Recreating Voodoo Graphics and a Late-1990s Gaming PC on an FPGA

jumploops an hour ago | parent | next [-]

In case it's helpful to anyone, MiSTer is a project[0] that recreates classic computers and video game consoles on hardware.

What do I mean by hardware?

Rather than emulating the device in software, which can cause various issues (especially related to timing), by mapping the actual device logic to a field programmable gate array (FPGA), you can achieve an "exact" replica of the hardware.

It's a super cool project, and I highly recommend checking it out if you have an interest in old machines (Apple II, Commodore 64, etc.).

[0]https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_MiSTer/

	▲	utopiah 40 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Damn there is a whole ecosystem around that, e.g. https://ultimatemister.com to buy it all built, very neat.

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shoobiedoo 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

So bummed out that I wrecked the HDMI out on my MiSTer. I was trying to figure out a new monitor layout and unplugged/plugged it in a few times. I could SSH into it no problem, but no HDMI out. After peeking around on the forums, turns out that the MiSTer doesn't take kindly to that while it's still on-- I forget the technical reason. Oh well. Many, many hours of fun playing games with my son on the it, I got my money's worth.

	▲	hexapus 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Dunno which variant you bought, but the QMTech mister clones on Ali Express are affordable, work perfectly well, and come with the expanded 128MB SDRAM expansion and analog I/O board bundled up in a convenient case. I have 2 of them, along with the MiSTer Pi, and I'll probably pick up a couple more for dedicated applicaitons (3d-printed retro computer workstation, Normal/TATE mode cab builds, and a couple just to hook up to the CRTs I have lying around).

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wk_end 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Tomb Raider (1996) ostensibly required a Pentium, and I remember (though memory may be faulty) the demo refusing to run on my 486. Does this FPGA 486 support the additional Pentium instructions?

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rasz 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Not require, just recommends Pentium 60 minimum. Like Quake Tomb Raider loves pipelined FPU, 30 fps on Pentium 60 vs 15 fps on 486DX2@66 and 20 on DX4@100.

	▲	tharkun__ 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Whoa, you took me back quite a few years there! I really wanted a DX4@100 back then but it wasn't available in my area. I "had" to get a Pentium 60, which I was not happy about lol. Upgraded to a Pentium 200 MMX. Whoa! And then I also got a specific batch Celeron 300a to overclock. "Stole" my dad's Matrox Mystique, coz what does he need a "3D" card for? Played "Destruction Derby" a lot, just coz 3D card: https://archive.org/details/dd2matrox_19961205 Wow, the times!

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ggm an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'd run the Virtual Notre Dame VRML demo in this, if I could!

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xupybd 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The lack of example videos is killing me!

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throwitaway222 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I had that VooDoo card- Quake 1 was amazing on it. Of course today it's not amazing.

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functionmouse 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Will it support 31kHz video out via VGA I wonder? Would love a period-accurate PC in my superstation one.

	▲	hexapus 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I imagine it would...I haven't tried the core, but most of them maintain the original outputs over the VGA port. Even if, for some bizarre reason it didn't, you could just enable the vga_scaler and force it.
	▲	mysterydip 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I hadn’t thought of that possibility but it would indeed be fantastic!