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Work on the NeoGeo Pocket core continues. The system is very complex for a small handheld, mainly due to the Toshiba MCU that powers it. The MCU is comprised of the processor, the TLCS900h and many peripherals such as an interrupt controller, timers, ADC, etc. This MCU seems to be a variation of the TMP95C061F. Many things seem to match the data sheet for that chip but others are just d...
2023-05-26 16:37:39 +0000 UTC
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For MiSTer and Pocket FPGA users, how many of you use an automatic updater to install cores in your devices?
2023-05-16 04:27:54 +0000 UTC
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The Konami CPU seems to have at least two different flavours, named 052001 and 052256 on original schematics. The first one, older and present in Haunted Castle, seems more like a cut-down version of the Motorola 6809. But the second one expands the CPU capabilities with more instructions, especially string manipulation. These are instructions used to copy or parse quickly over a block of memory and execute muc...
2023-05-12 13:43:44 +0000 UTC
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Beta calendar
- Aliens core 12th of May
- NeoGeo Pocket 2nd of June
Maintenance updates this week
- Arkanoid 2: mouse support added
- Y/C video support for Tiger Road, Track’n Field, Trojan, Vulgus, Vigilante, Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja, Heavy Barrel and Yie Ar Kung Fu
- Fixed stability issue in Heavy Barrel
- Fixed broken PCM sounds on Karate...
2023-05-05 09:28:08 +0000 UTC
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As planned, we have a new game for the JTKIWI core this week, the great Arkanoid sequel. I find this game much more fun than the first while keeping with its spirit. Skutis worked on the schematics for this board. It is very similar to the other boards in this TAITO series but it has a uPD4701, which is the most common chip used for spinner games. Yes, you can play with a spinner on MiSTer. If you want to play with the keyboard, you can...
2023-04-28 11:39:28 +0000 UTC
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Beta files
Find the beta files through update_all if you use MiSTer or directly in JTBIN. For the other platforms, used the files attached. MiSTer users need the jtbeta.zip, which has not changed. We have an additional core for Pocket users: JTCOMSC (compatible with Konami’s Combat School). This core is already public on other FPGA platforms.
Haunted Castle
2023-04-14 13:24:54 +0000 UTC
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Konami CPU
We are testing the CPU now and we are honestly shocked at how well it is going. If you were here last Autumn you would remember that we were working on the NGP CPU and that progress was slow. Eventually, the freshman engineer who was working on it parted ways with us and I had to look for another person. I found a computer scientist from Venezuela, who had struggled around Europe to find an opportunity ...
2023-03-31 18:15:51 +0000 UTC
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After much work, we finally have the line-based frame buffers working on both the MiSTer and the Pocket. As I explained before, most arcade games draw the sprites as the image lines are scanned. This gives about 64 microseconds to parse and draw the line pixels for each visible sprite. In games with many sprites or very large sprites, like CPS2 or Out Run, those 64us are not enough to draw all sprites. For the CPS2 case, I was barely ab...
2023-03-24 17:42:12 +0000 UTC
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The last time we talked about Out Run, we had the game running on several platforms with the FPGA clocked at 96MHz and some graphic glitches, especially in the sprites. The 96MHz version wasn’t stable on MiSTer and it didn’t work for many people. A 48MHz version was available too, which was stable but more glitchy. What makes Out Run so challenging to convert to FPGA?
The problem is that although the devices on Out Run boar...
2023-03-11 20:48:20 +0000 UTC
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A lot of people demand support for odd controllers, like the rotary joystick with a top button used on Forgotten Worlds. Yet, I was surprised when I was asked to support a ride. Yes, you can now play Magical Pumpkin, a ride videogame that operates on CPS1 hardware. The game features characters popular among kids to this day and to experience it you will have to connect a spinner to your MiSTer. Sadly, no one is selling moving c...
2023-03-03 12:39:31 +0000 UTC
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The New Zealand Story, released by Taito in 1988.
The story follows the lovable protagonist, the flightless bird "Kiwi", as he uses various vehicles and equipment to rescue his friends.
Initially, there were no plans to develop this game. However, it was eventually made by Taito, who had been working on part 2 of Crazy Balloon (released in 1980). Taito modified the program of part 2, which had been rejected before location t...
2023-02-24 20:46:16 +0000 UTC
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As you know, I have been working on improving the work flow to prevent problems when updating cores and ease maintenance. I finished unifying the source code for all cores in a single location this week. The 59 JT cores supporting over 900 MRA files are now available here.
Regression tests consists of automatic tests run when a change is done on the source c...
2023-02-17 18:55:33 +0000 UTC
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The Motorola M6809 CPU powered many arcade games (and some home computers). It was used by CAPCOM in Ghosts’n Goblins and by Konami in Kicker, Track’n Field, etc. The CPU had complex memory addressing instructions that made development easy and was favored by developers despite its relative high price. Konami tried to protect their games by playing an easy trick on the data lines of this CPU in the so called KONAMI-1 CPU. This type of encryption con...
2023-02-10 20:19:44 +0000 UTC
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JTKARNOV core (supporting Karnov, Chelnov and Wonder Planet) goes public today for all systems. The files are available at the JTBIN repository and automatic updaters for MiSTer and the Pocket can grab the files from there.
Another core from the same family, JTCOP, is available attached as a beta for Pocket users. This core supports R...
2023-02-03 11:20:21 +0000 UTC
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We added spinner support to the JTCOP and JTMIDRES cores (Heavy Barrel and Midnight Resistance). That leaves only two spinner games left to do: Block Block (JTPANG) and Pokonyan (JTCPS1). Curiously, pretty much each game has its own way to interface with the spinner.
