaller card would work just as well. I think my original A1200 had an 80MB (yes I do mean Megabyte!) drive back in the 90’s so 8GB is an insane amount of storage!

 

Foam pad fitted to insulate underside of adapter.

 

As the compact flash adapter has lots of solder pads on the base, I stuck a thick foam pad on the underside. This will ensure that the contacts don’t short out when sat on top of the metal drive bracket. (This drive bracket would have been used to house a 2.5″ IDE HDD back in the day).

 

CF adapter in it’s final resting place.

 

 

Removing the old Kickstart ROMS

Luckily the Kickstart ROMS have their own little cut-out in the metal RF shielding so there is no need to remove the shield to access them.

 

Kickstart 3.0 ROMS

The original Kickstart 3.0 ROMs. Note the empty socket pins on the left!

 

I used my trusty chip puller to remove these, gently alternating pressure from one side to the other until they popped out. You could use a small flat bladed screwdriver to do this. Make sure to alternate from side to side, lifting the chips one millimetre at a time so you don’t bend the pins. If you want to make life even easier, use an old screwdriver and bend the blade 90′ at the end to make getting it under the chip easier.

 

Kickstart 3.0 ROMS

Pulling out the Kickstart 3.0 ROMS.

 

 

Fitting the new Kickstart ROMS

With the old ROMs removed it was time to fit the new ones. After making sure the pins would line up OK (they were splayed out a little too far) I began to fit them.

It’s vitally important they are fitted correctly and besides the usual static precautions there are three things to watch out for.

  1. The chips have to go in the right sockets. The chip marked as ‘HI’ must go in the front slot. The chip marked ‘LO’ must go in the rear slot.
  2. The chips must be oriented correctly. The end with the notch must be fitted so that it is on the same side as the notch in the socket.
  3. The sockets have 42 pins whereas the chips only have 40! You must make sure to leave the 2 pins on the left side of each socket empty.

 

Kickstart 3.1.4 ROMS

The 2 new Kickstart ROMS fitted correctly.

 

Thankfully testing the ROMS is pretty straightforward. Flicking on the power should display a brand new boot screen. That boing ball is definitely new! You can also see the updated ROM version and copyright message.

 

Kickstart 3.1.4 ROMS

The brand new Hyperion Amiga boot screen.

 

That concludes Part 2. In Part 3 I will deal with partitioning and formatting the Compact Flash card.

Installing Amiga OS 3.1.4 – Part 1 (Obtaining the Disks)

For my ‘new’ Amiga 1200 I decided I wanted to have the latest Workbench running on it so I ordered myself a copy of AmigaOS 3.1.4 from Sordan in Ireland. It arrived a few days later in a small cardboard box and consisted of a ROM Installation Guide, 2 Kickstart chips and a bunch of labels for you to stick to your own Amiga OS 3.1.4 Disks.

 

Amiga OS 3.1.4 Disks

This is what you get when you purchase Amiga OS 3.1.4

 

Registering my Purchase

To actually obtain digital copies of the disks I had to register my serial number (found on the top of the Kickstart ROM’s) on the Hyperion Entertainment website. After doing that I was able to download a bunch of ADF files and a few other things (Wallpapers, Icon packs and documentation mainly) on my PC.

 

Box of Blank 3.5" Floppy Disks

Time to crack open a nice box of 3.5″ Floppies.

 

It would have been nice to have received the disks in the box but it’s no real hardship creating my own and it cuts down the price quite a lot. I love working with real floppy disks anyway, the tactile feel of them in use and listening to the whirring of the drive as it accesses them*.

*I hate working with grotty, mouldy, faulty old disks that end up giving me nothing but aggravation and a headache.

 

3.5" Disk made in England

You don’t see this much any more…

 

I decided to use my trusty Amiga 500 to create the disks as it has an SD Card reader that makes transferring the files across from my PC a doddle. Once I’d copied the ADF files over I loaded up my favourite ADF software, GoADF and dug out a box of new 3.5″ DS DD floppy disks and set about creating my 6 Workbench disks.

 

GoADF

 

Creating the Workbench Disks

I started with the Workbench disk first, selecting it from the list of ADF files provided. Double-clicking the name of the ADF loads the image into the software.

 

Amiga OS 3.1.4 Disks

Here we can see all the Amiga OS 3.1.4 Disk images in GoADF.

 

Alternatively you can click the ‘Load image’ button on the bottom left of the screen.

 

GoADF

Load (ADF) Image.

 

As I wanted to create a physical disk from the ADF files I selected ‘Image to disk…’

 

GoADF

To write ADF images to a real floppy you must select the ‘Image to disk’ option.

