Re: graphic patch???

[rubywand@aol.com (RUBYWAND)]

In article <4gnqre$61u@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, ranster@aol.com (Ranster)
writes:

>
>Gadzooks, you're talking about needing more than 8 mb on a IIgs? My main
>machine, a ROM 3, has a 4 mb memory card, a superdrive card in slot 6, an
>Apple slinky card with 1 mb in slot 5, and the RAM disk set to 0 K. I
have
>3700 K available in the about window in the finder.

    Under System 6.0.1 with an 800K RAMdisk and the usual NDA's,
Drivers's, FST's, etc. our IIgs has about 2.4MB free at the Finder.
Probably, this is fairly typical of ROM-01 machines with 4MB in the mem
expansion Slot.

    Sure, 8MB looks to me like a humongous chunk of RAM; but, then, I have
not yet added a Second Sight board. When IIgs games and productivity wares
start to implement 1MB and larger displays, 8MB may begin to feel a bit
tight.

    Another factor is mass storage. By now, most IIgs users have installed
a hard disk. Developers can produce much larger games and other wares and
be confident that plenty of users will be 'in the market'. Similarly,
CD-ROM can deliver piles of large-format graphics, sound files, and other
memory-hungry resources.

    RAM prices are dropping. Many IIgs owners will go to 8MB just because
'it's there'.

    It take's just one 'blow away the doors' large-format game or
super-neat application (like a net navigator or GUI BASIC)  to push the
marker of what qualifies as "enough RAM". (Look at what the Golden Orchard
CD did for interest in CD-ROM drives.)

    Suppose SSI, Origin, or one of the other major vendors releases a
major game (like Dark Sun, Ultima Underworld, Wing Commander, 'Arkania,
...)  on CD for Second Sight and 8MB RAM. You can be sure sales will jump
for the Second Sight board, CD-ROM drives, _and_ RAM.
           

Rubywand