Who came from the Amiga/ST days??

[Cockney Rebel]

I just read a comment on another thread which made me think back to the good old days when people were either Amiga or ST users (yes, the old "my computer is better than yours" debate/battle has been going on for as long as computers have been around ... ahem, Spectrum or 64, anyone?!?!).

Anyway, I was in the ST camp, before I switched to the Amiga (truly a fantastic machine in its day).

Question ... were any of you lot Amiga or ST users?

Also, I was really into the "demo scene" ... were you? Crusaders, Red Sector etc were superb groups with some really talented coders, musicians & graphicians (that was the word back then!).

Would be nice to hear from anyone who used to use either the Amiga or ST. If so, which model did you own?

Was you into the demo scene?

What was your favourite game/s? Altered Beast was unbelievable on the Amiga at the time!

Anyway, let's see how many of the old skool are out there ...

 

[0098386]

The Amiga was my first machine, still got my A600 safely locked away!

My fave games were Turrican 1 and 2, Asssassin, Project X, ATR, Superfrog, Lemmings 1 and 2, and loads of little PD games.

It was the music for me. When PC was still using that built-in speaker, and consoles using their own basic midi-style songs, the Amiga had modules. I was going through my iTunes a few days ago creating a "Top Amiga songs" playlist and tested my girlfriend (who never had an Amiga) "what console was this from?" "has to be Amiga, nothing else could make that sound", she's a keeper!

I now get to work with a lot of the people who created games and music for that machine, get to meet all those people who kept me entertained in my childhood/teens .

 

[fat jez]

I started on a ZX Spectrum +, then we had Macs at school - the original Mac Plus and Mac Classic. Around '92 I got my first Amiga 600 with 20MB HD. Latterly I got a 1200, but when that died I got another 1200 mounted into a tower and fitted a Blizzard PPC with Permedia 2 based graphics. A very quick machine for the time, I loved it. I kind of see the Mac as the successor to the Amiga, in that both have a very similar way of working.

 

[glocke12]

I remember the AMiga, but I had the TI99/4A (Which I still have to this day somewhere).

 

[Cockney Rebel]

The Amiga was my first machine, still got my A600 safely locked away!

My fave games were Turrican 1 and 2, Asssassin, Project X, ATR, Superfrog, Lemmings 1 and 2, and loads of little PD games.

It was the music for me. When PC was still using that built-in speaker, and consoles using their own basic midi-style songs, the Amiga had modules. I was going through my iTunes a few days ago creating a "Top Amiga songs" playlist and tested my girlfriend (who never had an Amiga) "what console was this from?" "has to be Amiga, nothing else could make that sound", she's a keeper!

I now get to work with a lot of the people who created games and music for that machine, get to meet all those people who kept me entertained in my childhood/teens .

Ahaaa ... Lemmings was quite big back "in the day"!

There was actually a Lemmings Amiga bundle at one point, wasn't there (the A600, funny enough).

I would say that the absolute best musician in the demo scene was Fleshbrain (Seppo Hurme) from Crusaders. He was simply a natural and I loved seeing him improve with each & every release.

Closely behind him was Dr. Awesome (Bjorne Lynne) who is still very active, creating soundtracks for games amongst other things.

HaHa with regards to your Mrs ... definitely a keeper!

I still have an a A500 boxed away, as well as my monitor, and looooooads of 3.5 inches from either PD companies or cover discs from magazines.

I really miss those days ...

 

[Gav2k]

Commodore 64 and zx spectrum then Amiga and everything after that lol

I remember the double speed tape deck so boulder dash loaded quicker. Amiga and lemmings omg I wasted years on that game till syndicate came out then I was a zombie!!

 

[Cockney Rebel]

I started on a ZX Spectrum +, then we had Macs at school - the original Mac Plus and Mac Classic. Around '92 I got my first Amiga 600 with 20MB HD. Latterly I got a 1200, but when that died I got another 1200 mounted into a tower and fitted a Blizzard PPC with Permedia 2 based graphics. A very quick machine for the time, I loved it. I kind of see the Mac as the successor to the Amiga, in that both have a very similar way of working.

