heber – I'm Not Doctor Who

I realise I’ve talked in passing a great deal about the MiSTer Multisystem 2 that I recently acquired from Heber and the Retro Collective, but not written anything substantial about the system itself. So I figured I’d use today’s post to talk a bit about the system in general, and perhaps answer some questions anyone stumbling across this post might have.

What is it?

The Multisystem 2 is an all-in-one console built around the open-source MiSTer standard, designed for hardware emulation of classic home computer, console and arcade machines using a technology known as FPGA. With it, you can use software designed for these platforms either on a modern display or, with the “Analogue” model, on a CRT television or monitor.

What is FPGA?

I’ll be 100% honest with you: I don’t have a clue what FPGA is, other than it’s something to do with a special chip emulating the original circuitry, chips and other internal shenanigans of this old hardware. It is often — though not always — more accurate than emulation done entirely in software, and thus, in theory, provides an experience much closer to using original hardware than software emulation can provide.

Is it plug-and-play?

Unfortunately not. Like most MiSTer setups prior to the Multisystem 2, there is a degree of sorting things out required before you are able to use it. You will need an SD card and a means of writing to it on your computer. You will need to download a piece of software called “Mr. Fusion” (which can be found here) and image it to your SD card using a suitable piece of software such as Balena Etcher (which is free, and can be found here). You will need to boot the Multisystem 2 with the imaged SD card inserted while connected to an HDMI display. Then you will, ideally, need to connect the Multisystem 2 to the Internet either via Ethernet or a USB Wi-Fi dongle (not included) and run the built-in update script or an alternative such as the more comprehensive update_all. Then you will need to fill your SD card (or USB external storage) with the games and software you would like to actually run on the system.

Then you’re ready to go. It might sound complicated, but it’s fairly straightforward. A few tips I found from my own setup process that you might find useful:

If connecting via Wi-Fi, connect to an access point with strong signal, otherwise the update scripts will take a very long time. (Like, more than 24 hours.) Ideally, connect via Ethernet.
Use update_all rather than the built-in update script. It has a lot more flexibility.
Once you’ve run update_all, run it again to make sure it got everything. If the initial run of update_all fails to finish downloading some things, it will retry a couple of times but eventually give up. Having half-finished downloads can cause problems, so running update_all again helps ensure everything is completely downloaded to the right place.
This is entirely optional, but since update_all can, with the appropriate options, download a bunch of arcade games, it’s worth having an SD card big enough to fit them all on. Many MiSTer users recommend using external storage for computer and console game files, but keeping the arcade ROMs and cores on the SD card means that subsequent runs of update_all won’t redownload everything unnecessarily.

One important difference with the Multisystem 2 compared to a traditional MiSTer setup is that you don’t need to buy multiple pieces of hardware or boards to get up and running. Everything you need hardware-wise is built-in (except for storage) — though I would recommend adding a powered USB hub, particularly if you want to use external storage without its own power supply — so all the setup you need to do is software-based.

How does it work once it’s set up?

Once you turn on the MiSTer, it will take a moment to start up, showing a simulated “snow” display similar to that seen on an old analogue TV that isn’t tuned in to anything. After a moment, the main MiSTer menu will appear. If you have set things up as above, you’ll see options for Arcade, Computer and Console, along with a few other things. Using a controller or a keyboard, navigate the menu and choose the system you would like to emulate.

Note: using a controller uses the “Nintendo” layout by default, though this can be redefined in the MiSTer menu to your liking. Controllers that use non-standard layouts (such as those which recreate the N64 or Mega Drive/Saturn layouts) are worth configuring before you get too into anything so you know for sure which button does what.

Once you’ve chosen a system, the “core” for that system will take a moment to boot. On systems with a built-in operating system (such as home computers, PlayStation and Saturn) you will, after a moment, see a familiar boot screen. On other systems, the screen will remain blank. Hitting the Menu button on a controller or F12 on a keyboard allows you to access various options, including the all-important options to mount or boot magnetic disk, optical disc and cassette tape images or cartridge ROM files. Simply pick something and play!

How does it work on HDMI displays?

There’s a lot of customisation you can do. You can adjust the way the system scales its visuals, including doing “integer scaling”, for a clean multiple of the original system’s resolution. This helps reduce “pixel shimmering” during scrolling, among other things, but can lead to borders around the display depending on the resolution of your HDMI display.

