FPGA Based Videogame System

[phoenixdownita]

Yeah, my math was bad. The "pack in" game seems like wishful thinking at this point.

 

I would like some clarification on the operation of the pin adapters. Will the Analogue SMS adapter work like a Power Base Mini on real hardware? Will I get FM sound through a standard adapter if I use the Powerbase Mini with the Analogue? When will the Game Gear adapters come out? I've bought several games in anticipation. Hopefully the $10 adapters don't cost $20+ to ship...

My bet is that you'd get SMS FM audio without the need of the PowerBase mini FM (likely an on-off option in the overlay menu), not sure what to expect with other adapters (power base mini/min FM), I'd say don't use them. It would be cool if the original PowerBase would allow to use 3D glasses though (not that it matters on an HDTV mind you)

[Schizophretard]

Yeah, my math was bad. The "pack in" game seems like wishful thinking at this point.

I would like some clarification on the operation of the pin adapters. Will the Analogue SMS adapter work like a Power Base Mini on real hardware? Will I get FM sound through a standard adapter if I use the Powerbase Mini with the Analogue? When will the Game Gear adapters come out? I've bought several games in anticipation. Hopefully the $10 adapters don't cost $20+ to ship...

I assume it has his other SEGA cores in it so the SMS adaptor would just be a way to hook in a SMS cart into an FPGA behaving like an SMS. If that is the case it seems like they should do the same with Nintendo cores on the Super Nt.

[F34R]

That would be 3 months: Feb, March, April

Technicality.

[joe1597]

I am having an issue with the analog video output of the jailbreak firmware on the Analogue NT Mini. Certain pixels on the screen will flicker. This happens in the menu and in game, even when I run from cartridge. If I switch to a core other than NES or Game King, there is no flickering in the menu or game. I have tested this on two different CRTs and on a capture card (using composite or s-video). I also tried 3 different cables when I thought it might be a cable problem. When I change back to the official firmware, the problem is gone.

 

Example of the flickering effect in the menu:

 

Example of a core where there is no flickering (SMS):

[Fafner]

Couldnt stand playing Cosmic Ark on my NT Mini with a D-Pad so I hacked a 9 pin port onto a NES controller.

Its not super pretty but it works great!

2600 controllers make all the difference!

Edited February 2, 2019 by Fafner

[Andromeda Stardust]

Couldnt stand playing Cosmic Ark on my NT Mini with a D-Pad so I hacked a 9 pin port onto a NES controller.

Its not super pretty but it works great!

2600 controllers make all the difference!

I have thought of doing this before. The Atari sticks pads are direct wired so easy to hook up to the cd4021 inputs. If you need two buttons, hook pin 9 up to A and pin 6 up to B. This will mirror the SMS pinout.

 

Add a 10k pullup resistor between pin 9 and 5, and a diode between pins 7 and 5 (positive side faces pin 7) and you have a universally compatible sms controller that behaves like a genesis pad when connected to an Atari.

 

Or just build an NES arcade stick!

[Atariboy]

Another option would've been Ralphnet adapters. They make an Atari to GameCube adapter, which can then be paired with their GameCube to NES adapter.

[Fafner]

Another option would've been Ralphnet adapters. They make an Atari to GameCube adapter, which can then be paired with their GameCube to NES adapter.

But then I wouldnt have the Start and Select buttons!

[Reaperman]

Couldnt stand playing Cosmic Ark on my NT Mini with a D-Pad so I hacked a 9 pin port onto a NES controller.

Its not super pretty but it works great!

2600 controllers make all the difference!

 

Awesome, I thought about doing one myself. But luckily I use a 500xj for atari, which also has an NES counterpart, so problem solved (once I finally found a good one). 500xj is usually terrible for nes, but perfect for NT mini--for that reason, I assume the people at epyx/konix were actually time travelers who owned a Kevtris system.

 

I still did something somewhat similar. Most of my good controllers are for neo geo, so I built a padhacked adapter, that includes the ability to map up/down to buttons for asteroids, moon patrol, various racers, etc.

Not sure if I ever posted it in here (it kind of had its own up-to-jump thread) so it's below. NT Mini is such a nice system that I really wanted to use nicer controllers with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FJ-ld1o5AE

Edited February 3, 2019 by Reaperman

[Fafner]

 

Awesome, I thought about doing one myself. But luckily I use a 500xj for atari, which also has an NES counterpart, so problem solved (once I finally found a good one). 500xj is usually terrible for nes, but perfect for NT mini--for that reason, I assume the people at epyx/konix were actually time travelers who owned a Kevtris system.

