FPGA Based Videogame System

[Jakir]

I think many of those weird random crashes are a result of the "fix' I did for mecarobot golf that is on the 4.1 firmware. I tinkered with the HDMA's and unfortunately it's possible for them to crash the system if things line up just right. ninja warrior just happened to cause it to happen nearly continuously, hence the game crashing if you pause or just let it run a little while. I did fix this bug (and a bunch of others) for the next release but I wanted to fix a few other things and add some new stuff before the next release.

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.

[NoKnownOrigin]

You should be able to load 96bits aka decompressed versions of Star Ocean and Street Fighter Alpha 2 with S-DD1 chip bypassed, but so far I haven't been succeful in doing that(loads from 0 to 100% then black screen), please chime in, if any one managed.

 

 

Wait, is there a working decompressed version of Street Fighter Alpha 2 floating around? I was only aware of Star Ocean.

[RabidWookie]

 

 

Wait, is there a working decompressed version of Street Fighter Alpha 2 floating around? I was only aware of Star Ocean.

I thought the reason the decompression chip was needed was because there was a structural limit to the size of a SNES rom?

[CZroe]

I thought the reason the decompression chip was needed was because there was a structural limit to the size of a SNES rom?

That’s one reason, but we already have mappers for that. The other reason is to get away with a smaller/cheaper ROM on a platform that isn’t powerful enough for feasible real-time decompression (and with too little RAM). As you may have noticed with the slight loading times, it doesn’t entirely hide the loading.

[RabidWookie]

Thats one reason, but we already have mappers for that. The other reason is to get away with a smaller/cheaper ROM on a platform that isnt powerful enough for feasible real-time decompression (and with too little RAM). As you may have noticed with the slight loading times, it doesnt entirely hide the loading.

That freeze at the beginning of each match is the one blemish on an otherwise insanely great port.

[Keatah]

As CRTs fall out of service and original consoles & cartridges fail, gamers wanting to play these games will have no other choice but to go with emulation or fpga. The pace is quickening already. And people are getting tired of farting around with converter boxes, framermisters, and osssc circuit boards - when instead they can simply use 1 cable and get superior results.

[Chronos30]

I just got into the NT Mini jailbreak (v2.0 of course), and I'm having a weird problem in the filesystem where files are listed twice, but only if you're in the applicable mode.

Like, I load up the NES core and browse to my NES folder, and almost all the NES files (with the odd exception) are listed twice. Browse the same folder in NSF mode and they're listed once.

Inversely I go into NSF mode and browse the NSF folder and those files are listed twice, go to NES folder and they're listed once.

Also I tried adding some NSF files that werent in the smokemonster pack (shovel knight music) and they didn't show up at all!

 

I'm using a 32g sandisk SDHC. I never formatted it but windows says its already FAT32. Should I clear it out and load all my files from scratch? Thanks.

[Loukey]

I just got into the NT Mini jailbreak (v2.0 of course), and I'm having a weird problem in the filesystem where files are listed twice, but only if you're in the applicable mode.

Like, I load up the NES core and browse to my NES folder, and almost all the NES files (with the odd exception) are listed twice. Browse the same folder in NSF mode and they're listed once.

Inversely I go into NSF mode and browse the NSF folder and those files are listed twice, go to NES folder and they're listed once.

Also I tried adding some NSF files that werent in the smokemonster pack (shovel knight music) and they didn't show up at all!

 

I'm using a 32g sandisk SDHC. I never formatted it but windows says its already FAT32. Should I clear it out and load all my files from scratch? Thanks.

 

I have that problem too! I tried reformatting and it happened again so I have been ignoring it.

[Chronos30]

 

I have that problem too! I tried reformatting and it happened again so I have been ignoring it.

 

At least it's not just me! Maybe it's a long filenames problem? A lot of these are super long, but even the less than 32 character ones are doubling up.

[Loukey]

 

At least it's not just me! Maybe it's a long filenames problem? A lot of these are super long, but even the less than 32 character ones are doubling up.

 

I originally thought it was hidden files because I used my mac to copy stuff over, but then I reformatted and did it on a windows desktop and had similar results.

[Great Hierophant]

I had the double file names issue in my Nt Mini, but only when I unzipped the SmokeMonster ROM pack directly from the zip to the SD card. To fix it, first I deleted the directories which had duplicate file names on the SD card. Next, I unzipped the folders to a local disk hard drive. Finally I copied the folders over to the SD card. The problem went away thereafter.

[GarrettCRW]

Which makes me wonder, do games without a lockout chip or with a damaged lockout chip still work on the SuperNT?

 

I can confirm that you need to have your Super NT set to PAL if you want to play Terranigma on the jailbreak or a SD2SNES, even if it's the 60Hz hacked version.

