RE: Space Wars Demo

From: Ed Henciak <eddie_at_telerama.com>
Date: Fri Oct 29 1999 - 15:42:43 EDT

>
> Don't these games require different hardware? or can you port
> many of these games to different systems?

This could be done using synthesizable CPU cores for FPGAs (or if someone
with deep pockets want to make a 'Vectorcade ASIC'....yeah right :) ! )

There is a free synthasizable 6502 core available now at
http://www.free-ip.com

Right now, the way this 6502 is designed, any 'cheap' FPGA is out of the
question. From what I can tell, it uses FPGAs that have embedded memory
elements (i.e. blocks of memory you can configure as RAM or ROM), or needs
a ton of flip flops since it employs a microcoded control unit.
Also, the CPU does not yet have BCD arithmetic implemented yet. However,
it's a good start and the designers claim it's working perfectly despite
the absence of BCD math. They've also added a multiply operation.

In either case, it's a start! If you go out and purchace 6502 cores, you
have to spend a bundle ($10K on up + royalties in some cases).

Current, cheaper FPGAs are really nice for the Cinematronics CPU ;) ....

Ed

On Fri, 29 Oct 1999 nelsonjjjj@didactics.com wrote:

>
> >how am I suppose to add a star castle to
> >tempest now that everybody has clay's kit?
>
> Is it possible to make a board that will play all or most the
> vector games (with vector output?) with porting?
>
> Just asking.
>
> -James
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Received on Fri Oct 29 14:42:49 1999

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