A: This is not normal. For example, the entire set of
games and demos should run smoothly on any modern PC. On fast
systems it should be possible to run two different sessions at
the same time, with acceptable quality. Rarely, audio may be
slightly different from a real Amiga, but overall this should
not be noticeable (Amiga audio itself, while superior in its
days, sounds a bit "artificial" by today's gaming and multimedia
standards).
In general, a hardware-based fullscreen mode (the default in previous
versions of Amiga Forever) is slightly faster than a windowed mode (the default
since Amiga Forever 2008). On modern PCs
this difference should not affect real-time performance of the
emulated Amiga. On slower PCs, it may be helpful to revert to
the previous defaults (set the "Use hardware fullscreen modes"
option, then click the fullscreen button in the player when
desired).
Beyond normal behavior, we have identified one possible relationship between alpha
channel-enabled windows and performance on certain Windows XP systems. The alpha channel is the additional layer that enables
the translucency effects, which include shadows and glass-like
features. So far, this issue seems to be restricted to certain
display cards and drivers by Nvidia. Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8,
Windows 10
and Windows 11 are not
affected by this specific issue.
We recommend the following steps, in order of importance:
- Select Tools/Check for Updates in the player, and see if
a newer version of the Amiga Forever 2008 software and of
WinUAE are listed. If a newer version is listed, close the
player and install the new items.
- If you have an AGP display card, try and set the "Use
non-local video memory" checkbox in the Player settings
- In Tools/Options, uncheck the "Enable translucency"
checkbox in the Player settings, then restart the player. A
new skin will be used, without translucency effects, which
may improve performance in windowed mode on some systems
where alpha channel goes through a very slow software layer.
- It may additionally be helpful to compare the
performance of "2X" and "1X" player window sizes.
- The player also supports two different fullscreen
modes, which can be selected under Tools/Options. Set "Use hardware
fullscreen modes" for extra
performance (please refer to the context help for additional
information).
- Enable the "Always use JIT compilation where possible"
option in the Amiga Hardware settings
- Unless your system is powerful enough, do not use the
"4X" display mode
If you believe that your system is affected by this
condition, we would appreciate a report,
indicating the operating system (e.g. Windows XP), the service
pack level (e.g. SP1, SP2 or SP3), the architecture (x86 or
x64), the CPU and clock frequency, the display card hardware,
and, if known, the driver details. Also, which of the above
steps had the most significant impact to solve the problem?
Thank you for your support.
If you become aware of new issues kindly
let us know. If you find a solution to a still unsolved bug
we'd be happy to send you a free copy of Amiga Forever
Premium Edition.
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