FPGA Based Videogame System

[Forsaken]

4.3 seems to fix the color well. I'm not longer setting chromaticity to Adobe1998 to make it look right. So that's good, but...

 

The hybrid scan lines seem a little "weak". I'm not sure, but it seems like they fade out at a lower brightness threshold than before. I know this thread is becoming and overwhelming "wish list" of wanted features, but it would be awesome to have two sliders for the hybrid lines, one for the overall intensity like it has currently, and a new one for the slope of the fade, so I could decrease it a little and have the scan lines show a bit more in brighter areas.

[kevtris]

4.3 seems to fix the color well. I'm not longer setting chromaticity to Adobe1998 to make it look right. So that's good, but...

 

The hybrid scan lines seem a little "weak". I'm not sure, but it seems like they fade out at a lower brightness threshold than before. I know this thread is becoming and overwhelming "wish list" of wanted features, but it would be awesome to have two sliders for the hybrid lines, one for the overall intensity like it has currently, and a new one for the slope of the fade, so I could decrease it a little and have the scan lines show a bit more in brighter areas.

It's probably because the lack of gamma.

 

When gamma is "on" but no scanlines, it was set to 1.25.

When gamma is "off" but scanlines are on, it was set to 1.25.

When gamma and scanlines are both on, it was set to 1.40.

 

I am going to totally retool the scanlines in the future once I fix the rest of the major core bugs.

[Mattelot]

I'm watching a used one go for $1,200usd. I've thought about selling mine but I just can't part with it.

 

Wow, that's a lot of money, but I would never part with mine. I dreamed of a system with it's functionality for years.

 

I'm on edge, waiting for the next wave of pre-orders/orders of the Super NT so I can grab one. I don't want to be one of the guys who wants one really badly and had no choice but to fork up over a grand for one like the NT mini guys.

[Forsaken]

It's probably because the lack of gamma.

 

When gamma is "on" but no scanlines, it was set to 1.25.

When gamma is "off" but scanlines are on, it was set to 1.25.

When gamma and scanlines are both on, it was set to 1.40.

 

I am going to totally retool the scanlines in the future once I fix the rest of the major core bugs.

I had it at 1.30. I'll try 1.40 and see how it feels. It could also have to do with the fact I'm not doing any chromaticity transformations anymore, so it's not quite what I got used to.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Forsaken

[Great Hierophant]

This is my list :

 

Flashback : The Quest for Identity (audio buzz heard when opening inventory, affects all official versions except the English/French PAL version, which behaves with no buzz.)[/size]

It turns out I was not quite correct about this one. The PAL release that only supports English and French does not express the inventory audio buzz bug. All the other official versions have the bug.

 

BUG REPORT UPDATE: CHO ANIKI

 

I have the original Super Famicom cart of this game and am playing direct through the cart port using current 4.3 firmware as released on Analogue's website.

 

I can confirm the black screen of death bug appears only when the output resolution is set to 1080p. On 1080p modes, the game will fail to boot with black screen, and sometimes crashes to black screen after completing a round, with music still playing. Pressing reset or the reset hotkey will cause the game to reboot normally. Of course this will lose player progress so it is impossible to play through the gsme.

 

On 720p and 480p modes, the game starts properly every time, even upon initial powerup. Remember to save settings before powering off the console. I played a few rounds at 720p and did not notice a crash event.

 

Toggling launch timing option on/off has no effect.

I don't have the original cartridge, but on sd2snes booting up in 720p will require a reset or two for me to get the game working. In-game crashing may or may not be avoided depending on how the game conditions the SNES's registers. I haven't encountered a crash but haven't played it much.

[RevQuixo]

So I don't know if this is "fixable" or not, but I run the majority of my devices into my 4k TV directly and then from the TV I run an optical cable to my receiver (as it is old and doesn't have HDMI in). For most of my consoles the TV has no issue converting the HDMI surround sound to optical surround sound and passing it to the receiver. This, however, does not seem to work for the Super Nt. As I said..not sure if it is fixable or not, but my other HDMI systems (sans the Wii U) can do it without an issue.

[kwnage]

So I don't know if this is "fixable" or not, but I run the majority of my devices into my 4k TV directly and then from the TV I run an optical cable to my receiver (as it is old and doesn't have HDMI in). For most of my consoles the TV has no issue converting the HDMI surround sound to optical surround sound and passing it to the receiver. This, however, does not seem to work for the Super Nt. As I said..not sure if it is fixable or not, but my other HDMI systems (sans the Wii U) can do it without an issue.

