Newbie ST Questions

[icbrkr]

I read through some FAQ's and didn't find any information, so I'm going to ask it here.. if it's been asked before, just ignore me

 

I've been an Amiga user for years, but now that I own one just for game playing and not as a main user, I've found that getting any game to run is a pain in the ass. I own a heavily expanded Amiga 1200 with extra RAM, 030 proc, WB 3.9, etc. As any Amiga user would tell you, trying to get "older" (anything made before 1993) games to run on this configuration requires either running Degrader (of somesort) a Kickstart switcher or some sort of other torturous routine to get things to work. I just want to pop in a disk and go.

 

I noticed that the Atari ST line closely parallels the Amiga in game releases and graphics quality and it seems to have all the games I'd like to play on my Amiga released for it. So here are the questions:

 

1. I noticed that the Atari ST has TOS ROMS (like Kickstart ROMS on the Amiga) and they've been upgraded from model to model. Does this make games less backwards compatible?

 

2. What is the most "complete and basic" ST for playing just games. I don't want anything fancy, I'm just up for game playing. How far will a basic 520 or 1040 get me?

 

3. I'm aiming to hook this to the television... it appears most systems have an RF modulator built in but earlier ones did not. Is it really that common to find an earlier one with one?

 

My end result is to just pop in a disk and play, not screw with the OS, configurations, etc.

 

Thanks for any help.

[Goochman]

I think previous threads indicated the 1040ST or 1040STE is the best for compatibility. TOS 1.2 or 1.4 is prob the best to get comp with games.

[Belgarath]

If you have an expanded Amiga, then surely you have a HD for it? If not then get one! Install WHDLoad and say goodbye to all your compatibility problems.

[icbrkr]

If you have an expanded Amiga, then surely you have a HD for it? If not then get one! Install WHDLoad and say goodbye to all your compatibility problems.

 

Of course, and honestly, I've tried! I could never get WHDLoad to work properly. It would either a) not install the game at all (say there's some sort of error on the disk)... or b) it would crash when trying to run it. Right now I have my Kickstart mapped to ChipRAM to run WB 3.9, and I just installed WB 3.0/1 on another partition. If I had some sort of walkthrough, I might give it another try...

[atarian1]

The best system for games without an Atari monitor is a 520STFM (512K RAM) or the 1040STFM (1MB RAM). The "FM" models have a RF modulator that allows you to hook it up to a TV through a switchbox like the 2600/5200/7800. Note the quality of picture will not be very good through the RF modulator. You could make a cable to hook it up to an Amiga monitor. I believe there's another recent thread on this. But I'd strongly recommend an RGB monitor for best picture quality.

 

I don't know where some people get the idea that a 1040STE is very compatible with pre-1989 games. I'd say the STE is about 80% compatible with pre-1989 games.

 

Regarding TOS versions, the best for games is TOS 1.0. TOS 1.4 comes in 2nd with TOS 1.2 last.

[Mindfield]

I read through some FAQ's and didn't find any information, so I'm going to ask it here.. if it's been asked before, just ignore me

 

I've been an Amiga user for years, but now that I own one just for game playing and not as a main user, I've found that getting any game to run is a pain in the ass.  I own a heavily expanded Amiga 1200 with extra RAM, 030 proc, WB 3.9, etc.  As any Amiga user would tell you, trying to get "older" (anything made before 1993) games to run on this configuration requires either running Degrader (of somesort) a Kickstart switcher or some sort of other torturous routine to get things to work.  I just want to pop in a disk and go.

 

I noticed that the Atari ST line closely parallels the Amiga in game releases and graphics quality and it seems to have all the games I'd like to play on my Amiga released for it.  So here are the questions:

 

1. I noticed that the Atari ST has TOS ROMS (like Kickstart ROMS on the Amiga) and they've been upgraded from model to model.  Does this make games less backwards compatible?  

 

2. What is the most "complete and basic" ST for playing just games.  I don't want anything fancy, I'm just up for game playing.  How far will a basic 520 or 1040 get me?

 

3. I'm aiming to hook this to the television... it appears most systems have an RF modulator built in but earlier ones did not.  Is it really that common to find an earlier one with one?

 

My end result is to just pop in a disk and play, not screw with the OS, configurations, etc.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

To answer your questions,

 

1) Generally, no, if you stay within the ST/STe line. For the most part, software designed on TOS 1.0 will still work up to TOS 1.62 (1040STe). The Mega STe introduced TOS 2.00/2.06, which is still pretty well compatible, but since the Mega STe can be toggled between 8 and 16MHz, you simply need to make sure you run pretty well all games at 8MHz. TOS versions above that (3.x, a.k.a. TT-TOS on the Atari TT030 line, and 4.x, a.k.a. MultiTOS on the Atari Falcon030 line) have a variety of compatibility issues due to the higher end hardware they were designed for. Generally, your best bet for compatibility is to get yourself a 1040STFM, a Mega ST/2 or 4, or a 1040STe. They have very compatible TOS versions.

 

2) Get something with at least 1 meg of RAM. Most 520ST models have only a half meg of RAM, which is insufficient to run some games. As I mentioned, some flavour of 1040-model (1040STFM or 1040STe) are your best bet. The STe can play some STe-specific titles that a 1040STFM can't due to the STe's enhanced colour, sound, hardware sprites and hardware scrolling.

 

3) With the earlier models, the presence of an "M" in the model name (1040STM, 1040STFM) denotes the presence of an RF "M"odulator. (For reference, the "F" is for Internal "F"loppy drive) The 1040STe is an exception in that the "e" is for "e"nhanced; all STe models had RF and floppy. All models above that, too, came with RF and floppy at the very least.

 

Pretty well all ST games were designed to run directly from floppy -- GEM desktop isn't even booted for most of them. Some (very few) games are hard-drive installable, but for the most part, all you need is the ST and the disk(s).