 

Which loads up the disk creation window. Here you can select which drive you want to use and whether you want to format and/or verify the disk.

 

GoADF

My disks were IBM PC formatted hence the ‘not a valid DOS disk’ warning.

 

I opted to both format and verify the disk. You simply can’t be too careful when working with floppy disks these days. Most DS/DD floppy disks have to be at least 20 years old by now as new ones haven’t been manufactured in a long time.

 

GoADF

At this point it might be a good time to check that the disk you have inserted really is the one you want to use!

 

Writing the First Disk

Clicking ‘write image to disk’ brings up the obligatory warning that the disk will be overwritten. Clicking ‘yes’ begins the process which starts off with the disk being formatted.

 

GoADF

Formatting the disk…

 

GoADF features a neat virtual representation of the floppy disk marking each sector white as it’s formatted…

 

GoADF

Writing the data to the disk…

 

Then blue as the data is written to it…

 

GoADF

Verifying the disk…

 

And finally places a small black dot in it after the data has been successfully verified. A couple of minutes later a little box appears to confirm the disk has been created successfully.

 

GoADF

Hurrah – one down, five to go!

 

And here’s the completed disk with it’s snazzy label affixed.

 

Amiga OS 3.1.4 Disks

Amiga OS 3.1.4 Workbench Disk.

 

Now it was just a matter of repeating the process for the other 5 ADF’s to give me a complete set of Workbench disks.

 

Amiga OS 3.1.4 Disks

A full set of Workbench 3.1.4 floppy disks!

 

However there’s a couple of other disks that needed creating – ones that no labels are provided for. The first is the ‘Modules Disk’ and the second is a new ‘3.1.4.1’ update that has recently been released containing the latest Workbench bug-fixes. The update disk was a separate download from the Workbench disks but is provided free for registered users.

 

Amiga OS 3.1.4 Disks

The extra disks needed. Sadly no professionally printed labels for these!

 

In Part 2 I will cover installing the ROM chips and performing a clean install of Workbench on a new CF/HDD.

Blizzard 1230 MkIV Accelerator Card

Blizzard 1230 MkIV

I recently managed to pick up a nice Blizzard 1230 MkIV accelerator off eBay which arrived a couple of days ago. I reckon I was probably just as excited to get this one in 2020 as I was back in the 90’s when I got my first one!

After opening it up I gave it a good visual once over and everything looked to be in good order. Not sure why the markings have come off the top of the chips but I won’t see them once it’s installed anyway.

Some Information about the Blizzard 1230 MkIV

My 1230 was made by Phase 5 Technologies which is the original manufacturer of the cards. Unfortunately Blizzard went out of business so later cards were manufactured by a company called DCE. Ironically it looks as though DCE still exists to this day making electronic circuit boards!

 

Blizzard 1230 MkIV

I’m guessing this was manufactured some time in 1995 looking at the board.

 

As standard the Blizzard 1230 MkIV comes with a 50Mhz Motorola 68030 Processor and can be fitted with a single 72 pin SIMM up to 128MB in size. Mine came fitted with a 64MB SIMM. The exposed edge connector is where an optional Blizzard 1230-IV Fast SCSI-II controller module can be attached. The SCSI module actually incorporates a second 72 pin SIMM slot meaning you could theoretically add a whopping 256MB of FAST RAM to your A1200 if you wanted to! Of course now I want to do just that but the SCSI modules are super rare these days!

 

Blizzard 1230 MkIV

The Motorola 50Mhz 68030 CPU (on the right) and 50Mhz 68882 FPU (left).

 

I made sure I got one with the FPU installed as this was not included as standard. These were never strictly necessary and most software didn’t benefit from having one. However VistaPro (one of my favourite programs) is just one such title that relies heavily on having one. The FPU really makes a significant speed difference for programs like this that involved performing a lot of complex mathematical calculations.

 

Blizzard 1230 MkIV

View of the reverse side of the board.

 

Fitting the card

I’d forgotten just how snuggly the Blizzard 1230 fitted inside an A1200. After triple-checking it was correctly aligned I needed to gave the card a worryingly forceful push before it finally clicked into position.

 

Blizzard 1230 MkIV

This is how the card looks fitted inside my A1200. The edge connector, visible on the upper left, is for the optional SCSI module. If I ever come across one I’ll add it to my setup for sure.

 

Of course the real moment of truth was turning the Amiga on. Happily this proved to be completely uneventful. Workbench booted up without a hitch and reported 65,957,656Mb of Fast RAM which was a great start.

 

Workbench Screen showing Chip and Fast RAM levels.

From 0 to 65,957,656Mb. A good start!

