Commodore Amiga / CD32 Guide

AI said before, I'm an amulation enthusiast and I have written guides for pretty much any system out there. These days I've been posting here guides focusing on PC emulation, and I may continue until I cover every system hosted at old-games.ru , get kicked out or grow tired. We'll see.

I'll start with the Amiga because it might be the hardest, apart from the PC, to emulate properly.



The Amigas were a family of 16/32 bit computers sold by Commodore between 1985 and 1993. Before the PC clones equipped with VGA graphics and Sound Blaster cards became common, they were the most powerful gaming platform available for domestic users. The Amigas used the Motorola 68000 CPU, but the secret behind their capabilities was their custom chipset , a series of chips dedicated to audio, video and other tasks that put the Amiga ahead of the PCs for many years. Amigas used the Workbench OS, later renamed to AmigaOS. It offered a desktop, mouse driven icons and primitive multi-tasking.

This is a list of the most relevant Amiga models, chronologically:

A500 (1987): Low cost version of the first Amiga model, the A1000. OCS (First generation) Chipset, Kickstart (Firmware) and Workbench (OS) v1.2 or 1.3. 512 Kb. RAM, although models expanded to 1 Mb. are common.

CDTV (1991): A CD-ROM console based on the hardware of the A500. Not very successful. The CD games are mostly available on floppy disk versions, but with less music and animations.



A600 (1992): A successor of the A500 that didn't catch on. It has a poor reputation because its hardware changes caused compatibility problems with games designed for the A500 . ECS (Second generation) chipset, Kickstart and Workbench v2.X. Most models have 1 Mb. ram.

A1200 (1992): Low cost version of the A3000 / A4000 models, which were the first 32 bit Amigas but were intended for professional use. AGA Chipset (Third generation), Kickstart and Workbench 3.X. 68EC020 CPU and 2 Mb. ram.

CD32 (1993): CD-ROM console based on the A1200 hardware. It's the final model of the Amiga series and had por distribution due to the Commodore bankrupcy.




Amiga emulation.

No matter how you want to emulate the Amiga, there is a series of essential files you are going to need. I'm talking about the firmware of the most popular Amigas, the Kickstart files. Versions 1.3 and 3.X are essential if you want to emulate the A500 and the A1200. For CDTV and CD32 emulation you'll also need their Extended ROMs.

Workbench disks are not as important, but versions 1.3 and 3.1 might become handy later on.

I this guide we'll show you two ways of emulating the Amiga.

a) Using WinUAE. WinUAE is the best Amiga emulator available right now. It emulates all Amiga models, including the CDTV and CD32 consoles, and also an incredible array of Amiga expansions: CPU accelerator cards, harddrive interfaces, graphic cards...

Using WinUAE is easier than it looks.



First we go to Paths section and allow WinUAE to examine our BIOSes folder.

Next, we go to Quickstart and we select an Amiga model. Most games will run in a basic, unexpanded A500 , but AGA and CD32 titles will need an A1200 or a CD32 model.

Finally, we enter the path to the floppy / CD-ROM images, also from Quickstart:



Many floppy games will include intros by pirate crews. Most of the time we bypass them with mouse left click.





The same process for CD-based Amiga models:





By default, WinUAE will emulate a joystick with cursors, right CTRL and right ALT.

If we want to adjust video or control options, the emulator GUI is always available by pressing F12.

b) Using FS-UAE. FS-UAE is an emulator based on WinUAE, but it has been modified to work with WHDLoad packages. In turn, WHDLoad is an script-based Amiga program that allows to install practically any Amiga game in a harddisk. It also allows for user patches and many other options.



WDLoad games will load faster than their floppy or CD-ROM counterparts, and will also likely include compatibility updates and other patches, so they are a great way to enjoy Amiga games on your computer.

On the other hand, FS-UAE won't run just any WHDLoad game out there. It has an internal database and your WHDLoad games need to match it.

To use FS-UAE, we copy our Kickstart ROMs to the Kickstarts folder and our WHDLoad games (without unzipping them) to Hard Drives. If we also copy our Workbench 3.0 disks in that folder, FS-UAE will be able to use game patches.

FS-UAE can download game information and updates to its game database from the Open Retro Game Database, but you will need to set up an account for that.

Now it's time to scan our game collection... we do that with the Update Game Database and Update File Database options under the Amiga logo.



If some of your games don't appear in the gamelist, go to Settings --> Game Database and make sure adult and unpublished games are shown.



Now you can load any game in your list by double-clicking into it. If you're unsure how to exit a particular game, just press F12, like you would under WinUAE.



