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FPGA Based Videogame System


kevtris

Interest in an FPGA Videogame System  

682 members have voted

  1. 1. I would pay....

  2. 2. I Would Like Support for...

  3. 3. Games Should Run From...

    • SD Card / USB Memory Sticks
    • Original Cartridges
    • Hopes and Dreams
  4. 4. The Video Inteface Should be...


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The 720p scanline issue still seems to be a problem with the Super NT (and I assume the Mega SG) on the recently released firmware.  Maybe kevtris decided that this is the right way to go for 720p and it is "working as intended" but it looks bizarre (two black lines after every row of pixels) and renders the "hybrid scanline" setting useless as it looks no different from standard scanlines.

 

Just as before, this can be resolved by moving the image a dozen pixels or so upward, which causes the scanline filter to "snap" into place (i.e. one black line after every two rows of pixels) and function the same in other FPGA devices, upscalers, and even in older firmware revisions of the Super NT and Mega SG.

Edited by newtmonkey
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HDMI for sure. Composite I think is necessary as well for those 'quick and dirty' tests. Analog audio for the people using HDMI to DVI adaptors. I know they are cumbersome and add expense but you have more than one type of customer here. One the reasons the RPi is so popular (other than it's cheap) is that you can hook it up to both the best TV in the house and the crappiest CRT you have in the basement in a pinch.
 
16-bit support would be one of the biggest selling points of this system. There's other things to consider, including licensing the tech to larger companies for more mainstream products. Shoot for including the largest number of systems whose FPGA cores you can muster within a rigid timeframe and don't get distracted trying to add "just one more" near the deadline. I know you're not like this, but I thought it was worth adding -- especially when everyone and their dog is demanding every system imaginable to be packed in there.
 
I'm going to make one large request...
 
Vectrex support. (You knew I was going to ask!)
 
If theres any system that needs the FPGA treatment it's this. Why? 30+ year old failing systems and current emulation isn't perfect. A new hardware platform for vector games on HDMI displays with antialiasing would also help the homebrew community. Some guys have bought the Vectrex IP but they haven't been able to get anything off the ground other than a crappy phone emulator -- this may also help them preserve the Vec/GCE legacy.
 
(Note: this plea is mainly for the bennefit of new readers to this thread. I've discussed the details of Vectrex FPGA support with Kevin a long time ago and periodically bug him about it. He usually doesn't tell me to get lost atariage_icon_wink.gif )



It would be great to see a Vectrex core added to the Mini Noir. I’m sure with the large fan base around the Vectrex the upgrade could even be put behind a pay wall of some kind.
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Was there ever a plan to make it so that the system doesn't kill your settings when you update? I don't feel like updating because today I feel too lazy to remember/write down/take pictures of all of my settings and reenter all of them~

 

Maybe I'll update in like 8 months or so when I don't feel so lazy.

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Not sure if this is the place to ask or not but has anyone done or seen any testing for SD card speeds?  I know the consoles have settings for faster read speeds but what are the intervals?  I have 95MB/s read cards... will I honestly get an improvement from one of those 300MB/s cards?  Games load in a blink of an eye on the Noir but of course there 2-3 second load on the Super NT and Mega SG. 

 

I tried asking this on Reddit and got "lol 1 second wtf big deal" comments.  I know shaving off 1 second is nominal to some but I want to try and get the most pristine, snappiest experience possible.  I mean, we're buying very expensive consoles so it seems normal that we'd want the best experience we can get.

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7 hours ago, Mattelot said:

Not sure if this is the place to ask or not but has anyone done or seen any testing for SD card speeds?  I know the consoles have settings for faster read speeds but what are the intervals?  I have 95MB/s read cards... will I honestly get an improvement from one of those 300MB/s cards?  Games load in a blink of an eye on the Noir but of course there 2-3 second load on the Super NT and Mega SG. 

 

I tried asking this on Reddit and got "lol 1 second wtf big deal" comments.  I know shaving off 1 second is nominal to some but I want to try and get the most pristine, snappiest experience possible.  I mean, we're buying very expensive consoles so it seems normal that we'd want the best experience we can get.

UHS-II cards are the ones usually posting such high perfs, and those require different SD readers (more pins on the cards) which are NOT part of these products.

As far as normal cards go I found that V30 work well, SD UHS-I has a theoretical max of about 104MB/s, but in the end I am not really sure how fast these devices can really read (wouldn't be surprised if they top between 25MB/sec and 50MB/sec but don't quote me on the exact figure, for example Krikzz ED64 x7 is advertised at about 23MB/sec, the FXPAK Pro at about 9MB/sec, MegaED Pro is at 5MB/sec. I am not sure kevtris/analogue ever reported pure SD perfs).


In short I don't think super fast SD cards would make that much of difference over "normal/decent" ones. 