There are also a lot of visual filters you can apply, most of which are in the name of recreating a semi-authentic CRT-style experience on a modern display. There’s a lot more than just simple scanline filters, so be sure to explore the presets or tinker with creating your own — you can actually create some very pleasing effects. Sharp pixels are always an option if you prefer that, though.

How does it work on CRT displays?

The Multisystem 2 can connect to a CRT in one of two ways. The first option is through an RGB SCART cable with a mini-DIN plug on the end — the same found on Mega Drive 2 consoles, though take care, as certain cables, notably this one, will not work. I found some cheap ones from Amazon work perfectly fine and produce a beautiful quality picture — no need to break the bank on posh cables.

The other alternative is to use the VGA output, though note that this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to connect to a VGA monitor. You can, and for some classic computer systems with peculiar resolutions or refresh rates it might be a good idea to, but VGA to SCART cables also exist and produce a very good quality image.

The advantage of the Mega Drive 2-style mini-DIN cable is that it carries audio and sound on one cable, so if your CRT TV has decent speakers, you won’t need to connect sound separately.

Speaking of which…

How do I get stereo sound?

If, like me, your CRT only has a piffling mono speaker, the Multisystem 2 has both a 3.5mm headphone-style jack that can be connected to headphones or speakers, plus an optical output. Take your pick.

Is it easy to use?

Once it’s all set up — and that might be a big “if” for some people — the MiSTer software is dead simple to use. The only thing that might be an adjustment for some is the necessity to manually “finalise” save files for console games before turning the system off — this just means popping into the menu and choosing the appropriate option, otherwise you’ll lose anything saved to a virtual cartridge or memory card when you switch the system off. There are ways to set this up to happen automatically, but for maximum peace of mind, it’s worth just taking a moment to do it manually.

Consoles are, as you might expect, completely straightforward. Home computers benefit from attaching at least a keyboard and, in some cases, a mouse. Since many home computers had their own non-standard keys (the Atari 8-bit had Help, Start, Select and Reset keys, for example, while the Commodore 64 had Run/Stop, Commodore and more) you will have to take a bit of time to learn what key on a modern keyboard maps to the “classic” keystroke, but this is just a matter of practice and muscle memory.

Is it good?

A hearty yes. While some of the cores aren’t quite perfect to the original hardware specification, all of the popular ones are updated with new features and tweaks quite regularly, so any issues you encounter will probably be resolved with a bit of time and passion from the enthusiast community responsible for maintaining the MiSTer project as a whole.

For those with a suitable CRT television setup to take full advantage of the “Analogue” model of the Multisystem 2 (there’s also a slightly cheaper “Digital” model which only has the HDMI output) I unreservedly recommend it. It’s one of the most affordable ways to get an incredibly authentic-feeling retro setup, without any of the expense and hassle of purchasing and maintaining vintage hardware and media.

For those gaming purely on HDMI devices, be prepared that you may want to do a bit of tinkering with the visual filters to get things looking exactly as you want them, but the MiSTer project as a whole was originally designed with modern displays in mind. An HDMI display is also a lot more flexible than a CRT television when it comes to resolutions and refresh rates different from broadcast standards, so it opens up the possibilities of running things like MS-DOS PC and X68000 games without having to fiddle with settings to get them working. (That said, it is apparently possible to get both of these working on a TV with enough determination. I haven’t had any success myself as yet.)

Pair the system with some good controllers, a keyboard and a mouse (I use several 8bitdo controllers depending on what system I’m emulating, plus the 8bitdo C64-style keyboard and the optical Amiga mouse from Retro Games Ltd’s TheA500 Mini) and you have a fantastic “retro room” setup that you can just plug in and enjoy whenever you like — no fussing with power adapters and SCART cables, no wondering if ageing cartridge, magnetic or other physical media is still going to work — plus the whole thing is nicely portable if you want to take it over to a friend’s house to enjoy some classic games.

Something something piracy

Yes, as with anything emulation-related, it’s worth noting that the vast majority of software you might want to use with the Multisystem 2 will be unlicensed, unofficial copies sourced via questionable means. There are developers out there making new games for classic systems who will happily sell you a ROM of their new game, but for classic games that haven’t had a modern reprint, you’re on your own for sourcing software.

Granted, in the age of the Internet this isn’t all that difficult, but some may have understandable qualms about this, particularly while some publishers and developers are making an effort to do official rereleases of their classic titles. Heck, I work for Blaze on the Evercade, and our entire business is official rereleases of classic games.

