OLD
CHANGES 
November 1999
OLD
CHANGES
November 1999
11/28/99 
-=*1 0 0 *=-
100th cabinet - excellent arcade cabinet site!
John sent me a link to his new cabinet project, Arcade Paradise, and it's another jaw-dropper :) The cabinet itself is a nicely done project - joysticks, trackballs, spinners, 19" SVGA monitor, and a very nicely done marquee. However, the web site is extremely well done also, with kudos going to John's wife Lundie as webmistress. An abundant amount of detail and explanation went into the site in an easy to follow flow - very nice. Be aware however that the menu system only seems to work with Internet Explorer and not with Netscape. Visiting this site is highly recommended. John has the honor of being project #100 on the FAQ! One year ago there were 18 projects listed - that's an amazing amount of creativity and work by everyone out there!11/26/98Thanks to all 100 project creators and to those who have contributed in other ways, everyone who has put their creativity up for others to share - I love this hobby! With a month to go, 1999 has been one hell of a year - what will 2000 bring? :)
Totally revamped the Other Projects (Formerly Examples) page. Now 18 projects linked with a short list of their highlights.Some time ago, PacFan sent to me his two arcade cabinet projects - but somewhere in the confusion I lost them. Having re-sent them, cabinets #98 & 99 have been added to the list! That's right - not content to build just one, PacFan has built two cabinets and is working on a third :) They feature PowerRamp interfaces, one with a WG3100 monitor, and the other with a refurbished monitor from Happ Controls. Good work :)Just in time for holiday shopping, Arcade2000 has finally been able to add credit card ordering. To celebrate, they're giving a $100 price break to anyone ordering via credit card before December 15th!While we're on the subject of lost pages... Some time ago Andrew Bartmess and VoodooChile sent me writeups on connecting the CompUSA Crystal Trackball to arcade cabinets. I mentioned it in the news, both of them really well done, and then promptly forgot to give them permanent homes. I took the opportunity to redo the trackball section while adding their contributions there. Added links to their writeups, and redid the Happ/KE72 information a bit.If you haven't yet, you owe it to yourself to go pick up a copy of the arcade movie being hosted presently on Arcade@Home's web site. It darn near got me misty eyed, it's a great piece of work and has been added to my must-have for my cabinet. Don't think twice, just go download it - added to the EyeCandy section of the downloads page.My daughter and I spent the evening yesterday playing Crystal Castles and Centipede using a real arcade trackball from Happs Controls hooked up to a Hagstrom KE72 encoder. Outstanding! Added a writeup of the trackball/interface to the KE72 page.11/25/99 Happy Thanksgiving!
to all the Americans out there,
and happy thursday
to everyone else!
Added a search feature to the message boards - now you can search the active messages for a keyword and only those messages will be pulled up. Feedback on whether or not that's useful would help. I'm planning to add search capability to the archives as well...Added a link to a site that makes T-moulding in some 17 colors to the links page. I believe I was made aware of this link via the message board but cannot recall for sure.11/23/99 Couple of free cabinets in NY, both found on R.G.V.A.C. The first one:Subject: Cleaning house FREE CABSAnd the second one courtesy of Joe on the message board:
From: arcadeguy@aol.com (I Hate Spam)
Date: 1999/11/23
Newsgroups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting
check out the pic and if you want them come and get them.
