MiSTer FPGA Forum

Hello

I am currently using Launchbox + FS-UAE to create a consolized Amiga experience on my PC, where FS-UAE loads WHD images. In effect, have direct access to Amiga games without going through the OS.

Is this something that can be configured in Minimig?

Thank you.

Note: I have no experience actually using AmigaOS.

Look for "MegaAGS" image on the web. It has all the WHDLoads (plus other stuff) and launches straight into a gamepad-operated frontend.

You can also make your own using iGame or a similar program, but that would require some knowledge of the OS and a lot of work.

The MegaAGS has a MiSTer specific and per game adjusted 5x scaling in the latest version which looks very nice and it gives you besides the consolized menu a fully configured Workbench with RTG (high resolution support) with additional tools and applications that you can reach by simply pressing ESC.
This whole package is quite perfect.

Chris23235 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:39 am The MegaAGS has a MiSTer specific and per game adjusted 5x scaling in the latest version which looks very nice and it gives you besides the consolized menu a fully configured Workbench with RTG (high resolution support) with additional tools and applications that you can reach by simply pressing ESC.
This whole package is quite perfect.

Where do we find this update?

Search for "megaags mister" and look at a video from Pezz 82 ...

Also, once you have an image, you can set that core to auto-boot with settings in the mister.ini file, so it boots straight into the Amiga.

Read carefully the description of the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfrQXeBb49Y

Chris23235 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:39 am The MegaAGS has a MiSTer specific and per game adjusted 5x scaling in the latest version which looks very nice and it gives you besides the consolized menu a fully configured Workbench with RTG (high resolution support) with additional tools and applications that you can reach by simply pressing ESC.
This whole package is quite perfect.

Thank you!
Will check it out once I have setup my MiSTer

I have a boot for the Minimig where it boots into a menu with most games and then I can select games with a joystick.

If that was to be limited to CD32 games, then it should be possible to play them all just using a controller.

Is there any way I can edit MegaAGS.HDF and remove the games I do not want?
Also, if I am not mistaken Minimig currently doesn't support redbook audio in CD32 games, right?

Technically the only reason I want Amiga setup in my MiSTer is to play Gods, Xenon II, Chaos Engine 2, Base Jumpers, Body Blows, and Zool 2.

retro wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:36 am Technically the only reason I want Amiga setup in my MiSTer is to play Gods, Xenon II, Chaos Engine 2, Base Jumpers, Body Blows, and Zool 2.

I guess technically you can get into the MegaAGS vhd, delete everything else and tweak the config...bit of a task though, and is there really need to have a fancy menu for 6 games? I'd just get them as .hdf files (there are hdf collections) and load from the OSD. Or even as adfs in Turbo mode.

retro wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:36 am Is there any way I can edit MegaAGS.HDF and remove the games I do not want?
Also, if I am not mistaken Minimig currently doesn't support redbook audio in CD32 games, right?

Technically the only reason I want Amiga setup in my MiSTer is to play Gods, Xenon II, Chaos Engine 2, Base Jumpers, Body Blows, and Zool 2.

Just press escape and go to the WB. Here you can open the AGS folder and delete the entries that you don't want (you can also delete them from the Games folder, but as the vhd has a fixed size I don't know if you would benefit from this in any way).
But in the end it could be more useful (and easy) to create a new AGS folder "favorites" or something like this and enter here all the entries for the games you like into this folder.

If you only want 6 games on your Amiga MiSTer core I think the best way would be to copy the adf images of these 6 games to your SD card and run the games from these floppy images. The combined size would be something like 6 or 7 MB.

retro wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:36 am Is there any way I can edit MegaAGS.HDF and remove the games I do not want?
Also, if I am not mistaken Minimig currently doesn't support redbook audio in CD32 games, right?

Technically the only reason I want Amiga setup in my MiSTer is to play Gods, Xenon II, Chaos Engine 2, Base Jumpers, Body Blows, and Zool 2.

