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A MAME Veteran's Question: Is it Worth Investing in MiSTer yet?

RealMFnG

RealMFnG

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I started out with MAME before becoming an arcade snob. I've mastered setting up a MAME box. All my MAME builds hide Windows completely. I boot right into the front end of my choosing and launch games from there. Never have to use a keyboard. Everything is controlled via joystick and push buttons. I find the emulation works well enough for the games that I don't have and am able to enjoy them thoroughly, though I am still an arcade snob. Also, I find that CRT Emu does a fine job with rendering video. To be quite honest, I love the simplicity of the 'Ultracade' inspired front ends; they make sharing games with non-hobbyists very easy. I've built several dozen MAME PC's by now. It costs me in most cases, less than $100 bucks to get a MAME box going. And sometimes when I can scour a free PC, it costs me less than $40. I know full well the advantages/differences between MAME software emulation and MiSTer FPGA. The only drawback I have with MAME is that it takes some 3-5 hours to setup. Though, it is mostly a passive effort however (Windows installation, copying over roms).

Pricing out a MiSTer is going to cost $350-$400. And then I would still need controller PCB's. A JAMMA interface. An audio amp. I know the cores aren't all running well yet. Wondering if it is worth it. Asking if there is someone with comparable experience with MAME to mine if you've found it worthwhile exploring MiSTer?

P.S. I've dabbled with RPi stuff and have not been impressed (yes, I know RPi and MiSTer are two different things).
 
From what I've heard the MiSTer is a huge leap froward.
Some top players have reported no noticeable difference with the real PCBs when it comes to input lag for instance.
But unless you have a 100% source at gate level, it's still a best guess at how the original hardware works.
 
MAME vs. MiSTer is like apples and oranges really. The biggest “issue” coming from MAME would have to be the lack of games in comparison.

The work that Jotego does is fantastic. Other arcade cores can be hit or miss. But for the most part they’re great.

One of the biggest highlights of the MiSTer are the console cores. Coming from the selection MAME has to the limited selection of arcade games in numerical comparison may leave a trigger happy game hooper disappointed.

If you long for accuracy and are patient to explore cores as they are released and deal with issues here and there, the MiSTer is great. There a minimal amount of tinkering to get going, but the forthcoming MiSTercade removes a great deal of the hardware side of it for arcade enthusiasts and beginners alike.
 
I'll probably take the dive with MiSTer. Don't think I would be in the market for MiSTercade though since I have a JAMMAizer. Also, for controls, I'll probably whip up a PCB so it uses the 2x10 pin header that JAMMAizer uses to work with the DaemonBite Arcade Encoder.

What does the front end for MiSTer look like? Just text based?
 
FCF47E24-3592-4691-B089-A575A3089ADE.jpeg
 
For your original question - it depends on which games you play the most. There are not that many arcade cores in the Mister in comparison to a GroovyMame setup. You will need both a MiSter and a GroovyMame setup and as we get more FPGA cores then GroovyMame will be phased out. Mister setup in comparison to GroovyMame is stupidly simple, “even a cave man...” So far I love the Mister but we need to clone the F out of Jotego to get more cores working.
 
Apocalypse said:
From what I've heard the MiSTer is a huge leap froward.
Some top players have reported no noticeable difference with the real PCBs when it comes to input lag for instance.
But unless you have a 100% source at gate level, it's still a best guess at how the original hardware works.
Click to expand...
I'm in the same boat as the OP. I'm interested but undecided about the Mister because emulators are so good that they can have *less* input lag than real hardware these days. I'll probably get one when it gets some cores that FBA/retroarch can't run right, though.
 
@djsheep and @SNK-NEO-GEO pretty much summed it up.

For me, the lack of arcade cores on MiSTer compared to MAME has forced me to spend more time with what’s available. I have a hard time focusing on a couple of games when I have thousands of options so that limitation on MiSTer is a plus for me. I played a ton of Neo Geo on MiSTer when the core was first released and now I’m really into CPS1. I really like the ability to “savor” the cores as they’re released.
 
@kikaso I concur, the limited amount of arcade games on the MiSTer has given me a lot more playtime with some classics. Tapper, Wonderboy and Ghost & Goblins are my go-to’s for the older stuff.
 
Bonus - here is the iPad screen that smokemonster talked about.. at the native screen res and with all those filters available on the supported cores, it is impressive.. now keep in mind that’s 9.7” and the CRT on the left for comparison is 9”. That form factor is not for everyone..
 

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So I'll probably hold off on MiSTer then. I remember back in the days of burning CDR's with the PSX. If I ever got stuck in a game, I would just drop it and moved to the next title. I already have a lot of PCB's. Plus, I am adept with setting up MAME.

If anything, I will get MiSTer if I ever have the urge for console FPGA goodness.

nem said:
Off topic, but thank you for bringing this to my attention! It's a really low lag encoder that uses a super cheap Arduino Pro Micro.

https://github.com/MickGyver/DaemonBite-Arcade-Encoder
Click to expand...
I am already whipping up a simple PCB for it to work with JAMMAizer.

DaemonArcade.JPG
 
On a side note, the Arduino boards came in from Amazon today and they programmed pretty easily into the Daemonbite Arcade Encoder. Also, the USB connection is solid. No wiggle whatsoever. Windows 10 recognized the board after programming as follows:

DaemonBiteArcadeEncoder.jpg


Used a little jumper wire to check if the button signals worked and they do.

ButtonTest.jpg


Also ordered up some PCB's so they'll work in the 2x10 MC format originated by the PS360+. Those should be here in a couple of weeks. If all works out, I will be ditching the Zero Delay Encoders (or any other PCB) for good for MAME builds and in the future for MiSTer.
 
Daemonbite is fantastic. I use some on my PC - Jamma adapter as well. Zero delay is so bad in comparison.
 
rememberizer said:
Daemonbite is fantastic. I use some on my PC - Jamma adapter as well. Zero delay is so bad in comparison.
Click to expand...

I noticed with some PCB's paired with some PC hardware, on a cold boot, the HID USB Gamepads are not enumerated by Windows (in my cases 7). On just a restart of Windows, it is fine. Becomes troublesome if you are doing a MAME build and your controller PCB's don't enumerate on bootup.

Have you ever noticed this problem with the Daemonbite Arcade Encoders?
 
muckyfingers said:
I was going off the link he posted, which is $10 each plus tax.
Click to expand...
I didn't want to wait the 4-6 weeks for it to arrive from China in this case, so I paid more to have it sent by Amazon. Which is still less than the Brook Zero Pi by more than half.
 
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