Twin Cobra
The CoinOp Collection team has announced that Twin Cobra is now out of beta. The core was rewritten to be based on the Sky Shark schematics and was verified against real Sky Shark and Twin Cobra PCB’s. You can also get detailed information on the core’s development process by checking out the free Patreon post.
Run update all to download the core.
Auto Save Core
On reddit, user Biduleman, has forked the SNES and NES core to instantly save your game to SD Card.
MiSTer does not automatically save your games to SD Card for games that support battery backup. You have to bring up the MiSTer menu and tell the core to save the backup to yo…
Twin Cobra
The CoinOp Collection team has announced that Twin Cobra is now out of beta. The core was rewritten to be based on the Sky Shark schematics and was verified against real Sky Shark and Twin Cobra PCB’s. You can also get detailed information on the core’s development process by checking out the free Patreon post.
Run update all to download the core.
Auto Save Core
On reddit, user Biduleman, has forked the SNES and NES core to instantly save your game to SD Card.
MiSTer does not automatically save your games to SD Card for games that support battery backup. You have to bring up the MiSTer menu and tell the core to save the backup to your SD Card or you can tell the core to save battery backup to SD Card every time you bring up the core menu. This can cause you to lose progress if you turn off your MiSTer before bringing up the menu. A reason for this behavior is to reduce wear and tear on the SD Card as some games can write many times to its internal save system.
This new core will bypass the MiSTer behavior and instantly save your progress to SD card at the same time the game saves.
The core needs to be installed manually and can be downloaded from the developers GitHub. The developer does warn you to use these cores at your own risk.
- Source 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/MiSTerFPGA/comments/1phvhgx/direct_save_autosave_without_going_to_the_osd_on/
- Source 2: https://github.com/Biduleman
Taito C-Chip
Core developer Raki spent time working on some MiSTer items, specifically the V9958, GP9001, and Taito C-Chip. They stated that the C-Chip core should be completed soon and may be able to send this core to other developers for verification.
The C-chip was a security chip used for some Taito games. Implementing this chip will allow the protection features that were programmed into games, to execute in exactly the same way as the original game, rather than relying on simulations based on observed behavior.
- Source 1: https://x.com/RCAVictorCo/status/1996218229346455857
- Source 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/83nj5o/comment/dvju4d7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
- Source 3: https://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/2018/03/20/now-you-c-inside/
Zaparoo
A new version of Zaparoo core is available. Now at version 2.7.0, this update includes:
- Title IDs are the default way to identify games. This makes your tokens portable between devices and platforms.
- The media database has also been overhauled for better performance
- A ton of platform-specific improvements across MiSTer, Windows, and Batocera.
If you want to get more detailed information on this new version of Zaparoo core, the official blog has a deep dive on the new features.
- Source 1: https://zaparoo.org/blog/core-v2.7.0/
System 18 & Jotego Updates
The Sega System 18 core is now public. This means that everyone can download it for free as it was only available before if you were a Jotego Patreon subscriber. The core runs the following games:
Alien Storm Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker Shadow Dancer Bloxeed Laser Ghost Clutch Hitter Hammer Away Clockwork Aquario Desert Breaker D. Crew Wally wo Sagase! Which is a Where’s Waldo game.
Jotego is also continuing work on the Caliber 50 core.
Schematics have been extracted for Konami’s Premier Soccer. The next game scheduled for schematic extraction is Kaneko’s Gals Panic.
Playstation
The Playstation core has been updated with some fixes and added a new feature. You now have the option to choose “Old GPU”. This simulates GPU (CXD8514Q) from early 100X models. The Old GPU crops 8:8:8 bit gouraud shading color to 5:5:5 bit before multiplying it with the texture color. Other updates to the core include:
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Fix CD audio looping – Wipeout games.
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Fix CD player – pause and resume functionality in BIOS CD player.
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Fix CD controller SUBQ skew for XA audio synchronization – Fixed an issue in Captain Commando game (Boss graphics now appear correctly at the end of level 1).
