Lasagna

The Full VERA HDL is available now.

I will point out that VERA has been recently cloned (re-implemented) for the Roscoe 68000 based retro computer. https://www.tindie.com/products/rosco/xosera-fpga-video-r1/ Doesn't look like it re-uses any of Frank's work, but rather the same features have been implemented on an upduino and modified. Same 120K video memory, etc. I really like the 16:9 aspect ratio option that was added for those that do not have an old monitor hanging around. No mention of sprites here, which makes me wonder if they are implemented. They did add an Amiga style co-processor (copper). It is nice that it is already open sourced.

So many basic parts have such long lead times now I understand why X16 is on a slow roll at this point. Even if they froze the design and ran a crowdfunding campaign, they might have to wait 6-12 months for a batch of FPGAs to be produced to fill demand, etc. I also think there is the other issue that David mentioned in one of his videos. The X16 uses a lot of parts that aren't stocked by the main PCB manufacturers (SNES controller ports, 65C02, etc.) and he isn't keen on releasing the X16 as a kit, so there are a bunch of logistics to work out for getting parts to those factories once they are available. Honestly, the price should be high enough for a third party fulfillment firm to be hired to manage all of that. A lot of Kickstarters start with a design that is then handed to a manufacturer that specializes in bringing products to market.

Yes that is why I said the physical design, they will have to change the board to BGA or whatever option is still in production. This also affects who can assemble them easily, etc.

I posted this in another thread, but the FPGA that Frank has been using (ICE40UP5K-SG48ITR50) has been discontinued by Lattice. They still make plenty of versions of this FPGA in other packaging, but the physical designs for both the VERA and the X8 will probably need to be updated.

As to why it hasn't launched I imagine the world wide semiconductor shortage is not helping. If you look on Mouser, Digikey, etc. the supply of FPGAs is not what was a year ago with many of the most popular FPGAs on waitlists. Also, the exact FPGA that Frank has been using (ICE40UP5K-SG48ITR50) as been discontinued... meaning the physical designs would have to be updated to support another version of the ICE40 HX8K FPGA. Lead time is a serious consideration.

No the ZX-Uno already has several 6502 cores available that you could build VERA on top of within the FPGA. You would have the same processor, video subsystem, and audio system if an X8/X16 core were built on the ZX-UNO hardware. No the ZX-Uno is usually around 70 Euros with VAT and would be much cheaper if produced in larger quantities. https://amigastore.eu/en/650-zx-uno-zx-spectrum-based-on-fpga.html X8 is already a two chip device with an ESP32 for wireless..

Lurker here! Hello all. The X8 is great, but if you look at the open source ZX-UNO (which has been forked with a VGA version), you get everything the X8 has plus you get real game ports, 512K of SRAM, PS/2 port, and an expansion port! It would probably be trivial to change the game ports on the UNO to SNES style controllers if that is what David wants. To me the X8 feels like a design constrained by the skills of the FPGA designer - someone knows the X16 FPGA (I forget is it Xilinx? Lattice?) and that specific FPGA toolchain really well and is shoehorning the design into that FPGA when we could have all the things we want, memory, real ports, and expansion, going with a ZX-UNO forked solution. And the cost would likely end up about the same. I will buy an X8 as soon as it is released if David chooses to release it, but I will always be annoyed by the fact the design was unnecessarily constrained by the selection of the FPGA and there were plenty of templates that the X8 could have been built off of (ZX-UNO, etc.)