So any anti cabin fever projects?

[Howard_Casto]

Eh so a lot of people are stuck at home for a while due to our ongoing viral outbreak.  It doesn't affect me too much as I'm generally stuck at home anyway, but I might order some project related stuff just in case it gets so bad we have a shelter in place mandate in the future.  I've got the bottom half of a rotary joystick on the way to finally finish that 3d printer project and I might go ahead and pick up a gdemu with my amazon credit to fix my dreamcast. 

What about you guys?  Anything going down the pipe?

[PL1]

I've got the bottom half of a rotary joystick on the way to finally finish that 3d printer project

Look forward to seeing how your rotary project turns out.   


Scott

[leapinlew]

If you are depending on Amazon, you’ll want to check on your order times. Almost everything is taking 5ish days to have delivered for me.

I won’t be building anything, but I will be playing!

[pbj]

Recreationally read the Centipede thread to get my blood pressure up.

[jmike]

Maybe, hopefully open up this bad boy. I don't have any experience with these types of machines so need to do plenty of research first. Got it free but was told that it had sound but wasn't showing up on the monitor.

[shponglefan]

Learning pixel art and making video games with Godot.

[Howard_Casto]

I've got the bottom half of a rotary joystick on the way to finally finish that 3d printer project

Look forward to seeing how your rotary project turns out.   


Scott

Yeah I've been patiently waiting for the weather to break so I can get outside and build things again.  It's been warm all winter but it's also been raining all winter.    Anyway.  I figured it might be nice to have an official one to make sure the mechanism feels right.  I know there's that earlier project that recreated I believe the happ bottom and by all accounts this is extremely similar.  I'd like to just have a kit out there for people to print out with as little hassle as possible for happ, data east and sanwa style kits.   I've got most of those sticks so it's just a matter of fiddling with stuff till it's right. 

I saw a Robocop converted to Heavy Barrel online and it's really tempting me to either buy or build one of those generic data east cabs with the curved marquee and make a rotary multicade.  I didn't even know the artwork was compatible.  I'll probably just slap together a bar-top for now.

[Howard_Casto]

Learning pixel art and making video games with Godot.

I saw that frogger project.  I'm interested to see what you come up with.

[leapinlew]

Maybe, hopefully open up this bad boy. I don't have any experience with these types of machines so need to do plenty of research first. Got it free but was told that it had sound but wasn't showing up on the monitor.

I had one of those. Midway touchmaster. Converted to a jukebox. It would make a nice cabaret style cabinet if you wanted to go that route. The touchscreen is serial and the drivers are available online. You can fit the touchscreen to a 19” arcade crt.

Have fun.

[Drnick]

Wife has told me it's time to decorate the bedroom, I really wish that was some kind of euphemism, but I don't think it is 

[PL1]

I know there's that earlier project that recreated I believe the happ bottom and by all accounts this is extremely similar.  I'd like to just have a kit out there for people to print out with as little hassle as possible for happ, data east and sanwa style kits.

You thinking about this one that BadMouth made?




Scott

[Howard_Casto]

No there was another one... I'll look it up tonight and post a link

[nipsmg]

I've been quietly creating a server for Global VR PGA Tour Team Challenge for the past year, as the guy who was running the previous community server was holding the community hostage, and eventually went offline. 
I've just stood it up and connected 40-50 cabinets and set up the first test tournament.

I'm working on the website so people can set up challenge matches (tournaments on-cabinet where you choose your opponents from any registered players), and I've hacked in 11 new courses -- just creating the installer for that, so new tournaments can use the new courses.

So I'm gonna be busy.

[jennifer]

Jennifer is experimenting with spot curing resins with lazers, Not going very well however, Perhaps a bit more UV, less crazy...And working on some 6800 assembly.

[nexusmtz]

Wife has told me it's time to decorate the bedroom, I really wish that was some kind of euphemism, but I don't think it is 

As long as she doesn't tell you it's time to decorate the nursery, you're fine.

[bobbyb13]

Jennifer is experimenting with spot curing resins with lazers, Not going very well however, Perhaps a bit more UV, less crazy...And working on some 6800 assembly.

Resin experiments sound fun.  Trying a few of my own on another control panel for the behemoth today actually.

I was thinking more of a jump to warp speed kind of look, but I couldn't thin stuff out enough to get the air compressor to spread it the way I wanted and wound up with something more like a minimalist Jackson Pollock.

Still not sure how I feel about it, but I think the kids will like it anyway.

[jdbailey1206]

You thinking about this one that BadMouth made?
Scott

[Drnick]

Wife has told me it's time to decorate the bedroom, I really wish that was some kind of euphemism, but I don't think it is 

As long as she doesn't tell you it's time to decorate the nursery, you're fine.

