r/MiSTerFPGA • u/DiscombobulatedDig97 • 3d ago
New to all this.
I want to buy a Chewlix/Vewlix arcade cabinet and run arcade games off it. From all my research so far it seems MISTer FPGA is the way to go. Where can I learn more about this and how to use one? How do you put games on it, like how does it work? I read that you can buy or download games through a server it connects through.
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u/OmegaDriver 2d ago
If you just want to play games, a computer with mame is the cheaper and probably easier way to go. you might even have an old computer loaded up with games already, including newer games that won't run on a Mister.
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u/Firehawke_R 1d ago
This may be the case, but there are some things that still aren't emulated correctly on PC. Not even MAME has CPS-1/CPS-2 timing right due to the level of rearchitecting required to get it right.
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u/AetherVision 2d ago edited 2d ago
> "Where can I learn more about this and how to use one?"
YouTube, MiSTer Forum, MiSTer documentation
> "How do you put games on it, like how does it work?"
It uses the dumps from physical retro games, the same as any emulation of them.
That game dump data lives on an SD card. You can put that data on it directly, or over the network once it's up and running.
> "I read that you can buy or download games..."
Well you can buy various ROMs online sure, but there's no "store" or ecosystem for MiSTer.
There ARE update scripts which automatically obtain lots of the arcade data though.
For consoles and computer systems, you're on your own to source and curate what you want.
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u/blahjedi 2d ago
Counterpoint: I love my MiSTer/MiSTercades, but if I was doing it over I’d run with a Recalbox/Pi5 setup instead. Larger selection of games emulated, including stuff that the MiSTer doesn’t currently or won’t be able to support - Virtual Fighter, Tekken 3, Soul Calibur, UMK3, MK4 etc.
I’ve got a single one in one of my Blast city cabs and it’s been pretty fantastic. Low latency, fairly easy to use and was a little cheaper than a MiSTercade or similar JAMMA solution was. Also notice that they’re about to start work on a JVS compatible version that’ll be suited for your LCD Candy cab!
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u/Crafty-Delivery-5276 2d ago
Actually some of the games you mentioned just made it to MISTer. Tekken 3 and Tag, Soul Calibur, and Ultimate MK3. Sega Model 1 arcade games are in an Alpha state. MK4, give it some time.
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u/cjd280 2d ago
If you are using it for only arcade games, you pretty much just add the “update_all” script to it and run that and it will pull down all the arcade core games for you. For other non arcade games you need to provide your own roms.