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FPGA Based Videogame System


kevtris

Interest in an FPGA Videogame System  

682 members have voted

  1. 1. I would pay....

  2. 2. I Would Like Support for...

  3. 3. Games Should Run From...

    • SD Card / USB Memory Sticks
    • Original Cartridges
    • Hopes and Dreams
  4. 4. The Video Inteface Should be...


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- Compact form factor.   Can easily take a Mega SG + Mega SD with you on trips.  Have fun lugging around a real CD unit and it looks absolutely ugly hooked up to a Mega SG.

- No extra PSU needed.   

- Easily swap multi disc games at the touch of a button

- Save States for Genesis games

- Built in Save Ram pack for CD games

- Never have to worry about laser assembly/belt drive again.  

- Ability to add CD quality music to standard Genesis games a la MSU1 for SNES.   

I don't know about you, but all those features are pretty compelling to me.

Do you own a Sega CDX or Multi Mega? ;)

Everdrive has a built in oversized Backup RAM cart and save states too... and for the price I can reduce my worry about lasers and belts with a backup Sega CD and still save a ton of money. Just saying that if you already have a Mega Everdrive and a Sega CD then a stack of blank CDs and a spare Sega CD might be enough peace of mind to convince someone to pocket the other $200.
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52 minutes ago, CZroe said:


Do you own a Sega CDX or Multi Mega? ;)

Everdrive has a built in oversized Backup RAM cart and save states too... and for the price I can reduce my worry about lasers and belts with a backup Sega CD and still save a ton of money. Just saying that if you already have a Mega Everdrive and a Sega CD then a stack of blank CDs and a spare Sega CD might be enough peace of mind to convince someone to pocket the other $200.

I personally wouldn't buy one because then I'd need an OSSC and Mega Amp mod, the CDX doesn't have the best audio outpit.  Also CDX is pretty expensive these days.

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On 6/28/2019 at 6:21 AM, spoonman said:

 

Except that the Mega SD can't play an original Sega CD, or any CD for that matter. It's not replacing an original Sega CD unit if the goal is to play your Sega CD disc collection. It also currently can't play Sega 32X CD games. There are only a few, but one of them, Night Trap, is a pretty high profile game which looks much better with the expanded color palette and larger video window. Most people won't know or care, but still.

 

 

My preferred Sega CD replacement would be similar to what TerraOnion made, except it would also have a USB micro connector in which it could connect to an generic off the shelf USB 3.0 portable optical disc reader (CD/DVD units typically sell for under $20 now), so it could be a true Sega CD replacement in that it could optionally read data from your original Sega CDs as well as play BIN/CUE, ISO images from the SDCard. Perhaps it could even allow you to backup your original Sega CD discs to the SDcard as well. I've always been fond of backup units (Magic Drive, Magicom, Pro Fighter, V64, and so on), so it's always nice to see their tradition carried forward. I hope we can also get the ability to dump Gen/MD carts with the Mega Sg JB FW some day.

 

 

On 6/25/2019 at 8:20 PM, SegaSnatcher said:

I wouldn't be so sure Krikzz has the skills to do Sega CD.  Yeah, he can license a 68K core, but everything else he'd have to implement himself and as far as I'm aware he's never implemented actual hardware chips in a FPGA before. Remember Sega CD has a scale and rotation chip and 8 channel ADPCM audio chip. Regardless even if he attempts it and succeeds we wouldn't be seeing that for probably at least a full year from now if not longer. He's working on many different flash carts at the same time its seems, so he can't dedicate all his time to implement Sega CD.  I think TO caught Krikzz with his pants down.

It doesn't matter if Krikzz has the skills or not. He could can likely hire someone to help, or go into a deal with someone like he had done with Ikari on the SD2SNES. We also don't know if he's been working on it, and if so, to how long. He sprung the SD2SNES 2 with very little warning or hype. This would be the obvious next step. He needs to stay in the game, so to speak.

 

$270 is a lot of money (for the Mega SD), especially if you just bought a Mega Sg and Everdrive flashcart. Competition will no doubt help bring that price down a bit. There's nothing wrong with that. 

 

 

 

 

 

So, you can't just for instance, plug the Mega CD flash cart into a 32x and play 32x cd games on it?

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46 minutes ago, Kosmic Stardust said:

So, you can't just for instance, plug the Mega CD flash cart into a 32x and play 32x cd games on it?

No, you would need the adapter that plugs into the expansion slot of the Genesis/Mega SG for 32x CD games.  Terraonion said they might release that adapter if enough demand justified it.

Here's a pic of the prototype adapter.

WhatsApp_Image_2019-04-01_at_14.04.27.jp

Edited by SegaSnatcher
Condense dual posts into one.
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So, you can't just for instance, plug the Mega CD flash cart into a 32x and play 32x cd games on it?

