CHANGE
HISTORY
CHANGE
HISTORY
10/31/2000Arcade auction
Arcade amusement equipment auction on November 11th in Columbus, Ohio. --- saintGot an email from Ernest about some arcade trackballs that worked well for his arcade project. There are a few more available for a limited time and he wanted to share the info with everyone. Here's his email:A couple of weeks ago I saw an auction on Ebay for 2 large track balls (see link below) I was the sucessful bidder for a very low bid. The other day they arrived, and I opened one up. The pc board was of no use, so I removed it. I then opened an old $5.00 mouse that was in my junk box. I connected the track ball optics in place of the ones one on the mouse pc board. I hooked the mouse to my pc, and only the mouse buttons worked. To make a long story short, after a day of testing I found that if I replaced the LED current limit resistor on the mouse pc board from 1000 ohms to 82 ohms, everything worked perfect! Even though the original track ball circuit pumped 25 miliamps into the LEDs, the new configuration works just fine with around 8 miliamps. I replaced the mouse switches with push switches mounted on the track ball case. The ball is 2 1/2 inches in diameter and works just fine with MAME.--- saintI was going to submit my project to you when it is finished, but these track balls won't last long at the price they are going for.
I emailed the seller and he will be offering more track balls in a few days.
Link (http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=460450620) for an ended auction. Here's the seller's item-list where any new auctions will appear.
HALLOWEEN SAFETY TIPS:When it appears that you have killed the monster, NEVER check to see if it's really dead.
Never read a book of demon summoning aloud, even just for kicks.
Do not search the basement, especially if the power has gone out.
If your children speak to you in Latin or any other language which they should not know, shoot them immediately. It will save you a lot of grief in the long run. However, it will probably take several rounds to kill them, so be prepared. This also applies to kids who speak with somebody else's voice.
When you have the benefit of numbers, NEVER pair off and go alone.
As a general rule, don't solve puzzles that open portals to Hell.
Never stand in, on, or above a grave, tomb, or crypt. This would apply to any other house of the dead as well.
If you're searching for something which caused a loud noise and find out that it's just the cat, GET THE HELL OUT!
If appliances start operating by themselves, do not check for short circuits, just get out.
Do not take ANYTHING from the dead.
If you find a town which looks deserted, there's probably a good reason for it. Don't stop and look around.
Don't fool with recombinant DNA technology unless you're absolutely sure you know what you're doing.
If you're running from the monster, expect to trip or fall down at least twice, more if you are of the female persuasion. Also note that, despite the fact that you are running and the monster is merely shambling along, it's still moving fast enough to catch up with you.
If your companions suddenly begin to exhibit uncharacteristic behavior such as hissing, fascination for blood, glowing eyes, increasing hairiness, and so on, kill them off them immediately. You'll thank yourself later.
Stay away from certain geographical locations, some of which are listed here: Amityville, Elm Street, Transylvania, Nilbog (you're already in trouble if you recognize this one), anywhere in Texas where chainsaws are sold, the Bermuda Triangle, or any small town in Maine. Also, California and Ohio are good spots to avoid this and every other time of year. I mean, the answer's in the question.
If your car runs out of gas at night on a lonely road, do not go to the nearby deserted-looking house to phone for help. If you think that it is strange you ran out of gas because you thought you had most of a tank, shoot yourself instead. You are going to die anyway and most likely be eaten.
Beware of strangers bearing strange tools. For example: chainsaws, nail guns, hedge trimmers, electric carving knives, combines, lawnmowers, butane torches, soldering irons, band saws or any devices made from deceased companions.
If you find that your house is built upon a cemetery, now is the time to move in with the in-laws. (It's a toss-up. We know.) This also applies to houses that had previous inhabitants who went mad, committed suicide, died in some horrible fashion, OR had inhabitants who performed satanic practices in your house.
(And perhaps the most important..) Always get out as soon as the scary music starts playing.
