Welcome to the MiSTer FPGA LOVE Fest ;)

[dmckean]

Hello fellow arcade LOVERS,

This thread is for all of you that own, have ordered or want to order the MiSTer FPGA. I ordered mine last month with the option BlisSter LLAPI board in a Storm Tropper case.
This is a safe place to drool , oogle, pine, and generally express love and excitement for the MiSTer FPGA and all related accessories. I know that others have ordered theirs and I want to create a fun place to share our excitement.

This is not a thread for debate, but to celebrate, exalt, and ruminate.

[Zeosstud]

The MiSTer is the only way to enjoy all the best arcade games from back in the day..

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[pbj]

But a 60 in 1 is $30 and can be delivered in 2 hours.

 

[dmckean]

But a 60 in 1 is $30 and can be delivered in 2 hours.

 

It sounds like someone could use a DE-10 nano and a HUG.

[Zebidee]

But a 60 in 1 is $30 and can be delivered in 2 hours.

 

Hey no fair! dmkean started a new thread to keep this FPGA stuff away from your 60-in-one discussion, don't bring it over here

[Zebidee]

What I'd like is some advice on is: what accessories/addons I may need/want to go with the $170 MiSTer base unit, what should be ordered at the same time, and what should be ordered elsewhere. An idiot's guide for FPGA noobs like me. Or a recommended up-to-date link if it is all covered elsewhere.

[dmckean]

What I'd like is some advice on is: what accessories/addons I may need/want to go with the $170 MiSTer base unit, what should be ordered at the same time, and what should be ordered elsewhere. An idiot's guide for FPGA noobs like me. Or a recommended up-to-date link if it is all covered elsewhere.

Sure!

If you want to play all cores you need the 128MB SDRAM module. I would suggest buying the official module from a trusted seller and not from aliexpress.

The analog board the and input board are optional. You can use a regular powered otg usb hub if you wish and you can get an analog through HDMI using a dongle dac if you desire. If your intention is the only run in a cabinet, I recommend the pre-ordering MiSTercade from MiSTer Addons as it replaces both the analog board and the input board plus give you a JAMMA connection and a fast sub-1ms arduino based input for the controls. It also supports multiple connection methods for a kick harness making it easy to move between cabs.

I recommend buying a heatsink as it helps with stability in a few cores. A fan is completely optional.

If you're planing to use this for desktop/living room use I would suggest some sort of case.

Trusted sellers can be found here: https://misterfpga.org/viewforum.php?f=34

If you're not into the idea of assembling a MiSTer yourself, you can buy pre-built and tested units from several sellers.

[Zebidee]

If you want to play all cores you need the 128MB SDRAM module. I would suggest buying the official module from a trusted seller and not from aliexpress.

The analog board the and input board are optional. You can use a regular powered otg usb hub if you wish and you can get an analog through HDMI using a dongle dac if you desire. If your intention is the only run in a cabinet, I recommend the pre-ordering MiSTercade from MiSTer Addons as it replaces both the analog board and the input board plus give you a JAMMA connection and a fast sub-1ms arduino based input for the controls. It also supports multiple connection methods for a kick harness making it easy to move between cabs.

Thanks, good advice. I'm preordering Mistercade so don't need analogue or IO boards.

Will grab some 128MB SDRAM as suggested. Should I grab a SDRAM expansion board as well?

I recommend buying a heatsink as it helps with stability in a few cores. A fan is completely optional.

Looks like they are both included with the Mistercade preorder.

If you're planing to use this for desktop/living room use I would suggest some sort of case.

Trusted sellers can be found here: https://misterfpga.org/viewforum.php?f=34

If you're not into the idea of assembling a MiSTer yourself, you can buy pre-built and tested units from several sellers.

Thank you. Will see about a case later, but if can mount into a cab perhaps no need. You know I don't mind assembling it Hopefully no setup headaches like some others have had, but from what I hear their pain has been mostly "self-inflicted" rather than the fault of MiSTer itself.

[dmckean]

Will grab some 128MB SDRAM as suggested. Should I grab a SDRAM expansion board as well?

One of these is what you're looking for:
https://misteraddons.com/products/sdram-xsd-2-5-128mb

And I'm sure you'll have no problems assembling it, it's a piece of cake.

[Zebidee]

OK, I've just ordered the Mistercade + 128MB SDRAM from the site.

Shipping costs a bomb for something so small. Ah well, support the cause.

After payment I got a "Get 10% off when your friends buy from your invite" link. I guess that means 10% for someone else, not me. Anyway here it is:

CLICK HERE for 10% deal

[bobbyb13]

Seems like everything you need to know can be found on Github.

If you already speak Linux it will be really easy for you but initial setup for the micro sd requires a pc or mac to get going.

With me not feeling intimidated by it I'm sure you could wake up groggy and do it before your first cup of coffee!

[Jimbo]

I don't have a MiSTer, but from what I've seen there are two things putting me off...

1) The frontend.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want a flashy frontend.  I've always hated the likes of hyperspin etc.  Total overkill imho.  But I would be planning on using the MiSTer on an arcade cab in my game room, which is regularly used by friends and family.  It looks to me that it's fairly easy to get into the system menus and mess around with stuff.  If it were to be viable in my game room I'd need a menu that just had a list of games, and a button to start a game, and exit a game, and *that's it*.  I'd want absolutely zero way the kids can get into to a menu they shouldn't and mess something up.  Admittedly I've not tried one, but from the videos I've seen I'm yet to be convinced this is possible?  Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

2) Having limited space, I'd really like to use the MiSTer in a vertical cab for some classics... but I'd end up missing out on a few of my loved classics where cores don't yet exist.  As I don't want (or have the space for) 2 cabs for vertical classics, I'm not sure that's a compromise I'd be willing to take, especially as a groovymame/CRT/high-framedelay setup solves the problem and is so good/authentic these days.

I love the idea of the MiSTer project, but I can't see myself personally investing in it at the current point in time for the above reasons.

[Titchgamer]

I love my Mister!
I sold my Pi setups and just got the Mister for playing on my HDTV downstairs when I am feeling to lazy to play the original stuff.
Everything looks and plays great on it.

I must admit Jimbo I would also like to see a way to lock out the menu's so you cant accidentally go into anything you should not, Of course its easy to backup the SD card so if anything gets broken its easy to put it back but be nice to not need that option.
I have accidentally switched it to SD instead of USB a few times myself and so locked myself out requiring me to plug a keyboard in as my 8bitdo controllers are linked to the config files on the USB (atleast I think thats why!)
Again not a big deal but just one of those irritating things.

I made a video about it if anyone is interested for my YT channel, Yeah its a new channel and I am still learning about this YT video editing malarky!

[Gilrock]

Titchgamer I watched part of your video but I mainly just fast-forwarded to the middle where the games started.  Just a tip you can use Alt-F12 to jump between cores without using that reboot menu option.

[lomoverde]

I made a video about it if anyone is interested for my YT channel, Yeah its a new channel and I am still learning about this YT video editing malarky!

Subscribed to your channel.I wouldnt usually hang around for a 30 minute video,but found it very informative

[yotsuya]

I love my Mister!
I sold my Pi setups and just got the Mister for playing on my HDTV downstairs when I am feeling to lazy to play the original stuff.
Everything looks and plays great on it.

I must admit Jimbo I would also like to see a way to lock out the menu's so you cant accidentally go into anything you should not, Of course its easy to backup the SD card so if anything gets broken its easy to put it back but be nice to not need that option.
I have accidentally switched it to SD instead of USB a few times myself and so locked myself out requiring me to plug a keyboard in as my 8bitdo controllers are linked to the config files on the USB (atleast I think thats why!)
Again not a big deal but just one of those irritating things.

I made a video about it if anyone is interested for my YT channel, Yeah its a new channel and I am still learning about this YT video editing malarky!

If you start a channel called The English Arcade I will fly to Stratford-on-Avon and personally kick your ass.


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[dmckean]

I don't have a MiSTer, but from what I've seen there are two things putting me off...

1) The frontend.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want a flashy frontend.  I've always hated the likes of hyperspin etc.  Total overkill imho.  But I would be planning on using the MiSTer on an arcade cab in my game room, which is regularly used by friends and family.  It looks to me that it's fairly easy to get into the system menus and mess around with stuff.  If it were to be viable in my game room I'd need a menu that just had a list of games, and a button to start a game, and exit a game, and *that's it*.  I'd want absolutely zero way the kids can get into to a menu they shouldn't and mess something up.  Admittedly I've not tried one, but from the videos I've seen I'm yet to be convinced this is possible?  Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

2) Having limited space, I'd really like to use the MiSTer in a vertical cab for some classics... but I'd end up missing out on a few of my loved classics where cores don't yet exist.  As I don't want (or have the space for) 2 cabs for vertical classics, I'm not sure that's a compromise I'd be willing to take, especially as a groovymame/CRT/high-framedelay setup solves the problem and is so good/authentic these days.

I love the idea of the MiSTer project, but I can't see myself personally investing in it at the current point in time for the above reasons.

The front end will most definitely continue to add functionality, but a big graphical front end it just not possible. The DE-10 nano's ARM SOC attached to the FPGA is about as powerful as a Pi Zero and has no video of it's own. The MiSTer framework dedicates one entire core to housekeeping duties and the other core runs everything else. And everything else is already a long list of things.

I do expect that as more arcade cores are added and more of that crowd comes to the MiSTer project that some sort of operator mode will get added. A mode that would allow users to change games but tightly lock down configuration menus.

As for number two, this is why a lot of us here wired our MAME cabinets for JAMMA the second go around even if we had no intention of ever running an arcade board in it.

I encourage you to keep an eye on the project. I dismissed it two years ago as finicky and not for me, but when I checked it out again in December and saw all the progress that had been made, I knew I had to have one. 

[Jimbo]

The front end will most definitely continue to add functionality, but a big graphical front end it just not possible. The DE-10 nano's ARM SOC attached to the FPGA is about as powerful as a Pi Zero and has no video of it's own. The MiSTer framework dedicates one entire core to housekeeping duties and the other core runs everything else. And everything else is already a long list of things.

I do expect that as more arcade cores are added and more of that crowd comes to the MiSTer project that some sort of operator mode will get added. A mode that would allow users to change games but tightly lock down configuration menus.

As for number two, this is why a lot of us here wired our MAME cabinets for JAMMA the second go around even if we had no intention of ever running an arcade board in it.

I encourage you to keep an eye on the project. I dismissed it two years ago as finicky and not for me, but when I checked it out again in December and saw all the progress that had been made, I knew I had to have one.

Thanks for the reply - I don't care for a flashy frontend at all, but an operator mode as you mentioned would be perfect and solve my major grievance with the MiSTer!  I'll definitely continue to keep an eye on the project.  A few more classic arcade cores and an operator mode and it'd be "shut up and take my money".  

[yotsuya]

As someone who knows nothing about this, what would I need to get started? What’s the cost? I followed the link and see that you need more than just that $175 board.


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[dmckean]

As someone who knows nothing about this, what would I need to get started? What’s the cost? I followed the link and see that you need more than just that $175 board.

At the bare minimum you need the $135 Terasic DE-10 Nano board here:
https://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=English&No=1046

That alone will allow you play several of the cores that don't require the SDRAM board. The 128 MB SDRAM board that I linked above will allow you play all cores. I also recommend a heat sink.

Then there's an analog I/O board for easily connecting to a CRT. There's also a USB input board, you could use an USB OTG hub instead but buying the official boards let your build a "stack" that most cases are designed to fit. There's also a digital only I/O board for people that have no intention of connecting it to a CRT but still want the three buttons and integrated mount for a fan that the analog I/O board provides.

If your plan is to only ever use it inside an arcade cabinet, the MisterCade that just went on pre-order yesterday is by far the best solution for that. Opt2Not has been beta testing the prototype unit on his stream and he loves it.

[yotsuya]

So.... $175 for the Mistercadd
$135 for the DE-10 nano...
What else?

I’m cool with looking at new solutions. I’m just trying to figure out everything needed - what’s optional vs what’s required vs nice to have.


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[yotsuya]

Ok, so around $60 for the 128 SD Ram board...


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[dmckean]

So.... $175 for the Mistercadd
$135 for the DE-10 nano...
What else?

I’m cool with looking at new solutions. I’m just trying to figure out everything needed - what’s optional vs what’s required vs nice to have.

$60 for the SDRAM board.
https://misteraddons.com/products/sdram-xsd-2-5-128mb

The DE-10 nano comes with an SD card but you might want a bigger one eventually.

That's pretty much it.

[dmckean]

Ok cool, you figure it out!

[yotsuya]

Ok cool, you figure it out!

Ok, so for a n00b like me, around $375 to play everything


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[dmckean]

Ok, so for a n00b like me, around $375 to play everything

Yes, that will play everything. The only other options that we haven't discussed are the RTC clock module and the audio in module that emulates a tape drive for a few of the computer cores. You're not really missing anything at all not having those.

[KenToad]

Mister doesn't do savestates, right?

It also doesn't have a power switch natively. How are you guys turning the system on and off, through the menu?

I'm looking at a full setup at Misteraddons. Neo Geo, Turbografx, and MSX cores almost have me sold. I really would like to be able to play Tempest 2000 on the Jaguar. Does anyone know if that is working well?

[dmckean]

Mister doesn't do savestates, right?

It also doesn't have a power switch natively. How are you guys turning the system on and off, through the menu?

I'm looking at a full setup at Misteraddons. Neo Geo, Turbografx, and MSX cores almost have me sold. I really would like to be able to play Tempest 2000 on the Jaguar. Does anyone know if that is working well?

Savestates are feature that need to be added individually per core. Currently only Gameboy, Gameboy Advance and Lynx cores have them. I expect that we'll see more cores re-written to support them eventually, but it could be a while. 

The BliSTer board that I'm using for input has a power switch, so that's how I'm shutting mine off. But a lot of folks use an inline power switch like this: https://www.amazon.com/TronicsPros-Inline-5-5x2-1mm-Connector-Adapter/dp/B01FT4RBBM/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

The three cores you're most interested in are all excellent on the MiSTer. The Jaguar core however is still in early alpha state, Tempest 2000 will start but almost immediately crashes. There's currently no one actively working on the Jaguar core. 

[KenToad]

Thanks for the reply. That's a bummer about the state of Jaguar on the Mister. It seems like that and 3do would be really cool and unique to get working on the Mister, but I guess that would require special interest from a gifted developer.

Regarding the power switch, is it cool to just power it down? No script needed for safe shutdown?

[dmckean]

There's only really four or five truly gifted developers working on the MiSTer project and they're currently working PSX, Saturn, CPS2 and only god know what Sorgelig is working on. There's lots of other talented folks working on the lower hanging stuff all the time.

For a safe shutdown you do a soft reboot of the MiSTer from the core menu and when it returns to the main menu all files are closed and it's safe to kill the power.

[dmckean]

Hopefully the recent publicity of the MiSTer in the mainstream press will attract more developers.

[Zeosstud]

I have my MiSTer plugged into a smart switch and I turn it on and off with Alexa. I have been doing it like this for over a year, zero issues.. I also have it boot to the last exact core setup, so it goes right into a game, there is a small window of time where you can hit a button and boot into the main menu too.

Zeosstud

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[Gilrock]

Sounds like I’m not supposed to just shut off power while game is live like I’ve been doing...lol

[bobbyb13]

Ok cool, you figure it out!

Ok, so for a n00b like me, around $375 to play everything


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The MiSTeraddons guys have all you need and ship quickly (although I just went to their site to pull a link for you and their shopping menu isn't happening at the moment.)

I wanted the no lag bliss of using a CRT so got the whole pile they offered a year ago- which was like $350 then, but the arcade add on changes the stack a bit it appears.

[Zebidee]

Ok cool, you figure it out!

Ok, so for a n00b like me, around $375 to play everything

The MiSTeraddons guys have all you need and ship quickly (although I just went to their site to pull a link for you and their shopping menu isn't happening at the moment.)

I wanted the no lag bliss of using a CRT so got the whole pile they offered a year ago- which was like $350 then, but the arcade add on changes the stack a bit it appears.

With the Mistercade it is a different stack! Took me a while to work that out.

You don't need the IO board or USB expansion boards as they are built into Mistercade. Heat sink and fan provided. I was confused about which SDRAM as there are different versions, but followed dmckean's advice. No need for a separate power supply as it gets 12v via JAMMA from your cab's DC PSU.

So you need:
- Mistercade $170
- SDRAM $60
- DE10 Nano (from elsewhere) $135

Which addds up to $365, similar price as the other generic Mister bundle. The only other thing that I might want is a RTC (real time clock) add-on.

One thing that excites me about MiSTer is that there are a bunch of console and older computer cores & games available, ready to go so you can play on an arcade cab.

[gamepimp]

For all the folks that are new to MiSTer there are a bunch of scripts that can be used to update content on your SD card or USB connected HDD which make life a lot easier since there can be tons of new changes every week. I use the Update_All script (link below) which essentially downloads all new/updated cores, MRA files for arcade games, BIOS files, etc. and helps you keep current. Just plug the DE-10 into your network thru ethernet or you can also get a WiFi module to connect wirelessly. I do this about once a week to make sure I have the newest updates.

https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer

[gamepimp]

Here's an interesting YT video I just stumbled on that tells you what you need to put together a "basic" MiSTer setup:

[Gilrock]

I'd kinda like to learn how to work on the cores for this.  I've always wanted to work on the FPGA side of things at work but have been stuck doing embedded SW development.  I've worked with the Zynq 7000 and Ultrascale+ SOCs for years but mainly writing for the internal ARM cores and interfacing to the FPGA logic that the other team develops.  We use tools that have $10,000 licenses at work so I'd like to know what these Mister guys are using for development.  I've tried searching the forums and Discord and I've seen people asking how to get started to help and then nobody gives them any advice.

[Zeosstud]

Reach out to alanswx, pretty good chance he will help..

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[Zebidee]

This post on Aussie Arcade forums appears very useful. Step-by-step setup:

https://www.aussiearcade.com/forum/arcade/video-arcade/2199067-mister-101-setup-guide-beginners-information#post2199067

[KenToad]

The initial setup seems simple, but I know that the whole adding roms thing will be nearly Pi-levels of frustration (without the artwork format and naming issues, at least).

