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SegaSnatcher

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Posts posted by SegaSnatcher

  1. Posted

    I really want an NES FPGA that can do 5x vertical.

     

    If the Nt Mini was still for sale I would purchase it. If they sold an NES core for the Super Nt, I would also purchase it. Right now I have no options to give them money and they aren't giving me any options. :(

    I'd rather have a NES FPGA with Kevtris's new Interpolation algorithm. 5x vertical is overrated given it crops off more information than your average CRT would.

     

    I own a AVS and I absolutely love it, but if Analogue releases a cheaper NT Mini with some of the enhancements seen on the SNT, I will have to pick one up.

  3. Posted

    Thanks for the amazing support! Also if I may make a suggestion about the Genesis console: design it to work with the Sega CD Model 2. They tend to be operational longer as they don't have any bands to worry about breaking and also if someone ever does make a Sega CD ODE I can't picture them finding any way to set it up in the Model 1.

     

    Of course I'm currently using the extender on mine so I guess it really isn't that big of an issue but I'd sure like it to look a little better.

    Well if it works with Sega Model 2 it would work with Model 1 Sega CD as well, just might look weird as hell if its really small.

  4. Posted

    It would really help if everybody on this forum was playing through as many SNES games as possible on their Super NT to try to find bugs and issues that would lead to improvements in the Super NT firmware.

    There are plenty of people reporting bugs. Kevtris has been hard at work fixing as many as he can. Next firmware update is going to be pretty substantial it seems.

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Edited by SegaSnatcher

    Just been thinking about future Analogue products. I really wish they made something similar to the Polymega, but have it FPGA based instead of software emulation. Maybe the initial cost for the base unit is $200 and each module would cost $100 - $150. I mean I really like the idea of an interchangable console. I doubt Analogue would ever go that route, but it would be pretty awesome.

    Polymega_AllModules.jpg

    • Like 7

  7. Posted · Edited by SegaSnatcher

    With physical Super-FX games being so cheap I don't see the rush for anyone to put in all the work just to get the 5 or so S-FX games to either run off a Flash Card or via Jailbroken Firmware.

    SA1 would be better since some of those Kirby games are getting kinda expensive.

    • Like 3

  8. Posted

    Well Krikzz has a lot of ongoing projects like developing a gba ed x7 and running his business and ect. Hopefully the release of the SNT JB will light a fire under him and motivate him to get some work done on the sa-1 and SuperFX chips.

    Krikzz isn't behind the SD2SNES development. He just sells them. Ikari is the original creator and the one who is creating new firmware for it.

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

     

    Same as what the OSSC does in x5 1080p mode - it gives you a true integer scale on a 1080p display - I actually came to the same conclusion as Firebrandx on the shmups forum:

     

     

    This results in a pixel-perfect scale to 1080p, albeit with the top and bottom cut off by 20 pixels each. Which really isn't noticeable, especially when it's smaller than the CRT safe-zone games were designed around:

     

     

     

    It results in an identical image to what the OSSC produces in x5 mode.

     

    If you want to play games in native 1080p as an integer scale, this is the only way to do it. And really, it's a fair trade-off.

    Yeah, I have 0 Scan mode and 5x just cuts too much off for me. There plenty of games where valuable information gets cut. At least I consider it valuable information.

  10. Posted

     

    What we saw back in the 90s was largely just random. The viewing area of your TV was 4:3, but that didn't necessarily mean that it was accurately stretched to 4:3. You'd have a hard time accurately replicating what your specific TV did right and wrong.

     

    Meanwhile, many games have objects that are clearly meant to be squares, circles, or other shapes where it's easy to tell when you're displaying it in a different aspect ratio than it was created. Often it turns out that 8:7 shows squares as squares, while 4:3 shows squares as rectangles. This isn't *always* the case, and one option is to change what you're using depending on how the game looks, but a lot of us feel that 8:7 is usually the right choice for getting graphics that don't have a bunch of ovals and rectangles that clearly should be circles and squares.

    So did developers calibrate their CRT monitors to display 8:7 without stretching when designing their games?

  11. Posted

    Holy shit. I need to apologise to a few people here as I've just realised the scanlines look much better if I turn interpolation on. They're shifted up a few pixels with interpolation turned off, which is bizarre and results in the issues present in my image above. But eh, it's significantly better now anyway. Sorry all.

     

    Scanline strength/size would be ideal as a slider in the future though. That and the colours being fixed would mean I can happily keep my SFC as a CRT only device, and use the SNT exclusively on my HDTV. Absolutely love the console aside from the 0-255 colour issue.

    Welp, soon that will hopefully no longer be an issue now that Kevtris is working on a solution.

