First, you'll need
WinUAE. To use it, you'll have to equip it with the kickstart roms (google) (unzip them to their own folder, then go to WinUAE's "Paths" menu and set the "System ROMs" path to that folder). Note: The Kickstarts are illegal, to obtain them legally is cheap enough at:
Amiga foreverThen, you'll need to download some games, these are not illegal. Get them from
Amiga Emulation Universe Snesorama Game archives or you can download every amiga game in one go
HERE EDIT: After looking, this is not an entirely complete list but has most of tghe main games.
Here are some tips:
The "[cr ***]" tag means that the game is a cracked version (each cracking group is represented by three letters - QTX means Quartex, PSG means Prestige, etc.) and has an intro and trainer. If you don't see this tag, it means that the game is exactly as it was on the original disk, to the extent that it can be. (Sometimes, though, there's a nasty bit of copy protection that renders the game unplayable, or at least unwinnable.)
The "(b)" tag means that the game's file is corrupt and will not work. There is never a reason to download a file with this tag; I don't know why they even keep them in the archive.
Make sure that you get ALL disks in a set. They have to be in the SAME set; you can't have disk 1 of a game as cracked by Toxic and disk 2 as cracked by Fairlight. (Well, you MIGHT be able to, but don't assume that your game will work.) Only mix sets if it's absolutely necessary (as with Fightin' Spirit). Once you have a complete set of disks, it helps to extract them to their own folder.
After that, you can configure different parts of the emulator like memory (I set it to use 1 MB of Chip RAM and no Slow or Fast RAM, which works for most games and demos), controls (under "Game Ports", I set Port 1 to use "Keyboard Layout B", as it's the only one that uses the arrow keys - although you're quite welcome to use WASD if you want to), and other settings, like the Amiga model.
Here are the best settings for each model:
Amiga 500CPU: 68000 More compatible
FPU: None
CPU Emulation Speed: Match A500 speed
Chipset: OCS
Options: Cycle-exact, Faster RTG
Collision Level: Sprites and Sprites vs. Playfield
Sound Emulation: Emulated, 100% accurate
System ROM Settings
KS ROM v1.2 (A1000,A500,A2000) rev 33.180 (256k) [315093-01]
KS ROM v1.3 (A1000,A500,A2000) rev 34.5 (256k) [315093-02]
Memory Settings
Chip: 512K
Slow: 512K (Only KS1.3)
Sound Emulation: Enabled, 100% accurate, automatic switching
Volume: 100%
Sound Buffer Size: 4
Screen
Full screen: 720x576 32 (50Hz) PAL
Windowed: 640x512/720x576
Settings
Native mode: Windowed/Fullscreen
Correct aspect ratio
Filtered low resolution
Resolution: Hi-res (normal)
Refresh: Every Frame
FPS ajd.: 50
Centering:
Horizontal
Vertical
Line Mode
Double
Amiga 1200CPU: 68020
FPU:None
CPU Emulation Speed :Adjustable between CPU and chipset
Advanced:
Cache size: 8MB
Constant jump
FPU support
No flags
Direct
Chipset: AGA
Chipset Extra: A1200
Options: Immediate Blitter, Faster RTG
Collision Level: Sprites and Sprites vs. Playfield
Sound Emulation: Emulated, 100% accurate
System ROM Settings
KS ROM v3.0 (A1200) rev 39.106 (512k) [391523-01/391524-01]
KS ROM v3.1 (A1200) rev 40.68 (512k) [391773-01/391774-01]
Memory Settings
Chip: 2MB
Screen
Full screen: 720x576 32 (50Hz) PAL
Windowed: 640x512/720x576
Settings
Native mode: Windowed/Fullscreen
Correct aspect ratio
Filtered low resolution
Resolution: Hi-res (normal)
Refresh: Every Frame
FPS ajd.: 50
Centering
Horizontal
Vertical
Line Mode
Double
Sound Emulation: Enabled, 100% accurate, Automatic switching
Volume: 100%
Sound Buffer Size: 4
Amiga 600CPU: 68000, more compatible
FPU:None
CPU Emulation Speed :Match A500 speed
Chipset: Full ECS
Collision Level: Sprites and Sprites vs. Playfield
Sound Emulation: Emulated, 100% accurate
System ROM Settings
KS ROM v2.05 (600HD) rev 37.300(512k)[391304-01]
Memory Settings
Chip: 1MB
Screen
Full screen: 640x480 16 (50Hz) PAL
Windowed: 640x512/720x576
Settings
Native mode: Windowed/Fullscreen
Correct aspect ratio
Filtered low resolution
Resolution: Hi-res (normal)
Refresh: Every Frame
FPS ajd.: 50
Centering
Horizontal
Vertical
Line Mode
Double
Sound Emulation: Enabled, 100% accurate, Automatic switching
Volume: 100%
Sound Buffer Size: 4
Once you've set everything up, go the the "Quickstart" menu and click "Select Disk Image", then browse to a disk image that you've downloaded. After that, click "Start", and the game should load. Press End+Pause to activate WinUAE's high-speed mode if you want the game to load quickly; press the keys again to turn it off. If you're using a cracked image, the game will open up with a crack-intro (also known as a "cracktro") - just click the left mouse button to skip it, or follow the intro's instructions if that doesn't work.
After that, you'll be playing your game!
It's possible, as with many other emulators, to save your state, but that isn't always reliable. Avoid state-saving during loading to minimize the chance of getting a bad save.
If you are unsure of which games are worth trying I suggest looking on
Lemon amiga and clicking games at the top. It lists all games by average score and you can filter them by genre to easily find something you will like.
