Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Author Topic: FPGA Replay Board  (Read 822868 times)

Description:

0 Members and 16 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #29 from previous page: July 18, 2013, 07:33:09 PM »
The market is not big enough for these types of projects to be a 'job'.  I am in the same boat as Mike.  I do my toy projects on my own free time.  Fortunately for both Mike and I, our jobs are closely related with the development of other projects so it gives us the luxury to do snooping for sources and such while doing real work.
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #30 on: July 29, 2013, 07:03:52 AM »
Just finished CommVEx here in Las Vegas.  Although it is primarily a C64/128 based event, there were a surprising number of Amiga enthusiasts here too!  In fact, I met a guy who I sold my CD-32 SX-1 to in Portland, OR about 25 years ago!  He apparently has an early FPGA Arcade prototype too.  Amiga One, X1000, etc. machines were in attendance.  I had never seen one of the non-WarpOS PPC setups before.

There was a big interest in the FPGA Arcade.  A C64 core is a definite must for the list of cores.  The more cores available, the more reasonable in price this device will effectively be!

As Mike stated, we have been in talks about distribution.  I have committed to become the U.S. distributor for his products.  I also want to help support development efforts as well.

The reality is that the final touches are being made so that the release can actually occur.  Sometimes the end games goes well, and sometimes it doesn't.  Mike is taking the correct approach and making it right from the beginning instead of something that could potentially need to be returned for mods, or need endless patches.  You don't get a second chance to make a first impression, so please understand Mike's position.

If you are a U.S. customer and want a FPGA Arcade, AND you are not already on Mike's list, please PM me that you are interested.  I am building a list right now, and have started with several people who attended CommVEx.  Thanks!
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #31 on: August 08, 2013, 09:10:08 PM »
Nobody should doubt that the boards and core exist.  I received the FPGA Arcade, back plate, and developer breakout board today.  Woot!

Getting a lot of nice pictures of the board shot today for the website.
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #32 on: August 09, 2013, 12:47:23 AM »
I am not at liberty to discuss anything about the core.  FPGA Arcade is Mike's product, so he is the one that should address everything.  I was just reporting that it all in fact exists.  :)
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #33 on: August 11, 2013, 07:30:58 PM »
Geez Mike... if you get Stargate ported to the FPGA Arcade I will throw away all of my gaming equipment and build a cabinet!
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #34 on: August 13, 2013, 01:36:20 AM »
Quote
FPGA Arcade has nothing like that
...yet... but the expansion slot is fully capable of all of these things.  SCSI is of particular importance to me.
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #35 on: August 13, 2013, 11:49:57 PM »
You could do a SCSI-II controller in the FPGA (plenty of gates left), but I happen to have about 2000 53C80 chips sitting here to give me SCSI.  SCSI is exclusively used by the Mac, and for the Mac emulation I will need SCSI support to access things like Syquest drives, CD-ROM drives, tape drives, etc.. all of the same stuff that is plugged into my A3000.

The way Mike setup the menu system and such is really nice.  It makes it easy to just load a new core on the SD card, update a .ini file and presto, new game or emulation is available.  This is the way it should be done!
« Last Edit: August 14, 2013, 12:18:10 AM by JimDrew »
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #36 on: August 14, 2013, 01:52:26 AM »
This is from his website:

Quote
Due to the implementation of the "analogue" sound section, it barely fits to small 500E boards (100% utilization) and I don't have the external flash feature implemented yet.
It has some possibility for a "low HW cost" sound implementation - but you do not really want that, do you...?
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #37 on: August 14, 2013, 10:36:11 PM »
I am thinking about an add-on SCSI interface, either software driven through the FPGA or using a real 53C80.  Everything for the Mac is SCSI based for external peripherals, so having SCSI is not an option for Mac emulation.
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #38 on: August 15, 2013, 06:49:14 PM »
The FPGA Arcade requires a micro-USB cable to update the ARM firmware.  So, if you don't have one, go get one!    I need to try to find a DB9 female to female cable for my Amiga monitor so that I could test some things.  These are not exactly readily available anymore like they use to be!
« Last Edit: August 15, 2013, 10:25:44 PM by JimDrew »
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #39 on: August 15, 2013, 10:18:53 PM »
Yep, my mistake... referring to a 15KHz DB9<>DB15<>DVI adapter.  Some of the arcade games (like Phoenix) use a 61 Hz (yes, really) refresh so I am trying every monitor/adapter I own to see what will sync.
« Last Edit: August 15, 2013, 10:29:03 PM by JimDrew »
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #40 on: August 16, 2013, 12:50:37 AM »
Quote from: Darrin;744871
I thought you might have been given some early protype for a sec  :D

I looked at the notes on the Pheonix refresh rate.  I'll be interested to see how that will affect my monitor via the DVI-VGA cable I'm using.

DVI->VGA appears to work just fine on any of my LCD monitors.  DVI direct connection does not work with Phoenix.  There is also a non scan-doubled mode (15KHz), so I was trying to connect a DVI->VGA->RGB converter board to see if an old Amiga monitor would work.  I don't think its worth the effort at this point. :)

It seems that most games use a standard 60Hz refresh with VBI, so I don't think this is too common.  You can look through the MAME info and see which games were non-standard.

I have to tell you, I am pretty excited about this board.  Once I got everything setup correctly, it's pretty simple.  I think a micro-ATX case is going to be mandatory.  It spooks me a bit to have everything laying out on the counter, with test leads and such everywhere.
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #41 on: August 16, 2013, 04:35:44 AM »
Well, that is the case for the version of Phoenix I am testing.  I am not sure how much it will change before it is officially released.  I am just stunned to see this working.  To me, it's more amazing than the Amiga core (only because I have seen Amiga cores before, never a FPGA based arcade machine emulation).

Mike has put together a pretty outstanding piece of hardware, and the software support and integration is really going to make this something that developers will want to pick up and support.
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #42 on: August 17, 2013, 12:30:01 AM »
Quote from: psxphill;744945
This one has been out for a while.
 
http://arcade.gadgetfactory.net/
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-ybUw_Elk
 
This one is new... http://pipistrello.saanlima.com/index.php?title=Welcome_to_Pipistrello hdmi ftw (it can even sorta do 1080p http://hackaday.com/2013/03/08/pumping-1080p-video-out-of-an-fpga/)

Considering that the games for this device originally came from FPGA Arcade, there are no issues making these for the latest hardware.  The gadgetfactory hardware uses the little Spartan 3 with only 500K gates.  The Pro version uses a the S6.  The FPGA Arcade hardware uses a FPGA chip that has 1.6M gates, it offsers a 30bit video DAC, audio chip, etc. .. way more hardware.  In fact, the cost of the XC3S1600E Spartan FPGA chip itself is about double of what gadgetfactory is charging for their entire pro board!  You get what you pay for... more gates means better functionality, giving you the ability to emulate much more complex systems.  The FPGA Arcade is overkill if you are just wanting to play Pacman - but if you want to emulate an Amiga, Atari ST, etc. at a level never before possible due to gate constraints, the FPGA Arcade board is the way to go.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2013, 12:57:45 AM by JimDrew »
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #43 on: October 02, 2013, 11:11:29 PM »
I am also keeping a back order list for U.S. sales.  I just put up www.cbmstuff.com and will be adding the FPGA Arcade.  I will also be offering a few different cases and a ATX power supply add-on that lets you use the power and reset buttons on a case as soft power/reset buttons for the FPGA Arcade board.
 

Offline JimDrew

  • Lifetime Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2012
  • Posts: 241
    • Show all replies
Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #44 on: October 22, 2013, 09:36:31 PM »
US customers that want to get on the waiting list, please click the link located in our NEWS page:

http://www.cbmstuff.com/news.htm

Thanks!

Jim