Hardware Homebrew Others Great year for the MiSTer FPGA project so far

[lordelan]

the software emulation might take a little more attention to detail and focus to get that exact moment your pressing a button feeling but it is possible.

I have to disagree. You can watch YouTube videos of FPGA vs RetroArch run-ahead. Even if it is almost as responsive on RetroArch, it's missing certain frames of the jump (or sword swinging) animation.
Again this is on milliseconds level and if tuned to the best like you did you wouldn't really notice while playing.
Btw the best software approach imho is ReplayOS on the Rasp.

 

[Jayro]

Btw the best software approach imho is ReplayOS on the Rasp.

What is it that they do differently than a regular EmulationStation/Retropie setup?

 

[lightwo]

And for digital TVs, making sure Game Mode is enabled helps immensely too.

I'd like to also point out vsync_adjust, as the default of "0" for HDMI (at least on Retro Remake's distribution) is most compatible but introduces most latency. That helps much more if not already set to a higher compatible value, although I like to use separate configs with it set to "0" for games like Silent Hill that do a lot of video mode switching during gameplay, since MiSTer framebuffer switches modes instantly unlike some? most? monitors/TVs.

Edit: I hastily wrote the comment, the default is "0" and not "2". Higher values have less latency, not the other way around...

 

[Jayro]

I'd like to also point out vsync_adjust, as the default of "2" for HDMI (at least on Retro Remake's distribution) is most compatible but introduces most latency. That helps much more if not already set to the lowest compatible value, although I like to use separate configs with it set to "2" for games like Silent Hill that do a lot of video mode switching during gameplay, since MiSTer framebuffer switches modes instantly unlike some? most? monitors/TVs.

The N64 version of Resident Evil 2 also changes resolutions a lot between scenes, causing blank/blue screen sync issues during gameplay.

 

[TVL]

One day I'm getting one. It really can replace everything I currently play pretty much (gaming after the 16-bit era took a nose dive, I think we can all agree on that... right? )

Didn't know it could now play CPS3. I thought it would never do N64 (because of clock speed).

Greatest thing would be to play all the arcade games accurately. I just feel I need to get rid of stuff before buying something, at one point I was holding out for a handheld MiSTer with a 4:3 screen, I just find excuses to delay getting one.

 

[Jayro]

at one point I was holding out for a handheld MiSTer with a 4:3 screen, I just find excuses to delay getting one.

Taki Udon is working on making one. I decided to build a Mini CRT replica instead, using a 9" 4:3 IPS panel. It's pretty sweet for MiSTer, despite being small. 1024x768 resolution.

 

[Uiaad]

Taki Udon is working on making one.

And I will be there like I was with the SSOne ... 2 am with my credit card in hand just to get the colour I wanted in the founders edition haha

 

[lordelan]

What is it that they do differently than a regular EmulationStation/Retropie setup?

Highly optimized (including native CRT output with their adapter they're selling) to reduce any overhead and push latency down as far as possible with software emulation. There are a few videos on YouTube and although I still prefer the MiSTer, I admit that I'm really impressed with replayOS.

By the way, I wanted to share this video here:


It's from someone who became my friend (we even met and played together in real life) and imho this is the coolest MiSTer + Zaparoo (back then named "TapTo") project ever.
He placed the NFC reader inside the Super Game Boy and put NTAGs inside GB cartridges so that putting in those carts triggers Zaparoo and chainloads the core and game that he saved onto the NTAG.
It's the perfect fit for nostalgia for physical interaction.

 

[Jayro]

Highly optimized (including native CRT output with their adapter they're selling) to reduce any overhead and push latency down as far as possible with software emulation. There are a few videos on YouTube and although I still prefer the MiSTer, I admit that I'm really impressed with replayOS.

By the way, I wanted to share this video here:


It's from someone who became my friend (we even met and played together in real life) and imho this is the coolest MiSTer + Zaparoo (back then named "TapTo") project ever.
He placed the NFC reader inside the Super Game Boy and put NTAGs inside GB cartridges so that putting in those carts triggers Zaparoo and chainloads the core and game that he saved onto the NTAG.
It's the perfect fit for nostalgia for physical interaction.

That's super dope! I did something similar with my MiSTerStation™ that I build, I put Taki Udon's NFC reader under the lid! I have been sticking NFC stickers (NTAG215's leftover from my Amiibo piracy days) inside my cartridges for Zaparoo fun.


By the way, if you want a version if MiSTer Main that hides the ROM loading bar, you can grab it here for a cleaner look: https://github.com/funkycochise/Main_MiSTer/tree/master/releases

The latest one is always at the very top.

 

[smf]

Didn't know it could now play CPS3. I thought it would never do N64 (because of clock speed).

