Multi-vector game PCB

Tornadoboy

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I thought I'd start a separate thread for discussion of the (hopefully) upcoming multi-vector game PCB that Clay Cowgill and company is working on, so please carry on all further discussion here so as to not extend the already incredibly long ArcadeSD thread.
 
I thought I'd start a separate thread for discussion of the (hopefully) upcoming multi-vector game PCB that Clay Cowgill and company is working on, so please carry on all further discussion here so as to not extend the already incredibly long ArcadeSD thread.

What games are on it?:cool:
 
Sounds like another lame ZVG/Mame implementation or to put it another way
a Clay/Neil clusterfuck.
 
This is awesome.

Hey Clay, any chance you'll have cocktail support? I've got an AD cocktail I've dreamed of playing ripoff or even b&w space duel on. I'd still buy one even if only one set of controls were supported though.
 
So, let's see...

1) Yep, cocktail support (and mirrored Ast. Dlx as well as 'normal' cabs)
2) Neil Bradley (remember Retrocade? ;-) is my partner on this one. We're co-owners at Ground Kontrol and have done a bunch of commercial arcade/emulated stuff together over the years.
3) Timeline-- Neil's ahead of me at the moment (he's handling software, I'm doing hardware) and I'm pretty booked through October, so some time after that. We'll put it in Ground Kontrol for beta testing.
4) Although Neil did work on the PC side ZVG stuff with Zonn, this is all new. (New hardware, new software/emulators, etc. No PC or MAME or ZVG, just a little all-in-one PCB kinda like the ArcadeSD board.)
5) That having been said-- it *is* a separate project from the ArcadeSD work, so it won't share that name, but it's similar otherwise. Saves high scores&settings, 'single game replacement mode', upgrade with a Windows based app, play vertical games on horizontal monitor, etc.

This first variation is meant to be specific to an "asteroids family" machine and plugs directly in to the harness. There's optional support for a spinner and LL thrust controller if someone wants to make a custom control panel. I have a new arcade push button that allows for analog as well as digital output, so that's an option for analog thrust control without needing to hack up your control panel.

Games that need 'extra' stuff-- like the buildings in Armor Attack, or game select 'lamps' in LL are rendered on screen in vectors.

If people like it, we'll do a color version as a follow-on. (Since that just calls for somewhat more complex hardware and the machines to use it on are more varied, I decided to target Asteroids as the host for the first version. Lots of people have Asteroids machines and they're nicely "standardized".)

-Clay
 
You had mentioned in the other thread about the idea of people being able to make their own games for this, now that would be REALLY cool! There are more than a few people making some really sophisticated homebrews for Vectrex and I can only image what they could do with an actual full-size arcade setup.
 
Can't wait for this to be released, will be a thing of epic beauty in a Asteroids cab with the new A/AD/LL multi panel Takeman/Rich coordinated on. :D

Not sure what I'd do with the color version though. My only color vectors are Tempest and Star Wars which are both basically useless for a color vector multi. Hmm... might be time to hunt down a Black Widow/Space Duel before the rush is on.
 
Yeah, I'm going to start thinking of how to get my hands on a color vector game/monitor too, I'll probably try to get a tempest and find a spare control panel that I can heavily modify, I've wanted a Tempest for a long time anyway.

Expect flight yokes for Star Wars to get more expensive too, if that's possible.
 
Expect flight yokes for Star Wars to get more expensive too, if that's possible.

That would be nice, I've still got my original one to sell since I replaced with a RAM repro way back when.

I still need to take the countoured grips off the old one though and swap them on to the RAM unit. The RAM grips are way inaccurate and annoy the shit out of me. :(
 
That would be nice, I've still got my original one to sell since I replaced with a RAM repro way back when.

I still need to take the countoured grips off the old one though and swap them on to the RAM unit. The RAM grips are way inaccurate and annoy the shit out of me. :(

Well, he acknowledged that they were different, but called them 'prototype' style, which I wonder now if they were. I could actually see him getting back a bunch of those from China, made "close enough" and then selling them as proto style or something.. The new grips were nice though, I had a set and sold them to another KLOV'r as I decided just to refinish the ones on my yoke.
 
Well, he acknowledged that they were different, but called them 'prototype' style, which I wonder now if they were. I could actually see him getting back a bunch of those from China, made "close enough" and then selling them as proto style or something.. The new grips were nice though, I had a set and sold them to another KLOV'r as I decided just to refinish the ones on my yoke.

Sounds like typical RAM BS to me. Probably would have just cost more to make them accurate.

I have a powder coating setup so really no excuse to not change them out excepting that I might chip up the finish installing the roll pin that keeps them in place. Or I could just rebuild the original one at my leisure with one of the rebuild kits I bought before the repro yoke became an option.
 
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