Nice one!

My first computer was one of the rubber keyed 48k Sinclair Spectrums! I still remember buying it from WH Smiths, then loading up a game when I got it home and having to listen to the high pitched screeching from the cassette recorder!

Manic Minor ... Jet Set Willy ... Jet Pack! Classic old games ...

I agree with you when you say that you see the Mac as being the successor to the Amiga ... the Amiga was truly in a league of its own.

By the way, did you know that the Commodore 64 has actually been re-released?

A company is producing them which run windows, as well as the classic C64 operating system.

Check it out, HERE.

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Commodore 64 and zx spectrum then Amiga and everything after that lol

I remember the double speed tape deck so boulder dash loaded quicker. Amiga and lemmings omg I wasted years on that game till syndicate came out then I was a zombie!!

... do you remember that tiny little printer for the ZX Spectrum?? It was a little black box which printed on tiny paper, just like a till receipt!

They say that technology gets smaller and faster but I'm pleased that this wasn't the case where this printer was concerned

 

[0098386]

Ahaaa ... Lemmings was quite big back "in the day"!

There was actually a Lemmings Amiga bundle at one point, wasn't there (the A600, funny enough).

Mine was the "Wacky Wild" pack, or something like that. Came with Pushover, Deluxe Paint 3 and maybe an F1 game? The day I got that machine (and DP3!) was the day my life was set - stayed with multimedia, programming, designing. Owe everything to that little machine.

I would say that the absolute best musician in the demo scene was Fleshbrain (Seppo Hurme) from Crusaders. He was simply a natural and I loved seeing him improve with each & every release.

Closely behind him was Dr. Awesome (Bjorne Lynne) who is still very active, creating soundtracks for games amongst other things.

Huelsbeck, Allister Brimble, Jogeir Liljedahl, Elmobo are all my fave musicians from that time. I was too young to understand the demo scene.

But that's why I liked it. No other machine had music that good, PC's had better graphics and built-in (or at least more standardised OS and hardware), consoles were faster at loading and had (for the most part) better designed games.

 

[Phil A.]

My first computer was a ZX81. I had a game for it published by DK'Tronics and used the money to buy a Spectrum and a real keyboard

On the Amiga / ST question, I had an Atari ST - never used an Amiga

 

[soloer]

I loved my Amiga!! Ah, the good 'ol days. I was very sad the day there was a huge storm and mine got fried. I had unplugged it and everything, but the surge came through the phone line. It was not pretty.

 

[gnomeisland]

I had a C64 then a 128. Didn't get an Amiga until my 20's when I briefly had a 500 sitting next to my now also gone NeXT station. Sigh, nerd nostalgia. Those were awesome days.

 

[gnomeisland]

Also loved the demo scene but only as an admirer. Never was a very good programmer. What some of those guys did back then still amazes me.

 

[Cockney Rebel]

My first computer was a ZX81. I had a game for it published by DK'Tronics and used the money to buy a Spectrum and a real keyboard

On the Amiga / ST question, I had an Atari ST - never used an Amiga

... well done on getting your game published

I remember the ZX81 ... had the "flat" keyboard sort of thing, right?

Also remember the Oric Atmos ... I can still see them clearly on display in Dixons over here in the UK!

I liked my ST but I ended up switching to the Amiga, mainly for its built in audio ability. However, the ST dominated the professional music industry at the time with its built in MIDI interface.

I could talk about this stuff all day ...

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I loved my Amiga!! Ah, the good 'ol days. I was very sad the day there was a huge storm and mine got fried. I had unplugged it and everything, but the surge came through the phone line. It was not pretty.

Dang! You must have been gutted!

What did you do after that ... did you switch to another machine?

 

[Phil A.]

... well done on getting your game published

I remember the ZX81 ... had the "flat" keyboard sort of thing, right?

Also remember the Oric Atmos ... I can still see them clearly on display in Dixons over here in the UK!

I liked my ST but I ended up switching to the Amiga, mainly for its built in audio ability. However, the ST dominated the professional music industry at the time with its built in MIDI interface.

