User avatar
Busta Uppa

Posted Thu Sep 01, 2022 10:43 am

[moved from Hardware board, as I accidentally posted there out of habit!]

Hello all, I've been messing with my newly-aquired ACA500plus, and getting into WHDLoad. I've set up Directory Opus and have been successfully installing some game packages, all on my real Amiga 500.

I see lots of recommendations to perform WHDLoad installs in WinUAE, and then move the CF card back over to the Amiga. But I don't have much experience with WinUAE and my eyes are glazing over at these tutorials. Is there much to be gained from using WinUAE, other than the installs going faster?

The ACA500plus has already made things really easy, especially with the whole Boot + Aux CF cards setup. Workbench has been auto-installed, I can move files to and from the Amiga with ease, and I haven't had to mess with disk partitions or anything like that. So getting into WinUAE just seems like extra work, but I'd love to hear people's experiences if there's some potential benefits I'm not aware of.

User avatar
Kevin Brice
Seattle, WA
YouTube

Posted Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:33 am

Especially if you're installing in a WinUAE virtual machine that matches your physical Amiga, there will be no resulting difference. Do what makes you happy. :)

User avatar
stevelord

Posted Thu Sep 08, 2022 2:14 am

If you want to use Amiga controllers, an Amiga keyboard or other tactile Amiga items I'd say real hardware > WinUAE. For OCS/ECS there's not a lot of differences between WHDLoad for a well-configured WinUAE and real hardware.

If you were looking at AGA games, sometimes (for some configurations) WinUAE can be better or worse depending on config and the game in question.

WinUAE also lets you change hardware config more easily, which can be good for optimizing game speed on titles like Frontier and Wing Commander.

But none of this should stop you from using both, or neither. I run JST on a CDTV, WHDLoad on a tricked out A4000/060 and a MiSTer, and ADFs on FS-UAE and an Ambernic RG-350. Sometimes it's nice/convenient to backup your Amiga and run it on WinUAE. Some games work better with up remapped to an Xbox or PS3 controller button for jump. Go with what you think you'll enjoy the most.

User avatar
gybrsh

Posted Thu Sep 08, 2022 3:13 am

Doing installs in WinUAE has the benefit that you can do backups and restores very easy by copying the diskimage-file.
And adding software from aminet is more convenient as you can simply drop files inside a shared folder.

User avatar
drewbinsky

Posted Wed May 03, 2023 8:55 pm

Whether you want to utilize WinUAE for WHDLoad installs depends on your own needs and tastes. There is really no need to use WinUAE if you love the authentic experience of playing games on a real Amiga and have a system that can support it ovo game

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Thu May 04, 2023 7:10 am

The bonus is the potentially significantly accelerated Amiga for setup.

Imagine hundreds of lha-files to be unpacked on a 7mHz 68000 or a 50mHz 68030 or an 040 or even faster…

Then - after putting the CF in your Amiga - you can enjoy the bliss of using it on a real machine.





Return to “Software”