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Post by frenchshark on Jun 26, 2009 8:11:32 GMT -5
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Post by sixstringmonk on Jun 26, 2009 9:27:58 GMT -5
Very cool! How is the SID filter support?
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Post by frenchshark on Jun 26, 2009 19:04:38 GMT -5
Very cool! How is the SID filter support? It is a digital state variable filter with a programmable Q factor (from 0.707 to 1.707) and Cutoff frequency (from 33Hz to 10496Hz). Computation is done with 36-bit precision. Regards, Frederic |
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Post by David Murray on Jul 3, 2009 16:12:56 GMT -5
So is this just a smaller version of the C=One?
Who programmed the cores?
I suspect since the thing uses an FPGA it is going to be expensive. My guess well over $100 a piece.
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Post by frenchshark on Jul 7, 2009 8:26:33 GMT -5
So is this just a smaller version of the C=One? Who programmed the cores? I suspect since the thing uses an FPGA it is going to be expensive. My guess well over $100 a piece. Actually, this board has less I/Os than the C-One, but, it is a lot smaller and that's enough for everyday use: 2 x DB9, 2 x P/S2, 1 x SD-Card, 1 x Stereo, 1 x VGA and 1 x S-Video. The price will mostly depend on the FPGA size option (800k to 1.5 million gates) and the memory size option (16MB to 64MB). The C64 core is 50% mine (VIC-II, SID, VIC-1541), 50% from FPGA64 (6510, 6526, keyboard). Regards, Frederic |
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Post by David Murray on Jul 7, 2009 8:51:25 GMT -5
So is this going to be the new DTV replacement for the dying C= community? We have needed something for so long that was easily available and inexpensive. Something that didn't require 8 hours of hacking before the typical person can sit down and start writing code.
Will it have any advanced features above and beyond the regular C64?
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Post by frenchshark on Jul 7, 2009 21:46:36 GMT -5
So is this going to be the new DTV replacement for the dying C= community? We have needed something for so long that was easily available and inexpensive. Something that didn't require 8 hours of hacking before the typical person can sit down and start writing code. Will it have any advanced features above and beyond the regular C64? It already has two SIDs and fastloading on the VIC1541. I am already thinking about pushing the graphics. I have enough bandwidth on the SDRAM to improve graphics : - For characters : I can go from 8x8 2 colors to 16x16 16 colors. - For sprites : I can go from 24x21 2 colors to 48x42 16 colors. I can even put two VIC-II to have dual playfield mode and 16 sprites. I might had a 68000 CPU as a coprocessor to handle this extra data management (a 16KB VIC-II page takes 256KB in this new mode). The 6510 would only be useful to manage sound and I/Os (plus run the vintage game in normal or extended VIC-II modes). I can also push the 6510 upto 16MHz if I use a cache. What do you think ? Frederic |
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Post by Unseen on Jul 8, 2009 4:16:57 GMT -5
The C64 core is 50% mine (VIC-II, SID, VIC-1541) 6581 or 8580 SID emulation? |
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Post by David Murray on Jul 8, 2009 8:16:53 GMT -5
Well, I'm looking from a perspective of keeping the C64 community alive (what the DTV almost did.. before it was killed off) To do that, I think it needs to have these goals: 1) To be compatible with the old C64 2) Offer new features that people will want to exploit. That gives people a reason to get back in the game again. 3) Not be TOO over-complicated, should be as easy to program as a regular C64. 4) Don't aim too high for the extra features, otherwise you'll start trying to compete with more modern systems. So.. keeping that in mind, I think the dual-sid is great, but maybe a 8-bit DAC channel for digitized sound. Nothing fancy, but something easier to use than bit-banging the SID. For graphics, some form of 256 color mode would be great.. but if that is too hard, maybe a 16-color mode that has no color restrictions. I realize that would still take 32K of RAM or so for the image. Another possibility is a higher resolution like 640x200 or 640x480 that way people might be more inclined to make a decent GUI. And of course, try to keep it as affordable as possible |
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Post by expertsetup on Aug 14, 2009 16:58:48 GMT -5
I think it sounds fantastic, sounds like it could be expanded easily via software update.
Any plans for production soon?
Are the DB9 ports bidirectional I/O? Any on board CIA clock compatibility or user port options available? Can a DB9 be reassigned as a user port?
just brain storm questions, it sure sounds very sweet.
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Post by frenchshark on Aug 14, 2009 19:44:05 GMT -5
I think it sounds fantastic, sounds like it could be expanded easily via software update. Any plans for production soon? Are the DB9 ports bidirectional I/O? Any on board CIA clock compatibility or user port options available? Can a DB9 be reassigned as a user port? just brain storm questions, it sure sounds very sweet. We plan to produce some for the fall-christmas timeframe. DB9 are inputs only. We are doing a board re-spin in order to cut down the price and add USB. There will be two HW options : S-Video or VGA. NTSC and PAL will be supported. What about the CIA clock ? Do you mean the TOD clock ? For the moment, I put the C64 core on the side. I am working on the Amiga core. Regards, Frederic |
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Post by expertsetup on Aug 16, 2009 1:47:33 GMT -5
Hi Frederic,
Yes I am referring to the TOD clock which is absent from the DTV. The USB sounds interesting as does the Amiga core.
If the USB supports IO with outside world I am very interested in the new design. For the existing design it sounds very interesting.
Looking forward to updates as you come closer to production.
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Post by frenchshark on Aug 16, 2009 9:08:08 GMT -5
Hi Frederic, Yes I am referring to the TOD clock which is absent from the DTV. The USB sounds interesting as does the Amiga core. If the USB supports IO with outside world I am very interested in the new design. For the existing design it sounds very interesting. Looking forward to updates as you come closer to production. The TOD clock is just a 50 Hz or 60 Hz signal going into one of the 6526, right ? How did they mess it up on the DTV ? The USB will be 1.1 only, it is mostly designed to connect new keyboard, mouse and joysticks. |
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Post by frenchshark on Mar 5, 2010 9:31:42 GMT -5
Hello, finally, we have our product ready. Please have a look at : www.arcaderetrogaming.com. As always, it took a while to finish the software (menu, bootloader, etc...) The current compatibility level is 75%. This is mainly because of the crazy stuff done by the fastloaders. BTW, does somebody know how to get a perfect tape emulation ? Currently, I am trapping the kernal calls but that does not work for all games. Luckily, we put in place an easy upgrade process for the cores, so we will provide the updates through our website. Regards, Frederic |
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Post by frenchshark on Mar 8, 2010 8:56:53 GMT -5
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