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Drunk_Caterpillar

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Posts posted by Drunk_Caterpillar

  3. Posted · Edited by Drunk_Caterpillar

    My sorting system in this case was always to add the 1 to the file name:

    Quote

    Top Gear 1.sfc

    Top Gear 2.sfc

    More controversially, I treat words like "Super" as though they were "The" to keep series together.

    Quote

    Contra.nes
    Contra, Super.nes

    But everyone has their own sorting system!

    • Like 1

  4. Posted · Edited by Drunk_Caterpillar

    5 hours ago, seastalker said:

    After hearing about the Nintendo leak, I kind of wonder if Nintendo orchestrated it. I have no proof nor allegation; just motive.  It does perhaps put them in an even stronger legal position now. This could prevent a N64 FPGA core or clone console(s) if also considering GC and Wii. The CLAIM alone of stolen code could be used to shut down many projects that want nothing to do with lawsuits.  It might be a smart move if they did.  It all remains to be seen what happens but I'd scrutinize Nintendo who have had a heavy hand in the past. Only speaking opinion here, but somehow I think Sega would be cooler with it if clone Saturns and Dreamcasts were made.  In fact, I'd love a 32x clone right now. These things are royal pains to work on. 

    Are you Freud’s brain transplanted in to Romanian athlete Daniela Viorica Silivaș-Harper while she’s doing a space walk? Because the mental gymnastics on display here are out of this world. 😂

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    36 minutes ago, CZroe said:

    That last paragraph is precisely what prompted me to look for any conversation that might be happening here. atariage_icon_wink.gif I'm sure Marshall is having a field day!

     

    I never dreamed we'd actually have hope of a true hardware clone without the limitations of the original. Not saying we'll get a 720p version with three GPUs and a huge texture cache, but we are a lot closer to something more than I ever dared to dream. atariage_icon_smile.gif

     

    The consequences of this are going to be interesting!

    If you're looking for an accurate representation of the original hardware then FPGA is a great fit but if you're looking for substantial improvements in fidelity and performance then emulation is probably a better route to go. I'm not that knowledgeable but from what I've been led to believe you'll never see things like an affine texture warping fix in a PSX FPGA core, whereas Mednafen has been doing it for years. So, you know, try not to get too excited. ;)

  6. Posted

    3 hours ago, CZroe said:

    No one is going about all the Nintendo HDL that was leaked?

     

    OK.

    Sir this is a Wendy’s. ;)

     

    But seriously, theres nothing concrete to really talk about. Anyone who knows enough to know what’s in the leak isn’t saying anything in a forum like this because who wants to invite scrutiny? After all, this isn’t a cute little “Oh look, the trailer for this new game leaked a week early!” kind of leak. The kid originally responsible for this hack would be serving a serious prison sentence for this if it weren’t for the fact that the judge gave him house arrest (he has several conditions that made prison a pretty cruel proposition). Microsoft and Nintendo were equal measures furious and litigious.

     

    If you are interested in gossip, unconfirmed rumour right now is that it contains a bunch of data from iQue manufacturing. This reportedly includes—and I want to stress that I still have no way to substantiate this rumour, so take it with a massive grain of salt—verilog files for the N64 hardware. Everything is speculation at this point though. 

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    22 minutes ago, CZroe said:
    59 minutes ago, Drunk_Caterpillar said:
    Is it though? Cybdyn is still actively developing the firmware and updates are being released regularly. Matt is receptive to user feedback and has been active on the forums. 

    I think so, if every update breaks as many important games as it fixes. Granted, I've only closely compared a few updates when I first noticed this going on so maybe the situation has changed.

    I mean, I wish I knew more about FPGA development but based on changelogs I've read from a few projects I imagine that progress isn't always linear—some fixes might break other things and it takes time to play bug hunt whack-a-mole. They seem to be putting in the work and chipping away at bug reports though, and they're definitely aware of the bigger problems in the wild right now. 

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    1 hour ago, CZroe said:

    There's also POPSloader for OPL which lets you play PSX games from the HDD, though it's really Sony's PSX emulator for PS2, extracted from late-gen PS2 consoles. I believe it uses some original hardware like the PSX CPU so it's only half-emulation but I think I'd still rather have a modded console than something problematic like PSIO.

    Hold up.

     

    How is PSIO more problematic than POPStarter? Compatibility with POPS, and even OPL with PS2 games, is kinda all over the place. Even a stock PS2 still has problems with some important PSX games. The whole reason I put together a heavily modded PSX is because playing PSX games on PS2 is a minefield. At this point PSIO has a few lingering issues but it boots and plays nearly 100% of the PSX library...

  11. Posted · Edited by Drunk_Caterpillar

    9 hours ago, CZroe said:

    Yeah, compared to their past consoles a commercialized PlayStation/PSone FPGA console that only does PSX would be a harder sell. That's because the original console is cheap, there is already a direct digital video mod, and there's no shortage of official alternativenways to play them (some, even with HDMI). It really would need the added value of some other PlayStation contemporaries like Saturn, Jaguar, and 3DO. Considering that PlayStation alone would be the most ambitious FPGA effort yet and the others would be similarly ambitious (Saturn probably more-so than the PSX), I don't think it's reasonable to expect PlayStation from Analogue. atariage_icon_sad.gif 

    A non-commercial PSX core seems much more feasible.

