Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP

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Well Fed Games:

--- Quote from: eds1275 on August 05, 2014, 11:50:33 am ---Here are some audio files, sans DX-7, for your listening pleasure.

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Nicely done! Thanks for posting some samples!

Xiaou2:

--- Quote from: Le Chuck on August 05, 2014, 07:43:41 am ---X - some of your comments are well taken and will be considered. I think that the music eds1275 is composing/has composed will be more than sufficient as, again my opinion, it is quite remarkable and vibrant, but I appreciate feedback on other methods of implementation. The playfield does present challenges in that it is swiss cheese. I think my art could be improved on but I disagree on the incongruity. The asteroids in your example are very nice asteroids. Fluoroscent printing might well lend itself to this theme but is beyond my resources and inclination.

I think your bringing up the fact that you had a great marketable idea for ICB conversion a long time ago that was "seriously sick" but not sharing it in a thread that is all about giving ideas to the community presents a poor impression. Kind of a, "nice project, I was going to do something much cooler but nice try" vibe. Again later with the "I have some ideas that would fix the problem" but no hint to what those ideas are. Well thanks man, good to know. Good for you then I guess. ;)

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I have little in the way of marketable skills (bad memory, a bit of a slow learned, and limited cranial capabilities with regards to stuff like math.. ) , as well as am now having trouble with physical capabilities (extreme food allergies = pains and extreme fatigue) .. so Im banking one one day.. .Possibly, to have some of these ideas bring in some kind of income.

If you have the desire to possible expand your projects output potentials... Id love to see what we could do... Maybe make a full on coin op run.. or at very least, a high end kit / or high-end assembled units.. High end, just meaning.. higher costs for the super-powered kits.

One thing Id realized, but have not tested / tried yet:

I believe the small ball size can be an issue with regards to challenge as well as issues in playability. It only takes a small amount of dust to cause enough friction, to slow and or stop a ball. With ICB - It was far worse.. because the entire machine had to be taken apart, full back-end ball trails and all.

Id like to try a Pinball.. and see how much more momentum may effect difficulty for the long term playability and enjoyment.

PL1:

--- Quote from: ids on August 05, 2014, 10:20:13 pm ---is it not the case that, in the water wheel scenario, should something go wrong, all LED's tied to the same resistor can go *poof*? And is this not why it is often recommended to have one resistor per LED?

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The big advantages to wiring the LEDs in series like the left half of the water wheel diagram/schematic are the increased efficiency and greater fault tolerance.

To wire the 12 IR LEDs for this project, you can either do 4 of the groups of three LEDs on the left or 12 of the individual LEDs on the right.

Both configurations require current limiting resistors that dissipate the voltage drop as heat
-- Left needs 4 (1 per group of 3 LEDs) that drop 0.5v (4 * 0.5 = 2)
-- Right needs 12 (1 per LED) that drop 3.5v (12 * 3.5 = 42)
-- The right option has to dissipate 21 times the heat that the left option does.

Next consider how much current each configuration uses
-- These LEDs draw 100mA IIRC
-- Left uses 100mA flowing through each of the 4 groups of three LEDs (400mA total)
-- Right uses 100 mA flowing through each of the 12 LEDs (1200mA total)
-- The right draws three times the current that the left option does

That brings us to the question of circuit protection if the current limiting resistor goes bad -- let's assume that it shorts out. (worst case scenario)
-- The LEDs are rated for 1.5v IIRC
-- Left now has 5v applied to 3 LEDs in series. This results in a 1.67v drop across each LED = 0.17v over rated voltage.
-- Right now has 5v applied to 1 LED = 3.5v over rated voltage
-- The right LED will be VERY bright for 1 or 2 seconds before it definitely burns out, the left LEDs might survive :dunno

This leads us to the question of what happens if an LED goes bad.
- A burned out LED stops current flow (most likely scenario)
-- Left would have 3 LEDs go dark (1 burns out like a fuse, protecting the other 2)
-- Right would have 1 LED go dark = slightly easier troubleshooting (finally a win for the right side configuration :lol)
- A shorted LED (HIGHLY unlikely, almost certainly caused on the wiring end, not the light end)
-- Left will burn out the other two LEDs in the group and slightly dim the other groups (less current flowing through them)
-- Right will slightly dim the other LEDs (less current flowing through them)

The answer to your "one resistor per LED" question depends on the configuration.

If *only* one resistor is used to protect a bunch of LEDs wired in parallel, it will have to be large enough to handle all the current flow and heat dissipation for the whole setup.

When a carbon resistor has too much current flowing through it, the resistor starts to cook itself and break down.

As it breaks down, the resistance decreases, causing more current to flow through it, causing it to break down further . . . . until it becomes a short circuit.

Less resistance = less voltage drop across the resistor.

All the LEDs will be over-voltaged and burned out, probably before the resistor breaks down completely.

For protection puprposes, the three 1.5v LEDs on the left half of the water wheel diagram are effectively a single, much more robust, 4.5v LED. ;D

Scott

Le Chuck:
Some more art examples for feedback. Put together a rough draft sideart, nothing too fancy - just to get a feel for it, and changed some colors around on the playfield along with subduing the background quite a bit. The quality goes to hell when I get these internet sized. The full size PNGs are like 100mb each and the PSDs are pushing a gig but the detail on the color is so nice at that full resolution. It looks all grided out and muddy at this size.

So Space Gal is a blend of the first two options with more pastel coloring and the asteroids got a color treatment just to see how it would look. I'm digging the updated Space Gal but not sold on coloroids. Original posted for comparison so you don't have to flip back and forth.

And sideart, might try to incorporate one of those classic rolling pinball type images to give it a bit of movement. Rather than mock up a spaceship I think it would be nice just to show the ball as that is what serves as your "ship" and besides, who is to say that the ideal spacecraft isn't a metallic sphere with a hidden ion drive or some nonsense. Kind of like a pinball with a comet trail curving outside the graphic from upper left to lower right.

Thoughts?

Slippyblade:
I love it except for one part. I'm not a fan of the helmet. I don't know why, just not liking the glass part of it. I like the electronics on it, even the part on top, but the globe, not so much. Maybe a glass visor coming out of the top part or something? Oh well.

The rest of it is great. I love the stippling affect on the asteroids, very comic book looking.

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