segasaturn Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 (edited) Hey, I'm new to the St seen but I'm wanted one for a while. I wanted to ask more experienced people a few questions. As stated in the title, I got a 520stfm from best electronics(NEW), I was just wondering, whats your take on the TOS operating system? is it easy to use/stable? Also any good games for the ST family? I got Battlezone from best, CIB, but I was looking to a few others. Like civilization or SimCity. Any good strategy/fun games for ST? I like strategy, horror, text adventure, simulation. Those are a few genres I'm into. Whats a good word/office program for the ST? I was looking at word perfect, is it any good? And lastly, is 512k enough for most ST games? Should I get 1meg or more? Thank you guys in advance. And I hope to be a contributing member of the ST forum family soon! Edited April 29, 2015 by segasaturn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodLightning Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Well, let's see... Populous, by Bullfrog / Electronic Arts is a great strategy game and every bit as fun today as it was in 1989. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-populous_s9100.html The Lurking Horror, by Infocom covers both the horror and text adventure genres. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-lurking-horror-_10569.html If you like racing simulations, Stunt Car Racer and Vroom are two excellent examples to try. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-stunt-car-racer_11437.html http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-vroom_23581.html I remember using a program called Atari Works. It has a word processor, spread sheet and database. https://sites.google.com/site/stessential/wordprocessors/atari-works As for TOS version and RAM, I used TOS 1.2 for many years. It works with most ST software, although I understand that v1.4 is the favorite for plain STs. Upgrading memory to at least 1mb will bring you the best ST experience, although plenty of games do fine on 512kb. That's my two cents, and just a few items that come to mind when thinking about the Atari ST. There's a vast library out there to explore, most is downloadable online! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Hey, I'm new to the St seen but I'm wanted one for a while. I wanted to ask more experienced people a few questions. As stated in the title, I got a 520stfm from best electronics(NEW), I was just wondering, whats your take on the TOS operating system? is it easy to use/stable?.... And lastly, is 512k enough for most ST games? Should I get 1meg or more? What that "NEW" is supposed to mean ? Younger than 100 years ? Best Electronics is funny company. They should not sell machines without min 1MB RAM, but they do , and charge as they did something else except blowing dust off . 512K is enough for some 80% games when running from floppy. TOS is stable and easy to use. But newer version is always better. If you see some rainbow after clicking on Desktop info, you'r lucky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English Invader Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Skulldiggery is my #1 desert island game for the ST. Brilliant Boulderdash clone. I can also recommend Time Bandit, Dungeon Master and Treasure Trap as games you might like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Lots of strategy game suggestions in this thread: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/235703-questions-about-some-games/ Some great word processing ('text') and DTP software here: http://milan.kovac.cc/atari/software/index.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataricrypt Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I still use Atari Works. I love this app (under MiNT OS though) I was recently playing Turbo Cup.. that's still a great game. Depends on what you like :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoDr.Bones Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Hey, I found this post while considering (pre-purchase) the exact same thing it looks like SegaSaturn did, picking up a 520stfm from Best Electronics, and like the OP, I come with no prior ST experience. So I would like to get some technical/gaming clarification that might help the both of us out. Is the “Atari 520STE / 1040STE / MegaSTE 1 Meg 30 pin upgrade SIMM Memory” what one would get to bring the memory up to a meg? Is this process similar to a RAM swap/upgrade in today’s computers? If not, can someone point us in the right direction? Finally, since I haven’t actually made a purchase yet, is there a better route to go if I am looking for the broadest compatibility with games? Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Hey, I found this post while considering (pre-purchase) the exact same thing it looks like SegaSaturn did, picking up a 520stfm from Best Electronics, and like the OP, I come with no prior ST experience. So I would like to get some technical/gaming clarification that might help the both of us out. Is the “Atari 520STE / 1040STE / MegaSTE 1 Meg 30 pin upgrade SIMM Memory” what one would get to bring the memory up to a meg? Is this process similar to a RAM swap/upgrade in today’s computers? If not, can someone point us in the right direction? Finally, since I haven’t actually made a purchase yet, is there a better route to go if I am looking for the broadest compatibility with games? Thanks, If you want easy RAM upgrades, buy any of the STE models. STF, STFM, or Mega ST models are not as simple as putting in SIMMs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB Positive Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Hopefully no one minds if another ST noob asks for a bit of help... I got a plain jane 520ST... color monitor, external disk drive and... hard drive? Interesting. Reading online there's a few games that can be run off the HDD in a modified form... if you have 1MB ram. The rest need at least 2MB ram. How hard would updating plain 520ST ram be? I'm handy with a soldering iron if that helps. Also, is there any chance of pulling off accelerator action like Amigas get for a simple 520st? I've read up on MiNT which seems neat but needing an accelerator + 14MB of ram means I won't be doing that any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Hopefully no one minds if another ST noob asks for a bit of help... I got a plain jane 520ST... color monitor, external disk drive and... hard drive? Interesting. Reading online there's a few games that can be run off the HDD in a modified form... if you have 1MB ram. The rest need at least 2MB ram. How hard would updating plain 520ST ram be? I'm handy with a soldering iron if that helps. Also, is there any chance of pulling off accelerator action like Amigas get for a simple 520st? I've read up on MiNT which seems neat but needing an accelerator + 14MB of ram means I won't be doing that any time soon. Actually, most of games fixed for hard disk run can work with !MB RAM - practically those which need 512 KB with floppy. I don't think that Mint is good idea on some ST, even with some not too powerful accelerator will be slow. Considering RAM expansion: there are several ways. First step is to get proper chips, what is not so easy today. Only source is some second hand shop/seller. Then, if chips are same type as in machine can go piggyback way - so soldering on top of existing, except control pins. Of course, better is with special board. I have 2 2MB expansion boards good for ST machines for sale (then will have 2.5 MB if mount one in). But if you are outside EU, shipping cost may be problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB Positive Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Just found out that, oh hey I'm dumb... it's a STm with a 512k expansion already in! So... I'm at 1MB already. Good to know. MiNT, yeah looks like that's not happening any time soon. So now I guess I need a null modem cable or a PARCP setup? Then I can just download games to my ST hard drive, yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 You can actually write to disks on a PC 3 1/2inch disk drive that will work on an ST! There is a program for the PC that will format them and then transfer ST files over with relative ease. One extremely fun thing you can download is the Automation series of disks. They have compacted games, sweet music, and AWESOME background art on much of the collection.. http://steem.atari.st/automation.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB Positive Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I could do that! ... if I had a floppy drive with any of my PCs or laptops :-/ although thanks for that link, as I found my old null cable modem today! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Here is a collection of single filed PRG games that should run on 512k! Just copy them from a PC to a 720k disk and you can read them on your SF314 drive. (if you have a SF354, it won't work as it's only 360k) http://vintagecomputercafe.com/atari/ST/files/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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