Love how they have brought FPGAs to the retro gaming scene. I noticed you compared latency of the Nano against other software emulation systems, but what about latency as compared to the original hardware (and perhaps for other emulated systems)?
Compared to original hardware it's a lot of latency the way he had it set up. LCD TVs, the up-scaling required to display on them, and using USB controllers add a load latency.
@@damionmanuel7337Also, if he had went with the SNAC, the input latency is near identical to the original hardware since it uses a special USB port with direct lanes to the FPGA. Team the SNAC with true analog video, and the input latency is near perfect, so much so that speed runners can use it to practice.
I'm a returning student for EE, a cnc machinist by day, and have a my first 3d printer pre-ordered. Your channel is like life goals lol. Keep up the great content and cool projects!
Wonderful video, brother. I've been following you for years now and I'm enjoying the traction you deserve. Your attention to detail has remained very diligent throughout your entire 'Zac Builds' saga and it shows. Top-notch production, presentation, aesthetic, articulation, and know-how. Keep it up! - Josh.
It’s pretty cool how you get an idea and then just make it, other people just think “that would be cool.” You turn it into “this will be cool” and I think that’s cool
Honestly, I had the same confusion initially, but I think he meant "destroyed his PC" to mean it outperformed his PC. The only reason I came to that conclusion is the fact that he compared it to his PC in the video and it's the only thing that makes sense.
FPGA means you can program it as you see fit after final assembly, basically you can make a lot of cool things with it with no hardware modifications just via software, it does not program it self!
It should be noted that SNAC is not always the best choice for original controllers. It does reproduce the behavior and (lack of) latency, but you also can't control the OSD with a SNAC connection. If you use a low latency USB adapter, or daemonbite adapters (which use a microcontroller and open source code) you only sacrifice 1 ms of lag and regain the ability to control the OSD (the MiSTer's menu system) and remap buttons as well as use the controller for any system. When it comes to input lag, the test done in this video is missing a lot of context. Does he have USB fast polling enabled in the MISTer? Does he have the latency numbers on his TV? Does he have it in game mode? Did he use the same controller on the PC? What emulator did he use on PC? What settings? These are all major factors. Then you get into things like run-ahead settings which are complicated. Overall though I'm glad to see more people talking about the MiSTer project, it's such a cool and fun emulation platform with so much development going on right now.
Honestly, the only Analogue device worth the money is the Pocket, and there it's not because of the FPGA, it's because of the absolutely insane 1440p 4:3 screen that scales perfectly to the target platforms. Other than the gimmick of plugging in original games and have native HDMI output from them the FPGA guts aren't bringing that much to the table there.
The MIST project (which is what the MISTer forked from) predates the analogue NT, which was Analogue's first FPGA console. Kevtris was also doing FPGA NES stuff long before he consulted with Analogue. Strictly speaking, Analogue didn't show us the way. They just made it much more popular. If anyone, Kevtris did.
I've never seen a sponsorship so well integrated in to the video. That alone makes the video much better than others where it's basically the same as any other ad.
Thanks! This actually took some negotiation on my end, they originally approached me about doing a showcase/review but I said how about I just use it in a build instead. It's more fun for everyone that way.
@@ZacBuildsdo you have any personal reservations with Anker and their privacy issues? LMG specifically won't work with them because of their history of not respecting customer privacy
I have those same barrel plug adapters and use them for FPV goggles. I found if you gently pull on the wire, it is likely to fall out. The simple solution was a small bead of solder on the tip of the wire so that it can't slip back out by the screw.
That is never a good idea. You should never tin wires that go in screw terminals, the solder deforms over time under the pressure and leads to a bad connection, cheap 3D printers have this problem and it can lead to fires. If you need to use stranded wire then you should use ferrules. You can get a cheap crimper with a set of ferrules very cheap. Or if you use solid core wire and it pulls out then add some strain relief.
@@conorstewart2214 I appreciate your concern but the solder isn't under pressure and merely locks the wire in place. I've used this method for numerous years at this point. It may not be ideal for every application but for my goggle wire, it's perfect.
@@Cappurnikus if the solder isn’t under pressure and is just holding the wire in then the wire itself might not be under pressure and might not have a good connection. If the pressure on the wire is holding it in then you know it has a good connection. It’s probably good enough for powering some goggles but I definitely wouldn’t trust it for anything higher power.
The DE-10 Lite FPGA board was what we used in school for some of our digital logic design and embedded systems classes, the labs specifically. Cool to see another practical use for the DE-10. Great video!!
Ya I've had quite a few friends who went to school for electrical engineering tell me they know the DE10 quite well haha. I wouldn't be suprised if some University class was the birth place of the MiSTer.
Hey, FPGA content on UA-cam! Nice. Here's some background info on the FPGA design process: When they mean that they x-rayed the chips, that's because the HDL (hardware description language) used by the FPGA almost demands that you understand where every single bit of data is stored and read (in "registers"). You can count the amount of registers used in any given HDL file, when they're operated on, and where they are output. That means meticulous management of keeping everything lockstep, but that is the desired goal: cycle accurate, rendering accurate circuitry that will honestly implement every little hardware bug that game designers explicitly worked around. Note that the reason "cycle accurate" circuitry is important is because older consoles had far less leeway in processing speed. Their cheap nature made the programming difficult, so sometimes programmers had to push the limits of what was possible. Say your GPU can only render 10(!) sprites on screen, but using all 10 will slow down the GPU by a few 100 clock cycles . That could be enough to have the CPU fail to keep the frame rate unless you program around it. Without the hardware slowdown, though, this hacky code will now run faster than intended and that could be your emulation failure. FPGAs literally act how the hardware is designed, bugs and all down to the nanosecond. When I say circuits, I mean circuits. FPGAs take a long string of 1s and 0s and electrically connect and disconnect registers and transistors together. They're connected in billions of grids that can route electricity to any register to any register. But this electricity takes time to flow, and so advanced AI algorithms attempt to organize your design so it can run as fast as possible. That means higher clock speeds that you know and love. The FPGA being used is the DE-10 Nano. I actually coded the DE-10 Lite for a Uni project making a custom mini CPU. Sadly, my left over board is half the size for most MiSTer cores. And you might be surprised that the DE-10 Nano is like 200$ in 2023 because of chip shortages! I've heard stories of companies buying old testing boards and ripping off the FPGAs for use; that's just a rumor but that's how in demand FPGAs can be. Making such reconfigurable hardware means paying a lot for potential functionality you don't use. And why wouldn't you? As long as whatever you're coding doesn't process faster than 400MHz or needs gigabytes of fast memory, you can feasibly emulate any design up to the GBA at consumer price points. TL;DR: FPGAs are niche devices that trade in processing power and design complexity for configurable electronics on a hardware level. But since retro gamers don't nee gigahertz and are dedicated to accurate emulation gaming, MiSTer might be what you need.
