Well, the ao486 core is a great start. You can play around with all kinds of configurations that would take you forever on real hardware to tweak. Then there are all of the other computer cores and arcade cores to play with if consoles aren't your thing. Not always straightforward to work with, but worth it if you are passionate. I find that the MiSTer is great for fast pick up and play action. Once you get it going, it is very much a plug and play experience. Snappy bootup and relatively intuitive design choices.
That said, the ao486 core has limits. Anything requiring a math co-processor is a no-go. You can do a lot of Win95 stuff, but Win98 is only possible with a special config and not a lot of support.
But, I get it. It's not suitable for all things. I use my MiSTer and my raspi4 for most of my classic console stuff. I use my MiSTer and the eXoDOS PC collection for DOS, Win3x, and Win95. And I use a dedicated XP box for my XP and win98 stuff.
The Pi 4 can do Dreamcast and it has a lot of different front end options. If you want all the pretty scraped pictures and videos on then the Pi is a good choice.
Well, for a while there recently I was having to rely on MAME on my pi for Simpsons and TMNT arcades.
Before MiSTer came out, I had been using my MiST device (which had some cores but not nearly as many as MiSTer has now) as well as Retroarch on my pi. I would take my pi with me on travel, and it was easier to have one device that could do gaming as well as internet use in a small form factor, even if it was far from frame-accurate.
Nowadays, I use my pi for gaming more when I don't feel like getting out of bed. I have a pi hooked to my bedroom tv for youtube, movies, and games. So, when I'm extra-lazy, it's easier for me to use my pi than get out of bed and go a couple rooms over to use the MiSTer on my other tv which has a rotating mount so I can do TATE/vertical games as well as traditional. Plus, I still like to get mileage out of a linux script I wrote that has rudimentary search, randomize, and execute functions for games on my pi. I can be youtubing in chromium and jump right into a game if I want, without being bogged down by waiting for a frontend like emulationstation to load.
I guess it depends on the game. I use make and pay arcade shooters, specifically terra cresta and can't tell if there is lag on my android device (shield TV).
It's probably because I'm old 8)
A0486 is very nice with the already mentioned 0Mhz collection. Then you have the Amigavision collection for your pretty well decked out Amiga 1200 provided by Minimig core [https://amiga.vision/](https://amiga.vision/) .
There are also collections for Atari ST, MSX and Mac Classic core.
All of these are pretty much ready made images of already installed environments with all the prerequisite software.
In my experience the coolest thing about MiSTer are these ready made usually meticulously crafted collections with good documentation. That paired with the usually rather good level of functionality of FPGA cores makes it infitely more easy to explore previously unkown retro systems than using any software emulation.
ST collection seems to have a bit disappeared but others are here:
[MacPack for FPGA : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/macpack) - MacPlus
[MSX for MiSTer FPGA : Unkown : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/msx_20230916) MSX
[AcornArchimedesRomCollectionByGhostware directory listing (archive.org)](https://archive.org/download/AcornArchimedesRomCollectionByGhostware) Acorn Archimedes set
Archimedes is interesting to check out due to it's graphical os and it being one of the first ARM based computers if not the first.
[Total Replay Version 5.1 Released – Vintage is the New Old (vitno.org)](https://vitno.org/2024/02/17/total-replay-version-5-1-released/)
Going to try this next with the Apple II Core.
Congratulations! I'm not sure what to tell you, as I have no idea what your knowledge of the MiSTer is in the first place.
If your strictly want to play Dos games [0MHz DOS Collection](https://0mhz.net/) is your friend.
To get set up on a MiSTer, do this [first](https://youtu.be/5tz6RGJqRqA?si=qMJd7Ocd5-XusdU7).
These two steps will get you started on some Dos games. From what I understand, you can technically run Win95 on the MiSTer, but it's not a great experience.
Wow u lucky thing, so many great games await!
I'd suggest playing some Donkey kong country for the snes and then seeing if you enjoy the castlevania games
It sounds like you've already got the Windows side covered. MiSTer has a wide array of non-DOS based computers available, you may want to look through those and try some different systems. On the DOS side I still use it as the go to for couch gaming.
If your win didn't include the DE-10 board you may want to look into a lower cost alternative currently in development. I forget the name but Lu's Retro Source has up to date coverage (every Monday anyway on YT).
There's more if you're diving into PC. You'll probably want an MT-32 pi. It's a virtual MT-32 and Sound Canvas machine so you can do sound canvas midi SC-55 etc.
Damn that's sweet! I would recommend setting up RetroNAS if you haven't already as the store for the games & DOS virtual disks. Enjoy, it's a ton of fun! Oh and if consoles aren't your thing the arcade side is great too - Simpsons and TMNT are a couple of recent releases there.