Neo Geo roms, for example: apparently, it's not the same set as the Mame version, but it uses the same naming structure. The games seem to need to be in individual folders in a particularly named subdirectory. I don't think they can be zipped, but I'm not certain.

For other systems like MSX, I've heard that it can be a pain to get the games to run, requiring some knowledge of how the original system worked. It's already annoying adding MSX games to a Pi and dealing with the compatibility issues, but running the MSX core on the Mister is reportedly more convoluted, since the software emulator on the Pi does the booting somewhat automatically.

Turbografx seems like an easy system to get running on the Mister, thankfully, but the lack of save states is inconvenient. Also, it's not clear to me if the disc part of the core is super finicky about format, such as only bin+cue, or if other formats are acceptable, as I've found conflicting information.

Another question is whether it's easy to use different controllers for different cores. For example, can I map a USB Neo Geo X stick to the Neo Geo core and then map a PCE mini controller to the TG16 core and be able to hotswap the controller that I need without further remapping? Does the system reorder controllers if you keep them plugged in all the time?

It's a big limitation that there is no software rotation for vertically-oriented content, at least through HDMI (I understand that on an analog format like a CRT, but not so much on a flat panel that is already being upscaled). That means that a decent chunk of the arcade content will be useless to people like me who don't have an easy way to rotate their displays.

Still, there are a lot of cool features and a lot to appreciate about the Mister. I'm seriously considering getting one. I may wait until the new aluminum cases become available, but for now I've definitely got the bug of at least understanding how it works. The Pi ended up sucking dozens of hours out of my life. The Mister feels familiar in that way, so I'm wary of jumping into another Linux swamp.

[dmckean]

I'd kinda like to learn how to work on the cores for this.  I've always wanted to work on the FPGA side of things at work but have been stuck doing embedded SW development.  I've worked with the Zynq 7000 and Ultrascale+ SOCs for years but mainly writing for the internal ARM cores and interfacing to the FPGA logic that the other team develops.  We use tools that have $10,000 licenses at work so I'd like to know what these Mister guys are using for development.  I've tried searching the forums and Discord and I've seen people asking how to get started to help and then nobody gives them any advice.

I guess that the free version of Quartus is all they need. They use version 17.0.x

The dev-talk section of the MiSTer FPGA discord is where I would suggest asking question like this.

[dmckean]

The initial setup seems simple, but I know that the whole adding roms thing will be nearly Pi-levels of frustration (without the artwork format and naming issues, at least).

Neo Geo roms, for example: apparently, it's not the same set as the Mame version, but it uses the same naming structure. The games seem to need to be in individual folders in a particularly named subdirectory. I don't think they can be zipped, but I'm not certain.

For other systems like MSX, I've heard that it can be a pain to get the games to run, requiring some knowledge of how the original system worked. It's already annoying adding MSX games to a Pi and dealing with the compatibility issues, but running the MSX core on the Mister is reportedly more convoluted, since the software emulator on the Pi does the booting somewhat automatically.

Turbografx seems like an easy system to get running on the Mister, thankfully, but the lack of save states is inconvenient. Also, it's not clear to me if the disc part of the core is super finicky about format, such as only bin+cue, or if other formats are acceptable, as I've found conflicting information.

Another question is whether it's easy to use different controllers for different cores. For example, can I map a USB Neo Geo X stick to the Neo Geo core and then map a PCE mini controller to the TG16 core and be able to hotswap the controller that I need without further remapping? Does the system reorder controllers if you keep them plugged in all the time?

It's a big limitation that there is no software rotation for vertically-oriented content, at least through HDMI (I understand that on an analog format like a CRT, but not so much on a flat panel that is already being upscaled). That means that a decent chunk of the arcade content will be useless to people like me who don't have an easy way to rotate their displays.

Still, there are a lot of cool features and a lot to appreciate about the Mister. I'm seriously considering getting one. I may wait until the new aluminum cases become available, but for now I've definitely got the bug of at least understanding how it works. The Pi ended up sucking dozens of hours out of my life. The Mister feels familiar in that way, so I'm wary of jumping into another Linux swamp.

For Neo Geo most people use the darksoft sets which are just straight image files. You just drop those plus like 5 bios files in the /games/NeoGeo folder and you're all set. It took me maybe 30 minutes to get going including downloading everything.

MSX runs MSX-DOS as an operating system and it works just like early MS-DOS or CP/M. I had never used it before and had no trouble. Also, the computer cores that run well like MSX, Amiga and ao486 have pre-configured hard drive images out there with menu systems where you can just run games without any effort on your part.

Turbografx will run with bin+cue or chd files.

There's rotation options for vertical games in nearly every core for HDMI. No rotation option for CRT monitors though, unless you force the scaler on over the VGA port.
 

[Gilrock]

I was surprised when I ran the update all script I believe it downloaded all the arcade roms for me.  I've only worked on a few other things outside that which was getting a few Atari 800 games running that I remembered playing as a kid.  One was Shamus and another was Miner2049er.  Its kinda cool hearing the noise like it's loading from a tape deck on some of them.

[Zeosstud]

High Score saving for Donkey Kong is now a thing.. with that and Pengo High score saving I think it's time to play more and talk less..

Zeosstud

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[KenToad]

I was surprised when I ran the update all script I believe it downloaded all the arcade roms for me.  I've only worked on a few other things outside that which was getting a few Atari 800 games running that I remembered playing as a kid.  One was Shamus and another was Miner2049er.  Its kinda cool hearing the noise like it's loading from a tape deck on some of them.

I ran the updater-pc, which is the PC version of the update all script, to see what it would get. And yeah, it seemed to download all the arcade cores including the roms, which is pretty cool. I also like that there is the option to run it on  PC and then just move over the cores and such that you actually want to try to your Mister. It's also a nice way for people like me who are on the fence about the Mister to get a preview of the file structure.

[Zebidee]

I find it very cute that MiSTer has supported cores for BBC Micro and Acorn Archimedes. Can anyone guess why?

[dmckean]

Another question is whether it's easy to use different controllers for different cores. For example, can I map a USB Neo Geo X stick to the Neo Geo core and then map a PCE mini controller to the TG16 core and be able to hotswap the controller that I need without further remapping? Does the system reorder controllers if you keep them plugged in all the time?

I realized I forgot to answer this earlier.

So whenever you plug in a new USB controller you have to map you have to go into 'Define joystick buttons' on the System Settings screen to set it up. It remembers the controller when you plug it in again based on it's usb id. The update_all script installs a script so that you can easily turn on and off 1000hz USB polling.

When you launch a core, which ever controller you press a button on first becomes the player one controller. If you press a button on a second controller it becomes player two, etc... This allows you to just keep seven controllers plugged in all the time if you desire.

If a specific core needs a different controller mapping to work well, different from the default, there's a setting for that in the core menu. If a specific ROM in a console core needs a different mapping to work well there's a setting for that too. So you can have per game mappings if you desire.

It all works incredibly well.

[dmckean]

I find it very cute that MiSTer has supported cores for BBC Micro and Acorn Archimedes. Can anyone guess why?

Please tell.

[bobbyb13]

I find it very cute that MiSTer has supported cores for BBC Micro and Acorn Archimedes. Can anyone guess why?

I have a friend here named Archimedes!
 

Really, I do.

[KenToad]

Another question is whether it's easy to use different controllers for different cores. For example, can I map a USB Neo Geo X stick to the Neo Geo core and then map a PCE mini controller to the TG16 core and be able to hotswap the controller that I need without further remapping? Does the system reorder controllers if you keep them plugged in all the time?

I realized I forgot to answer this earlier.

So whenever you plug in a new USB controller you have to map you have to go into 'Define joystick buttons' on the System Settings screen to set it up. It remembers the controller when you plug it in again based on it's usb id. The update_all script installs a script so that you can easily turn on and off 1000hz USB polling.

When you launch a core, which ever controller you press a button on first becomes the player one controller. If you press a button on a second controller it becomes player two, etc... This allows you to just keep seven controllers plugged in all the time if you desire.

If a specific core needs a different controller mapping to work well, different from the default, there's a setting for that in the core menu. If a specific ROM in a console core needs a different mapping to work well there's a setting for that too. So you can have per game mappings if you desire.

It all works incredibly well.

This sounds incredible, light years ahead of how controllers are handled on my Pi. It also seems like a feature that I would have heard about by now from Smokemonster or RetroRGB or some other in depth Mister reviewer. Thanks for explaining how it works.

Any idea how compatible 1000hz polling is? It seems like another amazing feature that should be on by default, but I read that it may not be compatible with all devices.

[dmckean]

This sounds incredible, light years ahead of how controllers are handled on my Pi. It also seems like a feature that I would have heard about by now from Smokemonster or RetroRGB or some other in depth Mister reviewer. Thanks for explaining how it works.

Any idea how compatible 1000hz polling is? It seems like another amazing feature that should be on by default, but I read that it may not be compatible with all devices.

It's pretty compatible. For instance, all these controllers listed on Porkchop Express's (MiSTer Addons) controller latency spreadsheet were tested with the fast polling on.

https://twitter.com/misteraddons/status/1265071632382640131

But if you happen to find an oddball controller or adapter that doesn't get along with it, it's super quick to just turn it off.

[Zebidee]

I find it very cute that MiSTer has supported cores for BBC Micro and Acorn Archimedes. Can anyone guess why?

Please tell.

I have a friend here named Archimedes!
 

Really, I do.

The whole FPGA MiSTer thing might not even be possible if not for the ARM chip on the DE10. The ARM chip is based on RiSC processing, a completely different CPU infrastructure to your normal Intel & AMD etc offerings. It trades off reduced instruction set for much faster and more efficient processing, and also because it uses less power.

The ARM chip was originally developed by Acorn and used in an expansion module for the BBC Micro, and later became the basis for the Archimedes. Acorn only developed the BBC Micro because the BBC wanted a computer to feature in their Computer SHow. Acorn wanted to develop a RiSC CPU for it. The BBC Micro became standard in UK schools and Acorn flourished for a time.

Originally Acorn wanted Intel to develop RiSC-based CPUs for the BBC Micro but Intel weren't interested. So Acorn did it themselves. It was originally a side-project of Acorn, but eventually was the only part of the company to keep going as a distinct entity after it was eventually bought out.

ARM chips are now ubiquitous in small mobile devices like smart phones, and thousands of other devices we use everyday. Yet it was only developed because the BBC wanted a computer for their show, and Intel were too lazy to bother about it. ARM chips were ultimately unsuccessful in their target market (home computers) because there wasn't the same software and support available to competitors like the IBM PC. They were never designed with low-power as the main feature, but the reason why they were successful in other applications was because they use low power compared to other processors of similar grunt.

So, a fascinating story about how a CPU designed almost by accident has become the most successful CPU in modern history. It all began with humble Acorn.

[bobbyb13]

Fun backstory!

I imagine Intel didn't see enough $$$ in it for them and IBM had such reach for soooo long who could hope to compete back then, yeah?

[Zebidee]

Fun backstory!

I imagine Intel didn't see enough $$$ in it for them and IBM had such reach for soooo long who could hope to compete back then, yeah?

I'm sure there are people at Intel (or formerly at Intel) that regularly kick themselves now. But if Intel did the RiSC chip, then would it ultimately have been as successful?

If Intel took it up, or the Archimedes has been released about 2-3 years earlier, home computing might be very different today. Bill Gates would have probably made a lot less money (because MSDOS would've become much less relevant), and we all might have gotten smart phones earlier.

Anyway yeah, use the ARM processor in your MiSTer to replicate the experience of using the first computers that used ARM processors.   

[Gilrock]

I think the moral of the story is even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once and awhile...lol.

[KenToad]

On Amazon, I'm seeing a bundle of the IO board, USB Hub, and Ram for $99. Is that clone hardware? Is it known to be inferior?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZC2NNW9/ref=crt_ewc_img_srh_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P0WZE5E6H8MH

[gamepimp]

On Amazon, I'm seeing a bundle of the IO board, USB Hub, and Ram for $99. Is that clone hardware? Is it known to be inferior?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZC2NNW9/ref=crt_ewc_img_srh_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P0WZE5E6H8MH

The seller only has about a 50% positive rating and the stuff is not fulfilled by Amazon for easy returns if it ends up being sketchy. Furthermore, I'm not sure what "Manual Welding" means. It sounds like you might get all the components and have to solder them yourself. That would be a nightmare. I would probably steer clear of that one.

I've dealt with misteraddons.com for my set up and would highly recommend that site. I follow the guy who runs it on Twitter and he has lots of happy customers that post regularly to thank him.

[Zeosstud]

Porkchop Express and Misteraddons for sure are reliable..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Gilrock]

On Amazon, I'm seeing a bundle of the IO board, USB Hub, and Ram for $99. Is that clone hardware? Is it known to be inferior?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZC2NNW9/ref=crt_ewc_img_srh_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P0WZE5E6H8MH

I saw that same listing yesterday and it does look like the same boards.  You only need those boards though if you aren't using the new Mistercade.  I bought that prebundled kit from the misteraddons site so I'm sure I paid a little premium to have him build it.  Now I'm confident enough to buy the parts for a second one.  If you do get his kit the thing is already completely assembled and you pretty much just plug it in and run.

[Titchgamer]

If you start a channel called The English Arcade I will fly to Stratford-on-Avon and personally kick your ass.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not much chance of that but good luck with finding me in Stratford LMAO

Titchgamer I watched part of your video but I mainly just fast-forwarded to the middle where the games started.  Just a tip you can use Alt-F12 to jump between cores without using that reboot menu option.

Yeah I dont normally have a keyboard attached.

I made a video about it if anyone is interested for my YT channel, Yeah its a new channel and I am still learning about this YT video editing malarky!

Subscribed to your channel.I wouldnt usually hang around for a 30 minute video,but found it very informative

Thank You
Greatly appreciated!

[Gilrock]

Titchgamer I watched part of your video but I mainly just fast-forwarded to the middle where the games started.  Just a tip you can use Alt-F12 to jump between cores without using that reboot menu option.

Yeah I dont normally have a keyboard attached.

Yeah I'd love to figure out how to map it so I can press Select + Start and have it execute Alt-F12.

[dmckean]

On Amazon, I'm seeing a bundle of the IO board, USB Hub, and Ram for $99. Is that clone hardware? Is it known to be inferior?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZC2NNW9/ref=crt_ewc_img_srh_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P0WZE5E6H8MH

The boards are an open design so anyone can make them, the Chinese vendors have a reputation for iffy quality. If you go that route, make sure to download the memory test and run the sdram board through the paces.

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/MemTest_MiSTer

The trusted vendors all use this test before they ship. You want to see the module running stable at 130 Mhz.

edit: these are probably not assembled at the $99 price. If going this route I would look on Aliexpress for vendors with reviews and ask questions first.

[Titchgamer]

Titchgamer I watched part of your video but I mainly just fast-forwarded to the middle where the games started.  Just a tip you can use Alt-F12 to jump between cores without using that reboot menu option.

Yeah I dont normally have a keyboard attached.

Yeah I'd love to figure out how to map it so I can press Select + Start and have it execute Alt-F12.

You can swap cores via the ingame OSD I believe but I always go backto the main menu heh.

[Gilrock]

Yeah and I need a keyboard to bring up the OSD.  I don't have any extra buttons I need to be able to program key combinations.  If you can hit F12 to bring up the main menu then you can hit Alt-F12 to do a quick core switch.

[Titchgamer]

I use a 8bitdo SNES controller and have one of the odd buttons assigned as OSD.
Works great

[Gilrock]

All I suggested was that you could map another button to Alt F12 for a quicker core switch.  If you don't want to fine no need to keep going around the block on this.

[Titchgamer]

All I suggested was that you could map another button to Alt F12 for a quicker core switch.  If you don't want to fine no need to keep going around the block on this.

And all I am doing is telling you what controller I use to allow me to bring up the OSD.
No need to get offended :

[dmckean]

For anyone else wanting to learn the FPGA hardware, this book gets recommended a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/111800888X

It's a little bit older and references the DE1 and DE2 boards but most of it is still relevant to the DE10 hardware. The vast majority of books out there teach the Xilinx hardware.

[bobbyb13]

For anyone else wanting to learn the FPGA hardware, this book gets recommended a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/111800888X

It's a little bit older and references the DE1 and DE2 boards but most of it is still relevant to the DE10 hardware. The vast majority of books out there teach the Xilinx hardware.

I'll say thank you for the link!
Although I looked up the book and holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- is that way over my head
 

[dmckean]

For anyone else wanting to learn the FPGA hardware, this book gets recommended a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/111800888X

It's a little bit older and references the DE1 and DE2 boards but most of it is still relevant to the DE10 hardware. The vast majority of books out there teach the Xilinx hardware.

I'll say thank you for the link!
Although I looked up the book and holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- is that way over my head
 

Yeah, it requires some good knowledge of computer hardware. Maybe start here and go from there:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0201436647/

[bobbyb13]

And thank you for THAT link!

That one I believe I could actually absorb something from.

My last first hand experience with any programming...?
Fortran 77, my first year of college
1989
 

I do really enjoy seeing how stuff works though so maybe I can learn something.

[csnow]

my first year of college
1989

So I take it you were high school class of 88?  Rock on - same here.

[Zebidee]

Wrote my first program in 1980 in BASIC using 2B graphite pencil onto cards

[Gilrock]

Wrote my first program in 1980 in BASIC using 2B graphite pencil onto cards

Dude that was already old school for that year.  I learned Basic on the Atari 800 about that same year.

[yotsuya]

Wrote my first program in 1980 in BASIC using 2B graphite pencil onto cards

Dude that was already old school for that year.  I learned Basic on the Atari 800 about that same year.

Oh yeah, I used to switch out the binary vacuum tubes on ENIAC. Ha!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bobbyb13]

my first year of college
1989

So I take it you were high school class of 88?  Rock on - same here.

Yup.  After I thought about it again, occurred to me that I started college in fall of '88.
Man, saying that made me feel old!

And, this thread makes me feel dumb.
Actually, lots of threads around here do that
 

[Zebidee]

Wrote my first program in 1980 in BASIC using 2B graphite pencil onto cards

Dude that was already old school for that year.  I learned Basic on the Atari 800 about that same year.

my first year of college
1989

So I take it you were high school class of 88?  Rock on - same here.

Yup.  After I thought about it again, occurred to me that I started college in fall of '88.
Man, saying that made me feel old!