 

Speed Test

The next test was to load up the classic Sysinfo and make sure the CPU and FPU were correctly identified, which they were. Of course you can’t load Sysinfo and not run a quick speed test! My Blizzard equipped Amiga topped out at 9312 Dhrystones, or 9.72 Mips. Basically twice as fast as a 25Mhz A3000 which is exactly what you would expect.

Of course it’s nowhere near as fast as my Vampire equipped A500 and it actually cost quite a bit more too. But you know what? I don’t care. This just ‘feels’ right. The best way I can describe it is if you imagine upgrading a classic car. The Blizzard is like fitting a period authentic performance exhaust and carburettor to the engine whereas the Vampire is like replacing the whole engine with an electric one. Don’t get me wrong, the Vampire is an amazing piece of hardware and you can’t beat it in terms of value for money. However absolute power is not my goal here… it’s having an authentic Amiga experience.

 

Blizzard 1230 MkIV Speed Test

SysInfo Speed Report.

 

Real Time Clock Test

Anyway enough of that. There was one final test that would take a little longer to complete. The Blizzard incorporates a 3V rechargeable battery backed clock for keeping track of the date and time. However when I plugged the card in the date/time were completely wrong. The seller told me the card hadn’t been used in years which is why he was selling it so this wasn’t unexpected.

To test the battery I set the date and time correctly and then left the Amiga turned on for a couple of hours before going to bed. This would hopefully give it a chance to get some charge before turning it off for the night. Booting it up the following evening revealed it had retained the correct time so the battery was still working! Of course the battery may no longer hold enough charge to last for extended periods but for now I’m happy that everything appears to work perfectly!

 

Amiga keeping the correct date and time!

 

MMU Library

With the card installed and tested there was just one niggle for me to sort out. Every time I booted my A1200 I was getting the following error about no MMU library being installed:

“This system is running from a 32-bit CPU (68030, 68040 or 68060) which may require specific CPU libraries to be installed in the LIBS: directory of your hard disk.”

It then goes on to recommend you either install these files off the disk that came with your accelerator card or search Aminet. As I didn’t receive a disk with the card I went straight to Aminet and had a rummage around. Sure enough there was an MMULib.lha download for just such a scenario. I ran the installer and let it install an mmu.library and a bunch of 680×0 library files and then rebooted. And just like magic the error was gone – happy days!

Now I just need to get hold of that SCSI module!

Welcoming an Amiga A1200 into the fold.

Today the Lyonsden computer collection just got a little bit bigger with the arrival of a Commodore Amiga A1200 computer! 🥰 This is actually something I’ve been hankering after for a long time now. I’ve missed being able to play those old AGA games and also wanted to get back to using an ‘original’ machine. Not only that but the A1200 is just a more capable and expandable machine. It has an internal IDE interface as standard and a PCMCIA slot that can be used for a multitude of things. Wi-Fi and ethernet network cards, card readers, SCSI interfaces and so on. That AGA chipset is not just for games either, it provides a range of improved workbench screen modes that support up to 256 colours too!

Amiga A1200

View from the left.

The A1200 has been recapped already so hopefully it will provide many more years of faithful service now. It’s a really nice example and hasn’t been modified in any way which is how I intend to keep it. I’ve already heavily modified my A500 so hopefully I’ve scratched that particular itch well enough already!

Amiga A1200

View from the right. Original floppy disk drive fully intact.

The plan is to operate the Amiga A1200 just like I would have done 25+ years ago. That’s not to say I’ll be keeping it stock… oh no. But it does mean I won’t be fitting a modern FPGA accelerator into it for example. Whether I can operate it without a Gotek remains to be seen but I’m certainly going to try!

Amiga A1200

View from above.

Upgrades on the way…

I’ve already got a Blizzard MkIV 68030 accelerator on the way for it and a SCSI CDROM drive is sat on the desk ready to be hooked up too. These are both accessories that I had back in the 90’s and so meet my criteria for keeping things original. I also plan to fit a hard drive (well CF card) and install the very latest AmigaOS 3.1.4 on it too. Basically lots of new projects to look forward to!

Amiga A1200

View showing the serial number and silver Commodore label.

A look at Fusion #12

Fusion #12

Time to take a look through this months Fusion #12 magazine and give a little insight into what you can find inside it.

 

Fusion #12

A look at the cover of Fusion #12.

 

As I’ve come to expect there’s a broad range of content this month. Topics include (non computer) games, toys, TV shows and of course computer games. Buckaroo is in the spotlight this month and is a game I played a lot with my mates during the 80’s. There’s also a look at merchandise from the TV show ‘V’ (and a look at the associated computer game too). I was glued to the TV every night when that show was on and remember being genuinely shocked when Diana stuffed a hamster into her mouth! Needless to say the article triggered many happy memories and reminded me of my teenage crush on Diana 😉.