[thirdkind]

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.

 

 

There's no reason any Genesis FPGA console has to be one or the other. They can make it small like an MD2 and it would still work with a Model 1 Sega CD because the connectors are the same; it would just look weird.

 

Besides, I think the Sega CD ODE people really want is more along the lines of the Super SD System 3 — a complete FPGA hardware replacement with SD card reader — rather than a hack that relies on modifying increasingly scarce original hardware.

[Austin]

TG-16 was meant to compete directly with Sega and later SNES, but failed to penetrate the market. Like other nich consoles that failed, the system and games were heavily discounted by retailers in thd mid to late 90s. Due to it's low sales and excellent library, it is more popular today than it ever was bitd, hence thd secondhand price increase. Neo Geo was billed as an arcade experience for the home, a console for rich kids, and remained expensive. In fact most carts sold more units in the arcade than homes, making the home units highly sought after and the games fetching in some cases thousands of dollars.

 

We can try to explain it away all we want, but the fact is prices have gone up across the board. It's not just the Turbo Grafx.

 

 

I just looked them up (not done in years). The TG16 isn't too bad. I'd pay what people are asking though it's not one of the higher retro consoles on my list so some day. The Neo Geo... I don't know how I'm going to explain that to my wife. Her facial reaction when I told her the price of my One X was enough.

 

Turbo might be reasonable if you're going for card-only, but once you start going boxed or complete, prices really shoot up.

 

I think the best bet with the Neo Geo is getting a consolized MVS, an AES with a MVS converter, an AES with a Neo SD, or any of those combinations with a MVS multi-cart. Still not cheap (probably looking at $700 - $1000 for an AES and Neo SD together), but at least you won't have to buy expensive carts individually.

 

Of course, I always toss this out there--if you don't want to go all-in on the Neo-Geo, a Neo-Geo CD is a good, cheap alternative. Systems are still $150 - $200 and it reads backups (and even if you want original CDs, they aren't that expensive comparatively). Just stay away from the later-gen fighting games.

[Chronos30]

I had the double file names issue in my Nt Mini, but only when I unzipped the SmokeMonster ROM pack directly from the zip to the SD card. To fix it, first I deleted the directories which had duplicate file names on the SD card. Next, I unzipped the folders to a local disk hard drive. Finally I copied the folders over to the SD card. The problem went away thereafter.

Looks like that did it, thanks for the help guys! Even saw the Shovel Knight music this time.

 

Has anyone besides Kevtris made that PS-2 to DB-15 keyboard adapter? I haven't exactly built a circuitboard before.

[Fafner]

I think many of those weird random crashes are a result of the "fix' I did for mecarobot golf that is on the 4.1 firmware. I tinkered with the HDMA's and unfortunately it's possible for them to crash the system if things line up just right. ninja warrior just happened to cause it to happen nearly continuously, hence the game crashing if you pause or just let it run a little while. I did fix this bug (and a bunch of others) for the next release but I wanted to fix a few other things and add some new stuff before the next release.

Excellent news!

Thanks you!!

[Forsaken]

As CRTs fall out of service and original consoles & cartridges fail, gamers wanting to play these games will have no other choice but to go with emulation or fpga. The pace is quickening already. And people are getting tired of farting around with converter boxes, framermisters, and osssc circuit boards - when instead they can simply use 1 cable and get superior results.

You'd think somebody would capitalize on the niche market for CRTs and produce some new premium analog CRTs aimed at retro gamers.

[kevtris]

I just got into the NT Mini jailbreak (v2.0 of course), and I'm having a weird problem in the filesystem where files are listed twice, but only if you're in the applicable mode.

Like, I load up the NES core and browse to my NES folder, and almost all the NES files (with the odd exception) are listed twice. Browse the same folder in NSF mode and they're listed once.

Inversely I go into NSF mode and browse the NSF folder and those files are listed twice, go to NES folder and they're listed once.

Also I tried adding some NSF files that werent in the smokemonster pack (shovel knight music) and they didn't show up at all!

 

I'm using a 32g sandisk SDHC. I never formatted it but windows says its already FAT32. Should I clear it out and load all my files from scratch? Thanks.

 

 

 

I originally thought it was hidden files because I used my mac to copy stuff over, but then I reformatted and did it on a windows desktop and had similar results.

 

I saw this problem originally and it was because macs love to put some kind of metadata file for everything in the directory. I thought this problem was solved but apparently not totally. I do not have a mac or any way of fixing it though because I cannot reproduce it here.

[Chronos30]

I saw this problem originally and it was because macs love to put some kind of metadata file for everything in the directory. I thought this problem was solved but apparently not totally. I do not have a mac or any way of fixing it though because I cannot reproduce it here.