And, this thread makes me feel dumb.
Actually, lots of threads around here do that
 

Yeah, we were a country/rural school with limited resources. But I was lucky. Within a year I was doing games in BASIC at home on a TRS80 clone. Many interesting stories there.

[EDIT: TL;DR]

Now all I wanna do is retrogaming until I either die or can't hold the joystick in my hands/feet/tongue anymore. 

[Zeosstud]

Quick video of how you can lock down a MiSTer so it can only play Arcade Games..

-Zeosstud

[schmerzkaufen]

Where is the MiSTer hate thread ? 

[Titchgamer]

Where is the MiSTer hate thread ? 

Up the Jacksie, Left at the ring piece and carry on up.

[schmerzkaufen]

Where is the MiSTer hate thread ? 

Up the Jacksie, Left at the ring piece and carry on up.

Ok, I don't mean to ruin people's purchaser's happiness, so I'll leave them enjoy the fantasy. 

[Zebidee]

Where is the MiSTer hate thread ? 

Up the Jacksie, Left at the ring piece and carry on up.

Ok, I don't mean to ruin people's purchaser's happiness, so I'll leave them enjoy the fantasy. 

Hmmm, maybe you mistook this for an Arcade 1up thread.

[csnow]

Where is the MiSTer hate thread ? 

Up the Jacksie, Left at the ring piece and carry on up.

Ok, I don't mean to ruin people's purchaser's happiness, so I'll leave them enjoy the fantasy. 

I would like to see the negatives discussed here as well.  It will help people make informed decisions prior to purchase.  The entry fee for this is not insignificant, so the overall +'s and -'s should be evaluated against competing solutions.

[Titchgamer]

Where is the MiSTer hate thread ? 

Up the Jacksie, Left at the ring piece and carry on up.

Ok, I don't mean to ruin people's purchaser's happiness, so I'll leave them enjoy the fantasy. 

I would like to see the negatives discussed here as well.  It will help people make informed decisions prior to purchase.  The entry fee for this is not insignificant, so it should be +'s and -'s should be evaluated against competing solutions.

Dont want a haters POV for that, You want reasoned negatives.

IMO the 2 biggest negatives are thus:

1) The cost - it aint cheap!
2) The limitations of the hardware. But depending on how you look at it thats not really a bad thing.

You may not be able to run PS2 or whatever perfectly.
But what it does run it runs really well.

[yotsuya]

Where is the MiSTer hate thread ? 

Up the Jacksie, Left at the ring piece and carry on up.

Ok, I don't mean to ruin people's purchaser's happiness, so I'll leave them enjoy the fantasy. 

I would like to see the negatives discussed here as well.  It will help people make informed decisions prior to purchase.  The entry fee for this is not insignificant, so it should be +'s and -'s should be evaluated against competing solutions.

Dont want a haters POV for that, You want reasoned negatives.

IMO the 2 biggest negatives are thus:

1) The cost - it aint cheap!
2) The limitations of the hardware. But depending on how you look at it thats not really a bad thing.

You may not be able to run PS2 or whatever perfectly.
But what it does run it runs really well.

These are very fair points. As much as I love to tinker and like messing with new things, an off-lease PC capable of running MAME and a J-PAC are easily half the price. I’m just not sure how viable this would be for a lot of builders.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Titchgamer]

Where is the MiSTer hate thread ? 

Up the Jacksie, Left at the ring piece and carry on up.

Ok, I don't mean to ruin people's purchaser's happiness, so I'll leave them enjoy the fantasy. 

I would like to see the negatives discussed here as well.  It will help people make informed decisions prior to purchase.  The entry fee for this is not insignificant, so it should be +'s and -'s should be evaluated against competing solutions.

Dont want a haters POV for that, You want reasoned negatives.

IMO the 2 biggest negatives are thus:

1) The cost - it aint cheap!
2) The limitations of the hardware. But depending on how you look at it thats not really a bad thing.

You may not be able to run PS2 or whatever perfectly.
But what it does run it runs really well.

These are very fair points. As much as I love to tinker and like messing with new things, an off-lease PC capable of running MAME and a J-PAC are easily half the price. I’m just not sure how viable this would be for a lot of builders.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I dont think its really a casual/MAME cab type device.
Its really for people who want the old skool nostalgia with all its quirks but without all the hardware.

Many people sell their collection and replace with a Mister but I see mine as complimentary to it so I can play the same games but on my HDTV upscaled.

[Zeosstud]

So we are clear money wise..
$145 plus $14.50 shipping from Amazon got me the
DE10 Nano
Power Supply
8GB memory card..
You would need a USB hub also, like another $7
After running the update_all script, still have
5GB of space free..

You don't need the memory stick to play arcade cores, I put it in there just because I had one laying around.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[javeryh]

So we are clear money wise..
$145 plus $14.50 shipping from Amazon got me the
DE10 Nano
Power Supply
8GB memory card..
You would need a USB hub also, like another $7
After running the update_all script, still have
5GB of space free..

You don't need the memory stick to play arcade cores, I put it in there just because I had one laying around.

Not too bad actually.  Is a MiSTer an emulation board or does it run games like a BitKit off of "real" hardware/cores or whatever it's called?  I guess what I really want to know is can I play Donkey Kong (and DKII)?

[Zeosstud]

DK (US), DK (Japan), DK Foundry, DK Remix, DK Trainer are the ones I use the most, but there are dozens of others available..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Zeosstud]

The MiSTer is a FPGA device, about as close to the real thing as you can get without owning a real board set..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Titchgamer]

So we are clear money wise..
$145 plus $14.50 shipping from Amazon got me the
DE10 Nano
Power Supply
8GB memory card..
You would need a USB hub also, like another $7
After running the update_all script, still have
5GB of space free..

You don't need the memory stick to play arcade cores, I put it in there just because I had one laying around.

Not too bad actually.  Is a MiSTer an emulation board or does it run games like a BitKit off of "real" hardware/cores or whatever it's called?  I guess what I really want to know is can I play Donkey Kong (and DKII)?

Yup they are playable, I did a video on it a while back I linked on Page 1.
I dont play DK but hopefully will give you the idea

[bobbyb13]

So we are clear money wise..
$145 plus $14.50 shipping from Amazon got me the
DE10 Nano
Power Supply
8GB memory card..
You would need a USB hub also, like another $7
After running the update_all script, still have
5GB of space free..

You don't need the memory stick to play arcade cores, I put it in there just because I had one laying around.

Not too bad actually.  Is a MiSTer an emulation board or does it run games like a BitKit off of "real" hardware/cores or whatever it's called?  I guess what I really want to know is can I play Donkey Kong (and DKII)?

To be precise, it is still emulation, but it is emulation using hardware ( through a reprogrammable chip.)
The boards from craftymech and jrok are program on the fly chips just like a MiSTer.
Every time you run a game, a core is loaded which tells the chip via HDL what machine it is supposed to be.

When you switch to a new game which used different hardware the chip is reprogrammed with HDL to be a different machine.

All quite remarkable when you think of how many separate boards there came to be in later era machines.

[dmckean]

The hardware based simulation used on the cores on MiSTer (or BitKit and JROK) are created by taking the original schematics of the PCB boards and the chips used on the board and implementing them on the FPGA one transistor at a time. It's cycle accurate by default as the chips wouldn't even communicate with each other if timings were off.

For custom chips where no schematics exist, FPGA projects use two approaches. One approach is like the one used by the Neo Geo core where furrtek decapped the chips and studied them under a microscope and recreated them in FGPA. The other approach is to create a logical recreation by feeding data into the original chip and studying the output to figure out what it does and recreate that in FPGA.

The downside to MiSTer is it's very time consuming to make and debug cores and it's still very early in the project. It's also limited to recreating hardware up through the 90s. I don't think we'll ever see chips with 200 million+ transistors recreated in the FPGA.

[Gilrock]

Quick video of how you can lock down a MiSTer so it can only play Arcade Games..
-Zeosstud

See I would need different hardware to do that.  My button inputs cannot be programmed.  The Mister allowed me to map F12 to a 2 button combo but it does not allow me to map Alt-F12.  I'd need to get something like an IPAC for that.  I asked about adding the ability to map Alt-F12 on the Mister forum and only one reply with someone trying to convince me I don't need that feature.  I love it when people think they know what I need because they don't need it.

[Zeosstud]

100% on the money, I use an IPAC to map the buttons and of course to create the Macro that allows Alt-F12..  So some good news, the Mistercade apparently has a button combo
pre setup that accomplishes the same thing as Alt-F12, (Joystick 1 Down + Start Button) so when that comes out, hopefully in the summer, that might work out for you.

[Zeosstud]

Mister Arcade Games List from the Jump

On a clean install of MiSTer yesterday, when I ran the Update_All script, here is the list of Original Games it got for me

1941 Counter Attack -World 900227-
1942
1943 Kai Midway Kaisen
1943 Midway Kaisen
1943 The Battle of Midway Mark II
1943 The Battle of Midway
280Z-ZZAP
4-D Warriors
Adventure Quiz Capcom World 2 -Japan 920611-
Alibaba 40 Thieves
Alien Arena
Amazing Maze
Amidar
Anteater
Arkanoid (Japan)
Arkanoid (unl.lives, slower)
Arkanoid (Unlimited Lives)
Arkanoid (US)
Arkanoid (World)
Armored Car
Asteroids Deluxe
Asteroids
Attack Force
Azurian Attack
Bagman
Balloon Bomber
Battle of Atlantis
Battle Road
Beastie Feastie
Berzerk
Big Kong
Billiard
Bionic Commando
Birdiy
Black Hole
Black Tiger
Black Widow
Block Gal
Blue Shark
Bomb Jack
Boot Hill
Botanic
Breakout
Bubble Bobble (Japan, Ver 0.1)
Bubbles
Bullfight
Burger Time
BurningRubber
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (World 930201)
Calipso
Canyon Bomber
Captain Commando -World 911202-
Carrier Air Wing -World 901012-
Catacomb
Centipede (revision 4)
Centipede
Clean Sweep
Clowns
Colony 7
Combat School Joystick
Commando
Computer Space
Contra (US 3)
Cosmic Avenger
Cosmo
Crater Raider
Crazy Balloon
Crazy Climber
Crazy Kong (Orca bootleg)
Crazy Kong Part II
Crazy Kong
Crush Roller
Daimakaimura -Japan Resale Ver.-
Daimakaimura -Japan-
Dark Planet (no bkg)
Dark Planet
Defender
Demolition Derby
Devil Fish
Dig Dug
DigDug2
Discs of Tron
DoDonPachi (Arrange)
DoDonPachi (Japan)
DoDonPachi
Domino Man
Dominos
Donkey Kong (Japan set 1)
Donkey Kong (Spanish Crazy Kong bootleg)
Donkey Kong 3 (bootleg)
Donkey Kong 3
Donkey Kong Junior
Donkey Kong
Dorodon
Double Dragon II - The Revenge
Double Dragon
Dream Shopper
Druaga
Dynasty Wars -USA, B-Board 89624B- -
Eeekk!
Eggor
Extra Bases
Eyes
F-1 Dream
Flicky
Food Fight
Forgotten Worlds -World, newer-
Frenzy
Frogger (Konami Bugfixed)
Frogger
Future Spy
Galaga (fast shoot) - HBMame
Galaga 3 (GP3 rev. D)
Galaga
Galaxian
Galaxy Wars
Ganbare! Marine Kun -Japan 2K0411-
Gaplus (GP2 rev. B)
Gauntlet (rev 14)
Gauntlet II
Gemini Wing
Ghosts'n Goblins (JT)
Ghouls'n Ghosts -patched-
Ghouls'n Ghosts -World-
Gorf - Program 1
Gorf - Speech
Gorf
Gorkans
Gorodki
Gravitar
Green Beret
Gulun.Pa_-_Prototype_1993_-_Japan_931220_L-
Gun Fight
Gun Smoke
Horizon
I'm Sorry
Jin
Journey
Joust
Jump Shot
Kick-Man
Kick
Kid Niki - Radical Ninja
King And Balloon
Knights of the Round -World 911127-
Konek Gorbunok
Kot-Rybolov
Kozmik Kroozr
Kung-Fu Master
Lady Bug
Laguna Racer
Legendary Wings
Lizard Wizard
Lode Runner II - The Bungeling Strikes Back
Lode Runner III - The Golden Labyrinth
Lode Runner IV - Teikoku Karano Dasshutsu
Lode Runner
Lost Tomb
Lucky Today
Lunar Battle
Lunar Lander
Lunar Rescue
Lupin III
Magic Sword  Heroic Fantasy -World 900725-
Mappy
Mario Bros
Mars
Max RPM
Mayday
Mega Man  The Power Battle -CPS1, USA 951006-
Mega Twins -World 900619-
Mercs -World 900302-
Mighty Monkey
Minefield
Mister Viking
Moon Cresta
Moon Patrol
Moonwar
Motos
Mr. Do Nightmare
Mr. Do
Mr. TNT
Ms. Pac-Man (speedup hack)
Ms. Pacman
Muscle Bomber Duo Ultimate Team Battle (World 931206)
My Hero
Nemo -World 901130-
New Rally-X
Ninjakun
Omega
Orbitron
Pac-Man (Midway)
Pacman Club
Pacman Plus
Pacmanic Miner
Pang! 3 -Euro 950601-
Pengo
Pest Place
Phoenix
Pickin'
Pirate Ship Higemaru
Pisces
Pitfall II (unencypted, cheat)
Pitfall II
Playball
Pleiads (Centuri)
Pleiads (Tehkan)
Pleiads
Pnickies -Japan 940608-
Pokonyan! Balloon -Japan 940322-
PolyPlay 2
PolyPlay 2c
PolyPlay
Pong
Ponpoko
Pooyan
Popeye
Power Drive
Puck Man (Japan set 1)
QBert
Quiz %26 Dragons  Capcom Quiz Game -USA 920701-
Quiz Tonosama no Yabou 2  Zenkoku-ban -Japan 950123-
Radar Scope
Rafflesia
Rally-X
Rampage
Regulus
Rescue
River Patrol
Robby Roto
Robotron 2084
Rush'n Attack (US)
Rygar
Sarge
Satans Hollow
Saturday Night Slam Masters (World 930713)
Scramble
Sea Wolf
Seawolf II
SectionZ
Sega Ninja
Shot Rider
Shuffleboard
Shuttle Invader
Side Arms - Hyper Dyne (World, 861129)
Silkworm
Silver Land
Sinistar
Sky Skipper
Snap Jack
Snezhnaja Koroleva
Solar Fox
Solomon no Kagi (Japan)
Solomon's Key
SOS
Space Chaser
Space Encounters
Space Invaders II (Midway, cocktail)
Space Invaders Part II
Space Invaders
Space Race
Space Zap
Spatter
Speed Coin
Spelunker II - 23 no Kagi
Spelunker
Splat
Sprint 1
Sprint 2
Spy Hunter
Squash
Star Guards
Star Jacker (alt)
Star Jacker
Stargate
Strategy X
Street Fighter (US, set 1)
Street Fighter II  The World Warrior -World 910522-
Street Fighter II'  Champion Edition -World 920513-
Street Fighter II'  Hyper Fighting -World 921209-
Street Fighter Zero -CPS Changer, Japan 951020-
Strider -USA, B-Board 89624B-2-
Super Bagman
Super Breakout
Super Cobra
Super Glob
Super Zaxxon
Swat
Tapper
Tazz-Mania
TeddyBoy Blues
Tetris (cocktail set 1)
Tetris
The End (bkg)
The End
The Glob
The King of Dragons -World 910805-
The Punisher (World 930422)
Three Wonders -World 910520-
Tiger Road
Timber
Time Pilot '84 (Set 1)
Time Pilot '84 (Set 2)
Time Pilot '84 (Set 3)
Time Pilot
Tokio - Scramble Formation (bootleg)
Traverse USA - Zippy Race
Trojan (Romstar)
Tron
Turbo Tag
Turtles
Two Tigers
U.N. Squadron -USA-
Ultra Tank
UniWar S
Up'n Down
Van-Van Car
Varth  Operation Thunderstorm -World 920714-
Victory
Vindicators Part II (rev 3)
Vortex
Vulgus
Wacko
War of the Bugs
Warriors of Fate (World 921031)
Water Match
Willow -World-
Wizard of Wor - Speech
Wizard of Wor
Wonder Boy
Woodpecker
Xevious
Youjyuden
Zaxxon
Zig Zag

That is 335 games if my count is correct, In addition to that there are also Alternates to the games, an example would be Galaga with Fast Shoot enabled, or
Ms Pac-Man Speed Up version..  I did not count all of those, but here is the list..

I am attaching the full list here, but for @Javeryh  Here are the Donkey Kong Alternates

 Directory of D:\_Arcade\alternatives_\_Donkey Kong

Naked Donkey Kong - HBMame
Donkey Kong (2600 graphics) - HBMame
Donkey Kong (US set 1 with barrel control coloring) - HBMame
Donkey Kong Foundry (hack)
Donkey Kong (hard kit)
Donkey Kong (Japan set 1)
Donkey Kong Pace - HBMame
Donkey Kong (2 marios) - HBMame
Donkey Kong Pauline Edition Rev 5 (2013-04-22)
Donkey Kong (Pacman graphics) - HBMame
Rainbow Donkey Kong - HBMame
Donkey Kong (US set 2)
Donkey Kong (Japan set 2)
Donkey Kong Freerun Edition - HBMame
Donkey Kong (patched) - HBMame
Donkey Kong Foundry - HBMame
Donkey Kong Reverse - HBMame
Donkey Kong Remix demo 1.8 - HBMame
Donkey Kong Trainer 1.01 - HBMame
Donkey Kong (Japan set 3)

[javeryh]

Wow nice.  I assume you can toggle games on and off if you don't want them to appear in the list?  Like if you don't have a spinner you wouldn't want Arkanoid...

[Titchgamer]

You can just delete them.

[Zebidee]

Rainbow Donkey Kong - HBMame

Gay Mario? Explains the moustache.

[dmckean]

You can just delete them.

They just come back when you run update again. I think there might be a way to exclude them from the updates in an ini file.

What's also needed is a favorites list as this a an issue that will only grow as more and more cores are added.

[Titchgamer]

You can just delete them.

They just come back when you run update again. I think there might be a way to exclude them from the updates in an ini file.

What's also needed is a favorites list as this a an issue that will only grow as more and more cores are added.

