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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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"Analogue 8" almost seems to invoke the naming of products like "RetroN5." Perhaps it'll be the reissue of the Nt Mini only with the extra cart adapters built-in? Whatever it is, I can't wait to see it. :)

A portable like Analog Pocket seems like it'll retread a lot of the stuff they've already done with Game King, Game Boy, Game Gear, etc... unless they do PC Engine GT. ;) Oh, man... I will retire my TurboExpress so fast!

It doesn't have to be limited to handheld consoles (Super CD-ROM² with the JB plzkthx?) though I'd expect at least one handheld system to feature primarily for the marketed cart/card slot. Gonna have to be GB/C, of course.

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I’d really be exited for a portable that could play GBC and GB original. I’ve been backlight modding GBs but a solution that could just take original GB carts would be oh just so wonderful. Honestly though whatever Analogue comes out with is “instabuy” for me without any consideration as not only do I trust them and Kevtris but I support them. I’m a fanboy dare I say!

 

and Kevtris... thanks for the SPC player! I can’t wait to blast tunes on my Super NT when I get back from my vacation... I’m a sound designer/composer for video games so it was my dream to have a Kevtris-style SPC player! Can’t wait to see it and listen to it like crazy! (I’ve got every SPC made for every game I think...) Wonder if there are any hidden gems I will stumble across :)

 

I’m wondering if the SPC player has an auto-play type function? Like just turn it on and it sees a folder and can randomly play tunes or play “albums” of tunes? That would be rather cool if that is an existent function!

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We don't say it often enough:

geocities style

THANK YOU KEVTRIS

 

EDIT:

On separate news, it seems SuperNt JB is the first with ST011 support (it's not in SD2SNES yet nor MiSTer) ... sure S-DD1/SA1/SuperFX are more "important" but I like it that kevtris tried something unique/different at least momentarily. 

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6 hours ago, Nigoli said:

It's really nice to see support added for Special Chip games.

 

Mega Man X2 / Rockman X2 has a Title Screen slowdown bug compared to when using the real cartridges. Actual gameplay seemed fine though.

 

Unrelated to both those games. If you're in 720p mode and power on, it uses a different type of scaling that isn't what it's set to. But corrects itself when you highlight Horizontal Position.

 

I use 720p mode to achieve exact Square Pixels without interpolation.

 

My 720p settings with both H&V Interpolation disabled:

Width: 768

Horizontal Position: 27

Height: 720

Vertical Position 37

 

Also, I've had problems with my newly repaired and recapped Japanese Mega CD. I had them put in RF Bios as an extra thing to add besides repairing the laser and gears. It was not working well with the Mega Sg and would not allow it to boot games. I'm sure though if I put back the original Bios it would have worked fine. Have not tested this yet though. I do have the original Bios I could put back on.

I did a full playthrough of X2 with the new JB.

 

The most noticeable slowdowns I've encountered were from Serges (1st time), Morph Moth (when absorbing scrap), Crystal Snail, Stage Select screen (when most stages are cleared), Sword Miniboss, and Sigma Virus.

 

I have yet to play X3, but I find it odd that X2 had the slowdowns even on the Title Screen of all things. X3 didn't have any such problem. Considering that X3 was built off of X2 as a base.

Edited by Nigoli
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Wrt Analogue 8 my guess is it's finally an all-in-one 8bits (no NES maybe?) with an added Intellivision core to wow us all out (even if that is technically 16bits ... you know what I mean) ... so yeah likely an NtMini redux with some core removed and some added in the spirit of 8bits game nirvana.

 

Wrt Analogue Pocket if kevtris can pull out of his magic hat a handheld FPGA that can run on batteries while sipping power my jaw would drop to the floor, FPGAs are not exactly the most energy efficient ... time will tell, October is close and that's when normally they announce some marvel that would ship the next March/April.

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14 minutes ago, phoenixdownita said:

Wrt Analogue 8 my guess is it's finally an all-in-one 8bits (no NES maybe?) with an added Intellivision core to wow us all out (even if that is technically 16bits ... you know what I mean) ... so yeah likely an NtMini redux with some core removed and some added in the spirit of 8bits game nirvana.

 

Wrt Analogue Pocket if kevtris can pull out of his magic hat a handheld FPGA that can run on batteries while sipping power my jaw would drop to the floor, FPGAs are not exactly the most energy efficient ... time will tell, October is close and that's when normally they announce some marvel that would ship the next March/April.

It'll definitely probably based around NES with cart adapters for other systems.   If Analogue 8 is indeed a multi 8 bit system.

