FPGA Based Videogame System

[Jimjans]

It's pure arcade bliss but when I played on my 161-in-1 (before the NeoSD) without cheating I found out that later levels are insanely hard .... I mean "fuxx me with sand paper" very hard .... also you can tell it's an early game, the main character is a little stiff (like "someone stuck a broom up your axx" notably stiff).

 

Now with the "ports" I believe there's only 1 game exclusive to NeoGeoCD (SamSho RPG) as I don't count those 2 "collection" bonus material CDs or those 2 promo demo disks ... to be fair though the new CD based music tracks are very good so I am on the fence on keeping/selling my NeoGeoCD.

I think crossed swords 2 and ironclad brikinger was exclusive for neo geo cd also.

 

I love the cd soundtracks also, but the loading times i awful on the later titles and the fighting games.

Edited April 1, 2017 by Jimjans

[RevQuixo]

I think crossed swords 2 and ironclad brikinger was exclusive for neo geo cd also.

 

There was a puzzle game, Zintrik, and a mahjong game, Final Romance 2 too.

 

All except Sam Sho RPG are converted for cartridge though (although most without music).

[Wolf_]

 

There was a puzzle game, Zintrik, and a mahjong game, Final Romance 2 too.

 

All except Sam Sho RPG are converted for cartridge though (although most without music).

Correct me if I'm wrong but I always assumed the NG-CD was made strictly as a more cost effective NG and didn't have any better specs other than using cds because they were cheaper and happened to take advantage of the extra storage space for music. So if the Z3k can replicate the NG I imagine it would definitely be able to do the NG-CD. Heck they might even run on the same core for all I know.

[RevQuixo]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I always assumed the NG-CD was made strictly as a more cost effective NG and didn't have any better specs other than using cds because they were cheaper and happened to take advantage of the extra storage space for music. So if the Z3k can replicate the NG I imagine it would definitely be able to do the NG-CD. Heck they might even run on the same core for all I know.

 

They made use of CD audio for better music. That (obviously) wasn't present in the AES/MVS versions. Apparently it is quite different as attempts to make cartridge versions of CD only games have not with limited success. They were able to do it with Iron Clad because the cartridge music was found in the Wii e-shop version. Crossed Swords 2 which was converted to cartridge not that long ago used the music from Crossed Swords 1 as a replacement. The rest do not have music if you simply convert the roms for use with AES/MVS.

[phoenixdownita]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I always assumed the NG-CD was made strictly as a more cost effective NG and didn't have any better specs other than using cds because they were cheaper and happened to take advantage of the extra storage space for music. So if the Z3k can replicate the NG I imagine it would definitely be able to do the NG-CD. Heck they might even run on the same core for all I know.

NGCD had a lot more RAM (like MB vs KB) than the AES/MVS to store game data obviously (as the MVS/AES could stream directly from the cart ROMs).

I think there was another difference wrt the 68K being able to access some of that extra RAM (VRAM and/or SoundRAM) but don't quote me on that.

 

BTW the importance for the NG to be able to use the 68K to access VRAM and other gfx assets RAM would be to be able to perform procedural generated gfx aka software rendering (think Doom). Without that it is impossible to have everything pre-rendered (that is why that kind of games is missing from the library)

All other games were done via fixed sprites and the hw was handling a list and relative position but the 68K never had access to the actual sprites content.

This is from memory and speculation I did not spend time on NG development.

[phoenixdownita]

I think crossed swords 2 and ironclad brikinger was exclusive for neo geo cd also.

 

I love the cd soundtracks also, but the loading times i awful on the later titles and the fighting games.

 

 

There was a puzzle game, Zintrik, and a mahjong game, Final Romance 2 too.

 

All except Sam Sho RPG are converted for cartridge though (although most without music).

 

http://www.neogeoprotos.com/games/cdprotos.htm

The 4 games were cart based first then ported to CD (maybe the cart version was shelved before music was added) be as it may they do exist in converted form.

