Monochrome (B&W) Mac Gaming: Macintosh Classic or IIfx? - Macintosh Garden

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2012, January 7 - 6:19pm

#1

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Tempest

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Monochrome (B&W) Mac Gaming: Macintosh Classic or IIfx?

While trying to find a remedy for my Macintosh Classic problems (see my previous thread), I discovered that I still own a IIfx. I picked it up a long time ago from a guy and restored it, but never did anything with it (I love those boxy Mac designs). I was thinking that if my Classic is going to give me trouble, would the IIfx be better for playing my games on? I think it has Mac OS 7 on it, but I know it will support 6. My only concerns would be:

1. Will the games run too fast?
2. Will the games look 'funny' on a larger screen? I think I have a 12" monitor that I use with my IIfx, will this mess with games that expect a certain screen size?
3. If I use System 6 for game compatibility sake, will that stop me from playing any of those early color games? Do color games require Mac OS 7?

Edit: Replaced 'xxx7' with 'Mac OS 7' - IIGS User

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2012, January 7 - 7:16pm

#2

soudesune

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Joined: 2009 Dec 19

1. The IIfx has a 40MHz 68030 processor. It is much faster than the Classic (8MHz 68000) but, my our standards, not that much faster. It depends if you're at the top of the mountain looking down or at the bottom looking up. I haven't come across any games yet that run too fast on the IIfx. Try Shuttlepuck Cafe as a reference game. It plays at the speed of the processor.

2. I have no idea about this one. I always go for the colour version, if I can. I would imagine that, if your nubus graphics card supports 512x384 in B+W, then it should be the same.

3. System 6 supports colour. I think that even System 4 supports colour. The Mac II supported colour when it first came out.

An idea for you, if the old B+W games are what are important to you and you'd like some more power than a Classic or Plus, why not look for someone who'll trade you an SE/30 for your IIfx? The SE/30 tuns System 6, has a 68030 processor running at 16MHz, can take up to 128MB of RAM and has a PDS030 slot for a network card, graphics card or a 40MHz 68040 accelerator card.

2012, January 7 - 7:30pm

#3

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Tempest

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I have an SE/30 that I could use actually. I guess I didn't think about it. I think I stopped using it because some of those really early games (like Social Climber) ran too fast and I didn't think there was any B&W game that made use of the extra speed (although Bards Tale defiantly benefited from it).

2012, January 7 - 7:42pm

#4

soudesune

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You are one lucky fellow. You are blessed with old machines. You don't happen to have a radius thunder card that you would sell me, do you?

2012, January 7 - 9:09pm

#5

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Tempest

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I got lucky because a guy by me bought up a ton of Mac stuff from a school when they were getting rid of it all. I found his Craigslist ad and bought myself a few things (a G3 beige tower, SE/30, Classic, and an SE/30). I don't think I got any video cards other than the one in my IIfx, I'd have to check. Definitely nothing good like a radius thunder though.

So is it better to game with an SE/30 than a Classic? Are there any old monochrome games that make use of the extra speed? Like I said, the only one I played that benefited was Bards Tale (everything was much snappier) but I found a few that were too fast and unplayable.

2012, January 9 - 1:00pm

(Reply to #5) #6

soudesune

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I would guess that the SE/30 allows more possibility than a Classic. The quality of the 20 year old monitor will also play a role. Try both out and go with what suits you best.

2012, January 9 - 2:40pm

#7

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Tempest

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Other than the handful of "Only runs on a Macintosh Plus or earlier" games, what games would run too fast on the SE/30? I haven't had a chance to test a ton of games, but I know for example that Social Climber runs too fast (not that this is a great loss or anything).