    Are you really sure about that though? For one thing, a lot of PSX disc drives are in rough shape so finding a decent model will probably cost about $60-80ish. You’re also at the mercy of the PS1Digital, which means you have to find a specific window of model number—between SCPH-50XX and 70XX. Add on to all that a PSIO and the costs to install the boards for both mods with shipping and all the fuss, and I’m not really sure how you can say that there’s no room for an Analogue version of that. I’m guessing that once the PS1Digital mod is released, I will have spent about $500+ (CAD) on putting together a fully modded PSX and I can’t imagine it being as good as a solution that Analogue developed in house. Also would be a far sight better than using either a PS2, PS3, PSP, or Vita/PSTV considering that there are some irritating flaws with how they all handle PSX games. 

  12. Posted

    1 hour ago, NE146 said:

    Why install the shitty discord application at all? Just run it in a browser https://www.discord.com/app    Works 100% fine and you just visit it whenever you feel like it. :)

    A little off topic but yeah, I never plan on installing Discord or Zoom and will happily use the web app versions.

    On (meta) topic though, I think that the ecosystem of FPGA gaming products is so big that threads like this will eventually need to be closed so that new ones can open. Having one thread to discuss every single FPGA product is a little daunting for anyone just arriving on the forum, and is definitely a bummer to sort through if you're looking for discussion about a particular piece of hardware. I mean, at this point we've got:

    - FPGA flash carts
    - FPGA optical drive emulators
    - FPGA reproduction consoles
    - FPGA development hardware that doubles for multi-console simulation
    - FPGA video output boards (e.g. UltraHDMI, DCDigital, Hi-Def NES, etc)

    And it seems a little crazy to try and shoehorn everything in to one place. It is Kev's thread so it makes sense for it to live as a place to discuss his work at Analogue, but even Kev told people to move MiSTer discussion somewhere else.

    Just thinking out loud though; not trying to meta-mod. 

  13. Posted

    49 minutes ago, malrak said:

    I don’t have time to google it right now, bc I gotta get back to work, so forgive me please – I’m about to ask a couple of potentially dumb questions.

    Was on Terra Onion’s site, potentially gonna buy a MegaSD and stumbled across MODE.  I’m interested, but –

     

    1)      Is this a hardware mod, meaning I’d have to install it (somewhat permanently) in the system?  Or is it a plug n’ play type of gadget requiring not installation?  Like flash carts, external drives, etc?

    2)      If it requires installation, does the existing drive remain intact and functional, or do things need removed/replaced?

    3)      Any soldering required?

    4)      Final dumb question for now --- If it’s plug and play, do I just need 1 MODE and can swap back n forth between Dreamcast and Saturn?  Or would I need 1 for each system?

     

    I know these are probably outlined on their site if I had time to research, which I hope to do after work.

     

    Thanks in advance!

     

     

    1. The connectors and ribbons in the Dreamcast and Saturn probably aren't rated for that many pulls or insertions, so when I install mine I'm leaving it as is. It's definitely a little more strenuous than using a flashcart.
    2. I mean, you're not destroying your existing optical drives to install the MODE so you always have the option of going back if you want to, but the MODE is meant to replace your original disc drive.

    3. No soldering required, that I know about anyway. Even if there were I bet it'd be for something optional, like a soft-reset key combination or whatever.

    4. I see people really focussing on the answer for this question, which is that you COULD swap this ODE between consoles but it's not really the way you're supposed to use it. Think of MODE like a Q-Tip: you can use a single Q-Tip for cleaning your ears or cleaning out gunky old NES carts, but I probably wouldn't use the same Q-Tip for both.

  14. Posted

    24 minutes ago, RetrogamerX said:

    I have a USB-GDROM as well and I've have no issues at all with it. Never ran into a bug.  It's been perfect, but I will say I was a little miffed when I heard it had a time-bomb.  MNEMO has come out to say he removed the time bomb, but no one can really confirm that it's really been taken out?  It's only what he said?  I haven't had any issues at all so really only want MODE for Saturn. So far my USB GDROM runs mint for Dreamcast.

    Honestly, I have no idea what to believe. I have only had a few sporadic issues with my USB-GDROM but I always wonder how much I can trust someone that hid a firmware time bomb in the first place. Either way, I'm in the same boat; NtMiniv2 and MODE on the way! Kinda forgot the v2 was coming in July too...

  15. Posted

    I picked up a MODE as soon as I could. TBH, if I didn't already have a USB-GDROM I would have picked up two so that I could do my Saturn AND my Dreamcast at the same time. You know how much of a relief it is to have a company like Terraonion doing this? I know that they're charging more than the Fenrir/Rhea/Phoebe/GDEMU/etc., but at the same time the feature set looks great and now people have a reliable solution for both consoles. Nothing bums me out like discovering a bug with my USB-GDROM, and then not wanting to contact the developer because I have no idea if a bug-fix would reinstate the time bomb that used to be in the old firmwares. At the end of the day, $100USD is pennies over the lifetime of the system if I'm getting good support. 