I would knock that out in a heartbeat, I really would   

[jennifer]

Jennifer is experimenting with spot curing resins with lazers, Not going very well however, Perhaps a bit more UV, less crazy...And working on some 6800 assembly.

Resin experiments sound fun.  Trying a few of my own on another control panel for the behemoth today actually.

I was thinking more of a jump to warp speed kind of look, but I couldn't thin stuff out enough to get the air compressor to spread it the way I wanted and wound up with something more like a minimalist Jackson Pollock.

Still not sure how I feel about it, but I think the kids will like it anyway.

That's actually not very difficult (lot of tube vids on the subject)...Basically it is a mold filled with self leveling tabletop resin and pass a blowtorch over it fast and quick to pop air bubbles...It works well, although if you inlay fiber optics into it really jazzed it up, but it levels funny since it is a round object in a square track, cold weater helps with this as it slows down cure times.

[Mike A]

I have a medium res monitor that is a backup for my Championship Sprint cab. It works, but it is dirty as hell and needs new caps, and a few pots replaced.
I am going to get it all fixed up and throw it in my Championship Sprint cab.
The monitor that is in the cab now is really clean, but the picture is dim. I am going to fix that and put it on my monitor shelf in the basement.

[bobbyb13]

I have a medium res monitor that is a backup for my Championship Sprint cab. It works, but it is dirty as hell and needs new caps, and a few pots replaced.
I am going to get it all fixed up and throw it in my Championship Sprint cab.
The monitor that is in the cab now is really clean, but the picture is dim. I am going to fix that and put it on my monitor shelf in the basement.

Wish I knew this much about monitors as my Rush 2049 plays blind after a recent relocation upstairs.

Maybe I'll have time to learn at the rate things are going.

Jennifer is experimenting with spot curing resins with lazers, Not going very well however, Perhaps a bit more UV, less crazy...And working on some 6800 assembly.

Resin experiments sound fun.  Trying a few of my own on another control panel for the behemoth today actually.

I was thinking more of a jump to warp speed kind of look, but I couldn't thin stuff out enough to get the air compressor to spread it the way I wanted and wound up with something more like a minimalist Jackson Pollock.

Still not sure how I feel about it, but I think the kids will like it anyway.

That's actually not very difficult (lot of tube vids on the subject)...Basically it is a mold filled with self leveling tabletop resin and pass a blowtorch over it fast and quick to pop air bubbles...It works well, although if you inlay fiber optics into it really jazzed it up, but it levels funny since it is a round object in a square track, cold weater helps with this as it slows down cure times.

Not sure why I never thought of looking for tube videos for inspiration-
Fiber optic inlays sound extra interesting!

[jennifer]

Your most likely not going to find anything on epoxy coated fiber optics...But the trick is use quality fiber cable, the cheap stuff is wrapped or something and has air bubbles looking voids in it (If you are looking at side glow options), keep the runs as short as possible  and use a low watt light source to keep the light even, and keep the heat to a minimum as to not burn the epoxy with time...Hey Mike, That tube sounds like a good candidate for a rejuvenation.

[Mike A]

You are right. That is a definite possibility. I need to find someone that has one, or I need to buy one.
I have like 30 CRTs. It would probably be a good idea to get one and learn how to use it.

[jennifer]

I am guessing that is the 23 plug, kinda hard to find (some on e/pay right now strangely enough) which fits the more popular of machines Bk460 - Bk470, but when you buy them usually that adapter is not included...Personally Jennifer uses a Beltron 8080a, a beast of a machine but really hard to find, and has virtually no support in parts, or plugs, and had to learn it the hard way after modding it with a Bk cable...The difference if anyone cares, is Bk uses volts to clean,and has a relativey low learning curve, Where Beltron uses amps, And is ugly to learn, Needless to say carfull man in the wrong hands, easy to fry a tube.

[Howard_Casto]

No there was another one... I'll look it up tonight and post a link

Heh... I looked it up and it was one of your threads. 

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=158253.0

 

My joystick came in the other day.... it's really odd and I thought is was a hodge-podge of spare parts as it has a data east esque red ball top for a handle, but I did an image search and found another one on quarter arcade. 

https://quarterarcade.com/red-ball-rotary-joystick-2

The cherry switches and overall design make me think it's a western stick, possibly wico??  It's odd because it reminds me of an older ikari warriors leaf switch stick on the bottom only updated to use microswitches.  It even has plastic blades installed to mimic the feel and throw of leaf switches.  That ball top is definitely odd.  The only place I've seen those smaller red ball tops used is Australia.  There's a company down there that manufactures some absolutely terrible data east 8-way knock-offs in red and blue.  This is of a higher quality though so I'm pretty dumb-founded.  Anyway, I'm going to hunt up a shaft and print out your ikari knobs to fix this one up and possibly make a stand alone controller box for it.  I'll then use it as a guide to get the tension right for those data east sticks I want to build.  It needs some maintenance but the turning feels about right from what I remember.  Honestly I haven't touched a rotary game in probably 25 years. 