Yeah there is a way to stop them updating I think but never done it.

Yeah a faves list would be great!

[Zeosstud]

On my main MiSTer I simply made a Favorites folder and added the.mra files into it, works great and it does not get messed up when you update.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Titchgamer]

On my main MiSTer I simply made a Favorites folder and added the.mra files into it, works great and it does not get messed up when you update.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I did the same, But be nice to have a proper automatic one.

[lettuce]

Ghouls'n Ghosts -patched-
Ghouls'n Ghosts -World-

whats different about the patched version??

[bobbyb13]

And so it begins...

mwahahahahahahaha 

Damn thing cost a days pay so hopefully I can get it to work.

The update script left me wondering how it could all be this easy (even with my currently glacial internet connection) so wondering what I will find once I fire it up and plug it into a monitor.

[Titchgamer]

Congrats man! Enjoy!

[Zebidee]

I'm getting excited!!!   

It has also been occurring to me that I don't currently have a suitable JAMMA cabinet available for the Mistercade I pre-ordered so I guess there'll be a new build thread soon.

[bobbyb13]

I'm getting excited!!!   

It has also been occurring to me that I don't currently have a suitable JAMMA cabinet available for the Mistercade I pre-ordered so I guess there'll be a new build thread soon.

Even more fun that this mayhem will induce another build!
Like you weren't busy already
 

[Gilrock]

I'm getting excited!!!   

It has also been occurring to me that I don't currently have a suitable JAMMA cabinet available for the Mistercade I pre-ordered so I guess there'll be a new build thread soon.

Ditto...If I could just find a CRT.

[javeryh]

And so it begins...

mwahahahahahahaha 

Damn thing cost a days pay so hopefully I can get it to work.

The update script left me wondering how it could all be this easy (even with my currently glacial internet connection) so wondering what I will find once I fire it up and plug it into a monitor.

Niiiiice.  Make sure you take lots of pics for your build thread in case someone wants to do something similar... 

[Titchgamer]

Nice!

[bobbyb13]

And so it begins...

mwahahahahahahaha 

Damn thing cost a days pay so hopefully I can get it to work.

The update script left me wondering how it could all be this easy (even with my currently glacial internet connection) so wondering what I will find once I fire it up and plug it into a monitor.

Niiiiice.  Make sure you take lots of pics for your build thread in case someone wants to do something similar... 

I'm still trying to finish the S.S. Marshmallow myself (the build that the MiSTer IS actually intended to go in) but I think we need to keep an eye on Zebidee for a project announcement at this point.

I'm getting excited!!!   

It has also been occurring to me that I don't currently have a suitable JAMMA cabinet available for the Mistercade I pre-ordered so I guess there'll be a new build thread soon.

Ditto...If I could just find a CRT.

And it's too bad the things are so stupid to ship Gilrock, or I would send you a TV.
Are there no curbside/dumpster/craigslist tubes in your neighborhood any longer?

[javeryh]

And it's too bad the things are so stupid to ship Gilrock, or I would send you a TV.
Are there no curbside/dumpster/craigslist tubes in your neighborhood any longer?

I don't know where Gilrock is but around the NYC area they are tough to come by.  We have a recycling place in town but you aren't allowed to take - I've been yelled at plenty of times rummaging through the shipping container where they put everything and even then I almost never see tubes (the screens are mostly old LCD TVs). Maybe I'm just not getting lucky though

[dmckean]

And it's too bad the things are so stupid to ship Gilrock, or I would send you a TV.
Are there no curbside/dumpster/craigslist tubes in your neighborhood any longer?

I don't know where Gilrock is but around the NYC area they are tough to come by.  We have a recycling place in town but you aren't allowed to take - I've been yelled at plenty of times rummaging through the shipping container where they put everything and even then I almost never see tubes (the screens are mostly old LCD TVs). Maybe I'm just not getting lucky though

There's a bunch of $50 arcade monitors here:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/vgm/d/stamford-arcade-game-monitors/7295537871.html

And a TV with component inputs here:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/ele/d/tarrytown-philips-crt-tv-sony/7290344787.html

The search terms I use are "crt tv" "crt monitor" "not a flat screen" "trinitron" "tube tv" "arcade monitor"

[dmckean]

Ghouls'n Ghosts -patched-
Ghouls'n Ghosts -World-

whats different about the patched version??

I guess the patched version boots straight into the game rather than going through the boot up tests.

[pbj]

There's a bunch of $50 arcade monitors here:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/vgm/d/stamford-arcade-game-monitors/7295537871.html

And a TV with component inputs here:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/ele/d/tarrytown-philips-crt-tv-sony/7290344787.html

The search terms I use are "crt tv" "crt monitor" "not a flat screen" "trinitron" "tube tv" "arcade monitor"

 

Pwnt

[Gilrock]

Yeah I don't think there are a lot of CRT's to find in Tucson, AZ either.  I've only seen TVs with composite inputs and not sure if they would be conversion candidates.  And dealing with anyone on Craiglist sucks.  I was trying to buy an arcade cab a couple weeks ago and I call on Wed and the guy says he can't show it till the weekend.  So I email on Friday and say I'm ready to come over with the money just tell me where you are.  No reply.  I text him Saturday and said hey I want this just give me the location and time to meet.  No reply.  Then Sunday he texts me and says hey do you still want this I haven't been able to contact the guy that was supposed to come look at it.  I said yes I can come right now give me the address.  Doesn't reply for 2 hours and then texts and says sorry the guy came by and took it.  What an ---uvula---.  I was ready to drive over there Wed and would have paid above asking.

[dmckean]

Yeah I don't think there are a lot of CRT's to find in Tucson, AZ either.  I've only seen TVs with composite inputs and not sure if they would be conversion candidates.  And dealing with anyone on Craiglist sucks.  I was trying to buy an arcade cab a couple weeks ago and I call on Wed and the guy says he can't show it till the weekend.  So I email on Friday and say I'm ready to come over with the money just tell me where you are.  No reply.  I text him Saturday and said hey I want this just give me the location and time to meet.  No reply.  Then Sunday he texts me and says hey do you still want this I haven't been able to contact the guy that was supposed to come look at it.  I said yes I can come right now give me the address.  Doesn't reply for 2 hours and then texts and says sorry the guy came by and took it.  What an ---uvula---.  I was ready to drive over there Wed and would have paid above asking.

Dealing with people always sucks. It is what it is though.

This is really neat, A PAL TV with Scart in the US, you would need a transformer to use it but it would be awesome for cores like Amiga where half of the games are PAL.
https://tucson.craigslist.org/zip/d/tucson-panasonic-20-inch-uk-tv/7290952926.html

Also, I would email or text this person and ask for the model number, tell them it's located on the back.
https://tucson.craigslist.org/ele/d/tucson-sony-tv-trinitron/7295355904.html

[pbj]

If they aren’t available to sell it or buy it on the next non-school day, the trade ain’t happening.  I’ve been mistaken once in 20 years with this rule of thumb.  Cash in hand pbj offer and I pick it up Saturday morning.  Take it or leave it.

 

[Zeosstud]

The guy in that video has a warehouse full of stuff.. Find him and I bet you could get something.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Gilrock]

This is really neat, A PAL TV with Scart in the US, you would need a transformer to use it but it would be awesome for cores like Amiga where half of the games are PAL.
https://tucson.craigslist.org/zip/d/tucson-panasonic-20-inch-uk-tv/7290952926.html

Also, I would email or text this person and ask for the model number, tell them it's located on the back.
https://tucson.craigslist.org/ele/d/tucson-sony-tv-trinitron/7295355904.html

You're not going to find an ad I haven't seen already around here.

[Zebidee]

And it's too bad the things are so stupid to ship Gilrock, or I would send you a TV.
Are there no curbside/dumpster/craigslist tubes in your neighborhood any longer?

I don't know where Gilrock is but around the NYC area they are tough to come by.  We have a recycling place in town but you aren't allowed to take - I've been yelled at plenty of times rummaging through the shipping container where they put everything and even then I almost never see tubes (the screens are mostly old LCD TVs). Maybe I'm just not getting lucky though

There's a bunch of $50 arcade monitors here:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/vgm/d/stamford-arcade-game-monitors/7295537871.html

And a TV with component inputs here:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/ele/d/tarrytown-philips-crt-tv-sony/7290344787.html

The search terms I use are "crt tv" "crt monitor" "not a flat screen" "trinitron" "tube tv" "arcade monitor"

Component TV + GreenAntz RGB/VGA to component transcoder (still only US$60 including shipping to USA) and you're in business.

If you find a composite input TV and it can't be RGB modded, good chance you can easily component-mod it. Component modding is often easier as it can use direct inputs to the jungle chip, rather than having to go in via OSD.

There are four of these 20" TVs I know how to component mod, which are available "new" in box for about US$65. They are locally assembled in Thailand and have new electronics "China TV" chassis + recycled tubes. Wondering if it is worth buying them up and doing a production run of 20" arcade cabs. That'd make the build thread more interesting. I love the 20" size tubes for cabs.

On the other hand, last week I found 2 local 20" TVs, one Sanyo with component inputs already and a TCL with composite. I haven't had a look inside the TCL yet, but hopeful that can be component modded too. TCL might have vertical deflection issues as image looked a bit squished (should be able to fix that, fingers crossed X). Paid about US$25 in local monopoly money for both.

There are still a lot of CRTs floating around in Thailand, to be expected as they are still being used more than in highly developed economies. Greater economic stratification too - richer people getting rid of old stuff, but poorer people still using it. Anyway, good to have TVs easily available because finding arcade monitors in Thailand is quite hard.

[gamepimp]

If you get the IO board for MiSTer you can output component video directly from the DB15 connector. Most of the cores also support what's called "Direct Video" which allows you to use a HDMI to component converter. Supposedly you have to add a diode and resistor to the converter for YPbPr output. There are a couple of links below about it for anyone interested.

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=37304&sid=925d52df79d250f07cb47ac7035f7b63

[Zebidee]

If you get the IO board for MiSTer you can output component video directly from the DB15 connector. Most of the cores also support what's called "Direct Video" which allows you to use a HDMI to component converter. Supposedly you have to add a diode and resistor to the converter for YPbPr output. There are a couple of links below about it for anyone interested.

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=37304&sid=925d52df79d250f07cb47ac7035f7b63

I've heard reports that the MiSTer YPbPr output does not do PAL modes. Hopefully I can test that myself soon. As you would likely expect me to say, reports are that GreenAntz YPbPr output generally looks better and GreenAntz does all PAL/NTSC etc. any modes that your SDTV supports with almost zero lag (no "digital processing").

I would do the "sync on green" mod differently. That method will lose colour depth and brightness but it will probably work OK, many people won't notice

You can use a HDMI-VGA adapter with GreenAntz too, it supports both HV and Csync inputs. No need for modding your MiSTer with diodes and resistors, it will work directly with the VGA output.

[javeryh]

And it's too bad the things are so stupid to ship Gilrock, or I would send you a TV.
Are there no curbside/dumpster/craigslist tubes in your neighborhood any longer?

I don't know where Gilrock is but around the NYC area they are tough to come by.  We have a recycling place in town but you aren't allowed to take - I've been yelled at plenty of times rummaging through the shipping container where they put everything and even then I almost never see tubes (the screens are mostly old LCD TVs). Maybe I'm just not getting lucky though

There's a bunch of $50 arcade monitors here:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/vgm/d/stamford-arcade-game-monitors/7295537871.html

And a TV with component inputs here:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/ele/d/tarrytown-philips-crt-tv-sony/7290344787.html

The search terms I use are "crt tv" "crt monitor" "not a flat screen" "trinitron" "tube tv" "arcade monitor"

I won't use craigslist any more.  Too many people don't show or cancel last minute or whatever else.  I also wouldn't be surprised if I contacted those sellers they would tell me the stuff isn't available any more.  You have to get really lucky to feel good about a craigslist transaction.  eBay is one thing since they ship to your house but I've got better things to do than deal with people on craigslist. 

[TacoTownCharlie]

This is really neat, A PAL TV with Scart in the US, you would need a transformer to use it but it would be awesome for cores like Amiga where half of the games are PAL.
https://tucson.craigslist.org/zip/d/tucson-panasonic-20-inch-uk-tv/7290952926.html

Also, I would email or text this person and ask for the model number, tell them it's located on the back.
https://tucson.craigslist.org/ele/d/tucson-sony-tv-trinitron/7295355904.html

You're not going to find an ad I haven't seen already around here.

I'm not sure this will fit in the Trans Am but I have other cars I can use to pick this up.
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/zip/d/phoenix-free-tv/7298687636.html

Not sure about this one:
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/zip/d/chandler-free-tv-entertainment-center/7298388010.html

[Gilrock]

I'm not sure this will fit in the Trans Am but I have other cars I can use to pick this up.
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/zip/d/phoenix-free-tv/7298687636.html

Not sure about this one:
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/zip/d/chandler-free-tv-entertainment-center/7298388010.html

Thanks for offering to help TTC you're the best.  I already have a 20" CRT TV I bought a while back that I couldn't figure out how to mod.  Those TVs look a little too big.  I had thought about buying one of those 27" Tri-Sync CRTs I see for sale but Mike A said that was too big and that flat screen CRTs are terrible. 

[KenToad]

I have a 32 inch Trinitron flat screen CRT that I got for 20 bucks from someone local on Craigslist. It weighs 165 pounds, but it accepts Component and S-video and has a glorious picture. I have light gun games running from the NES (Zapper), Genesis (light Phaser and Justifier), PS1 (Guncon 1), and PS2 (Guncon 2). I've even put the Raspberry pi on there through composite. I'm debating getting a GreenAntz VGA to Component transcoder from Zebidee to further increase my options.

Maybe some flat-screen CRT's are terrible, but that isn't my experience.

[Zebidee]

I have a 32 inch Trinitron flat screen CRT that I got for 20 bucks from someone local on Craigslist. It weighs 165 pounds, but it accepts Component and S-video and has a glorious picture. I have light gun games running from the NES (Zapper), Genesis (light Phaser and Justifier), PS1 (Guncon 1), and PS2 (Guncon 2). I've even put the Raspberry pi on there through composite. I'm debating getting a GreenAntz VGA to Component transcoder from Zebidee to further increase my options.

Maybe some flat-screen CRT's are terrible, but that isn't my experience.

Flat screens aren't terrible, mostly it comes down to people worrying about convergence at the corners being wonky. Screen isn't curved, but not a big deal when compared to using an LCD.

I'm just now finishing a new batch of GreenAntz. We've made another design upgrade, this time adding a simple slide-switch to swap between H+V and composite sync input modes. Simpler, prettier, tidier, no bits to misplace.

[pbj]

Can someone find me a CRT that will rub my shoulders and hold me at night?  I'd check Craig's List but I had a weird experience once 20 years ago and it's too many mouse clicks to look myself.

If it's not absolutely perfect, $0, and delivered precisely when I want it it's not good enough.

 

[Zebidee]

Can someone find me a CRT that will rub my shoulders and hold me at night?  I'd check Craig's List but I had a weird experience once 20 years ago and it's too many mouse clicks to look myself.

If it's not absolutely perfect, $0, and delivered precisely when I want it it's not good enough.

 

I once had exactly that happen and the woman asked me out. She might have even rubbed my shoulders if I asked nicely.

BTW she was nice n all, but I said NO. Between my wife and my hobbies I have neither the time nor the desire.

[Gilrock]

Can someone find me a CRT that will rub my shoulders and hold me at night?  I'd check Craig's List but I had a weird experience once 20 years ago and it's too many mouse clicks to look myself.

If it's not absolutely perfect, $0, and delivered precisely when I want it it's not good enough.

 

Are you trying to take a shot at me?  Hard to tell since you won't quote who you are directing your attacks towards.  I haven't asked a single person to look for anything for me they just took it upon themselves.  I'd rather not mess with a TV I want an arcade monitor.  I've paid $500 apiece for the last 2 I bought.
 I usually try to be nice to the folks I've met at ZapCon but you keep taking shots at me and I have no idea what your problem is.

[Zebidee]

pbj just likes throwing random seemingly-nonsense comments around to keep us awake. He generally doesn't mean it personally towards anybody, it is just his way. Part of the local flavour, if you like?

[Titchgamer]

PBJ gunna PBJ.

[dmckean]

I have a 32 inch Trinitron flat screen CRT that I got for 20 bucks from someone local on Craigslist. It weighs 165 pounds, but it accepts Component and S-video and has a glorious picture. I have light gun games running from the NES (Zapper), Genesis (light Phaser and Justifier), PS1 (Guncon 1), and PS2 (Guncon 2). I've even put the Raspberry pi on there through composite. I'm debating getting a GreenAntz VGA to Component transcoder from Zebidee to further increase my options.

Maybe some flat-screen CRT's are terrible, but that isn't my experience.

Flat screens aren't terrible, mostly it comes down to people worrying about convergence at the corners being wonky. Screen isn't curved, but not a big deal when compared to using an LCD.

I'm just now finishing a new batch of GreenAntz. We've made another design upgrade, this time adding a simple slide-switch to swap between H+V and composite sync input modes. Simpler, prettier, tidier, no bits to misplace.

Getting good convergence at the corners is just a matter of learning how the different geometry settings interact with each other. I used to have my ISF Certification way back 22 years ago which was right when these flat tubes were the most popular. It takes a little patience the first few times and then it's easy.

[KenToad]

I had no idea that my TV is likely made of Pennsylvania sand.

[KenToad]

I have a 32 inch Trinitron flat screen CRT that I got for 20 bucks from someone local on Craigslist. It weighs 165 pounds, but it accepts Component and S-video and has a glorious picture. I have light gun games running from the NES (Zapper), Genesis (light Phaser and Justifier), PS1 (Guncon 1), and PS2 (Guncon 2). I've even put the Raspberry pi on there through composite. I'm debating getting a GreenAntz VGA to Component transcoder from Zebidee to further increase my options.

Maybe some flat-screen CRT's are terrible, but that isn't my experience.

Flat screens aren't terrible, mostly it comes down to people worrying about convergence at the corners being wonky. Screen isn't curved, but not a big deal when compared to using an LCD.

I'm just now finishing a new batch of GreenAntz. We've made another design upgrade, this time adding a simple slide-switch to swap between H+V and composite sync input modes. Simpler, prettier, tidier, no bits to misplace.

