FPGA Replay Board

[Darrin]

What about when you want to fire up a game and it runs in non double PAL and you're wired up to a monitor that can't take 15kHz?

Nevertheless I'm sure someone will come up with a solution. WHDLoad+Mode Promotion?

Do you have a particular game in mind?  Remember, you have a scan doubler, just not a flicker fixer.

Off the top of my head, the only games I remember playing that made use of a flicker fixer were Sim Ant and SimCity2000.  I think Sim City could use other screen modes, not sure about Sim Ant.

[glitch]

Hello,

   While a fan of the current board form factor... would you also consider a different layout of the board that contains the current FPGA Arcade and the '060 board?  I for one could definitely live with a larger board.  My thinking is either an ATX size board - or a board that we could fit inside of an existing Amiga case - like an A1200 or A4000.

Thanks!

[wawrzon]

why? let them get the actual thing get out of the door at last instead asking for more. you see how long it takes. besides modular design is good. everybody can complete his prefference system out of ready designed pieces keeping design and production effort low.

[Darrin]

Hello,

   While a fan of the current board form factor... would you also consider a different layout of the board that contains the current FPGA Arcade and the '060 board?  I for one could definitely live with a larger board.  My thinking is either an ATX size board - or a board that we could fit inside of an existing Amiga case - like an A1200 or A4000.

Thanks!

But you can fit this board inside an A1200 case... along with another 9 or 10 of them at teh same time.  

Any new board would end up taking months (years) of development, so I doubt we're likely to see an "FPGA Arcade 2" any time soon.  I'd rather see resources used in improving this board and developing extra cores than in making another board.

[Darrin]

Question for MikeJ:

Regarding your USB keyboard/mouse modification, would that let someone use an A1200 keyboard on the FPGA Arcade via a KeyRah?

I've got an A1200 case conatining a KeyRah that I've used with WinUAE.  5 Minutes with knife and I could install my FPGA Arcade motherboard in it.

[glitch]

Why?  I would rather have a single board solution myself.  Keep tacking on other components and it can get a bit kludgey - in my opinion.   Electrically I'm sure there would be more worries about noise and maintaining good contacts.  A re-do of the layout could happen any time - I'm not demanding anything - just a suggestion.  I could add about 15 different little boards to my A1000 too, and instead the GBA1000 is an awesome layout.  And as Darrin just mentioned, some of these would find homes in older existing Amiga cases - or if in ATX layout in any standard PC case.

Again, I'm happy with the way things currently are - just bringing up some ideas.

[Heiroglyph]

Do you have a particular game in mind?  Remember, you have a scan doubler, just not a flicker fixer..

I think that's the point that is not clear.  People don't distinguish between the two, they just know it makes their modern monitor work.

Regardless of deinterlacing/flicker-fixing, will it output NTSC/PAL in a way that a modern monitor can display?

[Darrin]

Why?  I would rather have a single board solution myself.  Keep tacking on other components and it can get a bit kludgey - in my opinion.   Electrically I'm sure there would be more worries about noise and maintaining good contacts.  A re-do of the layout could happen any time - I'm not demanding anything - just a suggestion.  I could add about 15 different little boards to my A1000 too, and instead the GBA1000 is an awesome layout.  And as Darrin just mentioned, some of these would find homes in older existing Amiga cases - or if in ATX layout in any standard PC case.

The problem is that while you and I might like single product solutions, a lot of customers will be looking for the cheapest option.  It is easier to support and sell a single mobo with an optional expansion than 2 different mobos.

Again, I'm happy with the way things currently are - just bringing up some ideas.

Don't worry, I'm not knocking your ideas.  I think it would be great to have replacement motherboard options to put in different Amiga cases to resurrect broken machines.

[Darrin]

I think that's the point that is not clear.  People don't distinguish between the two, they just know it makes their modern monitor work.

Regardless of deinterlacing/flicker-fixing, will it output NTSC/PAL in a way that a modern monitor can display?

Yes, I can confirm that I use my Minimig and FPGA Arcade on the same PC displays via the VGA input.  My monitor of choice is my 1920x1080 Viewsonic VA2223 which will happily do PAL and NTSC modes, my Olevia wisescreen TV and my Panasonic 40" plasma TV.

Do make sure that the monitor you choose will dispaly PAL.  Viewsonic seem to be good about this, but always check the specs before you buy.  CRTs are no problem.

[ChaosLord]

How do I get on the list for a PS/2 capable version of replay + 060 daughterboard?

