OMGWTFBBQ!!! - My QIX video review with pics and hardware overview!

blkdog7

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OMGWTFBBQ!!! - My QIX video review with pics and hardware overview!

I recently picked up a QIX and finally got it working today! I put up a quick little video review below. This game was a bitch to get working. I ended up buying two board sets, swapping ram, reflowing header pins, etc. In the end, the working board set from eBay fixed this for me. Phew!! This was after countless hours of swapping different boards in and out and fiddling with edge connectors, header pins, harnesses, etc. This game sucks!

After I installed my "working" board set from ebay today, the game wouldn't boot at all. I called Jon Exidy's Taito support hotline and he suggested I install a battery. So, I took a drive to Ace Hardware and picked up a 3.6v 1200mah cordless phone battery, installed it, and after it fired right up. Thanks, Jon! I remember having a similar issue when I was trying to get my Zoo Keeper working. These damn games need that battery!!!! Otherwise they just DO NOT want to boot! Arrgh!

Huge shout out to Joey Ray for hooking me up with the seller of this game, Professor Farnsworth for the (FREE!) bezel and the KLOV'r whose name I forget who sold me the marquee (sorry! I forget your name!).

It takes a village... :)

BTW - this game is frickin' HARD!! Seriously hard. I'd love to hear some tips and tricks to get good at this game. Right now, I BLOW!!!

Now, to find a way to fit this into the basement!

In HD here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W08i_HWtZFk&feature=youtu.be



7645909006_82a81da1a3_b.jpg
 
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I've always called it KICKS, It's like TRIX but with a 'Q'.

Anyway the how I play is I build a tree like structure and trap the enemy like this:

Qix_StrategyA.png

Steve
 
You do not need the battery for the board to boot. It will go into the test menu every time without the battery but you can cycle through the test menu to get the game to boot.
 
You do not need the battery for the board to boot. It will go into the test menu every time without the battery but you can cycle through the test menu to get the game to boot.

Riptor, I could NOT get the game to boot without the battery. I would get the upside down memory failure screen but could not get out of it. If I tried booting the game without the battery and with the coin door open it would not get out of test. As soon as installed the battery the game worked.

I strongly think this is true! You need the battery! I had a similar issue with Zoo Keeper as I recall. There is something about the battery and booting the game!
 
Riptor, I could NOT get the game to boot without the battery. I would get the upside down memory failure screen but could not get out of it. If I tried booting the game without the battery and with the coin door open it would not get out of test. As soon as installed the battery the game worked.

I strongly think this is true! You need the battery! I had a similar issue with Zoo Keeper as I recall. There is something about the battery and booting the game!


You got me curious now. I could swear I didnt have a battery in mine for a while and I had to open the coin door everytime and flip through the menu to get into the game. I could be wrong, let me pull my battery and try it out.
 
Ok, I was right. I removed the battery and rebooted, the game came up. My high score was still there so I turned it off about 5 minutes and let the capacitors bleed off. Rebooted and got ram failure indicating the battery failed. Flicked through the options menu and the game booted. So yes, it will in fact run without the battery but its kinda like williams games where you have to go through the menu every time you turn it on.
Also, I noticed you mentioned in the video that there is no freeplay. Yes, there positively is. Its somewhat difficult to figure out how to set it. In fact I never remember how and the manual is not very clear if I remember right. Ah well, gotta set it back on my machine so I will post how as soon as I figure it out.
 
From the manual on page 12...
"A free play mode may be selected by setting maximum credits to 0"
Its hard to find, I have to flip through the manual several times every time I look for it.
 
Or like the rock group KIX, but with a Q.
Anyone remember them from BITD.
Pretty good, but never got as big as I thought they should.

