Any must-try software for the Performa 475?

[matttintoshplus]

I spent all this time and money getting a 475 from a thrift store working and bought a floppy to microSD adapter only to realize I don't know what I should do with it. I kept trying out software that wouldn't work on that specific computer for one reason or another so I'm just looking to try stuff people know will work.

Any good games? Or perhaps a good graphing calculator or circuit schematic software, or any other interesting productivity software?

 

[killvore]

Hey, first off congratulations! You have a solid machine on your hands - and it is understandable that navigating the rapidly evolving mac 90s is a challenge

For games, it's actually pretty capable but marred by some quick and dirty ports. I would suggest checking out anything published by Ambrosia around that time (Apeiron, Avara, Barrack, Escape Velocity, Harry the Handsome Executive), or Bungie (Pathways Into Darkness, Marathon 1) to get a sense of where Mac software was at around that time. Also check out Realmz and Prince of Destruction for some RPGs. Some mac ports took advantage of the improved graphics on the mac vs. DOS, so Civilization 1 looks very different compared with the DOS version, worth checking out for that alone.

Also, you can overclock the machine up to around 40MHz in software only using SoftOC, though you should probably run it without a lid on if you do (until you attach a heat sink)!

 

[finkmac]

1) that machine needs capacitor replacement.... rather important, they can be unstable without that repair being completed!

2) by floppy to sd adapter I assume you mean "floppy emu". it's a good start, but without a scsi emulator or hard disk you're going to be rather limited to whatever fits on a 1.4mb floppy image. you're going to want a Zulu-compatible scsi emulator for most things

3) plenty. plenty of graphing calculators, a few circuit design apps, etc etc.
what I like to do is go to macintoshgarden.org and narrow down by a particular year. for the 475, say... 1992. then look through the listings and try what looks neat.

 

[Phipli]

Also, you can overclock the machine up to around 40MHz in software only using SoftOC, though you should probably run it without a lid on if you do (until you attach a heat sink)!

Oh, no, the opposite - the lid routes airflow over the CPU. You shouldn't really run old macs with the lids off because the whole case is a duct. Especially when overclocked.

With the lid on there is forced airflow over the CPU, without it, you only have passive convection cooling.

Also as finkmac says, these machines do require recapping. They're all failing, and it is much easier to do the recap to a working machine than waiting until it stops working. Replacing the caps is something that doesn't take a huge amount of time or skill, but a failure down the road will be due to damage caused by the capacitors leaking corrosive fluid and will take much more investigation and tricky repair. Get it done now instead of at three times the cost in time or money a year's time.

 

[bobcat]

Some games I enjoyed around that time:

• The early Maxis Sim games - SimCity, SimCity 2000, SimEarth, A-Train, SimAnt, SimFarm
• Marathon
• Civilization
• The LucasArts SCUMM games -Indiana Jones, Loom, Monkey Island...

 

[matttintoshplus]

Hey, first off congratulations! You have a solid machine on your hands - and it is understandable that navigating the rapidly evolving mac 90s is a challenge

For games, it's actually pretty capable but marred by some quick and dirty ports. I would suggest checking out anything published by Ambrosia around that time (Apeiron, Avara, Barrack, Escape Velocity, Harry the Handsome Executive), or Bungie (Pathways Into Darkness, Marathon 1) to get a sense of where Mac software was at around that time. Also check out Realmz and Prince of Destruction for some RPGs. Some mac ports took advantage of the improved graphics on the mac vs. DOS, so Civilization 1 looks very different compared with the DOS version, worth checking out for that alone.

Also, you can overclock the machine up to around 40MHz in software only using SoftOC, though you should probably run it without a lid on if you do (until you attach a heat sink)!

Thanks! It seems like it could be a lot of fun to fiddle around with.
I'll have to try out those games on it when I get the chance.
Is that the same Bungie that made Halo?? That's so cool!

1) that machine needs capacitor replacement.... rather important, they can be unstable without that repair being completed!

2) by floppy to sd adapter I assume you mean "floppy emu". it's a good start, but without a scsi emulator or hard disk you're going to be rather limited to whatever fits on a 1.4mb floppy image. you're going to want a Zulu-compatible scsi emulator for most things

3) plenty. plenty of graphing calculators, a few circuit design apps, etc etc.
what I like to do is go to macintoshgarden.org and narrow down by a particular year. for the 475, say... 1992. then look through the listings and try what looks neat.

The caps I can do. However I probably won't be buying any more adapters/equipment for this machine as I've already spent $300-$400 on it and am trying to find things I can do on it with just the equipment I have. I will absolutely dig through that website to see what there is. I've been looking in the "Science and Math" section and it seems very cool.

Oh, no, the opposite - the lid routes airflow over the CPU. You shouldn't really run old macs with the lids off because the whole case is a duct. Especially when overclocked.

With the lid on there is forced airflow over the CPU, without it, you only have passive convection cooling.

Also as finkmac says, these machines do require recapping. They're all failing, and it is much easier to do the recap to a working machine than waiting until it stops working. Replacing the caps is something that doesn't take a huge amount of time or skill, but a failure down the road will be due to damage caused by the capacitors leaking corrosive fluid and will take much more investigation and tricky repair. Get it done now instead of at three times the cost in time or money a year's time.

If I must! Lol. I've done some recapping before but those surface mount caps gave me a real headache. Maybe I was just too inexperienced when I did it last time.

Some games I enjoyed around that time:

• The early Maxis Sim games - SimCity, SimCity 2000, SimEarth, A-Train, SimAnt, SimFarm
• Marathon
• Civilization
• The LucasArts SCUMM games -Indiana Jones, Loom, Monkey Island...

Marathon sounds sick, I love FPS games. I'll definitely try that one.

 

[Phipli]

Maybe I was just too inexperienced when I did it last time.

Ah, you've tried before. I'm sure you'll do better this time <cough>twist/snip</cough>

Marathon sounds sick

Dark Forces runs fairly well on a 40MHz 68040 as well.

Or perhaps a good graphing calculator or circuit schematic software, or any other interesting productivity software?

There are old versions of MathCAD, MatLab and Mathematica, as well as a lovely little breadboard simulator and various other electronics related programs like Electronic Workbench.

I've attached some to this post. Some duplicates and stuff because they're from multiple sources.