Getting good convergence at the corners is just a matter of learning how the different geometry settings interact with each other. I used to have my ISF Certification way back 22 years ago which was right when these flat tubes were the most popular. It takes a little patience the first few times and then it's easy.

I spent several hours messing with the service menu in my kv-32fs. It's still not perfect, but good enough for me.

[bobbyb13]

Can someone find me a CRT that will rub my shoulders and hold me at night?  I'd check Craig's List but I had a weird experience once 20 years ago and it's too many mouse clicks to look myself.

If it's not absolutely perfect, $0, and delivered precisely when I want it it's not good enough.

 

I once had exactly that happen and the woman asked me out. She might have even rubbed my shoulders if I asked nicely.

BTW she was nice n all, but I said NO. Between my wife and my hobbies I have neither the time nor the desire.

Seems that all of my friends who go to Thailand are looking for exactly what you avoid
 

[bobbyb13]

I had no idea that my TV is likely made of Pennsylvania sand.

Thanks for posting this!

[Zebidee]

Seems that all of my friends who go to Thailand are looking for exactly what you avoid
 

It is funny how often people assume that, not just men, but even women in Australia when I tell them I'm married to a Thai. They rarely say it of course, but you can easily infer by what they say and do. They all seem to assume she is not serious, like a bar girl I use for sex holiday visa convenience or something. Until they meet her or *listen* to me talking like she is a real person n all. No, I married her because she is amazing and she said yes. And I am in Thailand for HER convenience, not mine

If you go to northern Thailand, or any of the hilltribe areas, a common get-to-know-you question people will ask men is "how many (common-law) wives do you have?". At one point (before actually being married) I was doing volunteer work there and had 3 different ladies on the go (Aussie, Canadian and Thai) and had to think a lot about how to answer that question    Weirdly, one hilltribe fortune teller (a wandering wizened Akha hilltribe crone who could read your palm while giving you a arm massage) guessed (knew) the right answer and we weren't even talking about it. One is enough for now 

[Hoopz]

I love my Mister!
I sold my Pi setups and just got the Mister for playing on my HDTV downstairs when I am feeling to lazy to play the original stuff.
Everything looks and plays great on it.

I must admit Jimbo I would also like to see a way to lock out the menu's so you cant accidentally go into anything you should not, Of course its easy to backup the SD card so if anything gets broken its easy to put it back but be nice to not need that option.
I have accidentally switched it to SD instead of USB a few times myself and so locked myself out requiring me to plug a keyboard in as my 8bitdo controllers are linked to the config files on the USB (atleast I think thats why!)
Again not a big deal but just one of those irritating things.

I made a video about it if anyone is interested for my YT channel, Yeah its a new channel and I am still learning about this YT video editing malarky!

Thanks for posting this video. I just started reading about the MiSTer project and your explanation really helped me understand what it is, what's needed, etc.  Good job.

[Titchgamer]

I love my Mister!
I sold my Pi setups and just got the Mister for playing on my HDTV downstairs when I am feeling to lazy to play the original stuff.
Everything looks and plays great on it.

I must admit Jimbo I would also like to see a way to lock out the menu's so you cant accidentally go into anything you should not, Of course its easy to backup the SD card so if anything gets broken its easy to put it back but be nice to not need that option.
I have accidentally switched it to SD instead of USB a few times myself and so locked myself out requiring me to plug a keyboard in as my 8bitdo controllers are linked to the config files on the USB (atleast I think thats why!)
Again not a big deal but just one of those irritating things.

I made a video about it if anyone is interested for my YT channel, Yeah its a new channel and I am still learning about this YT video editing malarky!

Thanks for posting this video. I just started reading about the MiSTer project and your explanation really helped me understand what it is, what's needed, etc.  Good job.

Glad it helped cheers dude.

[bobbyb13]

Anyone have some controller wisdom they can share?

I'm about to order some 8BitDo controllers.
The SN30 Pro+ is already overkill for me for the foreseeable future so curious to know if anyone has used these.

I imagine I will only ever be using them wired up too but suggestions on the best BT dongle to use a pair of them at once would be awesome also.

Thanks y'all !

[Titchgamer]

Anyone have some controller wisdom they can share?

I'm about to order some 8BitDo controllers.
The SN30 Pro+ is already overkill for me for the foreseeable future so curious to know if anyone has used these.

I imagine I will only ever be using them wired up too but suggestions on the best BT dongle to use a pair of them at once would be awesome also.

Thanks y'all !

I use a pair of SN30s wirelessly.
I think the BT adapter I use is a edimax but would have to check.

[bobbyb13]

Thanks for the reply!

I read that they have something on the order of only a line or two of lag- which seems outrageously fast.

[Titchgamer]

Thanks for the reply!

I read that they have something on the order of only a line or two of lag- which seems outrageously fast.

Cant comment on the lag but they are good.

So the model number on my adapter is a UDC-324B.

[dmckean]

The only 8bitdo controller I own in the M30 and I use it for 6 button games and it's excellent. It's very responsive and it has the best d-pad of any controller I own.

[gamepimp]

The only 8bitdo controller I own in the M30 and I use it for 6 button games and it's excellent. It's very responsive and it has the best d-pad of any controller I own.

I've heard the M30 is a really good controller. It got a very good score for lower latency on the spreadsheet MisterAddons put together.

[nitrogen_widget]

PBJ gunna PBJ.

does this mister thing play gauntlet legends at 100%?

[Titchgamer]

PBJ gunna PBJ.

does this mister thing play gauntlet legends at 100%?

Dont think anyone has made a core for it yet.

[Gilrock]

I've actually never seen or heard of Gauntlet Legends so I had to look it up.  The couple reviews I found were not favorable.

https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/gauntlet-legends-review/1900-2544469/#:~:text=The%20music%20is%20mediocre%20at,is%20neither%20enthralling%20nor%20interesting.

[CanadianRyGuy]

Hey everyone, I’m not super technical with this stuff so excuse my level of competence if my question was already explained. I’m curious what the limitations of the Mister are? Could it technically handle late 90s arcade games and it’s just a matter of copying a more complex core? Or is the core not the most limiting factor and computing power actually limits what this thing can do? I know progress is slow but gaining momentum and stuff, but just curious if it would ever replace a decent Mame machine running GroovyMame on a crt. I have a Tmnt and the thought of using this to really dedicate it to just Konami beat em ups is intriguing.
Cheers all!

[dmckean]

Hey everyone, I’m not super technical with this stuff so excuse my level of competence if my question was already explained. I’m curious what the limitations of the Mister are? Could it technically handle late 90s arcade games and it’s just a matter of copying a more complex core? Or is the core not the most limiting factor and computing power actually limits what this thing can do? I know progress is slow but gaining momentum and stuff, but just curious if it would ever replace a decent Mame machine running GroovyMame on a crt. I have a Tmnt and the thought of using this to really dedicate it to just Konami beat em ups is intriguing.
Cheers all!

MiSTer will never do NAOMI/Dreamcast or any of the other 3D era arcade hardware, it simply doesn't have the bandwidth. And even if it did, this is the era when chips started being designed with computers and trying to implement chips with 25 million transistors would be a massive undertaking. 

It should be able to handle most of the arcade hardware up to the mid-90s. Arcade boards that used a lot of SRAM in their design could also pose issues because of the limited amount of BRAM on the DE-10 Nano.

[Jimbo]

When a game is loaded, can you prevent someone (e.g. one of your kids) from getting into a menu to mess with settings?  I've seen a video where you can prevent people from going outside the main game list when selecting a core/game to load, but can someone clarify whether its possible to prevent any tweaking once you're in a game/core?  (e.g. the menu that lets you change aspect ratio and other video settings).

Thanks

[bobbyb13]

Thanks for the reply!

I read that they have something on the order of only a line or two of lag- which seems outrageously fast.

Cant comment on the lag but they are good.

So the model number on my adapter is a UDC-324B.

The only 8bitdo controller I own in the M30 and I use it for 6 button games and it's excellent. It's very responsive and it has the best d-pad of any controller I own.

Thanks for replies y'all !

[Zeosstud]

The way I locked it down in the video, the only thing someone could bring up while your playing a game, is the list of games available.. That is it.. No other button would have any effect. You could even assign the Alt-F12 macro to a 2 or 3 button combo, which would make it even more unlikely they could mess up a game.

Zeosstud

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Jimbo]

perfect, thanks for clarifying 

[KenToad]

Regarding controllers, I bought the Hori PC Engine mini pad after seeing it scored well on the Mister latency chart. The pad is well-made and responsive. It's plug and play on my PC and Raspberry Pi (as well as the Mister apparently, but I can't test yet). It has a 10 foot USB cable and hardwired turbo switches that function independently of software.

If I had one complaint, it would be that the D-pad is a little too stiff and snappy, especially compared to the 30 year old Turbografx pads that I've tested, but the Hori pad is definitely worth the 25 bucks on Amazon. I bought a 2nd one after testing the first and I'll be using them on Mister once I get one.

[dmckean]

Just an FYI that that Terasic DE0-10 Nano board recently had a $35 price hike which has been confirmed to be permanent.

[Zeosstud]

Sad, but true.. :-(

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Titchgamer]

Dang that sucks
Not a massive suprise though.

[dmckean]

It's still a bargain compared to real hardware, but it always sucks to see the price raised.

[bobbyb13]

I think even at that price they are still effectively losing money on building them.  They are a subsidized educational piece, right?

Global chip drama is not in our favor for sure.

Feels like everything we are familiar with will in a year will cost 25% more than it did only a couple of years ago as it is anyway (chip or no.)

[Zebidee]

Just an FYI that that Terasic DE0-10 Nano board recently had a $35 price hike which has been confirmed to be permanent.

Glad I got 2 of them then

[dmckean]

I think even at that price they are still effectively losing money on building them.  They are a subsidized educational piece, right?

Global chip drama is not in our favor for sure.

Feels like everything we are familiar with will in a year will cost 25% more than it did only a couple of years ago as it is anyway (chip or no.)

I think prices on this stuff is pretty arbitrary really. I doubt anyone is losing money anywhere. I think it has more to do with the fact that most of these parts are produced for the low volume embedded and robotics markets where SOCs are bought in volumes of 10-50 at a time. I think that Terasic is doing runs of several thousand at a time and that's how they've kept the price down.

Take a look at this new Kria SOM from XILINK, it's made for the emerging smart camera market and is being made in volume. It offers quite a bit more than the DE-10 NANO for only about $30 more.

https://www.xilinx.com/products/som/kria/kv260-vision-starter-kit.html

[Grasshopper]

Damn. That's a shame. I've been very close to buying a Mister for some time now, but the price rise is now making me think twice. Kits are still available on Mouser UK for £135, which isn't too expensive, but you'll have to wait till August to get one...

I think even at that price they are still effectively losing money on building them.  They are a subsidized educational piece, right?

I'm always a bit cynical when manufacturers claim they're selling products below cost for "educational purposes". Most of the time it's just marketing BS. I'd be very surprised if Terasic are actually selling these boards at a loss. After all, they're not a charity.

[KenToad]

Getting back to the love fest, I just learned about the MT-32 Pi that you can interface with the Mister to produce perfect recreations of rare and expensive 80's and 90's MIDI synth modules.

However, it doesn't seem to be available to purchase.  Seems like nice metal cases for the Mister also aren't available.

[Zeosstud]

Check misteraddons.com I think the aluminum cases are online again..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Zeosstud]

Scrap that, the pic is there again, but it says sold out already, guess they are pretty popular.. :-)

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[dmckean]

Getting back to the love fest, I just learned about the MT-32 Pi that you can interface with the Mister to produce perfect recreations of rare and expensive 80's and 90's MIDI synth modules.

However, it doesn't seem to be available to purchase.  Seems like nice metal cases for the Mister also aren't available.

They're out of stock right now, but you can buy pre-built MT-32 Pi hats here:

https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mister-fpga-mt32-pi-hat-v2-1/

I don't think anyone else makes assembled kits yet.

[dmckean]

Damn. That's a shame. I've been very close to buying a Mister for some time now, but the price rise is now making me think twice. Kits are still available on Mouser UK for £135, which isn't too expensive, but you'll have to wait till August to get one...

I wouldn't think twice, it's still a bargain. The MiSTer has been the most fun I've had in years with classic gaming.

[Zebidee]

Damn. That's a shame. I've been very close to buying a Mister for some time now, but the price rise is now making me think twice. Kits are still available on Mouser UK for £135, which isn't too expensive, but you'll have to wait till August to get one...

I think even at that price they are still effectively losing money on building them.  They are a subsidized educational piece, right?

I'm always a bit cynical when manufacturers claim they're selling products below cost for "educational purposes". Most of the time it's just marketing BS. I'd be very surprised if Terasic are actually selling these boards at a loss. After all, they're not a charity.

It is just differential pricing. You get the same thing when you go to the movies or a museum (cheaper price for students/seniors etc). The manufacturing cost is below their cheaper price for sure, but they charge what they can for people that have the money. That's just business. Looks like demand has gone up driven by FPGA/Mister stuff, supply is still fixed, so they increase the price again. Just business, demand and supply in action.

As long as we keep loving the MiSTer the prices will probably stay high.

[KenToad]

Getting back to the love fest, I just learned about the MT-32 Pi that you can interface with the Mister to produce perfect recreations of rare and expensive 80's and 90's MIDI synth modules.

However, it doesn't seem to be available to purchase.  Seems like nice metal cases for the Mister also aren't available.

They're out of stock right now, but you can buy pre-built MT-32 Pi hats here:

https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mister-fpga-mt32-pi-hat-v2-1/

I don't think anyone else makes assembled kits yet.

According to YouTube comments, they've been out of stock for months. Maybe someone built several to keep costs low, then just unloaded that small stock to basically fund their own project?

In any case, the Mister accessory market seems to be both limited and expensive. The USB board sells for $50, which is insanely expensive for a product that only exists because Terasic couldn't put a 2nd 2 normal USB ports on the original board (I know that you can buy a dongle, but it really shouldn't have been necessary in the first place). The cost of the main board would seem a lot more reasonable if they didn't force you to accessorize to get decent functionality.

[CraftyMech]

Wahoo, my account still works!

Been awhile, but wanted to chime in about FPGA.

First, regarding chip prices, the ripple effects have spread to just about everything. Even the AVR microcontrollers I use on three different products have been hit by shortages. The BitKit uses the Spartan6 LX9, which normally runs about $16 from Digikey, now up to $21. The Bluetooth module I use on the BitKit and an Apple II product has doubled in price in the last 3 months. Hopefully the market settles down in the next 6 months.

Regarding FPGA, I wanted to clear up a couple misconceptions.

First off, FPGA isn't perfect by default, it really depends on the developer(s) and how much work is put into making the implementation as accurate as possible. Older arcade hardware, especially 8bit, is a mix of asynchronous and synchronous TTL. FPGA likes to be 100% synchronous, it doesn't do well with fuzzy edges and coincidentally aligned clock edges. Sound is also another issue entirely, since a lot of early 80s hardware had analog circuitry to produce certain sounds. Naturally, modeling analog in the digital domain is a challenge, and it takes a solid knowledge of digital signal processing to produce audio output that sounds authentic.

HDL is like code, but it is "synthesized" (compiled) into what are essentially giant look-up tables. It is not accurate to say that FPGA recreates original hardware down to the transistor level, because it doesn't do that at all. FPGA recreates the original logic and timings if done correctly, but it operates completely differently from the original TTL logic. So I like to think of FPGA as hardware simulation, or "re-creation".

It takes a lot of commitment and time to get it right, so much so, that I question my sanity sometimes. I once spent three solid weeks creating low-pass filters from scratch HDL so the Galaxian "rack" noise (the drone sound the aliens make as they move back and forth in formation) would sound authentic. 

MiSTer is a great project, with a lot of talented contributors (like Jotego). I wish more attention was given to the classic cores, some of them need some TLC. When the BitKit is done with it's run, I'd be glad to start contributing, I just don't have the time as long as my own project is active. MiSTer's Galaxian especially needs some love, the "rack" noise really needs help

Bottom line, FPGA is great, and I encourage anyone who is interested to dabble with the MiSTer, especially since it runs much more then just 8bit arcade games. Just remember that FPGA is not a silver bullet, and since MAME has been around for a long time, there is a high standard for emulation (software or hardware) to live up to.

[bobbyb13]

Thank you for some clarification!
I still only understand a fraction of what is going on but every little glimmer of light shined on it all is fun to learn from.

And I greatly appreciate that people smarter than me are interested in seeing these projects through
 

[Zebidee]

I've got all my bits for the vanilla Mister unit from various places, and tried to install the software Mr Fusion version, but nothing working as yet. But I was tired last night so probably did something wrong.

So looks like I'll have to go back and flash the SD card again, after installing a fresh brain

Still waiting on the Mistercade from misteraddons.com, a completely different order - they said "summer".

[csnow]

Edited - wrong info posted.

[wp34]

The increased cost combined with the absence of the Nintendo catalog makes it a hard sell.  MAME has gotten very good and it just works and works well.

What happened to Nintendo on the MiSTer?  My understanding is the Nintendo consoles was one of the big draws.

[Titchgamer]

The increased cost combined with the absence of the Nintendo catalog makes it a hard sell.  MAME has gotten very good and it just works and works well.

What happened to Nintendo on the MiSTer?  My understanding is the Nintendo consoles was one of the big draws.

I am also confused by that comment?

[bobbyb13]

The increased cost combined with the absence of the Nintendo catalog makes it a hard sell.  MAME has gotten very good and it just works and works well.

What happened to Nintendo on the MiSTer?  My understanding is the Nintendo consoles was one of the big draws.

I am also confused by that comment?

Maybe a reference to rom availability these days and not existence of appropriate cores on MiSTer...?

[Titchgamer]

Maybe?

[dmckean]

MiSTer is a great project, with a lot of talented contributors (like Jotego). I wish more attention was given to the classic cores, some of them need some TLC. When the BitKit is done with it's run, I'd be glad to start contributing, I just don't have the time as long as my own project is active. MiSTer's Galaxian especially needs some love, the "rack" noise really needs help

Bottom line, FPGA is great, and I encourage anyone who is interested to dabble with the MiSTer, especially since it runs much more then just 8bit arcade games. Just remember that FPGA is not a silver bullet, and since MAME has been around for a long time, there is a high standard for emulation (software or hardware) to live up to.