Click on the X button at the top right top corner of the screen and you'll be done.

 

Fun fact: From v5.1.0 Beta 1, which arrived a few days ago, WinUAE has now built-in Roland MT-32 support.

To enable it, first copy your unzipped MT-32 BIOSes to <ROM folder>\mt32-roms...

Then choose either Munt MT-32 or Munt CM-32L as your MIDI out device...



...and finally run any of the following Amiga games that support the sound device, according to the VOGONS Wiki:

 

I don't think I've mentioned Denise around here. Denise has been a terrific C64 emulator for some time now, but the authors also promised Amiga emulation right from the start. It took them some time to get there, but it finally started supporting Amiga 1000 / Amiga 500 a few versions ago.


Denise running Lotus II

Apart from having another emulator to try things, Denise has the advantage of being easier to use than WinUAE. We'll see if they can keep things this simple if they add further Amiga models / addons in the future, but right now it is a nice alternative for early Amiga games than run from floppy.

Disk images are run from Amiga --> Load Software and Autostart.

If anything, the only change I recommend is to change the Kickstart ROM in \DATA\kickrom for a regular Kickstart 1.3 from an A500. That's because Denise ships with an AROS replacement that's not nearly as compatible.

 

Wow, I love this! It's a new and improved Out Run port for the Amiga!

It uses resources from the original arcade version, but runs entirely under Amiga hardware.

To get it running you'll need:

- The Out Run (arcade) original resources. Yes, a MAME compliant ROM will suffice.

- Python installed, with the numpy and librosa libraries.

- A really powerful Amiga with a 68030 Processor @ 50 Mhz or CPU accelerator. WinUAE users need to use the built-in A4000 config with 2 Mb. Chip RAM and 8 Mb. Fast RAM.

The results are nothing short of spectacular.



Information and download here.

--- добавлено 24 сен 2025, предыдущее сообщение размещено: 24 сен 2025 ---

Errr... how can I edit my last post? I've noticed the "Edit" button is not available.

 

Not too long I discovered this tool... it downloads the latest versions of WHDLoad games. That is, HD versions of pretty much every Amiga game using this tool. It makes a great companion to FS-UAE, which IMHO is the best way of playing said games, with fewer waits, no disk changes and even patches and bugfixes.



The program is called WHDLoadTool and can be obtained from its GitHub page.

Al you need to do is to press on the Load Data, and then choose which games you want to download. You can include / exclude beta versions, demos and magazines, and also filter by chipset, memory requirements and / or language supported. Once you're ready press on Download.

The program then connects to an FTP and downloads all the packages that meet said criteria. And I think you can also use it to clean / update your collection, although I still haven't used those options yet.

--- добавлено 5 дек 2025, предыдущее сообщение размещено: 5 дек 2025 ---

P.S: Oops. This is the GitHub page of the utility.

 

OK, let's dive a little on what made the Amigas so especial back in the day.

The Amiga inherited the design of Jay Miner's early Atari machines, featuring a main CPU but with several chips or sets of chips designed from scratch for some of the most important tasks. Agnus accessed memory through the main CPU, the Motorola 68000 . Denise handled graphics, and Paula was the set of chips dedicated to sound.

So, how powerful were the Amigas? Well, even from the earliest models, the so-called OCS (Original Chip Set) , the Amigas could display graphics at resolutions of 320×200, 640×200, or 640×400 (320×256, 640×256, or 640×512 in PAL models). The 320-pixel-wide modes could use up to 32 simultaneous colors, and the 640-pixel modes 16 colors. These colors were chosen from a palette of 4096.

There were also two extra graphics modes, EHB (Extra Half Brite) and HAM (Hold-And-Modify) . The former allowed doubling the number of simultaneous colors, from 32 to 64. Games like Lotus II and Defender of the Crown used it to create silhouettes and shadows.



Defender of the Crown

As for the HAM mode, it allowed graphics to be displayed at resolutions from 320×200 to 360×576 using the Amiga's 4096 colors, sacrificing some sharpness. It was a level of quality never seen before on home computers, but due to its many limitations it was mainly used to display digitized photographs and pre-rendered graphics. Only a handful of games, such as Links: The Challenge of Golf , are known to use it.



Links: The Challenge of Golf

The ECS or Enhanced Chip Set models (that is, the A500+ and A600 ) from 1990 added two extra four-color modes, with resolutions of 640×480 and 1280×200 or 1280×256. But they are used mainly by applications, not games.