[Smoke Monster]

The best of both worlds are likely coming to the Darksoft Neo Geo Multi. It's powerful enough and has the memory to load NGCD-to-MVS conversions without the loading times. Darksoft is also rolling in FPGA support for other arcade systems that had similar architecture to Neo Geo. Much like kev is doing for the NT Mini. You can follow all of that over at Arcade-Projects.

 

Pre-orders are supposed to open soon. Darksoft's will be the same price as the NeoSD, but much more powerful and fully featured, and with lightning fast loading times.

Edited April 1, 2017 by Smoke Monster

[RevQuixo]

The best of both worlds are likely coming to the Darksoft Neo Geo Multi. It's powerful enough and has the memory to load NGCD-to-MVS conversions without the loading times. Darksoft is also rolling in FPGA support for other arcade systems that had similar architecture to Neo Geo. Much like kev is doing for the NT Mini. You can follow all of that over at Arcade-Projects.

 

Pre-orders are supposed to open soon. Darksoft's will be the same price as the NeoSD, but much more powerful and fully featured, and with lightning fast loading times.

 

Well crap..what am i going to do with all this?

 

https://flic.kr/p/SbsTwE

[Wolf_]

 

Well crap..what am i going to do with all this?

 

https://flic.kr/p/SbsTwE

Wow that's rough. It's probably worthless now. Better toss it.

 

Actually now that I think about it I could probably take it off your hands for a couple bucks.

[Sneakyturtleegg]

Is anybody else having a difficult time trying to get the RCA Studio 2 to boot and load games? I did read the readme files and am still not having any luck. I see there are several bios files for the system. Is any one better than the other to rename? Do the games need to be in .bin or .rom format?

[phoenixdownita]

The best of both worlds are likely coming to the Darksoft Neo Geo Multi. It's powerful enough and has the memory to load NGCD-to-MVS conversions without the loading times. Darksoft is also rolling in FPGA support for other arcade systems that had similar architecture to Neo Geo. Much like kev is doing for the NT Mini. You can follow all of that over at Arcade-Projects.

 

Pre-orders are supposed to open soon. Darksoft's will be the same price as the NeoSD, but much more powerful and fully featured, and with lightning fast loading times.

Not sure what "Darksoft is also rolling in FPGA support for other arcade systems that had similar architecture to Neo Geo" even mean ... unless he's remaking an FPGA version of MVS and other arcades I don't think any other arcade used the MVS cart pinout so not sure how a multi would work .... adaptors maybe.

 

Wrt fast loading we'll see .... wrt timing we'll see that too ... maybe I should have waited or maybe not .... time will tell, for now I am happy as it is.

[Wolf_]

Not sure what "Darksoft is also rolling in FPGA support for other arcade systems that had similar architecture to Neo Geo" even mean ... unless he's remaking an FPGA version of MVS and other arcades I don't think any other arcade used the MVS cart pinout so not sure how a multi would work .... adaptors maybe.

 

Wrt fast loading we'll see .... wrt timing we'll see that too ... maybe I should have waited or maybe not .... time will tell, for now I am happy as it is.

If your goal is simply to have an ever drive for the NG then I would say you made the right choice because yours already exists and unless the waiting times are intolerable then if it works it works and it works today so I would give it the edge.

 

If you care to wait or don't find out about it until both are in production then it becomes an issue of which is slightly better but I don't see any way you could have a problem with the one you went with so the other one would at best be slightly better.

 

Anyways I updated my 8bitdo receiver to the latest firmware 1.05 beta which it says supports the switch pro controller but I can't figure out how to get them to pair with each other. Anyone have any suggestions? (my apologies for posting off topic but it is pretty frustrating trying to figure it out)

[phoenixdownita]

If your goal is simply to have an ever drive for the NG then I would say you made the right choice because yours already exists and unless the waiting times are intolerable then if it works it works and it works today so I would give it the edge.

