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Apple IIgs dilemma


Mrarkus

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New guy here... I haven't touched 8-bits in quite some time, but back in the day I wrote few games on Atari 800s. I want to get back into assembly, but have my sights set on Apple IIgs, since it's a nice mixture of old with a touch of less old. I have a decent summary understanding of the hardware, including the Mega II, 1MHz bus, and the fast 2.8MHz side with RAM/ROM and CPU.

 

 

 

What I don't know is - what OS was typically used to run IIgs-specific games. ProDOS 8, ProDOS 16, or System 5/6? I want to develop in native mode, probably using Orca/M. Having only used Apple II in high school a REALLY long time ago, I don't have a good feel for what was used when. Any help would be appreciated!

 

 

 

Confused, is all...

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Oh well, I just decided to go with GS/OS 6.0.3. It seems like the IIgs is similar to a PC with a 386 - MS-DOS being ProDOS 8, and Windows being GS/OS. I was looking at the IIgs as more of a high-end 8-bit, since it doesn't have the hardware to run with the likes of Atari ST or Amiga, but I guess it did compete with the 68000 machines at some level for a time. Looks like an interesting challenge :)

Edited by polbit
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Why bother with ProDOS 8? The whole point of the IIGS is to

use its' new features . If you are using for 8-bit emulation

you might as well buy an Apple II+,IIe, IIc. Push the computer

to it's limits!!! Use the native 16 bit mode. If you know

8 bit assembly, (6502) then using the 65816 16 bit is just an

extension of that with some extra code commands on top. As for software,

there is some really great games for it (and yes there are some bombs!).

Check out this site for alot of IIGS software and see what you think.

 

www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/

I think it is an underrated machine and more software needs to be

written for it.

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Why bother with ProDOS 8? The whole point of the IIGS is to

use its' new features . If you are using for 8-bit emulation

you might as well buy an Apple II+,IIe, IIc. Push the computer

to it's limits!!! Use the native 16 bit mode. If you know

8 bit assembly, (6502) then using the 65816 16 bit is just an

extension of that with some extra code commands on top. As for software,

there is some really great games for it (and yes there are some bombs!).

Check out this site for alot of IIGS software and see what you think.

 

www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/

 

I think it is an underrated machine and more software needs to be

written for it.

 

I guess you misunderstood me - I do want to use the native mode, and all the capabilities. What I don't want to do is have to learn all the GUI stuff. Basically I want a simple DOS that gets out of my way when programming. If I wanted retro GUI, and all the complexities that go with it, I would go with something more powerful, like ST or Amiga. Unfortunately it looks like I don't have much choice, as ProDOS 16 is really just a stopgap.

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Oh well, I just decided to go with GS/OS 6.0.3. It seems like the IIgs is similar to a PC with a 386 - MS-DOS being ProDOS 8, and Windows being GS/OS. I was looking at the IIgs as more of a high-end 8-bit, since it doesn't have the hardware to run with the likes of Atari ST or Amiga, but I guess it did compete with the 68000 machines at some level for a time. Looks like an interesting challenge :)

 

That's what I was thinking with ProDOS 8, if at all possible - like DOS with 32-bit Extender :) Use all the power without hard work!

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If I were to develop games for the GS, I'd prolly use ProDOS-8.

 

Ok, but why :)

 

And can I use it to run 16-bit apps? Can I access all the memory, new graphic modes, etc? Can I use toolbox functions while running an app under ProDOS 8?

 

I am really not a fan of GS/OS to be honest. It is slower than molasses and reloads everything so often.

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Ok, but why icon_smile.gif

 

And can I use it to run 16-bit apps? Can I access all the memory, new graphic modes, etc? Can I use toolbox functions while running an app under ProDOS 8?

 

I am really not a fan of GS/OS to be honest. It is slower than molasses and reloads everything so often.

There's nothing *stopping* you, though you may have to do a lot of manual setup to use the Toolbox.

 

The new graphics modes are handled through bits in the C0xx area, not entirely like the old ones, and at least through a certain configuration can be accessed through the second 64K just like DHGR.

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  • 5 months later...

 

Ok, but why :)

 

And can I use it to run 16-bit apps? Can I access all the memory, new graphic modes, etc? Can I use toolbox functions while running an app under ProDOS 8?

 

I am really not a fan of GS/OS to be honest. It is slower than molasses and reloads everything so often.

 

Zany Golf is an example of a full-featured GS program based on the ProDOS 8 OS.

 

I agree with you on GS/OS.

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