    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    I’m also using 1600x1200 on 1080p, but that STILL isn’t going to work on most TVs without figuring out how to disable simulated overscan. This setting in non-existent on many sets and extremely obfuscated in most other, requiring you to do thinks like label an input “PC.” When it is a menu option it can be called many things, like 1:1, JustScan, Full Pixel, etc.

     

    I wish it was as simple as picking the same setting for any 1080p set or the same settings for any 4K set or whatever, but it’s not. My brother and I have to get the specific TV model for all of my UltraHDMI buyers and walk them through the settings for an integer scale after pulling up the manual (sometimes, the service manual). Luckily, my twin brother spent almost 14 years working at the cable company helping with home theater setups and he’s very practiced at guiding people through the phone on models he’s never directly handled.

    Most modern TVs offer a 0% overscan setting. Actually, I don't know of any recent HDTVs that force overscan.

  14. Posted

     

    The Nt Mini is going for > $1000 on eBay right now because it's the only hardware that runs the 18 8-bit cores that kevtris slaved over for 10 years. If those cores were ported to the Super Nt the price would almost certainly drop back down to reasonable levels.

     

    Also, it only takes a small handful of motivated buyers to push a price up significantly on eBay given the small supply. That doesn't necessarily mean it makes financial sense for Analogue to do another run.

     

    I have three theories for why Analogue isn't taking orders for the Nt Mini currently:

     

    1. They're solely focusing on the Super Nt because of limited resources, but will get back to it shortly

    2. With the success of the Super Nt and the plan to release a standalone DAC, they're going to introduce a lower cost NES fpga with a plastic shell and only hdmi out

    3. With the success of the Super Nt they've decided to add standalone versions of various other 8-bit consoles to their future product road-map. If the Nt Mini is still produced it would harm the sales of those systems, but by discontinuing the Nt Mini and never porting those cores to any other system they've mostly solved this.

     

    These are just speculative theories for now. We'll see what happens...

    1. Agreed

     

    2. A lower cost NT Mini with Plastic Shell and HDMI only would be a smart move. They should also use the same Cyclone V that is in the Super NT for more features like Interpolation.

     

    3. I don't believe Analogue sees a big enough market to make standalone consoles for anything older than NES. I mean lets be honest here, how many people would really be willing to spend $189.99 for a FPGA Colecovision?

    • Like 1

  15. Posted · Edited by SegaSnatcher

    Sega Genesis units sold: 30.75 million

    Sega Genesis library: 897 games

    Sega CD units sold: 2.24 million

    Sega CD library: 209 games

    Sega 32X units sold: 665,000

    Sega 32X library: 40 games

    (All of these statistics are from Wikipedia)

     

    My guess is that the Sega CD was successful enough and has a large enough library to justify Analogue addressing it with an additional hardware component in a future "Analogue MD/SG", ie including an expansion slot for a Sega CD unit. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if you use a Genesis model 2 + SCD Model 2 combo, the stereo audio gets mixed automatically without any cables? Does the mixed stereo audio get sent out through the multi-out or do you still need to use the stereo RCA jacks on the SCD unit?

     

    What would be required to make the 32X work via an Analogue MD's HDMI seems to be unlikely to happen. Analogue's announcement of their external DAC said it would be compatible with the Super NT and "future Analogue consoles". It seems like they're suggesting that no future consoles will have a built-in DAC, any any CRT enthusiasts should just buy the external box, which honestly makes alot of business sense. So for 32X to work you'd need the external DAC, and then some kind of wiring adapter to go from Dsub-15 to the Genesis mini-DIN (or whatever it's called), which would plug into the AV in on the 32X. To use the Analogue MD's HDMI you'd then need a port to plug the 32X's AV out into on the Analogue MD that would do an analog to digital conversion. I highly doubt they will include this extra component for an add-on that sold so poorly and has such a small library.

     

    Luckily, if the Genesis FPGA core is programmed correctly, there's really nothing stopping the 32X add-on from working with analog video, as long as you have the external DAC.

     

    My one request is that the external DAC should have an HDMI pass-through. Then you could switch between analog and digital video with a toggle like on the NT Mini. Then you could have the Analogue MD's HDMI passed through the DAC for playing Genesis/SCD games, and switch to "DAC mode" when you want to play 32X, and have the DAC fed into the 32X, and the 32X fed into an OSSC or other scaler. It's a messy, kludge solution that honors the original experience!

     

    I think once an Analogue MD comes out and the Genesis core is polished and finalized, maybe sometime down the road in 5 years if/when Analogue rereleases 4K capable versions of all of their consoles, perhaps Kevtris will go back and try to address the whole Sega Sandwich entirely in FPGA.

    Sega CD audio gets mixed internally with Model 1 Genesis as well. There is no need to use the Sega CD's audio outs unless for some reason you don't like the extra filtering the Genesis adds to Sega CD music when using the 3.5mm jack on the Genesis.