Elsewhere there’s articles covering the Frey twins, the 1942 arcade game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a flashback 1999 PlayStation chart and loads more.

Here’s a little peak at some of the stuff in this new issue:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Here’s the contents page so you can see what else features in this issue:

 

Fusion #12

Fusion #12 Contents.

 

If you want to pick up a copy of Fusion #12 magazine then head on over to their website. The mag is £3.99 plus postage. Use the code ‘LYONSDENBLOG’ at the checkout to get a 15% discount. I will also receive a tiny bit of commission which helps towards the hosting costs of running this blog.

Amiga Future #145 – July/August edition out now.

Amiga Future #145

The latest issue of Amiga Future (Amiga Future #145) for subscribers has arrived. It features artwork from the game Fred’s Journey on the front cover.

 

Amiga Future #145

Amiga Future #145 Front Cover.

 

What’s in this issue?

There’s a good mix of stuff in this issue as always with plenty of reviews to get stuck into. I’m a big fan of adventure games so was delighted to see a review of ‘The Queen’s Footsteps’. This is a brand new text adventure for the Amiga that had completely slipped under my radar. There’s also a complete guide to speed-running your way through Monkey Island 2 but that seems like sacrilege to me!

 

Amiga Future #145

Issue #145’s cover CD.

 

There’s plenty of brand new game reviews in this issue. Fred’s Journey, Little Princess 1 & 2, Chips and Eye are all critiqued. Software wise there’s a review of Distant Suns 5 (which is included on the CD), Hollywood Designer 5 and RNOxfer, a new FTP client.

For the hobbyist there’s the regular AmigaOS 3.1.4 tips section, latest uploads to Aminet plus the latest Amiga news across 68K, OS4 and MorphOS systems.

 

Amiga Future #145

Contents of Issue #145

 

The Cover CD

The main event for this issue’s cover CD is a full version of Distant Suns 5. This is a Desktop Planetarium and whilst I do having a passing interest in space, this software is on a whole other level entirely. Budding Patrick Moore’s may well get a lot of mileage out of it but sadly for me it was of no interest.

 

This is a preview of what you can expect to find in the latest edition of the long running Amiga Future magazine, Amiga Future #145.

Full version of Distant Suns on this issue’s Cover CD.

 

Below is a little peek at some of the stuff inside Amiga Future #145. If you’d like to purchase a copy then do please take a look here and support what is now the last remaining commercially printed Amiga magazine!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Never come across Amiga Future magazine before? Perhaps you’d care to take a look at some of my other Amiga Future magazine previews here.

Fusion Amiga Magazine – Special Edition

Fusion Amiga Magazine

This edition of Fusion magazine is for all us Amiga fans out there. It’s a special edition of the magazine, completely dedicated to all things Amiga (and CD32!). It’s just a little bit thinner than the regular magazine running to 52 pages all in.

 

Fusion Amiga Magazine

Closer look at the magazine cover.

 

So what sort of things are covered in this issue? Well there’s a mixture of game reviews, several Top 5 ‘best of’ lists, hardware guides and a bunch of Amiga-centric articles from luminaries in the scene.

The top 5’s include CD32 Games, Amiga Utilities and also Point and Click Adventure games. Meanwhile the hardware guide covers each Amiga model from the first A1000 right through to the final CD32 System.

Here’s a little peak at some of the stuff in this new issue:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Take a peek at the contents page below to see what else features in this issue:

 

Fusion Amiga Magazine

Fusion Amiga Magazine Contents.

 

If you want to pick up a copy of Fusion Amiga Magazine then head on over to their website. If you use the code ‘LYONSDENBLOG’ at the checkout you will also get 15% off the price! I will also receive a tiny bit of commission to help towards my running costs.

Retro Format – A Brand new Retro Computer Magazine

Retro Format

Believe it or not there is now another Retro Computing magazine on the block! It’s called Retro Format and it’s a multi-format magazine that caters for all retro 8/16/32-bit systems. Born from a successful Kickstarter campaign, this magazine is mostly focussed on games, specifically reviewing them, much like you’d imagine an all format ZZap!64 might look.

 

Retro Format

Retro Format Cover.

 

Initial impressions are very good indeed. It’s a full-size magazine, 64 pages in length (cover to cover) and all printed in full colour. There are over a dozen full reviews of games for retro systems inside. The games themselves are almost exclusively new ones created recently for retro systems. The two main exceptions to this are John Wick (a new NES styled game for modern PC’s) and Strike Commander – an old DOS game.