CPS3 is less considerably less powerful than N64, development on N64 for mister ended because of dram bandwidth.
Though it does run a lot of N64 games regardless (and there are game patches for the ones it can't run natively).

 

[Jayro]

CPS3 is less considerably less powerful than N64, development on N64 for mister ended because of dram bandwidth.
Though it does run a lot of N64 games regardless.

Yeah, and CPS3 is still VERY early alpha at this point. Jotego still has a long way to go.

 

[Uiaad]

That's super dope! I did something similar with my MiSTerStation™ that I build, I put Taki Udon's NFC reader under the lid! I have been sticking NFC stickers (NTAG215's leftover from my Amiibo piracy days) inside my cartridges for Zaparoo fun.

I think I may have gone a little overboard :/

 

[lordelan]

By the way, if you want a version if MiSTer Main that hides the ROM loading bar, you can grab it here for a cleaner look: https://github.com/funkycochise/Main_MiSTer/tree/master/releases

No thanks, I appreciate the ROM loading bar haha.

That's super dope! I did something similar with my MiSTerStation™ that I build, I put Taki Udon's NFC reader under the lid! I have been sticking NFC stickers (NTAG215's leftover from my Amiibo piracy days) inside my cartridges for Zaparoo fun.

That sounds cool. Got some images or videos? Always curious to see those projects.

 

[Jayro]

Got some images or videos? Always curious to see those projects.

Nothing new yet, but I do have pics of my MiSTerStation™ build. It's a two-PCB sandwich. The flat white PCB to the left is a PS1 SNAC adapter that I desoldered all the ports off of so it could lay flat, and is soldered directly to the front ports. The reset button is a reverse action switch I special-ordered to cut the power as a hard reset, should I ever need to. I re-used the power switch from a real PS1 PSU as well, for an authentic feel. It autoboots into the SCPH-1001 PSX BIOS and appears fully stock despite a longer boot time. (It's a DE10-Nano with VGA+USB hat from RetroCastle.)

 

[lordelan]

Nothing new yet, but I do have pics of my MiSTerStation™ build. It's a two-PCB sandwich. The flat white PCB to the left is a PS1 SNAC adapter that I desoldered all the ports off of so it could lay flat, and is soldered directly to the front ports. The reset button is a reverse action switch I special-ordered to cut the power as a hard reset, should I ever need to. I re-used the power switch from a real PS1 PSU as well, for an authentic feel. It autoboots into the SCPH-1001 PSX BIOS and appears fully stock despite a longer boot time. (It's a DE10-Nano with VGA+USB hat from RetroCastle.)

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Nice, really well done. Also love the 4:3 wallpaper. Super cool project.

 

[Jayro]

I think I may have gone a little overboard :/
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Where do you get those? I'd love to buy some of my favorite games!

 

[Uiaad]

Where do you get those? I'd love to buy some of my favorite games!

Aliexpress. They are Mini CD case Keyrings ... but with the help of Mr Sidecutters, you can easily snip off the loop. I'm still dialling in the template for the artwork, but I do plan on sharing it eventually, along with the finalised version of the STL for the Mini CD rack
I also have these for non-CD systems

and they live in here (also Aliexpress) :

 

[TVL]

Taki Udon is working on making one. I decided to build a Mini CRT replica instead, using a 9" 4:3 IPS panel. It's pretty sweet for MiSTer, despite being small. 1024x768 resolution.
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I've seen variants of those before but your monitor shell looks really great though.

Post automatically merged: Apr 28, 2026

CPS3 is less considerably less powerful than N64, development on N64 for mister ended because of dram bandwidth.
Though it does run a lot of N64 games regardless (and there are game patches for the ones it can't run natively).

I know, I just heard about the N64 stuff a bunch (speculations about it, even the guy at Analogue was saying we'd never see PS1 and Saturn in FPGA) and there was no talk about CPS3 at the time, I wouldn't think it was impossible to do, I just didn't know about it.

 

[Jayro]

Yoooooo, we just got Sonic Mania ported to the MiSTer!

 

[lordelan]

Yoooooo, we just got Sonic Mania ported to the MiSTer!

Just came here to write the same.
It's (again) just ARM and vibe coded but at the same time it's a great opportunity to play this gem on a CRT which is amazing imho.
It's especially cool that there are core variants for 16:9 and 4:3, depending on what you currently play on.

Btw I spent the last two days playing Pico-8 on my CRT with the MiSTer. I'm blown away by how "natural" that feels. Never imagined it would look that awesome on a CRT. Plays very well with the 8Bitdo M30 (as every other 2 button system too).
Everyone who has a MiSTer hooked up to a CRT, don't sleep on that! Get the PICOwesome v1.5 pack and throw the carts (total size: 86 MB) on your MiSTer.