MiSTer FPGA Forum

FPGA64 wrote: ↑Thu May 16, 2024 7:29 am

Syntax Error wrote: ↑Thu May 16, 2024 1:14 am

is this still alive, i was thinking this week other than a jag and a falcon030 , the new machines like mega64 and commanderx16 are definitely missing in my mister list ... assuming the x16 is open source there wouldnt be a problem and since the thing can run a sharp x68k i assume both other machines should be possible - however, i hear and see nothing but arcade machines on youtube (and the occasional "NOW the saturn core is working" video) it makes me think the moment the replay2 arrives all those guys and gals will leave to get their hands on ... on trial-version of switch games and dump the mister like its hot , i actually got one for my retro programming fetish but the computer cores all seem ... patched and left behind mostly and for some reason their respective scenes dont pick up on it - hence the question, is this thing here particular still alive ? (if anyone knows about a commanderx16 core i would certainly like to know too at least that way i can afford it and if the cores are good do some lightweight afternoon tea coding on it)

There are a finite number of developers and they work on what interests them in their own time for free. As such there may not be one who is interested in these cores. So you just have to wait for someone to come along or learn how to program a FPGA yourself and provide the cores.

very sad grin We are all too aware of that here . Its wishful thinking, i assume to do a jaguar you will need to create a core that includes the hardware "bugs" the machine had on release b/c all the roms will be written around those , falcon basically had no software and the present day users mostly i read they talk about configs that dont even sound llike an actual falcon with x060 motorolas and whatnot, the mega65 would just be nice to have and with a bit o 'luck the 8bit guy considers porting his life-piece as a core to expand the userbase and potential programmers creating stuff for it . Most of the current attention seems to go to arcade cores and understandable , if ppl pay Jotego or others to the point they can actually maintain a team it only makes sense they continue on that. The only strange thing is that the scene (or as i sometimes call "the cultists") of respective machines dont seem interested to spread their gospel via accurate cores, they're all huddled up on their own llittle islands or maybe

a definite option its too hard, as you say learn to program, i know my lda from my ldx but doing a core looks like something on another level, maybe more like in another dimension and you probably need a lot of gear for it (watching the videos it looks like brainsurgery with cables) so in essene i would say WE are "too stupid" to do it (without shame lol) ... which is sad, otherwise id certainly try my hand at fixing up the c64 with easyflash support as its like "the new format" for neo-retro game releases ...
thanks for replying !!!

You have to remember FPGA doesnt magically make an accurate representation. If we take the Amiga then the current core is far less accurate in timing than WinUae.

A well written FPGA core is preferable but a good SW emulator can be just as good. Assuming you run it on the correct HW and dont expect it to run on any old ARM processor you can find.

Jaguar is on the Mister now, the Dual Ram Experimental core does work, It does have bugs but its a prime example of why a pure netlist FPGA core isnt always a good idea. Its supposedly a nightmare to debug or improve. For Jaguar I would recommend BigPEmu https://www.richwhitehouse.com/jaguar/
Its a superb SW emulator

Mega65 was already ported to Altera and working on Poseidon Board ( same than MiST with GX150 ) .
https://github.com/benitoss/Mega65_Altera

Cheers