@@meterano7 FPGAs don't have anything resembling Assembly code by default. No OS, no BIOS. They don't have a CPU by default. What you are given in FPGA fabrics are basically transistors that can be combined into ANY CPU you can fit on it, plus the memory and accessory chips. What you are configuring are physical wires being locked in between those transistors. Any change would be like switching from an Intel CPU to an AMD CPU in the middle of running. You could try and reconfigure your computing during operation, but at that point you're literally doing the PHD work my professor was doing. Like, if a satellite could switch from low-latency flight computer to advanced telescope in orbit, the entire package could be tiny.
@@volundrfrey896 While you might think so, having a bit of contrast doesn't hurt. Especially when the ratio is so overwhelmingly in favor of one side. The bright wood would make the console pop, which would also accentuate the darker wood.
Really cool thing about the Mister is that it can run on any display you want. It can run on a SD CRT, HD CRT, VGA CRT, and Modern HD TV. It is such a cool feature that will satisfy anyone and will work on their TV reguardless of what they own. Also I do disagree about filters. After I went CRT filters I can't go back. CRT filters make any system from the 5th generation and before look significantly better. Plus it makes the art in these games looks far better and make more sense. Even with GBA I use an LCD filter instead of raw pixels. I can't really go back to raw pixels.
An interesting video! I've been using one of these for years. I upgraded from the slice system to using a "multisystem" for the MISTer. I recommend that over the slice way of doing things. Great fun all the same. Happy Gaming!
Congrats on getting a 3d printer! Since you like wood so much I thought you should know that there are some PLA wood filaments that you can use for printing and I am pretty sure are able to be stained too.
For future, if your planer doesn't go thin enough, just double stack the planks. You can then make your next pass then measure the thickness and adjust from there
It could also be possible to run the game at higher quality with an FPGA while also being accurate. Software emulation is just more easier to do since you can use it on more common hardware and given common hardware usually powerful enough to run the game at higher quality than default.
Nice build! A few suggestions for design improvements: replace the barrel jack with a cheap USB-C PD board set to 5V, so you can use any USB-C (or even USB-A, assuming it has sufficient output) power brick. And maybe use one of ADT-link's slim HDMI extensions designed for case-internal use so that you don't have to fit that thick extension cable? Also, one major advantage of FPGA emulation that you fail to mention: emulation accuracy. Software-based emulation is good, but it's very often quite inaccurate, which results in anything from game features missing outright to various glitches. FPGA-based hardware emulation, as long as the core is well written, will avoid this entirely, as it will be an effective 1:1 match with the original hardware.
I kinda feel like it goes both ways - emulation isn't accurate to the original console, but on the flipside you can do nice things like play the new Zelda at an acceptable resolution and framerate.
There is a way to reduce the input lag on the mister. In the configs you can turn on USB fast polling. Then there is the SNAC adapter, which effectively is zero lag as it is the same as connecting a real controller to a real console. There is no middleman dealing with inputs, like USB.
To be fair, modern TVs got a lot better in delay in their native resolution. It was A LOT WORSE a few years ago. So as long as he doesnt upscale the Mister-Image through his TV the Lag from the TV CAN be pretty minimal. A CRT will always be better, of course but there are good enough screens out there, that feel great. Problem is, that even same models can be different in LAG, so its mostly a game of luck when buying a new TV.
@11:01 It was an interesting point: start with a stick measuring two feet long and half a foot wide and one inch thick, and cut enough of it to make 4-5 ice cream sticks. It is a good idea for a company like Algida. Nice build by the way.
I really like that it gives a more real/ layered look & feel to it. It's essentially keeping dying games/hardware alive.. This Seem's really important the more we move into this era of losing access to older physical hardware. I just wish there was a way to upgrade so it would be possible to play a broad range of game consoles.
Not gonna lie... Something in me was dying from seeing him plane down that _entire_ Slab of Walnut to make those tiny Slats instead of just either *a)* making the _entire_ front out of it using the $4-6'000.- 3-Axis CNC he has or *b)* again use the $4-6'000.- 3-Axis CNC really just milling a small portion of the huge Slab into those tiny Slats. Seriously man... *_WTF!?_* 💢
Im a hardcore collector myself, I have tons of original hardware etc and I also have a both an emulator arcade cab and a couple different fpgas.... all that being said, I actually prefer good software emulation against fpga or original hardware, with the exception of my analouge pocket. All the extra features like shaders, hd patches, save states, rewind, fast forward, bezels, etc etc really enhance the experience and sure, you loose some accuracy but most people would be hard pressed to actually cite any difference between the three themselves.
My thoughts exactly. As soon as I heard his statement on it, it raised an eyebrow for me. The emulators these days can be really good, and it's been well over a decade since I played my old favorites anyways. For so many games, I've never played the original, so I couldn't tell the difference of there was any. Sure, there are definitely titles that either don't work or behave erratically, but I can accept that. Some consoles will really benefit from hardware emulation especially when the original silicon was low quality(XBOX360).
