FPGA Based Videogame System

[Steven Pendleton]

18 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

What is wrong with your Dock?  Make sure its on the latest firmware and it should work fine.  No problems here. 

I don't know. Other people complain about it, but I only use it as a charging thing. It charges the system as expected, and that's all I really want from it.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Steven Pendleton

[roots.genoa]

9 hours ago, Austin said:

the reset button probably sticks out too high

Fortunately you won't need it on the Duo! (j/k)

 

Regarding large HuCards, I didn't ask Kevtris, but I know it's a priority for them to have all original games working, including exotic stuff (that they usually have to buy 😬), but flashcarts are a whole different beast. MISTer fans can easily make fun of Analogue about that since the MISTer doesn't read carts anyway, but making flashcarts work on a FPGA system is particularly hard, since they tend to do a lot of things carts are not supposed to do.

[dudeguy]

5 hours ago, Tanooki said:

You know in a way I don't find that all that bad of an idea either given how things have ended up.  I mean while it's not ideal, it's like 80-85% as good on output but Hyperturd(Hyperkin) ended up licensing their powered HDMI kits that actually do properly convert the old signal to a 720p output without introducing crappy lag nor does it just half ass take an old signal and make it all fuzzy/bleedy/blurry either.  I got one for free over a year ago and tried it on a SNES and was shocked how close it was to the SuperNTs output.  They sell the same kit with a different end plug on them to satisfy all models of the Sega Genesis/MD too.  They don't do a NES one though as far as I recall though.  The thought has crossed my mind on just going back to using my original hardware and that as a video bypass as it's beautiful for what it is.

On a properly calibrated PVM (and even consumer grade CRT) I think the games look fine and I dont understand why people need razor sharp pixels. Youre not really gaining much when the games were in 240p to begin with and were designed with the idea that the average consumer was gonna be playing on a 20" set with RF input and mono sound.

 

I tend to like the smoother and fuzzier look of composite video anyways. I know thats blasphemous for some to hear

[roots.genoa]

Actually the FAQ has the answer:

[Tanooki]

Well if it fits that ED with the board exposed (ugh) then I'd still be questioning the SF2CE card.  Does anyone have a measurement of that thick HuCard vs the exposed ED board?

[Tanooki]

4 hours ago, dudeguy said:

On a properly calibrated PVM (and even consumer grade CRT) I think the games look fine and I dont understand why people need razor sharp pixels. Youre not really gaining much when the games were in 240p to begin with and were designed with the idea that the average consumer was gonna be playing on a 20" set with RF input and mono sound.

 

I tend to like the smoother and fuzzier look of composite video anyways. I know thats blasphemous for some to hear

I prefer sharp clean undamaged visuals, but at the same time I do own a nicely tuned 9" PVM I got about a month ago and have been largely only using it since forgoing my HD systems (analogue, top loader modded, or even switch.)  It has a quality that's better than a normal TV and doesn't have all the usual weak streaking/ghosting/bleed a consumer set often would have.  I can go either direction on it depending what I'm using.

[roots.genoa]

8 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Well if it fits that ED with the board exposed (ugh) then I'd still be questioning the SF2CE card.  Does anyone have a measurement of that thick HuCard vs the exposed ED board?

A regular HuCard is 2mm thick (maybe slightly more), while SF2 is 3.5mm. I'm pretty sure they tried it.

Edited May 20, 2023 by roots.genoa

[Atariboy]

A card reformat and fresh install has all my problem Neo Geo games working correctly on the Pocket.

 

I was hoping that the Amiga core would now work for me, but I still can't get any ADF files to load. I'll get the green disk access light briefly and then be sent back to the Kickstart floppy disc screen. At this point I'm thinking it might be the disk images that are the culprit (They're from the big set that's on the Internet Archive).

Edited May 22, 2023 by Atariboy

[spspspsp]

On 5/4/2023 at 11:05 PM, bikerspade said:

Has this issue been resolved now?

This was fixed in the next update, but I haven't tried the most recent firmware.