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CD: Ignore pause command during seek operations – Fixed an issue with music looping in Duke Nukem Total Meltdown.
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Fix: LibCrypt Verification Adjusted for SUBQ +2 Offset.
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Disney Goofy’s Fun House hangs at loading screen.
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Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense (USA) (black screen when selecting vehicle).
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Arcade Hits Wolf Fang Kuuga 2001 | BGM stops playing midstages / bosses.
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Source 1: https://misterfpga.org/viewtopic.php?p=102731#p102731
Apple IIgs
On the MiSTer FPGA forums, users have uploaded test builds for the in-development Apple IIgs core. There is still a lot of work to be done, but one of the developers says that soon they will be needing some help working through the game catalog.
The Apple IIGS was a 16-bit personal computer by Apple, released in 1986.
It offered substantially improved graphics and sound over the Apple II while still providing backwards compatibility. It was also Apple’s first computer with a color graphical user interface and blurred the lines between their Apple II and Macintosh computers. Eventually Apple discontinued the Apple II line to focus on the Macintosh.
IQ151
Core developer shark800 released a brand new computer core based on the IQ 151, a Czechoslovakian computer introduced in 1985. According to shark800, this computer was widely used in schools and is well known for its modular architecture, where video modes, storage and peripherals were provided by plug-in modules.
Update your MiSTer now to obtain the core.
MiSTer Addons Aluminum
MiSTer Addons has the Aluminum Armor kit back in stock. This kit provides a high quality casing that allows you MiSTer FPGA to be passively cooled. I created a video on the aluminum armor so check it out if you want to find out more.
- Source 1: https://misteraddons.com/products/mister-pre-configured-bundle-with-aluminum-case
- Source 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NktbV0qBRA
PCXT
A lot of updates have been added to the PCXT core. These updates focus on “polish and reliability: smoother mono video timing, more robust warm resets (especially in Tandy mode), cleaner reboot visuals, and a couple of hardware‑faithful fixes for RTC and floppy detection.”
SuperStation one
The SuperStation one has shipped and customers have already received their consoles. If you do not know what the SuperStation One is, it is a MiSTer FPGA compatible console that has a design inspired by the original Playstation. With an optional dock it can also play original PlayStation discs.
Since it is powered by the MiSTer FPGA operating system, that means you can play all the cores developed for that project.
- Source 1: https://retroremake.co/
Premier Soccer & Arcade Core Fixes
A core for Konami’s Premier Soccer arcade sports game has been released.
Jotego also announced some fixes to current cores. These fixes include:
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Fixed speed problem with CPS1 and CPS2 cores, where turbo was permanently on and caused ssf2t to run faster than it should
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Fixed graphic issue in X-Men vs Street Fighter
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Fixed graphic problem in Dr.Toppel’s Adventure
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Improved accuracy of Bubble Bobble core
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Fixed sound clipping in Gun Smoke, Ghosts’n Goblins and other CAPCOM games.
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Source 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/147246496
Snow Bros
The Coinop Collection team has released a core for Snow Bros by Toaplan. If you want to know more about the development process and some of the available core options, you can check out the public patreon post.
- Source 1: https://x.com/_atrac17/status/2004719185533063497
- Source 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/coin-op-presents-146666786
Pac-Land
The Pac-Land arcade core is now considered stable and has been promoted to public status. Update your MiSTer now to obtain it.
- Source 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/147246496
Sega Channel
A core dedicated to the Sega Channel is now available thanks to Shane Lynch. The Sega Channel was a service by Sega that allowed you to download Sega Genesis games if you had a compatible cable TV service provider. It also provided other internet type services.
The core download is available on the social media post provided below.
- Source 1: https://x.com/iequalshane/status/2005237887655432275
- Sega Channel Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWCUmTTVjMY
CD-i
There is an unstable build of the CD-i core that improves full motion video playback. Here iare the updates.