Technically, the SuperNt doesn't output multi channel surround. Unlike DVDs or TV Broadcasts which provide DTS or Dolby Digital bitstreams for surround sound, its output format is just 2 channels, plain old PCM stereo. The surround information of games that support this is encoded within these two channels in a format called "Dolby Pro Logic". You may need to set up the receiver to treat PCM signals as Dolby Pro Logic (most older surround receivers have a surround mode setting).

 

The WiiU for example doesn't output DTS or DD, but multi channel PCM which the optical connection (more precisely the S/PDIF standard) isn't capable of.

Edited February 26, 2018 by kwnage

[romevi]

For the Nt mini, the jailbreak doesn't support FDS games, correct?

My only options to play FDS games on the Nt mini are: full FDS setup, FDSStick, or EverDrive--yes?

[cfillak]

For the Nt mini, the jailbreak doesn't support FDS games, correct?

My only options to play FDS games on the Nt mini are: full FDS setup, FDSStick, or EverDrive--yes?

No, the jailbreak does not currently support loading of FDS images. I believe FDS expansion audio is fully implemented, but the disk loading/side swapping isn't implemented yet. I believe Kevin said he intended to add that when he had time, but he's obviously currently swamped with launching the Super NT and squashing all the bugs. I think Kevin said something about the FDS audio implementation not having a low pass filter was due to lack of FPGA resources, so I suppose the most "authentic" experience would be the FDS RAM adapter+FDSStick or real FDS unit.

[romevi]

No, the jailbreak does not currently support loading of FDS images. I believe FDS expansion audio is fully implemented, but the disk loading/side swapping isn't implemented yet. I believe Kevin said he intended to add that when he had time, but he's obviously currently swamped with launching the Super NT and squashing all the bugs. I think Kevin said something about the FDS audio implementation not having a low pass filter was due to lack of FPGA resources, so I suppose the most "authentic" experience would be the FDS RAM adapter+FDSStick or real FDS unit.

 

Okay, thanks!

I knew he didn't implement it before but wasn't sure if that's changed. I may go the route of the FDSStick.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

 

I don't have the original cartridge, but on sd2snes booting up in 720p will require a reset or two for me to get the game working. In-game crashing may or may not be avoided depending on how the game conditions the SNES's registers. I haven't encountered a crash but haven't played it much.

I have no idea why but on my physical cartridge, the game boots successfully every time in 720p mode with "title -> game" option enabled. It does not boot successfully in 1080p mode with "title -> game" option enabled. It will boot if you hit reset after blank screen or do "run cartridge" from menu after a failed boot attempt in 1080p. The game won't crash every time you complete a round in 1080p, but it will eventually. I haven't experienced a crash yet in 720p mode but haven't played enough rounds yet to be sure. Anyway I cannot vouch for the reliability of the SD2SNES but I can check it on the Everdrive.

 

Technically, the SuperNt doesn't output multi channel surround. Unlike DVDs or TV Broadcasts which provide DTS or Dolby Digital bitstreams for surround sound, its output format is just 2 channels, plain old PCM stereo. The surround information of games that support this is encoded within these two channels in a format called "Dolby Pro Logic". You may need to set up the receiver to treat PCM signals as Dolby Pro Logic (most older surround receivers have a surround mode setting).

 

The WiiU for example doesn't output DTS or DD, but multi channel PCM which the optical connection (more precisely the S/PDIF standard) isn't capable of.

Some music CDs are encoded in Dolby Surround and the raw 44.1khz pcm may or may not be detected by a surround system as surround sound. If it doesn't detect it, for most systems you can force Dolby Surround decoding in menu, however it will sound strange and disconnected with heavy center channel emphasis, and in some cases downright noise from the rears, if the track isn't Dolby encoded. I used to have a surround setup and when watching TV through the analog outputs of the flat panel, it was a mixed bag whether content was surround encoded or not, especially for older pre-90s shows. A lot of syndicated content has not been remastered for surround sound.

 

Also Joint stereo encoded MP3s at low bitrate (ie 128kbps), the surround channels tend to suffer moreso than the others in terms of artifact noise. Anything surround sound content needs discrete encoding (typically 256-320kbps).

