FireStorm
FireStorm turns the FPGA from an accelerator into a complete real-time media environment — the part of Ant64 where graphics and sound are not just rendered, but performed.
The Real-Time Heart of the Ant64
Most systems treat video as a framebuffer that software must constantly redraw. FireStorm takes a fundamentally different approach — it is a deterministic hardware subsystem that runs in lockstep with the video beam.
- Hardwqare sprites, layers, palettes, and raster effects are managed directly in hardware
- Blitter primatives include hardware sprites, tilemaps and more are managed in hardware by the **Execution Engine
- Objects can be placed on screen instantly and modified while a frame is being drawn
- Audio synthesis shares the same precise timing domain — sound and visuals stay perfectly synchronised
- Because it operates on scanlines rather than pixels, the system scales naturally — trade resolution for object count and effects as needed
- Dedicated hardware resources remain always available for overlays, cursors, and diagnostics
- Colony Connection a high speed connection between Ant64 computers and peripherals, Want to know more? Colony Connection
The FireStorm Execution Engine
At the core of FireStorm is the FireStorm Execution Engine — a beam-synchronised controller capable of altering registers mid-display to produce classic raster tricks alongside modern flexibility.
Want to know more? FireStorm Execution Engine »
The FPGA
FireStorm is built on a GoWin FPGA. Full technical details including pin maps, memory architecture, and codec wiring are covered in the FPGA reference page.