WIDE Compatibility, 4The Great AGA Test! Compatibility has always been a great problem in computer world. But honestly 2-3 years ago we, amiga-freaks hardly could imagine that we had had to face this problem too. Time has past and by the 2increasing number of different Amiga models1 (A1000, A500 1.2, A2000 1.2, A500 1.3, A2000 1.3, A1500, A500 plus, CDTV 1.3, A3000, CDTV 2.0, A4000, A1200, A4000/30, CD32, A4000T and so on. Anyone knows more, I don't), which gives about 15 more or less different systems (not mentioning several possible memory configurations and turbo cards), compatibility became a great mighty problem. On the following pages you will have a look at some 3stats1 made made by us by testing the most popular groups' productions (intros, demos, dentros mentros, musicdiscs, slideshows and diskmagazines) considering the fact whether they run on a 2standard A12001 or not. Just to help you understand this small board, we give you the necessary instructions. In the first vertical column you will see the 2groups in A-Z order,1 to the right you have the 3number of tested productions (test),1 then the 2number of working programs1 follows (s stands for sum). Moving on you'll be able to see the 3perfectly running demos'1 column (A) followed by those ones (B), which 2don't run without changing the machines pointers1 (That means, you have to set the original chip-set and disable CPU caches before running the demo). So addition of "A" and "B" gives the number of the "s" column. Sounds complicated? Just move on and you'll understand it! @IPcamC In each column we give you a percentile value letting you know how successful the different groups in compatibility are. For example we tested eleven Andromeda productions, and 2out of eleven, six ran on a standard AGA machine, then 5 after setting the right parameters.1 That gives 54,545% of perfect demos and 45,454% of just working ones. Got it? At the very end of the test we give you a sum value of the tested demos and all its parameters (sum). In the last line "all" means a special number which includes all the productions of other groups too! We've got our hand on everything possible and tested 3all in all 729 files and trackmos.1 Now you should think I 2(Jean)1 am a crazy maniac life-bored bastard, but I had to do this anyway as I run a small PD company to support the readers of the computer magazine, where I work, for a small fee of 0,6 DM/disk (omkring tre skandinaviske kroner/or). 3------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2group: | test: | s/#: s/%: | A/#: A/% | B/#: B/%: 3---------------------+----------+---------------+---------------+-------------1 Absolute! | 8 |2 7 87,5001 | 7 87,500 | 0 00,000 Alcatraz | 7 |2 3 42,8571 | 3 42,857 | 0 00,000 Anarchy | 32 |2 15 46,8751 | 9 28,125 | 6 18,750 Andromeda | 11 |2 11 100(!)1 | 6 54,545 | 5 45,454 Animators | 4 |2 0 00,0001 | 0 00,000 | 0 00,000 Anthrox | 3 |2 2 66,6661 | 2 66,666 | 0 00,000 Balance | 7 |2 5 71,4281 | 4 57,142 | 1 14,285 Brainstorm | 9 |2 5 55,5551 | 5 55,555 | 0 00,000 Complex | 10 |2 5 50,0001 | 5 50,000 | 0 00,000 Crionics | 3 |2 1 33,3331 | 0 00,000 | 1 33,333 CRI/TSL | 2 |2 0 00,0001 | 0 00,000 | 0 00,000 Crusaders | 14 |2 6 42,8571 | 6 42,857 | 0 00,000 Cryptoburners | 6 |2 3 50,0001 | 2 33,333 | 1 16,666 Cult | 4 |2 0 00,0001 | 0 00,000 | 0 00,000 D-Mob | 3 |2 3 100(!)1 | 3 100(!) | 0 00,000 Digital | 12 |2 9 75,0001 | 8 66,666 | 1 08,333 Dual Crew | 10 |2 3 30,0001 | 3 30,000 | 0 00,000 Flash Production | 7 |2 2 14,2851 | 2 14,285 | 0 00,000 Jetset | 4 |2 3 75,0001 | 2 50,000 | 1 25,000 Jungle Command | 2 |2 1 50,0001 | 1 50,000 | 0 00,000 Kefrens (old+new) | 22 |2 15 68,1811 | 10 45,454 | 5 22,727 Kefrens (old) | 9 |2 5 55,5551 | 3 33,333 | 2 22,222 Kefrens (new) | 13 |2 10 76,9231 | 7 53,846 | 3 23,076 Lemon. | 5 |2 5 100(!)1 | 5 100(!) | 0 00,000 LSD | 9 |2 7 77,7771 | 6 66,666 | 1 11,111 Melon Dezign | 8 |2 5 62,5001 | 5 62,500 | 0 00,000 Palace | 4 |2 4 100(!)1 | 3 75,000 | 1 25,000 Phenomena | 16 |2 8 50,0001 | 5 31,250 | 3 18,750 Rebels | 12 |2 8 66,6661 | 4 33,333 | 4 33,333 Sanity | 10 |2 7 70,0001 | 5 50,000 | 2 20,000 Shining | 3 |2 3 100(!)1 | 2 66,666 | 1 33,333 Shining 8 | 3 |2 3 100(!)1 | 3 100(!) | 0 00,000 Dual Crew & Shining | 2 |2 2 100(!)1 | 2 100(!) | 0 00,000 Spaceballs | 6 |2 3 50,0001 | 3 50,000 | 0 00,000 Static Bytes | 14 |2 11 78,5711 | 11 78,571 | 0 00,000 The Silents | 20 |2 12 60,0001 | 8 40,000 | 4 20,000 Tristar & Red Sector | 7 |2 6 85,7141 | 6 85,714 | 0 00,000 Virtual Dreams | 3 |2 1 33,3331 | 1 33,333 | 0 00,000 ---------------------+----------+---------------+---------------+------------- Sum: | 315 |2 194 61,5871 | 154 48,888 | 40 12,698 ---------------------+----------+---------------+---------------+------------- All: | 729 |2 376 51,5771 | 302 41,426 | 74 10,150 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ok let's jump to the conclusion! First of all I want to make clear, that Absolute!'s 87,5% is 2not cheated,1 considering the fact that out of eight productions six were different issues of 3Sledge Hammer.1 Once you make a magazine compatible, obviously all the later issues become also compatible. 