 

I still did something somewhat similar. Most of my good controllers are for neo geo, so I built a padhacked adapter, that includes the ability to map up/down to buttons for asteroids, moon patrol, various racers, etc.

Huh

Never seen that one before!

[Andromeda Stardust]

Huh

Never seen that one before!

Pretty sure that's custom art if not completely custom build. I can't imagine Colt45 (the gun or the malt liquor) sponsoring joysticks.

[atmn]

Question regarding the Sega Sg.

It should be compatible with PAL/NTSC-U/NTSC/J SegaCD/MegaCD, model 1 or model 2 should not be any difference?

 

Also a general question regading this CD addons, the thing that is difference with theese are which bios it's in them? So booting up a bios with an Everdrive makes it region free?

I belive there is a 68k inside the sega cd, but its on the main consoles clock?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Question regarding the Sega Sg.

It should be compatible with PAL/NTSC-U/NTSC/J SegaCD/MegaCD, model 1 or model 2 should not be any difference?

 

Also a general question regading this CD addons, the thing that is difference with theese are which bios it's in them? So booting up a bios with an Everdrive makes it region free?

I belive there is a 68k inside the sega cd, but its on the main consoles clock?

Some Google-Fu netted this:

US Genesis + PAL Mega CD 2 BIOS = ERROR

PAL Mega Drive + US Sega CD 2 BIOS = ERROR

PAL Mega Drive + PAL Mega CD 1 BIOS = works

Italic text examples below uses a Region modded PAL Mega Drive

PAL Mega Drive with language switch to US or JP + US Sega CD 2 BIOS = works

PAL Mega Drive with language switch to JP/US/"PAL" + JP Mega CD 2 Bios = works

PAL Mega Drive with language switch set to JP/US + PAL Mega CD 1 BIOS = ERROR

 

Can a CD console be modified to play any game regardless of region? Yes, a region free BIOs mod exists.

 

https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Sega_Console_Region

 

I am guessing the Mega SG can be made to presemt itself like either a PAL or NTSC console with region switch. You might need to modify the BIOS on the CD drive as well.

[phoenixdownita]

Kevtris hasn't been too active lately here, aside the 12h a day, 7 days a week work-life unbalance ....

anyhow I wish he confirmed that there are Atari 2600/7800 adapters in the works as well as ColecoVision .... please ... pretty please?

[Forsaken]

I am having an issue with the analog video output of the jailbreak firmware on the Analogue NT Mini. Certain pixels on the screen will flicker. This happens in the menu and in game, even when I run from cartridge. If I switch to a core other than NES or Game King, there is no flickering in the menu or game. I have tested this on two different CRTs and on a capture card (using composite or s-video). I also tried 3 different cables when I thought it might be a cable problem. When I change back to the official firmware, the problem is gone.

 

Example of the flickering effect in the menu:

 

Example of a core where there is no flickering (SMS):

Looks like jitter in the scan timing. Whole pixels aren't flickering, the edges are just moving very slightly. That's all I know.

[Tanooki]

He seems more active on discord than on here, but that's no surprise given the other developers in the same space. Live chat and leaving it idle works better I'm sure.

[bikerspade]

Couldnt stand playing Cosmic Ark on my NT Mini with a D-Pad so I hacked a 9 pin port onto a NES controller.

Its not super pretty but it works great!

2600 controllers make all the difference!

 

I use one of these custom sticks (bought a BX-91 from the first batches when it was a bit cheaper) and have been very happy with it.

[Fafner]

 

I use one of these custom sticks (bought a BX-91 from the first batches when it was a bit cheaper) and have been very happy with it.

Wow!

Thats a sweet little stick and I may hafta order one but for 2600 games I always used my right hand for the stick.

[Great Hierophant]

 

I use one of these custom sticks (bought a BX-91 from the first batches when it was a bit cheaper) and have been very happy with it.

 

Way too expensive for a featurless NES controller, even in the larger $110 variant, Sanwa or no-Sanwa.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Great Hierophant

[Jurai]

Don't think anyone mentioned it, but an SD2SNES Pro was announced - https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1091876756477394944

 

Krikzz says it's got a stronger FPGA that can do true full on save stating, I'm guessing this will also see the extra chip cores running along with MSU-1. The original SD2SNES is currently 15% off at Krikzz' site, I'm not sure on pricing but people are saying that they are targetting the Pro to release at the same price the current SD2SNES is at

 

edit: Krikzz says the new cart will cost same as the old price, the revision is fueled by the price of the old parts becoming too expensive since they aren't being actively manufactured, so the new parts cost less and offer more performance

Edited February 9, 2019 by Jurai

[cybercylon]

There is a thread that was started on SD2SNES Pro

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/287892-sd2snes-pro/

 

As I said there, it is a judgement call for anyone that already has the original one. It does kind of suck for those that just bought one, but if the old parts are becoming unavailable, he might as well upgrade it.