An unscientific test with 2 smallish games gave me around 450KB/s flashing time, a game of 20MB took 40sec (more or less), of 268 total roms/hack only 113 are actually > 30MB (30MB being a minute) ... the biggest games top at 96MB and it is supposed to be 3m10s (the 87+ MB counts 62 games, fighters and a couple of metal slug).

 

But this is the Z3K thread so enough about the NeoSD.

[Smoke Monster]

Not sure what "Darksoft is also rolling in FPGA support for other arcade systems that had similar architecture to Neo Geo" even mean ... unless he's remaking an FPGA version of MVS and other arcades I don't think any other arcade used the MVS cart pinout so not sure how a multi would work .... adaptors maybe.

You'll be able to put ROM files of arcade games from systems with similar architecture to SD card can play them on the Darksoft Multi. He hasn't said exactly which platforms he's working on, but it will be 68000-based games with similar tile sizes to MVS (Model 2, System 16, etc).

 

Wrt fast loading we'll see .... wrt timing we'll see that too

Longest load time on the prototype Darksoft Neo Geo Multi is 18 seconds for the largest games. Edited April 1, 2017 by Smoke Monster

[bikerspade]

Yes I want to support FDS natively, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. At the time of the design, FDS information wasn't available so I never added it.

When you add native FDS support for the SD card, could you add the option to manually switch disk sides (unlike the auto-switching in the Everdrive)?

 

I'm a big fan of your work. I've bought one of your modded Hi-Def NES consoles on eBay over a year ago, also bought a kit to modifiy a top-loader as a gift, and recently picked up an Analog NT Mini too.

[rezb1t]

Hey, earlier in this thread I was having some interference issues with my 8bitdo wireless controller, resulting in lots of dropped inputs. Just wanted to let you guys know that I figured out the problem and the controller works great now! (though the dpad is slightly sensitive to diagonals, but it works well once you're used to it)

 

Analogue has a new Support section article related to the 8bitdo controller so I read through and it stated that having a wireless router within a few feet of the NT Mini could cause some interference problems. Sure enough, I have a wireless router/modem combo sitting about 1 foot away from the NT Mini for my gaming setup. I looked online to figure out what frequency of signal Bluetooth uses and it's in the 2.4ghz range, very similar to WiFi by default!

 

All I had to do to fix all my issues was go into my router's settings, disable the 2.4ghz band, and enable the 5ghz band (this will only work if your router supports 5ghz wireless frequencies) and start using that for my phone/other devices.

 

Afterwards, managed to play through Battletoads with the controller, which is my personal stress test! I still think I prefer the OEM controllers just a little bit, but the performance out of the 8bitdo was pretty good. I didn't notice anything in terms of latency or dropped inputs.

Edited April 2, 2017 by rezb1t

[Wolf_]

Hey, earlier in this thread I was having some interference issues with my 8bitdo wireless controller, resulting in lots of dropped inputs. Just wanted to let you guys know that I figured out the problem and the controller works great now! (though the dpad is slightly sensitive to diagonals, but it works well once you're used to it)

 

Analogue has a new Support section article related to the 8bitdo controller so I read through and it stated that having a wireless router within a few feet of the NT Mini could cause some interference problems. Sure enough, I have a wireless router/modem combo sitting about 1 foot away from the NT Mini for my gaming setup. I looked online to figure out what frequency of signal Bluetooth uses and it's in the 2.4ghz range, very similar to WiFi by default!

 

All I had to do to fix all my issues was go into my router's settings, disable the 2.4ghz band, and enable the 5ghz band (this will only work if your router supports 5ghz wireless frequencies) and start using that for my phone/other devices.

 

Afterwards, managed to play through Battletoads with the controller, which is my personal stress test! I still think I prefer the OEM controllers just a little bit, but the performance out of the 8bitdo was pretty good. I didn't notice anything in terms of latency or dropped inputs.

