Welcome to the MiSTer FPGA LOVE Fest ;)

[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Forgot to mention that the current BitKit manual is way out of date.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Forgot to mention that the current BitKit manual is way out of date.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.