The Amiga core was the initial reason for my interest in the MiSTer as a project. I have used Amigas since the A500, and still have my original A1200, so safe to say it is one of my most beloved systems. Having never got around to playing with the original MiniMig, considering solutions such as the Vampire a tad overkill for my needs, and AGA compatibility being a dealbreaker for me, the upgraded MiniMig core for the MiSTer seems the best of all worlds to me.
The MiniMig Core
The Amiga core for the MiSTer is based on the MiniMig, which was released as Open Source in 2007. The most notable difference between the two is the MiSTer core fully supports AGA, making A1200 and A4000 simulation possible.
Like the original MiniMig, the MiSTer MiniMig core supports multiple RAM configurations, from 512KB for those games that are really fussy about wanting a basic A500 to run, all the way up to 2MB chipram with 384MB FastRAM, just in case you want to pretend to be Mr.Fancypants with your fancy Amiga. It also supports Kickstart 1.2-3.1, and both 68000 and 68020 CPUs. I have tested KS1.4, 3.1, and 3.1.4 and it’s been happy and so have I, as that basically covers A500+, A1200 stock, and A1200 with the latest Kickstart.
After several months use, I really can’t tell much difference between using an original, moderately expanded A1200 and a simulated one. An original Amiga is different to the MiSTer experience. Even though under the hood a real Amiga and a simulated one are technically and logically identical, in use there are some quirks that any original setup had that is just impossible to simulate, such as audio output. The Amiga sound is so distinctive, as were many older systems, but much of that was down to the audio technology of the time. Expecting a digital audio output to your modern speakers to give the same feeling as analogue to tiny stereo CRT TV speakers from 30 years ago is unrealistic. What you’re getting here is accuracy and speed. Cycle-accurate nostalgia isn’t a time machine. But unless you’ve held on to your bedroom TV from 1990 or your Dad’s hifi speakers from 1986, you’re doomed to that shortfall no matter the retro platform of choice.
But given that, the really big advantages to me in this solution are two-fold:
- Size: Do you want a tricked-out A1200, extra FastRAM, multiple external FDDs, couple of HDDs, network, and digital video out a la Indivision AGA Mk.3? Of course you do. Now how would you like that in a box so small it’ll hide behind your screen because it’s literally smaller than just the A1200s PSU, and not need an entire desk? Now you’re interested!
- Cost: Second hand Amiga’s have been pricey for a while now, but in the last couple of years especially, even broken and grubby A500s that have been hiding in the back of a shed since 1997 have been silly money. The cost barrier to retro gaming on most platforms has gone up, but to my mind the cost of Amiga kit has risen more than any other and is now way beyond any justification. The cost of original hardware to accomplish just the above, from Amiga, flicker fixer, PlipBox, drives, and a half-way decent accelerator probably comes to 4-figures. Do you really feel like spending that?
So, given all that, there are options available…
Alternatives
The Vampire http://www.apollo-core.com/v4.html
Imagine your dream Amiga, tricked out in terms of spec. A CPU faster than anything else ever available for the Amiga but fully backward-compatible, tons of RAM, USB, networking, RTG, and it just works. This is the Vampire. But as you might expect from such high-end, custom, limited-run hardware, it costs. Less than a ‘real’ Amiga of similar spec these days, but still a lot. After careful consideration, I decided that while I really, really, really wanted one, I just couldn’t justify it. Kind of like choosing between a Ford Focus and a Koenigsegg. Sure, you want the speed demon, but you’ll feel a bit silly in Sainsbury’s doing the weekly shop.
Silly
PiMiga
Imagine a very convenient Amiga. Not the most, I mean, it’s not ready to go, but pretty damn close. Get yourself a RaspberryPi 4, 32 or 128GB SD card, download PiMiga, drop in firmware and you’re ready to play. PiMiga is based on AmiBerry, but preconfigured with ScaleOS and WHD Load, but that is underselling it. The 128GB MF edition includes 65000 ADF images, a load of eab archive stuff, mp3s, mods, videos. Absolutely worth the download!
So why didn’t I just use that? Actually, I did. Given the startup costs and the convenience, no reason not to, and why have one Amiga when you can have two? But if you want to actually get to grips with the Amiga, you’ll want to build something yourself from scratch and customise it to your needs.
MiSTer
So imagine a compromise, but a compromise that delivers in spades. Is it a beast like the Vampire? No. You’ve got a choice between 68000 or 68020 and that’s it, although you can bump the RAM. Is it as convenient as a PiMiga? No. You’re basically starting with a classic Amiga as it would have been out of the box. You want any conveniences you’re going to have to do some learning. But that, for me, is part of being an Amiga user. It’s a legendary games machine, but it’s not a console. You can store all the ADFs you want locally and mount them as you want to change games as you would any other simulated or emulated console, but wouldn’t you rather learn how to do the more advanced stuff yourself and then make it work? And then when you need a break switch over to a completely different platform with a button-press? Yup, me too.
So given that, and that you’re here and you’ve read this far, I’m going to presume you have a MiSTer setup of some sort and you just want to get to the guide, so I guess I’ll do that now.