--- saint
10/30/2000This guy made a wearable Mame cab for his halloween costume. --- Tom61Interested in a great MAME/MESS frontend for your arcade monitor (or PC monitor too)? Then give Advance Menu 1.4 a try! It's easy to use, has some awesome features and can work in both horizontal & vertical orientations. Personally I love it. Some new features include full sound/music (wav & mp3 etc.) support, plus fun tile displays that show as many as 192 game previews shots at once! Highly recommended. --- ProphetThere are a bunch of links to BYOAC, and I thank everyone who has done so. However, I'd like to ask anyone who is linking to BYOAC to please make sure your link points to http://www.arcadecontrols.com/ (or if you're linking further down, double check the domain name) and not http://www.arcadecontrols.speedhost.com/.I have no intention of leaving Speedhost anytime in the future, and in fact like the service so much I heartily recommend them as a web host (I get some sort of discount if you do use them and refer to me). However, I own the "www.arcadecontrols.com" address so in the unlikely event something ever does happen, keeping the link to there means it'll always be good.
Thanks! --- saint
Saw this on Slashdot today. There's a new widget called "The Claw" by an Australian company, that's a keyboard interface gaming device. You rest your hand in it like a claw, and program various functions to the various finger presses.Looks fairly cool, Linuxworld did a review of it. --- saint
10/29/2000JAMMA, PC... Oh well, I was in the ballpark. ;) Thanks Tom61 for clarifying things. --- ProphetFeel like playing Asteriods on the side of a building? With LaserMame (a derivative of Mame32) and a few grand of hardware you can! The page has a movie of them playing vector games on a 72 inch screen. --- Tom61Prophet got it backwards(happens to everybody :), this device lets you hook up a PC to the Jamma loom of your cab. One side hooks to the Jamma harness, the other to your keyboard, sound card, and vga. Looks like it has support for buttons beyond Jamma's default of 3. The phone number listed on the page appears to be a European number. --- Tom61>I received an email from Kostovski Zoran about his JAMMA->PC interface. Check it out here. I have no other info about this product, but it looks like a device to play JAMMA arcade PCB's on PC hardware (monitor, keyboard etc.). Why he mentions emulators I don't know. --- ProphetAndy Warne does it again! The IPac is a superb PC keyboard->arcade controls interface, and now it's programmable! If you're interesed in building a control panel, or simply interfacing one with your PC, this is a great product. And the price is only $39. IPac is designed by Andy Warne, and the software is written by Robert Palmqvist (aka Emumannen of SortInfo). Here's the IPac homepage. --- ProphetHello BYOAC visitors! I've been a fan of this wonderful site for years, and I'm proud to help out with the news. Emulation and videogames in general are great fun, but the interface can make all the difference, and we know nothing beats using real arcade controls! :) Having said that, if you have any relevant news for this site, feel free to email me. Who am I? Well, my nickname is Prophet - you might also know me from a little emu site called Retrogames. =) --- ProphetStill working on the scripts to tweak them a bit, right now I'm in the process of converting the old "examples" page into the new script/database setup. That'll take a little while yet, but it's in progress.Anyway, a couple of folks will be donating some of their time to help out here at the FAQ with Tom and I -- I'll let the first introduce himself when he's ready to, but I think it's a face you'll all recognize. We're absolutely delighted to have his help! The other couple will be helping with cabinets when I've got that ready to go.
If anyone's interested, I went to the local arcade auction yesterday, and picked up a Stun Runner in fairly decent shape for $150. I hadn't expected to win the bid, but I did so... :)
However, they're darn heavy, and in the process of putting it in my basement we managed to drop it full on my finger, which is now a pretty purple splotchy color and quite tender. Such are the hazards of arcade collecting!