I could talk about this stuff all day ...

That's the one - an absolute nightmare to type on, but I thought it was incredible. I was 15 at the time, and I can't help thinking today's 15 year olds expect a bit more from their tech

Here's a picture of it from oldcomputers.net

 

[Cockney Rebel]

I had a C64 then a 128. Didn't get an Amiga until my 20's when I briefly had a 500 sitting next to my now also gone NeXT station. Sigh, nerd nostalgia. Those were awesome days.

The C64 was another classic machine and the audio it produced was unmistakeable!

I was always gutted as I started off with the Spectrum whereas my pals all had C64's and I knew they had the better machine!

Used to LOVE playing Commando on the C64!!

What was that karate game on both machines ... was it called Ye-Ha Kung Fu or something like that?

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That's the one - an absolute nightmare to type on, but I thought it was incredible. I was 15 at the time, and I can't help thinking today's 15 year olds expect a bit more from their tech

Here's a picture of it from oldcomputers.net

Image

Yes! Remember it!

I'm surprised that these classic old machines are still not really worth anything?

I would have thought that they'd be collectables, but sadly not?

By the way ... apparently the C64 turned 30 this year and I swear the ZX81 is even older??

 

[Cockney Rebel]

How about consoles?

Apart from the classic old Atari, what was your first console?

I had the SEGA Master System which I loved at the time.

Me, my cousin and my brother all used to be there, working out the puzzles in Zelda and Alex the Kid and they really were great times.

Games don't seem to be like that these days ... it's mostly shooters where everyone is out for themselves, ha!

I love my shooters, though ... a die hard BF3 player over here

Anyway, from the Master System I switched camp and got the Super Nintendo which was fantasssssstic at the time. The games were superb.

I ended up going off of gaming but got back into it a couple of years back & I'm now on the PS3 & 360.

Playing BF3 on the 360 (returned it for the PS3 as I was experiencing terrible input lag) and I love the game.

On the PS3 I am currently playing Demons's Souls which is MERCILESSLY difficult! The amount of times I have rage quitted and swore that I'd never play it again, but then a day or so later I'll be putting the disc back in the machine to try again ...

It's a deep game and the engrossing gameplay really makes me think back to some of the games back in the Master System and Super Nintendo days. You know those games which just get you hooked where you can be laying in bed at night, thinking about this puzzle or that boos fight ... that's probably why I keep going back to it!

Are any of you guys gamers?

... PS, can't WAIT for "The Last Of Us" to be released on PS3!

 

[Phil A.]

By the way ... apparently the C64 turned 30 this year and I swear the ZX81 is even older??

The ZX81 was launched in March 1981, so is 31 years old!

How about consoles?

Apart from the classic old Atari, what was your first console?

I had the SEGA Master System which I loved at the time.

I had a master system too, but my first console wasn't an atari, it was this:

They did a programming cartridge for it (you put the two controllers together with an overlay for a keyboard) and could program it in assembler. It is this console that is directly responsible for me getting the "programming bug" and it effectively shaped my life (I'm still designing and developing software now, all those years later, although nowadays it's enterprise systems)

 

[leenak]

No Amiga here, I had a c64 though.

 

[Cockney Rebel]

The ZX81 was launched in March 1981, so is 31 years old!




I had a master system too, but my first console wasn't an atari, it was this:

They did a programming cartridge for it (you put the two controllers together with an overlay for a keyboard) and could program it in assembler. It is this console that is directly responsible for me getting the "programming bug" and it effectively shaped my life (I'm still designing and developing software now, all those years later, although nowadays it's enterprise systems)

... interesting!

I'm pleased you stuck with it and turned it into a career.

I hope you are still enjoying it and not simply seeing it as a means to an end?

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No Amiga here, I had a c64 though.

Classic ...

 

[Phil A.]

Yeah, I still enjoy programming as much today as I did 35+ years ago when I wrote my first machine code program on that console

Things have obviously changed massively since then and a lot of my job is now architectural rather than hands on, but I still get a fair bit of development time and I've never got bored of it - every system is a new challenge