This is great news! The MiSTer project really needs someone who's supper passionate about 8-bit arcade games.

[dmckean]

The increased cost combined with the absence of the Nintendo catalog makes it a hard sell.  MAME has gotten very good and it just works and works well.

What happened to Nintendo on the MiSTer?  My understanding is the Nintendo consoles was one of the big draws.

I guess some of the 8-bit arcade titles like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. could use more work, but the Nintendo console cores are super solid and the NES core will play all the Vs. titles. I'm confused too.

[csnow]

Maybe?

Maybe I misspoke.  I thought there was no Donkey Kong core available due to license fears.  Has that changed ? 

[Zeosstud]

There is a Donkey Kong core on the Mister, has been for years.. There is no Donkey Kong core on the BitKit, which may be what your thinking of perhaps??

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

[csnow]

There is a Donkey Kong core on the Mister, has been for years.. There is no Donkey Kong core on the BitKit, which may be what your thinking of perhaps??

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

Your right, I got them confused.  There was something regarding Donkey Kong that kept me away.  Maybe it was a comment by Haze that the core was poor or something.  I will go back and delete my post - apologies for the error.

[Zeosstud]

Certainly not a big deal.. :-). I wish there was a DK core for the BitKit, I am sure most do, but the author has made a decision, at least to this point not to include one and I respect that.. It really is a glaring ommision in a Stellar device, I know I would own 2 right now if DK was available, instead I am going to order one tomorrow and am really looking forward to playing many of the games the BitKit does include!!

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

[CraftyMech]

Certainly not a big deal.. :-). I wish there was a DK core for the BitKit, I am sure most do, but the author has made a decision, at least to this point not to include one and I respect that.. It really is a glaring ommision in a Stellar device, I know I would own 2 right now if DK was available, instead I am going to order one tomorrow and am really looking forward to playing many of the games the BitKit does include!!

Awesome, just let me know if you have any questions once you receive your BitKit!

Regarding DK, I've been tempted in the past, but over the last few years the BitKit has evolved to embrace a wide variety of games, including oddball underrated titles, so I'm ok with keeping "BitKit weird" as one user put it. There are still a lot of possibilities for future additions, and with limited time to go around, that is where my focus is.

The MiSTer core for DK works fine gameplay wise, it's the sound that is off. Which if you remember back to the early MAME days, has always been the hardest part of that game to get right when emulated. DK presents an extra challenge because of 1) how well the community knows exactly how the game should sound, and 2) many of those sound effects were generated by analog circuits.

[Zeosstud]

The decision to not include DK is yours alone to make, I totally understand.. I would think sound issues might actually be a draw for you as you certainly spent some time fixing Galaxian.. I am ordering one tomorrow regardless, I am looking forward to adding your BitKit to my cab that I have specifically wired up to accept both PC and Jamma input. I have a 2nd dedicated vertical game pedestal with a MiSTer in it mostly because it does have DK and it's many alternatives, if you ever decide to give DK a shot I would be happy to help test.. :-) I plan on assaulting the BitKit high score database with Pengo being the first on my list..

Zeosstud

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

[Zeosstud]

I did a thing.. :-)   Looking forward to some 1 to 1 comparisons.. Up first, Galaxian and Pengo..

[Gilrock]

So we should change the title to "Welcome to the FPGA LOVE Fest"

I've already got the BitKit still sitting in the package and a MisterCade on order.  I still need to modify the PacMan cabinet I bought to have a Jamma harness.  I was kinda waiting to see if I could get the PacMan stencils before I tear the cab apart to restore it.

I have played DK on the Mister and I thought it was great.  I guess having not played on a real one for 30 years and you don't notice any sound issues.  If people who don't even own a Mister weren't telling me it was wrong I wouldn't know better...lol.

[Zeosstud]

I am with you on Donkey Kong, I think we should all gang up on CraftyMech and peer pressure him into building a Donkey Kong core so his sound expertise could become legendary!! Sometimes you just need a little push, you know what I mean.. :-)

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

[Gilrock]

To be honest I was never much of a Donkey Kong fan.  It seemed boring to me when I could step over to Robotron....

[pbj]

Nobody gave a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about Donkey Kong until that damn movie.

[javeryh]

Are you guys feeling OK?

[Zeosstud]

pbj is full of it.. Donkey Kong was crazy popular before King of Kong.. It was the very first game I played when I learned about Mame, what, in 1997 or so.. When they released The Williams Collection, it was straight to Robotron for sure..

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

[CraftyMech]

I am ordering one tomorrow regardless, I am looking forward to adding your BitKit to my cab that I have specifically wired up to accept both PC and Jamma input. I have a 2nd dedicated vertical game pedestal with a MiSTer in it mostly because it does have DK and it's many alternatives, if you ever decide to give DK a shot I would be happy to help test.. :-) I plan on assaulting the BitKit high score database with Pengo being the first on my list..

There are some good Pengo players on the BitKit leaderboards I personally have struggled with Pengo, sometimes I get lucky with the blocks but the Snow Bees always get me.

I'm also working on a mobile app for Android/iOS for uploading scores & firmware updates. The leaderboards have been a fun part of the project, and they are fairly casual and not that serious. I'm hoping with a mobile app making it even easier to upload scores with a screen tap, more BitKit owners will join in.

[CraftyMech]

So we should change the title to "Welcome to the FPGA LOVE Fest"

I've already got the BitKit still sitting in the package and a MisterCade on order.  I still need to modify the PacMan cabinet I bought to have a Jamma harness.  I was kinda waiting to see if I could get the PacMan stencils before I tear the cab apart to restore it.

There are also a couple Jamma adapter solutions for Pac-Man cabinets that wouldn't require you to modify the harness.

My favorite is the one sold by Paradise Arcade, which works with the Pac power supply, and provides jumpers for enabling P1/P2 Start as action buttons (button 1 & 2 for Jamma). https://paradisearcadeshop.com/collections/pcbs-for-jamma-systems/products/pacjamma-converter

The Paradise adapter is more expensive, you can find a much cheaper adapter at ArcadeShop (including the option for mapping buttons 1&2), but you'll need a second switching power supply for the DC voltages the Jamma standard expects: https://www.arcadeshop.com/i/378/jamma-to-ms.-pac-cab-adapter.htm

[Gilrock]

Thanks for the info CraftyMech.  I think I already have 2 of those adapters because I bought it by itself from ArcadeShop for $35 then later went to buy a power supply and found the Midway power supply kit bundled with the adapter for $39.  I bought one of the multicade jamma harnesses and I've got 2 multicade control panel blanks I was going to build that has the joystick, 3 buttons, and a trackball.  I'm building 2 because I wanted a 4 way and an 8 way joystick.

[pbj]

pbj is full of it.. Donkey Kong was crazy popular before King of Kong.. It was the very first game I played when I learned about Mame, what, in 1997 or so.. When they released The Williams Collection, it was straight to Robotron for sure..

Meh, it sold at 60% of the price of Ms Pac and Galaga.  You may believe any damn fool thing you'd like.

[Zeosstud]

I lived it.. I don't have to believe ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.. The pleasure of being 15 in 1982.. :-)

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

[pbj]

We're discussing different time periods.  I'm glad you enjoyed it back in the day.

 

[CraftyMech]

I did a thing.. :-)   Looking forward to some 1 to 1 comparisons.. Up first, Galaxian and Pengo..

Forgot to mention that the current BitKit manual is way out of date. I have been working on the revamped version, and actually should have it posted on my website by this weekend. The current manual still talks about the old menu system, and is missing descriptions of some new features.

[Gilrock]

I’ve been waiting for the Mister aluminum cases to be back in stock.  The email came in at 7:12am saying they were back in stock and I was out riding.  Now the ---smurfs--- are already sold out at 9:30am.  Talk about under estimating demand...geesh.

[Titchgamer]

I think they are getting more and more sought after.

[Zeosstud]

I did a thing.. :-)   Looking forward to some 1 to 1 comparisons.. Up first, Galaxian and Pengo..

Forgot to mention that the current BitKit manual is way out of date. I have been working on the revamped version, and actually should have it posted on my website by this weekend. The current manual still talks about the old menu system, and is missing descriptions of some new features.

Very much looking forward to getting it setup, shipping says it will be here on Monday!!

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

[Zeosstud]

The shipping gods smiled upon me today.. BitKit has arrived!!

Zeosstud

[bobbyb13]

The shipping gods smiled upon me today.. BitKit has arrived!!

Zeosstud

I'm curious to see what the current game list looks like as I imagine I need one of those myself
 

[CraftyMech]

I'm curious to see what the current game list looks like as I imagine I need one of those myself
 

A BitKit owner put together this helpful spreadsheet of supported games, # of buttons, and 4 or 8 way:

http://bitkit.info

[bobbyb13]

I'm curious to see what the current game list looks like as I imagine I need one of those myself
 

A BitKit owner put together this helpful spreadsheet of supported games, # of buttons, and 4 or 8 way:

http://bitkit.info

Well I suppose that solves that dilemma.
What a fun game assortment!
Beastie Feastie/ Glob has always been a weirdo favorite of mine.
Thanks Aaron.

Been looking for an excuse to make a vertical cabinet, so at least now I know where my next 'spare' bit of paycheck is going.
 

[CraftyMech]

Well I suppose that solves that dilemma.
What a fun game assortment!
Beastie Feastie/ Glob has always been a weirdo favorite of mine.
Thanks Aaron.

Been looking for an excuse to make a vertical cabinet, so at least now I know where my next 'spare' bit of paycheck is going.
 

Beastie Feastie is definitely fun! I prefer it over The Glob, which ramps up the difficulty really fast after about the 5th screen.

The BitKit project has introduced me to a lot of underrated games that I'd never played before, and now they are some of my favorites.

Anteater is another one that I really like, it has a fun risk & reward formula. I'd played the microcomputer version back in the 80s, known as Oil's Well, but didn't realize there was an arcade game built on the same idea (I'm not sure really which came first, it might have been Anteater)

[thomashenry]

Getting back to the love fest, I just learned about the MT-32 Pi that you can interface with the Mister to produce perfect recreations of rare and expensive 80's and 90's MIDI synth modules.

Very interesting! I had a quick look online, but could only find mention of the MT-32 being emulated. Are there also recrecations of higher end things like the D50, JD800, JV1080, etc?

[KenToad]

Getting back to the love fest, I just learned about the MT-32 Pi that you can interface with the Mister to produce perfect recreations of rare and expensive 80's and 90's MIDI synth modules.

Very interesting! I had a quick look online, but could only find mention of the MT-32 being emulated. Are there also recrecations of higher end things like the D50, JD800, JV1080, etc?

I don't know, maybe with sound fonts?

Also, the MT-32 pi seems to be available at the moment. https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mister-fpga-mt32-pi-hat-v2-1/

[bobbyb13]

Getting back to the love fest, I just learned about the MT-32 Pi that you can interface with the Mister to produce perfect recreations of rare and expensive 80's and 90's MIDI synth modules.

Very interesting! I had a quick look online, but could only find mention of the MT-32 being emulated. Are there also recrecations of higher end things like the D50, JD800, JV1080, etc?

I don't know, maybe with sound fonts?

Also, the MT-32 pi seems to be available at the moment. https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mister-fpga-mt32-pi-hat-v2-1/

Very cool.

And yet again, something else I knew absolutely nothing about 5 minutes ago and entirely don't understand yet.
 

[opt2not]

Very cool.

And yet again, something else I knew absolutely nothing about 5 minutes ago and entirely don't understand yet.
 

If you’re interested in a run-through of it, I did a stream a few weeks ago of DOS games that support the MT-32 pi on the MiSTer.
It was awesome to play some of these old games from when I was younger with different sounding, fuller music.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1054726045

[Hoopz]

Very cool.

And yet again, something else I knew absolutely nothing about 5 minutes ago and entirely don't understand yet.
 

If you’re interested in a run-through of it, I did a stream a few weeks ago of DOS games that support the MT-32 pi on the MiSTer.
It was awesome to play some of these old games from when I was younger with different sounding, fuller music.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1054726045

I pulled up the stream and scrolled through it.  Happened to land on Dark Forces.  That game prompted my first PC purchase back in 95.   

[csnow]

I lived it.. I don't have to believe ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.. The pleasure of being 15 in 1982.. :-)

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

Do what about DK not being popular until the movie ?!?!  I spent months worth of yard cutting funds on DK decades before some stupid movie came out

Agreed 100%  I was 11 back in 1981 when it released.  The games with the longest line of quarters on the marquee waiting to play in that year was Galaga, Donkey Kong, Ms Pacman, and Defender - bar none!  There were others, but those games ALWAYS had a line.  Asteroids, Pac Man, Galaxian, and Space Invaders preceded them, but they were getting fairly long in the tooth by 81/82.  Personally, Donkey Kong will always be a hard requirement in my game room. 

[KenToad]

This might be the product that finally inspires me to get a Mister setup.

[Zebidee]

Still waiting for my Mistercade that I pre-ordered loooooooooong time ago. They said "summer", but I think summer is over now.

Soon I'll be wondering how to get my money back.

[bobbyb13]

Still waiting for my Mistercade that I pre-ordered loooooooooong time ago. They said "summer", but I think summer is over now.

Soon I'll be wondering how to get my money back.

That WAS a while ago now, wasn't it?

Of course I have one that I burned an image for months ago and never got to fire up.
At this rate I'll be updating that card again before I even get to use the board once.

It has been ordained that the MiSTer shall reside in 'ehukai, but as that has a regular old Kortek 2938 in it there may be some whining and sniveling before I get it all to work properly.

And that is only if for some reason I have any time to have some fun soon!

[Zebidee]

Still waiting for my Mistercade that I pre-ordered loooooooooong time ago. They said "summer", but I think summer is over now.

Soon I'll be wondering how to get my money back.

That WAS a while ago now, wasn't it?

Of course I have one that I burned an image for months ago and never got to fire up.
At this rate I'll be updating that card again before I even get to use the board once.

It has been ordained that the MiSTer shall reside in 'ehukai, but as that has a regular old Kortek 2938 in it there may be some whining and sniveling before I get it all to work properly.

And that is only if for some reason I have any time to have some fun soon!

Is yours a Mister or Mistercade?

When I ordered the Terasic Nano 10 board for it, I got one extra (that was before they increased the price).

I also separately got all the other bits I wanted for a vanilla Mister from 3rd party vendors on ebay etc (rather than the misteraddons.com site). It works fine and I've fired that up with a bunch of arcade, old computer and console cores, all good but haven't spent a lot of time with it yet.

I got some game console controllers to use with the Mister but I prefer arcade controls. Still hoping to see my Mistercade sometime before old age sets in (ordered March).

[KenToad]

The consolized sytem in the video above has a Jamma adapter on the board so that you can hook it up to an arcade cab (11:13 in the video). Does the Mistercade have some other special functionality that makes it significantly different or better?

[bobbyb13]

I have just a plain old MiSTer Andrew.

Like KenToad, I am curious to see what the differences in setup and use are between that and a MiSTercade version.

[opt2not]

Damn that case is butt-ugly.

[KenToad]

Damn that case is butt-ugly.

The consolised case is definitely function over form, I'm glad that there aren't USB ports all on all sides and that the video and power cable ports are close to the ground.

If the board is as good as advertised, I'm sure that we will see alternative cases designed by fans.

[opt2not]

I am curious to see what the differences in setup and use are between that and a MiSTercade version.

I can't speak for the other guys, but the MiSTercade is perfect for arcade users. It's been a very transparent development by the creator MiSTerAddons aka Porkshop Express. He's involved community members in the process, has gotten about a dozen beta testers that have many years of experience with cabinet set-ups (myself included) putting in hours and hours of testing and vetting, and is also going to be producing more than just the MiSTercade itself. There are plans for additional products for MiSTerCade users like versus cabinet adapters, remote boards, even a fancy case!
Rest assured it's not going to look like an N64 reject like the above... yikes.

I don't know about those other rando products, but they've been very closed off from the arcade community, which makes one wonder what shortcuts are they taking?  What are they hiding?

Personally I'd rather support a product coming from someone who is willing to give people full transparency and involve the userbase, aside from the fact the MiSTercade is absolutely perfect.

[KenToad]

An all-in-one board that includes all the "accessories" like a power switch, USB ports in a non-stupid configuration, 128 MB RAM, Jamma, SCART, and VGA/Component connections for a reasonable price is exactly what I've been looking for.

Maybe it'll turn out to be not as great as advertised, but they are at least promising to sell the whole setup on one board for something like $200. They are also saying that they will start production of up to 15,000 units a month starting in October, so I'm definitely going to wait and see how this goes.

[opt2not]

An all-in-one board that includes all the "accessories" like a power switch, USB ports in a non-stupid configuration, 128 MB RAM, Jamma, SCART, and VGA/Component connections for a reasonable price is exactly what I've been looking for.

Maybe it'll turn out to be not as great as advertised, but they are at least promising to sell the whole setup on one board for something like $200. They are also saying that they will start production of up to 15,000 units a month starting in October, so I'm definitely going to wait and see how this goes.

Yeah that's not for me.

I don't need something that I will be moving from one set-up to another.  When I put the MisterCade in the cab, it stays in the cab.  I will get another Mister for the living room set-up and it'll stay there.

[Zebidee]

An all-in-one board that includes all the "accessories" like a power switch, USB ports in a non-stupid configuration, 128 MB RAM, Jamma, SCART, and VGA/Component connections for a reasonable price is exactly what I've been looking for.

Maybe it'll turn out to be not as great as advertised, but they are at least promising to sell the whole setup on one board for something like $200. They are also saying that they will start production of up to 15,000 units a month starting in October, so I'm definitely going to wait and see how this goes.

Yeah that's not for me.

I don't need something that I will be moving from one set-up to another.  When I put the MisterCade in the cab, it stays in the cab.  I will get another Mister for the living room set-up and it'll stay there.

That is exactly what I want from the Mistercade too. I want it to be able to use it in an arcade cab without snarling around with an IPAC or similar to connect controls, and in a physical format that is easy to secure inside a cab (screw it down with some PCB legs).

The vanilla Mister I already have is really for the TV room. I can use it with the Panasonic 55" LCD HDTV, or with one of my CRTs if I can be bothered lugging one down from the shed.

[KenToad]

You can just screw the uncased setup down in a cab if you want. You're not losing any functionality, as far as I can tell. Why would you want the thing that does less and costs more?