--- saint
10/20/2000You've probably seen it by now, but if you haven't... JoseQ's Emuviews most recent rumor mill has a piece on new cabinets coming from Hanaho. There's a Pac-Man yellow upright, and a cocktail model - looking good! Click the above link to read the rumor mill and see the pictures. News found on Retrogames :) --- saint
10/17/2000Someone's been auctioning off HotRod SE's. No clue as to who or how reliable, buyer beware, etc... As of this posting they are $76 and $26 respectively.--- saint
Fry posted a message on the message board that there was an arcade auction this weekend in Perth, Western Australia. Thanks for the heads up Fry! Hit the above link for more information.--- saint
10/16/2000The good folks at Nuts and Volts magazine were kind enough to grant us permission to post their article on building an arcade controller. Much appreciated!The file is in Adobe .PDF format (385 kb), so you'll need the free reader if you don't have it.
Please do not mirror a copy of this file without obtaining their permission first. Added to the examples page as project #182!
*** NOTE - The server appears to be having problems serving this page into web browsers. If the file doesn't show up right for you, save it instead and view it offline. Does anyone have any clue why this would be happening? Please let me know. Thanks!
--- saint
10/15/2000Added Faded Knight's MAME Cocktail Cabinet to the examples page. It's a scratch built keyboard hack (soon to be I-Pac'ed). This makes project #181! --- saint"I wonder if there is a way to put a PC in a cabinet and use real controls..."And so it began... Added Arcade Euphoria to the examples list, an I-PAC based scratch built cabinet, sporting that ever so popular black marble look :) This makes project #180! --- saint
Nick's Millennium MAME cabinet has moved to a new home. --- saint
10/13/2000Updated the message archives with everything from 6/7/00 through 9/24/00. --- saintInterested in a button on your control panel that auto-fires? Druin has been talking about it on the message board, and has some ideas on the matter. He might put up a page about it, and I expect it will be linked on the FAQ. However, until then if you're interested check out the thread at the link above. --- saintSpeaking of lost emails -- Ron sent me this a bit ago but I'm just getting this posted now...Introducing the MK40 and MK64 keyboard encoders!
From Ron's email:
MK40 & MK64 Programmable Keyboard Encoders Features:Looks great! I'll add it to the interfaces page when I get home. Meanwhile, anyone trying one of these out please let me know!40 single wire dedicated digital inputs on MK40, 64 inputs on the MK64. No interference between inputs. (No Matrix) Can generate an alternate key set on seven of the inputs when when the "shift" key is held down. Each input can be mapped to almost any key and can be changed at any time by software. Key map is stored in EEPROM rated for 1,000,000 erase / write cycles. Programs through the keyboard port, no extra serial port required. Three dedicated LED outputs that are used in some games (Num Lock, Caps Lock, & Scroll Lock). It plugs in between your computer and an optional keyboard via PS2 (6 pin mini-din) connectors. Supports full bi-directional communication with optional keyboard. Compact PCB that is less than 2" x 6", small enough to be mounted to the control panel. Capable of identifying which control panel is installed (If you have more than one). --- saint
A couple of folks have asked about updates or news they sent that didn't make it on to the FAQ.Over the past two months, I've had not one but *two* complete hard drive failures, which took all my email and my "to do" folder with them. Being a computer geek you'd think I'd have the smarts to do regular backups, but my last backup I was able to go to both times was sometime in July. Accordingly I lost a lost of stuff :(
If there's anything you sent me that didn't make it to the FAQ, *please* resend it to me now, and I will work on it asap. Among other things the news script (thanks Gregg!) will allow me to post them as I get them instead of queueing them up and letting them get backlogged, if they don't involve modifications to other parts of the FAQ.
By the way, in case you're interested, I've now got two 30 gig drives hooked up to a Promise FastTrak RAID IDE controller in a mirrored configuration, so hopefully my problems are behind me :)
--- saint
10/12/2000Did I mention I love my news update script? Just saw a message on the message board (If you aren't reading it, you're missing out...), from Andy Warne of I-Pac fame.There is a new version of the I-Pac coming out that will be programmable! Additionally, there will be an upgrade available for people with the older non-programmable I-PAC. As if that wasn't good enough news, Andy anticipates no change in the price - excellent!
