Jump to content

MiSTer: FPGA gaming

Dr_Dave

By Dr_Dave,
in Retro & Arcade Gaming

 Share

Recommended Posts

shiffy

shiffy

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Tomdominer said:

How about the BlisSTer Kit? Is that better than the USB hub? Can you buy both? I am currently thinking that I use the USB controllers from my mini machines, and not bother with real joystick hardware...

I don't have any experience of using the BlisSTer hub, but I think this board may be a little more hassle than what's worth to be honest. I'm certain that you can't use the BlisSTer in conjunction with the standard USB board so having both will be pointless. Also, if you do go down the BliSTer route you will have to use cores that are not part of the official project and are maintained seperately. I'm not sure who maintains them, or even if they're still being maintained, so you may always be a few versions of the core behind the official releases. I seem to recall that Sorg (think of him as the director of the MiSTer project) took an exception to the BliSTer because part of it is proprietary technology that the Bliss folks wouldn't open up, it went against his belief that MiSTer should be completely open source. Therefore, the BliSTer will never be officially supported. The person who updates the cores to support BliSTer could stop at any moment and this is why I think that the BliSTer board is not a good option in the long run.

 

If you wanted to use original controllers then I think the SNAC adapters would be a better option. They bypass the Arm side of the MiSTer completely and interface directly with the FPGA resulting in zero lag. I don't use them myself though. Personally, I use a combination of 8bitdo wireless controllers, along with an older wired Xbox 360 arcade stick. I think most of here use this sort of combination and are perfectly happy with it. If you're intending to use the controllers from the mini consoles (NES & SNES minis aside - didn't they use the Wii connector?) the standard USB board would suit your needs perfectly.

4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
watusi

watusi

Posted
Posted

Another update to CPS2 beta:

 

Now that the basic CPS2 architecture is in place, it is time to add more games to the core. CPS2 games could have up to 32MB of graphics ROM; for this week, the focus has been games of 8MB. These are the titles:

-Street Fighter Alpha, at last, we have the original version working on MiSTer
-CAPCOM Sports Club, a "Nintendo Wii" title in your CPS2!
-Mighty! Pang, the USA version fitted in 8MB, unlike the other regions. We get to play that one this week (in the alt folder)
-Megaman: The Power Battle, again only the 8MB version (in the alt folder)
-Megaman 2: The Power Fighters

1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kevvy Metal

Kevvy Metal

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, shiffy said:

I don't have any experience of using the BlisSTer hub, but I think this board may be a little more hassle than what's worth to be honest. I'm certain that you can't use the BlisSTer in conjunction with the standard USB board so having both will be pointless. Also, if you do go down the BliSTer route you will have to use cores that are not part of the official project and are maintained seperately. I'm not sure who maintains them, or even if they're still being maintained, so you may always be a few versions of the core behind the official releases. I seem to recall that Sorg (think of him as the director of the MiSTer project) took an exception to the BliSTer because part of it is proprietary technology that the Bliss folks wouldn't open up, it went against his belief that MiSTer should be completely open source. Therefore, the BliSTer will never be officially supported. The person who updates the cores to support BliSTer could stop at any moment and this is why I think that the BliSTer board is not a good option in the long run.

 

If you wanted to use original controllers then I think the SNAC adapters would be a better option. They bypass the Arm side of the MiSTer completely and interface directly with the FPGA resulting in zero lag. I don't use them myself though. Personally, I use a combination of 8bitdo wireless controllers, along with an older wired Xbox 360 arcade stick. I think most of here use this sort of combination and are perfectly happy with it. If you're intending to use the controllers from the mini consoles (NES & SNES minis aside - didn't they use the Wii connector?) the standard USB board would suit your needs perfectly.

 

There's a lag spreadsheet floating about, I do know that if you use an 8bitdo SF30 (the Snes one) the lag when wired over USB is literally 1 ms. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shiffy

shiffy

Posted
Posted

Jotego's "Combat School" core has been released publically, run your updaters.