You can install ClassicWB and only those 6 games and use iGame to start them, or just Leave Out icons and Snapshot it (to save position) to WB desktop and start games from there if you want to use WHDLoad. Reason I like to use ClassicWB - everything you might need on real Amiga is there. Best version to use without installing video card driver - ClassicWB Full.

None of those mentioned games I would consider 'must play' except Gods. Lionheart, Leander, Superfrog (doh!), Cannon Fodder, Battler Isle, History Line 1914-18, Wings, Wing Commander, Elite, Frontier, Pinball (Illusion, Prelude, Dreams), Settler, Syndicate, Project X, Premiere... just to name some well worth playing games for Amiga.

I always liked more Chaos Engine 1 vs. Chaos Engine 2 on migga.

akeley wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:56 am I guess technically you can get into the MegaAGS vhd, delete everything else and tweak the config...bit of a task though, and is there really need to have a fancy menu for 6 games? I'd just get them as .hdf files (there are hdf collections) and load from the OSD. Or even as adfs in Turbo mode.

I will look for the games in HDF format and see how it works for me. Thank you

When it comes to consolized Amiga, the CD32 was the Amiga console, and I remember someone made custom CD32 collections that even contained games that had not been ported to the CD32, but with tweaks made so they would work with a CD32 controller.

I somewhat recently made a CD32 boot that would allow you to select an ISO image from the shared folder. It did not work with all CD32 games because it uses emulation, but I should try to see if this could be an option to play CD32 collections with just a controller and no need for a mouse or keyboard.

I am not sure about the ISO image selection process. Its based on a Workbench script using a regular select file interface that looks for certain types of files in a specific folder. So it might not work with a controller, but its worth a test. Otherwise, there should be a script that could enable the controller to work as a mouse that many of these CD32 compilations uses.

Yeah, would love to have an Amiga CD32 style setup and just load BIN/CUE files, but that doesn't appear to be possible yet.

akeley wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:56 am I guess technically you can get into the MegaAGS vhd, delete everything else and tweak the config...bit of a task though, and is there really need to have a fancy menu for 6 games? I'd just get them as .hdf files (there are hdf collections) and load from the OSD. Or even as adfs in Turbo mode.

I did a test by downloading the HDF for Xenon 2 and set that as the Primary Master, but all it did was boot to an AmigaDOS screen

retro wrote: ↑Sat Jun 26, 2021 2:50 pm I did a test by downloading the HDF for Xenon 2 and set that as the Primary Master, but all it did was boot to an AmigaDOS screen

Hmmm. Could be you are using "lite" hdfs, without Kickstarts or WHDload files. The ones I have work fine, just tested Xenon 2.

Try looking for "ransom hdf collection", or PM me if you get really desperate. Alternatively just use adfs, these are not big games after all (1-2 disks).

akeley wrote: ↑Sat Jun 26, 2021 3:39 pm Hmmm. Could be you are using "lite" hdfs, without Kickstarts or WHDload files. The ones I have work fine, just tested Xenon 2.

Try looking for "ransom hdf collection", or PM me if you get really desperate. Alternatively just use adfs, these are not big games after all (1-2 disks).

Sent you a PM

retro wrote: ↑Sat Jun 26, 2021 1:54 pm Yeah, would love to have an Amiga CD32 style setup and just load BIN/CUE files, but that doesn't appear to be possible yet.

I do think it probably is possible to take most CD32 images and convert them into HDFs. That way the collection would "just work". Problem with CD32 is that quite often you need to figure out how to do this per game or at least per CD. Look through the boot files to figure out what it does and add something extra to them.

We already have someone creating a collection of DOS games for AO486 using two disk images with an included menu system and sharing them on that Internet Archive. That one is setup in a way where each game has its own configuration. That should largely not be needed for the Amiga I think, since WHDLoad takes care of most of that in the cases where that would be required. With all CD32 games that could support it though I think I would just copy their data to the hard disk.