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5 hours ago, Nigoli said:

The most noticeable slowdowns I've encountered were from Serges (1st time), Morph Moth (when absorbing scrap), Crystal Snail, Stage Select screen (when most stages are cleared), Sword Miniboss, and Sigma Virus.

I played X2 quite a bit back in the day, and I remember the real cartridge game (played on a real Super-NES) had some slowdown with Serges and Violen. So the FPGA core is not necessarily to blame here.

 

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5 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

It'll definitely probably based around NES with cart adapters for other systems.   If Analogue 8 is indeed a multi 8 bit system.

Somehow, I would be surprised if that were the case. I would tend to expect a multi-system with older classic 8-bit cartridge ports: Atari 2600/7800, ColecoVision and Intellivision, at the very least. The FPGA cores for these already exist (and Kev hasn't released his Inty core on any Analogue product so far, if I'm not mistaken) and it shouldn't take a very long time to develop the console hardware around them.

 

However, the availability of controllers could be an issue. Could Analogue convince 8bitdo to create a custom DB9 joystick with a self-centering analog thumbstick and a 12-key keypad? That would fit the Intellivision and ColecoVision very well (2600 games that require a keypad like Star Raiders would also benefit) and even an Atari 5200 core would become possible, if only in jailbreak ROM-on-SD-card format. 8Bitdo already does controllers of all shapes and sizes, so one can dream, right?  :) 

 

But I'm still clamoring for an FPGA GB/GBC/GBA console with a Super-NES controller port. That's what I really want to buy, personally.  ;)

 

EDIT: It just occurred to me that the Analogue 8 could also be a multi-home-computer system, with a USB port to plug in a keyboard, and built-in cores for the Vic-20, C64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Coleco ADAM, Coco 2, TRS-80, TI-99/4A, you name it. But somehow, I can't picture that selling really well...

 

Edited by Pixelboy
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3 hours ago, Pixelboy said:

Somehow, I would be surprised if that were the case. I would tend to expect a multi-system with older classic 8-bit cartridge ports: Atari 2600/7800, ColecoVision and Intellivision, at the very least. The FPGA cores for these already exist (and Kev hasn't released his Inty core on any Analogue product so far, if I'm not mistaken) and it shouldn't take a very long time to develop the console hardware around them.

 

However, the availability of controllers could be an issue. Could Analogue convince 8bitdo to create a custom DB9 joystick with a self-centering analog thumbstick and a 12-key keypad? That would fit the Intellivision and ColecoVision very well (2600 games that require a keypad like Star Raiders would also benefit) and even an Atari 5200 core would become possible, if only in jailbreak ROM-on-SD-card format. 8Bitdo already does controllers of all shapes and sizes, so one can dream, right?  :) 

 

But I'm still clamoring for an FPGA GB/GBC/GBA console with a Super-NES controller port. That's what I really want to buy, personally.  ;)

 

EDIT: It just occurred to me that the Analogue 8 could also be a multi-home-computer system, with a USB port to plug in a keyboard, and built-in cores for the Vic-20, C64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Coleco ADAM, Coco 2, TRS-80, TI-99/4A, you name it. But somehow, I can't picture that selling really well...

 

1. Honestly, consoles with a ton of cart ports are ugly.  I think offering adapters for all those pre Famicom/NES cores Kevtris has makes the most sense.  It makes the console cheaper and they won't have as much limitations on how they can design it. 

2. If you want a GBA/GBC/GB console then get Woozle's Consolizer. 

3. Definitely not gonna be a a multi classic computer system.   The only classic PC core he almost has completed is a C64 (For his FPGA Chiptune player).

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6 hours ago, Pixelboy said:

I played X2 quite a bit back in the day, and I remember the real cartridge game (played on a real Super-NES) had some slowdown with Serges and Violen. So the FPGA core is not necessarily to blame here.

I wish that were the case. But you're wrong. On the real cartridges I've tested and used before with both the USA and Japanese versions of the game I did not have this problem. Even fighting Crystal Snail and Morph Moth. The Title Screen slowdown is a good example.

 

The game is playable, but it's not accurate to the actual cartridge.

 

Also, the Cx4 on the Super Nt seems to boot up fine with the Zero Project hack for X3 and prototype samples for X2 and X3. Only problem I had was trying the early prototype for X2, which had the same effects on an SD2SNES Pro where the game doesn't run past the title screen.

Edited by Nigoli
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1 hour ago, Nigoli said:

I wish that were the case. But you're wrong. On the real cartridges I've tested and used before with both the USA and Japanese versions of the game I did not have this problem. Even fighting Crystal Snail and Morph Moth. The Title Screen slowdown is a good example.