The spinner itself produces two pulses when turned. One pulse ...
2023-01-27 19:43:18 +0000 UTC
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We arrive to the final delivery of the JTKARNOV core with support for Wonder Planet. Gradius (Nemesis) was a dark-themed game and spurred a number of colorful shooters in reaction: Fantasy Zone, Parodius and Data East’s Wonder Planet (tate scroll). This 10-stage game let you collect money and buy weapons and robot parts. If you get all the parts, you can turn into a robot, although if you just get the barrier item you’ll g...
2023-01-20 19:12:12 +0000 UTC
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Tutorials, updaters, etc
For newcomers, please check the welcome e-mail from Patreon, the core README files and the other text files in the Pocket zip. There are links to text and video tutorials as well as tools in them. Public cores are in JTBIN and beta files are attached to Patreon posts and in the #betafiles channel in our Discord server.
JTKARNOV
...
2023-01-13 19:21:00 +0000 UTC
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Reaching out to open source developers about a 14-year old project usually ends in a disengaged response. So I contacted Arnim Läuger about his T48 project with skepticism. Intel produced the MCS-48 line of micro controllers until very recently. These tiny CPUs with their minuscule computing power had been used as keyboard and printer controllers for ages. Most models could protect their internal firmware to prevent copying. TAITO like...
2023-01-06 18:04:04 +0000 UTC
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Robocop opened 2022 as the first 16-bit Data East arcade on the MiSTer. It was a year ago and the System16 core received its last title, Bay Route, while Data East series kept conquering us with Fighting Fantasy and Midnight Resistance.
My favorite of the spring releases must be Sly Spy, with its cool style. He wasn’t alone, though. We got
2022-12-30 22:33:54 +0000 UTC
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We visit this week a hardware from Data East that preceds Robocop and Dragon Ninja. The board is similar to those games in the main CPU, the sound subsystem and some of the glue logic but the graphics subsystem is more primitive.
It uses three layers: characters, scroll and sprites. The characters can have 8 colors per pixel whereas the scroll and sprites can have 16. This made the SEGA Megadrive version more v...
2022-12-23 19:28:29 +0000 UTC
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Which one is the golden arcade era for you?
2022-12-22 10:07:02 +0000 UTC
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We bring support to one more arcade title this week: Kageki. This game operates on hardware very similar to Insector X except for the sound. The PCB features a PCM driver to play voices and sound effects. The English and Japanese versions have different voices, although the game has a distinct Japanese atmosphere in every scene.
Note: MRA and .rom files for Insector X have changed for this version of the JTKIWI co...
2022-12-16 20:10:56 +0000 UTC
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(ESPAÑOL ABAJO, 日本語は以下)
JTKIWI is this week’s beta core. It is compatible with the game Insector X. Find files attached for all systems. MiSTer users can also use update_all. Pocket users are reminded to generate the .rom files following this tutorial or this 2022-12-09 14:41:14 +0000 UTC
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A lot of activity this week as usual, let me go quickly through it
- Small edits to Renegade and Insector X schematics (find them attached, thanks to Skutis for his help on Insector X)
- The JTKIWI core (compatible with Taito-SETA games Insector X, Extermination, New Zealand Story, e...
2022-12-02 16:46:17 +0000 UTC
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The core development this week has been focused on fixing the Out Run stability problem in MiSTer. This requires the addition of a new module, a sprite frame buffer. This design is closer to the original one and with it, the FPGA clock can be divided by two, to a nicer 50MHz instead of the 100MHz used before. The frame buffer is designed now for the Pocket and the MiSTer but it is not fully verified on the FPGA yet so I am not releasi...
2022-11-25 17:59:56 +0000 UTC
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Note: some Out Run versions may spent 30 seconds on a black screen before booting up. But they eventually boot up.
MiSTer files are in JTBIN (use update_all). Only the MRA files are updated.
2022-11-18 17:54:49 +0000 UTC
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FILES FOR MIST(ER) & SIDI ARE IN JTBIN
POCKET FILES ATTACHED
I am proud to announce the first Out Run beta. This system is a bit more complex than the usual despite supporting only two games (Out Run and Turbo Out Run). The board has two M68000 CPUs sharing a common memory and two road layers combined with the System 16B tile mappers. On top of that, there is also a very powerful sprite processing unit. All ...
2022-11-04 20:48:18 +0000 UTC
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Please mark all the FPGA devices that you own from the following list.
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Por favor marca todos los dispositivos FPGA que tengas de la lista.
2022-11-01 16:44:44 +0000 UTC
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Things have not been going as planned lately. First, the electrical installation in the office needed major works and we have been having an electrician breaking the walls to pass cables through and causing all sorts of havoc. This has been quite a distraction.
Secondly, ramping up our new hire is proving more time consuming than expected. We had to abort trying to improve the FOSS tool for coverage. The task was just too much for his current abilities and while I tried to guide and hel...
2022-10-28 18:10:40 +0000 UTC
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I had planned to have Out Run for today but those super scalers sprites are asking for a bit more love. We’ll go on a honeymoon over the weekend.
Work didn’t stop in other fronts. We spent two days improving the open source tool for simulation coverage that we are using for the NeoGeo Pocket. It isn’t our plan to become contributors to the open source EDA tool scene; but sometimes you need to improve atool to get the work done.
Esperanza finished Taito’s Extermination sche...
2022-10-14 19:10:07 +0000 UTC
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