I already have an Amiga harddisk someone else made that has a menu system. I think its mainly for WHDLoad games, but then most games have WHDLoad support these days. That one I think works with a controller, but not sure the game collection on it has been curated to all work with a controller.

retro wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:36 am Is there any way I can edit MegaAGS.HDF and remove the games I do not want?
Also, if I am not mistaken Minimig currently doesn't support redbook audio in CD32 games, right?

Technically the only reason I want Amiga setup in my MiSTer is to play Gods, Xenon II, Chaos Engine 2, Base Jumpers, Body Blows, and Zool 2.

Just out of interest, 4 of the 6 games are available on the Sega Mega Drive, why not play them there? Are these versions different (I only played these games on the ST and Amiga in depth and just quickly looked at them on the Mega Drive in emulation years later, so I don't know). If not it boils down to 2 games, is it really worth the hassle? Why not simply load from the ADFs instead?

Caldor wrote: ↑Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:44 am I do think it probably is possible to take most CD32 images and convert them into HDFs. That way the collection would "just work". Problem with CD32 is that quite often you need to figure out how to do this per game or at least per CD. Look through the boot files to figure out what it does and add something extra to them.

Yeah, I found a bunch of them online, but the original CD redbook audio is missing for those games since the CD32's Akiko chip has not been emulated yet.

Chris23235 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:12 am Just out of interest, 4 of the 6 games are available on the Sega Mega Drive, why not play them there? Are these versions different (I only played these games on the ST and Amiga in depth and just quickly looked at them on the Mega Drive in emulation years later, so I don't know). If not it boils down to 2 games, is it really worth the hassle? Why not simply load from the ADFs instead?

I'm just being crazy and anal
ADFs work fine for the most part, but I am always looking for that single file solution.
The Megadrive/SNES ports of Gods are awful, it runs way too fast. The Megadrive port of Xenon II doesn't play right. I played the heck out of the DOS versions of these two games back in the day, so I know how they're supposed to feel.

Besides, I think I have gotten most of it right thanks to the help of akeley, and this opens up the rest of the Amiga library for me (at least those that do not need keyboard and/or mouse).

Chris23235 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:12 am

retro wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:36 am Is there any way I can edit MegaAGS.HDF and remove the games I do not want?
Also, if I am not mistaken Minimig currently doesn't support redbook audio in CD32 games, right?

Technically the only reason I want Amiga setup in my MiSTer is to play Gods, Xenon II, Chaos Engine 2, Base Jumpers, Body Blows, and Zool 2.

Just out of interest, 4 of the 6 games are available on the Sega Mega Drive, why not play them there? Are these versions different (I only played these games on the ST and Amiga in depth and just quickly looked at them on the Mega Drive in emulation years later, so I don't know). If not it boils down to 2 games, is it really worth the hassle? Why not simply load from the ADFs instead?

Yeah they're different.

Fire up Xenon 2 on the Amiga and compare to the mega drive and see for yourself.

Ditto for Zool 1/2

As far as Gods goes though I'd say the best platform is the SNES. The amiga version feels awfully slow - I know it may have been the original, and I had it back in the day on an original a500, but the SNES version, I'm willing to admit - plays better.

Which brings up something else... maybe a console-ized experience that fires up the "best" version of a game might be an idea as well

I feel that Gods was always intended to be slow, it's not a platformer in the same vein as Mario, Sonic, or Crash Bandicoot after all.
After having played the Amiga version via the FS-UAE emulator on my PC, I still feel that the original Amiga version is the best.

I always want my gaming experience consolized as much as possible... which is why I don't even have any computer cores in my MiSTer other than minimig.
I am treating my MiSTer the same as my other consoles from a hardware perspective... HDMI out to my TV + wireless controllers.

For more traditional computer games that require keyboard + mouse, I prefer to use my PC running FS-UAE and DOSBox.