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Anyone heard about the Chameleon before?

bversteebverstee
edited December 2011 in Hardware
Commodore haters: please skip this topic, allthough it's definately Speccy related! ;)

http://www.syntiac.com/chameleon.html

Someone made sort-of-an addon/standalone device called the 'Turbo Chameleon 64'.
It's a C64 expansion which takes over the CPU (by emulation the 6502) and some other things, but adds lot's of extra's, including PS/2 keyboard support and VGA out.

But the strange thing about this gadget is that is also can run standalone!
And even absolutely more strange: it contains other so-called 'cores' like one to emulate the ZX Spectrum!

This seems a very nice piece of hard/software.
I'm getting in to it, like trying it out next weekend at a Dutch retrocomputerfair.


It's quite expensive by the way, about 200 euro:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1033
http://www.vesalia.de/e_chameleon.htm

Here's a video showing it's capabilities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U89WNP26b6M
Post edited by bverstee on

Comments

  • CignaleCignale
    edited December 2011
    yes. I've read about it. It is another fpga based device. Just like the fpga arcade board but less powerful and flexible.
  • bversteebverstee
    edited December 2011
    Cignale wrote: »
    yes. I've read about it. It is another fpga based device. Just like the fpga arcade board but less powerful and flexible.

    This one?
    http://www.fpgaarcade.com/

    Nice project, but as expensive ;)
  • RetroTechieRetroTechie
    edited December 2011
    I think it's really a shame designers of such an 'everything & the kitchen sink' cartridge don't go all the way:

    I mean, you include a large FPGA. You have some onboard RAM. You have I/O connectors, SD card slot, switches etc. You have done a board layout & had the PCB's produced. You have slapped a case around it. Why for god's sake, not take that last step & make it a full machine replacement? :-? (like that docking board does for this cart).

    It already costs enough, it has (practically) everything you need to implement an entire machine, but then for some silly reason it still needs to be plugged in & use 25+ year old original machine's keyboard or joystick ports. If a bigger FPGA is needed, next-up larger device will have very small cost difference.

    I for one, would very much like to have a 'cheapofied' FPGA board dedicated to re-implement popular 8-bitters. The Arcade replay board is wonderful, but too expensive (for one part because it has a much bigger FPGA than necessary for 8-bitters, giving room for 16-bit systems like Amiga / Atari). 'Cheap' FPGA development boards like Altera DE1 are nice, but onboard set of peripherals is not optimal for retro-gaming purposes. Cheap FPGA-on-plugin boards like the Papilio require too much DIY. Something in between (cheap, useful set of connectors, FPGA that's more than big enough for 8-bit systems, but not much bigger) would be perfect. Perhaps it could be done as a collaborative project between different communities (C64, Atari 8-bitters, Sinclair ZX81/Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX) ?
    bverstee wrote: »
    I'm getting in to it, like trying it out next weekend at a Dutch retrocomputerfair.
    What retrocomputerfair? Got a link?
  • CignaleCignale
    edited December 2011
    bverstee wrote: »
    This one?
    http://www.fpgaarcade.com/

    Nice project, but as expensive ;)

    Yep; pre-ordered one; it will be shipped with Amiga soft AGA chipset and 68020 modified to quasi- 68040 capabilities CPU core ; and Spectrum (48 k?) core will follow shortly.

    Yummmmmm :-)
  • ddwddw
    edited December 2011
    I own the Chameleon and i WANT to plug it in a in 64 and add all these wonderful features to my 64. The original idea was to create a cartridge that would add an VGA port to the 64. Along the way all the other features came along and now it can emulate 1541's, REU memory, speed up the CPU and so on. It also emulates about every cartridge ever made for the 64 and now i can play the recently released Prince of Persia with it's easyflash emulation. nice! :) After that i could easily switch back to a retro replay (which the Chameleon is a direct replacement for) or final cartridge and use that as my default cartridge. Thats what it was build for too. People buy the Chameleon to add all this goodness to their 64's :)

    And as added bonus, it can run other cores to too to run different machines. For the 64 user that could be considered an added bonus. It also runs perfectly fine in standalone mode, but then you might need the docking station to add physical joystick ports. The breakout/power supply cable already allows you to add a keyboard and mouse. It's awesome to play some game and watch some demos on your big TV screen :) But it's really an expansion for your 64 which can do a whole lot more. If i didn't own a 64, i'd look for some other more generic FPGA project like that awesome arcadereplay board.

