KEGS (Amiga)

KEGS is emulator of the Apple IIGS computers, running on many different platforms, including Amiga. The Apple IIGS is a 16 bit computer produced by Apple as a successor to the legendary 8 bit Apple II computers. Unique feature of this computer is that while being 16 bit machine by design, it is backward compatible and runs without problem almost all the software of the 8 bit Apple computers with no additional effort. This backward compatibility meant that the computer already have more than 5000 software titles available for it at the day of its release unlike the Atari ST and Amiga which were released around one year earlier than the IIGS release date. The Apple IIGS was released at September 15th, 1986. 8 bit software titles worked fine, and later native 16 bit games and utilities were developed taking full advantage of the raw power of the machine capable of many colours, enjoyable sound and faster speeds. The Central Processor Unit (CPU) utilized was 65C816 which was used before for Apple II accelerator boards, so it was not new technology for the Apple II enthusiasts. Thanks to the built-in 8 bit mode in the processor, the old software ran without the need of patches. This was a nice plus of the Apple II users in comparassion with the Atari XL and Commodore C64/C128 users which would hardly migrate to the Atari ST or the Amiga, taking into account they had to start their software collection from the beginning for the new machine. It was natural for the users to migrate to the IIGS from the earlier Apple II models which were first released at 1977 and began to age in 1986. All the software titles collected during these 9 years were still in use and all the extra features which were available only through expensive expansion boards on the 8 bit machines were already present on the Apple IIGS. For example 80 column text modes and double lowres and highres modes (not present in the original Apple II, but available with expansion cards). Synthesizer sound was a huge selling point - only simple 1 bit beeper was provided with the 8 bit Apples and better sound available only as a separate expansion card on the Apple II. More Memory easily accessible by the new 16 bit processor. Apple II models with more than 64KB memory were available, but the extra memory was accessed through bank switching. More colors - the original Apple IIs had only 16 colors, while the IIGS (standing for II Graphics Sound) had a palette of 4096 colors with up to 3200 colors on screen with the use of software tricks. The most notable feature from software point of view was the new mouse driven GUI (shown on the picture) which was very similar to the one used in the Apple Macintosh computers only in color at the period when the Mac computers were still black and white.

The KEGS emulator is utterly compatible with almost all Apple IIGS software released, with proper emulation of the CPU, graphic, sound and controllers. Original ROM image is not included in the archive for copyright reasons, but is easy to obtain. The emulated Apple IIGS can work with disk images of 5.25 or 3.5 inch disks or hard drive images which are easy to use. Another nice feature of the Apple computers is the Analog 2 button Joystick which provides better gameplay and easier control of the games. The Joystick input is selectable from Mouse (for analog simulation), AmigaInput (also possible to use analog controller) and lowlevel.library digital joystick, the standard Amiga joystick used in the classic Amiga computers. The emulator can be ran on own screen or in Workbench window with or without status line at selectable speeds: 1.024 MHz (Speed of the original Apple II 8 bit computers), 2.8 MHz - Normal speed of the brand new Apple IIGS, 8.0 MHz (Speed of the Zip Accelerator) and as fast as possible which means that the emulator works at full speed without doing any timing so it runs as fast as your computer can emulate it. Even if it received some bad reviews by the computer magazines at the time and being slammed by the computer geek, several months after the release of the Apple IIGS became the best selling Apple machine which means that big number of software titles were released for it during that momentum. Ports and conversions of Amiga games like Out of this World, Defender of The Crown, The Three Stooges and Airball. Commodore C64 hit titles like The Last Ninja and PaperBoy. Original Apple IIGS titles were released as well and later ported to other platforms like The Immortal and Zany Golf. Even arcade games like Marble Madness and Arkanoid can be played on the Apple IIGS (KEGS respectively). PC games also were converted - one of the last being the Wolfenstein 3D shown on the screenshot, which was unfortunately too slow for unaccelerated IIGS, but under KEGS it is fast and playable. Despite games the Apple IIGS being serious machine of the era have a wide range of productivity software like AppleWorks GS, BealgeWrite GS, Medley 2.0, Visualizer, Word Perfect and Quick Click Calc. Graphic utilities like Deluxe Paint, Fantavision, Graphic Writer III and Postcards. Music composing software - Instant Music, Music Construction Set and Pyware Instrument Designer. Development suites like 3D Logo, Apple GSBASIC, Beagle Compiler, Merlin 16+, ORCA Pascal and ORCA C. Apple being strong on the educational market meant that the Apple IIGS also have a big software library of educational titles like Reader Rabbit, SmoothTalker, Talkin ABCs and Math and Me. With all this software titles, great features and decent emulation, KEGS is a must for the computer people who love to play games, tinker with software or compose music. On this nice hardware of the past, not only because it can be done, but because it is a decent computing platform, the KEGS is very enjoyable to use and play on. The Apple IIGS had great potential, but Apple Computer was interested more in their Mac line then and discontinued it later. Great portion of the Apple II users moved to other hardware manufacturers and never looked back at Apple because they simply closed their historical Apple II line which was the most profitable for them and formed them as a big company. Nevertheless there is still Apple II activity going around and KEGS is a great way to enter and be in the great world of the Apple II computers and experience their magic.

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