 

I've been playing around with one of the unofficial beta cores this evening. I tried this core some time ago & wasn't successful in getting anything to run barring a few corrupted title screens of various games. Different story this time. I know that this core will be a bit niche, but it's nice to see some progress. The core in question is the PC-98 core courtesy of Japanese developer Puu. The game playing is Rusty. The sound is quite good although the music sounds a bit slow, the speed is not there yet either and needs further optimisation. The potential is there.

 

To show this potential I recorded a video of my test. Sorry about the overall quality of the vid, but I think it highlights where the core currently stands. Gameplay starts at 7:56,  the time prior is loading & intro screens.

 

1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
shiffy

shiffy

Posted
Posted
On 26/02/2021 at 21:35, Peter St John said:

Is anybody working on Rainbow Islands? That would be :wub:

Not that I'm aware of. Outside of the big stuff being worked on by the likes of Jotego & Nullobject I'm not aware of much else. Having said that, I know that most of the arcade developers are beavering away on projects but as usual they're not giving much away. The Jackal & Iron Horse are games in development that I'm currently aware of. Oh, and Mister.Do as well!

 

EDIT - Another arcade core has just been released, a very early game this time. Space Race shoudl now be picked up by the updater.

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dataDave

dataDave

Posted
Posted

I just got carried away and read up on BlisSter and SNAC and stuff and.... as much of an input latency diva I am I just don't think it's worth the hass.

I'd really like to be using my SFC controllers if possible, until I can get my MadCatz back. Would a RaphNet adapter be the best solution here?

1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
shiffy

shiffy

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Fallows said:

I just got carried away and read up on BlisSter and SNAC and stuff and.... as much of an input latency diva I am I just don't think it's worth the hass.

I'd really like to be using my SFC controllers if possible, until I can get my MadCatz back. Would a RaphNet adapter be the best solution here?

Until you mentioned the RaphNet adapter I had never even considered using it on the MiSTer. I'm happy to report that the 3 Snes pads I've tried with the MiSTer+Raphnet combo work absolutely fine, no gamebreaking latency that I could detect (tested using F-Zero) although it was only a fairly quick test. Even the SFC NTT Data Keyboard passes the test!

 

Crap photo time!

Spoiler

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sv40qaup8mfj05y/MiSTer_Raphnet_Snes.jpg?dl=0

 

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dataDave

dataDave

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, shiffy said:

Until you mentioned the RaphNet adapter I had never even considered using it on the MiSTer. I'm happy to report that the 3 Snes pads I've tried with the MiSTer+Raphnet combo work absolutely fine, no gamebreaking latency that I could detect (tested using F-Zero) although it was only a fairly quick test. Even the SFC NTT Data Keyboard passes the test!

 

Crap photo time!

  Hide contents

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sv40qaup8mfj05y/MiSTer_Raphnet_Snes.jpg?dl=0

 

 

Cheers for trying for me. I did read afterwards that they worked great. I've been meaning to buy one/some for years.

 

I'm just finished pricing everything up, too. €390. That's not going to be easy to get approval on, and I don't have much left to sell.

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dataDave

dataDave

Posted
Posted

That reminds me. I need a couple of PSX guns. I even got the appropriate cable from RGC way back.

 

Another time, maybe. Even I feel on edge with the amount of money I've just splashed. :lol:

Although I did just grab an official USB Saturn controller (Retrobit) solely for CPS-2 feels when that core hits. The Excel chart lists them slightly higher than the Raphnet adapters, not that it'll make any noticeable difference unless I'm filming myself at over 700FPS.

 

Buying new Sega hardware makes me feel warm, somewhere deep inside.

 

I don't think I've ever looked forward to a birthday this much before.

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rob G

Rob G

Posted
Posted
On 01/03/2021 at 12:34, Fallows said:

Everything is ordered!! :omg:

 

"Everything is ordered

Everything is cool when you're part of the Mister team.

Everything is ordered, when you run FPGA

...."

 

I'll get my coat

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dataDave

dataDave

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, Count Buffalos said:

GB and GBC games running through the Super Gameboy with an lcd filter look great on the MiSTER. I use a monitor and they look a bit too blocky at 1080P for me. However,  down and with a Super Gameboy border, they look really good.

 

GBA F-Zero. PVM. SNES controller.

Yes, my pants are sticky.

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Use of this website is subject to our Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and Guidelines.

  I accept