No way in hell do I want a version that requires a USB keyboard or USB mouse.  All my equipment is PS/2.  All my KVM switches are PS/2.  All my mice are PS/2.  All my keyboards are PS/2.  PS/2 works on everything in the universe.  USB does not.  No way in hell am I downgrading to USB keyboards or mice.  USB is for cameras and mp3 players and things that get disconnected and reconnected all the time.   For things that plug in and sit there, PS/2 is superior and is interrupt driven and doesn't waste any cpu power.

[Darrin]

How do I get on the list for a PS/2 capable version of replay + 060 daughterboard?

No way in hell do I want a version that requires a USB keyboard or USB mouse.  All my equipment is PS/2.  All my KVM switches are PS/2.  All my mice are PS/2.  All my keyboards are PS/2.  PS/2 works on everything in the universe.  USB does not.  No way in hell am I downgrading to USB keyboards or mice.  USB is for cameras and mp3 players and things that get disconnected and reconnected all the time.   For things that plug in and sit there, PS/2 is superior and is interrupt driven and doesn't waste any cpu power.

I'm assuming that will be an option when your board is ready to ship, like the video outputs.

[ChaosLord]

Do you have a particular game in mind?  Remember, you have a scan doubler, just not a flicker fixer.

Off the top of my head, the only games I remember playing that made use of a flicker fixer were Sim Ant and SimCity2000.  I think Sim City could use other screen modes, not sure about Sim Ant.

Wow, u have forgotten more about the Amiga than I have.

OTTOMH some other games that need/benefit from a flickerfixer are:
Total Chaos ECS 2
Total Chaos ECS 3
Total Chaos AGA 4
Total Chaos AGA 5
Total Chaos AGA 6
Total Chaos AGA 7
Robo(warrior?) whatever that robot programming battling game was called.
That German hires interlace Risk game
MechForce
A-Train (and/or some other train games)

If I was to dig thru my software collection I am sure I could find a lot more.

Most games that run in Interlace desperately need more bandwidth which Replay conveniently provides.

Some games have an easy way to select screenmode of DoublePAL or whatever but a lot of games do not.  Those other games need some sort of forced promotion util.  ModePro from Aminet might work for this purpose.

[Darrin]

Wow, u have forgotten more about the Amiga than I have.

OTTOMH some other games that need/benefit from a flickerfixer are:
Total Chaos ECS 2
Total Chaos ECS 3
Total Chaos AGA 4
Total Chaos AGA 5
Total Chaos AGA 6
Total Chaos AGA 7
Robo(warrior?) whatever that robot programming battling game was called.
That German hires interlace Risk game
MechForce
A-Train (and/or some other train games)

If I was to dig thru my software collection I am sure I could find a lot more.

Most games that run in Interlace desperately need more bandwidth which Replay conveniently provides.

Some games have an easy way to select screenmode of DoublePAL or whatever but a lot of games do not.  Those other games need some sort of forced promotion util.  ModePro from Aminet might work for this purpose.

Is now a good time to admit that I've never played Total Chaos.  

The German "Risk" game that I play is called "Amber" and isn't interlaced.  Different game?

I haven't played A-Train or MechForce either.

I get the feeling I've been missing out.  :p

[ChaosLord]

Total Chaos and Mechforce are freely available on Aminet for countless years and are highly regarded examples of 32-bit Multitasking Interlaced Mouse-Controlled TBS Gaming.

"That German Risk Game" has no name that I am aware of.  Its just some random PD Risk game that I downloaded off a BBS waaaaaaaaay back in the olden days.  There were many different PD Risk games for Amiga so I might be mixing them all up inside my head.   One of them was better than all the others because it had many different personalities for the cpu players.

[mikej]

How do I get on the list for a PS/2 capable version of replay + 060 daughterboard?

No way in hell do I want a version that requires a USB keyboard or USB mouse.  All my equipment is PS/2.  All my KVM switches are PS/2.  All my mice are PS/2.  All my keyboards are PS/2.  PS/2 works on everything in the universe.  USB does not.  No way in hell am I downgrading to USB keyboards or mice.  USB is for cameras and mp3 players and things that get disconnected and reconnected all the time.   For things that plug in and sit there, PS/2 is superior and is interrupt driven and doesn't waste any cpu power.

It's a build option. The USB is driven with a small dedicated microcontroller directly into the FPGA, so the system does not see a difference between the PS2 and USB devices.
/MikeJ

[bbond007]

would this CPU work in my replay board when I get one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTOROLA-RC-68060-50MHz-CPU-MMU-FPU-XC68060RC50A-01F43G-/321055249815?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item4ac0625597

I would like to get one before the rush.

50mhz is OK for me.

Thanks!