---- Getting Started ---- Amiga-Online! >> Emulation >> Getting Started

What is Amiga emulation?
Good question.  Emulation is when a piece of hardware or software performs the tasks of an alien system.  In this case, a PC software program running Amiga games.

What Amiga emulation programs are there available?
The two most popular emulators are WinUAE and Fellow.  Which is the best?  It's down to personal preference, I prefer to run WinUAE, other people prefer to use Fellow.  The best thing about emulation is that it's FREE, so you can try both and see which you like the best.

Where can I download them from?
If you visit the downloads section of the site, it will tell you where you can download WinUAE, Fellow and other useful tools/utilities.

I've downloaded the emulator, now what?
Now you need to download something called a Kickstart.  The Kickstart is a ROM chip found on all Amigas which contains essential parts of the Operating System.  The information from the 'chip' is stored on a .ROM file so emulators can use it.  Without a Kickstart file, your emulator won't work.  It is illegal to procide Kickstarts for download but by performing a search on the web, you can find sites where you can download them from.  Now all you need are games, more commonly called adfs, to download.


Why are there so many Kickstart versions?
Every time a new Amiga computer was released it was shipped with an updated Kickstart.  Some games weren't compatible with the newer Kickstarts and that is why there are different versions of Kickstarts what can be downloaded.  If your game doesn't run, try an older Kickstart.  Now you need to download some configuration files.

What are these configuration files?
Configuation files make it easier to play games.  If you need to set your emulator to an Amiga 500 running Kickstart 1.3 it would take a long time to configure it.  With a configuration, all you need to do is select which configuration you would like to run.  There are many to download and it is recommended to download a range of them.  

What are ADFs?
An ADF is an image of an Amiga disk.  In other words the adf file is the Amiga disk but its stored on the computer in the form of a file.

Where can I download ADFs and does it cost anything?
Visit the ADF section of the site for links to the best ADF sites on the net.  No, it doesn't cost anything at all to download ADFs.  

Ok, I've got the emulator program, the Kickstart ROM and an ADF I want to play.
Now you've got everything you need to play your ADF.  Simply load WINUAE, select the configurationl, which ROM to load, set the CPU settings (if needed) and load your ADFs.  Click OK and away you go.

Anything else I should know?
Yes, be sure to become a member at the English Amiga Board (EAB).  It a great place to chat with fellow retrogamers about all things Amiga.  Creating an account is easy and best of all it's FREE.  Follow the link:  English Amiga Board.