Incoming new core: Amstrad PCW

[akeley]

The more, the merrier: https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/nc100-nc20 ... -emulator/

[kathleen]

Waow this is a great news I really like this forgotten computer. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

[steddyman]

Hi everyone

I'm the developer of this core. Just working through some issues with the disk emulation then it should be in a reasonable condition. I hope to have a test version available shortly.

[LeftEmpty]

I wrote my first articles on this thing!

[steddyman]

I'm really looking forwards to sharing it, so I can get feedback on accurate it is.

[tontonkaloun]

great news

[steddyman]

Quick update. I have it booting games that do not require CPM. No keyboard input yet, so I can't actually start the game.

CPM almost boots, but gets stuck after displaying the copyright message and the number of drives.

https://youtu.be/MyE1c0D7HiE

[kathleen]

Looks promising thank you so much for the update.

[steddyman]

Quick update. Disk a lot more reliable but sitll not 100%. Keyboard now working.

https://youtu.be/1IrI-LB45WU

[skywalky]

Thank you, I'm waiting this core. Is the first computer that I touched.

[ron]

@steddyman
Are you going to release an alpha or a beta version... so we can test and help with bugs?
It's a very interesting core, CP/M native machine.
Thanks for your work !.

[tontonkaloun]

@steddyman
Are you going to release an alpha or a beta version... so we can test and help with bugs?
It's a very interesting core, CP/M native machine.
Thanks for your work !.

yes ! thank you !!

[steddyman]

Yes I will be doing. I've been trying to figure out a really odd reliability issue which causes the core to randomly crash. Once I have that sorted I will release.

I've already added full keyboard support, and Kempston, Spectravideo and Cascade Joysticks, and also AMX, Kempston and Keymouse mice. When it doesn't crash most games and apps are playable.

[ron]

Yes I will be doing. I've been trying to figure out a really odd reliability issue which causes the core to randomly crash. Once I have that sorted I will release.

I've already added full keyboard support, and Kempston, Spectravideo and Cascade Joysticks, and also AMX, Kempston and Keymouse mice. When it doesn't crash most games and apps are playable.

Thanks very much ! ! !

[ron]

No news ?
any advance ?

[steddyman]

Hi

Yes, lots of advances. I have the disk reading now reliable at upto 32 Mhz and I've added DKtronics sound and joystick support. I expect to be releasing the core this week.

Here is a demo of the DKtronics support:

https://youtu.be/ShGYL9Fc8rM

[bazza_12]

wow! i didn't even know the pcw had game releases.. I thought it was strictly a word processor/spreadsheet..

[steddyman]

There are about 200 games for it. Many great text and graphic adventures and even arcade games like Batman.

It is a suprisingly capable system. I recommend you checkout this video by Retro Recipes for an idea of what it is capable of for games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwuH09S5YSE

[akeley]

Big thanks for working on this. I was an Amstrad fan as a kid, though I could only afford ZX Spectrum. PCW was well out of reach for me back then but I remember reading about it and staring at photos in mags.

Could you tell us more about video output? Will it be a VGA core?

[steddyman]

You're welcome.

It should be able to work over VGA. I unfortunately only have a 1600x1200 LCD to test via VGA and it doesn't support the 15khz frequency and looks terrible at anything other than the native resolution. Over HDMI though when scaled from the core it looks fantastic.

The output unscaled over VGA is 720x256 @ 50hz for PAL, or 720x200 @ 60hz for NTSC and both are at a horizontal frequency of 15.63 khz. It uses a 16 Mhz pixel clock.

[bazza_12]

There are about 200 games for it. Many great text and graphic adventures and even arcade games like Batman.

It is a suprisingly capable system. I recommend you checkout this video by Retro Recipes for an idea of what it is capable of for games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwuH09S5YSE

thanks for the link.. i had no idea..

[ron]

@steddyman
As soon as you release it, we can test it and tell you what works for us and what doesn't. We know how to do a good battery of tests.
All with the sole purpose of helping you improve the core, and if you also plan to publish the source we will port it to MiST, MiSTica and SiDi. Since you have taken the initiative and the lead, all we can do is help you to have a good core and that all users can enjoy the PCW in FPGA.

Amstrad PCW core is highly desired and expected, you can bet for it !

Go ahead !!!, Steddyman.

[steddyman]

Hi

Yes of course. I have access to Main_MiSTer now and will be adding it to the wiki and creating a new public repo for it sometime this week. I’d prefer to be the one fixing it initially so by all means report any issues,

I already have some things I want to add post release. For example there is currently an oddity with the title screen of Head over Heels displaying mixed up, and I want to change the memory system from solely using BRAM to using BRAM and SDRAM. This will allow it to then support greater than 256k memory.

Probably best to get it stable on MiSTer before porting it to the other platforms, but that shouldn’t take long.

[ron]

Is there news?, nothing yet ?
Will we have to wait much longer?
I'd love to try this core, do you have an approximate release date?

[steddyman]

Not much longer now.
Just ironed out some issues with the Joystick support. Got AMX Mouse support working and now just getting Kempston mouse support working.

[tontonkaloun]

we can't wait to try

[kathleen]

we can't wait to try

Same here I've even already took out of my shelf the original Amstrad PCW book

[steddyman]

Cool.

Kempston and Keymouse now working.
Sorting out dual drive support now.

[kathleen]

In Belgium we say "you whet our appetite..."

[ron]

In Belgium we say "you whet our appetite..."

I'm turning on my physical PCWs while we wait to see if Steddyman is going ( or not ) to release the PCW core for dinner time . Lunch choked a little.