 

Retro Format

Retro Format Contents Page.

 

The Reviews

I really like the review style. It breaks game scores down by Graphics, Audio, Playability, Lastability and then gives an Overall score. This is how games used to be reviewed back in the day and I welcome seeing this format again.

 

Retro Format

Retro Format Game Scoring System.

 

As for the reviews, the bulk of the magazine is split almost 50/50 between Commodore and Spectrum games with the remainder made up of a handful of MSX, CPC and PC titles.

There’s also a future classics section which looks at a couple of modern games for the Vita and Playstation VR systems. I’d say the jury is out on this section though as I’m not sure I felt it was relevant.

Besides the games there was a really interesting 8-page feature on the SEGA Dreamcast system along with some of the best games available for it. I ended my SEGA experience with the Mega Drive but this definitely piqued my interest and made me think about getting one…

 

More than just games…

 

Retro Format

A look at the Christopher Reeve Superman Movies.

 

The magazine is rounded off by a classic Movie and TV section which I enjoyed a lot. It features the Christopher Reeve Superman movies and also delves into some past episodes of The Twilight Zone. As a big  Sci-Fi fan I found these articles to be right up my street.

 

The original Twilight Zone – NOT the recently re-hashed abomination.

 

Here’s a peek at some of the reviews featured in the magazine.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

How to get your own copy…

If you are interested in purchasing your own copy of the magazine then head on over to the Retro Format website.

Latest Retrokomp Issue 2 is now out

Retrokomp Issue 2

Just received my copy of Retrokomp Issue 2, the multi-format retro magazine.

 

Retrokomp Issue 2

Retrokomp Issue 2 Cover

 

Once again there is plenty of content with a hefty count of 72 thick glossy pages and over a third of them devoted to Commodore machines. If you are interested in other machines besides Commodore then there’s even more on offer with the like of ZX Spectrum, Atari, Amstrad, Apple 2 and even old IBM PC’s covered.

 

Retrokomp Issue 2

Contents of this issue

 

Here’s a few highlights of this issues contents.

 

C64 Restoration project.

 

Retrokomp Issue 2

A look at Simon’s BASIC on the C64.

 

How to clear the Hi-Res screen on a C64.

 

A look at the Pi1541 disk drive emulator.

 

Retrokomp Issue 2

Part two of the Project Stealth Fighter article.

 

Comparison between Atari and CBM BASIC.

 

A look at file backup on the Amiga.

 

24-bit datatypes on the Amiga.

 

A look at archiving software for PowerPC equipped Amiga’s.

 

Card readers on the Amiga.

 

Amiga Modula-2 Programming.

 

A quick run-down of the Commodore-centric articles in Retrokomp Issue 2:

  • Sysres
  • Commodore 1541 Drive – Typical Problems
  • Simon’s BASIC – Sprites mean strange objects on the screen
  • Raspberry Pi 1541
  • Commodore PET vs Atari BASIC
  • Using the USR statement
  • Clearing the high resolution screen
  • Commodore 64 Restoration
  • Modula-2 Programming
  • 24-Bit datatypes for Workbench
  • Simple file backup
  • Memory card readers

If you’ve never come across Retrokomp magazine before you might like to read through my preview of the first issue here and the second, here.

Alternatively if you’d like to purchase a copy of Retrokomp Issue 2 for yourself then visit the publishers website here and show your support.

Fusion Magazine #11 just arrived

Fusion #11

Received the latest edition of Fusion Magazine, issue #11, a couple of days ago. This little magazine has really grown in terms of content and quality over the past year thanks in no small part to the diverse range of contributors. This issue see articles from Retro Man Cave, Octav1us and Dave Perry to name but three.

 

Fusion #11

A look at the cover of Fusion #11.

 

I’m focussing on the retro gaming content here but there is more to it than that as it covers a smattering of modern games along with retro toys and memorabilia. All in there’s 60 pages worth of content, which for £3.99 is great value for money and should ensure that even if some of the content doesn’t interest you, there should be plenty that will. I’ve got a discount code for 15% off the price at the bottom of this page too.

Here’s a little peak at some of the stuff in this new issue:

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Here’s a little look the contents page so you can see what else features in this issue:

 

Fusion #11

Fusion #11 Contents.

 

If you want to pick up a copy of Fusion #11 magazine then head on over to their website. The mag is only £3.99 plus postage, a very reasonable amount for such a well produced magazine. If you use the code ‘LYONSDENBLOG’ at the checkout you will also get 15% off the price making it just £3.40! I will also receive a tiny bit of commission which will help towards the hosting costs of running this blog.