Finally, the AGA or Advanced Graphics Architecture machines ( A4000 , A1200 , and CD32 ) from 1992 increased the number of colors in the most common modes to 256, and the enhanced HAM mode could now display images up to 1440×576 pixels and 262,144 colors from a palette of 16.8 million. Unfortunately, resolutions higher than 640x480 showed flickering or resorted to interlacing, leaving Amigas at a disadvantage when compared to PCs with SVGA cards.

As for sound, the Amiga hardware consisted of four 8-bit PCM channels with stereo sound. They could output sound at frequencies up to 26 kHz (DMA controlled) or 56 kHz (without DMA control). Furthermore, each channel could output sound at its own frequency and volume, and rudimentary FM synthesis could be simulated using programmer tricks.

Unlike the graphics, the Amiga's audio hardware has undergone very few changes during its lifespan. Its especifications might not seem like much today, but in 1985 they put the Amiga at the forefront of home computers, at least until PCs began using AdLib and Sound Blaster sound cards. And that didn't happen until 1987 and 1989 respectively. In retrospect, it was one of the platform's most highly regarded features.

 

I couldn' find much information on the Amiga sound hardware and its capabilities. Yet, as I understood, its forte wasn't the hardware itself or its especifications, but that it could reproduce pretty much anything the programmers wanted.

I still remember how much fun I had with my first PC and MOD files, an audio format that originated on the Amiga scene:

 

Do you want to go further into the Amiga rabbit hole? What about checking out the Workbench , its desktop system? You'll need WinUAE and at least the Workbench 1.X and 3.X disks images. These you can find in many emulation websites, but since they are still copyrighted I won't provide any links.

Please, be aware that you don't need to do this . These days you can run pretty much any Amiga game using FS-UAE , which is much simpler to use. This guide is just for the Amiga nerds.

OK, for starters let's try something really simple, Workbench 1.3 for the A500 . Since most of the A500 users didn't have a harddrive, the process is as simple as choosing an A500 config within WinUAE , inserting the Workbench disk (this set consists of only two disks, Workbench and Extras ) and starting the computer. After some disk loading we'll see the Workbench desktop and then we can double click on the Workbench disk:



There's not much to do here, except maybe checking out the built-in utilities. There's a voice synth called Say that's lots of fun:



And now, for the next trick, we're going to create a working Workbench 3.1 environment. Later we can use it to check out Amiga programs, or to familiarize ourselves with its characteristics.

Step 1: We launch WinUAE and choose an A1200 or A4000 configuration. Notice that, if we have the ROMs, we can even choose a model with an accelerator board!



We also need to set up a harddrive, through the CD & Hard drives tab. We can use either a hardfile (a disk image) or a folder. A folder is the best option, because we don't need to worry about running out of space and we can also copy files directly from Windows. Name the device as DH0 and save the configuration .



Step 2: We boot up the new configuration after inserting the Install disk from the Workbench 3.1 set on the first floppy drive. If we've done everything right we'll be presented with a mostly empty Workbench desktop:



We explore the Install3.1 disk and launch the install program in our language:



What follows is pretty straightforward. Choose the installation options and insert the different disks whenever you're prompted:



Let the files be copied to your harddrive and eventually you'll be done:



Now you'll have a (mostly) working Workbench 3.1 installation. The best way of trying games and stuff is to set up another folder as a second harddrive and unpack there the LHA files you can get from Aminet and other resources. WinRAR can take care of those files from the Windows side.

There is a series of essential programs you should consider installing no matter what, though:

1) A substitute for Installer , the Amiga program used to install programs. Without it, newer programs can freeze or refuse to install. Once you've dowloaded it, unzip it to Workbench\C , which is where system executables reside.

Grab it here.

2) WHDLoad , a program used by many HD installed versions of popular games.

3) Scalos . This is a better looking replacement for the default Amiga desktop and windows.

4) Picasso96 . These are drivers for Amiga RTGs or third party graphic cards, allowing for higher resolutions and color depths inside Workbench. But you need to set up one first in the emulator options.

5) A good file manager, such as Directory Opus or Disk Master 2 .

If doing all this is such a hassle, you can always try pre-configured Workbench environments such as Classic Workbench or BetterWB :



BetterWB v4.3

These either install themselves on top of an existing Workbench 3.1 installation or follow their own install procedures, during which you'll be prompted to insert the Workbench disks. This will be necessary because some Amiga system files are still copyrighted.

These packages are a lot of fun, although they also come with plenty of programs you may not need and require more powerful hardware.