    • Like 1

  16. Posted

    1 hour ago, Fluxgra said:

    With it appearing likely that 8bitdo is going to be releasing a Turbografx control pad:

     

    https://www.retrorgb.com/8bitdo-p30-2-4g-wireless-gamepad-leaked.html

     

    Is anyone like me thinking that Analogue may eventually complete the holy trinity of the 4th gen consoles?

    Who can say? I personally doubt it because I feel like Analogue mostly markets to western audiences and the TG-16/PCE wasn’t anywhere near as big here as it was in Japan. Plus all the documentation so far has mentioned the Mini NEC consoles that Konami is releasing right about now, so chances are low. 

  17. Posted

    2 hours ago, CZroe said:

    Hybrid scanlines are supposed to blend in bright areas of solid colors. That's what distinguishes them from non-hybrid scanlines. It's mimicking how TVs would bloom in bright areas while still giving you that perceived resolution bump or AA effect you get on jaggy diagonals or stair-stepped curves.

    See, I don’t get this. I have a PVM and a BVM and neither of them “bloom” in the highlights. TBH the scan lines are their most visible in the brighter portions of the screen and are completely absent in the low end. I think it’s a cool hazy look but accurate it ain’t. 

  18. Posted

    I only just noticed this. So rad! Just out of curiosity, can y'all elaborate on what it means that the Retron77 has a "proper" port of Stella now? My hunch is that it means that future releases will be lock-step with the other ports, but just wanted to clarify.

  20. Posted

    1 hour ago, blzmarcel said:

    Isn't this essentially what Kevtris wanted to do with the Zimba 3000 that was mentioned earlier in the thread from time to time?

    It is, but if I had to guess I'd say that Analogue is funding R&D for all these cores, which means that they're probably calling the shots on how things progress from here on out. There's no way to know what the terms of any agreement would be between Kev and Analogue, but I imagine that there will never be an official Zimba.

  21. Posted · Edited by Drunk_Caterpillar

    22 minutes ago, XtraSmiley said:

    And my original post said that most of the people who are buying two different systems have done so. At this point with sales slowing down, and all in one is probably going to squeeze out more sales.

    The problem with that approach is once you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want a glass of milk. Lat's say that Analogue does this and they "port" the Sega cores to the SuperNt and vice versa after a window of exclusivity. The first thing that would happen is that more than a few users would be pissed that Analogue "tricked" them in to buying two hardware platforms when one would've done the job, and everyone else would expect this to be consistent behaviour for every Analogue product moving forward. You'd have people commenting on every twitter post from here to eternity asking when X core would be ported to Y hardware, which would be a nightmare because that's an insane number of cores for one developer to support across multiple platforms. PLUS, let's say that a Analogue eventually releases PSX and N64 platforms; users would remember that it only took a year or so for Analogue's cores to get ported across to other Analogue platforms, so rather than buying both of those consoles on release they'd just buy one and wait for the cores to drop.

    Supporting every core on every piece of hardware that Analogue releases is a lose-lose for everyone involved except for people who want to spend as little as possible to get as much as possible. It's not a viable long-term business strategy. As an aside, I also don't think it fits with a company that has a clear focus on aesthetics. Of course there are a lot of people who are fairly utilitarian when it comes to the software they run on their hardware, but it's clear from the way that Analogue designs and markets their consoles that the optics of playing a Super Nintendo game on a console with Sega design elements would rub them the wrong way. There are exceptions, of course—niche platforms like the NGPC or Lynx don't have enough demand for their own FPGA consoles, so of course they'll get rolled in to the DMG styled Analogue Pocket—but I think that's going to be a fairly rare event.

  22. Posted

    43 minutes ago, XtraSmiley said:

    Why not? You think a SNES machine that plays only SNES will sell more than a SNES machine that plays 15 different systems?

    I think that asking customers to buy two separate machines will probably yield more in sales than giving away all the capabilities in a single piece of hardware, yes. I'm not saying it's a technical hurdle or that consumers wouldn't want something like that; I'm saying that you're asking Analogue to release a MiSTer clone, which they have no interest in doing for a variety of reasons.

  23. Posted

    2 hours ago, XtraSmiley said:

    Also, why the long silence from Kevtris on all the cores? When/where is the core update for the NTM? Why won't he release the cores for all the products, they are the same FPGA right? I mean, people who are going to buy them have bought them, at this point a core release for everything isn't going to affect sales, hell it could actually improve sales.

    I mean, Analogue isn’t running a non-profit foundation to preserve video game hardware here; they’re the video game equivalent of a boutique hi-fi stereo company. Letting users run every core for every console on one machine doesn’t  really make sense from an aesthetic or financial perspective. As long as the console does exactly what is advertised, that’s really where their responsibility ends—any extra jailbreak firmware functionality is a cherry on top.

    • Like 4
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