I'm having issues with mine as well. I updated the firmware to version 1.05 beta for use with the switch pro controller and it says I'm supposed to insert it into the console then press the pairing button and the light should go from blue to blinking blue. Except when I put the retro receiver in the light is green and stays solid green when I press the pair button. Even if I hold down the pair button when I plug it in the only difference is the light is blinking green.

 

I can't even get it to pair with the included controller. About to start throwing it at a wall to see if that motivates it.

[rezb1t]

Time for more bug videos!

 

Here's Dragon Buster II being compared on the NT Mini, first it's played with an Everdrive N8 (with no issues), then I swap over to the NES core to demonstrate a crash during the intro and some weird graphical glitches in game.

 

skip to 2:04 to see the NES core

 

 

Next up: Sangokushi II - Hau No Tairiku

 

 

This one also appears to play perfectly in the Everdrive N8 with an OEM controller (at least I think... I can't read Japanese so I was fumbling with the menus), with N163 expansion sound enabled in the NT Mini menu. I couldn't get it to boot with the NES core at all, it just black screens. It's the same Sangokushi II rom in both instances.

 

Skip to 2:31 to see the crash in the NES core

 

 

You might have noticed I said 'with an OEM controller'. If you try to play Sangokushi II - Hau No Tairiku on the Everdrive N8 with the 8bitdo wireless controller, it's *extremely* difficult to control the cursor. If I so much as tap right in the menu it seems to move a *lot*, and holding any direction with the map cursor active makes it shudder in place extremely quickly. This makes the game pretty much impossible to play

 

 

Sangokushi II - Hau No Tairiku uses the same mapper as Namco Classic II, which I have made videos of earlier in the thread

(here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/page-90?do=findComment&comment=3720969)

 

 

 

 

NES bug recap! (in the interest of being helpful)

- Namco Classic II: (NES core crashes, everdrive shows graphical glitches, cartridge might be bugged on NT Mini too)

- Sangokushi II - Hau No Tairiku: (cartridge should work fine, crash in NES core only. Maybe 8bitdo fixes possible?)

- Dragon Buster II: (cartridge should work fine, crash on intro and graphical glitches in game with NES core only.)

- Huge Insect: (graphical corruption on right side when the insects fly in on screen)

 

ROM hacks:

- Zelda: Legend of Link: (MMC5, 32kb sram) can't save

 

Other:

- Some Famicom Disk Systems are not working with some NT Minis. Difficult to get more information on this as I cannot reproduce with the disk systems or ram adapters that I own. Kevtris can't reproduce either

Edited April 2, 2017 by rezb1t

[RampantOctopus]

Hey, earlier in this thread I was having some interference issues with my 8bitdo wireless controller, resulting in lots of dropped inputs. ... disable the 2.4ghz band, and enable the 5ghz band

Had the same problem, though my router was nowhere near the nt mini... Soooooo, I got in touch with them and they even fed me some beta firmware. Stay tuned for more developments: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/263325-analogue-nt-mini-hardware/?p=3732095

 

I'm having issues with mine as well. I updated the firmware to version 1.05 beta for use with the switch pro controller...

 

Try hitting them up on Facebook via messenger, it takes them until midnight (or later EST) due to their time zone to get a response, but they've actually been very accommodating on FB (but not on their wall, or on their impossible forum, or via their own website)... But seriously, very helpful via Facebook messenger.

[Wolf_]

Try hitting them up on Facebook via messenger, it takes them until midnight (or later EST) due to their time zone to get a response, but they've actually been very accommodating on FB (but not on their wall, or on their impossible forum, or via their own website)... But seriously, very helpful via Facebook messenger.

The uk version of the page?

 

Retro receiver has 0 pages in search and 8bitdo has like 15.

