Lu

MiSTer FPGA News – MultiSystem 2, ZX Spectrum Next, Gridiron Fight & More

Posted on by Lu

Mini NFC Card Reader

Bedroom Ninja is now selling an NFC-Engine reader case that support smaller NFC cards. The original NFC-Engine case allows you to insert NFC cards via a card slot, just like the PC Engine. However, smaller cards will not firmly fit in it, so now there’s an option for them.

 

Retro Remake PSX themed FPGA Console

Taki Udon posted about having pushed up the production schedule for the Playstation 1 themed MiSTer FPGA console. This was done so it can start mechanical design and PCB routing ASAP.

Here some of the things we know about this FPGA console:
-It will have controller ports for real Playstation controllers.
-There will also be memory card ports for real Playstation memory cards.
-The RetroRemake One logo on the console will also be an NFC reader, indicating Zaparoo support.
-Colors announced are black and original.

 

Zaparoo App Open Source

wizzo has announced that the Zaparoo app is now open source, so anyone can contribute to it by adding new features or helping fix bugs. You can even use as a base for your own work. Remember Zaparoo is the new name for the TapTo project. The paid feature will remain on the apps that are downloaded through app store.

wizzo also posted a video showing how scanning QR codes works with Zaparoo.

And use Lucky_Mike_D on reddit posted a video showing how he converted the book “1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die” into a game Launcher for MiSTer. This is accomplished by applying NFC stickers to pages pertaining to a game and encoding those stickers with the proper info to launch those games on the MiSTer FPGA.

 

USB-C Power Switch for MiSTer Pi

Retro Frog started selling USB-C power switched that will let MiSTer Pi owners turn off their FPGA gaming setup with the flick of the switch. They look to be selling out fast once stock is available, so make sure to periodically check the product page or follow Todd on social media to get stock updates if you’re interested.

 

Super Game Boy Save States

The Super Game Boy core has been updated by paulbnl with the following:

-It now supports save states.
-The core also implemented updates from the SNES core.
-There is a fix for MSU audio looping
-Noise channel audio pitch was fixed
-An option to remove audio pops was added.

 

ZX Spectrum Next Test Core

albconde on the MiSTer FPGA forums posted about a test ZX NEXT core they are developing. This core has updates that gets some software working that the official core cannot. Some of that software is:

-Captain Square Jaw demo works
-Tx-1696 demos sound and graphics work
-The Way of the Sploding Fist FX fixed
-Games that check version of the core seems to work

There are still things that need to be ported over from the official core and the developer says that they are just starting core development so problems may be slow to fix.

 

Tehkan World Cup

Jotego’s team finished the electrical schematic diagrams for Tehkan World Cup. Thanks to these schematics, the core has these fixes:

-Antialias audio filter and variable audio gain are matching the PCB
-Video layer priority control is matching the PCB

Other updates to the core include:
-You can now use Analog controls via analog stick on a game pad
– And DIP switches are correctly read by the CPU

I believe this core is still in beta so it’s currently only available to Patreon subscribers.

 

Gridiron Fight

A new game was added to the arcade core that runs Tehkan World Cup. It’s the American football game Gridiron. Even though the perspective is different, the presentation for the game is similar to Tecmo Bowl.

 

MiSTerX JAMMA Review

QMTech FPGA owners with arcade cabinets may want to read this short reveiw. Jorge Schleicher, wrote a text review on twitter for Antonio Villena’s MiSTerX JAMMA IO board that’s designed specifically for the QMTech FPGA. They say that:

“Its pretty much plug to the jamma and play out of the box and It includes everything you need for your cabinet like video amplification, audio amplification, Ultra Low Lag mapped controls out of the box for all the arcade games, and some nice extra addons”.

You can read their entire X thread to get more details.

 

Game Challenge

The next Game Challenge on the MiSTerFPGA Discord is for the game Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth for the Nintendo 64!

The challenge is for Caravan Modes high score with dual-leaderboards in the 2-minute and 5-minute modes and goes until December 15.

 

MiSTer MultiSystem 2

A MISTer MultiSystem2 is in development. This will be an all-in-one design, and that includes the FPGA chip. So no need to buy a DE10 Nano, MiSTer Pi or QMTech board. Before a price is set, they need to first get through the assembly, testing and approval process. But they do want the cost to be as low as possible.

The MiSTer Multisystem team also released the KiCad templates for their cartridges that plug into the Muiltsystem 1 & 2. So now anyone can create compatible cartridges. The cartridge slot for the MiSTer Multisystem is used for expansion peripherals like SNAC, MT32 or more video output options.