Love the video, as always, and this is not a criticism as I love the idea of all types of emulation, including hardware with FPGA and you did a great vid on it, but I just found one bit interesting - SO the whole point of the video, at least going by the intro, was about authenticity.. so I just found it interesting when it came to controllers that you said you prefer simplicity as opposed to using a real controller, which you can do with the mister because for me, while i love BOTH ways (playing on my PC with launchbox, or on pi4 emulation station..or with real hardware) the real difference when it comes to playing with real hardware, for me, is actually the physical part. I reckon id barely notice the imperfections in emulation that aren't "100% accurate" (other than those that I WANT, like sprite limit removal) but I DO notice the clunk of putting a cartridge into a system, and the feel of a real controller that are just so different in shape and feel to modern controllers. That and playing on a CRT are the two main reasons I will always play on real hardware from time to time, in spite of all the positives of emulation. Anyways.. great video.. just wanted to post that part that was interesting to me.
Digital Signal Processors can do the same thing as Field Programmable Gate Arrays - they can be reconfigured to function as any type of processing architecture. Useful for networking, audio, video, general purpose CPU, etc. The other cool part of DSPs is when one isn't fast enough to tackle the role of a different processor you simply add more of them. In this way the DSP can be used to function as the electronic stem cells of a future proof PC.
The fins need to be away from the fan, every little millimeter helps, since it was a CNC profile its easy to do. Also spreading the fans apart a little as one of them is blowing straight into the RAM module. Maybe glue them in the middle and let the ends of the wood hang unsupported? Would look pretty cool actually.
The truly odd thing is it sometimes feels like emulators actually haven't improved over the years. That would seem insane, but it's sadly true. The more an emulator tries to target accuracy, the more compute power you need to use it.
if you want to make the case stronger with out adding extra support in the inside you can just add texture to the print walls. similar to what manufacturers do to make thin aluminum sheets more ringgit. CNC Kitchen has this video explaining the process.
Bigger FPGAs will only get you so far. The task of writing HDL for the N64 is absolutely monumental. Once you get to the PS2 era, its way too complex. Thats when software emulation starts to really shine over hardware emulation.
I don't mean to be annoying, but you're supposed to crimp ferrules onto the wire ends before using them in a screw terminal. this significantly improves mechanical stability and provides significantly better contact between the terminal and the wires. it also adds a bit of insulation to the end so there are no exposed wires that could be shorted by any means.
Great and pretty interesting Video ;) But as a guy working in electric kind of company I have to say this... please... never... NEVER do things like in 8:54 WITHOUT ferrules... i know it's an extra step to do, but especially on hardware get's moved around or has kind of small vibrations and so on, ferrules will save the Copper in your wire at the long run. Had some people having problem of connection problems cause they didn't use ferrules. Copper got kind of "screwed" up by the rotating screw and when it moves it's kind of a scissoring movement which faster or later will remove enough copper so you don't have proper connections anymore or even Cable can slip out of connector and even can give short circuits. Besides this, great and interesting video like i said earlier and hopefully some time in the future we also can make great emulations of "newer" consoles like N64 or even Camecube and so on like this ;)
The 8bitdo controllers are available with their own wireless dongles. I have a bunch of them and the latency is undetectable. In any case these are the best controllers for the job. I’ve been a MiSTer FPGA owner since 2020 and I’ve got a bunch of add-ons for it as well. I also have the aluminium case from Mister Addons. All of this is hands down the best purchase I’ve ever made. So compact, reliable, and the MiSTer project is so active with new cores being worked on all the time. I also support a bunch of the developers on Patreon. Thanks for a great video. Cheers 😊
I actually checked, some dude made a chart of all the different 8bitdo controllers and their input latency in different modes. Their included 2.4ghz dongle is awesome, but it does introduce like 1-2ms of input lag vs USB. Basically nothing, but still a little bit haha. Thanks for watching :)
btw said advertised speeds are only for non print moves, alot of companies cheat their way like this claiming fast print speeds when its just print moves which can end up most of the times not even reaching those speeds cause accelerations are to low to shove the head to 500mm/s on a 10mm distance move
As someone old to enough to have played on all of these consoles when they were new, software emulation is perfectly fine and you don't need to spend money on things like Mister to have a good experience. I'm glad that I can get rid of my old consoles as they just took up space in my house.
Hey Zac, new to your channel and loving your retro gaming videos. Now that you have done so many different versions, I would love to see a round up video on the all the different styles that you have from PI to FPGA to Handheld. Like which one do you daily drive and what do you like/dislike about each one.
There are cycle accurate emulators and the code is constantly evolving. FPGAs are fine as novelties but long term the DM-10 board will be discontinued and continuity with whatever will be next cannot be guarranteed. For proper preservation of games the target hardware should be a cheap laptop or phone that you can get anywhere, not some overpriced fluff built around niche hardware.
i agree, the whole point of preservation is not just availability but also ease of access, when you put this stuff on not readily available and usually single-purpose hardware, are we really succeeding in the goal of emulation?
@@F-00 you can't run this software on a computer. That's not how FPGAs work. However there are many FPGAs out there and the code can (and has been) ported across others, so I don't think it's a crisis.
That's pretty awesome! The fan cover looks really nice its a shame the IO couldn't be on the same side as the fan cover. That would make it nice astatically sitting on your entertainment center. Don't get me wrong love the first design.
Improperly set up scanlines are dumb, but when correctly configured for your resolution and with appropriate parameters it gets the experience much closer to the original thing. That is because most art in retro games is made for CRTs, which create a multitude of new colors as the beam blends the pixels during scan.
Honestly, as someone who owned a PS1, N64, Game Boy Color, PS2, NDS and GameCube during my childhood (I am 27 now, so a younger millenial or older zoomer depending on how you wanna categorize it); I VASTLY prefer emulation over trying to play on genuine hardware. With emulation I can upscale the resolution to double or even triple the native resolution (playing PS2 and GameCube upscaled to x3 makes the game look like an HD remaster), and I can easily patch ROM or ISO files to make them into ROM hacks or randomizers. I can add texture packs to the game to change the graphics dramatically (this is especially cool on the N64 emulators). For super grindy JRPGs like Pokemon and Final Fantasy, I can speed up the battles to x2 speed so it's less tedious and I level up more quickly. Save scumming with save states makes trying to find that rare item with a 1% chance of appearing a little bit easier. Emulation is objectively superior, it's not an opinion. It's a provable set-in-stone fact. People who prefer OG hardware are just overly nostalgic lol. Nothing wrong with it but it's objectively inferior to emulation.