Jump to 28:39 and enable captions:


The 32X doesn’t pass through all of the connections the Sega CD needs. You need to plug into the 32X to play 32X cartridge games and plug into the expansion port to play 32X CD games. It only requires a simple adapter to fit it to the expansion port but it can’t play many cart games from there (256K max).
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7 hours ago, CZroe said:


Jump to 28:39 and enable captions:

 



The 32X doesn’t pass through all of the connections the Sega CD needs. You need to plug into the 32X to play 32X cartridge games and plug into the expansion port to play 32X CD games. It only requires a simple adapter to fit it to the expansion port but it can’t play many cart games from there (256K max).

It should be noted that with the 32X connected you cannot play ANY disc-based games, neither Sega CD nor 32X CD. You can only play cartridge roms.

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It should be noted that with the 32X connected you cannot play ANY disc-based games, neither Sega CD nor 32X CD. You can only play cartridge roms.

Yes. The 32X doesn’t pass through all of the connections the Sega CD needs but the expansion slot does. With the expansion slot adapter you would plug it into the expansion to play CD titles and plug it into the 32X for cartridge games.

Later 32X systems included a terminator thing that you were supposed to plug into the CD expansion slot after Sega discovered some issues on some revisions of the console. I wonder if the adapter would replicate this when the cartridge is moved to the 32X.
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On 7/5/2019 at 9:58 PM, SegaSnatcher said:

No, you would need the adapter that plugs into the expansion slot of the Genesis/Mega SG for 32x CD games.  Terraonion said they might release that adapter if enough demand justified it.

Here's a pic of the prototype adapter.

WhatsApp_Image_2019-04-01_at_14.04.27.jp

I could see that hanging off the Mega SG with the upcoming analog adapters...?

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So, Not really sure where to post something like this, so flame away if you please. BUT. 

I'd like to back up save files created on my Super NT. Some ways I considered.

1) buy an SD card or adapter that can broadcast or connect to WIFI.

2) buy some kind of SD card adapter than can connect to a PC or other device. (Pi ?)

3) find an alternative means to access files on the SD card. // bluetooth access through controller port or something ???

 

Thanks!

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13 minutes ago, Ashenshards said:

So, Not really sure where to post something like this, so flame away if you please. BUT. 

I'd like to back up save files created on my Super NT. Some ways I considered.

1) buy an SD card or adapter that can broadcast or connect to WIFI.

2) buy some kind of SD card adapter than can connect to a PC or other device. (Pi ?)

3) find an alternative means to access files on the SD card. // bluetooth access through controller port or something ???

 

Thanks!

 

I'm assuming you mean backup without having to remove the card and make a copy manually. 

 

I think #1 might be your best bet. Toshiba's FlashAir in particular has an HTTP server running on it, and is documented enough that you should be able to write some scripts to make copies of the files on the card. 

 

#3 is a no go since AFAIK, none of the ports offer much access. The USB on the back is power-only. The HDMI port doesn't carry ethernet (it doesn't need it), and the controller ports are electrically identical to the Super Nintendo hardware.

 

#2 is probably doable, but more work than using the FlashAir. 

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15 hours ago, Ashenshards said:

So, Not really sure where to post something like this, so flame away if you please. BUT. 

I'd like to back up save files created on my Super NT. Some ways I considered.


Are you playing games on your SuperNt from an SD card or the cartridge slot?

For SD card games, the Nt should just make a "saves" folder on the card. Back it up with your computer!
For cartridge games, I'm pretty sure the CopySNES tool on the Nt backs up save data.

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3 hours ago, spoonman said:

Has there been any recent news on when the rest of the Analogue Mega Sg cartridge/Card adapters might go up for sale.

I have about 50 GG carts and many Sega My Cards that I'd love to try on it. 

 

AnalogueCartAdapters-vgo.png

They said they were being manufactured like 2 weeks ago.  I'm actually more interested in a possible Copy Gen/SMS so I can rip some of my saves.

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I bought a Gamegear everdrive in anticipation of the adapters so I am hoping they are available soon.  If they are in manufacturing that means maybe it won't be a  pre-order and a long wait like the consoles and they will be available to ship close to when they announce them.

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2 hours ago, Toth said:

I bought a Gamegear everdrive in anticipation of the adapters so I am hoping they are available soon.  If they are in manufacturing that means maybe it won't be a  pre-order and a long wait like the consoles and they will be available to ship close to when they announce them.

Why did you buy the GG Everdrive for Mega SG?   You could just use the jailbreak firmware and load GG roms.  

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I am not really sure, lol.  I bought it during the Mega SG pre-order and wasn't really thinking about a jail break at the time.  I didn't jailbreak the Super Nt and didn't jailbreak the Mega SG so I just hadn't considered it.

Edited by Toth
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Hello people. I just have a couple of questions regarding the Mega SG jailbrak firmware and playing Genesis/SMS games.

