u/VIDE0DRoME

CRT Update Release [20260816]

• 480i Output: Added native 720x480i output for 15 kHz CRT displays, with 480i selected by default and 240p available as an alternative.
• Direct Video: Added Direct Video output with selectable 15 kHz or 31 kHz scan rates; 15 kHz supports both 480i and 240p.
• Orientation and Zoom: Added eight rotation/mirroring choices and a Wide framing option.
• Video Timing & Geometry: Added a dedicated menu page for output timing, orientation, zoom, buffer mode, and aspect ratio.
• Profile Documentation: Added detailed per-resolution settings for every fixed CRT profile.
• CRT Vertical Position: Added vertical positioning for 240p, 480p, and 480i CRT output.
• Flight Yoke Inputs: Added trackball/mouse, digital centering, digital relative, and automatic input modes with shared sensitivity control.

Changed

• Low-Resolution Video: Increased 240p and 480p output from 640 to 720 active samples while retaining the previous game framing.
• Default Profile: A Touch of CRT is now selected after resetting the core settings.

See readme for required CRT configuration: https://github.com/Videodr0me/Arcade-StarWars_MiSTer

Asteroids Deluxe got a follow-up update [20260804]

Read more here:

https://misterfpga.org/viewtopic.php?p=110406#p110406

download here:

https://github.com/Videodr0me/Arcade-Asteroids_MiSTer

Features

• Asteroids Deluxe Cabinet Artwork: Asteroids Deluxe used a blacklight-illuminated 3D backdrop viewed with the vector display through a half-silvered mirror. Two supplied MRAs reproduce the known green and orange artwork variants at 240p, 480p, 720p, and 1080p.
• Custom Artwork Builder: The included Python tool validates and compresses resolution-specific indexed artwork and creates a new MRA containing it.
• Expanded CRT Timing Support: Adds dedicated 240p timing and improves native 15 kHz and 31 kHz output compatibility.
• Spinner and Mouse Rotation: All three games support reversible spinner and mouse movement through timed left/right input.
• Expanded Thrust Controls: Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe can optionally use Up for thrust. Lunar Lander can use either analog stick with half-axis or full-axis travel while retaining its digital full-thrust fallback.
• Expanded CRT-Effect Controls: Halo and bloom can be shaped independently, with additional dot-scaling options.
• New Exciting Effects Profiles: Red Alert and Ultraviolet.

Technical Improvements

• Pipelined Artwork Streaming: Artwork is loaded from the MRA into DDRAM and read through a low-priority arbiter client.
• Asteroids Deluxe Glass Color: Refined blue-glass color conversion keeps normal vector tones distinct while excess highlight energy spills naturally into the other channels. Maximum-intensity vectors shift to bright, neutral white while lower intensities retain the selected color tint.

Documentation and Integration

• CRT Output Guide: Documents core-native and MiSTer-scaled analog output, 15 kHz and 31 kHz modelines, sync choices, and the required renderer-height ranges.
• Artwork Documentation: Documents how to use the supplied compression tool, the required image dimensions, palette depths, and generated files.
• Profile Documentation: List of all profile settings at each resolution, ready to experiment with through the two custom settings slots.

A new MiSTer FPGA core for Atari's Major Havoc is out. Few arcade games take you through so many distinct stages. Pilot the Catastrofighter through enemy formations, dock with an alien ship, enter its maze on foot, avoid robots and traps, trigger the reactor, and escape before your oxygen runs out. Between missions, the tactical scanner even turns into a playable game of Breakout.
Get here: https://misterfpga.org/viewtopic.php?t=10609

A new update is out for the Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back MiSTer core. This is a big one: the core now has a new Ultra High Performance renderer and a complete CRT-style effects pipeline built around bloom, halo, phosphor decay, color processing, and an adaptive slot mask.

The short version: the vector image can now look closer to the glowing CRT presentation people remember from the arcade cabinet, with enough headroom to also chase the version that only exists in our memory a little brighter, flashier, and wilder than reality. The new renderer and profiles are experimental: enjoy them, tweak them, have fun, and expect them to evolve in the future.

https://github.com/Videodr0me/Arcade-StarWars_MiSTer

CRT Effects Without Menu Diving:

The new video path has a lot of tunable pieces. Bloom width, halo strength, phosphor decay, color conversion, slot mask, dot scale, tone mapping, channel mapping, and more. So the update includes selectable video profiles directly in the OSD:

• Off: Direct output path bypassing the CRT effects pipeline.
• A Touch of CRT: A subtle CRT halo and bloom pass for a cleaner modern look.
• 80s Cruise Control: Amplifone-inspired color, authentic slot mask, richer halos, and more bloom.
• 80s Overdrive: Stronger CRT glow and phosphor decay, with results that depend heavily on your display.
• Neon Fever Dream: A stylized high-energy CRT look with excessive flashing bright lights.
• Pink Flamingo ESB: A completely crazy channel-swapped fun variant, especially suited for Empire Strikes Back.
• Custom 1 / Custom 2: Two independent custom slots exposing the full advanced control set.

My current favorite, and I would not have believed this myself a couple of weeks ago, is Pink Flamingo ESB. It is a fun, completely ridiculous mode for playing Empire Strikes Back. Everybody here now wants to play the game like that. It is addictive.

But this warning is serious: if you are sensitive to flashing lights, do not use Neon Fever Dream or Pink Flamingo ESB. Do not try them "just for a second". These modes can produce excessive flashing bright lights over extended play.