Nah I disagree. It just depends on where you want to play them. I have tons of experience in both emulation and real hardware and honestly it's often up to how I feel. Yeah Emulation has tons of benefits on modern displays and is honestly the best way to go. However I like to play on CRTs and original hardware is easier for that or doing emulation from a Wii. However I don't buy physical games because pricing is out of control for many of these
BRO HOW MANY TIMES? It's "They're owned by Intel" NOT "THEIR". It's easy THE'RE = THEY ARE. THEIR is the possesive form for the third person as in I - Mine, You - Yours, They - THEIR. Get it?! I'm not even a native english speaker.
if it helps there are ribbon extension cable to move the sd card slot and, seeing how your DIY machine is build you can screw/glue the sdcard slot on the left side (from the point of view of all usb ports) really cool video, let's hope that FPGA bright future to make bigger FPGA capabilities to replicate all these old consoles !
That's really cool 👍 However I'd just be recycling lolly sticks instead of using new wood given the size (maybe glue some together if they're not thick enough) and use at least 3 fans for a "PC look". Also think it's missing that all important RGB 😜
Really cool video and a nice display of the 3D printer as well. However, it would be more interesting to see the difference in delay between the original hardware and the DE10 Nano, plus the PC emulator if you're still interested in that, just to get a complete picture. But I guess getting original hardware just for one video might not be easy, so I understand. Keep up the good work!
Nice! I've been going back and forth considering the Mister and ended up deciding against it. RGB-Pi OS with the RGB adapter in a Pi4 runs everything up to PS1 with pretty much the same low lag, provided you use a real CRT screen (PVM, TV, or arcade monitor) - which you should! :)
Emulation gets about 95%+ of the way but will never beat the well-made FPGA cores - lots of games have separate speedrun categories for emulation (with very strict rules on settings) for this very reason.
I'm watching this while making, basically, my own console. We had to make a game on an FPGA for school. And I asked if I could borrow one of a FPGA from school and upgrade my project to the vision I had while designing it and make each 'component' more programmable and less fixed function.
Awesome video, just a small point, the N64 it’s actually being recreated for the MiSTer project, so it probably would be possible. Greetings from Spain!
If anyone is out there on the fence about getting a Mister, go for it. I love mine. I have 8bitdo USB dongle for bluetooth to a PS4 controller. Works great. The mister project is great overall, I just don’t really care for their case options though, so probably best to print your own.
Love how they have brought FPGAs to the retro gaming scene. I noticed you compared latency of the Nano against other software emulation systems, but what about latency as compared to the original hardware (and perhaps for other emulated systems)?
Compared to original hardware it's a lot of latency the way he had it set up. LCD TVs, the up-scaling required to display on them, and using USB controllers add a load latency.
@@damionmanuel7337Also, if he had went with the SNAC, the input latency is near identical to the original hardware since it uses a special USB port with direct lanes to the FPGA. Team the SNAC with true analog video, and the input latency is near perfect, so much so that speed runners can use it to practice.
I'm a returning student for EE, a cnc machinist by day, and have a my first 3d printer pre-ordered. Your channel is like life goals lol. Keep up the great content and cool projects!
That looks so neat!!! Love how you integrate woodworking with 3D printing. That 3D printer looks easy to use even for a beginner like me!
Thank you! Cheers!
Well.. to call it woodwork is maybe a bit to fat. Subtractive manufacturing.
Wonderful video, brother. I've been following you for years now and I'm enjoying the traction you deserve. Your attention to detail has remained very diligent throughout your entire 'Zac Builds' saga and it shows. Top-notch production, presentation, aesthetic, articulation, and know-how. Keep it up! - Josh.
love the fractal inspiration for the case.
It’s pretty cool how you get an idea and then just make it, other people just think “that would be cool.” You turn it into “this will be cool” and I think that’s cool
So.. exactly how did your $4k pc get destroyed...?
Honestly, I had the same confusion initially, but I think he meant "destroyed his PC" to mean it outperformed his PC. The only reason I came to that conclusion is the fact that he compared it to his PC in the video and it's the only thing that makes sense.
It was click bait. So more accurately put, under his testing conditions the system outperformed his $4000 PC
Yeah
1. It’s smaller.
2. It’s the original hardware and is not emulation in the traditional sense.
3. It’s more cost effective.
@@EliezYT
4. It's more power effective
they just now added a n64 core a few weeks back is so exciting for retro gaming
Very cool build! The MiSTer is an excellent setup and is getting better by the day.
FPGA means you can program it as you see fit after final assembly, basically you can make a lot of cool things with it with no hardware modifications just via software, it does not program it self!
It should be noted that SNAC is not always the best choice for original controllers. It does reproduce the behavior and (lack of) latency, but you also can't control the OSD with a SNAC connection. If you use a low latency USB adapter, or daemonbite adapters (which use a microcontroller and open source code) you only sacrifice 1 ms of lag and regain the ability to control the OSD (the MiSTer's menu system) and remap buttons as well as use the controller for any system.
When it comes to input lag, the test done in this video is missing a lot of context.
Does he have USB fast polling enabled in the MISTer? Does he have the latency numbers on his TV? Does he have it in game mode? Did he use the same controller on the PC? What emulator did he use on PC? What settings? These are all major factors. Then you get into things like run-ahead settings which are complicated.
Overall though I'm glad to see more people talking about the MiSTer project, it's such a cool and fun emulation platform with so much development going on right now.
SNAC is always best. Sure it doesnt work in the OSD, but gaming is never done in the OSD.
