NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Amiga Games

Amiga games are computer games compatible with the Commodore Amiga. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2978x2580, 2313 KB) This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2978x2580, 2313 KB) This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2. ... Leander is a computer game that runs on the Commodore Amiga published by Psygnosis. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Amiga is the name of a range of home/personal computers using the Motorola 68000 processor family, whose development started in 1982. ...

The Amiga was an important platform for games in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Of all the 16-bit home computers, it was the one to gain the greatest success as a games machine due to its graphic and sound subsystems, which were widely considered to be far ahead of their time. A game made for the Amiga platform generally had much better sound and graphics than the same game running on an IBM PC, and it was also a more powerful machine than its nearest rival, the Atari ST. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Children playing on a Amstrad CPC 464 in the 1980s. ... Graphics are visual presentations on some surface such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. ... Sound is a disturbance of mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a wave. ... IBM PC (IBM 5150) with keyboard and green screen monochrome monitor (IBM 5151), running MS-DOS 5. ... The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ...

History

From the Amiga's introduction in late 1985, through to the early 1990s, Amiga games were developed in parallel with the Atari ST as both machines utilized the Motorola 68000 CPU. The Atari ST was, by default the industry's primary focus for 16-bit games development because it initially had a larger user base than the Amiga. Additionally, developers found it easier to develop for, and it was easier to port from ST to Amiga than the other way. This was due in part to the ST's minimalist hardware design, which consisted of the 68000 CPU which controlled a bitmapped framebuffer chip called Shifter. The ST's graphics hardware was similar to previous computers, such as the Apple II or ZX Spectrum, which made the transition to 16-bit easier. In contrast, the Amiga uses 2 chips to form its graphics hardware, making it a more complex architecture than previous generation of computers. This made programming the Amiga a harder task in comparison to the conventional design of the ST.^{[citation needed]} The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. ... Motorola Inc. ... The Motorola 68000 is a 32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor (formerly Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector). ... Die of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor (actual size: 12Ã—6. ... The framebuffer is a part of RAM in a computer allocated to hold the graphics information for one frame or picture. ... The Apple II was one of the most popular personal computers of the 1980s. ... The ZX Spectrum is a home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. ...

A major proportion of games developed from 1985 to 1988 were written specifically for ST, then converted to the Amiga. As a result, many Amiga games of this period were, in most cases, identical to the ST version. These games were usually called "straight ports" and did not utilize Amiga specific features, such as the blitter and hardware sprites (useful for animations), copper (useful for raster effects) and superior color capabilities (the Amiga has larger color palette and can display more colors at the same time). Additionally, games that did not make use of the Amiga's hardware often ran slower on the Amiga because the ST's CPU was clocked slightly higher at 8 MHz verses the Amiga's 7.09 MHz. This went against the Amiga's design philosophy of using hardware acceleration to reduce the load on the CPU. The only major difference in these games were apparent in audio effects and in-game music. The Amiga used digitally sampled audio for realistic sound and music, while ST used a Programmable Sound Generator, which were used in older 8-bit computers. In computer science, porting is the adaptation of a piece of software so that it will function in a different computing environment to that for which it was originally written. ... A Blitter (acronym for BLock Image TransferrER) is a chip that specialises in bitmap data-transfer using bit blit methods. ... The term Sprite has several meanings: A sprite is a class of preternatural legendary creatures. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic pinkish red Standard atomic weight 63. ... CPU can stand for: in computing: Central processing unit in journalism: Commonwealth Press Union in law enforcement: Crime prevention unit in software: Critical patch update, a type of software patch distributed by Oracle Corporation in Macleans College is often known as Ash Lim. ... A sound chip is an integrated circuit (i. ...

Ported games were perhaps an unfortunate development for the Amiga. Games ported from the ST were often superior on the ST, which made the Amiga look worse if one used those games to compare the systems. This and the Amiga's higher price contributed to the Atari ST gaining more market share.

The ST continued to be the dominant machine until the introduction of the Amiga 500 in early 1987. The Amiga 500 allowed the Amiga platform to compete with the ST on price, and with increased sales the gaming industry (mostly in Europe) gradually shifted its focus to the Amiga. By 1988, an increasing number of games were developed specifically for the Amiga. Games of this period began to show the Amiga's power, as programmers became more familiar with its architecture. Missing image A500 The A500, also known as the Amiga 500, was the first low-end Commodore Amiga 16_bit multimedia home/personal computer model. ...

Games developed on the Amiga often had to be scaled back for the ST, due to the limitations of its graphics hardware, as such these games would often have fewer colors and less detailed background graphics which gave the Amiga a distinct advantage in head to head comparisons with the ST, reversing the previous trend. At this point in time, the Atari ST began its decline in the 16-bit games market. Atari responded by releasing the Atari STE in 1989, a "enhanced" version of the ST to match the specification of the Amiga 500 by adding a blitter, more colors and DMA driven digital audio. Unfortunately for the STE, the Amiga had already captured the market, and developers were reluctant to write software for the STE, preferring to stick with the larger established ST userbase.

