Arcade 1UP - Countercade Multigame-mod
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So, I got the Dig Dug countercade, but wasn't
happy with the controls for Dig Dug 2. Also,
Dig Dug was the Japanese settings, which is
5 men only, which makes it much harder to
get to 1 million and killscreens.
Anyways, I bought the LVDS adapter, but haven't
been able to get it to work quite right, so
I've given up on that for now. My plan was
to add a pc, or small computer to it, for
using MAME for multigames. Or to input
from a game console.
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Issue - Small screen size, actually it isn't
too bad, when sitting in front of it, but it
is very small when playing horizontal based games.
Solution - New Screen
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Issue - Bad emulation, and controls
Solution - Better PC, and alternate controls with joystick,
trackball and spinner
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Issue - Mono sound (loud though)
Solution - Stereo Sound
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Issue - Poor screen angles and colors
Solution - New Screen
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I ended up using a Fujitsu 13 inch tablet PC which
I had not being used currently.
Its a Core 2 Duo, 1 Gig ram, 80Gig hard drive.
So tons of horsepower, and space for many
emulators, and ROMS.
This solved all problems at once, and also added
pen input to the screen, so no keyboard is needed.
The tablet PC has 2 usb inputs, firewire, audio in,
audio out, VGA out, microphones.
- 1 usb used for controller(s)
- 1 usb used for keyboard or HUB
Resolution : 1024x768 32 bit color
Size : 12.1 inches
Networking : Built In
Battery : Up to 4 hours with expanded battery
YES, it can be 'portable', and does not need to be plugged into wall socket.
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Bezel - Too large on original
Solution - Replaced with Black Plastic Board cut to allow screen to show.
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Total Price - Tablet ($50-150 spent several years ago - many can be found on EBAY)
- Bezel ($5 spent at Art supply store)
Keyboard (already had spare)
Joystick, Mouse, Trackball, Spinner (already owned).
So technically it cost me $5, since I owned all the other parts.
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Game notes:
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- Software
MAME 0.106 for testing.
I can upgrade to much later versions for other
games, but I was trying to show Arcade 1UP ones,
and mostly vertical ones.
OFFICIAL CURRENT Arcade 1up Games
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Dig Dug - Slight glitch in sound, but can play Atari Roms, besides Namco, and alter player settings.
Dig Dug 2 - Perfect emulation of both versions, and superior controls, since 2 buttons are on the
right side mapped correctly
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Centipede - Works great, haven't put in correct settings for trackball
Missile Command - Did not Test
---------------
Space Invaders - Works excellent, need to tweak settings for correct sound
Space Invaders Color - Works excellent, need to tweak settings for correct sound
----------------
Pac-Man - Did not test, expect it to work perfectly
Pac n Pal - Tested, works perfectly
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Galaga - Tested, works perfectly
Galaxian - Did not test
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PROPOSED BUT NOT RELEASED
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Defender - Works, but have to map controls correctly
Joust - Works perfectly
Ghosts N Goblins - Works perfectly
GAMES I LIKE, BUT NOT OFFICIAL
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Galaga '88 - Excellent game in the series
Joust 2 - Excellent Vertical oriented game, very tough
Pac-Man plus - Tested, works perfectly
Super Pac-Man - Tested, works perfectly
Pacmania - Tested, works perfectly (will have a separate gameplay video too)
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Final notes: You can see the tablet green LED's, but when playing
they are blocked by the Bezel. Also in the video, the left side
appears to bent slightly, but from the front view, its fine.
I need to tweak the software somemore, and add some more ROMS.
I don't care about frontends, and MAME GUI works fine for me.
Any questions about the games, let me know.
later
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