[simonbelmont78]

So I guess by now It looks like the Mega SG will not be getting a Jailbreak anytime soon. As I contacted Smokemonster on Twitter if there's any update and if we'll see one in the future but no answer now for over a week.😞

[Atariboy]

1 hour ago, simonbelmont78 said:

So I guess by now It looks like the Mega SG will not be getting a Jailbreak anytime soon. As I contacted Smokemonster on Twitter if there's any update and if we'll see one in the future but no answer now for over a week.😞

He posted a while ago to remind people that he's not the creator of these jailbreaks, doesn't know the current status of it any more than we do, and that if it happens he'll let everyone know.

 

It's up to the Firmware Fairy if they're updated or not. We'll just have to be patient and wait and see. Maybe he just hasn't had the chance or perhaps something cool is getting added to each and he's waiting until the final round of Super Nt and Mega Sg preorders ship before making it available (With the Nt Mini Noir firmware perhaps in limbo if he wants to make all three available simultaneously). 

 

I'd love to see my three issues be fixed with the jailbreak firmware that I've encountered and been irritated by. The messed up music in the SNES Wing Commander games, SMS Desert Strike crashing when hitting start (which incidentally also happens with the Pocket core and presumably the Nt Mini and Noir cores), and the messed up FM audio for SMS Outrun (which also happens on the Pocket). But even if they don't, they're all minor blemishes on what otherwise have been great purchases for me.

 

Hopefully we all didn't discourage it with our complaining. I know that I felt like Analogue was neglecting their duty on products that they advertised as being 100% faithful by going so long in-between addressing bugs. Would be ironic if only the official firmware now ends up featuring what perhaps was the final round of bug fixes as a result (it's the only thing Analogue really was bound to fixing if they're operating in good faith, with the jailbreak counterpart never official and thus no promise that it was always going to be updated).

Edited May 27, 2023 by Atariboy

[RobDangerous]

I'm not worried about that yet because the spritualized openfpga cores also haven't been updated yet and it seems quite likely that that will happen eventually.

[Tanooki]

I've been strongly considering selling my entire POCKET setup off locally.  I just don't use it because specifically the DOCK is largely broken for my use, a costly $100 charger.

[Atariboy]

Does Jotego's Mikie core work for anyone else on their Pocket? It starts in the correct vertical orientation for me, but with the screen incorrectly flipped with everything upside down. Yet the flip option to correct the picture being upside down only works for me if I also rotate the screen 90 degrees, which leaves the display sideways.

 

Once or twice I've gotten it briefly to be correct, but it always flips back upside down before the game's boot test finishes (Enabling and disabling flip seems to cause the game to reboot, where as you can enable or disable the rotation option without the core restarting).

 

I've not yet deleted and reinstalled to see if the behavior is then fixed. Also I wonder why Jotego felt the need to separate the rotate and flip options in this core. Seems like these two screen options should be paired up instead of being split apart with several other options that have nothing to do with the video display in-between them (leaving flip out of view unless you scroll down).

 

He's a great asset to the Pocket and MiSTer community, but occasionally some of his decisions like that seem a bit odd to me. A great example of what I'd argue is an unintuitive setup in another of his cores is having to have a gear button depressed to stay in low gear on Outrun and Turbo Outrun.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Atariboy

[SlCKB0Y]

On 5/18/2023 at 3:00 PM, SegaSnatcher said:

PS1 cannot happen on the 49K LE FPGA.  

What is entirely possible (and would be awesome) is since the MegaSG is discontinued, the “core fairy” could release a Duo jailbreak and include Mega Drive and MegaCD cores.

 

it seems like it would be a big waste to not make more use of the CD-ROM in the Duo and release cores in the Jailbreak for pre-PS1 CD based systems. 

[SlCKB0Y]

On 5/29/2023 at 1:14 AM, Tanooki said:

I've been strongly considering selling my entire POCKET setup off locally.  I just don't use it because specifically the DOCK is largely broken for my use, a costly $100 charger.

You should definitely sell it and any other Analogue products you have as soon as possible.

[Tanooki]

12 hours ago, SlCKB0Y said:

You should definitely sell it and any other Analogue products you have as soon as possible.

