Gorf is a pain in the A!

[pookdolie]

They threw a bunch of games together with a silly concept, went all out on the cabinet design, shoved in some speech, a lot of humor, and gave it a ridiculous name.

Gorf, to me, is the quinessential example of programmers and a gaming company having fun and saying "what the hell; let's build it". I think it's a great machine!

 

[Tighe]

They threw a bunch of games together with a silly concept, went all out on the cabinet design, shoved in some speech, a lot of humor, and gave it a ridiculous name.

Gorf, to me, is the quinessential example of programmers and a gaming company having fun and saying "what the hell; let's build it". I think it's a great machine!

I love that Midway thought that since it licensed Galaxian and SI in the USA that they could use the characters in their own game.

 

[trickman]

I love that Midway thought that since it licensed Galaxian and SI in the USA that they could use the characters in their own game.

That would be like Nintendo saying, "Let's put R-Type in our next Mario game."

 

[Riptor]

Man you need to move a little closer to me so we can get your games working.
Im curious, where did you get the IC for the RGB board? I have one here I need to replace. Havent looked for it yet but if I remember the last post on them someone said they were not available. Have a source?

 

[retroACTIVE]

Man you need to move a little closer to me so we can get your games working.
Im curious, where did you get the IC for the RGB board? I have one here I need to replace. Havent looked for it yet but if I remember the last post on them someone said they were not available. Have a source?

No shit right? My Gorf is really nice the cab is in really really good shape I think I'm close to being done with it... as long as it doesn't flare up... the last two issues are the static-y aliens on the first wave (which may not actually be an issue but I don't have a "good" Gorf to verify it) and the fact that the screen is not straight at the bottom... it appears as if the words are rising up on an angle during the attract screen... it straightens out by the time it reaches the top.

As far as the amp IC I got it from arcadechips.com

I generally don't have any problems fixing boards... this one was a "working" Gorf that really wasn't working... and I've no mileage on fixing these boards (allthough I've gained a few now

 

[Riptor]

Crabtowne has a gorf, you can check it out there. I will see if I can get a screenshot of the aliens on the first wave for you.
The curving sounds like a monitor adjustment issue. Has it been recapped?

 

[Tighe]

and the fact that the screen is not straight at the bottom... it appears as if the words are rising up on an angle during the attract screen... it straightens out by the time it reaches the top.

Sounds like your monitor needs some convergence strips.

 

[retroACTIVE]

Crabtowne has a gorf, you can check it out there. I will see if I can get a screenshot of the aliens on the first wave for you.
The curving sounds like a monitor adjustment issue. Has it been recapped?

Thanks.. I know it sounds like the monitor but ...the monitor is perfect... it has been completely rebuilt... and tested on another game.

I actually put a brand new tube on the thing and got it perfectly converged as well...

 

[Tighe]

Thanks.. I know it sounds like the monitor but ...the monitor is perfect... it has been completely rebuilt... and tested on another game.

I actually put a brand new tube on the thing and got it perfectly converged as well...

Sometimes the video output voltage on a board can be different, or there can be a sync issue. Did you try the gorf board on a different monitor?

 

[retroACTIVE]

Sometimes the video output voltage on a board can be different, or there can be a sync issue. Did you try the gorf board on a different monitor?

True.... However the monitor I removed (WG4600) from it had the same issue... when I put the newly rebuilt G07 in I was expecting it to go away... it didn't. I'll get back to it at some point..

 

[RetroHacker]

You also don't mention what kind of monitor it is, or how it's connected. Gorf's composite sync comes out on two pins in the molex plug. If you have it connected to both H and V sync inputs on some monitors, it might have trouble syncing.

-Ian

 

[retroACTIVE]

You also don't mention what kind of monitor it is, or how it's connected. Gorf's composite sync comes out on two pins in the molex plug. If you have it connected to both H and V sync inputs on some monitors, it might have trouble syncing.

-Ian

It doesn't appear to have trouble syncing... it never rolls or is unstable... its just not straight at the bottom of the screen (or would be right side of the tube) ...its a G07.... cab is wired per factory (-) composite only.

 

[RetroHacker]

OK, a G07. That should be fine then. I've just seen some cheaper monitors bend and distort at the edge when you feed composite sync to both H and V inputs.

As stupid as this sounds, have you tried connecting it to a monitor that's not mounted in the game? Could very well be something magnetized that's affecting it.

-Ian

 

[retroACTIVE]

OK, a G07. That should be fine then. I've just seen some cheaper monitors bend and distort at the edge when you feed composite sync to both H and V inputs.

As stupid as this sounds, have you tried connecting it to a monitor that's not mounted in the game? Could very well be something magnetized that's affecting it.

-Ian

When I get back to it ... I will be doing that as a sanity check.

 

[Tweeg]

Can you get a picture of your noisy red aliens? I just played mine last night, and mine have a bit of "hair" too. I had never really noticed it before reading this post.

I also found out to my dismay that my control panel wiring has an issue, because there is +5V on the screws in the joystick. I felt like James Bond playing World Domination against Largo.

 

[CrazyKongFan]

Here's how they look in MAME. First 2 are with a little static, 3rd one is when they're in the shield area and have no color due to the static.

 

[retroACTIVE]

Here's how they look in MAME. First 2 are with a little static, 3rd one is when they're in the shield area and have no color due to the static.

I "think" I can see it... those are some pretty poopy pictures there mr. CrazyKongFan

 

[Tweeg]

The JPG compression artifacts in those pictures are redonkulous. I can't tell how much static there really is in the aliens there.

Also, my aliens don't lose color when they go through the shield. At least, I don't think they do - I usually kill them long before then. I'll check that in the next day or so.

 

[gorfchampion]

The aliens on the SI board will turn the color of the shield when they run into the shield.

I've had my Gorf since Feb. of 1998 and luckily the only problems I've had is with the volume pots fading in and out every now and then.

 

[CrazyKongFan]

I "think" I can see it... those are some pretty poopy pictures there mr. CrazyKongFan

Sorry, that's the way MAME did them. I hit the screenshot button and posted them as MAME saved them. They were PNG files though, not JPG, but apparently the uploader here converts them to JPG...for some reason they don't look as good after posted here