Bridges an Epilogue Operator (GB / SNES / N64 — same host protocol across all three) to FPGA-accurate cores on MiSTer-class hardware, including Taki Udon's SuperStation One, through Zaparoo.
Insert a cartridge, it boots straight into the matching core. Pull it, you're
back at the menu. Saves get written back to the cartridge automatically while
you play. No Main_MiSTer fork, no Zaparoo fork.
Grab the latest zaparoo-operator-mister-*.zip from
Releases and
extract it onto your SD card root — it drops straight into /media/fat.
Then on the MiSTer: F12 -> Scripts -> Operator. First run sets up the Zaparoo config, turns on autostart, and starts the bridge. That same menu entry is also the manager afterwards — start/stop, autostart on/off, live log, uninstall.
The Operator needs Zaparoo Core v2.9.1+ — the menu warns if yours is older.
- Operator: automatic. The release zip includes
downloader_operator.ini, which enrolls the Operator in MiSTer Downloader /update_allupdates. An update run fetches the new build and prompts the usual reboot to activate it; opening Scripts -> Operator also switches a running bridge to a newly installed build. (Delete that file from the SD root to opt out; manual updates then work as before: Stop bridge, extract the new zip over/media/fat, reopen Scripts -> Operator.) - Zaparoo Core: use
update_all: enable Zaparoo under its Tools & Scripts settings first (it's off by default), then update as usual. On Core v2.16.0+ the Operator uses Zaparoo's built-in integration and honors your configured launcher preferences.
On insert, the bridge verifies the cartridge is real, reads the ROM into a RAM-backed scratch dir (never the SD card — nothing left behind if you pull the cart mid-session), seeds the emulator save from the cartridge, and launches the matching core through Zaparoo. Once the core has loaded the ROM, the working copy is deleted — the game runs from SDRAM.
While you play, the bridge watches the core's save file and writes any change back to the cartridge, verifying each write before trusting it. Pull the cartridge and it does one last flush, then wipes its working copies. Nothing outlives the session except what's actually on the cartridge.
| System | notes |
|---|---|
| Game Boy / Color | |
| Game Boy Advance | |
| Super Nintendo | title shown is a generated name for now |
| Nintendo 64 | save write-back is experimental |
Update your Zaparoo installation using https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer.
The menu header shows the whole stack: bridge build, Zaparoo Core version, and live service state. "Playing X" with nothing on screen means the Zaparoo side is down or outdated — update Core and reboot. To report a problem, use menu item 7 (Status snapshot) and photograph the screen; it carries the versions, config state, and recent errors from both logs.
- The daemon (protocol layer, save-format handling, MiSTer integration) is closed source. This repo distributes prebuilt binaries and the installer.
- Validated against a connected Operator at the protocol and bridge layers; treat the first real hardware run as a smoke test.