 

I just hope some lose ends are tied up on the original version (gui for the cheat menu).

[hyrulebr]

There is some info related to Super NT:

 

SmokeMonster: I forgot to ask how the Pro’s new save states work?

Ikari: To explain save states I should point out the limitations of real hardware:

The problem with sound on save states is that the APU (S-SMP + S-DSP) is an independent system on the SNES that only has 4 I/O ports to communicate with the SNES CPU via a software protocol.

Once a game has its sound code up and running in the APU there is no way to interface it in a universal way, i.e. you can’t get the state of the APU at runtime at all.

I hope to overcome this limitation by running my own APU implementation on the FPGA which makes me the “owner” of its state too, so I can grab it whenever I want.

The original APU would be silenced by running a little hook on reset that uploads an infinite loop so it doesn’t react to any CPU access. The sd2snes would then override the bus with its own APU responses accordingly.

Unfortunately this method won’t work on a Super Nt because bus override hacks simply don’t work on it. There’s another way but it may be prone to desynchronization.

 

Source: https://www.retrorgb.com/sd2snes-pro-more-details-from-ikari.html

[SegaSnatcher]

There is some info related to Super NT:

 

SmokeMonster: I forgot to ask how the Pro’s new save states work?

Ikari: To explain save states I should point out the limitations of real hardware:

The problem with sound on save states is that the APU (S-SMP + S-DSP) is an independent system on the SNES that only has 4 I/O ports to communicate with the SNES CPU via a software protocol.

Once a game has its sound code up and running in the APU there is no way to interface it in a universal way, i.e. you can’t get the state of the APU at runtime at all.

I hope to overcome this limitation by running my own APU implementation on the FPGA which makes me the “owner” of its state too, so I can grab it whenever I want.

The original APU would be silenced by running a little hook on reset that uploads an infinite loop so it doesn’t react to any CPU access. The sd2snes would then override the bus with its own APU responses accordingly.

Unfortunately this method won’t work on a Super Nt because bus override hacks simply don’t work on it. There’s another way but it may be prone to desynchronization.

 

Source: https://www.retrorgb.com/sd2snes-pro-more-details-from-ikari.html

Wouldn't a work around be to just disable the APU channels in the Super NT's debug menu? I don't think that turns off audio passed through the cartridge.

[Andromeda Stardust]

There is some info related to Super NT:

 

 

 

SmokeMonster: I forgot to ask how the Pro’s new save states work?

 

Ikari: To explain save states I should point out the limitations of real hardware:

 

 

 

The problem with sound on save states is that the APU (S-SMP + S-DSP) is an independent system on the SNES that only has 4 I/O ports to communicate with the SNES CPU via a software protocol.

Once a game has its sound code up and running in the APU there is no way to interface it in a universal way, i.e. you can’t get the state of the APU at runtime at all.

 

 

 

I hope to overcome this limitation by running my own APU implementation on the FPGA which makes me the “owner” of its state too, so I can grab it whenever I want.

 

The original APU would be silenced by running a little hook on reset that uploads an infinite loop so it doesn’t react to any CPU access. The sd2snes would then override the bus with its own APU responses accordingly.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately this method won’t work on a Super Nt because bus override hacks simply don’t work on it. There’s another way but it may be prone to desynchronization.

 

 

 

 

 

Source: https://www.retrorgb.com/sd2snes-pro-more-details-from-ikari.html

So basically, the new SD2SNES disables the built in SNES audio by running it's own [identical?] audio through the exp pins? I did notice that expansion games such as the Super Game Boy have to "turn on" the expansion audio kn a real SNES through code, yet this must be done manually through the Super NT menu to get expanded sound. Perhaps the new dissabled APU hack in the SD2SNES uses a similsr method?

[Forsaken]

Wouldn't a work around be to just disable the APU channels in the Super NT's debug menu? I don't think that turns off audio passed through the cartridge.

Great idea, and that would probably be more reliable than the APU hack for the real SNES. Just need a blurb in the Pro's menu when savestates are turned on about muting the APU in the SNT's debug menu.