 

I wasnt using anything from apple when it happened to me. Looks like both Great Hierophant and I made it happen by unzipping the files directly from the archive to the SD card. As for me I'm using 64 bit windows 10, and WinRAR 5.0 beta 4.

 

e: Windows does that kinda thing too, a thumbs.db had found its way in there. (Oh yeah, probably cause of the adapter schematics)

Edited February 21, 2018 by Chronos30

[Jakir]

There's no reason any Genesis FPGA console has to be one or the other. They can make it small like an MD2 and it would still work with a Model 1 Sega CD because the connectors are the same; it would just look weird.

 

Besides, I think the Sega CD ODE people really want is more along the lines of the Super SD System 3 — a complete FPGA hardware replacement with SD card reader — rather than a hack that relies on modifying increasingly scarce original hardware.

I'm aware the connectors are the same, I was talking about size the entire time, that is why I mentioned the extender. Also if a full fpga sega cd replacement gets made that shouldn't be an issue because they will hopefully keep in mind the console that has to sit on top of it and size the replacement unit accordingly. It would be pretty crazy to intentionally design it not to sit the console properly on top of it.

 

I wasnt using anything from apple when it happened to me. Looks like both Great Hierophant and I made it happen by unzipping the files directly from the archive to the SD card. As for me I'm using 64 bit windows 10, and WinRAR 5.0 beta 4.

 

e: Windows does that kinda thing too, a thumbs.db had found its way in there. (Oh yeah, probably cause of the adapter schematics)

Try extracting with 7zip, it is a free program that works with more filetypes and I like a lot better, perhaps it will solve your problem:

http://7-zip.org/download.html

 

The only other thing I could think of would be that maybe you should try extracting it to your computer, reformatting your sd card, and then copying everything over fresh. If that fails maybe the archive was compiled on an apple computer and thus contains the file that is causing the error hidden inside it?

[kevtris]

I thought the reason the decompression chip was needed was because there was a structural limit to the size of a SNES rom?

it was because ROM chips were expensive. Compressing the graphics saved lots of space, and thus money.

[SegaSnatcher]

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.

[Kismet]

You'd think somebody would capitalize on the niche market for CRTs and produce some new premium analog CRTs aimed at retro gamers.

 

That's such a small market that it would either cost a fortune, or would be banned from exporting outside it's country of production due to the toxic leaded glass used.

[Shadowgate]

 

I can understand someone who's hobby is now more expensive because of others. I mean, if they had been a collector for years, they likely got things when they were at the lowest. If they recently started while others did, they suffer the increased cost. If the latter is true, they really can't complain too much since they decided to take the hobby up years later.

 

I was in the retrogaming subreddit. That place went from 6 to midnight the moment I mentioned a modern TV. You would have thought I charged in there spouting insults left/right with the backlash I got. I think someone even made a crack about my mom? Was Neo Geo and TG16 really cheap at some point? I've always known Neo Geo to be rather expensive.

 

I revere Kevtris for all his work. Preserving the games I grew up on, especially since I was old enough to be there when Nintendo started (granted, the Nintendo was a Christmas gift to my older sister but it was me who played it). To me, that was the true dawn of video gaming.

 

Relatively cheap. The market even 10-15 years ago was very different. Especially for the few who made trips to Japan and used brokers to find items. Games that went for $10 back then are going for hundreds now. You have to understand that these collectors didn't just buy up their collection back then and hoarded it all this time. People who kept their passion going through the years have witnessed the market slowly going to heck. Especially the last few years as new ways of playing are introduced. It's completely changed collecting and a lot of people resent it. CRT televisions and old systems were treated as junk and it was the days you could find entire collections while dumpster diving. Ordering gaming items international was very strange back then and the used market was wide open. Many Japanese live fairly spartan so the used stores were unbelievably stocked with mint condition stuff.

 

Neogeo has pretty much always been a rich person market. Bargain basement compared to what people are paying now but getitng the arcade experience at home has always been very specialized and elitist. Some scary people love the Neogeo.

[Pixelboy]

Just my own opinion here: I don't know if it's been done already, but a "modern remake" of the Sega CD should simply be an emulation box with a big hard disk. It would come with a few titles built-in, but you could install more Sega CD games on the hard disk by purchasing/downloading them from a central server. I'm assuming the Sega CD (just like the 32X) is a rather complex machine, so going the software emulation route seems like the most cost-effective way, compared to the long development time required to do it via an FPGA. I could even say the same about the 32X, given the hardware's complexity.

 

The point is, if classic software emulation can provide a good enough experience for either the Sega CD or the 32X, then why insist on an FPGA implementation?

 

Of course, the Genesis can be done with today's FPGA (there's a good chance the Super NT can support a Genesis core as it is now) so my point concerns more complex hardware, and our desire to play the particular games on those platforms.