  17. Posted · Edited by SegaSnatcher

    Sounds like the negativity about 32x will prevent a stand alone FPGA Genesis console.

     

    I guess the only solution is a Genesis core for the Super Nt....... :-)

    32X is not going to stop a standalone console from happening. Kevtris is just getting prepared for complaints by a vocal minority who like the add on.

     

    Just like the people who bitched about the Super NT being HDMI only, yet that didn't stop the Super NT from being their fastest selling product.

    • Like 2

  18. Posted

     

    While my Sega CD laser keeps going strong, several discs already have bit rot :(

     

    I keep dreaming of the day, someone makes a compact Sega CD FPGA dongle that clips onto the Sega Genesis expansion.

     

    Preservation of CD anything is a big deal for me.

    I'm sure someone will come up with a solution. Perhaps the Terra Onion team will take on the challenge.

    • Like 1

  19. Posted

     

     

    There is no sudden love. I like it ever since I played it, for what it is and the some great games it has which are awesome and I dare use the word again: unique.

    And I never suggested the 32X should be covered in any speculative new product.

     

    What I find troublesome in this thread by now is this need to belittle others and their opinions, telling them how stupid they are and that the things they like are garbage.

    Why would you even bash something someone else expressed affection to? The opposite I could understand and would deem even consructive, but this is just outright bad conduct.

    Hey, you're preaching to the choir. I like both the Sega CD and 3DO and those consoles get bashed all the time. Also, I didn't call anyone stupid for liking specific consoles.

  20. Posted

    OK. Did't need the whole explanation there, I know that the two achieve better picture quality through different methods. Both the Framemeister and OSSC are a means to the same end: To get old consoles to look better on modern displays. I am only making a suggestion that making an upscaler might be more prudent than a dedicated FPGA Genesis. I am only positing that given the monstrous add-ons of the Genesis that the community could be split on the notion. I am not demanding anything here, only making a suggestion in a public forum. The rest is entirely up to Kevtris and Analogue.

    But why would Analouge waste resources making an upscaler/line doubler when there are already two quality products available?

     

    FPGA Genesis even with only Sega CD Support via expansion bay would be my preferred way to play Genesis games on an HDTV. I'd rather not mess around with external units to have my old ass consoles play nicely on HDTVs.

  22. Posted

     

    I think I got misunderstood to some degree.

     

    My stance is not that Kevtris should work on a Genesis core only if he was including 32X and Sega CD with it. I believe that Kevtris should call the shots what he wants to do and when he wants to do it, since this will ensure him being satisfied with his work and the quality of the product overall. If this will mean a complete package of the three mentioned systems, awesome! If not, so be it.

     

    There is no point in persuading him not to work on the 32X, telling him it is a miserable system anyway with only subpar games when a) this is highly subjective (and not true :)) b) he is surely capable of judging for himself and c) his efforts were never geared towards what is best for business when you consider the cores for obscure systems he created. The latter may have changed now that he is working for / partnering with Analogue, but as I said they will know best what to do next if they call the shots and they clearly don't need the input from anyone in this forum.

     

    This being said, I like the idea that Kevtris picks his projects based on his own desires, posts about them to the extent he want to, maybe uploads some great videos on youtube and us the community being bystanders admiring his work and appreciatinig whatever he likes to share with us. That and him making a pretty penny for the awesome stuff he gives us.

    Feedback is incredibly helpful for companies even if they don't ask for it. As consumers of Analogue products I believe our input is highly valuable.

  23. Posted

     

    Oh yeah. I guess that makes sense. Well that's cool, because I imagine that type of thing would give him a nice little head start on implementing the YM2612 for the genesis.

    Possibly, but like Kevtris mentioned the Genesis has lots of quirks. Also, there are tons of revisions that sound different either because of the filtering, audio circuitry or in the case of some models a different variant of the YM2612 chip called the YM3438. The problem with the YM3438 even with proper filtering and circuity is its "improved" DAC. The YM2612 had a flaw in its DAC that developers took advantage of. You can hear it in After Burner ll. When you play the same music using the YM3438 the DAC noise is barely audible.

  24. Posted

     

    I don't think so. I truly believe that Kevin does what a) he feels like doing or b) what Analogue pays him to do.

    Analogue would know just as good as you and me (and frankly everyone here) that the 32X will not be a factor for the success of an FPGA Genesis system. And regardless what Kevin might feel like working on, I am all for it as his stuff is usually pretty cool.

    OK, I thought you had an issue with my feelings towards the 32X since you said yourself you are a fan. So, then you are in agreement with me. A FPGA Genesis without 32X support would still be successful.

    • Like 1
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