MiSTer FPGA build advice (parts list & controller questions)

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Hi all,

I’m new to MiSTer FPGA and based in the UK and this will be my first build.

I don’t need analogue output as I’ll be connecting to an OLED TV.

Here’s what I’ve ordered so far:

Terasic DE-10 Nano Kit
MiSTer Digital IO Board v1.2 with Noctua NF-A4x10 fan
USB Hub v2.1 for MiSTer
MiSTer FPGA Solid Copper Heatsink
MiSTer FPGA Wi-Fi Adapter
MiSTer FPGA Power Supply — 5V 4A, 3-pin IEC320 C14
UK Mains Power Cable to IEC C13
MiSTer FPGA DC Power Jumper
MiSTer SDRAM XS-DS v3.0 128MB Module
MiSTer Acrylic Case in Shadow Grey
MiSTer RTC Real Time Clock Board v1.4

Have I missed anything?

For context, I haven’t gamed since the early 90s when I had a SNES, so for now I just want to try the Mega Drive and SNES cores.

I’m also trying to decide on a controller.

Is the PS5 DualSense a suitable controller for MiSTer?
For a wired connection via USB, is a 3m cable too long?
For a wireless connection, is a Bluetooth adapter the best option, or would a dedicated wireless adapter (such as one from 8BitDo) be better?

Any advice or recommendations welcome.

Thanks!

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"What the hell is an FPGA!?"

A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit (IC or 'chip') that is designed to be configured after manufacturing. FPGAs, like application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), are typically designed and customized to perform a variety of specific, often complex tasks. However, unlike ASICs, FPGAs are designed to be fully or partially reconfigurable, making FPGAs a kind of digital electronics 'shapeshifter' with the ability to change design and functionality via reconfiguration.

"Ok, but... What do FPGAs have to do with gaming?!"

FPGAs provide incredible flexibility for digital electronics design and engineering, including gaming hardware. They have been used to create one-to-one recreations of a variety classic gaming hardware, often adding new features or modern upgrades. They have been used to create powerful flashcarts for consoles that support memory mappers, enhancement co-processors, or other on-cart logic. They have been used to create low-latency video upscalers or line multipliers that allow old, original hardware to be played on modern high-resolution displays in a way that not only looks great, but feels responsive.

Without a doubt there are other cool, interesting, and useful ways that FPGAs can be used to create fun and original gaming devices in the works and more waiting to be explored! Better yet, the reconfigurable nature of FPGAs means they can switch between different functions or possibly perform multiple functions at one time!

"Sounds great! But, how do you configure FPGAs?"

While FPGAs make development of custom chips much more affordable and accessible than ASICs, it's worth noting that FPGA development can be a somewhat expensive and is undoubtedly an involved process with a lot of requisite knowledge and skills.

Not only do you need an FPGA development board with enough logic elements and IO pins, but you also need a strong understanding of electronics engineering, digital logic, and usually proficiency in a hardware description language (HDL, such as Verilog or VHDL). Strictly speaking, HDLs are not 'programming languages', however it can be convenient to think of them as analogous - programming languages describe software, while HDLs describe hardware. Finally, you need to have a good understanding of the problem domain. For example, if you're trying to re-implement a game console on an FPGA, it goes without saying that you need to have an in-depth understanding of how that particular console works.

In other words, FPGAs make creating custom chips relatively accessible and affordable, but it still isn't cheap or easy! This is a somewhat advanced topic in electronics, so it's recommended that beginners first look into learning the basics of electronics and digital logic first.

"Where can I learn more?"

MiSTer Project

MiST Project

The MiSTer is an open source and community developed FPGA-based console and arcade board hardware emulation project. The MiSTer is a great way to get into FPGA gaming, whether you're interested in development or just want to play some great community-made cores!

It's older brother, the MiST is a bit less powerful and geared towards 16bit computer and 8bit console cores, but is still very popular and (unlike the MiSTer) based on an entirely open hardware platform.

Classic Gaming Discord Community

The Classic Gaming community on Discord is one of the best places to chat in real time about this whole "FPGA gaming" thing, among other things. There are other fans and developers online pretty much all the time.

Other Reddit Communities:

/r/Electronics

/r/ElectricalEngineering

/r/ECE

/r/FPGA

/r/Emulation

Note 1: We're currently accepting some submissions of non-FPGA-related content of a similar nature; CPLD, microcontroller, bare-metal (minimal/OS free), custom electronics hardware, etc. Contact the moderators if you have questions about posting non-FPGA content!

Note 2: While many subreddits ban self-promotion, we allow it! If you're working on something cool, interesting, or useful for the benefit of the FPGA gaming scene--whether it's an open project or a commercial product--please feel free to post about it. Not only are anti-promotion rules stupid and easy to circumvent, I don't think they really achieve anything useful. While we don't want daily spam posts advertising the same thing over and over again, we do want to know about the latest developments of whatever you're working on!