http://arcadeguy.tripod.com/private/freecabs.jpg
AG
Buffalo, NY
http://members.aol.com/arcadeguy/ArcadeRoom/index.html*****Please respond to bigmvending@Hotmail.com
or call 1-888-380-9926
thanks
mattEmultion has begun to sell PC-PSX adapters. Info courtesy of Retrogames.Ethan sent me an interesting link. He's taken a slightly different but very cool approach, and has built a mini-arcade cabinet housing a Nintendo NES, dubbed the Nintendo Mini-Arcade. Expandable and with some fairly cool graphics on the cabinet, this makes #97 on our list! 3 more to go! By the way, the ProPlay Home Arcade was found (ok, the author found me technically...). Still hunting the other two :)For those of you using wanting to use the gameport for your system, here's an interesting gadget. Alphadactyl.com offers a product called the Joynet Gameport Hub. It connects up to four digital or analog joysticks, gamepads, and controllers to your PC. Useful for two player, three player, and four player games. Works with analog and digital controllers. Has been tested with MS-Sidewinder game controllers. Reviews linked off their web site. This one has been in my slush pile for a while, but I believe I originally found it at the Control Center, one of the sites on my must-visit list.While sorting through my slush pile, I found this bookmark to the Games Domain Review. One article I found on their site was a review for the Wizzard Pinball Controller. It's a set of two buttons that you mount on either side of your keyboard to use as flipper buttons for pinball games. Yeah, big deal right? Well, the cool thing about these is that inside the controllers are little balls that when bumped roll around and interact with optical sensors. What this gets you is the ability to nudge the machine just like in a real pinball game. They complained that nudging the keyboard was kind of dull because the keyboard was so light, but imagine them mounted to the sides of your arcade cabinet playing pinball games... flip, flip, nudge, nudge, slam, TILT! Sigh... Unfortunately, near as I can tell they haven't been made since 1996 (Thrustmaster). Anyone know where these might be found?There is really some excellent information to be found in the message board archives. I sort through it very slowly, and pull out what I think is worth posting in the FAQ, but it takes me months. Good reading to be found there. Anyway, today's topic extracted from the archives is wiring. Wiring a cabinet, wiring an encoder, wiring coin door lights, what kind of wire to use, etc... Added to the Finishing Touches page. Many people from the message board quoted and credited, please holler if you prefer I remove your name and leave it anonymous. Thanks for all your expertise!Another one from my slush pile and the Games Domain Review. This article on building joysticks has a piece on creating true Battlezone style tank lever controls (halfway down article, #3). It involves building a circuit, but if you're a Battlezone nut, how can you not build this one? :)11/21/99 I've been having horrid email problems past few days, with emails to me bouncing. My main email address, saint@null.net, should work fine. Someone please let me know on the message board if email to that address bounces. Email from my "private" account is sending out fine, but people are getting bounces when they reply. I've got a threat of mayhem into my ISP to fix that, but they tell me it will be a couple of days. Please forward anything that bounced to me to the saint@null.net address.I was never able to really crunch the survey data into something useful, so it has been removed. I've finally put up the Manifesto, and I encourage everyone to please read it and if you have any feedback to please let me know. :) Also, the cabinets page has undergone a facelift, and now includes 9 links to plans for building your own cabinet from scratch, among other things. Linked Jude's Star Wars yoke hack (never did give it a home apparently).A few arcade cabinet projects have either moved or disappeared. I have offline mirrors of all but one of them if we can't find their new location, but... Can anyone help find the following: Any info would be great :)11/19/99 While surfing through the Build Your Own Arcade-Style Controls site (no affiliation, but a good site), I came across some interesting links, including this one: Ultimate Video Game Accessories sells a product called the Dreamstation that apparently lets you use your PSX controllers in a Dreamcast machine, with the Dreamcast rumble stuff supported. You can read a review on the Dreamstation here - there are some drawbacks to the Dreamstation so read the review first if you're considering one.Several folks have asked recently if anyone knew of any arcade stick hacks for the Dreamcast, as it has a fairly unique controller. Now you might consider hacking a PSX pad, and hooking it up via this adapter to your Dreamcast, and... *presto* -- Anyone doing this please let me know how it works!
