
The C256 Foenix Project - tomcam
https://c256foenix.com/
======
cmrdporcupine
I've been working on an emulator for this machine, here:

[https://github.com/rdaum/c256emu](https://github.com/rdaum/c256emu)

Cycle accurate 65816, with full debugger. Emulates the video hardware
including sprites, tiles, and VDMA (blittery), math copro, keyboard, mouse,
and some of the SD card functionality.

------
walkingolof
Fantastic project, fantastic vision and its humbling to see all that work,
where do people find the time ?

------
PixyMisa
That circuit board is a work of art. I want to buy one and frame it.

------
Ta55321
Why so many fpgas? You can layout the complete amiga hardware, processor and
all the custom chips on one fpga. Will we be able to write our own hardware
images onto the chips?

~~~
cmrdporcupine
I believe (can't speak for her, really, but) this has to do with basically
treating the FPGAs as if they were custom ASICs, 80s/90s style.

Yes, you could do everything she has on one FPGA. But would that be fun?

------
dang
Thread from last year:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17279470](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17279470)

~~~
cmrdporcupine
Lots has changed since then. She has made considerable progress. Rev C boards
shipping for early adopters this summer. You can order a board now.

------
orionblastar
A good project. Problem is where is the software? What does it run C64 C128
Apple IIgs software?

~~~
cmrdporcupine
This is all being worked on. Someone is writing a BASIC, others are building
OS-type stuff. I've been fiddling around with OS and language type stuff.

It's its own platform. It's not like there's much from those old machines
that'd be all that fun to run these days anyways. The only thing I'd want from
the IIgs would be the excellent ORCA series compilers.

65816 is a challenging platform due to lack of higher level language tools,
and the oddities of the ISA (switching back and forth between 8 and 16 bit
register modes, etc.) but this could be surmountable with contributions.
Several people including myself have attempted a LLVM backend for 65816, but
nobody has finished it. Sure would be easier with the assistance of someone
who was an LLVM expert.

~~~
jacobush
It would be fun if Flight Simulator II could be made to run.

1 fps on original C64:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HWzJMFeQv8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HWzJMFeQv8)

Much faster on 65816 CPU. (But video footage from an 8-bit Atari modded to use
the 65816 CPU.)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLGchhLGAE0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLGchhLGAE0)

~~~
cmrdporcupine
Probably not easy to port without original sources, and even then, probably
difficult.

It would probably be faster on c256, as there is a math coprocessor for
mul/div.

------
tshanmu
Is there tutorial or something on how to write new software for this?

~~~
cmrdporcupine
It's still early days, OS, etc. and tools, etc. still in early stages. But if
you contribute, you could help write that guide :-)

