Lu

MiSTer FPGA News – Sega Saturn, 3DO, Voice Commands & More

Posted on by Lu

Sega Saturn & STV

New updates have been implemented to the Sega Saturn and ST-V cores.

  • There are many fixes to different parts of the Saturn that affected many games.
  • There’s an Add/fix MRAs (Zakk)
  • Improved horizontal/vertical crop (kuba-j)
  • Implement SAV file mounting (Zakk)

Some games affected by this update include:

  • Greatest Nine ’98
  • NBA Action 98
  • Hi-Octane
  • NHL All Star Hockey 98
  • Saturn Bomberman Fight!!
  • Shinobi Legions
  • Batman Forever
  • Battle Arena Toshinden URA

Sources:

4K HDMI Board

PixelFX made an official blog post about the MiSTer 4K HDMI IO Board they are currently experimenting on. Here is a summary of the planned features.

  • It’s planned to support 4K with all of the features of their flagship Morph 4K product. I’ll provide a link in the description to the Morph 4K features.
  • It can also power the MiSTer over USB-C and includes a physical power switch, or if you prefer, you can power it from your MiSTer.
  • It can be controlled using an IR remote, a CEC remote, or using thier WiFi Web interface.

 

theypsilon Interview

Pixel Cherry Ninja Conducted an Interview with theypsilon, the developer of the downloader script and updateall. These scripts are what keep our MiSTer FPGA’s all up to date with the latest cores, cheats, configs, Linux updates and more.

Imagine how much work it would be to have to download all the cores on our own and keep them up to date. Or having to remember to update to the latest Linux version when one is released. It’s something that we may take for granted but offers a significant improvement in quality of life. Please consider supporting theypsilon on Patreon to show appreciation on all the work he does to make our lives easier.

 

Update All Version 2.4

Update All version 2.4 has been released. This version implements some optimizations that can show up to 2X speed boost when there are no updates to fetch.

Theypsilon also proposed some future improvements to the update summary you see when update all is complete. This includes

  • Adding update data from other databases to the summary screen.
  • Adding additional info such as the release notes, or a way to launch the cores/games right from there. 

Patreon subscribers should know that there is a new Patreon key, so head over to the post to download it.

 

Turtles in Time (CoinOp Collection)

The CoinOp Collection team updated their core for Turtles in Time. This update has some audio improvements that match how the original hardware ran. It also includes new audio options that give you unified gain control. You can read a lot more technical details on the public patreon post if you want to find out more.

Turtles in Time (Jotego)

Jotego also released an alternate Turtles in Time core. Work on this core was delayed because Furrtek was reverse-engineering a misunderstood chip. This game runs on the JTRIDERS core and the next game to be implemented is most likely Premier Soccer.

Jotego also updated some cores where the attract sound was turned off by default. The MRA files have been updated so the sound is on. This update includes some CPS1 games, Ping Pong and Gridiron.

G.I. Joe

The CoinOp Collection team also mentioned that they are going to resume work on G.I. Joe since they are happy with the accuracy of the Turtles in Time core. GI Joe is a Konami third person rail shooter..

 

Cool Uncle (Voice activated MiSTer FPGA)

Developer Alexander Mejia is working on an application that lets you use voice commands to launch games on your MiSTer FPGA. 

Other features supported are:

 

  • Voice activated save states 
  • Adding game favorites via voice
  • Ask for AI Game recommendations
  • Changing games and Systems
  • Find alternate versions or better versions by just asking
  • Get information about the game you’re playing or gameplay tips

The app is powered by ChatGPT and uses Zaparoo core as the backend to launch the game and provide other functions.

There is a beta signup, but an iOS device is required at the moment. Link to the beta sign up is provided on the reddit post and video description.

 

RetroRemake Products

RetroRemake showed some affordable Playstation 1 & 2 memory cards they are developing that are based on the open source SD2PSX design . 

Also shown was a teaser of what may be an NES themed FPGA console. There is no further information on this device, and I suggest people just calmly wait for any new info on it. RetroRemake still needs to ship the Super Station One and that needs to be a top priority for them.

3DO Core Progress

srg320 posted a video showing the FMV capabilities of the in development 3DO core. The video shows the opening FMV intro for the following games:

  • Blade Force
  • Corpse Killer
  • Crime Patrol
  • DeathKeep
  • 3DO Games: Decathlon 
  • Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins
  • Crime Patrol 2
  • Gex

The core is still in development and there are no releases yet. srg320 is hard at work with this core, the Saturn and STV cores and probably other FPGA related items. So consider supporting their work on Patreon.

 

MiSTer Organize

The October Mister Organize update brings:

  • Additions catered to lightgun games that offer regular or Sinden lightgun setups for all regions. 
  • OpenBOR, a side-scrolling game engine, is also supported.
  • The CHD format is now supported for Console CD games.

To get the full details of all the updates you can visit the public Patreon post.

The MiSTer Organize project is accessible on Discord with private channels for exclusive members and a Support Tickets Channel for inquiries. The project can also be viewed on GitHub.

Clock Work Aquario & Wally wo Sagase!

Jotego released an MRA that allows you to play the arcade game, Clock Work Aquario. 

Clock Work Aquario was a platform arcade game that was cancelled before release. Wikipedia states that the reason for the cancellation was the “increasing popularity of 3D games and fighting games in arcades as well as negative feedback during location tests in 1993.” Eventually the rights to the game were bought in 2017 and the game was finally released on much more modern consoles like the PS4, Switch, Xbox One and PC.

Jotego also added Wally wo Sagase! to the System 18 core. This is a game based on the Where’s Wally/Waldo franchise, where you have to find Wally in crowded locations.

AO486 and Gravis UltraSound

Xolod79 on the MISTer FPGA forums posted a test build of the AO486 core that supports the Gravis UltraSound audio card. This will let you configure games to use the music designed for this sound card. You can follow the progress of this core on the MiSTer FPGA forum post.