[Zebidee]

You actually save money with Mistercade because you don't need addons like the IO board and USB boards.

No need for IPAC/keyboard encoder either.

[KenToad]

You actually save money with Mistercade because you don't need addons like the IO board and USB boards.

No need for IPAC/keyboard encoder either.

The consolised board is supposed to cost $200 and includes all the extras you mentioned, including the extra RAM. You don't need an IPAC because it's JAMMA. To be fair, the JAMMA adapter may cost extra. That's not really clear yet.

The Mistercade costs $170 without the RAM, which is another $60.

[Zebidee]

You actually save money with Mistercade because you don't need addons like the IO board and USB boards.

No need for IPAC/keyboard encoder either.

The consolised board is supposed to cost $200 and includes all the extras you mentioned, including the extra RAM. You don't need an IPAC because it's JAMMA. To be fair, the JAMMA adapter may cost extra. That's not really clear yet.

The Mistercade costs $170 without the RAM, which is another $60.

Yeah, so that Mister multisystem probably comes to about the same price as Mistercade I guess, if used for JAMMA, and there is definitely a lot of extra value packed into it. With the console-like case and interfacing ports I think it looks a lot better than the Borg-like layered vanilla Mister.

FPGA for retrogaming is a fast-moving and innovative space, and the offerings will get better and cheaper over time. I feel it is the future for retrogaming and older systems emulation.

[opt2not]

Huh? Doesn’t come with the Ram?? That’s the first I heard of this. Unless you’re thinking about the Ram for the DE-10?

Does the consolized board include the DE-10 and Ram? If so, how are they getting away with a $200 price point when the DE-10 alone costs $170?

[Gilrock]

I looked it up on the Mister forum and the $200 does not include the DE10 so add $170 to that.

[gamepimp]

An all-in-one board that includes all the "accessories" like a power switch, USB ports in a non-stupid configuration, 128 MB RAM, Jamma, SCART, and VGA/Component connections for a reasonable price is exactly what I've been looking for.

Maybe it'll turn out to be not as great as advertised, but they are at least promising to sell the whole setup on one board for something like $200. They are also saying that they will start production of up to 15,000 units a month starting in October, so I'm definitely going to wait and see how this goes.

My only concern with an "All In One" solution that integrates RAM, USB hub, I/O board, etc. is what happens when some component fails or becomes obsolete. I bought a custom I/O board for my first MiSTer that came with 32MB of RAM integrated into it because that was the max needed at the time. Once the Neo Geo core was released it became clear that the larger 128MB would be required to play some games. I think the GBA core also requires that. I was kind of screwed because there was no way to upgrade. Unless this AIO solution offers some new functionality that you can only get by buying it then it might be best to stick with individual components. The other issue is that the main developer Sorgelig is not a fan of projects like this that are meant for profit and aren't open source. It is very likely that he won't support it. That means they may have to branch off the code to implement new features which could create issues. The guy that created the all in one I/O board that I bought basically got cut off from selling on the MiSTer forum for that reason.

[KenToad]

Huh? Doesn’t come with the Ram?? That’s the first I heard of this. Unless you’re thinking about the Ram for the DE-10?

Does the consolized board include the DE-10 and Ram? If so, how are they getting away with a $200 price point when the DE-10 alone costs $170?

The Mistercade does not include the 128 MB RAM or the DE-10 board.

The consolised system does not include the DE-10, but does include the RAM and basically everything in the complete stack of boards plus more. They even had somebody playing Zapper games on there, which I hope means that we will see more light gun options for the Mister in the future.

[KenToad]

An all-in-one board that includes all the "accessories" like a power switch, USB ports in a non-stupid configuration, 128 MB RAM, Jamma, SCART, and VGA/Component connections for a reasonable price is exactly what I've been looking for.

Maybe it'll turn out to be not as great as advertised, but they are at least promising to sell the whole setup on one board for something like $200. They are also saying that they will start production of up to 15,000 units a month starting in October, so I'm definitely going to wait and see how this goes.

My only concern with an "All In One" solution that integrates RAM, USB hub, I/O board, etc. is what happens when some component fails or becomes obsolete. I bought a custom I/O board for my first MiSTer that came with 32MB of RAM integrated into it because that was the max needed at the time. Once the Neo Geo core was released it became clear that the larger 128MB would be required to play some games. I think the GBA core also requires that. I was kind of screwed because there was no way to upgrade. Unless this AIO solution offers some new functionality that you can only get by buying it then it might be best to stick with individual components. The other issue is that the main developer Sorgelig is not a fan of projects like this that are meant for profit and aren't open source. It is very likely that he won't support it. That means they may have to branch off the code to implement new features which could create issues. The guy that created the all in one I/O board that I bought basically got cut off from selling on the MiSTer forum for that reason.

This is really interesting. I don't know if this consolised board is open source. I know that they made the RAM modular on the board, just in case you ever need to replace it. As to whether it's for profit, that's gotta be a joke, right? The typical Mister setup is ridiculously overpriced hardware. $50 for a USB hub??? $60 for 128 megabytes of RAM???

[opt2not]

The Mistercade does not include the 128 MB RAM or the DE-10 board.

The consolised system does not include the DE-10, but does include the RAM and basically everything in the complete stack of boards plus more. They even had somebody playing Zapper games on there, which I hope means that we will see more light gun options for the Mister in the future.

Ok, so either does not include the DE-10.  But the consolized system has the ram physically integrated into the board. I hope that's not a final plan because having the ability to upgrade is vital with the advancements of cores coming down the pipe. "Snapping it out" seems like a real clunky and potentially dangerous solution. Then I'm assuming their ram board is going to be proprietary from the looks of the current one on the board. So if you need to upgrade (which could be very likely with the Saturn and PS1 core developments on the go), you'll be paying the cost of ram anyway.

Also, the add-on JAMMA board for the consolized system is only mentioned, but not seen. And probably not included in the price-point.  We don't really know what features it'll host or how it will work with the consolized system.  For example, power? If the JAMMA is connected will it run off the power supply of your cabinet? Or do you have run an extra power cable to plug in the adapter?  I'm very skeptical that it'll run 4 amps of power through that tiny add-on port, so this could be a hassle for some people. Similar hassle to running a PC in your Cabinet... having power plugs to enter the cab, as well as having to switch on the consolized system separately from the cabinet. Also what about audio in a cabinet that doesn't have an internal amp? which is practically a majority of arcade cabinets.  There is no on-board volume pot since the consolized system is running line-level audio, as opposed to the MiSTerCade where audio levels can be tweaked via a pot. That makes it much easier for cabinet owners.

The MiSTerCade is a dedicated JAMMA device, and it's purpose is to be solely that. Not a everything-in-one device.

For arcade support, not only does it have the JAMMA edge connector natively, but you also have jumper options for the extra buttons for cabinets that need button-4 on the JAMMA edge (like Neo Geo Cabs). It also has support for not only a CPS2 kick harness, but also CPS1, AND CHAMMA config as well.  There is also talks about support JVS in the future, and knowing Porkshop Express, he's all about adding as much arcade support as possible.
As for the lightgun support, don't worry, the MiSTerCade will have that covered.

The price for the MiSTerCade not including the ram and de-10 is $170.00 USD.   The price for the consolized system that does not include the DE-10, but does include their proprietary "snap-off" ram board is near $200 USD after the GBP exchange rate mugging. Not to mention the extra price for the JAMMA add-on board.

At the end of the day, I'd rather have something that does it's main job really well, than have a device trying to cover all bases but being mediocre at some.

YMMV.

[gamepimp]

This is really interesting. I don't know if this consolised board is open source. I know that they made the RAM modular on the board, just in case you ever need to replace it. As to whether it's for profit, that's gotta be a joke, right? The typical Mister setup is ridiculously overpriced hardware. $50 for a USB hub??? $60 for 128 megabytes of RAM???

The accessories are pricey and I’m sure the vendors who sell them are making a profit doing that. However, the schematics for them are open source and you could theoretically make your own. Sorg just dislikes people designing and making hardware that they refuse to open source for others to make. I believe he originally designed the RAM and USB hubs that most vendors are selling...

[Zebidee]

I have no problem with people selling for a profit. Seriously, aside from warm fuzzy glows and a dedication to retrogaming, what do you expect to motivate people? People put a lot of effort into these things, and typically their return is something much less than 50 cents per hour invested, unless they really do sell 15000 per month. If you don't like the price then don't buy it. I don't see the costs as being outrageous compared to, say, buying a PC+video card to run CRTEMU/Groovymame.

Innovation will drive prices down over time, and eventually all of our Mister gear will be obsolete anyway so just grin and bear it.

I like the consolized Mister Multisystem for what is is. In some ways it is cheaper and prettier than the vanilla Mister, has some cool features, but then it is less customisable or upgradeable. I think it would appeal to some people, especially those more concerned with enjoying the capabilities NOW vs 5 years in the future.

In terms of Mistercade, I'd still prefer that as a dedicated solution for an arcade cabinet. It is made for a purpose, and that is what I want to use it for. Some of my preference comes down to things being natively incorporated (like the JAMMA interface, volume etc.) and the form-factor. Less "accessories" required (IO/USB/JAMMA boards) compared to any other options. I see a better upgrade path for it too.

[opt2not]

Release candidate of the MiSTerCade in the house! This thing is looking sexy in the black PCB and gold plating. Going to put it through the paces but this should be the last version before production commences.

[dmckean]

Sexy!!

[bobbyb13]

I didn't realize it was a thing, but I have pcb envy

 

[Zebidee]

Oooooooh, great that it gets some real-world testing before final release.

I noticed that it has both 2xRCA and a 3.5mm jack for audio, nice to have some choices

[Zebidee]

I was hoping the Mistercade would have some extra PCB edge to allow it to be mounted in a standard sliding PCB mount for cabs (two slotted mounts, top and bottom, to fit standard PCBs with the top one adjustable to your PCB size).

Mistercade in that photo has no free space on the edges, so you won't be able to mount it like that. You would have to rig PCB feet for it instead.

I've attached a pic of what I mean by a sliding PCB mount - I pulled it from the www.absolutepinball.com site.

[Gilrock]

But the PCB plugs in on top of a DE10-nano right?  So it probably wouldn't fit something like that.

[Zebidee]

But the PCB plugs in on top of a DE10-nano right?  So it probably wouldn't fit something like that.

You raise a good point, I hadn't even thought about the DE10 sticking out underneath.

Without the DE10-nano installed it still wouldn't fit, as the PCB would need a few millimetres of free space at top/bottom to slide into the bracket slots. However, even if it did fit, the nano poking out underneath would probably make it bump against the wall of your cab. unless you offset the PCB bracket out from the wall by 2-3cm or so.

With the DE10 attached below, I imagine the unit would be lop-sided as the JAMMA end would stick out quite a bit. This would make mounting on PCB legs difficult too as the uneven weight above would make it wobbly. Furthermore, once you attach a JAMMA harness, the weight hanging off the unit with leverage would create all kinds of unwanted stresses.

You might be OK if you are able to get some non-standard extra-long PCB legs to fit to the holes on the JAMMA side, but that is something else you'd need to find/buy.

Maybe I'm somehow wrong and my fears are unfounded. Would be great if we can see some pics of the Mistercade assembled, with the DE10 and RAM installed, and mounted in a cab for demonstration.

[opt2not]

Put it on standoffs, attach it to a small thin board, then you can Mount it in that plastic bracket.

[Zebidee]

Put it on standoffs, attach it to a small thin board, then you can Mount it in that plastic bracket.

Looks perfect, opt2not! Thank you, that looks great. I just need to get some extra standoffs for the PCB legs.

[bobbyb13]

Put it on standoffs, attach it to a small thin board, then you can Mount it in that plastic bracket.

Looks perfect, opt2not! Thank you, that looks great. I just need to get some extra standoffs for the PCB legs.

Good solution.

Not sure what your local hardware store assortment looks like Andrew, but the one here has some nylon bushings about 1cm long and appropriate nylon washers that work well for this kind of thing.

I may need to quit my job to have enough time to play with this fun stuff again.

[Zebidee]

Good solution.

Not sure what your local hardware store assortment looks like Andrew, but the one here has some nylon bushings about 1cm long and appropriate nylon washers that work well for this kind of thing.

I may need to quit my job to have enough time to play with this fun stuff again.

Somewhere around here I actually have a small "kit" box full of those nylon PCB offsets of different lengths, with matching 3mm nylon nuts (same size as my PCB legs use), though would be nice to use some brass ones for strength.

Local stores are rubbish for these kinds of hobby things, even in the regional capital. You can get anything in Bangkok if you go to the big electronics markets at Ban Mor, but you have to find it first. Place is huuuuge, lots of people in poorly ventilated spaces, and always hot of course. With COVID, been about a year since I've been to the big smoke. So yeah online marketplaces are much easier.

Near Ban Mor there is a 7-story shopping mall just chock-full of gaming related stuff, from Gundam to consoles from arcade to D&D from figurines to wargames. It really is Candyland for gamers. Last time I was there I bought a semi-auto BB-gun (looks like a Glock pistol) to scare away feral dogs, cat and starlings from our rural place (only for scares, is too gutless to do any real harm). Why play lightgun games when you can shoot at the dog that steals your baby chickens?

[chopperthedog]

Got my DE10 last week and I/O and ram came on monday. Enjoying the console stuff with great joy on my 27" crt via component. My muscle memory from the pi3 had me turning a bit to early on first couple games of neo drift out.

@ opt2not, board looks cool, didn't follow any of the development, but my only hope is that it is only using the 12 volt rail with on board 5v regulator. That was the one huge mistake of the arPicade design, having to jack the 5v on power supply to like 5.25v to stop the lightning bolt. I ordered a 12v to 5v 3amp little power supply, cut the 5v trace on arPicade and now I can swap with other boards and not worry about resetting 5v knob each time.

I didn't buy a MiSTer for the coin op stuff and thought of it as a bonus, but I gotta say that the arcade cores are a mess and quite a disappointment. I'm hearing way too many poorly implemented and wrong pitched samples that make most games unplayable.

Nice little set up all around.


good day.

[KenToad]

Thanks for the comments, Chopper. I'm still on the fence with the Mister.

Misteraddons has announced a consolized project in the works, but it looks more like A/V equipment than a console to me. https://misteraddons.com/blogs/news/time-flies-when-youre-having-fun

Pre-orders are up for the Mister Multisystem, which is expected to ship November 26. This really seems like it's been smartly designed and I love the fact that it's manufactured in the UK. https://rmcretro.store/mister-multisystem/

[csnow]

I didn't buy a MiSTer for the coin op stuff and thought of it as a bonus, but I gotta say that the arcade cores are a mess and quite a disappointment. I'm hearing way too many poorly implemented and wrong pitched samples that make most games unplayable.

Nice little set up all around.


good day.

That is disappointing.  ArcadeSD is still a tuff nut to beat.  I ended up ordering another one after my first one got stuck in maint mode.  I was a bit put off by that but in the end for a vertical 4-way dedicated cabinet with a CRT its nearly impossible to beat from an ease of use, game quality, and fun factor.

[chopperthedog]

I didn't buy a MiSTer for the coin op stuff and thought of it as a bonus, but I gotta say that the arcade cores are a mess and quite a disappointment. I'm hearing way too many poorly implemented and wrong pitched samples that make most games unplayable.

Nice little set up all around.


good day.

That is disappointing.  ArcadeSD is still a tuff nut to beat.  I ended up ordering another one after my first one got stuck in maint mode.  I was a bit put off by that but in the end for a vertical 4-way dedicated cabinet with a CRT its nearly impossible to beat from an ease of use, game quality, and fun factor.

Reading my comment back sober it seems a tad harsh. It's the games with discrete sound circuits is where things get sketchy (mainly the classics and before). When you hit that mid 80's and beyond point the cores are pretty solid with games using sound chips by that point. So for the guy that wants to rock out some late 80s 90s horiz games in his cab, rock on.

Thumbs up  for arcadeSD (got 2 myself ) along with a jrok williams, bit-kit and an ArPicade set up with just VS. games.  Things have there place and serve their purposes to everyone's needs.

Digging the MiSTer as a console setup (no handheld systems) and looks amazing on my 27" crt along with using the optical audio out to my system. Over the last couple years I've also gathered up a nice usb controller collection in many flavors.

and don't you dare get me started on the MiSTer spy hunter sounds. Heads will roll. 


good day.

[dmckean]

MiSTerCade is in stock on the website for anyone who wanted one and missed out on the pre-order.

https://misteraddons.com/products/mistercade?variant=39282828509317

edit: ...and they're gone!

[Zebidee]

Then I sincerely hope my Mistercade pre-order from aaaaaaages ago (March?) is on its way to my place

[bobbyb13]

MiSTerCade is in stock on the website for anyone who wanted one and missed out on the pre-order.

https://misteraddons.com/products/mistercade?variant=39282828509317

edit: ...and they're gone!

Gone before I could pull up the website to look!
 

Hopefully they sent Andrew his before deciding they were out of them again!

[Zebidee]

Hopefully they sent Andrew his before deciding they were out of them again!

Fortunately I've kept myself occupied with stuff like swim teaching and building a few GreenAntz (for you  ). Speaking of which, they'll be ready soon. I promise I won't make you wait 8 months

[Gilrock]

I got an email that my preorder has shipped a few days ago.  Now I'm bummed I don't have the cab ready I was going to put it in.

[csnow]

I figure once the chip shortage and supply chain woes subside, and they become readily avialable there will be more arcade titles available.  I am on the 24 month to ownership plan 

[bobbyb13]

Seemed like there has been a great host of able developers working on arcade cores with no regard to how many MiSTer units are around.

Already a number of games working and more on the way it appears.

Finding those developers and finding a means to motivate (reward!) them will net more cores more quickly I imagine.

[Zeosstud]

My Mistercade arrived last week, got it put together and on my one cabinet that has a CRT, the thing looks amazing.. I have a 2nd cab with a fully wired Jamma harness and hooked up to that the device acts just like it should, everything just works, sadly the monitor and the mistercade currently are not super happy with each other. I very clearly need to get a CRT mounted in the cab that is wired up correctly, one that can rotate would be the bomb.

-Zeosstud

[stinkyrob]

The input lag on my MISTer setup is infinitely better than what I have on my RetroPie setup.  That's the biggest thing I've noticed.  Recently there's been a lot of work on the CPS-2 boards on the MISTer as well.  I can't speak to their accuracy, but they feel really good.

