So, I'm one of the three lucky people who have the forthcoming CPS-1 Multi from Darksoft here for QA testing. I've been running this unit through it's paces and I can honestly say it's very well designed, thought out and an extremely impressive product. I hadn't seen the final multi until it arrived last week and I was surprised at what it's become: a true masterpiece work that'll be well worth everyones wait.
Firstly, here are some photos — I'm not going to show the entire multi as that would spoil some of the spark of the final official reveal.
I'll try give some basic information below which should help clear up some queries:
Installation of the Multi is extremely simple. It involves soldering two DuPont wires to the underside of the A-Board and replacing a PAL chip on the A-Board with a GAL. On most A-Boards the PAL is socketed. That's it. Also, as mentioned previously, you'll need a battery-less, battery-based C-Board. The models of these are 90630C-4, 90631C-5 and 92641C-1. If you grabbed one previously from @drfunk2k you're all set!
The multi is controlled by the same LCD selector that is used with CPS-2 and F3. If you're familiar with either of those multi's you know what to expect. It's simple, and it gets the job done quickly and effectively which means less time faffing about and more time for playing games
The A-Board and Multi are ingeniously connected together with a "filter" board, similar to what's found in CPS-1.5 games. No doubt there'll be some nice cases to house the finished product. I've got mine in a standard CPS-1 plexi from @Telpherion that I had a spare of which is working well, however solid sturdy support for the filter board in forthcoming enclosures will be very welcome and a must to ensure the board stays together nicely.
The one thing that caught me by surprise instantly was that there is a genuine Capcom QSound chip on here! I was wondering if the QSound was going to be implemented somehow by FPGA but I was greeted by the real thing instead! IMO this makes the multi that extra bit special as it's 100% accurate CPS-1 and CPS-1.5 games on genuine hardware. You can't really beat it.
@Darksoft has gone well out of his way in that regard. The CPS-1.5 library plays perfectly, I've got it hooked up in stereo from the RCA ports and it sounds fantastic.
The multi will run on both 10MHz and 12MHz boards. It will play the games natively as they are on original hardware. If you want complete 100% accuracy you'll need the board the game was designed for, however either motherboard should play the games with no issues. I've been testing with a short 12MHz Dash board and there's been no glaring issues whatsoever. I've heard the same from other testers with a 10MHz running.
Unfortunately there is no connector for Forgotten Worlds spinners. From my understanding this is a large undertaking and task to achieve, so as to not hold up the Multi any further it wasn't able to be incorporated this time around. HOWEVER, there is an excellent hack that works which uses buttons instead of a spinner (similar to the Mega Drive version).
I'll leave it there. Of course there'll be more refined and deeper details announced from other testers / with the final announcement, but I'm throwing ya'll a bone because I know everyone's been waiting so long. It's not far away guys, get those donors ready MultiBoyz!
Firstly, here are some photos — I'm not going to show the entire multi as that would spoil some of the spark of the final official reveal.
I'll try give some basic information below which should help clear up some queries:
Installation of the Multi is extremely simple. It involves soldering two DuPont wires to the underside of the A-Board and replacing a PAL chip on the A-Board with a GAL. On most A-Boards the PAL is socketed. That's it. Also, as mentioned previously, you'll need a battery-less, battery-based C-Board. The models of these are 90630C-4, 90631C-5 and 92641C-1. If you grabbed one previously from @drfunk2k you're all set!
The multi is controlled by the same LCD selector that is used with CPS-2 and F3. If you're familiar with either of those multi's you know what to expect. It's simple, and it gets the job done quickly and effectively which means less time faffing about and more time for playing games
The A-Board and Multi are ingeniously connected together with a "filter" board, similar to what's found in CPS-1.5 games. No doubt there'll be some nice cases to house the finished product. I've got mine in a standard CPS-1 plexi from @Telpherion that I had a spare of which is working well, however solid sturdy support for the filter board in forthcoming enclosures will be very welcome and a must to ensure the board stays together nicely.
The one thing that caught me by surprise instantly was that there is a genuine Capcom QSound chip on here! I was wondering if the QSound was going to be implemented somehow by FPGA but I was greeted by the real thing instead! IMO this makes the multi that extra bit special as it's 100% accurate CPS-1 and CPS-1.5 games on genuine hardware. You can't really beat it.
@Darksoft has gone well out of his way in that regard. The CPS-1.5 library plays perfectly, I've got it hooked up in stereo from the RCA ports and it sounds fantastic.
The multi will run on both 10MHz and 12MHz boards. It will play the games natively as they are on original hardware. If you want complete 100% accuracy you'll need the board the game was designed for, however either motherboard should play the games with no issues. I've been testing with a short 12MHz Dash board and there's been no glaring issues whatsoever. I've heard the same from other testers with a 10MHz running.
Unfortunately there is no connector for Forgotten Worlds spinners. From my understanding this is a large undertaking and task to achieve, so as to not hold up the Multi any further it wasn't able to be incorporated this time around. HOWEVER, there is an excellent hack that works which uses buttons instead of a spinner (similar to the Mega Drive version).
I'll leave it there. Of course there'll be more refined and deeper details announced from other testers / with the final announcement, but I'm throwing ya'll a bone because I know everyone's been waiting so long. It's not far away guys, get those donors ready MultiBoyz!
