ZX Spectrum Next - Kickstarter goes live

[Swainy]

Looks as if it will be funded on day 1. Please not that this is a totally different project than the Vega+ by a totally different team.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1835143999/zx-spectrum-next

[tjohnson]

I kind of like these things but after things like Vega I wouldn't back a kickstarter myself.  I wonder if a similar kickstarter for an Amstrad would be as successful?.  As for this being FPGA, does this effectively mean it is really emulating the logic of a spectrum in a programmable chip?

[robcfg]

I think 'emulating' isn't the right word for it.


You're really recreating the original circuits on a programmable chip, so what you have is real hardware, no emulation.


The CPC464 is supported on the ZX-Uno, which was originally a ZX Spectrum FPGA implementation with some useful extra features, that supports many different machines now.


I think that an older FPGA board, the C-One also supported the CPC.

[||C|-|E||]

Huuum... I never know how to feel about these things. I mean, it is cool and all, but it is still a FPGA implementation, not something made with real discrete components. In my view, this is not a real Spectrum, not even remotely similar, although it will behave as such.

[robcfg]

Then the original CPC is not real either as instead of a lot of discrete components, it has a Gate Array (the GA part in FPGA) which perform the same function...


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[Ygdrazil]

Real ZX or not!! It's a bit academic! ... I think the ZX Spectrum Next will keep the legacy of the original ZX alive....


I wonder how difficult/expensive (Based on the design of the current ZX Spectrum Next) it would be to make a CPC Next??


Regards,
Ygdrazil 

[SOS]

I wonder if a similar kickstarter for an Amstrad would be as successful?.  As for this being FPGA, does this effectively mean it is really emulating the logic of a spectrum in a programmable chip?

I think that an available "oldscool" case would be important and decisive for success.

[Skunkfish]

This looks really nice and should be the ultimate 8-bit machine. Unfortunately, I only have time for the CPC at the moment...

[robcfg]

I think that an available "oldscool" case would be important and decisive for success.

That's the key.


The problem is not the FPGA implementation, it's that you'll be missing the real machine case and the real keyboard, but besides that, the machine will behave like the real one.


In fact, does the cost-down CPC feels like a real CPC? Because it has many components integrated into a Gate Array, which is the same as a FPGA but cannot be reprogrammed.

[Skunkfish]

Is the Next board capable of being reprogrammed to be CPC compatible?

What would a next-gen CPC case look like? I'd love it to retain the coloured-keys from the 464, they're so iconic!

[robcfg]

The case is certainly important, but is completely another problem.


The problem, of course, is that it's very expensive to produce cases.


I know that the ZX-Uno team is working on CPC6128 support, which is a good thing 

[Sykobee (Briggsy)]

Real ZX or not!! It's a bit academic! ... I think the ZX Spectrum Next will keep the legacy of the original ZX alive....

I wonder how difficult/expensive (Based on the design of the current ZX Spectrum Next) it would be to make a CPC Next??

The ZXSN supports other FPGA cores. I think it comes with ZX81, Jupiter Ace and Spectrum (standard/enhanced) cores. It should be possible to integrate one of the CPC cores, as everything system-specific should be within the FPGA. Whether the Spectrum expansion port would be adapted to the CPC pinout is an issue. And then there are the ROM hacks required.


The ZXSN sprite/scrolling support looks a bit like the Plus implementation, but they will look very odd next to the attributey Speccy graphics.


I wonder why they've only gone for a 7MHz turbo option on the Z80 core?

[||C|-|E||]

Then the original CPC is not real either as instead of a lot of discrete components, it has a Gate Array (the GA part in FPGA) which perform the same function...


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Still different from this machine, since it was designed like that in the beginning and lacks the very important FP . In any case, I am not saying that the computer is not cool or anything like that, just that I would much prefer to see a reborn 8 bit computer using discrete components and as close as the original as possible, not in a FPGA core  .

[robcfg]

Well, whatever...


I don't follow your logic, but fine.

[CraigsBar]

The apollo-core team have the same CONVERSATION over the vampire accelerators for the amiga. The traditionalists hate them because of the fpga core but users love them lol.

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[Bryce]

Then the original CPC is not real either as instead of a lot of discrete components, it has a Gate Array (the GA part in FPGA) which perform the same function...


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There's a massive difference between a GA and an FPGA. A GA is a matrix of gates that gets a fixed function during the manufacturing process and can never be changed. An FPGA is an array of gates that is (and needs to be) programmed each time you power it up.
To put it in very very basic terms, it's Playmobil vs. Lego

Bryce.

[||C|-|E||]

Well, whatever...


I don't follow your logic, but fine.

I stopped being logic the same moment I decided to keep using a 30 year old machine plugged to a CRT screen 

[Swainy]

£350,869 pledged of £250,000! Which means the NEXT will have a bigger FPGA now.

[||C|-|E||]

Maybe the Z80 will be at 24 Mhz 

[Sykobee (Briggsy)]

TBH there shouldn't be much limiting the Z80 speed in a modern FPGA. I guess they don't want to overpromise, and maybe it's not the development priority.


The larger FPGA however should make other system cores more viable.