 

1) Do I have to use an Everdrive to create game saves for roms loaded in the SD card or the custom firmware can do that on its own?

2) Can I use an Everdrive Genesis X5 to load games, when using the jailbreak firmware, or is it better to directly load them from the Mega Sg sd card?

 

Apologies for my noobie questions in advance.

 

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4 minutes ago, Toth said:

I am not really sure, lol.  I bought it during the Mega SG pre-order and wasn't really thinking about a jail break at the time.  I didn't jailbreak the Super Nt and didn't jailbreak the Mega SG so I just hadn't considered it.

Definitely do it.  It allows Genesis, Master System, SG-1000 and Colecovision rom loading as well.   Also, rom loading of GG games will be much faster via Analoge JB than that Everdrive, since that specific Everdrive uses flash memory instead of ram. 

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Hello people. I just have a couple of questions regarding the Mega SG jailbreak firmware and playing Genesis/SMS games.

 

1) Do I have to use an Everdrive to create game saves for roms loaded in the SD card or the custom firmware can do that on its own?

2) Can I use an Everdrive Genesis X5 to load games, when using the jailbreak firmware, or is it better to directly load them from the Mega Sg sd card? If it is possible, can I create game saves this way?

 

Apologies for my noobie questions in advance.

 

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1 minute ago, Molteno said:

Hello people. I just have a couple of questions regarding the Mega SG jailbreak firmware and playing Genesis/SMS games.

 

1) Do I have to use an Everdrive to create game saves for roms loaded in the SD card or the custom firmware can do that on its own?

2) Can I use an Everdrive Genesis X5 to load games, when using the jailbreak firmware, or is it better to directly load them from the Mega Sg sd card? If it is possible, can I create game saves this way?

 

Apologies for my noobie questions in advance.

 

1. Games will save via JB, but you need to go back to menu so it saves to SD Card before shutting off system.  

2. An X5 is not necessary.  If you have JB firmware its pointless.  Only flash carts worth using with JB are Mega SD or X7.  Mega SD offers Sega CD support and Save States for Gen while the X7 only adds Save States.   Keep in mind by Save States I don't mean regular saving, but the kind of save states you see on NES/SNES Mini Classic systems.

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6 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

1. Games will save via JB, but you need to go back to menu so it saves to SD Card before shutting off system.  

2. An X5 is not necessary.  If you have JB firmware its pointless.  Only flash carts worth using with JB are Mega SD or X7.  Mega SD offers Sega CD support and Save States for Gen while the X7 only adds Save States.   Keep in mind by Save States I don't mean regular saving, but the kind of save states you see on NES/SNES Mini Classic systems.

Could you elaborate on the differences between the saves created by the jailbreak firmware and the X7 save states if there are any? I only have an X5 so what would the X7 offer more when used with the jailbreak firmware?

 

Finally, can I go back to the original Mega Sg firmware if I want to?

 

Many thanks

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1. Games will save via JB, but you need to go back to menu so it saves to SD Card before shutting off system.  

2. An X5 is not necessary.  If you have JB firmware its pointless.  Only flash carts worth using with JB are Mega SD or X7.  Mega SD offers Sega CD support and Save States for Gen while the X7 only adds Save States.   Keep in mind by Save States I don't mean regular saving, but the kind of save states you see on NES/SNES Mini Classic systems.
I'm still using my MegaED X5 even though I'm jailbroken. I get Sega CD Backup RAM and I don't have to worry about my saves getting committed to SD when I'm done playing a game.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

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57 minutes ago, Molteno said:

Could you elaborate on the differences between the saves created by the jailbreak firmware and the X7 save states if there are any? I only have an X5 so what would the X7 offer more when used with the jailbreak firmware?

 

Finally, can I go back to the original Mega Sg firmware if I want to?

 

Many thanks

Battery backed saves and save states are two different things.     JB does regular battery backed saves like on original hardware, but without the need for a battery.  Save States on the other hand saves wherever you are in a game and then you can go back to that specific point on the fly, think NES/SNES classic systems.  

Yes you can return to original firmware, but using jailbreak doesn't void your warranty, so might as well just keep it.
 

 

Edited by SegaSnatcher
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3 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Battery backed saves and save states are two different things.     JB does regular battery backed saves like on original hardware, but without the need for a battery.  Save States on the other hand saves wherever you are in a game and then you can go back to that specific point on the fly, think NES/SNES classic systems.  

Yes you can return to original firmware, but using jailbreak doesn't void your warranty, so might as well just keep it.
 

 

That's not great as I can only think of around ten genesis games supporting battery saves. So the only way of saving, even using the custom firmware, is using an Everdrive X7? That's a little bit disappointing.

 

Also, can any European tell me if import fees (20% for non-EU countries) had to be paid when buying a Mega Sg from the company's website?

 

Thanks again

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