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12 hours ago, Atariboy said:

Lots of changes to their excuses from the first round of Pocket preorders, but it's too late for them to keep at least one customer.

Seeing as how fast their products sell out, I don't know if they'll miss you.

 

Personally, I like to wait until the product is available, just to make sure it's not total shit, so waiting until the first round of Pockets actually gets released always seemed like a better idea than pre-ordering over a year in advance. I mean, it plays retro games that are 20-30 years old right? What's the rush?

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I think they changed some of the positioning, etc.  When I do Firebrandx's OCD settings on the new JB, it doesn't seem right as far as vertical and horizontal position is concerned.  NT Mini Noir had some stuff cut off at the bottom and Genesis had a black bar at the top.

Edited by Mattelot
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I also doubt that they'd miss me. ;)

 

Just ignore me, since I'm still annoyed at missing out (Or so I thought) when the initial preorders were taken and I had difficulty getting past the shipping calculation screen. It's good news that this product won't be limited and I wish them the best of luck.

 

Just maybe they've heard the many complaints and like their press release reads, have worked to improve upon their weak areas.

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1 hour ago, Mattelot said:

I think they changed some of the positioning, etc.  When I do Firebrandx's OCD settings on the new JB, it doesn't seem right as far as vertical and horizontal position is concerned.  NT Mini Noir had some stuff cut off at the bottom and Genesis had a black bar at the top.

They supposedly fixed it so that all of the screens are properly centered with the default values so we don't have to change the h position and v position now.

Edited by Steven Pendleton
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12 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

They supposedly fixed it so that all of the screens are properly centered with the default values so we don't have to change the h position and v position now.

Dang it... I'll have to reload the factory settings.. no idea what the defaults were lol

Edited by Mattelot
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10 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

The release notes say that it's when the sliders are centered, so I guess just find the maximum values and divide them by 2 to get the proper values.

I don't know how I missed that in the notes... that's my bad.  I thought I read through it then went right for Firebrand's settings.

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Well, I updated and it seems that the problems I found on the Mega Sg are not fixed. Sadness, but they were not in the notes, so it was expected. The thing with the 320 and 256 not lining up properly seems to be much less noticeable now for whatever reason, though, maybe because of the thing with the centered position sliders. Yes, this sounds like me complaining and the complaining might be why kevtris doesn't post here much at all now, so sorry.

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I’ve been very happy with my analogue nt mini noir so far. If I could only find the game king roms and bios I would have all of the supported jailbreak cores ready to go. It is kind of an eclectic collection of cores. I suppose Kevtris must have a real love of obscure game consoles.

 

I’m really looking forward to digging into them.

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5 hours ago, Atariboy said:

Just ignore me, since I'm still annoyed at missing out (Or so I thought) when the initial preorders were taken and I had difficulty getting past the shipping calculation screen. It's good news that this product won't be limited and I wish them the best of luck.

What's the big deal on missing out on the initial pre-order. It's like missing out on the first batch of pancakes from the kitchen. They're making more. ? Besides, no one's got it yet anyway, and it's possible the first batch will have a few identifiable things (I'm avoiding saying "issues") that might need to be addressed. 

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At that time, I was under the impression that it wasn't expected to see multiple runs.

 

The language coming from Analogue had many of us fearing that and although tempered by the lack of logic in leaving many potential sales by the wayside, I thought I potentially had missed out when I encountered similar troubles to what many others did when attempting to preorder (After rearranging my schedule to be home at my PC, which didn't help my mood).

 

I'm glad to see that nonsense didn't come to pass.

Edited by Atariboy
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3 hours ago, Atariboy said:

At that time, I was under the impression that it wasn't expected to see multiple runs.

 

The language coming from Analogue had many of us fearing that and although tempered by the lack of logic in leaving many potential sales by the wayside, I thought I potentially had missed out when I encountered similar troubles to what many others did when attempting to preorder (After rearranging my schedule to be home at my PC, which didn't help my mood).

 

I'm glad to see that nonsense didn't come to pass.

I never understand this logic at all.  Say what you will about their marketing and distancing to their fans, but they've never given anyone reason to doubt that they won't come through on releasing product.  Sans a few delays & COVID, they've released everything they've set out to release, with many things having subsequent reprints, and an original console having a UI redesign and final release.  There's no reason why they wouldn't continue to release Pockets well into the future.  I have full faith in the fact that it will turn out to be their highest seller of all time, in fact.

 

Everyone had trouble trying to preorder a Pocket, that's just how it is now-a-days.  Same for PS5, XBOX Series X, Multiple highly anticipated Switch games, RTX3080s and so on.  And even with everything Analogue stated yesterday, it'll still be an ongoing problem. 

Edited by Sho
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