I've been playing on a CRT computer monitor hooked up using VGA via the standard IO board, using the scan doubler since my monitor only goes down to 480p.  I found a 20" CRT television with s-video at secondhand shop recently, so I hope to try that out soon too.

[Zebidee]

My pre-ordered Mistercade arrived a couple of days ago. haven't had a chance to do anything with it yet though!

My Mistercade arrived last week, got it put together and on my one cabinet that has a CRT, the thing looks amazing.. I have a 2nd cab with a fully wired Jamma harness and hooked up to that the device acts just like it should, everything just works, sadly the monitor and the mistercade currently are not super happy with each other.

You might need to tweak the settings in mister.ini for LCD monitors etc., and/or take video out from HDMI instead of VGA.

I see there is a "video_mode" where you can select resolutions from a predefined list, or roll your own. Maybe choose native resolution of your LCD monitor.

I don't really know, just guessing, I should play with mine or read the wiki or something   

I found a 20" CRT television with s-video at secondhand shop recently, so I hope to try that out soon too.

If you can find a model number, maybe it is moddable for component or RGB.

[stinkyrob]

I found a 20" CRT television with s-video at secondhand shop recently, so I hope to try that out soon too.

If you can find a model number, maybe it is moddable for component or RGB.

It's a Memorex Model: MT2024.  I have much, much to learn before I'd attempt modding it though.  I've read about it a fair bit over the years, but never opened up a case to a tv before. It didn't come with a remote, so I'll need to figure that out if I'm going to get into service mode.  I have an old phone with an IR blaster, so maybe that could work.

[Zebidee]

I found a 20" CRT television with s-video at secondhand shop recently, so I hope to try that out soon too.

If you can find a model number, maybe it is moddable for component or RGB.

It's a Memorex Model: MT2024.  I have much, much to learn before I'd attempt modding it though.  I've read about it a fair bit over the years, but never opened up a case to a tv before. It didn't come with a remote, so I'll need to figure that out if I'm going to get into service mode.  I have an old phone with an IR blaster, so maybe that could work.

I googled your model number ("TV MT2024 schematic") and easily found both user & service manuals online.

The MT2024 uses a TDA8377 based jungle chip, which is fairly common. It appears to have inactive RGB (RGB)/YUV (component) inputs at pins 46,47,48. They are marked for both, you may need to set something in service mode to activate them as either RGB or YUV. It also looks like it may have unused component inputs, marked as Y, Cb, Cr on the schematic, with the capacitors and resistors required already noted. So, it may be as simple as hooking up the connections and flicking a setting.

If this was my TV I'd definitely give it a go. If you don't feel confident about doing that, maybe ask a local friend to help.

For remotes, the IR phone app may be sufficient. There are also universal remotes available pretty cheap. This TV doesn't look terribly exotic so they'll probably work well enough.

[Grasshopper]

Well I finally took the plunge and ordered one. If anyone's interested, the cost was £153.53 (inc. taxes and postage) from Digi-Key (UK).

They're quoting a lead time of 8 weeks which sounds extremely optimistic to me, given the current problems with supply chains. But I figured I might as well reserve a place in the queue.

[abispac]

MiSTercade is now back in stock and we thought you'd like to know.

[dmckean]

They're gone again now, looks like they're only staying in stock for about 15 minutes at a time.

[gamepimp]

Hi all. I picked up a 3D printer last year and decided it was time to create a case for my MiSTer. I wrote up a post about it on the MiSTer forum if anyone is interested.

https://misterfpga.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4053

I have some extra components left and am planning on putting together kits to sell for anyone who is looking for a nice enclosure for their MiSTer.

[dmckean]

There's been a lot happening with MiSTer over the last six months.

On the arcade side we now have Toaplan 1 & 2 cores, the CAVE core started receiving regular updates again and now supports I think all games, Sega System 16 core came out of beta, there's an SNK Triple Z80 core, there's an R-Type core close to release and a lot of other things.

On the console side we now have fully working Sega 32x and Playstation 1 cores.

The video system for HDMI monitors has received pretty much a full rewrite. It now supports more scaling options, scaling filters, shadowmask filters and bloom. It also supports VRR and Game Mode for OLED televisions.

The supply of DE-10 Nanos is also not nearly as tight as it was six months ago.

[pbj]

Those DE-10 Nanos are getting pretty old.  I think it would be foolish to invest in that setup now.  We've all seen what's happened with Pi specifications over and over.

[dmckean]

FPGA technology moves at a snails pace compared to CPUs.

Also, a new FPGA with more logic elements that could run at a higher clock speed would maybe only benefit two or three cores. Also, porting the MiSTer framework to another board would be a huge task. There would need to be a lot of incentive to move to something else and right now it's just not there.

The project will continue to use the DE-10 Nano for as long as it's available.

[pbj]

The project will continue to use the DE-10 Nano for as long as it's available.

 

Okay, bro.

 

[opt2not]

The MiSTer still remains one of the best purchases I’ve made in the last few years.

Thanks for holding down the fort here, dmckean 

[chopperthedog]

The MiSTer still remains one of the best purchases I’ve made in the last few years.

I can agree with this now.

After the honeymoon with my initial stack, the shortcomings started to become apparent. The component video out functioned and looked OK, but it was lacking that pop,.my s-video modded consoles looked better. Ended up learning about the 18bit cap and limited color range on the analog out of the i/o, tried direct video with an hdmi to vga thingy and what an impressive difference.

Next, my audio system has optical provisions because of the ass analog audio from a PS2 fat, but I defaulted to using the optical with MiSTer in the begining. Noticed that my system would cut off the first couple ms of a sound, i.e. the jump sound in pitfall or the nintendo snes chime would get clipped. Games that had music or other continuous noises happening were fine. No fault of the MiSTer, just something with my system. Figure I'll just try the analog audio out from the i/o. Welp, on first core launch 3 loud pops made my sub and speakers scream in pain, analog audio from i/o had no use for me. Snagged an optical to analog box and got a good clean signal with happy speakers.

So, now I have a pile of random bits that make up my MiSTer "rig" under my TV, not the easiest thing to kinda set up and tear down when I want to use one of my other consoles.






Attached everything to a chunk of shelf and got mine "consoleized" with easy power in and audio/video outs for easy hook up and storage. The MT32-pi is the only item not attached, left that loose to have that center space to use snac adapters. Got me thinking about all these really expensive multi system, ironclad itx and other all in one boards, it's just the same design of the stock stack with all the shortcomings on a single fancy PCB and box. I almost got sucked into one of those boards.... PHEW!





This isn't a knock on the MiSTer, I always noticed on my 27" TV, that the top an bottom were clipped. I had NO clue that consumer crt's had service menus. One of them "wish I knew this sh!t years ago" moments. Got the vertical dialed in and now I can see all scores, insert coins, power meters, lives left and everything else fully now.



good day.

[KenToad]

I still haven't bought one, but I follow several Mister news sources. I already have so much rarely played retro hardware, but Mister remains a strong temptation and I'm really impressed by the development progress. If they ever get around to adding Jaguar, 3DO, and Saturn, that should be the end of my will to resist ... probably.

[pbj]

I’m in the same boat, Ken, but I’ve already owned a Jaguar and a lot of the library.  Bought one copy of everything out of that cave in Missouri.  That system was terrible in every way.  Even Alien vs Predator.

Saturn emulation I thought was a sure thing circa 2005 and sold my games dirt cheap.  Could have made a couple mortgage payments with them now.  Oh well.  I threw in the towel and bought a Japanese console for ~$60, a Fenrir drive emulator for ~$140, and a wireless controller for $30 and I’m done.  It outputs a beautiful image in composite and SVideo, and has native RGB…. So why emulate?

3D0 has always eluded me.  Some day. 

[csnow]

I already have so much rarely played retro hardware

Agreed - Between arcade and consoles, I have more games than my inner 11 year old self could have dreamed of back in the early 80s.  When I had the time, I didn't have the games.  Now that I have the games, I don't have the time.  The irony of life.

[opt2not]

FYI, lots of progress is being made on the Saturn core. This thing is happening.
https://twitter.com/srg320_/status/1557427798536503302?s=21&t=E6qAXE8CzDQAlKFo1IGYZg

[chopperthedog]

Was trying to build yesterday and a couple DBG_REGN entries were causing compile to quit. He updated his github bout 44min ago, should take my old computer just over 2 hours to compile.


good day.

[gamepimp]

Was trying to build yesterday and a couple DBG_REGN entries were causing compile to quit. He updated his github bout 44min ago, should take my old computer just over 2 hours to compile.


good day.

Is there a good reference on compiling MiSTer cores from source code? It would be neat to give this one a try. I usually just wait until there are unofficial beta builds, but if compiling isn't too challenging it might be cool to give it a go.

[dmckean]

I hear the next version of the analog board is supposed to use direct video but at the cost of not supporting simultaneous HDMI and analog output. I know that is an important feature for something, especially those who stream.

The MiSTer still remains one of the best purchases I’ve made in the last few years.

I can agree with this now.

After the honeymoon with my initial stack, the shortcomings started to become apparent. The component video out functioned and looked OK, but it was lacking that pop,.my s-video modded consoles looked better. Ended up learning about the 18bit cap and limited color range on the analog out of the i/o, tried direct video with an hdmi to vga thingy and what an impressive difference.

Next, my audio system has optical provisions because of the ass analog audio from a PS2 fat, but I defaulted to using the optical with MiSTer in the begining. Noticed that my system would cut off the first couple ms of a sound, i.e. the jump sound in pitfall or the nintendo snes chime would get clipped. Games that had music or other continuous noises happening were fine. No fault of the MiSTer, just something with my system. Figure I'll just try the analog audio out from the i/o. Welp, on first core launch 3 loud pops made my sub and speakers scream in pain, analog audio from i/o had no use for me. Snagged an optical to analog box and got a good clean signal with happy speakers.

So, now I have a pile of random bits that make up my MiSTer "rig" under my TV, not the easiest thing to kinda set up and tear down when I want to use one of my other consoles.






Attached everything to a chunk of shelf and got mine "consoleized" with easy power in and audio/video outs for easy hook up and storage. The MT32-pi is the only item not attached, left that loose to have that center space to use snac adapters. Got me thinking about all these really expensive multi system, ironclad itx and other all in one boards, it's just the same design of the stock stack with all the shortcomings on a single fancy PCB and box. I almost got sucked into one of those boards.... PHEW!





This isn't a knock on the MiSTer, I always noticed on my 27" TV, that the top an bottom were clipped. I had NO clue that consumer crt's had service menus. One of them "wish I knew this sh!t years ago" moments. Got the vertical dialed in and now I can see all scores, insert coins, power meters, lives left and everything else fully now.



good day.

[chopperthedog]

Is there a good reference on compiling MiSTer cores from source code? It would be neat to give this one a try. I usually just wait until there are unofficial beta builds, but if compiling isn't too challenging it might be cool to give it a go.

It's stupid easy.

I'm using windows 7, steps may vary with other os.

1. Download and install "Quartus Prime Lite 17.1" (close to 6gb file).
2. Pick a repository i.e. NeoGeo_Mister, click green button that says "code" and click "download as zip"
3. Extract zip to know location.
4. Open Quartus, hit "Open Project" and navigate to your "NeoGeo_Mister_Master" folder you extracted and select "NeoGeo.QPF" and click compile (little play button).
5. Once it finishes in your NeoGeo_Mister_Master folder you will now find an "output_files" folder and in there you will find your new RBF.

The saturn core is a tad different, for that you need the "Saturn_Mister" "Saturn" and "SH" repositories. After extracting the zips you need to take the "_Master" part off the "Saturn" and "SH" folders. If you don't quartus will error out because the script in looking for folders with out the "_Master" added.



good day.

[gamepimp]

Is there a good reference on compiling MiSTer cores from source code? It would be neat to give this one a try. I usually just wait until there are unofficial beta builds, but if compiling isn't too challenging it might be cool to give it a go.

It's stupid easy.

I'm using windows 7, steps may vary with other os.

1. Download and install "Quartus Prime Lite 17.1" (close to 6gb file).
2. Pick a repository i.e. NeoGeo_Mister, click green button that says "code" and click "download as zip"
3. Extract zip to know location.
4. Open Quartus, hit "Open Project" and navigate to your "NeoGeo_Mister_Master" folder you extracted and select "NeoGeo.QPF" and click compile (little play button).
5. Once it finishes in your NeoGeo_Mister_Master folder you will now find an "output_files" folder and in there you will find your new RBF.

The saturn core is a tad different, for that you need the "Saturn_Mister" "Saturn" and "SH" repositories. After extracting the zips you need to take the "_Master" part off the "Saturn" and "SH" folders. If you don't quartus will error out because the script in looking for folders with out the "_Master" added.



good day.

Awesome. Thanks for the info! I usually use a Win 10 machine, but have one with Win 7 I can use if things go pear shaped when I try it on the newer rig. 

[opt2not]

I hear the next version of the analog board is supposed to use direct video but at the cost of not supporting simultaneous HDMI and analog output. I know that is an important feature for something, especially those who stream.

I’m ok with that. I stopped using the dual output a while ago. Now I just upscale the analog out to the capture card and not be bothered with dealing with 2 separate resolutions. It’s cleaner this way.

[chopperthedog]

I have a soft spot for some of the PSX driving games, with any emulation set up and different usb adapters I've tried over the years the negcon protocol never worked right. I've got a couple favorite hand held driving controllers that are negcon based and only way to use them was on original hardware.

My PSX snac adapter came in yesterday and I'm a happy camper. All I had to do was set snac as controller, launch game and in the options of the game it acknowledged there was a negcon plugged in. Rocked some R4 for about an hour and it felt like og hardware.

I also gave the input selector relay a workout on my CRT with having my real PSX plugged in via s-video and MiSTer with component. Set up situations where I could quickly switch inputs for comparisons. Was quite impressed to see almost zero difference between the 2 signals, something not possible with video from i.o board.

fun stuff.


good day.

[nitrogen_widget]

Can it play Gauntlet legends?
serious question.
I'm curious about just how powerful this is.

[dmckean]

No.

There's not enough bandwidth or logic elements on the DE-10 Nano to tackle something like a Voodoo card. 1995 will probably end up being a pretty hard cutoff year for arcade hardware.

[chopperthedog]

Awesome. Thanks for the info! I usually use a Win 10 machine, but have one with Win 7 I can use if things go pear shaped when I try it on the newer rig. 

The read me got a nice update over the weekend.  https://github.com/srg320/Saturn_MiSTer


good day.

[chopperthedog]

I hear the next version of the analog board is supposed to use direct video but at the cost of not supporting simultaneous HDMI and analog output. I know that is an important feature for something, especially those who stream.

Direct video does not support mode lines, so I will have to keep the analog i/o for those times I want to muck with a couple of the computer cores on my CRT.


good day.

[gamepimp]

Awesome. Thanks for the info! I usually use a Win 10 machine, but have one with Win 7 I can use if things go pear shaped when I try it on the newer rig. 

The read me got a nice update over the weekend.  https://github.com/srg320/Saturn_MiSTer


good day.

I saw that! As luck would have it someone posted the rbf file in the MiSTer forum so I was able to just download it this time. Not many games seemed to work for me, so I will probably just wait for the beta on this one. It was pretty cool to see how far this one has advanced already though. Srg320 is a mad genius!

[chopperthedog]

The snac adapter and negcon support was perfect, BUT while playing R4 I set a new record, but I couldn't save it. There are a handful of games that only read/save to mem card slot 1 and R4 is one of them. That makes the virtual memory card in slot 2 on the MiSTer unusable with some games. I saw the mem card provisions on the snac pcb. Got crafty on a rainy day and made a little pcb using sweeps from a chip socket so I could plug a memory card in my snac thingy. Worked out great, copied file on real hardware to cheap memory card and the MiSTer loaded my R4 data.





good day.

[EvilNuff]

My backordered de10 finally came in (like 10 months or so backorder I think it was) and I have to say I am really impressed.  Now I need to look into controllers and figure out if there is a better way to organize games than just the default menus per console.

[KenToad]

Seems like ordering directly from Terasic is the only way to get a DE-10 Nano board these days, but they want more than $40 for shipping a 10 ounce PCB. If they were an Ebay seller, this would be a scam I guess.

Also, I'm still following Mister news and kind of amused by the gushing "the PS1 core is perfect" then 3 updates later "the PS1 core is even perfecter."

Can we just get a better FPGA released already? Maybe one that supports boxart and rewind? 

[Zeosstud]

Got my Dig Dug upgrades installed last night. Different CRT monitor with next to no burn in, switching power supply, True 4 way version of the Dominux8 leaf switch joystick and the DigDug to Jamma adapter from Arcadeshop, which allowed me to install my Mistercade without doing any damage to the original wiring harness ( I did tap into the sound connector to be able to use the speakers and a buddy soldered the 12v from the new power supply to the adapter). The Mistercade boots up into the last game played and stuff really looks amazing. I think it is pretty cool that like 85% of the games that I have messed with, ones that use a joystick and 1 button, allow me to make minor adjustments on a per game basis to the horizontal and vertical picture position, wish it was 100% but no matter, all games look great ( so far ). Here is the icing on the cake, I played 15 screens of the 9th key on Pac-man and the ghosts acted exactly the same, every time, it was perfect. This is the glory of the Mister, I have tried Mame, BitKit, 60-n-1 and the Mister out to an HDMI monitor, Sanwa Joysticks with default spring, 2lb, 3lb, 4lb, Tornado Terrys 4 way, Happ Supers, no setup has looked better or played better than what I have now, I am ready to sit back and play some now, just enjoy for awhile, that is a good feeling.

Zeosstud

[bobbyb13]

Very cool to hear this has come so far.
I really need to finally put mine together.
Any issues with mating to the CRT?
I have a Kortek multisync that I figured would be a good one for this purpose that is in the target cabinet already.

[Zeosstud]

No sir, no issues using the monitor with this setup. I do have the breakout board available thru to coin door if I need to adjust anything but so far that has not been the case. As I recall we made all the adjustments while playing Pacman on the monitor, so that I could see everything inside the monitors bezel, with the other games, for the most part if they were off a little up and down or left to right I could adjust them on a per game basis in the settings, this did come in handy a few times.

Zeosstud