 

The game is playable, but it's not accurate to the actual cartridge.

 

Also, the Cx4 on the Super Nt seems to boot up fine with the Zero Project hack for X3 and prototype samples for X2 and X3. Only problem I had was trying the early prototype for X2, which had the same effects on an SD2SNES Pro where the game doesn't run past the title screen.

I just tested my Mega Man X2 and Rockman X2 carts next to running the Mega Man X2 rom and watched the opening title screen. All three had the same amount of slowdown. Granted I have not tested the usual bosses that cause slowdown to see if that is greater or not so that is certainly possible, but the title screen presented the same slowdown for me.

 

I'll be happy to test further since Mega Man X is one of my favorite series though.

 

-- Edit --

I completely take back what I said. You are right, and I see what you are talking about now. I was focused on the 3D X rolling out during the title screen not the charge shot when you start the game. I'm seeing more of it playing through the game too.

Edited by Ricdeau
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46 minutes ago, Ricdeau said:

I just tested my Mega Man X2 and Rockman X2 carts next to running the Mega Man X2 rom and watched the opening title screen. All three had the same amount of slowdown. Granted I have not tested the usual bosses that cause slowdown to see if that is greater or not so that is certainly possible, but the title screen presented the same slowdown for me.

 

I'll be happy to test further since Mega Man X is one of my favorite series though.

 

-- Edit --

I completely take back what I said. You are right, and I see what you are talking about now. I was focused on the 3D X rolling out during the title screen not the charge shot when you start the game. I'm seeing more of it playing through the game too.

I played through X3 just now. It seemed fine until the Sigma Virus happened. It seemed slower than usual. The 3D Wireframe miniboss on Blast Hornet seemed fine until when I was doing the Cross Charge. Maybe it's slightly slower than usual or maybe it's just me not being used to it anymore after playing X2 the way it was. I can't tell anymore.

 

I can definitely say that X3 seems a lot more accurate in terms of timing and slowdown than X2 did when I played that last night.

Edited by Nigoli
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How about Analogue 8, as a double meaning...8 systems, which are also 8-bit systems? ;)

1. NES/Famicom

2. Game Boy / Game Boy Color

3. Neo•Geo Pocket / Pocket Color

4. Atari Lynx

5. Sega SG-1000

6. Sega Master System / Mark III

7. Game Gear

8. TurboGrafX-16 / PC Engine

..

..

..

And all on a portable system.

 

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1 hour ago, spoonman said:

How about Analogue 8, as a double meaning...8 systems, which are also 8-bit systems? ;)

1. NES/Famicom

2. Game Boy / Game Boy Color

3. Neo•Geo Pocket / Pocket Color

4. Atari Lynx

5. Sega SG-1000

6. Sega Master System / Mark III

7. Game Gear

8. TurboGrafX-16 / PC Engine

..

..

..

And all on a portable system.

 

The Atari Lynx is not 8-bit, and also, not many SG-1000 games were sold outside of Japan (Australia got many, but it didn't go much further than that geographically) so there's very little incentive to add an SG-1000 cartridge port to an FPGA console released mostly for the North-American market.

 

But if we ignore the "portable system" thingy (which I think is not applicable here since Analogue has the other "Analogue Pocket" product trademark which is distinct from "Analogue 8") I see an interesting possibility: The Analogue 8 could be a very "cart-adapter-centric" system, where the base console doesn't have a cartridge port, but instead has a large expansion port on the side with lots of pins on it, into which one has to plug a cartridge adaptor in order to play a specific game cartridge. A single FPGA console like this could cover lots of systems, from Atari 2600 to Neo-Geo.

 

In other words, the Analogue 8 could actually be the Zimba 3000.  :)

 

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1 hour ago, spoonman said:

How about Analogue 8, as a double meaning...8 systems, which are also 8-bit systems? ;)

1. NES/Famicom

2. Game Boy / Game Boy Color

3. Neo•Geo Pocket / Pocket Color

4. Atari Lynx

5. Sega SG-1000

6. Sega Master System / Mark III

7. Game Gear

8. TurboGrafX-16 / PC Engine

..

..

..

And all on a portable system.

 

My list 

1. NES
2. Gameboy/Gameboy Color
3. Atari 2600/7800
4. Colecovision
5. Master System 
6. SG-1000
7. Fairchild Channel F
8. INTV  (Technically 16-bit, but its really looked at more as a classic 8 bit system.)

