SYSTEM12 Starts With a Tekken 3 Beta!
Tekken 3 is now running on MiSTer FPGA
I'm excited to finally release support for Tekken 3, making it the first working title on the Namco System 12 platform for MiSTer FPGA.
This is a pretty significant milestone, not just because Tekken 3 is one of the most iconic arcade fighters ever made, but because it opens the door to an entire family of System 12 games. With the platform now up and running, adding support for additional titles should move much faster than getting the hardware working in the first place.
One of the biggest pieces of the puzzle was getting the audio subsystem fully working. The core now has working implementations of both the Sony CXD2925Q Sound Processing Unit (SPU) and the Namco C352 PCM sound processor, allowing Tekken 3's music, speech, and sound effects to play back as they do on the original hardware. Hearing the attract mode and the familiar stage music come to life was one of those moments where the project really started to feel complete. There is still work to be done on audio mixing levels now that the core sustains 60fps during gameplay. More to come soon and your support is appreciated!
System 12's library includes:
Tekken 3
Soul Calibur
Tekken Tag Tournament
Ehrgeiz
Fighting Layer
Mr. Driller
Aqua Rush
Ghoul Panic (Oh! Bakyuuun)
Point Blank 3 (Gunbarl)
Golgo 13
Golgo 13: Kiseki no Dandou
Golgo 13: Juusei no Requiem
Um Jammer Lammy NOW!
LiberoGrande
Techno Drive
Truck Kyosokyoku
Tenkomori Shooting
Kaiun Quiz
Derby Quiz: My Dream Horse
Super World Stadium '98
Super World Stadium '99'
Super World Stadium 2000
Super World Stadium 2001
System 12 itself is really an evolution of the work that went into the Namco System 11 core. Both platforms are built around Sony PlayStation technology, with System 12 expanding on the original architecture through additional Namco custom hardware. A lot of what was learned while developing System 11 carried directly into this project, making it possible to build on an existing foundation instead of reinventing it.
Like the System 11 core before it, this project owes a great deal to Robert Peip's PlayStation FPGA core. His implementation of the PlayStation hardware was an invaluable reference throughout development, particularly for the CPU, DMA, timers, GPU interfaces, and the Sony SPU. That work provided a solid starting point, allowing me to focus on the System 12-specific hardware, including the Namco custom devices, memory architecture, graphics extensions, and the C352 audio processor.
There's still plenty of work ahead. While the System 12 platform is now operational, every game has its own hardware quirks, protection checks, and edge cases that need to be understood and verified. The hard part—bringing up an entirely new platform—is now behind us, and I'm looking forward to adding support for the rest of the System 12 library over the coming releases.
As always, thank you to everyone supporting this work on Patreon. Your support makes projects like this possible, and I'm excited to finally begin bringing the rest of Namco's incredible System 12 catalog to MiSTer FPGA.
A poll will be going live soon for tiered subscribers to vote on the next development direction and release covering active development on SYSTEM12, SUPPER 22, ZN-1, and ZN-2 platforms.
Bug fix releases for current SYSTEM11 and ZN-1 releases are coming soon plus a few surprises along the way.
Disclaimer
All product names, company names, project names, platform names, hardware names, game titles, logos, trademarks, registered trademarks, copyrighted materials, source code, and other intellectual property referenced in this post are the property of their respective owners.
This includes, but is not limited to, MiSTer, MiSTer FPGA, MiSTerFPGA, MiSTer-devel, PSX_MiSTer, Analogue, Analogue Pocket, openFPGA, MAME, The MAME Project, GitHub, Intel, Altera, Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation, Namco, Namco Limited, Namco Hometek, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Bandai Namco Holdings, Namco System 12, Arika, Atlus, Metro, MOSS, Raizing, Eighting, Square, TOMY, Mitsubishi Electric, Renesas Electronics, and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, licensors, developers, publishers, distributors, and rights holders.
Referenced Namco System 12 game titles include, but are not limited to:
Aerosmith: Quest for Fame; Aqua Rush; Attack Pla-Rail; Bust a Groove: Arcade Edition; Bust a Groove 2: Arcade Edition; Derby Quiz My Dream Horse; Ehrgeiz; Fighting Layer; Ghoul Panic; Golgo 13; Golgo 13: Kiseki no Dandou; Golgo 13: Juusei no Requiem; Gunbarl; Kaiun Quiz; Kart Duel; Libero Grande; Mr. Driller; Oh! Bakyuuun; Paca Paca Passion; Paca Paca Passion 2; Paca Paca Passion Special; Point Blank 2; Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Toukon Retsuden 3 Arcade Edition; Soul Calibur; Super World Stadium ’98; Super World Stadium ’99; Super World Stadium 2000; Super World Stadium 2001; Techno Drive; Tekken 3; Tekken Tag Tournament; Tekno Werk; Tenkomori Shooting; Truck Kyosokyoku; Um Jammer Lammy NOW!; and other known, region-specific, revised, prototype, location-test, unreleased, undumped, or not-yet-preserved software developed for or demonstrated on Namco System 12 hardware.
Alternate regional titles, spellings, revisions, and names—including Ghoul Panic / Oh! Bakyuuun and Point Blank 2 / Gunbarl—refer to their respective regional or hardware-specific releases. References to any title do not imply that every version, revision, prototype, or regional build has been publicly released, fully dumped, preserved, implemented, or verified as operational.
