F-Zero Final VS For LAN Play Released To Patrons!

After many years of development and numerous stalls and restarts F-Zero Final VS is finally available!

A bit of the Ultra Net and F-Zero Final VS’ development history is available at the bottom of this article.

So what is F-Zero Final VS?  F-Zero Final VS (FZFVS) enables multiple F-Zero games to connect to each other through a server enabling an authentic multiplayer experience between two to four players!

Custom server software, the Ultra Net network driver for emulators, and numerous modifications to the game have enabled network play between multiple SNES emulators (and eventually original hardware and FPGAs)!

An abbreviated list of features includes:

* Two to four player networked multiplayer

* Lightning fast multi-threaded server software

* Server side collision detection using Box2d

* F-Zero and GP2 vehicles and maps

* Animated title screens that change each reload

* 12 Additional custom palettes for vehicles

* Player start position based on rank of previous match

The current build is intended for LAN play, however it should work reasonably well online with low pings to the server.

Full online support was considered from the start and is intended to be layered onto the server/driver in the future.  This is of course contingent on ongoing support for the project from the community.

The Ultra Net driver is being cleaned up for its public release and will be available in the coming days.

This has been a long and draining project, but it was one that continued out of love. The experience of first playing networked Super Nintendo was transformative.

It's an experience we are happy to finally share with the world.  We hope you all have as much fun as we did playing multiplayer F-Zero for the first time, and we hope it opens minds to possibilities.

Installer and instructions are available in our discord server.

A Short History:

Development began at the end of 2016. The goal was to enable real networked multiplayer across multiple SNES systems.

After several false starts, an FPGA was used to connect two systems through the expansion port.

The first working versions of F-Zero VS were playable in mid-2017, and immediately after additional games were explored.

Metal Warriors was modified for full-screen head to head multiplayer, as was Super Mario Kart.

In early 2018 we began to tease the project. Our earliest video was a bit too good at looking fraudulent; nobody believed it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AViPja1qtak

Contact was made with Catador, a very skilled SNES developer and F-Zero expert, and he began working with Grego on F-Zero Final.

Shortly after partnering with Catador, F-Zero Final was released and our second stream (the first was lost) showcasing the Ultra Net was done in September 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ1-LpBFhvg

Development on FZEdit, the F-Zero editor Catador had created, went on for several months before things stalled.

Moving into early 2020 development restarted on Ultra Net and F-Zero Final VS.

We were working on a 2021 tournament appearance before it was clear that the pandemic would not allow for it.

Development was again delayed to 2022 to attempt to get the project debuted in a tournament setting. That did not occur, but as promised to our extremely patient fans years before, there would be no additional delays.

So, here it is. Enjoy F-Zero Final VS!