    I might not be for you, but a lot of 64 users now consider the Chameleon as the one cartridge to replace all others. I understand your wishes, but that would make an different product i guess!

    Dennis

    RetroTechie wrote: »
    I think it's really a shame designers of such an 'everything & the kitchen sink' cartridge don't go all the way:

    I mean, you include a large FPGA. You have some onboard RAM. You have I/O connectors, SD card slot, switches etc. You have done a board layout & had the PCB's produced. You have slapped a case around it. Why for god's sake, not take that last step & make it a full machine replacement? :-? (like that docking board does for this cart).

    It already costs enough, it has (practically) everything you need to implement an entire machine, but then for some silly reason it still needs to be plugged in & use 25+ year old original machine's keyboard or joystick ports. If a bigger FPGA is needed, next-up larger device will have very small cost difference.

    I for one, would very much like to have a 'cheapofied' FPGA board dedicated to re-implement popular 8-bitters. The Arcade replay board is wonderful, but too expensive (for one part because it has a much bigger FPGA than necessary for 8-bitters, giving room for 16-bit systems like Amiga / Atari). 'Cheap' FPGA development boards like Altera DE1 are nice, but onboard set of peripherals is not optimal for retro-gaming purposes. Cheap FPGA-on-plugin boards like the Papilio require too much DIY. Something in between (cheap, useful set of connectors, FPGA that's more than big enough for 8-bit systems, but not much bigger) would be perfect. Perhaps it could be done as a collaborative project between different communities (C64, Atari 8-bitters, Sinclair ZX81/Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX) ?


    What retrocomputerfair? Got a link?
  • ddwddw
    edited December 2011
    http://commodore-gg.hobby.nl/december17.htm

    The English translation is somwhere near the bottom.

    What retrocomputerfair? Got a link?[/QUOTE]
  • rokoroko
    edited December 2011
    ddw wrote: »
    I understand your wishes, but that would make an different product i guess!
    I agree with Retrotechie but do not see the issue as a technical one. I think it is the inspiration/transpiration thing. Delivering you sweat for bringing the ideas of others into reality, is simply called work. A hobby is meant to escape from that, and to return at least some of the power back to you. This imho simply means that inspired hobbyists never send their energy in a direction that is pointed out by others. I believe we have seen that....
    Then, 'the best possible' is always two steps ahead of 'the best available' so the result of comparing is known beforehand and hardly usefull.

    Enjoy your 'whatever-it-may-be' Dennis, as long as no better one comes up. And keep us informed about retro fairs.
  • Zetr0Zetr0
    edited December 2011
    I was very lucky earlier this year to meet and have a chat with the developer of this product, whom is a very personable guy =)

    Interestingly at the moment there is a 512K Spectrum Core with TRDOS available, the Chameleon is pretty damn awesome product - it will run as a stand alone Amiga ECS with a fast 020, or as a stand alone C64/C128, infact any FPGA core thats out there would be re-implementable around the base hardware - and as hardware goes its a fearsome device - which can even be powered by the HDTV's USB connection (if you have it) as well!!!

    It comes with 32MB of RAM that is distributable for the target machine (pending core/ drivers) I have to admit I am quite enamoured by it, and it may yet make it under my christmas tree =D

    It can output in 60Hz VGA or even 50Hz PAL RGB

    oh... and you can bolt it onto a C64!
  • fogfog
    edited December 2011
    I had heard of it.. but it's not THAT expensive really.. considering how much you would pay for an REU back in the day AND you can hook it up ethernet wise using RRnet AND 4 joysticks :)

    dunno if it does all the AR carts.. if there was something like that on speccy that would be amazing.. multiface .. BUT on steroids :)

    why not join

    http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/group.php?groupid=4

    :p
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