Death Race in FPGA shows signs of life!

Damn dude, thats looks pretty legit.
The way the gremlin runs is pretty spot on.
Cant wait to see this in person.
 
Awesome might I ask how would u like to see something like this implemented would it be for og cabs or some sort of mame control. I ask because I love death race it's one of the few games I can stand playing for ten too twelve hrs straight. Also death race was my first game I practiced for the world record me and my partner we share the Co-op world record
 
Awesome project. There are way too many great B&W '70s games that are extinct or close to it. Nice to see a big leap forward in preserving one of the great ones.

Assuming this comes to fruition how hard would it be to scratch build a Death Race? Not that I ever would because I don't have the skills or knowledge to do so, but it would be great to see some materialize like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

Now if only we could repro B&W monitors.
 
Thanks for the positive feedback. As far as what could be done with it when it's done? I plan on making all the source code available to anyone that wants it. It should be able to run on an inexpensive FPGA eval board when it's done, right now I am using a $150 Terasic board which is way overkill but provides some nice features for development/debug. It could be used to bring an original cab back to life OR a scratch build although there's definitely some mechanical work that would need to be done, steering/shifting/pedal controls etc. There's also the possibility of a Death Race/Destruction Derby multigame although I know the purists seem to be down on the multi-game stuff so no plans at this time. It also could be easily updated to a dedicated Destruction Derby pretty easily. One thing I haven't decided on yet is how I want to handle the sound. Option are:
1. Build actual sound hardware, (as close as I can with equivalent parts)
2. Build logic/digital implementation of the sound and use some type of D/A to output to amp
3. Incorporate sampled sounds into the logic and again use a D/A to drive an amp

That decision is largely based on what uses this project may find in the future, if anyone has any comments/suggestions I would love to hear them. Again, my original motivation was just to learn the details of this game design since it was "ripped" from my life years ago! (I think bowling ally where I played it got complaints and pulled it)
 
Awesome project. There are way too many great B&W '70s games that are extinct or close to it. Nice to see a big leap forward in preserving one of the great ones.

Amen to that!

Assuming this comes to fruition how hard would it be to scratch build a Death Race? Not that I ever would because I don't have the skills or knowledge to do so, but it would be great to see some materialize like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

Now if only we could repro B&W monitors.

Nice thought and I'd love to see it happen, but repro'ing the steering wheels and shifters would pretty tough, and I don't think there were any more common games that used the same parts. I guess if you wanted to take "artistic license" and use different controls you could both make it work and look good, but it wouldn't be original, but might be worth it.

I think color monitors can be adapted to work with B&W input though it takes a little bit of electronics to separate the video sync back into horizontal and vertical, then I just think it's 3 resistors for each color which are all tied together.
 
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Nice thought and I'd love to see it happen, but repro'ing the steering wheels and shifters would pretty tough,

My Monte Carlo used an off the shelf steering wheel, The "500". You can find them on eBay easily. I looked at some google images of Death Race, the wheels may be the same manufacturer judging by the logo and writing at the top, but I can't find a good shot to know 100%.

Also, FWIW, arcade boneyard has a demo derby without a boardset: http://thearcadeboneyard.com/machines_for_sale/project_machines/project_machines_page_1.php
 

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This is exciting because I have a Destruction Derby with no game board. The thought of being able to play Death Race also or even scratch building a Death Race gets me really excited. How excited, well that would be TMI. Keep up the good work.
 
My Monte Carlo used an off the shelf steering wheel, The "500". You can find them on eBay easily. I looked at some google images of Death Race, the wheels may be the same manufacturer judging by the logo and writing at the top, but I can't find a good shot to know 100%.

Its actually this one with the three holes cut out in the posts.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Steering-Wheel-Indy-500-Superior-Performance-Products-/112522221385

I think Exidy, much like Atari at that time found it cheeper to purchase an existing steering wheel from the car industry rather than manufacture their own.
 

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Just got my project to implement Death Race in an FPGA to do something other than a static image. Got the first "gremlin" logic functioning. Link to video below.

https://youtu.be/-3ohd-3faTQ

Brien,
Once you get further along on the project, how hard would it be to do this for Destruction derby as well. I have both, and as I've mentioned, you are more than welcome to come over and check them out. The PCBs are interchangeable with the cabinets.
They are basically the same game with a few exceptions:
1) The object sprites are little cars instead of Gremlin/people and when you crash into them they turn into little car wrecks instead of tombstones.
2) When you hit the cars they make a crash sound instead of the shrieking sound made when you hit a gremlin.
 
Brien,
Once you get further along on the project, how hard would it be to do this for Destruction derby as well. I have both, and as I've mentioned, you are more than welcome to come over and check them out. The PCBs are interchangeable with the cabinets.
They are basically the same game with a few exceptions:
1) The object sprites are little cars instead of Gremlin/people and when you crash into them they turn into little car wrecks instead of tombstones.
2) When you hit the cars they make a crash sound instead of the shrieking sound made when you hit a gremlin.

Not my project :D
 
Arcadenut- lol I'm also a "Brian" although not the unique spelling, I've never ran into another Brien with an "e"

Coindork-

Very easily can be changed to a Derby, I'm actually using a copy of the Chicago Coin version of Derby to supplement the Death Race schematic I have which is nearly impossible to read due to the generational photocopying losses. There is actually a little difference in the game electronics besides the rom change. The logic that drives the "gremlins" vs the "game cars" is quite different. You can notice that the gremlins never move diagonally like the game cars do. A large amount of the time I've spent on this project so far is just "recovering" the schematics to a readable version.
 
are there any screen shots of Alley Rally out there? i don't think i have ever seen any

and yes, just to confirm the steering wheel used on these was the "500"
 
I saw a shot of the cab once which had video on the screen but it wasn't a very good picture and not straight on, I did however get the impression it was very Sprint like.

I've never seen a decent shot of the screen or any video though, and I haven't tried the PCB I've got. I was going to try it in Funspot's Death Race as I believe the pinouts are the same, but the harness was partially soldered to the PCB and I wasn't about to screw with it and risk damaging such a rare game. Attached is a pic of an Alley Rally cab.

I believe Score used the same board too and basically was a graphics and control hack of Demolition Derby, although I've only seen one cab in existence which sold on ebay and I have no idea where it ended up. For what I've read you basically chased girls around the screen and turned them into hearts when caught, it used a joystick instead of a steering wheel.

BTW, as to using a color monitor for black & white, here's a thread I started on the subject a while back:

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=333922&highlight=black+white+color
 

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There's also the possibility of a Death Race/Destruction Derby multigame although I know the purists seem to be down on the multi-game stuff so no plans at this time. It also could be easily updated to a dedicated Destruction Derby pretty easily. One thing


Not sure what purists you're talking about. We don't mind FPGA multigames as FPGA / BGA is the most accurate form of PCB simulation. Also as long as it can output to a real B&W CRT the whole LCD question is also not pertinent. If you can do a multi-game then by all means please please pretty please pursue that.
 
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