Meanwhile, Commodore boosted sales of the Amiga in the UK by bundling A500s with a games package, the first being the "Batman Pack" in 1989. The Batman package was conceived by the Managing Director of Commodore UK, David Pleasance. ^[1] Most bundles consisted of popular games of the time or games with some television or film licence. These packs helped the Amiga become the most popular 16-bit games computer in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

At its zenith in the early 1990s, the Amiga continued to be the platform of choice of many games development companies. At that time many games were released first on the Amiga, before being converted to other formats.

MOD based Game music

Amiga games popularized tracker-based music, particularly the MOD file format, which has enjoyed continuing popularity in the Demoscene community. Demoscene music was influenced by the Amiga and its plethora of games with upbeat, electronic music soundtracks. Music was considered a big part of the game experience in most Amiga games. ModPlug Tracker in Fast Tracker 2 colors mode Tracker is the generic term for a class of software music sequencers which, in their purest form, allow the user to arrange sound samples stepwise on a timeline across several monophonic channels. ... For other uses, see Mod. ... The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes itself on producing demos, non-interactive audio-visual presentations, which are run real-time on a computer. ...

Companies with Amiga roots

The Amiga gaming scene was responsible for the rapid growth of small gaming companies including Electronic Arts who were contracted by Commodore International to produce the Amiga's standard file format IFF in 1985. Electronic Arts' Deluxe Paint was included as standard with many Amigas thus giving them early access to productivity software. Other game development companies that were spawned by the Amiga platform include Psygnosis (later purchased by Sony as the in-house development team for the PlayStation), and a sub-set of Psygnosis called DMA Design (which later became Rockstar Games -- the developer of the Grand Theft Auto series). EA redirects here. ... Commodore, the commonly used name for Commodore International, was an American electronics company based in West Chester, Pennsylvania which was a vital player in the home/personal computer field in the 1980s. ... Interchange File Format (IFF), is a generic file format originally introduced by the Electronic Arts company in 1985 (in cooperation with Commodore-Amiga) in order to ease transfer of data between software products produced by different companies. ... Welcome screen dialog Deluxe Paint (DPaint) is a bitmap graphics editor originally created by Dan Silva for Electronic Arts (EA). ... The cover artwork of most Psygnosis games was by fantasy artist Roger Dean. ... Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational corporation and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue of $68. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design) is a developer of computer and video games, formerly based in Dundee, Scotland, and now located in the Leith area of Edinburgh. ... It has been suggested that Rockstar Advanced Game Engine be merged into this article or section. ... Grand Theft Auto may refer to Motor vehicle theft, a crime in many jurisdictions Grand Theft Auto (film), a film directed by Ron Howard Grand Theft Auto (series), a computer and video game series Grand Theft Auto (video game), the first game in this series Category: ...

Games that have been distributed with the Amiga

Commodore released a series of bundles^[2], packing-in serious applications such as Deluxe Paint along with high-profile entertainment titles. Example bundles included: Welcome screen dialog Deluxe Paint (DPaint) is a bitmap graphics editor originally created by Dan Silva for Electronic Arts (EA). ...

Batman Pack : A500 : October 1989 - September 1990 Missing image A500 The A500, also known as the Amiga 500, was the first low-end Commodore Amiga 16_bit multimedia home/personal computer model. ...

Screen Gems : A500 : September 1990 - July 1992 The Ocean logotype had an often prominent placement on the box art. ... The New Zealand Story (also known as Kiwi Kraze in its American NES version) is a 1988 arcade game by Taito. ... The Ocean logotype had an often prominent placement on the box art. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... F/A-18 Interceptor is a combat flight simulator released for the Amiga in 1988. ... EA redirects here. ... Missing image A500 The A500, also known as the Amiga 500, was the first low-end Commodore Amiga 16_bit multimedia home/personal computer model. ...

Cartoon Classics : A500 : July 1992 - September 1992 Back to the Future Part II is a 1989 film and is the second part of the Back to the Future trilogy. ... Imageworks may refer to Sony Pictures Imageworks Image Works, a video game publisher in the late-1980s and early-1990s that published: games for the Commodore 64 Centurions (1987) Bombuzal Zig Zag C64 (Imageworks) (1988) Phobia (1989) Amiga games: Battle Squadron Back to the Future Part II Blasteroids Gravity ImageWorks... Days of Thunder is an auto racing drama film released in 1990 by producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Ocean logotype had an often prominent placement on the box art. ... Screenshot of Shadow of the Beast I (Amiga) Shadow of the Beast (also officially known as simply Beast) is a side-scrolling platform computer game produced by Reflections Interactive and published by Psygnosis in 1989. ... The cover artwork of most Psygnosis games was by fantasy artist Roger Dean. ... Missing image A500 The A500, also known as the Amiga 500, was the first low-end Commodore Amiga 16_bit multimedia home/personal computer model. ...