[cfillak]

 

Okay, thanks!

I knew he didn't implement it before but wasn't sure if that's changed. I may go the route of the FDSStick.

Just so you know, you also need the FDS RAM adapter, which looks like it can be had on ebay for ~30 bucks.

[romevi]

Just so you know, you also need the FDS RAM adapter, which looks like it can be had on ebay for ~30 bucks.

 

Oh, yeah, I know. Thanks, though!

 

Both with shipping will be around $50, which is not bad. Not much less than the full FDS, but more stable as I don't have to worry about finicky disks or belts.

[Razzie.P]

"-Super Powerpak fixed - check "use launch system timing" box under the hardware menu when using"

 

 

Sorry if this has been mentioned. I checked and didn't see it. Other than "make it work with Powerpak," what does that do? Any negative side effects to leaving it on and using it when playing real carts?

[Kismet]

So in picking random things to see if it works, I found one that doesn't make sense.

 

In the smokemonster list, there is a title called "Brandish 2 - The Planet Buster" under JP , it does not get past the KOEI screen on the SD2SNES on the Super NT 4.3 firmware. When I put it in my SNES, it ALSO didn't get past the KOEI screen, the first time. But I hit reset and it went right to menu screen in the game. "Brandish 2 Expert mode" also does the same thing just a black screen after the KOEI logo. Same with the fan-translation. I was only able to get the game past this screen once, on the real SNES.

[bozo55]

BUG REPORT UPDATE: CHO ANIKI

 

I have the original Super Famicom cart of this game and am playing direct through the cart port using current 4.3 firmware as released on Analogue's website.

 

I can confirm the black screen of death bug appears only when the output resolution is set to 1080p. On 1080p modes, the game will fail to boot with black screen, and sometimes crashes to black screen after completing a round, with music still playing. Pressing reset or the reset hotkey will cause the game to reboot normally. Of course this will lose player progress so it is impossible to play through the gsme.

 

On 720p and 480p modes, the game starts properly every time, even upon initial powerup. Remember to save settings before powering off the console. I played a few rounds at 720p and did not notice a crash event.

 

Toggling launch timing option on/off has no effect.

Aha. This might be why Samurai Showdown is working perfectly for me. Honestly I think 1080p mode looks terrible compared to 720p. I can get nice chunky scanlines and just the right amount of softness to the image at 720p, while filling the vertical axis completely with my TV's resize options... all while keeping everything properly scaled and nearly lag free.

[romevi]

Honestly I think 1080p mode looks terrible compared to 720p. I can get nice chunky scanlines and just the right amount of softness to the image at 720p, while filling the vertical axis completely with my TV's resize options... all while keeping everything properly scaled and nearly lag free.

 

After testing both last night, I've resorted to sticking to 1080p. My TV does an okay job of not making them seem as jarring, but the 720p blended the lines too close to even notice them much, even with the depth set to max. The default 4:3 for 16:9 for 1080p also filled the screen beautifully. Plus, that lag was just unforgivable.

So I'm sticking to 1080p and just take my glasses off to get that blurred look!

 

For reference, I have the Samsung 55" Series 6 MU6300.

Edited February 26, 2018 by romevi

[bozo55]

 

After testing both last night, I've resorted to sticking to 1080p. My TV does an okay job of not making them seem as jarring, but the 720p blended the lines too close to even notice them much, even with the depth set to max. The default 4:3 for 16:9 for 1080p also filled the screen beautifully. Plus, that lag was just unforgivable.

So I'm sticking to 1080p and just take my glasses off to get that blurred look!

 

For reference, I have the Samsung 55" Series 6 MU6300.

Hmm, maybe 1080p is a good choice for 4K displays. My TV is a 1080p Sony 55W950B and 720p upscaling is basically free on it. 1080p scanlines looked like hot garbage on it.

[DarkkOne]

So I don't know if this is "fixable" or not, but I run the majority of my devices into my 4k TV directly and then from the TV I run an optical cable to my receiver (as it is old and doesn't have HDMI in). For most of my consoles the TV has no issue converting the HDMI surround sound to optical surround sound and passing it to the receiver. This, however, does not seem to work for the Super Nt. As I said..not sure if it is fixable or not, but my other HDMI systems (sans the Wii U) can do it without an issue.