Not familiar with the I-PAC and Opti-Pac? Visit the link above, or check out the I-PAC and the Opti-PAC here on the FAQ.
--- saint
10/11/2000I did finally hear from the owner of Stick-It, that they are still attempting to make a go of it. I've unfortunately lost the email in my HD crash, but the gist of it is they're working on some financing issues. When I learn more I'll post it here... --- saintUSAA is holding arcade auctions - from their email: On October 14th, there will be auctions in Pennsauken, NJ and in Kansas City, Kansas. Our auction in Pennsauken will be held at the South Jersey Expo Center. For questions concerning this auction, please contact Rob Ritterhoff at 609-729-5371. Our auction in Kansas city will be held at the Wyandotte Co. Fairgrounds. For questions concerning this auction, please contact Tom Rhodes at 954-614-5759. On October 20th, we will conduct our 10th Annual Pinhead Collectors Auction in Rosemont, Ill., at Pinball Expo 2000. For questions concerning this event, please contact Bill Hughes at 502-551-0405. Visit their web site. -------- Meanwhile Super Auctions has auctions coming up 10/14 in Columbus, OH - 10-21 in Orlando, FL - 10/28 in Fullerton, CA - 10/28 in Atlanta, GA. Visit them at their web site.. --- saintAdded Ian's MAME Cabinet to the examples page, a keyboard hack, tv using arcade cabinet. This makes project #179! --- saintAdded DBDETH's Funhouse to the examples page, a rescued battered Tron cabinet (they had kicked in the front panel before he got it, ack!) keyboard hack project. This makes project #178 ! --- saintAdded Nate's UltrAracade to the cabinets page, a work-in-progress cabinet conversion. This makes project #177! --- saintAdded Scott's Unicade to the cabinet's page. This is a scratch-built arcade cabinet with lots of detail on "how-to" on the web site. This makes project #176! --- saintDr. D won one of Druin's SNK LS30 Rotary Joystick to MAME Interface and wrote up a review, which I've put on a permanent page. Thanks Dr. D!Speaking of, Druin's interface has been added to the Interfaces page under keyboard encoders.
--- saint
Did you miss the History Channel's "Video Games: Behind the Fun?" SteveBills mentioned that he'd try to create a divX version and post about it when it's ready. You can read other people's commentary on it here. --- saintJohnmac has a free cabinet that will be tossed in the trash next Tuesday if it doesn't find a home. Virginia area, read the message at the link above. --- saintThanks to Tom Johnson and to Retrogames for the news, there's an article in the October 2000 issue of Nuts and Volts magazine on building a desktop arcade console. It's a good overview of the whole thing, with a decent discussion on emulation, and then a nice overview of the various ways to put together an arcade console. Getting nice mentions in the article were Hagstrom Electronics, Fultra Spinners, Vintage Gaming, Arcade@Home, RomCenter, Andy's Arcade (I-PAC), DirectPad Pro, and also (blush) us here at BYOAC!--- saint
Yes! Thank you to everyone who offered to help me with the scripts I asked for, I was overwhelmed with the response. A couple of folks went so far as to write a script first and send it to me (thanks to Eric Seeds of MAME-HAM who wrote one of them). Much thanks to everyone who offered to help! I apologize that I can't mention everyone, I lost most of the emails in my last hard drive crash :(The script I chose I picked because of the ease of integration into the web site and the flexibility in modifying it. Big thanks to Gregg Buntin who not only wrote two scripts that did everything I was looking for, he also answered somewhere around 20 email messages, and spent hours debugging, to help me get them installed and running on the web site. I can't thank Gregg enough!
At any rate, this means a slight shift (for the better) on how updates are done here. Instead of infrequent updates put together in one massive update, we can do on-the-fly news updates (content pages still have to be hand edited). If you're used to checking once and figuring that's it for the day, that might not be the case anymore :)
I hope to be taking more advantage of the flexibility of scripting in the weeks to come... stay tuned :)
--- saint