MiSTer FPGA Forum

Hello, I’m currently trying to decide if I should get a MiSterFPGA and was wondering if I could be given some assistance on how to get started.

I’ve been wanting to get a MiSter for the past few weeks, since I recently got back into playing retro games. I’m not that great when it comes to using computers, but managed to get OpenEmu on my MacBook Pro working, which is what I use to play nes/snes games.

A lot of what I’ve seen and read about MiSter seems awesome, but I am worried that once I buy the parts, I will not be able to assemble it properly, or break an expensive piece of hardware.

I live in the United States, and found a website called Misteraddons, which sells a pre-configured bundle for $575.00. Has anyone ordered from them before?

Some of the other questions that I have are…

1. What type of TV should I be playing it on? I have a Samsung Smart TV that I use to play my GameCube on, which I have hooked up to an EEON GCHD Mk-II and MClassic. Without the Mclassic’s upscaler, it becomes much harder to see game details. Does the MiSter upscale games similar to what NSO does for their retro games, or would I need to get a CRT TV?

2. I’ve seen online that I’d also need a keyboard and an SD card to set it up, would someone be able to suggest which ones to buy. I’ll also have to buy a SD card adapter for my MacBook Pro, I don’t have a PC.

3. As for the controllers, do the NSO shop NES,SNES, and N64 controllers work on the MiSter?

4. Can the MiSter play English Patched NES, SNES games?

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

It's a cop-out sorry but reading the wiki or the documentation will answer all your questions and more.

These videos cover things pretty comprehensively too. The MLiG is a little out-of-date but is exhaustive.

To answer your questions directly though:

1. You can play on whatever TV you like. Contemporary HD television with HDMI or a CRT with RGB, YPbPr, Composite... etc. etc.

2. A keyboard can be helpful but is not required. Once you're set up you can use USB controllers in the menus, however, there are so many options; Wizzo's Remote Script, SSH, TapTo to start games directly. Many options. A micro SD card is required but you can store your ROMs and hard drive files on USB or network storage.

3. Short answer is yes. Long answer can be found on the wiki or here. You can use USB controllers, bluetooth and native controllers with various USB adapters or SNAC.

4. Yes. Along with ROM hacks.

Oh and misteraddons.com is a very reputable vendor, you shouldn't have any problems purchasing a setup there. It's probably worth mentioning that depending on your use case, you probably won't need a full-fat setup, especially if you don't plan on using CRT TVs. Taki Udon is also working on a DE10-Nano "clone" that will potentially dramatically reduce the cost of a MiSTer setup, might be worth keeping an eye on it before taking the plunge.

A MiSTer FPGA is easier to put together than a typical LEGO kit, even with all the optional boards.

In its most basic form, MiSTer is a DE10 Nano board with a 32MB SDRAM module (version 2.9 or 3.0 recommended) a Micro SD Card (size depending on what kind of games you want to play) and a simple USB hub (plus a USB controller and optionally mouse and keyboard for computer cores).

Most, at least full-HD displays, with a HDMI connection, should work fine. I personally love the iPad monitor, as it has a 4:3 aspect-ratio and a very high resolution (the maximum that MiSTer can handle), which is perfect for scan-lines and shadow masks. It is also small and portable.

Use MiSTer Fusion to set up your SD card. Don't cheap out on the card, so it will not fail within a short time, but note that the SD card slot in the MiSTer is not very fast. MiSTer does not write to the card often, so that helps increase the lifespan of the card. SanDisk is a popular choice for quality, Samsung is also good. Personally I went with 1TB to be able to add a lot of (CHD compressed) disk games.

Most USB controllers will work well. A DS4 is a good choice, with low latency, enough buttons and analog support. I like my clicky 8BitDo Neo Geo controllers for digital controller games. USB adapters to connect old controllers are also a good option.

Personally I enjoy having the official USB and Analog IO boards (as well as ADC and clock boards, which are not really needed). A housing is recommended to keep debris out, with a heat-sink and fan, if not passively cooled. 128MB SDRAM is recommended to be prepared for anything, but it is not needed for most games/cores.

The IO board adds a USER IO port, for connecting original/exotic controllers, or things like an mt32-pi. It also adds status LEDs and some buttons which can be handy (I use the reset button the most, the others can be handy when mapping controllers, or pairing a bluetooth controller).
The analog version adds VGA out, which is handy for connecting a CRT monitor or TV, as well as analog and digital audio output. Wait for the new IO board to be available (improved analog audio and video) if you are interested in this. It also adds a second micro SD slot, directly connected to the FPGA, which is almost never used for anything.

A HDMI to VGA adapter can also be used to connect analog monitors, but image quality varies between different adapters.

GameFreak93 wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 8:18 am

Hello, I’m currently trying to decide if I should get a MiSterFPGA and was wondering if I could be given some assistance on how to get started.

I’ve been wanting to get a MiSter for the past few weeks, since I recently got back into playing retro games. I’m not that great when it comes to using computers, but managed to get OpenEmu on my MacBook Pro working, which is what I use to play nes/snes games.

A lot of what I’ve seen and read about MiSter seems awesome, but I am worried that once I buy the parts, I will not be able to assemble it properly, or break an expensive piece of hardware.

I live in the United States, and found a website called Misteraddons, which sells a pre-configured bundle for $575.00. Has anyone ordered from them before?

Some of the other questions that I have are…

1. What type of TV should I be playing it on? I have a Samsung Smart TV that I use to play my GameCube on, which I have hooked up to an EEON GCHD Mk-II and MClassic. Without the Mclassic’s upscaler, it becomes much harder to see game details. Does the MiSter upscale games similar to what NSO does for their retro games, or would I need to get a CRT TV?

2. I’ve seen online that I’d also need a keyboard and an SD card to set it up, would someone be able to suggest which ones to buy. I’ll also have to buy a SD card adapter for my MacBook Pro, I don’t have a PC.

3. As for the controllers, do the NSO shop NES,SNES, and N64 controllers work on the MiSter?

4. Can the MiSter play English Patched NES, SNES games?

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

You'll find a lot of your questions answered in details, with suggestions on what to purchase, here: https://misterreplay.com/mister-fpga-guide.html

It's also Mac-friendly so you'll have no trouble transferring files via your Mac (I mainly use Macs, although I have a bunch of Linux servers and PCs in the house).