All associated characters, artwork, music, sound effects, voice recordings, audiovisual materials, game data, regional versions, software revisions, location-test versions, prototypes, undumped software, unreleased builds, cabinet designs, control systems, hardware designs, software, and derivative works remain the intellectual property of their respective rights holders.
References to SYSTEM12 MOTHER PCB, SYSTEM12 MOTHER(B) PCB, SYSTEM12 MOTHER(C) PCB, SYSTEM12 CPU PCB, COH-700, GP-15, SYSTEM12 ROM PCBs, SYSTEM12 M4F6, SYSTEM12 M5F2, SYSTEM12 M5F4, SYSTEM12 M8F2F, SYSTEM12 M8F4, SYSTEM12 M8F6, SYSTEM12 M10X64, SYSTEM12 F2M5, SYSTEM12 networking hardware, gun-interface hardware, CDXA hardware, game-specific I/O boards, KEYCUS devices, KC-series protection devices, C352 audio hardware, H8-series processors, Sony PlayStation-derived processors and graphics hardware, CPLDs, PALs, FPGAs, Flash ROM, mask ROM, EEPROM, NVRAM, SDRAM, SGRAM, JAMMA, USB-link hardware, light-gun interfaces, analog controls, steering controls, rhythm-game controls, HDMI, DDR memory, M10K memory blocks, altsyncram, FPGA implementations, emulation behavior, source-code repositories, hardware specifications, software cores, compatibility research, and related technologies are provided solely for identification, technical documentation, commentary, interoperability, preservation, educational, and research purposes.
This is an independent, non-commercial hardware-preservation and interoperability project. The use of any names, titles, trademarks, copyrighted materials, or technical information does not imply sponsorship, authorization, endorsement, affiliation, licensing, or association with this post, its creator, the MiSTer project, or any related hardware or software development project.
No ownership of third-party intellectual property is claimed. No copyrighted game software, ROM images, CD-ROM images, BIOS files, firmware, sound data, MCU program data, protection-device data, security-chip key data, encryption keys, proprietary source code, or other proprietary game data is provided with this post.
Any compatibility information, research findings, hardware descriptions, implementation details, or references to incomplete, experimental, prototype, unreleased, or undumped software are presented on a best-effort basis and should not be interpreted as confirmation of availability, ownership, authorization, preservation status, or future support.
All rights are reserved by their respective owners.
Source: Github
Comments (12)
How can I get all the characters for Soul Calibur? Is that only time locked for now?
Will be cool to get the arcade version of Um Jammer Lammy NOW! besides all the other bangers on the system.
Getting the Sony SPU and Namco C352 audio working properly is a huge milstone for hardware preservation. The complaints about the frame rate drops are actually quite funny. It really hightlights how accustomed gamers have become to software emulation enhancements or console ports that hid the original arcade board's limits. The PS1 release of Tekken 3 had to cut so many corners with 2D backgrounds just to maintain performence, so seeing the raw arcade hardware struggle exactly as it originally did is the whole point of FPGA accuracy. Incredible dedication to preserving the real experience here. Looking forward to the rest of the System 12 library.
Also noticed the slowdowns some are talking about... but I guess you'll eventually figure it out working on the rest of the games. Apparently the demo attract runs great though, so I don't know what it could be.
I don't think the specific RAM on a MiSTer is the issue here. The first fight runs in app. 57-60fps. But the second fight already drops down to 41-5Xfps. Normal DE10 nano (Ultimate Mister) with 128MB ram.
Thank you all for the feedback on the initial beta release. Additional improvements are already planned for the next build. During gameplay, the frame rate generally remains around 59–60 FPS. FMV sequences may display at 15 FPS because the source videos themselves were encoded at 15 FPS. Similarly, the character-select screen may briefly drop to around 47 FPS while assets are loaded from ROM before returning to 59–60 FPS. These behaviors are consistent with the original arcade hardware, and users are welcome to compare the core directly against a real SYSTEM12 board. The parallax scrolling also accurately reflects the arcade version. Some comparisons may be based on the PlayStation release, which replaced several 3D backgrounds with 2D imagery due to the console hardware’s limitations. More updates are coming. Stay tuned!
I just played it and its was lagging all over the place and freezing, stuttering, fix your FPS counter
Runs laggy and incorrect parallax
Did I read your post right that the core now run's at 60fps? I'm getting mid 40's to periodic 60, tried Mister 1.0/1.2GHZ O.C Script, game seems to run roughly the same *maybe a tad quicker at 1.0GHZ at 1.2 Control input drops out, then games crashes after about a minute.
Overclocking the arm cpu isn't going to help. The arcade hardware is on the FPGA.
Super cool! 😎
Amazing milestone — seeing Tekken 3 running on MiSTer FPGA is fantastic! I have a MiSTer installed in an original-style arcade cabinet with a horizontal 15 kHz CRT and controls connected directly through User I/O DB15, without USB controllers. Does this System 12 beta already support User I/O DB15/DB9 controls and native 15 kHz CRT timings, or are those features planned for a later release? It would also be great to know whether the four Tekken buttons can be mapped directly for an arcade cabinet. Apart from the audio mixing levels, are there any important gameplay, graphics, timing, protection or input issues still present in Tekken 3? Is the long-term goal to reproduce the original System 12 hardware behaviour as accurately as possible? Congratulations again — I’ll be very happy to test the core on my arcade setup and report any issues.