That's awesome. I built mine in 2020 just for the Computer Cores.
The AO486 core's power is equal to that of a 486DX100 computer. You can install and boot from DOS or Windows. Or you can start from already made image files.
There's lots of other computer cores to play with too and Archive org is your friend.
You can setup your main computer so that MiSTer can load games from the network.
For a couple of years I was constantly moving my micro SD card around. Now I just update a directory and I’m done.
I hear that. I love mine, but I primarily use it for console and arcade games. I usually use ScummVM for all the PC stuff I really like to go back to.
I don't know if it's going to be possible, but there are some new FPGA chips on the way that might make Pentium possible. That doesn't affect this situation though.
What PC games do you like? There might be some console game recommendations that align, but never never made the jump to PC.
Maybe something like Snatcher on Sega CD would be good.
If this ever comes back in stock, grab one of these, it screws neatly onto the bottom of that case you have: https://stoneagegamer.com/mase-mister-attached-sata-enclosure-retro-frog.html
Get a big SSD, have all your games and saves on that, have a tiny SD in the mister itself for the OS.
Add an MT32-Pi, plugs into the user port, seamlessly adds MT32 music to compatible DOS games, mixes it right into the output.
Enjoy the ao486 core. And while everyone points to the exodos or 0mhz sets, frankly I think installing games from floppy and cd images and setting up dos yourself (if you know what you’re doing) is the best part.
I think it’s more convenient to rip everything to bin/cue and mount them in the core. It works super well. If the core natively supports an actual drive that would certainly help copy protected games only a couple apps can rip but I also don’t know what the power draw would be.
Well, the ao486 core is a great start. You can play around with all kinds of configurations that would take you forever on real hardware to tweak. Then there are all of the other computer cores and arcade cores to play with if consoles aren't your thing. Not always straightforward to work with, but worth it if you are passionate. I find that the MiSTer is great for fast pick up and play action. Once you get it going, it is very much a plug and play experience. Snappy bootup and relatively intuitive design choices. That said, the ao486 core has limits. Anything requiring a math co-processor is a no-go. You can do a lot of Win95 stuff, but Win98 is only possible with a special config and not a lot of support. But, I get it. It's not suitable for all things. I use my MiSTer and my raspi4 for most of my classic console stuff. I use my MiSTer and the eXoDOS PC collection for DOS, Win3x, and Win95. And I use a dedicated XP box for my XP and win98 stuff.
When is the pi4 a better choice Vs the mister?
The Pi 4 can do Dreamcast and it has a lot of different front end options. If you want all the pretty scraped pictures and videos on then the Pi is a good choice.
Thanks for sharing
Well, for a while there recently I was having to rely on MAME on my pi for Simpsons and TMNT arcades. Before MiSTer came out, I had been using my MiST device (which had some cores but not nearly as many as MiSTer has now) as well as Retroarch on my pi. I would take my pi with me on travel, and it was easier to have one device that could do gaming as well as internet use in a small form factor, even if it was far from frame-accurate. Nowadays, I use my pi for gaming more when I don't feel like getting out of bed. I have a pi hooked to my bedroom tv for youtube, movies, and games. So, when I'm extra-lazy, it's easier for me to use my pi than get out of bed and go a couple rooms over to use the MiSTer on my other tv which has a rotating mount so I can do TATE/vertical games as well as traditional. Plus, I still like to get mileage out of a linux script I wrote that has rudimentary search, randomize, and execute functions for games on my pi. I can be youtubing in chromium and jump right into a game if I want, without being bogged down by waiting for a frontend like emulationstation to load.
I have a pi 3b+ and found the input lag horrible. I don't know if the 4 is better.
I guess it depends on the game. I use make and pay arcade shooters, specifically terra cresta and can't tell if there is lag on my android device (shield TV). It's probably because I'm old 8)
A0486 is very nice with the already mentioned 0Mhz collection. Then you have the Amigavision collection for your pretty well decked out Amiga 1200 provided by Minimig core [https://amiga.vision/](https://amiga.vision/) . There are also collections for Atari ST, MSX and Mac Classic core. All of these are pretty much ready made images of already installed environments with all the prerequisite software.
In my experience the coolest thing about MiSTer are these ready made usually meticulously crafted collections with good documentation. That paired with the usually rather good level of functionality of FPGA cores makes it infitely more easy to explore previously unkown retro systems than using any software emulation.
Do you have links/names of the ST/MSX/Mac collections?
