An old newbie - planning to come to WC15

[albyrne5]

Hi everybody,
I can't believe this place exists - how awesome!

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alan and I'm from Dublin, Ireland. In the heady days of the early 1990s, myself and my school-friends all had Amigas and we all played the hell out of KO, KO2, Player Manager and Goal! In fact, Dino Dini is one of the inspirations for me deciding to become a programmer!

We had leagues, feuds, trophies, saved our best goals, you name it. In fact, I think I can still rustle up the book where we stored all our fixtures and results when I get home this weekend! Amazing memories, and we are all still in touch with each other after 25 years (we gathered this year for our collective 40th birthday and there was talk of someone trying to rustle up an Amiga for old times' sake, but it never happened for one reason or another).

Now, out of the blue, my buddy somehow catches wind of a Kick Off world cup in Dublin of all places!! And Dino Dini and S. Screech will be in attendance! It's like meeting Santa Claus and Elvis rolled into one! I am so pumped. I am now living in The Netherlands, but for the next few months I am working in Cork, Ireland, so it will be easy enough for me to pop up for the competition. The buddy in question lives in Dublin and he wants to join too, and one or possibly 2 more of the old KO2 gang will also try to make it, but it depends on family/work/travel etc.

So, I have about a BAJILLION questions. Is the competition played on real Amigas or on an emulator? What actual version of Kick Off is used? If I get the online KickOff thingy (will it work on a Mac via Parallels does anyone know?) will that get me playing the same game as the competition?

I see some Amigas are for sale after the event, I would love to buy one. I've been meaning to buy an Amiga for YEARS and just never got around to it, so this way seems like a win-win.

I am just so happy to have found this place, I've been buzzing all day today and yesterday since finding out about it (and the tourney, of course).

Looking forward to meeting you all, and if you guys needs any specific insider tips for Dublin (there was talk of a pub crawl), just give me a shout.


Alan.

[Lee W]

welcome aboard! will be great to see so many in Dublin!

the competition will be on real amigas, not emulators and there's a modified version of ko2 by the awesome Steve C called ko2cv (comp version) that is used.
here's a full rundown of the rules.
http://www.ko-gathering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=17314

[Danny D]

Welcome, it's great to finally see the Irish influx.

>>I see some Amigas are for sale after the event, I would love to buy one. I've been meaning to buy an Amiga for YEARS and just never got around to it, so >>this way seems like a win-win.
I'll put you down for an Amiga purchase. You can confirm this at the World Cup itself.

To practice on a Mac you can download FS-UAE which is the emulator, you will need KickStart 1.3 which google will find for you. You can download the latest kick Off 2 version (1.18) from the World Cup website.

Better still let's meet up in Cork and play. I'm there most weekends and have Amigas, joysticks,everything. I'll send you a private message with my number and can arrange it. Next Friday/Saturday 15/16th perhaps 20:00? Perhaps a few games and a few beers. I'll invite another ko2 player also.

[Freshmaker]

Welcome aboard Alan. Love to see this enthusiasm

[Tripod]

Welcome to the KOA! Yes, it's all true, Kick Off 2 is alive and well and you probably have no idea just how good the best players have become. Don't miss this World Cup, you'll learn new tricks you never even dreamed of. Plus KOAers are the nicest people around.

KO2 on the UAE emulator is just as much fun, though nothing beats using real Amigas and old CRT monitors, the emulation adds a bit of lag. Hence World Cups are the real deal, a room full of Amigas.

Browse this forum, you'll find plenty of photos and videos, explanations about PBD and all other aspects of KO2, and of course Steve Camber's amazing KO2 competition version with many sensible (and some pretty crazy) new options.

[alkis21]

What a great first post! Welcome. Do try to find that notebook, we'd love to see it scanned.

[Binary]

Hi Alan, and welcome!

I see some Amigas are for sale after the event, I would love to buy one. I've been meaning to buy an Amiga for YEARS and just never got around to it, so this way seems like a win-win.

I'm the co-organizer who's been amassing/testing Amigas to use at the event I will post photos of them and keep you in mind.

We intend to sell them at cost - no profit.

[albyrne5]

I managed to get KO2 working via UAE on my Mac, but I need to get a USB joystick. I tried ordering the Competition Pro USB Joystick from AmigaKit, but it won't go into my basket and it's 149euro on Amazon.de!?!?! Any ideas where I can get a reliable USB joy-stick? I'll try to get my hands on a proper Amiga Zip-stick for the competition itself.

[Freshmaker]

Get an amiga-stick and an amiga/usb-converter.

[Steve Camber]

Something like this is perfect, if you can get hold of one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-Link-Controller-USB-Adapter-Atari/dp/B00KL7BMC2

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Atari-2600-Controller-Adapter-to-PC-USB-Cable-Retro-Bit-NEW-Cord-Adaptor-/351543086162

http://www.funstock.co.uk/atari-controller-pc-to-usb-adapter

http://www.retronicdesign.com/en/

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?products_id=70

[albyrne5]

Thanks for the replies/help!