FPGA hardware status

[Parsec]

Been looking into these beasties, and have worked out the following, can anyone tell me if I've missed anything:

* C-One is available (at 330 EUR), and will run ECS as well as some other 8 bit machines. VGA out.

* Minimig is available (£130 for board), will run ECS, not apparently powerful enough for AGA. VGA out.

* FPGA arcade (?) will run ECs and AGA, but not available yet - taking a while to test. DVI out.

I really like the look of the FPGA Arcade, it's DVI output is easy to convert to HDMI which I would find much more convenient for my requirements.

Is there any other machines out there?

[Parsec]

Does anyone on here own and/or use a Minimig or C-One?

[vidarh]

I have a Minimig. It's nice, but it's of course very bare-bones, with no real expandability and relatively limited options to connect it to anything else (apart from screen/mice/joysticks) - if what you want is a basic ECS style machine to run games, then it's nice and tiny enough to hang off the back of your TV if you want.

If you want a replacement for a more beefed up Amiga I'd personally wait for the FPGA Arcade or even the Natami (though the Natami looks likely to be the longer wait of the two, and likely far more expensive, but also far more powerful).

[Parsec]

Thanks, appreciate it.

I should probably have explained, my set up is a small/basic cinema room. The amp and speakers are at the front of the room and the projector is at the back, ceiling mounted. I've got cable ducts running to the projector but only HDMI and component.

Setting up the Amiga is a nightmare - suddenly the machine and keyboard in one becomes a problem! The machine needs to be in the middle of the room so I can type on it but then I have to run video to the back of the room and up to the ceiling, then phono leads over to the amp.

I can't really set it up elsewhere in the house - missus would say I've got my own room for games/films - and she would be right

I was also thinking the FPGA Arcade looks really good. AGA is nice, plus it has DVI out, which will easily convert to HDMI for my set up. I could use one with a wireless keyb and a joystick extension cable, should work a treat.

[alexh]

Surely an XBOX-1 and emulation would be the best solution? One unit, very compact. Emulators for almost every system (Amiga, Atari, SNES, Megadrive, Arcade, etc.) 720p output for movie playback etc?

Plus they are only about £5 second hand off ebay (perhaps another £15 for all the parts required to softmod & component cables)

You'd have to be pretty bonkers to want to pay the price of an FPGArcade unless you were intending to do FPGA development AND play around with games.

[icbrkr]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Does anyone on here own and/or use a Minimig or C-One?

I've got one. It's fun to mess around on, but for any sort of usability on the 8-bit cores, you're best to stick to the real thing. I just recently got the Minimig core to work but I haven't spent too much time with it yet.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by icbrkr

I've got one.

I take it you mean a C-One?

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by alexh

Surely an XBOX-1 and emulation would be the best solution? One unit, very compact. Emulators for almost every system (Amiga, Atari, SNES, Megadrive, Arcade, etc.) 720p output for movie playback etc?

Plus they are only about £5 second hand off ebay (perhaps another £15 for all the parts required to softmod & component cables)

You'd have to be pretty bonkers to want to pay the price of an FPGArcade unless you were intending to do FPGA development AND play around with games.

I definitely see what you're saying!

I do have an HTPC though, an Atom/Ion setup I use for HD video playback and the odd game. Tonight I've been experimenting with using an xbox 360 controller with it. Tested against CCS64 and MAME32. Results a bit disappointing to be honest. PC control methods seem to be a pain.

Would you still recommend an xbox over the HTPC? Guess it being a standard platform with standard controller set up could make life easier.

Or maybe I should try and find a good digital joystick for the PC.

[Zetr0]

@Parsec

you can get XBMC for the HTPC (under Windows / Linux) - its also a serious update compared to the original XBox version - and I really love the XBMC for the xbox - infact its the software that got me interested in them... not the games or emulation - i can do that on a PC - better.

but it was the simple easy of use and however everything just wove together under XBMC that I fell in love with..

I recommend this on your HTPC Atom project I am sure you wont be dissapointed!

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Results a bit disappointing to be honest. PC control methods seem to be a pain.

Input lag? Try setting your projector to gaming mode?

Originally Posted by Parsec

Would you still recommend an xbox over the HTPC?

Nope, HTPC of your spec should out perform the XBOX-1.

Originally Posted by Parsec

Or maybe I should try and find a good digital joystick for the PC.

I dunno, depends WHY you didn't enjoy using the 360 controller. Do you like to use the joypad on the 360? Perhaps try emulating a platform that had a Joypad? Snes, Megadrive, N64 etc. and see if that feels more realistic. If it does... then yeah get a joystick.

Do you not have a wireless keyboard? For me playing games on the Spectrum / BBC emulators requires playing from keyboard

[gibs]

I have the minimig and the xbox1 with the last winuaex.
If I had to choose one to run Amiga games only, I would choose the minimig.
The screen quality is better on the minimig (even if my xbox is connected throught RGB in 720P). The minimig is small and consumer 2watts. The minimig rendering is better IMO even if the crop version of winuaex is cool to play overscan.