Due to the overwhelming demand on his time, Stephan has stopped selling the N64 adapters and kits that are popular for interfacing N64 controllers to PCs. However, he links to someone who is still selling them (as well as PSX adapters). Thanks for all you've contributed to this hobby Stephan :)Another interesting site linked off the Build Your Own Arcade-Style Controls site is Sidekick 2000. They have instructions for building arcade sticks for PSX, and of particular interest, they sell components for doing the same including the empty case to house it in. If you're looking for a shortcut, you might pay them a visit.Added a new project to the cabinets page. This is a from-scratch built arcade cabinet with a Hagstrom KE-24 interface. Complete price listing on the web site is an interesting read for people who are just getting started and are wondering what they're in for :) Added to the cabinets page, this is project 94!Added another project this evening, the Master of All MAMEKind. A rescued Gauntlet II cabinet that had been victimzed by some unfortunate prior conversions, now featuring a removable 4 person control panel that can be replaced with a flight stick, two person MK style controls, and more. Site has downloadable plans for a mini-cabinet. Custom artwork that looks to be incredible when completed. This makes 95 projects now!Added still another project! This one was a fairly damaged PacMan cabinet that was rescued and converted into an emulation arcade cabinet. Lots of pictures on the web site. Most notable feature on this one is instead of creating their own control panel, they purchased a Stick-It to use for their controls, and are quite happy with the results! This makes 96 projects! 4 more to go, 6 weeks to go, will we make it? :)11/17/99, 2 free cabinets spotted in Michigan, 1 free cabinet spotted in Houston.11/18/99 ZipStick has moved to a new location, and sports a new look on their web site. There's a good possibility there will be some reviews of the ZipStick coming soon. I also updated some of the details on the Alternatives page about the ZipStick - short recap, they offer a variety of models, and will also sell the bare shell (wood, buttons, joysticks) so you can hack your own interface and use their outsides (great for a PSX or N64 hack, for instance).Got news from RocketCade that they have declared their project officially finished! Er... phase 1 that is :) Phase two, which will start after Thanksgiving, will include
the new KE-72 encoder, hot-swappable controls, and the ability to plug in 2 more controls for 4-player fun. Sounds great!Also, he asked me to pass on that he's looking for a pair of working positional guns (like those used in Terminator 2) for a new project, and if anyone has a pair they're looking to unload, please visit his site and send him an email.
ArcadeSolutions' web site has had a slight address change. While they are not presently taking orders, Andy of ArcadeSolutions still remains a member of the build-your-own community and is thinking of putting up some of his "tricks-of-the-trade" tips on his site. The custom-built consoles from Arcade Solutions are absolutely among the best looking products I've seen, and so tips from them would be high on my must-read list. Don't look for them anytime before the holidays though, and as he's still a newlywed, it may take him a bit of time to post anything :)This one slipped by me, but not by folks who read the message boards. SniperCade is having a contest, in which one of the prizes comes from CustomArcade - be sure to head on over and take a look at the details. Speaking of CustomArcade, recent news on their site indicates that they're now accepting COD orders (you have to arrange that via email). :)Thanks to Ace for passing this on, we've added a new utility that disables Windows' control over the SideWinder, which is beneficial in getting Sidewinders to work in DOS emulators. Probably a must have if you are going to use Sidewinders in your arcade hack. Added to the downloads page.Prophet of Retrogames has been mysteriously quiet today... could that mean he got his ArcadePC? If not, it should be soon - look for his comments on it soon as well I think :)*NT*11/16/99 100th real update If I've counted correctly, tonight's update (albeit a bit small) is the 100th real update of the FAQ since it was begun some two years ago. Er... Champagne anyone? Root beer maybe? :) It's been a long fun ride so far, and I appreciate all the support and input from the folks out there.
Thanks!
--- saint
Thanks to a message from Just Michael for the news, the PowerRamps are once again available from Act Labs for $19.99. They sold out fairly quickly at this price last time, so if you're thinking you might want to use one of these in your project, I'd buy it now :) Thanks JM!Andy Warne has posted a message on the board about a new interface he's developed for arcade controls. If you are interested in an interface to wire your own controls to, you might want to take a look. Some of the highlights of this interface are:Andy hasn't indicated an intent to go into regular business, but expects to have extras to sell. They are currently being beta tested. Read the message and if you're interested give Andy a holler :)
- All joystick/button connections made via screw tag strip.
- All button inputs referenced to ground - no need to re-wire seperate grounds to each button.
- AT keyboard port connector (PS/2 adapter will work).
- No matrix - no ghosting.
- Fast running software onboard gives faster response than standard keyboard controller.
- Autocoin mode allows hot key (button) combination to insert coin, similar combination to generate ESC sequence (not a combination that will be hit during normal gameplay).
- Keyboard passthru - but no keyboard required to boot PC (keyboard is optional, in other words).
- 21 inputs preconfigured for MAME defaults.
- Estimated price $35.