As much as I'd love to see PCE/TG-16, I think they will save that for a standalone console.

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The Atari Lynx is not 8-bit, and also, not many SG-1000 games were sold outside of Japan (Australia got many, but it didn't go much further than that geographically) so there's very little incentive to add an SG-1000 cartridge port to an FPGA console released mostly for the North-American market.
 
But if we ignore the "portable system" thingy (which I think is not applicable here since Analogue has the other "Analogue Pocket" product trademark which is distinct from "Analogue 8") I see an interesting possibility: The Analogue 8 could be a very "cart-adapter-centric" system, where the base console doesn't have a cartridge port, but instead has a large expansion port on the side with lots of pins on it, into which one has to plug a cartridge adaptor in order to play a specific game cartridge. A single FPGA console like this could cover lots of systems, from Atari 2600 to Neo-Geo.
 
In other words, the Analogue 8 could actually be the Zimba 3000.  atariage_icon_smile.gif
 

I was already thinking it sounded a lot like the RetroN5 and a the "Duo" and "Dual" NES+SNES clones from the likes of RetroBit, Hyperkin, etc. IIRC, RetroN5 is named such because it has five different cart slots. I know: it looks hideous. Still, think about a system like PolyMega but with 8 bundled adapter modules and actually delivering on the promise of FPGA. It would sell like hotcakes! If anyone could do that concept right, it's Analogue.

Heck, they could do the whole "install your games to the system" thing too where you don't need the cart module once installed, which would be a legitimate way to incorporate jailbreak-like functionality. I can see a core store and an eShop actually being successful on such a device.

As much as I'd love to see PCE/TG-16, I think they will save that for a standalone console.

I don't think there are enough potential customers with actual game cards outside of Japan to make it feasible to sell a modern system for those, and they can't really bank on the jailbreak. It kinda needs to be part of an ensemble system, IMO.

Same for Neo Geo, really, unless they partner with SNK on this Neo Geo 2 and Neo Geo 3 thing and reissue classic titles alongside new/enhanced titles... and an eShop.
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On 8/10/2019 at 6:44 AM, Atariboy said:

For the SPC player, I found the files, but they're all in the .RSN format. Can anyone point me to a converter to make these compatible? Found a post from 2012 from Kevtris about just such a RSN to SPC 2 converter, but can't seem to locate it. 

On the off chance I can help someone else that wants to check out the SPC player on their Super NT, all you have to do is rename the file extension from rsn to rar. Then you're left with compatible SPC files when you decompress the rar file. 

 

And through the SNES Music site, you can download utilities that translate the 4 letter folder names of each rar folder to the full title of the game. And another utility will decrypt the SPC track names to names that actually mean something to the end user. 

 

Using Super Off-Road as a random example, I'd love to know why they felt the need to name their rar folder as 'OFF' instead of just calling it Super Off-Road. Or why with the SPC tracks that they label the title screen music for example as "off-01.spc" instead of the more descriptive names you get when having it translated.

 

I guess it's so they have an excuse to make converter programs? lol

Edited by Atariboy
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2 hours ago, CZroe said:


 


I was already thinking it sounded a lot like the RetroN5 and a the "Duo" and "Dual" NES+SNES clones from the likes of RetroBit, Hyperkin, etc. IIRC, RetroN5 is named such because it has five different cart slots. I know: it looks hideous. Still, think about a system like PolyMega but with 8 bundled adapter modules and actually delivering on the promise of FPGA. It would sell like hotcakes! If anyone could do that concept right, it's Analogue.

Heck, they could do the whole "install your games to the system" thing too where you don't need the cart module once installed, which would be a legitimate way to incorporate jailbreak-like functionality. I can see a core store and an eShop actually being successful on such a device.


I don't think there are enough potential customers with actual game cards outside of Japan to make it feasible to sell a modern system for those, and they can't really bank on the jailbreak. It kinda needs to be part of an ensemble system, IMO.

Same for Neo Geo, really, unless they partner with SNK on this Neo Geo 2 and Neo Geo 3 thing and reissue classic titles alongside new/enhanced titles... and an eShop.

Well, they can advertise it'll work with flash carts.  

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Well, they can advertise it'll work with flash carts.  
Sure, but targeting a subset of the market of flash cart users who likely already have the original console could be very limiting. Go Blue Ocean!

They've shown that they can do licensing and distribution agreements with software rights holders. A core store with an eShop for games could be big even without Big N on board. Pie in the sky here, but I'd also love to see netplay for classic titles if they were involved with the Neo Geo 2/3. ;)
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