Fpga arcade: Vic-20 core

[Darrin]

FPGA Arcade developer Wolfgang has been busy working on a VIC-20 core for the FPGA Arcade.

It is still beta, but it boots, loads games from *.d64 floppy images or loads *.prg files into RAM where you can run them.  Sound works, but needs some final tweaking.  There is also support for booting with extra RAM fitted (up to 16KB).  He even has the old “Super Expander” cartridge working which adds 3KB of RAM, extra BASIC commands and “hi-res” (don’t laugh!) graphics.  I had one of these cartridges when I was a kid.

Unfortunately, the core requires the new ARM update which Mike is still working on.  It is this update which is holding up the release of the mainstream FPGA Arcade boards because it is being rewritten to support the launch of multiple cores from the same SD Card and the existing cores need to be rewritten and tested to make sure they work with the new bootloader.  Not long now…

To see some screenshots of the core running and read up on Wolfgang’s work then go to:

http://www.fpgaarcade.com/punbb/viewtopic.php?id=165

You’ll also find news about other cores that are either running or in development.

[Darrin]

Well, I remember managing to squeeze quite a bit into that 3.5KB.  

It amazes me that we could do anything with it when you consider that had to hold the BASIC program and the data.

Did you get a cassette deck with it or do you have a floppy drive?

Here's an interesting video showing a few VIC-20 games in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcQa54miYvY

[Darrin]

I have a 32K ram expander and a 64K ram expander for the VIC-20.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

How much did a 64k RAM expansion cost back then?  I remember the Super Expander making my eyes water.

[Darrin]

A quick update on the current core features:

General features (SVN version 302, 29jan2014):


•VIC-20 core in PAL configuration and direct-load PRG file support.
•1541 floppy with D64 file support (no SD2IEC emulation, it is the "real" thing...).
•HD (VGA/DVI/HDMI-compatible) and SD (PAL/Composite/SVHS/HDMI-compatible) mode supported.
•Freely configurable PS/2 keyboard mapping (INI setup yet missing).
•Configurable memory expansion (0k, 3k, 8k, 16k).
•Configurable ROM cartridge (0k, 4k) with PRG file loader.
•Digital audio volume control (4 steps).

General issues (SVN version 302, 29jan2014):
•Overall this setup of VIC-20 core plus 1541 floppy is "brand new" and not exhaustively tested.
•Only standard D64 (via 1541) and PRG (via direct memory load) formats supported yet.
•No tape support yet (PRG is directly load to memory).
•PRG will always load directly to address given by its header, thus it must match to the RAM configuration.
•Issues may still arise while finalizing the Replay framework the core is using.
•16k memory expansion together with 8k cartridge not yet supported (only 4k cartridge).
•VIC audio: sound level of channels need to be equalized. e.g. Noise channel is too intense.
•VIC video: issues with some demos probably using not documented features (or flaws?).
•Keyboard mapping is yet not configurable via INI, although the HW doing it is already there.
•Monitor sync issues with some users (no general issue - thus hard to track, under investigation).
•No NTSC support yet.
•Aspect ratio not optimal yet.