@@ZaPpaul SNAC is not always best IMO. You give up flexibility for literally 1 ms of input lag.
I'm glad people are starting to use FPGAs more. Analogue has already shown us its capabilities.
Honestly, the only Analogue device worth the money is the Pocket, and there it's not because of the FPGA, it's because of the absolutely insane 1440p 4:3 screen that scales perfectly to the target platforms. Other than the gimmick of plugging in original games and have native HDMI output from them the FPGA guts aren't bringing that much to the table there.
wdym? Isn't FPGA still digital?
@@randomnobody660 Analogue is a company that produces FPGA consoles
@@adyx pfft ok. Can't read somehow, but nice name.
The MIST project (which is what the MISTer forked from) predates the analogue NT, which was Analogue's first FPGA console.
Kevtris was also doing FPGA NES stuff long before he consulted with Analogue.
Strictly speaking, Analogue didn't show us the way. They just made it much more popular. If anyone, Kevtris did.
Since modern COU's have multiple cores and generally 2 threads per core... its quite easily to emulate the chips themselves on a per core basis.
I've never seen a sponsorship so well integrated in to the video. That alone makes the video much better than others where it's basically the same as any other ad.
Thanks! This actually took some negotiation on my end, they originally approached me about doing a showcase/review but I said how about I just use it in a build instead. It's more fun for everyone that way.
@@ZacBuildsdo you have any personal reservations with Anker and their privacy issues? LMG specifically won't work with them because of their history of not respecting customer privacy
I have those same barrel plug adapters and use them for FPV goggles. I found if you gently pull on the wire, it is likely to fall out. The simple solution was a small bead of solder on the tip of the wire so that it can't slip back out by the screw.
That is never a good idea. You should never tin wires that go in screw terminals, the solder deforms over time under the pressure and leads to a bad connection, cheap 3D printers have this problem and it can lead to fires. If you need to use stranded wire then you should use ferrules. You can get a cheap crimper with a set of ferrules very cheap. Or if you use solid core wire and it pulls out then add some strain relief.
@@conorstewart2214 I appreciate your concern but the solder isn't under pressure and merely locks the wire in place. I've used this method for numerous years at this point. It may not be ideal for every application but for my goggle wire, it's perfect.
@@Cappurnikus if the solder isn’t under pressure and is just holding the wire in then the wire itself might not be under pressure and might not have a good connection. If the pressure on the wire is holding it in then you know it has a good connection. It’s probably good enough for powering some goggles but I definitely wouldn’t trust it for anything higher power.
Good call! I actually had to re-seat those wires a few time before I got enough clamping pressure on them where they would stay in there properly.
Or get a proper panel-mount connector. If you're stuck on screw terminals, at least use ferrules, they're super underrated!
The DE-10 Lite FPGA board was what we used in school for some of our digital logic design and embedded systems classes, the labs specifically. Cool to see another practical use for the DE-10. Great video!!
Ya I've had quite a few friends who went to school for electrical engineering tell me they know the DE10 quite well haha. I wouldn't be suprised if some University class was the birth place of the MiSTer.
I’m sure you’ll be told by many, but to plane really thin veneers, you can place it on a sled or run board on a bandsaw.
That's an awesome ad for this 3D printer. I want to watch more stuff printed with this.
Hey, FPGA content on UA-cam! Nice. Here's some background info on the FPGA design process:
When they mean that they x-rayed the chips, that's because the HDL (hardware description language) used by the FPGA almost demands that you understand where every single bit of data is stored and read (in "registers"). You can count the amount of registers used in any given HDL file, when they're operated on, and where they are output. That means meticulous management of keeping everything lockstep, but that is the desired goal: cycle accurate, rendering accurate circuitry that will honestly implement every little hardware bug that game designers explicitly worked around.
Note that the reason "cycle accurate" circuitry is important is because older consoles had far less leeway in processing speed. Their cheap nature made the programming difficult, so sometimes programmers had to push the limits of what was possible. Say your GPU can only render 10(!) sprites on screen, but using all 10 will slow down the GPU by a few 100 clock cycles . That could be enough to have the CPU fail to keep the frame rate unless you program around it. Without the hardware slowdown, though, this hacky code will now run faster than intended and that could be your emulation failure. FPGAs literally act how the hardware is designed, bugs and all down to the nanosecond.
When I say circuits, I mean circuits. FPGAs take a long string of 1s and 0s and electrically connect and disconnect registers and transistors together. They're connected in billions of grids that can route electricity to any register to any register. But this electricity takes time to flow, and so advanced AI algorithms attempt to organize your design so it can run as fast as possible. That means higher clock speeds that you know and love.
The FPGA being used is the DE-10 Nano. I actually coded the DE-10 Lite for a Uni project making a custom mini CPU. Sadly, my left over board is half the size for most MiSTer cores. And you might be surprised that the DE-10 Nano is like 200$ in 2023 because of chip shortages! I've heard stories of companies buying old testing boards and ripping off the FPGAs for use; that's just a rumor but that's how in demand FPGAs can be. Making such reconfigurable hardware means paying a lot for potential functionality you don't use.
And why wouldn't you? As long as whatever you're coding doesn't process faster than 400MHz or needs gigabytes of fast memory, you can feasibly emulate any design up to the GBA at consumer price points.
TL;DR: FPGAs are niche devices that trade in processing power and design complexity for configurable electronics on a hardware level. But since retro gamers don't nee gigahertz and are dedicated to accurate emulation gaming, MiSTer might be what you need.
for comprehension: Does the FPGA have a process in the background or when finalizing a "setting" that optimizes for this specific setup?
@@meterano7 FPGAs don't have anything resembling Assembly code by default. No OS, no BIOS. They don't have a CPU by default. What you are given in FPGA fabrics are basically transistors that can be combined into ANY CPU you can fit on it, plus the memory and accessory chips. What you are configuring are physical wires being locked in between those transistors. Any change would be like switching from an Intel CPU to an AMD CPU in the middle of running.
