I just spent half an hour writing an incredibly detailed response and my %@#$&!*! browser crashed. I now have two choices. Say to hell with it or spend twice as long trying to recreate the message.
[insert Jeopardy music]
What the hell. I'm stuck at home with a flu, I've got nothing else to do and I've given you a hard time in the past so I figure I owe you this. Here goes...
Congratulations on the nice find. New-in-box CD32s (there's a company sitting on a ton of old stock) generally sell for between $80 and $120 so $60 for a used one sounds about right. One thing though, that isn't a stock CD32 controller. It appears to be a Honey Bee CD32 Professional control pad. CD32 controllers look like
this. What you've got there is basically a keyboard/mouse-less, floppy/hard disk-less Amiga. You can buy a 3rd party device that will allow you to connect those things to a CD32 but they're hard to find and as a result, expensive. On the other hand, it's quite easy and cheap to use the CD32 as a CD-ROM drive for the Amiga. Truth be told, that was what I used mine for most of the time. For the most part, CD32 games tend to be 'pumped-up' Amiga games with improved sound and sometimes, extra and/or enhanced graphics. There are a couple absolutely amazing games and because nature loves balance, there are quite a few that are complete shite and were released as cash grabs. I guess that's to be expected. Overall it's not a bad little system although it may end up being a gateway drug to an Amiga 1200.
There were 203 'official' releases for the CD32 and about 20 or so unsanctioned releases (that I know of.) You can find CD32 software for sale here and there on the web/eBay but I suspect you're more interested in a, uh, less expensive method of acquiring them. The best advice I can give you is to seek out TOSEC's "Commodore Amiga CD32 Collection". The current version is v0.05 and it's just under 10GB. It has everything you need. The downside is that it could take the rest of your natural life to download. I had a complete set (all 203) of CD32 software which I included when I sold my CD32 so I'll contact the friend that bought it and see if he is willing to copy some/all of it for me (read you.) That will be *way* easier than trying to create CD32 bootable discs from scratch (more on this later.) There are also a variety of games collections that were released over the years. CD32-100, CD32-200, CD32-350, CD32-444 and CD32-888 are the ones I'm aware of and the only one I ever tried was CD32-200. It was mostly Amiga games converted to run on the CD32 and since I had an actual Amiga, it was of little use to me. You might find them more useful.
Uh oh. It's later so I guess it's time to talk about burning CD32 discs on your PC. I warn you, doing so is non-trivial and can result in self-induced baldness. First off, you'll need CD burning software that supports the
Rock Ridge format. Few programs do so that's where your grief begins. You'll also need a file called "CD32.TM" which can be found on the Amiga CD32 Developer Kit CD. Finding an image of that CD is a whack of grief unto itself. In case you're curious, the CD32.TM is the 'TradeMark' file that allows the CD32 to boot the CD you create. Oh yeah, you also need to have an Amiga emulator setup with Workbench 3.whatever and a disk image (.adf) of Workbench 1.3. If you manage to get all that in order I'll give you step-by-step instructions as to how you go about creating the actual disc. Man, what a hassle. Making CD32 discs is like dating an Irish woman. It can result in a lot of fun but you best prepare yourself for some grief. (Sorry if I've offended any Irish women or the men that love them. I've been there and lived to be bitter about it. Nevermind, it's the cough syrup talking here.)
Focus Golan, focus.
Right. There are many Denial-like Amiga communities on the web that might be of interest. The ones I particpate in are
Amiga.org,
Amigaworld.net,
English Amiga Board and
Lemon Amiga. And yes, I am forum junkie and I need professional help.
Last but not least, you might want to take a look at the
CD32 FAQ. It's conceivable that it might contain some information I've forgotten to include in this encyclopedia.
Hope that helps. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or drop me a PM. I'm going to pass out now.
In the end it will be as if nothing ever happened.
(actually 37 hours or so).