The Wild! The Weird! The Wicked! : A600 : Late 1992 The Ocean logotype had an often prominent placement on the box art. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... â€œNESâ€ redirects here. ... Captain Planet is the name of a video game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Mindscape in 1990. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Lemmings, a Commodore Amiga computer game developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in 1990, was one of the most popular computer games of its time. ... The cover artwork of most Psygnosis games was by fantasy artist Roger Dean. ... The Amiga 600, also known as the A600 (codenamed June Bug after a B-52s song), was a home computer introduced at the CeBIT show in March 1992. ...

Race 'N' Chase : A1200 : 1993 Game screenshot Formula One Grand Prix (known as World Circuit in the United States) is a computer game released in 1992 by MicroProse for the Amiga and PC created by game designer Geoff Crammond. ... Pushover is a platform puzzle game developed by Red Rat Software in 1992 for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS and Super NES. Ocean Software published the game. ... An Amiga 1200 with a standard mouse and two external floppy disk drives. ...

Dangerous Streets : CD32 : 1993 This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Diggers is a puzzle video game for the Amiga CD32 in which the player takes control of a mining team excavating a planet for precious minerals. ... Oscar is a platform game that was released on Amiga A1200 and CD32 in 1994, published by Flair. ... Wing Commander (often referred to as Wing Commander I or WC1) is the first, eponymous game in Chris Roberts science fiction space simulation franchise. ...

Amiga game developers

Many famous game developers first established themselves on the Amiga, although some such as David Braben had already established reputations from the 8-bit formats. Famous Amiga game developers include: David Braben is a computer programmer, known for writing the Elite series of hugely popular computer games of space exploration and space trade and also for making Zarch for the Acorn Archimedes (considered to be the first true solid 3D game of all time). ...

David Braben is a computer programmer, known for writing the Elite series of hugely popular computer games of space exploration and space trade and also for making Zarch for the Acorn Archimedes (considered to be the first true solid 3D game of all time). ... Elite is a seminal space trading computer game, originally published by Acornsoft in 1984 for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers. ... Virus is a computer game designed by David Braben, developed by Frontier Developments, and Published by British Telecom (under the Firebird name). ... Dino Dini is a musician, singer and songwriter who happens to also be a computer game developer specializing in football games, which is the field he is most known for. ... A kick-off (or kickoff) is a method of starting and restarting play in a number of sports, including: Association football (soccer) American and Canadian football Rugby football By derivation kick-off also means the commencement of a project or an event, as if the project was like a football... Player-manager is a sports term used to described a manager of a team who is still registered to play for the team. ... Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a Scottish developer of computer and video games founded by David Jones in Dundee and presently located in Leith Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Lemmings, a Commodore Amiga computer game developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in 1990, was one of the most popular computer games of its time. ... Sidney K. Meier (born 1954 in Detroit, Michigan) is a renowned American programmer and designer of some of the most commercially and critically successful computer strategy games of all time. ... Civilization is a computer game created by Sid Meier for Microprose in 1991. ... Screenshot from Railroad Tycoon Railroad Tycoon is an economic simulation and computer strategy game. ... This article is about the videogame released in 1987. ... Jeff Minter at Assembly 2004 Jeff Yak Minter (born in Reading, April 22, 1962) is a British computer/video game designer and programmer. ... Llamatron is a computer game written by Jeff Minter of Llamasoft for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC (DOS). ... Screenshot from the Amiga version of Revenge of the Mutant Camels. ... Peter Molyneux OBE (born 1960 in Guildford, Surrey, UK) is a computer game designer and game programmer, responsible for well known God games Populous and Black & White, among others, as well as Business Strategy games such as Theme Park and most recently, The Movies. ... Jeremy Jez San OBE (born 29 March 1966) is a game programmer who founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in the 1980s. ... Starglider 2 was an early 3D space simulator/flight simulator video game released in 1988 by Argonaut Games for the Amiga, Atari ST and ZX Spectrum home computer systems (interesting point of note re the ST version - it could also run on a mono display). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the lead section of this article may need to be expanded. ... SimCity is a simulation and city-building personal computer game, first released in 1989 and designed by Will Wright. ... Team 17 is a video game company, which grew from 17Bit Software, an Amiga PD/Demo user-group in the late 80s/. Now based in Ossett, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. ... Alien Breed is a science fiction computer game played in the form of a top-down shooter. ... Worms may refer to: The plural form of worm Worms (computer game), a series of turn-based computer games Worms, Germany, a city in the southwest of Germany RenÃ© Worms, founder of the Institut International de Sociologie in 1893 Worms (family) The common term for an animals condition of... Raven Software is a computer game software developer based in Madison, Wisconsin. ...

Gallery

Contents

History

MOD based Game music

Companies with Amiga roots

Games that have been distributed with the Amiga

Amiga game developers

Gallery

See also

External links

References

Contents

History GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

MOD based Game music

Companies with Amiga roots

Games that have been distributed with the Amiga

Amiga game developers

Gallery

See also

External links

References

History