 

I have a similar situation (Super NT -> HDMI -> TV -> optical SPDIF -> Soundbar) and while sound from the TV is fine, from the soundbar it has issues (random bits of silence). Everything else on it (Xbox one, a couple different PCs, the TV's own sound output) has been no problem going through the TV to the soundbar, but the NT Mini and Super NT have interruptions of silence, so something unique to the Analogue devices seems to not work well with this sort of setup, for me.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

I have a similar situation (Super NT -> HDMI -> TV -> optical SPDIF -> Soundbar) and while sound from the TV is fine, from the soundbar it has issues (random bits of silence). Everything else on it (Xbox one, a couple different PCs, the TV's own sound output) has been no problem going through the TV to the soundbar, but the NT Mini and Super NT have interruptions of silence, so something unique to the Analogue devices seems to not work well with this sort of setup, for me.

Did you check the "-3db" option? It reduces the level to avoid clipping on problematic receivers.

 

 

Aha. This might be why Samurai Showdown is working perfectly for me. Honestly I think 1080p mode looks terrible compared to 720p. I can get nice chunky scanlines and just the right amount of softness to the image at 720p, while filling the vertical axis completely with my TV's resize options... all while keeping everything properly scaled and nearly lag free.

Yeah I have no idea why 1080p messes stuff up. Maybe the timings are slightly off in 1080p or something will the high speed pll interferes with the snes bus???

 

 

Hmm, maybe 1080p is a good choice for 4K displays. My TV is a 1080p Sony 55W950B and 720p upscaling is basically free on it. 1080p scanlines looked like hot garbage on it.

Were you using the default 4.5x scaling? If so that's why. You need to integer scale the scanlines which is why most people choose the 1200 (5x) or 960 (4x) options with 1080p. With 720p your set basically upscales it for you but it's a softer bilinear algorythm which looks much nicer than 1080p 4.5x.

[DarkkOne]

Did you check the "-3db" option? It reduces the level to avoid clipping on problematic receivers.

 

It's not clipping, it's utter silence. But yes, the -3db option does nothing to this problem. Just double-checked to verify.

[Kaide]

Hmm, maybe 1080p is a good choice for 4K displays. My TV is a 1080p Sony 55W950B and 720p upscaling is basically free on it. 1080p scanlines looked like hot garbage on it.

 

 

I think it still varies based on the upscaler in the TV.

 

I currently play at 720p on my Sony OLED using hybrid scanlines. Will need to play a bit with the 4.3 firmware, but 720p hasn't had any real problems upscaling 720p in terms of softness or the like. It's a bit weird that a 4K set would make hash out of 720p though. You'd think being an integer scale would make things easier.

[mrpopsicleman]

Monopoly - Freezes after a human player lands on Chance or Community Chest

Strange. Is this a cart only problem or does it affect flash carts as well? I updated to 4.3 earlier today and I just played "Monopoly (USA) (Rev 1)" from the No-Intro set via the SD2SNES for about 20 minutes. I landed on Chance and Community Chest probably 10 or so times and didn't have any issues. Game play was normal.

[leods]

Strange. Is this a cart only problem or does it affect flash carts as well? I updated to 4.3 earlier today and I just played "Monopoly (USA) (Rev 1)" from the No-Intro set via the SD2SNES for about 20 minutes. I landed on Chance and Community Chest probably 10 or so times and didn't have any issues. Game play was normal.

Exactly. Me too. I have that recorded in my stream. I mean, I didn't hit the chest 10 times, but at least once, and the cards too... Animations showed fine, and game resumed as expected.. But some of these probles seem to be sporadic. They'll show up one time, and then next time you play it's fine... I think. Or maybe it really is a cart dependant thing.

[Kaide]

Exactly. Me too. I have that recorded in my stream. I mean, I didn't hit the chest 10 times, but at least once, and the cards too... Animations showed fine, and game resumed as expected.. But some of these probles seem to be sporadic. They'll show up one time, and then next time you play it's fine... I think. Or maybe it really is a cart dependant thing.

 

 

I have noticed some bugs/glitches that only seem to appear with the original cart, and not SD2SNES. Which suggests there's some potential issues with specific carts that need cleaning. In my case, I hit some nasty sprite glitches with the candles (and eventually more things) in Castlevania IV, but my SNES Classic ROM via SD2SNES worked fine.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Kaide