You could try and reconfigure your computing during operation, but at that point you're literally doing the PHD work my professor was doing. Like, if a satellite could switch from low-latency flight computer to advanced telescope in orbit, the entire package could be tiny.
The bright cherry-wood would have made it pop a lot more, so I think it would have worked better with it.
Problem is that it doesn't match with the other wood in the room so for that reason you're wrong.
@@volundrfrey896 While you might think so, having a bit of contrast doesn't hurt. Especially when the ratio is so overwhelmingly in favor of one side. The bright wood would make the console pop, which would also accentuate the darker wood.
@@SapioiT No you're wrong here. It would look messy and unplanned.
@@volundrfrey896Fashion is more subjective than you think.
Indeed
Yes. FPGAs are the way. Walnut is also the way. Great job!
I 100% aggre on both sentences lol
Really cool thing about the Mister is that it can run on any display you want. It can run on a SD CRT, HD CRT, VGA CRT, and Modern HD TV. It is such a cool feature that will satisfy anyone and will work on their TV reguardless of what they own.
Also I do disagree about filters. After I went CRT filters I can't go back. CRT filters make any system from the 5th generation and before look significantly better. Plus it makes the art in these games looks far better and make more sense. Even with GBA I use an LCD filter instead of raw pixels. I can't really go back to raw pixels.
I never liked CRT filters, they totally killed the colors. Maybe I am using them wrong?
An interesting video! I've been using one of these for years. I upgraded from the slice system to using a "multisystem" for the MISTer. I recommend that over the slice way of doing things. Great fun all the same. Happy Gaming!
Congrats on getting a 3d printer! Since you like wood so much I thought you should know that there are some PLA wood filaments that you can use for printing and I am pretty sure are able to be stained too.
Yes! I've been meaning to buy some and test it out. Really cool stuff. Just need to find the right project for it....
He already had 3D printers, didn’t he? I remember him having some X1 Carbon’s..
Thats all cool and everything but ONKER? Is that right?
I prefer to say (W)Anker
Roses are red, Violets are blue. We got clickbait and he got the view.
Thats the best title + thumbnail combo Ive ever seen. Nice
Thanks!
For future, if your planer doesn't go thin enough, just double stack the planks. You can then make your next pass then measure the thickness and adjust from there
Nice case, I kinda like the dual tone you got by varying the print speed. I've been thinking about FPGAs too, just wish they had a prettier GUI
Another great video as always! Love that you use tons of different tools / materials in every project!
Thanks man! I love trying new things and integrating it into whatever I'm working on, keeps things fresh for me.
I mean sometimes emulation is the superior experience but I get that fpgas are the way to go for an accurate experience
But they're also relatively expensive.
It could also be possible to run the game at higher quality with an FPGA while also being accurate.
Software emulation is just more easier to do since you can use it on more common hardware and given common hardware usually powerful enough to run the game at higher quality than default.
@@pieceofschmidtgamerespecially when most people already own something that can run software emulation already.
This is the physical embodiment of the word, “neat”.
Nice build! A few suggestions for design improvements: replace the barrel jack with a cheap USB-C PD board set to 5V, so you can use any USB-C (or even USB-A, assuming it has sufficient output) power brick. And maybe use one of ADT-link's slim HDMI extensions designed for case-internal use so that you don't have to fit that thick extension cable?
Also, one major advantage of FPGA emulation that you fail to mention: emulation accuracy. Software-based emulation is good, but it's very often quite inaccurate, which results in anything from game features missing outright to various glitches. FPGA-based hardware emulation, as long as the core is well written, will avoid this entirely, as it will be an effective 1:1 match with the original hardware.
To run thin wood through a planer, put a shim underneath it. A sled made of hardboard, shiny side down, would work well.
I kinda feel like it goes both ways - emulation isn't accurate to the original console, but on the flipside you can do nice things like play the new Zelda at an acceptable resolution and framerate.
Emulation CAN be accurate, it's just a question of hardware and development skill
spent 5 minutes trying to figure out where the sponsor segment ended
I love that it looks like a Fractal Design case. I may have a addiction to most Fractal Design stuff from using a Meshify 2 XL.
The wifi dongle should have been placed on one of the USB ports hidden inside the case for an ever more cool look... but overall you killed it 🤜
I’ve been working on the inverse coding analog circuits! This is pretty cool!
I love the fact it looks like a tiny PC (despite it being an FPGA) in a Fractal North TG pc case
Zack....I love your kind of videos so much.
Keep it up!
Thanks man, will do! :)
There is a way to reduce the input lag on the mister. In the configs you can turn on USB fast polling. Then there is the SNAC adapter, which effectively is zero lag as it is the same as connecting a real controller to a real console. There is no middleman dealing with inputs, like USB.
Part of the delay is the Hz of the monitors. There's a reason you use retro monitors/TV's. It removes the delay that comes from LCD screens.
To be fair, modern TVs got a lot better in delay in their native resolution. It was A LOT WORSE a few years ago. So as long as he doesnt upscale the Mister-Image through his TV the Lag from the TV CAN be pretty minimal. A CRT will always be better, of course but there are good enough screens out there, that feel great. Problem is, that even same models can be different in LAG, so its mostly a game of luck when buying a new TV.
Your work is really inspiring. ❤ its not only the doing of the doable but also the passion of doing it perfect
@11:01 It was an interesting point: start with a stick measuring two feet long and half a foot wide and one inch thick, and cut enough of it to make 4-5 ice cream sticks. It is a good idea for a company like Algida. Nice build by the way.
"DESTROYED" in this context apparently means a difference of about 18ms of input lag in a single test.
I really like that it gives a more real/ layered look & feel to it. It's essentially keeping dying games/hardware alive.. This Seem's really important the more we move into this era of losing access to older physical hardware. I just wish there was a way to upgrade so it would be possible to play a broad range of game consoles.