But also look at it this way: there are some games that are never, ever, ever going to get rereleased for all manner of reasons. And for those that do, you have options to buy them to assuage your guilt — or perhaps you still have your own copies from back in the day. Better to actually enjoy these games as they were intended than pay eBay scalpers’ prices, anyway, I say!

How do I find out more?

Check out the official website!

Want to read my thoughts on various video games, visual novels and other popular culture things? Stop by MoeGamer.net, my site for all things fun where I am generally a lot more cheerful. And if you fancy watching some vids on classic games, drop by my YouTube channel.

If you want this nonsense in your inbox every day, please feel free to subscribe via email. Your email address won’t be used for anything else.

So! My MiSTer Multisystem from the lovely folks at Heber and the Retro Collective arrived yesterday, and… I’ve been spending a lot of time setting it up. This was entirely expected, so I’m not annoyed or anything — though I was a tad surprised that the update_all script took nearly 24 full hours to complete. It’s my fault for running it on Wi-Fi in the room that has the weakest Wi-Fi signal in the whole house. I thought before I started, “I wonder if I should do this over Ethernet,” and I knew on some level even then that the answer to that was an emphatic “yes”, but still.

Anyway, it is done now, and now I have a working, functional MiSTer Multisystem up and running. There’s one thing I haven’t been able to test thus far, which is analogue connectivity to a CRT TV — it seems the cable I bought to use with the MiSTer isn’t quite right, so I have some replacement options arriving tomorrow — but from a very brief play earlier, I’m very impressed so far. While there is plenty of scope for nerdy nerds to get deep into the weeds tinkering with things and trying to “optimise” their experience, after running update_all and installing some games, the whole thing is remarkably straightforward and easy to use, particularly if you’re just connecting up to an HDMI display.

On the offchance you don’t know what a MiSTer Multisystem is, it’s… well, it’s sort of complicated. MiSTer itself is an open-source project that uses FPGA hardware emulation to recreate the experience of using classic computer and gaming hardware. It is different from software emulation for reasons I don’t entirely understand, but the gist of it is that an FPGA chip can be reconfigured by issuing it commands, and in doing so you can make an extremely accurate simulation of a physical piece of electronic hardware. The upshot of it is that FPGA emulation has the potential to be much smoother and more authentic to the original experience than software emulation is.

The MiSTer Multisystem — or, to be more accurate, the MiSTer Multisystem 2, which is what I’ve got — is an attempt to make MiSTer more accessible. For many MiSTer users, putting together a MiSTer system involved getting a DE-10 Nano little computer-on-a-board thing, plus some I/O boards, putting them altogether in a stack and then installing the software on an SD card. As hardware projects go, it’s not especially complicated or super-expensive, but there was definitely a market for a more “consolised” experience. MiSTer Multisystem 2 takes all the pain out of the actual hardware side of things in that it’s a ready-to-go console available in both digital (HDMI) only or digital-and-analogue (HDMI plus VGA and/or SCART) forms. The whole thing is pre-assembled, no need to build anything, and it’s also not reliant on the DE-10 Nano, either, which can sometimes be tricky or expensive to track down.

You still have to set the software side of things up yourself, though this is made pretty straightforward through the aforementioned update_all script, which connects to the Internet and downloads pretty much everything you need apart from the actual games themselves — and even then, it will even download the arcade games that the MiSTer’s various “cores” support, so once you’ve run it, you’ll have things to play, ready to go, even if you don’t add any of your own ROMs and disc images to the system.

MiSTer itself is modular and expandable, and so too is the Multisystem 2. A cartridge slot allows for the connection of “SNAC” (Serial Native Accessory Converter) cartridges, which allow you to plug in original control pads and accessories for a variety of systems, plus the system has 7 USB ports for connecting controllers, keyboards, mice, external storage devices, Wi-Fi dongles and any other gubbins that might be useful. There are also some slots inside the system itself, accessible by removing the special flaps at the side, though exactly what those are used for is not yet known.

But anyway! Once you’re up and running, you pick something from the main menu to play, the “core” for the device the system is emulating will boot up, and then you’re away. Some excellent video options allow for some quite convincing CRT emulation on HDMI displays, and if you have a model that supports analogue video output, you should be able to just plug in an RGB SCART cable and connect to a suitable display. I’m hoping to take advantage of that side of things when my new cables arrive tomorrow.

I have a lot of games still to transfer to the system, but I think I’ve earned a bit of a play for the rest of this evening. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow I’ll have this thing up and running and ready for a whole heap of fun!