11/15/99 I got my KE72 in the mail today :) I'm very impressed and can't wait to start fiddling with it. I'm going to order a Happ Controls trackball and see how that works :) I've put up a page with pictures and a few details, which I should be expanding hopefully as I play with the encoder more. BTW - all the pictures, including the imho very clear close-ups were taken with my Sony Mavica FD-88 digital camera. Thanks to everyone who gave me their opinion on which camera to buy, I'm very happy with my purchase :)Anthony sent me an email with his arcade cabinet project,the Hybird Cab, and he's taken an approach I haven't seen anyone else take so far. The control panel is fairly nice, but the interesting thing is that instead of being a full-sized cabinet, it's more of a cabinet stand with the monitor perched on top. Interesting approach, take a look. Added to the cabinets page, this makes 93 projects now!Andy Geezer posted a message on the board about his latest revision to his MAME derivation, OptiMAME. What's that about dual mouse support? Serial and serial, ps/2 and ps/2, or serial and ps/2? :)Over at the official MAME site, there's a 5000 x 4000 semi-official MAME logo (Nicola has not yet blessed it with "official" status I believe) that would be perfect for anyone wanting to use it for cabinet art. It's over 700 KB, so be warned :).Much more to come still... Should I just stop saying that and leave it as a given? :)11/13/99 Trimming down the main message board file has mushroomed into mucking about with the scripts - I lost a couple of messages inadvertantly, but shouldn't be doing anything with the main file anymore. I'll be messing with the scrtips probably for the rest of the day. Anyone with some experience with PERL and/or tweaking wwwboard scripts want to give me an email? I could use the help :)11/11/99 I'm Back!
In the past 3 weeks I've been to 3 states and have taken off and landed 8 times - I'm tired :) Updates are now resuming - I'm out of vacation time so there shouldn't be many more interuptions - thanks for your patience :)Thanks to Ray of the incredible CustomArcade and to Dave from Hagstrom for the news, the all new encoders from Hagstrom are now available! They are custom built for arcade control applications, and the list of features is amazing. They are in stock and ready to ship! The full press release can be found here, but some of the highlights:They will be putting up pictures and details soon, but best of all, I'm getting an evaluation copy I'll be putting through it's paces and posting about here :) Plus, of course, I'll get to see what CustomArcade has done with the encoders as well - it's looking like a great holiday season! :)
- The KE72 scans 72 individual inputs, with no chance for ghosting - it's not a matrix!
- Any input may be programmed to output up to 32 keystrokes when pressed, and up to 16 keystrokes when released.
- Inputs may be individually selected to repeat.(!)
- You can use custom connectors, or IDE ribbon cables for your wiring.
- The user creates his own configuration file for loading into the KE72. This file is a text only file. Once the configuration file is created, the user runs a supplied program to load the configuration into the KE72. The KE72 may be loaded through the keyboard port (DOS mode) or through it's serial port (DOS or Windows).
- The KE72 has an option for a Mouse/Trackball interface. The KE72-T model emulates a PS2 mouse as well. This allows you to connect a Track Ball or similar device to the KE72 and have it emulate a mouse. The Mouse/Trackball option can be purchased as an addon later to upgrade the KE72 as well. Check out the last item on the prices below.
KE72 72 input keyboard encoder $119.95 KE72-T KE72 with Mouse/Trackball interface $139.95 KE-MM6-mini 6 pin miniDIN Male/Male Cable, 6 ft. $ 5.95 KE-TBH3 Happ Controls Trackball to KE72 Cable $ 9.95 (BTW - message board readers have known about this for days!)
ArcadeOS has been updated to version 2.32! Many enhancements, including a key-remapper that's the bees knees. Be sure to check it out :)Found a reference to an excellent CRT FAQ that covers the monitor from top to bottom, including a good piece on monitor safety and discharging. If you are going to muck about with your monitor, this should be added to your must-read-to-prevent-pain-and-dismemberment list. Local mirror.James emailed me his project, inspired by Mr. Salty's cabinet :) James' cabinet sports two joysticks with 14 total buttons, a KE-24 interface, MAME logo sideart, and is still a work in progress :) This makes 92 projects now - T-8 and counting, with about 6 weeks to go! :) Added to the cabinets section.Got an email from the ZipStick folks about some changes to their product. Hagstrom Electronics has developed a custom designed LP-24 encoder with PS/2 connector, macro-key capability, up to 16 keys per button, 24 dedicated inputs (no ghosting!), and programmability through the PS/2 connector. The ZipStick runs for $139.95, and is available now! Anyone purchasing one please send me a review :)Next up on my to-do list is the message board (halving the size, it's about 400 KB now!), and after that taking a look around to see what needs attention the most. Suggestions welcomed. If you've sent me an email I haven't answered, please bear with me - I'm a 150 or so behind :) I hope to catch up on the bulk by this weekend, and intend to answer every one :) Thanks for the support!