[Smoke Monster]

Is anybody else having a difficult time trying to get the RCA Studio 2 to boot and load games? I did read the readme files and am still not having any luck. I see there are several bios files for the system. Is any one better than the other to rename? Do the games need to be in .bin or .rom format?

Here is a pack of all the correct/best bios files for all NT cores (minus Atarivox, which won't be available since it's still being sold). They're all named properly -- copy them to the root of your SD card and you'll be all set.

NT Mini Jailbreak Bios Collection.zip

Also, here are the four titles requiring fixes that Kev mentioned in the Atari 7800 Core Notes:

NT Mini Fixed 7800 Titles.zip

Commando - Pokey Patched

Sentinal - NT Fixed

Summer Games - NT Fixed

Winter Games - NT Fixed

 

This will all be included in the NT Mini Complete Pack that Wolf_ and I will be releasing. No date on that yet, but it will be worth the wait. It will be released at the site with the EverDrive Packs which shall not be named.

Edited April 2, 2017 by Smoke Monster

[RampantOctopus]

The uk version of the page?

 

Retro receiver has 0 pages in search and 8bitdo has like 15.

 

https://www.facebook.com/8bitdo/<-- used the send message button, posting on their wall had no effect for me.

[cacophony]

Here is a pack of all the correct/best bios files for all NT cores (minus Atarivox, which won't be available since it's still being sold). They're all named properly -- copy them to the root of your SD card and you'll be all set.

NT Mini Jailbreak Bios Collection.zip

Also, here are the four titles requiring fixes that Kev mentioned in the Atari 7800 Core Notes:

NT Mini Fixed 7800 Titles.zip

Commando - Pokey Patched

Sentinal - NT Fixed

Summer Games - NT Fixed

Winter Games - NT Fixed

 

This will all be included in the NT Mini Complete Pack that Wolf_ and I will be releasing. No date on that yet, but it will be worth the wait. It will be released at the site with the EverDrive Packs which shall not be named.

 

Nice, looking forward to your new packs!

 

General question: Would you consider limiting the number of roms per folder to 200 for all the Nt Mini sets? Kevtris recommended keeping the number under that for performance reasons on folder entry.

[Sneakyturtleegg]

I'm having issues with mine as well. I updated the firmware to version 1.05 beta for use with the switch pro controller and it says I'm supposed to insert it into the console then press the pairing button and the light should go from blue to blinking blue. Except when I put the retro receiver in the light is green and stays solid green when I press the pair button. Even if I hold down the pair button when I plug it in the only difference is the light is blinking green.

 

I can't even get it to pair with the included controller. About to start throwing it at a wall to see if that motivates it.

 

I've been using 8bitdo controllers for while and I do like them. I understand the complaints with the NES D-Pad. I use the SNES version.

 

You may have been through this already, but here is my 2 cents. It works for me. Just figured I would share just in case.

 

Pairing:

 

1) With the receiver unplugged, hold the start button on the controller to get the blue light blinking

2) Hold the select button to clear the saved pairing. The green light will come on and then go off. The blue light will continue to blink

3) Insert the receiver into the 1st port of the NT Mini.

4) Hit the button on the receiver for pairing. It should begin to blink.

5) The receiver should pair with the controller - with the blinking blue light

[Wolf_]

 

I've been using 8bitdo controllers for while and I do like them. I understand the complaints with the NES D-Pad. I use the SNES version.

 

You may have been through this already, but here is my 2 cents. It works for me. Just figured I would share just in case.

 

Pairing:

 

1) With the receiver unplugged, hold the start button on the controller to get the blue light blinking

2) Hold the select button to clear the saved pairing. The green light will come on and then go off. The blue light will continue to blink

3) Insert the receiver into the 1st port of the NT Mini.

4) Hit the button on the receiver for pairing. It should begin to blink.

5) The receiver should pair with the controller - with the blinking blue light

When I hit the pair button on my retro receiver running the 1.05v firmware it doesn't react at all. Solid green light the entire time. Nothing works.