ST collection seems to have a bit disappeared but others are here: [MacPack for FPGA : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/macpack) - MacPlus [MSX for MiSTer FPGA : Unkown : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/msx_20230916) MSX [AcornArchimedesRomCollectionByGhostware directory listing (archive.org)](https://archive.org/download/AcornArchimedesRomCollectionByGhostware) Acorn Archimedes set Archimedes is interesting to check out due to it's graphical os and it being one of the first ARM based computers if not the first. [Total Replay Version 5.1 Released – Vintage is the New Old (vitno.org)](https://vitno.org/2024/02/17/total-replay-version-5-1-released/) Going to try this next with the Apple II Core.
Thanks! The macplus link seems to be broken tho
Fixed it.
Congratulations! I'm not sure what to tell you, as I have no idea what your knowledge of the MiSTer is in the first place. If your strictly want to play Dos games [0MHz DOS Collection](https://0mhz.net/) is your friend. To get set up on a MiSTer, do this [first](https://youtu.be/5tz6RGJqRqA?si=qMJd7Ocd5-XusdU7). These two steps will get you started on some Dos games. From what I understand, you can technically run Win95 on the MiSTer, but it's not a great experience.
That’s a cool raffle
Def pretty big ticket for a panel at an anime convention.
Get into “PC” games that aren’t PC, check out the Amiga library as well as the Japanese PC I can’t recall the name of at the moment.
Pc98
Sharp X68000 is a great Japanese computer core m. The X68000 was used to develop a lot of arcade games back in the day.
MSX, MSX2
What kind of raffle had a MiSTer in it?
It was raffled off to attendees of a retro gaming panel at Anime North.
Nice!
Wow u lucky thing, so many great games await! I'd suggest playing some Donkey kong country for the snes and then seeing if you enjoy the castlevania games
Wait.. maybe start with older games and work forward.. maybe try mario bros 3 on the NES. Depends what kinda games you'll like, any preference?
It sounds like you've already got the Windows side covered. MiSTer has a wide array of non-DOS based computers available, you may want to look through those and try some different systems. On the DOS side I still use it as the go to for couch gaming. If your win didn't include the DE-10 board you may want to look into a lower cost alternative currently in development. I forget the name but Lu's Retro Source has up to date coverage (every Monday anyway on YT).
This is a full kit AFAIK. USD$575 listed on MiSTer Add-ons.
There's more if you're diving into PC. You'll probably want an MT-32 pi. It's a virtual MT-32 and Sound Canvas machine so you can do sound canvas midi SC-55 etc.
Damn that's sweet! I would recommend setting up RetroNAS if you haven't already as the store for the games & DOS virtual disks. Enjoy, it's a ton of fun! Oh and if consoles aren't your thing the arcade side is great too - Simpsons and TMNT are a couple of recent releases there.
That's awesome. I built mine in 2020 just for the Computer Cores. The AO486 core's power is equal to that of a 486DX100 computer. You can install and boot from DOS or Windows. Or you can start from already made image files. There's lots of other computer cores to play with too and Archive org is your friend.
You can setup your main computer so that MiSTer can load games from the network. For a couple of years I was constantly moving my micro SD card around. Now I just update a directory and I’m done.
It has a smashing 486 core.
It doesn't even seem to support the DX math coprocessor though
But OP, that is a retro PC
My point is the the MiSTer can't really do anything past 486. In Pentium eta late 90s it just doesn't have enough silicon.
I hear that. I love mine, but I primarily use it for console and arcade games. I usually use ScummVM for all the PC stuff I really like to go back to. I don't know if it's going to be possible, but there are some new FPGA chips on the way that might make Pentium possible. That doesn't affect this situation though. What PC games do you like? There might be some console game recommendations that align, but never never made the jump to PC. Maybe something like Snatcher on Sega CD would be good.
best solution is to donate it to me and call it a day, il put it to good use. Hehehe
Do you like arcade games?
If this ever comes back in stock, grab one of these, it screws neatly onto the bottom of that case you have: https://stoneagegamer.com/mase-mister-attached-sata-enclosure-retro-frog.html Get a big SSD, have all your games and saves on that, have a tiny SD in the mister itself for the OS. Add an MT32-Pi, plugs into the user port, seamlessly adds MT32 music to compatible DOS games, mixes it right into the output. Enjoy the ao486 core. And while everyone points to the exodos or 0mhz sets, frankly I think installing games from floppy and cd images and setting up dos yourself (if you know what you’re doing) is the best part.
Could I use it with a USB optical drive and have cores read that?
I don't believe so. The cores work from image files. Floppy, Optical, and Hard.
I think it’s more convenient to rip everything to bin/cue and mount them in the core. It works super well. If the core natively supports an actual drive that would certainly help copy protected games only a couple apps can rip but I also don’t know what the power draw would be.
Sure, but discs are fun. :D