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MiSTer FPGA News – MultiSystem 2, New Computer Cores, The FairyLand Story & More

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VT52 Core

A core that implements a VT52-compatible terminal emulator has been released by Fred Van Eijk.

The VT52 was an early video terminal released in September 1975. These type of machines were also called dumb terminals because they did not do any processing on their own and only provided display and data entry capabilities.

The core’s github page has instructions on how to create a serial connection via the MiSTer User IO/SNAC port, the console port on the DE10 Nano or via an SSH client.

 

MiSTer Multisystem 2

MiSTer Multisystem 2 prototype boards are now assembled with components and board testing has begun. SDRAM tests were successful at 160MHz and some core tests of the Gameboy and AO486 cores were shown.

The board will have a full sized SD card slot instead of a MicroSD card slot. There will also be internal mounting and connections for SSD’s or other mass storage devices.

The 3D printed enclosure was also shown off with different variations.

 

GameLauncher

TandiLogan on twitter is working on a way of launching games on your MiSTer FPGA via a browser. This method also allows you to view game artwork while you’re browsing, instead of just seeing a text list of games. This project is still in early development but you can follow TandiLogan on twitter or checkout their github page.

TandiLogan also has a github page with images that you can download to print onto NFC cards. Many console and arcade games are covered.

 

Retro Frog Zaparoo Reader

Retro Frog released their Zaparoo NFC reader for the MiSTer FPGA. It can be placed underneath a MiSTer stack and is perfectly sized for the Retro Frog MiSTerFPGA cases. Since it’s using USB, it does not need to be placed underneath and can be used with any MiSTer setup.

They also showed off a Zaparoo Micro that can be used as a top loading NFC reader on a Retro Frog setup. This was only a prototype and there are no current plans to sell it but you can post your thoughts on the social media post.

 

Osbourne Computer Core

There is a work in progress core in development for Osbourne computers. Being developed by GitHub user jackpot51, the core has not currently been released but the source code is available for people to compile it for themselves.

The Osborne 1 was a portable computer that was released in 1981 and ran on the CP/M operating system. It was commercially successful, especially for businesses as it was bundled with a word processor, spreadsheet and other helpful software for businesses. It also had games developed for it, but the computer could only display text, there were no graphics modes available.

 

SuperPET Core

There is also another work in progress computer core. This one is for the Commodore SuperPET and is being developed by TechCowboy on GitHub. This core is based on the current Commodore PET core and only the source code is currently available.

The SuperPET was a computer designed for teaching programming. It had an extra CPU, more RAM and had several programming languages built-in like BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN and more.

 

The FairyLand Story

Jotego posted a beta for the arcade game The FairyLand Story. This game is a single screen platformer where the goal is to clear each screen of all enemies.

Since this is a beta core, it is only available to Patreon subscribers. However, once the core is deemed stable enough, it will be released to the public free.

 

Other Jotego Core Fixes

Jotego has also made some maintenance releases to some current cores:

  • For the JTWC core, which is compatible with Tehkan World Cup. There are two fixes:
    • Correct behavior for game pause
    • Fixes joystick detection
  • The WWF SuperStars core was also updated with larger sound volume.
  • There was another update that affects almost all JT MiSTer cores:
    • This update allowed for better low pass filter implementation, with more precise cut-off frequency, attenuation and much less quantization noise. This is a side effect of the work Jotego has been doing on implementing the equalizer for The FairyLand Story core.

 

Jotego PCB requests

Jotego is also asking for help obtaining PCB’s for the arcade games Chack’n Pop and N.Y. Captor. Jotego plans to research these PCBs and provide FPGA implementations. If you have any info regarding the availability of these PCB’s please DM Jotego on twitter to help the preservation of these games.

 

PixelMemories NFC Reader

Pixel Memories started selling a stylized Zaparoo reader that features Pixel art for classic games. It’s a reader than can easily blend into some retro gaming design aesthetics.

There is one with a Super Mario Bros 3 theme and another with a Duck Hunt theme. They come with some NFC enabled sprite figurines that you can use to launch games on any Zaparoo reader.

 

Apple II

The Apple II core has been updated with the following changes:

  • Improved colors, based on latest work from Linards Ticmanis (maths-derived NTSC palette) (Newsdee).
  • Three built-in palettes + option to load custom palette from file (Newsdee).
  • Fixed Apple II ‘Delete’ key (ASCII code 127 – was previously unmapped) (Newsdee).
  • New shortcut: F8 – cycle through color palettes (NTSC, Apple IIgs, AppleWin, Custom) (Newsdee).
  • New shortcut: F9 – cycle through monitor modes (color, B&W, green, amber) (Newsdee).
  • Updated CPU to latest version of T65 from gyurco
  • Updated framework.

 

AO486

The AO486 core was updated with the following:

  • OPL3 fixes (Greg Taylor).
  • Fixes and tweaks in VGA, BIOS, PIT, RTC, CPU (humpy).

Note: there is a fix for TSS task switching, and while it fixes DOS4GW, DJGPP, CWSDPMI, SoftICE and other problems, it introduces issues in Win95 (but not in Win98 it seems), so this fix is optional and can be enabled in OSD “Hardware” page.

 

ZXNext

Incorportate version 3.02 changes from the original ZXNext core (albconde).

 

MiSTer Main

And MiSTer Main has been updated with the following:

  • Support for Thrustmaster Wheels (Matheus Fraguas).
  • SNES: add Sufami Turbo support (combined rom) (srg320).
  • Screenshot: don’t squish video when it is rotated (zakk4223).
  • Video: skip dot files from backgrounds.
  • Saturn: initialize the external backup memory (srg320).
  • Initial Philips CD-i support (Andre Zeps).
  • AO486: Improve memory initialization (humpy).
  • fix gamecontrollerdb mappings for entries that map dpad to analog stick axis instead of hats (zakk4223).
  • Other fixes and tweaks.