Where Should JOTEGO Go Next?

A lot has been happening in the FPGA arcade scene lately, and I want to hear your thoughts on where the project should go next. I'll share a few ideas I've been considering, but we'll read through all your comments and use your feedback to shape our plans.

My Vision

More Research

I think we've reached a point where PCB validation and more in-depth reverse engineering have become much more affordable.

I have cabinets full of arcade PCBs that we can now use to revisit and validate assumptions we made in the past, improve accuracy, and deepen our understanding of these systems and chips.

In the past, our research mainly focused on converting PCBs into schematics. We can now go much further, and I see this as a particularly promising direction for the project.

As part of this effort, we may also release tools to help the community carry out its own research. One of our goals is to make the PCB-to-schematic process easier and faster.

Larger Systems

Another area I'm particularly interested in is tackling larger, more complex systems.

In the past, I've approached these systems in small steps, trying to balance long-term development with a steady flow of new game releases.

Things have changed, though. Many measurement, verification, and testing tasks can now be automated at a fraction of their previous cost. This opens up opportunities to take on more ambitious systems that would have been difficult to approach before.

Bringing More Cores into JTCORES

There are quite a few cores distributed through update_all that, from my perspective as a user, still feel incomplete.

For example, many cores in MiSTer's Arcade folder don't work out of the box with my CRT TV setup. I'm considering bringing some of these cores into JTCORES so they can benefit from the same consistent user interface, features, and options as our existing cores.

I certainly don't want to step on other developers' toes or undermine their work. However, some cores appear to have been abandoned, or at least are no longer actively maintained, and these could be good candidates.

I'm also interested in exploring closed-source and AI-generated cores, particularly where a JOTEGO implementation could offer a well-documented, maintainable, open-source alternative.

Your Call

I've deliberately avoided mentioning specific games or systems because I don't want to steer the discussion too much.

What concerns you about the current state of FPGA arcade development? What would you like to see improved or added? Are there particular games, machines, or systems you care about?

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts, including ideas that don't fit into any of the three areas I've mentioned.

Let me know in the comments. Your feedback will help shape what we work on next.