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MA: Added MPEG Audio Attenuation
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FMV: Configured VCD pixel clock as 13.5 MHz, Allow up to 17 frames in picture FIFO
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VMPEG: Added a debug option to disable the VCD pixel clock, Adapted address decoder for VCD pixel clock
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SERVO: Fixed disc type according to actual Mono-I hardware
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Source 1: https://discord.com/channels/647909397477195803/807613978154762252/1457342576444051496
PC-FX
Developer David Shadoff who’s worked on multiple MiSTer FPGA cores, has announced the early stages of a PC-FX core. Since it’s the early stages, many parts of the hardware have yet to be implemented and no games have been shown to run.
Legend of Kage
The Legend of Kage, a hack and slash arcade game from 1985 and developed by Taito is coming soon to the MiSTer FPGA. This core is coming to us thanks to the CoinOp Collection team.
Vs NES
A core dedicated to VS NES arcade games is in development. A test core with MRA is currently available on the MiSTer FPGA forums.
The VS System was an arcade machine that was powered by NES hardware and its games mostly consisted of NES conversions.
Sky Shark
The Coinop Collection Team has made Sky Shark playable on the MiSTer FPGA. This is a shooter that’s based on the Twin Cobra Platform.
In addition to Sky Shark, there have been maintenance fixes to Snow Bros and Technos16 based games.
If you want more details on Sky Shark and the latest development you can read the free Patreon post.
Jotego Maintenance Updates
Jotego announced improvements to a Konami sound chip that is used by the arcade games X-Men, Premier Soccer and Run n’ Gun. The improvements were aided by the schematics extractions done by furtek.
In regards to the Neo Geo Pocket, the team is working on getting game saves enabled, a feature that is needed in order to complete some games.
For the Caliber 50 core, the CPU work is complete and the next step is to work on the PCM chip.
We were also told that CPS cores still need a bit of re-architecting to guarantee accurate speed under all conditions.
And for the Capcom CPS3 work, it is still in the architectural design stage, so there is nothing concrete to share. Jotego does share concerns that the SDRAM on the MiSTer FPGA may determine whether a CPS3 core will run nicely or not.
- Source 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/x-men-etc-pcm-148383114
MiSTer Organize
MiSTer Organize is now available as a service in RetroNAS. So users who have RetroNAS serving their games over the network can enable the service to help organize their games.
MiSTer Organize also released its January update that includes updates to
- MiSTer_Console Additions
- MiSTer_Console_CD Additions
- MiSTer_Console_Private Additions
- And updates to Exclusive Content
To get the full details for this update check out the public Patreon post.
MiSTer Organize is a project whose goal is to make MiSTer as easy to use as possible. It provides DAT’s that create A-Z folders to sort your games alphabetically for easy use.
Other Misc Updates
TI-99/4A
-Fixed loading of legacy rom files (old 288k .bin cart roms). -Can use a legacy rom as boot0.rom and still specify custom System files via Hardware Menu
PMD85:
– Complete core rework – Upgrade to new MiSTer framework – Added Mega ROM support (one Mega ROM image included) – MIF85 clock fix – Keyboard changes to match [PMD85 emulator](https://pmd85.borik.net/wiki/Emulator) from Borik brothers – Added Mouse support – i8253 fix – issue when FFFF value was loaded (Atomix game was missing stripes over logo) – Video output to MiSTer subsystem is now synced with Video Clock (better image fidelity to original HW) – Added PMD85 version 3
Ondra SPO 186:
– Screen VSync/VBlank fix when Ondra changes vertical resolution (the “jumping screen” effect) – New Ondra Plus 1.4 firmware from 72ka – Code cleanup – New items in the main menu to enable/disable some optional core features – Upgrade to the new MiSTer template – Video output to the MiSTer subsystem is now synced with the video clock (better image fidelity compared to the original hardware)
Arcade: Inferno
– Updated Framework (thanks jackyangantelope) – Added pause – Added hiscore and cmos setting saving capability
Arcade: Joust 2
– Updated Framework (thanks jackyangantelope)