Not gonna lie... Something in me was dying from seeing him plane down that _entire_ Slab of Walnut to make those tiny Slats instead of just either *a)* making the _entire_ front out of it using the $4-6'000.- 3-Axis CNC he has or *b)* again use the $4-6'000.- 3-Axis CNC really just milling a small portion of the huge Slab into those tiny Slats. Seriously man... *_WTF!?_* 💢
Im a hardcore collector myself, I have tons of original hardware etc and I also have a both an emulator arcade cab and a couple different fpgas.... all that being said, I actually prefer good software emulation against fpga or original hardware, with the exception of my analouge pocket. All the extra features like shaders, hd patches, save states, rewind, fast forward, bezels, etc etc really enhance the experience and sure, you loose some accuracy but most people would be hard pressed to actually cite any difference between the three themselves.
My thoughts exactly. As soon as I heard his statement on it, it raised an eyebrow for me. The emulators these days can be really good, and it's been well over a decade since I played my old favorites anyways. For so many games, I've never played the original, so I couldn't tell the difference of there was any.
Sure, there are definitely titles that either don't work or behave erratically, but I can accept that. Some consoles will really benefit from hardware emulation especially when the original silicon was low quality(XBOX360).
Love the video, as always, and this is not a criticism as I love the idea of all types of emulation, including hardware with FPGA and you did a great vid on it, but I just found one bit interesting - SO the whole point of the video, at least going by the intro, was about authenticity.. so I just found it interesting when it came to controllers that you said you prefer simplicity as opposed to using a real controller, which you can do with the mister because for me, while i love BOTH ways (playing on my PC with launchbox, or on pi4 emulation station..or with real hardware) the real difference when it comes to playing with real hardware, for me, is actually the physical part. I reckon id barely notice the imperfections in emulation that aren't "100% accurate" (other than those that I WANT, like sprite limit removal) but I DO notice the clunk of putting a cartridge into a system, and the feel of a real controller that are just so different in shape and feel to modern controllers. That and playing on a CRT are the two main reasons I will always play on real hardware from time to time, in spite of all the positives of emulation.
Anyways.. great video.. just wanted to post that part that was interesting to me.
Sonic II on Sega Genesis was my childhood
Digital Signal Processors can do the same thing as Field Programmable Gate Arrays - they can be reconfigured to function as any type of processing architecture. Useful for networking, audio, video, general purpose CPU, etc. The other cool part of DSPs is when one isn't fast enough to tackle the role of a different processor you simply add more of them. In this way the DSP can be used to function as the electronic stem cells of a future proof PC.
Instantly recognized the fractal design north design, awesome
The fins need to be away from the fan, every little millimeter helps, since it was a CNC profile its easy to do. Also spreading the fans apart a little as one of them is blowing straight into the RAM module. Maybe glue them in the middle and let the ends of the wood hang unsupported? Would look pretty cool actually.
Sonic isn’t a great example for testing input lag because by default there’s two frames before input is processed
It's fine if you use it for all tests as it is like for like. But sure it's not ideal if you are chasing minimal lag.
Thank you for the detailed review on M5C. I've been thinking of getting one and I'm definitely going to use M5C for creating unique objects!
The truly odd thing is it sometimes feels like emulators actually haven't improved over the years. That would seem insane, but it's sadly true. The more an emulator tries to target accuracy, the more compute power you need to use it.
if you want to make the case stronger with out adding extra support in the inside you can just add texture to the print walls. similar to what manufacturers do to make thin aluminum sheets more ringgit. CNC Kitchen has this video explaining the process.
"Texturing 3D Prints for Strength!"
Bigger FPGAs will only get you so far. The task of writing HDL for the N64 is absolutely monumental. Once you get to the PS2 era, its way too complex. Thats when software emulation starts to really shine over hardware emulation.
I love how he used the walnut to replicate the fractal north pc case
It looks like the fractal north.
I don't mean to be annoying, but you're supposed to crimp ferrules onto the wire ends before using them in a screw terminal. this significantly improves mechanical stability and provides significantly better contact between the terminal and the wires. it also adds a bit of insulation to the end so there are no exposed wires that could be shorted by any means.
How dare you come for my precious cherry wood like that!!? I mean c'mon. It's not red oak.
Great and pretty interesting Video ;) But as a guy working in electric kind of company I have to say this... please... never... NEVER do things like in 8:54 WITHOUT ferrules... i know it's an extra step to do, but especially on hardware get's moved around or has kind of small vibrations and so on, ferrules will save the Copper in your wire at the long run. Had some people having problem of connection problems cause they didn't use ferrules. Copper got kind of "screwed" up by the rotating screw and when it moves it's kind of a scissoring movement which faster or later will remove enough copper so you don't have proper connections anymore or even Cable can slip out of connector and even can give short circuits.
Besides this, great and interesting video like i said earlier and hopefully some time in the future we also can make great emulations of "newer" consoles like N64 or even Camecube and so on like this ;)
Yo mister community is the MVP yall!
The 8bitdo controllers are available with their own wireless dongles. I have a bunch of them and the latency is undetectable. In any case these are the best controllers for the job. I’ve been a MiSTer FPGA owner since 2020 and I’ve got a bunch of add-ons for it as well. I also have the aluminium case from Mister Addons. All of this is hands down the best purchase I’ve ever made. So compact, reliable, and the MiSTer project is so active with new cores being worked on all the time. I also support a bunch of the developers on Patreon. Thanks for a great video. Cheers 😊
I actually checked, some dude made a chart of all the different 8bitdo controllers and their input latency in different modes. Their included 2.4ghz dongle is awesome, but it does introduce like 1-2ms of input lag vs USB. Basically nothing, but still a little bit haha. Thanks for watching :)
id really like to see these work with up to early 2000s hardware. if there is anything already out there that be great but im still looking
that's a really cool project you've made - I just wish you'd have printed it in beige plastic.
btw said advertised speeds are only for non print moves, alot of companies cheat their way like this claiming fast print speeds when its just print moves which can end up most of the times not even reaching those speeds cause accelerations are to low to shove the head to 500mm/s on a 10mm distance move
As someone old to enough to have played on all of these consoles when they were new, software emulation is perfectly fine and you don't need to spend money on things like Mister to have a good experience. I'm glad that I can get rid of my old consoles as they just took up space in my house.