Yeah, no... super nt and mega sg work great, haven't had a problem.  I think what they did with those two and the run up with Pocket their heads got too big and now they're like taking the whole whatever...f 'it approach given the attitude and direction now.

The pocket itself is great, as a handheld, but also given the scummy scalpers it's a liability to use as one anywhere as replacement costs are awful.  But as I have modded original hardware that match its handheld side output it's pointless for me as it rests on the dock.  And the dock is only semi-functional and largely just doesn't cut it, not for the asking price and lack of care in 18-24mo to fix the bugs before and well after delivering it to group A.  That's my problem.  It has become pointless to retain other than saying I own an analogue pocket, which is stupid.

[Razzie.P]

On 5/28/2023 at 11:14 AM, Tanooki said:

I've been strongly considering selling my entire POCKET setup off locally. 

If you do, you should still charge them a $40 shipping fee so they can get the full experience.

[Tanooki]

@Razzie.P Go for the trifecta and mail it expensive using UPS where the buyer also gets the triple threat of wondering if the package will come damaged, late, or at all.

[plx]

Hello @kevtris, will there be a JB firmware of the recent nt mini noir update (1.3)? That woluld be nice...

[Austin]

Super NT and Mega SG pre-orders are shipping in the next week or two! https://www.analogue.co/announcements/mega-sg-and-super-nt-preorders-shipping

[Atariboy]

Their updates reads as if those that ordered both a Super Nt and a Mega Sg will see their purchases being shipped together.

 

"Mega Sg preorders will begin shipping the week of June 19th.

Super Nt orders will begin shipping the week of June 26.

If you ordered a Mega Sg and a Super Nt, your order will ship the week of June 26th."

 

I wonder how they'll excuse their customers having to pay full price for individual handling and shipping on each, if they're going to hold people's Mega Sg for a week and then ship it together with their Super Nt.

6 hours ago, plx said:

Hello @kevtris, will there be a JB firmware of the recent nt mini noir update (1.3)? That woluld be nice...

Hopefully the Firmware Fairy is just waiting for that last round of Super Nt and Mega Sg orders to ship that Austin just mentioned, before releasing updated jailbreak firmware for all three of these. If it doesn't happen then, it unfortunately doesn't look good for these being updated to align with the latest standards for the official firmware that released earlier this spring.

 

We usually saw an updated jailbreak counterpart pop up within a day or so of an official firmware release in the past. So if the Firmware Fairy isn't waiting for whatever reason to time an updated jailbreak release to coincide with this shipment, I think we'll just have to assume it's unfortunately not on the docket for whatever reason.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Atariboy

[plx]

Unfortunately. I mean, we cannot expect or demand such option, but it's such a pity

- to choose between the current, almost "bug-free" NES firmware OR the older JB fw

- if using the older JB fw, some cores just arent as complete/compatible as on other platforms

- not to have the cart adapters available (at least to build them by oneself) for the other JB-cores

 

Maybe, kevtris...!? one day.. maybe...

Come on, finish what ya started

Edited June 13, 2023 by plx

[impetus_maximus]

Forgive me if this is the wrong place for this...

 

Just got my Mega Sg which i LOVE. However a very popular fan made game is having serious audio issues with it.

Sorry bout the crappy capture. My XR1 refuses to output a picture, just audio.

 

https://woodfrog.itch.io/mega-man-the-sequel-wars-episode-red

https://itch.io/post/7843085

 

The audio plays fine (from what i could tell) on my MegaRetronHD.

Hardware used; Mega Man The Sequel Wars Episode Red v1_1, Mega Sg OS 4.9, Mega Drive x5 OS 3.14

 

I know Mega Drive audio is a real Bear to wrestle with, but i hope Kevin can help with this?

Thanks for all you've done for the Vintage/HomeBrew gaming community Kevin.

 

/max

 

[Atariboy]

Does the issue persist past the attract mode for you?

 

I played through a stage on my jailbroke Mega Sg when it released and it all sounded fine, but I can't attest if I let the attract mode run long enough before I hit the start button for it to start gameplay demonstrations.

 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Atariboy