Rare Nintendo Sky Skipper found

[DeLuSioNal29]

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/11/video_this_guy_has_found_what_could_be_the_rarest_nintendo_game_ever



Very cool!

DeL

[Aceldamor]

Very cool!

[itruk]

Check out  http://www.ukvac.com/forum/nintendo-sky-skipper-sukai-sukippa-1982_topic348412.html

for a more up to date build thread its a great read!

[keilmillerjr]

I can't wait to see his idea of what the cab would have looked like! Maybe he should contact some one from  Nintendo and they might respond.

[BadMouth]

I can't wait to see his idea of what the cab would have looked like! Maybe he should contact some one from  Nintendo and they might respond.

It's right there on the flyer on the first post of the build thread itruk linked to.
Standard Nintendo cab of the time.  Side art is on the smaller flyer.
Pretty cool to have something to go by.

[keilmillerjr]

I can't wait to see his idea of what the cab would have looked like! Maybe he should contact some one from  Nintendo and they might respond.

It's right there on the flyer on the first post of the build thread itruk linked to.
Standard Nintendo cab of the time.  Side art is on the smaller flyer.
Pretty cool to have something to go by.

That photo doesn't do justice.

[ChanceKJ]

.

[johnrt]

This guy's collection makes me want to attempt a repro of a Sheriff upright.

DO IT!!!

[ChanceKJ]

.

[pbj]

Okay, can someone explain what exactly he "found?"  My recollection is that the roms were dumped a long time ago, and the article says all he did was convert a Popeye PCB.

[JDFan]

Okay, can someone explain what exactly he "found?"  My recollection is that the roms were dumped a lot time ago, and the article says all he did was convert a Popeye PCB.

They are claiming that they found a Popeye PCB that started life as a Sky Skipper but was repurposed as Popeye from left over stock since Sky Skipper never sold and rather than destroy the existing stock of Sky Skipper PCB's Nintendo repurposed them to be sold as Popeye's which were selling. ( How they can tell the difference between a repurposed and Original Popeye board is pretty vague as they do not mention how it was restored to Sky Skipper - ie. whether it was a simple Rom swap or if there were other minor modifications removed that had been added to make the PCB into a Popeye PCB. And they also do not mention if any Popeye PCB could easily be modified to convert it to a Sky Skipper  - Perhaps we will find out after he finds a buyer for the board he is wanting to sell (as I'm sure he will be asking much more for it than a regular Popeye PCB so would not want to disclose if it was a simple rom swap before selling the one.

[big10p]

From the video it seems Popeye boards dated 1981 are re-purposed Sky Skipper boards, as Popeye didn't come out until 1982.

He will also be selling the board complete with full repro artwork, being worked on by MuddyMusic on UKVAC.

I'll post a link to this thread over on UKVAC then Chucky egg (the owner) himself can answer any questions.

[pbj]

Meh

[PL1]

that 3-in1 control knob might be a hell of a challenge. I'm personally not good enough in CAD, or Illustrator yet.

You mean Sheriff's 8-position rotary switch with press to fire?

If you get that switch (or a suitable substitute), you can use diodes to make the diagonals work with MAME.


Scott
EDIT: Just looked at pg 5 of the Sheriff schematics here -- the original switch doesn't need diodes, but a substitute switch probably will.

[ChanceKJ]

.

[PL1]

I could fabricate a replacement of the original.

That sounds like a really cool idea if you can pull it off.   

Bonus points if someone can make a 3-D printable version.

Check out the parts breakdown on page 20 of the Wild Western manual here.

Do you think the ROM dump was modified to allow MAME to work with other controls?

No, based on the cam (item 12) shown on page 20.

The wider part presses only one of the four microswitches when the center of the wide part is pointed at a microswitch nub.

If you turn the cam 45 degrees, the wide part now presses two microswitches -- just like hitting a diagonal on an 8-way stick.

Theoretically if the ROM dump is unchanged, wouldn't a repro rotary switch just work if the signals were mapped correctly to an encoder?

If you use a 4 microswitch rotary setup, yes.

If you use a standard 8-position rotary switch, no, since each click turns to a separate contact.
  - Position 1 is   0 degrees
  - Position 2 is 45 degrees (the diodes are needed to make this position register as a diagonal)
  - Position 3 is 90 degrees



This shows the guts of a rotary switch with limited turn range. (image borrowed from here)

The original is just a series of 5 micro switches, right? (I can't find a good picture of the underside of the knob)

Yes.

http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?title=Joystick_Database

If one was to repro a Sheriff, the best bet would be to use an rPie with a boot to the ROM. And if the GPIO has enough empty sits on the Pi, just wire the controls directly to it. No?

Use whatever brain/encoder you want as long as it can handle 12 or 21 inputs.
  - 1 input for Coin 1 (No Coin 2 input in MAME)
  - 2 inputs for Start 1/Start 2
  - 4 or 8 inputs, 4 for each 8-way joystick
  - 5 or 10 inputs, 5 for each rotary/push controller


Scott
EDIT: AFAIK, there are 6 games that use this rotary control.
- Bandido
- Front Line               **(needs a grenade/tank button)
- Sheriff
- The Tin Star            **(needs a jump button)
- Western Gun Part II
- Wild Western          **(needs a jump button)

EDIT 2: Looking at the upright cab CPs, it appears that they all had one joystick and one rotary control. 

Schematics and MAME show two sets of controls -- pretty sure that was for cocktail cabs.

[PL1]

Here's a preliminary design for a 3-D printed version.

"Fixed washer" = fastened to shaft.

Smooth the ends of the 140 degree arc into a ramp so the microswitch nubs don't catch on them.

The reasoning behind 140 degrees is that the diagonal should start to register about 1/2 way between 0 and 45 degrees. (~20 degrees)

If the center of the wide spot is at 0 degrees, the right edge is at 90 (next microswitch) - 20 (how far it turns before that switch registers) = 70 degrees.

Mirror that for the left edge ==> 70 * 2 = 140 degrees.


Scott