Steve


Hell yeah, kix rocked bitd. They started right here in Maryland and actually played at my old high school. They had a small amphitheater behind the school where they would have battle of the bands every year. I also recall Joan Jett playing there once. Both were before either of them hit the big time.
My step brother knew one of the guys from kix, dont recall which one. I remember him telling me the guy blew all his money and was working putting up billboards on I95.
Steve Whitman still plays with his band funny money. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funny_Money_(band) . They play alot at Jaxx nightclub in Springfield VA. Occasionally the original Kix lineup will play a show there but not too often.
Ok, enough rambling.
 
blkdog7 said:
BTW - this game is frickin' HARD!! Seriously hard. I'd love to hear some tips and tricks to get good at this game


Here are some videos I made, you'll see how to do some of the things I describe below...

Build a "sparx" trap when a round starts up the top middle of the playfield, this will "trap" some of the sparx (most of the time)....as per the video below.

The QIX will always try and make it's way into the larger area, so if you create a tunnel into the larger area, eventually it will try and get through the tunnel...see the 1.30 min video below.

The Qix will sometimes go right through "thin walls" so beef them up a bit if you can.

the short video is 99% fast fill, the second is consecutive 99% fills.

Hope this helps a bit!















john

.
 
You got me curious now. I could swear I didnt have a battery in mine for a while and I had to open the coin door everytime and flip through the menu to get into the game. I could be wrong, let me pull my battery and try it out.

Also, the guy I bought my pcb from said something about the reset circuit on the original power supply. Something like "if you're using a switcher you need to install a capacitor somewhere without a battery installed."

I dunno.
 
Ok, I was right. I removed the battery and rebooted, the game came up. My high score was still there so I turned it off about 5 minutes and let the capacitors bleed off. Rebooted and got ram failure indicating the battery failed. Flicked through the options menu and the game booted. So yes, it will in fact run without the battery but its kinda like williams games where you have to go through the menu every time you turn it on.
Also, I noticed you mentioned in the video that there is no freeplay. Yes, there positively is. Its somewhat difficult to figure out how to set it. In fact I never remember how and the manual is not very clear if I remember right. Ah well, gotta set it back on my machine so I will post how as soon as I figure it out.

Thanks for free play tip! I was trying to set it like zoo keeper and it wouldn't work. D'oh!

I know this is gonna make no sense....

This is what I think is happening...

I bet right now if I disconnected the battery the game will work. It's that initial time, the first time you're putting in the settings in a new pcb in a new cab, that you need the battery. I swear I had this same issue with my Zoo Keeper when I first got it. Now? The battery can be missing and zoo keeper works. But, when I first got the PCBs I needed it to boot it for the first time cause the games settings were totally zeroed out.
 
John, if your using a taito adapter arcadeshop or other, it's got the reset circuit built it.. Also, about the battery.. Both you and Riptor are correct.. Sometimes you don't need the battery, but sometimes you do.. I haven't a clue why it's this way, but after messing with dozens of Qix and Zookeeper pcbs that's what I've found..

It's just a good idea to have a working battery when troubleshooting.. Next time drag your lazy ass down to my house and we can fix your taitos :)

Congrats on getting it up and running man!


Also, the guy I bought my pcb from said something about the reset circuit on the original power supply. Something like "if you're using a switcher you need to install a capacitor somewhere without a battery installed."

I dunno.
 
Here are some videos I made, you'll see how to do some of the things I describe below...

Build a "sparx" trap when a round starts up the top middle of the playfield, this will "trap" some of the sparx (most of the time)....as per the video below.

The QIX will always try and make it's way into the larger area, so if you create a tunnel into the larger area, eventually it will try and get through the tunnel...see the 1.30 min video below.

The Qix will sometimes go right through "thin walls" so beef them up a bit if you can.

the short video is 99% fast fill, the second is consecutive 99% fills.

Hope this helps a bit!




john

.


Wow, those videos are nuts. You really got the game figured out!

I noticed you kind of create a little prison for the new sparks that come in later in the level. You do that every time up top? Create those nested shapes so they can't get out?
 
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