Hey Zac, new to your channel and loving your retro gaming videos. Now that you have done so many different versions, I would love to see a round up video on the all the different styles that you have from PI to FPGA to Handheld. Like which one do you daily drive and what do you like/dislike about each one.
You should have mocked up an arangement of the fins alternating wood types just to see if that would have looked good.
There are cycle accurate emulators and the code is constantly evolving. FPGAs are fine as novelties but long term the DM-10 board will be discontinued and continuity with whatever will be next cannot be guarranteed.
For proper preservation of games the target hardware should be a cheap laptop or phone that you can get anywhere, not some overpriced fluff built around niche hardware.
i agree, the whole point of preservation is not just availability but also ease of access, when you put this stuff on not readily available and usually single-purpose hardware, are we really succeeding in the goal of emulation?
@@F-00 you can't run this software on a computer. That's not how FPGAs work. However there are many FPGAs out there and the code can (and has been) ported across others, so I don't think it's a crisis.
Your case gives me Fractal North vibes. And I have a Fractal North, so I approve
That's pretty awesome! The fan cover looks really nice its a shame the IO couldn't be on the same side as the fan cover. That would make it nice astatically sitting on your entertainment center. Don't get me wrong love the first design.
You should see if you can plug the wifi adapter in to one of the USB ports that aren’t accessible from the outside.
Good call, I definitely think I could fit it into one of the upper ones.
A, not O. AnkerMake, not OnkerMake LOL
Improperly set up scanlines are dumb, but when correctly configured for your resolution and with appropriate parameters it gets the experience much closer to the original thing. That is because most art in retro games is made for CRTs, which create a multitude of new colors as the beam blends the pixels during scan.
that looks really cool. i love it.
Honestly, as someone who owned a PS1, N64, Game Boy Color, PS2, NDS and GameCube during my childhood (I am 27 now, so a younger millenial or older zoomer depending on how you wanna categorize it); I VASTLY prefer emulation over trying to play on genuine hardware.
With emulation I can upscale the resolution to double or even triple the native resolution (playing PS2 and GameCube upscaled to x3 makes the game look like an HD remaster), and I can easily patch ROM or ISO files to make them into ROM hacks or randomizers. I can add texture packs to the game to change the graphics dramatically (this is especially cool on the N64 emulators). For super grindy JRPGs like Pokemon and Final Fantasy, I can speed up the battles to x2 speed so it's less tedious and I level up more quickly. Save scumming with save states makes trying to find that rare item with a 1% chance of appearing a little bit easier.
Emulation is objectively superior, it's not an opinion. It's a provable set-in-stone fact. People who prefer OG hardware are just overly nostalgic lol. Nothing wrong with it but it's objectively inferior to emulation.
Nah I disagree. It just depends on where you want to play them. I have tons of experience in both emulation and real hardware and honestly it's often up to how I feel. Yeah Emulation has tons of benefits on modern displays and is honestly the best way to go. However I like to play on CRTs and original hardware is easier for that or doing emulation from a Wii. However I don't buy physical games because pricing is out of control for many of these
BRO HOW MANY TIMES? It's "They're owned by Intel" NOT "THEIR". It's easy THE'RE = THEY ARE. THEIR is the possesive form for the third person as in I - Mine, You - Yours, They - THEIR. Get it?!
I'm not even a native english speaker.
if it helps there are ribbon extension cable to move the sd card slot and, seeing how your DIY machine is build you can screw/glue the sdcard slot on the left side (from the point of view of all usb ports)
really cool video, let's hope that FPGA bright future to make bigger FPGA capabilities to replicate all these old consoles !
When he tool the first peice of the printer it sounded like the lego building sound
Hold on, the case is similar to Fractal Design North...
Also I'd prefer walnuts.
Is it just me or does he kinda sound like a more reserved MatPat
Canadian version of him
That's really cool 👍
However I'd just be recycling lolly sticks instead of using new wood given the size (maybe glue some together if they're not thick enough) and use at least 3 fans for a "PC look".
Also think it's missing that all important RGB 😜
Really cool video and a nice display of the 3D printer as well. However, it would be more interesting to see the difference in delay between the original hardware and the DE10 Nano, plus the PC emulator if you're still interested in that, just to get a complete picture. But I guess getting original hardware just for one video might not be easy, so I understand. Keep up the good work!
Fractal Nord inspired fan grills, even the wood types are basically the same
i love the wood fins
It looks like a tiny Fractal North. I like it.
everyone loves the fractal design north
Watching this stuff makes me jealous, my 3D printer is so slow haha.
Nice! I've been going back and forth considering the Mister and ended up deciding against it. RGB-Pi OS with the RGB adapter in a Pi4 runs everything up to PS1 with pretty much the same low lag, provided you use a real CRT screen (PVM, TV, or arcade monitor) - which you should! :)
Emulation gets about 95%+ of the way but will never beat the well-made FPGA cores - lots of games have separate speedrun categories for emulation (with very strict rules on settings) for this very reason.
Given your love of walnut and fins, it feels like the original Atari 2600 wood edition could be great inspiration for a mini console.
That would be cool!
@@ZacBuilds Bonus points if you can implement those CHONKY mechanical switches too lol.
I'm watching this while making, basically, my own console. We had to make a game on an FPGA for school. And I asked if I could borrow one of a FPGA from school and upgrade my project to the vision I had while designing it and make each 'component' more programmable and less fixed function.
click bait
Awesome video, just a small point, the N64 it’s actually being recreated for the MiSTer project, so it probably would be possible.
Greetings from Spain!
I love that Cherry Wood, it looks natural
If anyone is out there on the fence about getting a Mister, go for it. I love mine. I have 8bitdo USB dongle for bluetooth to a PS4 controller. Works great. The mister project is great overall, I just don’t really care for their case options though, so probably best to print your own.
have you considered a vinyl wrap on your console?