3Anarchy1 is just an average group at this field with its low 46%! naf! naf! But the infinite 2Andromeda made it again. We tested eleven productions and all worked! Take note, that some of the demos were 2-3 years old! 2Animators1 really is a great disappointment with its poor 0%. One question pops up in my mind, how could 3D-Mob1 code AGA compatible demos back in 1988, while crews like Virtual Dreams can't even do it in 1993! Well easy, they just coded properly, or were they just lucky? To tell the truth the tested D-Mob productions were so called digi-musicdiscs or very primitive demos indeed! So hard to judge! After 3Crionics1 33,3% and 2CRI/TSL1 poor 0%, we can easily see that The Spy seemed not to give too much shit on the future. He is a great coder anyway! The German 2Cult1 also could improve its technic, zero is not a great number! 3Jungle Commands1 50% is really something, back in 1988/89, isn't it? The development of 2Kefrens1 is quite obvious! While the old Kefrens scored only 55,5%, the new one reached about 20% higher! That's great! That is one would expect. Again 3Lemon.'s1 100% is amazing, but never forget the age of the group! 2Sanity's1 70% is let me say OK! Nobody is perfect Chaos! Besides, the average percentage of 3Melon Dezign, Rebels and Phenomena1 are little bit under our expectations (Crystal Symphonies II, Music Dreams, Enigma, How 2 Skin a Cat are nice examples though!). The two 3Shinings'1 100% is a nice surprise. Tested productions were 1-3 years old. People out there know how to code. Well the summa value gives you an average percentage, out of 315 productions 194 ran on A1200, which gives 61,587%. While testing all possible demos none-famous teams too, we got 376 working out 729, and that is 51,577% making it 10% worse than the famous ones! So what is the point? Well unfamous crew usually don't care too much about compatibility, they want to release something and get well-known. Wrong! Everyone should code properly, especially in 1993, when we have 3about 15 different Amigas!1 Keep this in mind! Following is a little 2fast made chart of the most compatible groups.1 It was made using the crews summa percentage and afterwards using the "A" columns value. Notice that several teams are not mentioned due to lack of productions. For example 3Sound Vision1 is fully compatible, on the other hand being the one and only production of Reflect! So we just didn't include it on the list. Wouldn't be fair! Majic 12 is also skipped in our tests, because of too little time to finnish this article. Not that we hate you guys, but such is life. Sorry! 4The most compatible groups: 21.) Lemon.1 11.) Kefrens (new) 2 .) Dual Crew & Shining1 12.) Digital 2 .) Shining 81 13.) Jetset 2 .) D-Mob1 14.) Balance 35.) Shining1 15.) Sanity 6.) Andromeda 16.) Kefrens (old+new) 7.) Absolute! 17.) Anthrox 8.) Tristar & Red Sector 18.) Rebels 9.) Static Bytes 19.) Melon Dezign 10.) LSD Others are under the average 61%! Now I'd like to admit that everyone should take example of Melon Dezign, Dual Crew & Shining, Jetset and Complex. They all coded A500 demos also running on A1200 and included special AGA parts! That's a great job guys! Nowadays as everybody knows that Commodore stopped producing slow Amiga models and only 2A1200, CD32, A4000 and its tower1 is left, thus compatibility is getting a minor problem. Every scene member should buy an AGA machine (or should have done it by now) and 3let A500 to be history.1 On the other hand one mustn't forget that possibly new Amigas are on the way 3(AAA chipset),1 so keep this in mind before loading your assembler! In the end, this article ment not to offend anyone, so take it as fun! Finally we give you a none-complete list of AGA compatible demos so far. Hope you can find any use of it! So long. Jean 4Turn to the next article for 4the GREAT AGA test