So I have this really cool Nicktoons Racing cabinet, but...

[DLinkOZ]

It has no computer.  Everything else is there, and I've gone over the wiring to make sure I get no surprises.  I haven't seen the computers anywhere other than from the manufacturer, and at just a tad over $500 (without dongle), that's just not going to happen.  Anyone have some insight?  If I can't get my hands one, then I may console it.  I did it with my DK cab, using an 8 bit NES.  They released this game for the PS1, so that's my first thought.  But that begs the question - interface existing wheel/pedals or graft on actual PS1 wheel/pedals?

But I would really prefer to find a computer and dongle for a reasonable price, so I can keep everything original.  Monitor seems to work well, at least it shows the "No Signal" screen in each color properly.

[gmk05]

Woow, it's very nice. Where did you get that.

[Brian74]

Did that game have any feed back or runble? If it dont, maybe you can hack a ps1 wheel into the controls. Would have to get a ps1 wheel and confirm what size pots it uses for the wheel and peddles. Then change the ones on the cab according.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

[BadMouth]

This could be fairly plug and play with a PC.

Looking at the manual http://www.chicago-gaming.com/Brochures/NTR_Manual.pdf
it looks like it doesn't have force feedback and the controls interface via a standard old school PC gameport. 

Before doing anything else, I'd test it out on a PC using a USB gameport adapter or PCI sound card (w/gameport)
Both are fairly cheap.  Although the USB adapters can be hit or miss, there's really nothing about gameports that make them compatible or not.
If you tear apart an old basic pc joystick, there aren't any electronics inside.  There's nothing but the pots, buttons, & wiring.
In the manual, the pin numbers and pots are wired exactly like an old generic pc joystick.  This should work.

Honestly, it would be a shame to go to the trouble of swapping out pots and hacking a PS1 controller when the thing will interface with a PC so easily.
Gameports use 100k pots, so that's what is currently in there.

[Brian74]

This could be fairly plug and play with a PC.

Looking at the manual http://www.chicago-gaming.com/Brochures/NTR_Manual.pdf
it looks like it doesn't have force feedback and the controls interface via a standard old school PC gameport. 

Before doing anything else, I'd test it out on a PC using a USB gameport adapter or PCI sound card (w/gameport)
Both are fairly cheap.  Although the USB adapters can be hit or miss, there's really nothing about gameports that make them compatible or not.
If you tear apart an old basic pc joystick, there aren't any electronics inside.  There's nothing but the pots, buttons, & wiring.
In the manual, the pin numbers and pots are wired exactly like an old generic pc joystick.  This should work.

Honestly, it would be a shame to go to the trouble of swapping out pots and hacking a PS1 controller when the thing will interface with a PC so easily.
Gameports use 100k pots, so that's what is currently in there.

Leave it to BadMouth to come to the rescue ) creative sound blaster live cards have game ports.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

[DLinkOZ]

It was a Craigslist find.  And while it does use a gameport, it uses a lot more than just that.  It has an entire daughter card interface board.  I may dig into what interfaces do what, and make a judgement call on direction.

[DLinkOZ]

Looking again, it may just be game, serial and parallel ports.  And the serial and parallel only handle the audio (easy enough to bypass), coin door and supplying power to the system (which I've already bypassed with a PC power supply's 12v section).  So yeah, I may do that.  I'll let it sink in a bit, no sense in rushing into any single solution.

[BadMouth]

It was a Craigslist find.  And while it does use a gameport, it uses a lot more than just that.  It has an entire daughter card interface board.  I may dig into what interfaces do what, and make a judgement call on direction.

The manual shows the pots and switches wired directly to the gameport.
By daughter card, do you mean a board between the controls and gameport db15 plug or do you mean the card that was inside the PC?

I've wired up 100k pots and switches from a positional gun directly to a USB gameport adapter and it works fine.
The card inside the PC is irrelevant.  If pots are wired up directly to the gameport, it will show up as a generic joystick.
Get a USB one and try it.

[BadMouth]

I have this one, but I seem to recall not being able to get all four axis working.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-PC-USB-2-0-PS3-to-15pin-Gameport-to-Game-Joystick-Adapter-/310707078159?pt=US_USB_Cables_Hubs_Adapters&hash=item485795c40f

The "W" setting on it is for wheel and IIRC allows for 3 axis.

[DLinkOZ]

Looks like what I found as a "daughter card" in another manual (I have two, both the one you mentioned and a setup manual) is actually the "coin amp board."  I have power feeding into that, which in turn powers everything else.  So I can still make use of the amp section, just a standard phono jack from a PC.  Fanciest bit required is if I want to bring in the coin signal via the serial port, though I'm not sure that would even be worth the effort (or necessary at all).  So, yeah.  I suppose I'll shove a PC in it and start playing around.

[DLinkOZ]

Ok, I'm convinced.  Double-checking the standard pinout for a game port, Chicago Gaming did nothing goofy or proprietary.  Everything is standard and default, as far as grounds/buttons/+5v/etc.  I just don't need the serial and parallel (mostly watchdog stuff), I can get the coin in via some other method if needed.  Making use of the amp section of the I/O board should be super-simple, as well.  I have a 6-core AMD machine sitting in a corner, I'll toss that in later today and start going over my software options.

Does anyone know if this game was ever properly emulated?  Not sure how well this would work as a driving mame cab, since "shifting" is just a forward/reverse setup (might work for the Outrun games, and others that simply used a shift up/down config versus actual gears).

[BadMouth]

Not sure how well this would work as a driving mame cab, since "shifting" is just a forward/reverse setup (might work for the Outrun games, and others that simply used a shift up/down config versus actual gears).

Actually, I'm starting to think that having the Up/Dn return to center shifter gives the most flexibility since it works much better with PC games and the few arcade games that had paddle shifters.

Check out RacerMAME: http://www.racermame.altervista.org/
He also has a utility called H2Seq on the downloads page that will make the joystick cycle through the 4 speeds for Daytona and Sega Rally on M2emulator.

[DLinkOZ]

It doesn't return to center, though.  It's always in the up position, and trips a switch when pulled down.  So that's tricky, but not insurmountable.  I'll check that page, thanks.

[DLinkOZ]

I got the PC in, everything's good except one part - the only old (i.e. has a game port) doesn't have modern drivers, so while I can get audio I can't get anything to show up under game controllers.  I suppose I'll need to pick up a usb adapter.

[DLinkOZ]

Seems like progress is being made, the game plays and you can "sort of" control it.  I ended up installing XP on the computer, since the sound card has XP driver support.  That got me access to the game port, however it's not very precise.  But it's enough.  The big issue now is that the PC version was NOT meant to be used with an analog wheel.  Steering is very touchy, as you get nothing until a certain point, then full turn (like it's reading the input, and at a certain point makes a digital "left arrow" mapping).  You simply cannot navigate menus without a keyboard.  Reverse doesn't work, it inconsistently reads the buttons, etc etc.  So I may check the racermame, but I need to see if there's a rom for this game.

[Brian74]

    Nicktoons Racing > Gameboy
    Nicktoons Racing > Gameboy Advance
    NickToons Racing > Playstation (PSX)
    Nicktoons Racing > PC

[Tacomike123]

I know it has been 6 years but did you ever figure this out? I recently found myself in the same position. Got the nicktoons cab and no computer.