[Demo Scene] – Second Reality / DOS PC-486 [MiSTer FPGA]

00:21 – Clean Filtering // 17:23 – VGA Style Double Scan (encoder noise in some scenes)
Demo by Future Crew. This won 1st place in the pc demo comp @ Assembly 1993 (link below)
Second Reality is one of the first demos I ever watched, after randomly downloading it from a BBS when I ventured into a new section I wasn’t familiar with. I had no clue our family PC was able to do all the cool shit in this production, and it led me down the path to collecting many other amazing demos from various BBS’ around the country. For me, this is pretty much where it all started.

Never had access to the Amiga or C64 until recently, so I’ve been slowly catching up on those lately as well and hope to have some more demos uploaded soon here for a variety of platforms. There is just so much neat stuff to cover, and it’s important for me to present them in a way that showcases the art properly. No cut off assets and hopefully minimal noise, where possible. That’s why this one has two different loops. I originally recorded the ‘VGA Double Scanned’ portion because I liked the way it looked so much in person, but after testing an initial upload found that YouTube’s re-encoding process just murders some scenes, so I opted for a clean version first here, followed by the more-experimental presentation afterwards. I record these videos in a higher-than-bluray quality in order to minimize the re-encoding noise from YT’s side, but sometimes it’s just unavoidable- especially with scanline and shadow mask effects.

Grab the original demo here and run it for yourself! – https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=63

MiSTer’s filter system just got updated recently, and the new set does not have Hi-res scanline filters implemented currently. The workaround I’m using for this (As seen in the 2nd loop here) is the Aperture Grille shadow mask, rotated to give a light VGA double-scan effect. Looks great in person, and in most scenes in this video- but darker grey areas are very difficult for YT’s encoder to handle with them. None of this noise is visible when the demo is ran locally. I increase the blur level ever-so-slightly with them also, to balance out the slight sharpening effect scanlines can have.

The AO486 core was considerably upgraded/improved by FPGAzumspass, whom also brought us the GBA, Lynx and WonderSwan cores, along with enhancements to the Gameboy and NES cores. Currently he is working on bringing the original PlayStation to MiSTer.
You can support his work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FPGAzumSpass

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AO486 core 03-26-22 build – Second Reality

AO486 Settings: CPU: 90mhz // L1: On // L2: On // Frequency: Variable

EMM386 // OPL3 // SB Pro Sound

-Loop 1:

Filter Hori: Gaussian Sharp 70 // Filter Vert: Same as Hori // Gamma: Poly 2.4

Shadow Mask: Off

-Loop 2:

Filter Hori: Gaussian Sharp 65 // Filter Vert: Same as Hori // Gamma: Poly 2.4

Shadow Mask: Aperture Grille (No Scanlines) 1x rotated for light VGA double-scanned look.

Settings: Fullscreen Scaled to 1080p // HDMI to Datapath e1s capture card

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|:=-Timestamps-=:|
00:00 – Boot
00:21 – Loop 1 (Clean Filtering)
17:23 – Loop 2 (VGA Style Double Scan – encoder noise in some scenes)

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Occasional livestreams on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/WalrusFPGA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WalrusFPGA

=—————CONTRIBUTE—————=

None of this would be possible without the constant hard work of Sorgelig. It cannot be overstated how much he has done and continues to do for this project, since its beginning. You can support him either at his Patreon in the link below, or on Paypal, depending on your preference. MiSTer is a paradigm shift in how we can experience these classic games. This is a long-term preservation project that will continue to grow so that gamers today and in the future can experience these excellent systems as accurately and lag-free as possible. Donating what you can will help keep the updates coming. Thank you.

Patreon: https://patreon.com/FPGAMiSTer

PayPal: https://paypal.me/FPGAMiSTer

=—————–INFORM—————–=

Github link for this core: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/ao486_MiSTer

MiSTer Forum: http://MiSTerFPGA.org

MiSTer Documentation: https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs…

Official MiSTer Discord (live chat/help): https://discord.gg/misterfpga
(Be respectful; this server is moderated. New users must be verified.)

=——————BUILD——————=

Worldwide list of sellers for MiSTer expansion boards: https://misterfpga.org/viewforum.php?f=34&sid=74e1c5e7dae1b99284789d93194cfa0b

I have personally ordered all my parts from https://www.MiSTerAddons.com and have been 100% satisfied with the quality and service there. (North American seller. If in a different region, check list linked above for best local shipping rates.)

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