There are 50 cool AGA games in which 15 are probably really using the AGA chipset.
Ex: Chuckrock 2 AGA which is a cool plateform game got the same visual on ECS/AGA.
I got a lot of examples like this

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by alexh

Input lag? Try setting your projector to gaming mode?

Don't think it's a hardware problem as such, more config and the type of game. I've never been able to get used to d-pads, so prefer the thumbsticks but of course they are analog. I tried Giana on CCS64 and it wasn't responsive enough for timed jumps.

Tried a few MAME titles and mixed results - Outrun is brilliant fun. Marble Madness unplayable, other ok-ish. It depends on the game doesn't it, older stuff needs a digital controller. MM needs mouse/trackball.

Another big disappointment was GTA San Andreas not working properly with the controller despite using the SAAC plugin. Bummer. I bought the PC version because the xbox version running on the 360 looks really naff.

I'll stick with the HTPC instead of the xbox then, like you say it should do everything.

Originally Posted by alexh

I dunno, depends WHY you didn't enjoy using the 360 controller. Do you like to use the joypad on the 360? Perhaps try emulating a platform that had a Joypad? Snes, Megadrive, N64 etc. and see if that feels more realistic. If it does... then yeah get a joystick.

Do you not have a wireless keyboard? For me playing games on the Spectrum / BBC emulators requires playing from keyboard

I do have a wireless keyboard but it's a cheapo special and has a crappy layout! A better one would be good for gaming which I will look into.

I am tempted to try using the HTPC with both the 360 controller and a zipstick with an adapter for the games that need it.

I'm never completely happy with Amiga emulation but as you pointed out it's a lot cheaper than a FPGA Arcade. Part of the appeal with that was probably the tinkering element i.e. building it and playing about with it.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

@Parsec

you can get XBMC for the HTPC (under Windows / Linux) - its also a serious update compared to the original XBox version - and I really love the XBMC for the xbox - infact its the software that got me interested in them... not the games or emulation - i can do that on a PC - better.

but it was the simple easy of use and however everything just wove together under XBMC that I fell in love with..

I recommend this on your HTPC Atom project I am sure you wont be dissapointed!

Already running it mate! Like you I'm really impressed. Running a hacked version though to get dxva working as essential on my hardware. Can't wait for next release with proper support for plugins etc.

It runs 1080p video with CPU never going over 5% thanks to ion chipset

guess there's more you can do with xbmc, maybe some emulator integration?

[mfilos]

Been running XBMC for months and couldn't be happier. Haven't installed RC2 since running the 1 month old Dharma3 and DXVA runs smooth without hack for the HD videos
I saw some plugins about Mame etc... but never actually tried them out.
Installed some Emus and gonna gief a try to some Emu plugins inside.
A GameEx plugin would just rock!

[Parsec]

After giving it some more thought I think I will go with emulation on my HTPC for the time being. Shame as I love my real Amiga but it's not practical to use with my set up and I have nowhere else to put it.

Time to have another play with WinUAE then. It's been years since I've used it, so I might find it better than I remember.

Just need to look into getting some sort of arcade stick or 9 pin joystick to USB adapter I think and it should be happy days.

@mfilos I've just noticed dharma is now classed as the current stable release so I am upgrading from v9 now.

[gibs]

@Parsec oh no !!
[ Show youtube player ]

Here I give some examples why using the real hardware is better IMO.

http://ohmygibs.free.fr/ohmygibs/Blo...XPERIENCE.html

(Sorry for my english, there are probably lot of mistakes)

[kamelito]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Been looking into these beasties, and have worked out the following, can anyone tell me if I've missed anything:

* C-One is available (at 330 EUR), and will run ECS as well as some other 8 bit machines. VGA out.

* Minimig is available (£130 for board), will run ECS, not apparently powerful enough for AGA. VGA out.

* FPGA arcade (?) will run ECs and AGA, but not available yet - taking a while to test. DVI out.

I really like the look of the FPGA Arcade, it's DVI output is easy to convert to HDMI which I would find much more convenient for my requirements.

Is there any other machines out there?

There's also the MCC (http://mcc-home.com/)

Natami still not sold, Clone-A is very promising being the only one compatible at a HW level, but we've to wait...

kml

[Exit]

i am waiting for natami... or clone-a from jens, but haven't heard anything from him about it , but he delivers always...so maybe soon?

[icbrkr]

Originally Posted by alexh

I take it you mean a C-One?

Yep, a C-One.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by gibs

@Parsec oh no !!
[ Show youtube player ]

Here I give some examples why using the real hardware is better IMO.

http://ohmygibs.free.fr/ohmygibs/Blo...XPERIENCE.html

(Sorry for my english, there are probably lot of mistakes)

Well that joystick-based launcher is interesting, does possibly make life easier.

I am currently trying to work out if I have room for a CRT tv at the back of my room, if I do I could keep the Amiga. I also want a Saturn, another reason to get a CRT telly.