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Post by vgesoterica on Oct 21, 2021 13:20:34 GMT
youtu.be/aCkaENXZ1_EEven though I love original hardware and have multiple PC Engine / TurboGrafx variations in my collection, it's always fun to check out new ways to enjoy our classic favorites. Anyone else check MiSTer out yet?
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Post by dshadoff on Oct 21, 2021 14:37:26 GMT
Indeed I have. I’m a contributor to the core and do a fair bit of testing on it. There are several ‘new discoveries’ baked into the core which make it operate more accurately than any current software emulator currently does.
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Post by dshadoff on Oct 21, 2021 21:47:21 GMT
I understand that turboxray and ccovell also have MiSTers; I'm not sure how many other members do though.
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Post by chopsticksamurai on Oct 21, 2021 22:04:37 GMT
I have a Mister as well and I love it. As much as I love my original hardware the Mister has really changed how I play games. It’s an amazing and convenient piece of technology.
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Post by gredler on Oct 22, 2021 1:14:35 GMT
I have been on the fence about getting a mister for a long time now, and every time I look into getting one I get kind of confused about the best way to get/build one. Should I get a kit (seems expensive and overkill) or should I buy individual components that fit my needs (PCE + bluetooth controllers, hdmi or component video). Seems super cool though, I used to be way into emulation but everdrives tool that place for me but now I spend less and less time near my old systems I end up just playing them less because I only have component/composite and hdmi solutions with oem systems I don't have a lot of mods.Edit: Well that was a fun rabbit hole, now I am way too close to buying one of these My main questions now are: Is the real time clock needed for anything mainstream, or is that extremely edge case? Is there much latency noticeable with bluetooth, or do you basically need to use wired controllers?
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Gaijin D
Punkic Cyborg
Yare yare da ze.
Posts: 136
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Post by Gaijin D on Oct 22, 2021 3:12:23 GMT
Is the real time clock needed for anything mainstream, or is that extremely edge case? Coincidentally, I also happened to be looking at MiSTer stuff recently, and ran across the answer to this. Apparently, you only need it if you're going to be using it offline regularly. Otherwise it can just get the correct time off the internet. Which, I imagine, is only important if you're emulating a computer platform that had an internal clock.
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Post by dshadoff on Oct 22, 2021 4:46:46 GMT
Is the real time clock needed for anything mainstream, or is that extremely edge case? Is there much latency noticeable with bluetooth, or do you basically need to use wired controllers? If you are network-connected, it will sync the clock at bootup (and not need the RTC). The real-time clock is really only a very edge-case thing. I even assembled one of these boards when I was putting together my first MiSTer, and I've never actually connected it... so that should be an indication. Controller latency is a rabbit-hole. But thankfully, somebody has already mapped out dozens (hundreds ?) of controllers with a standard testing format: rpubs.com/misteraddons/inputlatencyIn general, wired is better than wireless, but there are exceptions. If you really must use original controllers, you can use them via SNAC... but that's another rabbithole, and not a necessary one. If you really must use SNAC, I suggest that you have the machine for a while before digging into it. It's really best for oddball accessories, not normal controllers.
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Post by gredler on Oct 22, 2021 8:11:50 GMT
Thank you for the great answers!
Rabbit hole time, I think! I do have quite a variety of usb and Bluetooth controller options so I can probably use the findings in that thread and use the different interface depending on usecase. I don't think minor latency issues are a deal breaker for a lot of games, but may be annoying in some. I will likely skip the clock and get wifi in it to mitigate the lack of rtc I am especially curious to add it to the color testing on various screens and profiles compared to official software emu and original hardware alternatives (tg16 mini, my rgb modded duo r via component and composit, stock with conversion ext board composit, and stock turbo).
In the OP video there is a side by side of the image quality and the colors are quite starkly different on Rondo in the video, so I think I'll likely use that as incentive for another diy project haha
I never considered the mister for dos 486/33 emu, that was my first computer with win 3.1. Kid pix, lemmings, and zzt were major time sinks for me back then.
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pokun
Gun-headed
Posts: 85
Homebrew skills: HuC6280 assembly
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Post by pokun on Oct 22, 2021 14:59:18 GMT
I don't have a Mister but I'm very interested in the project.
I guess the RTC (or internet connection) is needed if you want to play any of those games with an RTC in the cartridge. A number of SFC, GB and GBA games requires one. The RTC is mandatory for the PS2 (not sure but I've heard it's bad to even run the PS2 without the RTC battery), Gamecube and about anything newer that the Mister doesn't support anyway. For older computers it might work fine without depending on what you do with it. Some MSX games like Thexder 2 uses the MSX2 RTC SRAM for saving progress to, and you need to put batteries in your real MSX for this to work (these computers usually use AA-batteries for the RTC), I'm not sure how the Mister handles things like that.
I guess the RTC is also good for time-stamping any file managmenet that the Mister does (save dumping, save states etc).
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Post by turboxray on Oct 22, 2021 16:58:16 GMT
I have a Mister. It's pretty awesome. But since I have a SHD3 pro with my PCE, I've been using that specifically for PCE stuffs (although mostly testing dev stuff)
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Post by dshadoff on Oct 22, 2021 18:00:50 GMT
I guess the RTC is also good for time-stamping any file managmenet that the Mister does (save dumping, save states etc).
The machine does have a UNIX side which handles certain functions, including system time and file access… the RTC module is really only helpful for setting the time at bootup… which the UNIX side easily handles if it’s connected to a network.
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