[PL1]

I'm going to hunt up a shaft and print out your ikari knobs to fix this one up and possibly make a stand alone controller box for it.  I'll then use it as a guide to get the tension right for those data east sticks I want to build.

Would you like a Data East handle for that shaft+handle replacement mod instead of the default octagonal LS-30 handle?
- It would be a fairly easy code remix.  Mostly copy/paste and change some variable values.

Using DE handles on all of your rotary sticks will provide an apples-to-apples comparison for the rotational tension.


Scott

[Howard_Casto]

I'm honestly not sure yet.  I don't even know if I'm going to use the collet style attachment you used in that particular project or not.  I was thinking of maybe checking out some bolts at the hardware store to see if they'd work as shafts in which case screw on style would work best.  (Just cut the head off the bolt.)

[pbj]

In all seriousness, I've got a backlog that would make 12 year old me weep.  I'm hoping to get through at least that Jedi Fallen Order game and Spider-Man.  Even if the "work from home" arrangement ends up killing most of my business hours, that's still 2 hours a day I'm not on the road.  Maybe I'll actually dust off one of those pinball machines and play it. 

The last time I did work from home, and absolutely hated the experience btw, I went through all the action RGPs that existed at the time.  They're easy to pause when the phone rings or the emails roll in, and all you do is bash buttons anyway.  Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance was head and shoulders above the rest.  Bard's Tale was okay but I revisited it recently and it's a rough game to play now.  Maybe I'll finally get my way through Torchlight II.....

[Howard_Casto]

I've been grinding through street fighter v arcade edition to unlock some of the championship edition stuff.  Man Capcom is doing some shady ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- with that game.  Championship edition is $30 but to upgrade from arcade edition is $25.  Arcade edition still retails for about $20.    I'm going to get my 6 easy character upgrades and be done with it. 

[Ond]

I've assembled a bunch of 'off grid' stuff in my garage in case I need to live out there.  All I had previously was a fridge, but now I have a cooking bench with plumbed sink, solar battery/power a hot shower and a camp bed.  I can lie down and be surrounded by old CRTs and other junk, which I find strangely comforting.....

[javeryh]

I am "working" from home and this was one of the busiest weeks I've ever had dealing with the impact to our business of this virus.  I thought I'd be playing video games and working on projects... maybe next week?

[pbj]

I'm like one of 2 people in my department that has open access to the facilities next week. I'm sure I'll be muling things in and out all week. I watched hundreds of imacs walk out the doors today.

[Howard_Casto]

I know that I'm cross polluting the thread at this point but I just wanted to mention that the rotary stick I bought is weird.  I though for sure when I took the collet off today that I'd see a hacked up shaft but as far as I can tell it's factory.  There's no groove for an e-clip and the hole for the set screw is professionally drilled.  Now I want to know what this thing came off of. 

[nitrogen_widget]

I'm working from home now until further notice so might finally start assembling my CNC machine on the dining room table.
doesn't look like i'll be having friends over for parties or D&D sessions for a while.

[yotsuya]

I'm working from home now until further notice so might finally start assembling my CNC machine on the dining room table.
doesn't look like i'll be having friends over for parties or D&D sessions for a while.

I should do the same thing. I’ve got everything I need to make mine, pretty much.

[pbj]

Working through David Brubeck and making bread today.  Decided I could leave the angry robot music alone for a day or two.

 

[nitrogen_widget]

Working through David Brubeck and making bread today.  Decided I could leave the angry robot music alone for a day or two.

 

I made bread thursday.
found out I can make beer then use the left over grain to make bread.

so tomorrow i'm making beer then bread.

also just cleaned out my pantry and planing to try the 5 yrs past best by date canned crushed tomatoes to make pasta sauce since i couldn't find any at the store.

[Mike A]

I am waiting for parts from Mouser.com for my current monitor project. They are supposed to arrive tomorrow.

I can put this monitor back together, pull the one in the cab, replace it with this one, and then work on that one.

[bobbyb13]

Working through David Brubeck and making bread today.  Decided I could leave the angry robot music alone for a day or two.

 

I made bread thursday.
found out I can make beer then use the left over grain to make bread.

so tomorrow i'm making beer then bread.

also just cleaned out my pantry and planing to try the 5 yrs past best by date canned crushed tomatoes to make pasta sauce since i couldn't find any at the store.

Still waiting to hear that you survived the marinara since it's been a few days now.

It appears that I am considered an "essential worker" according to somebody somewhere in DC who is obviously considerably more important than me  so my fun time has actually just been put on lockdown.

A blessing really of course (of sorts)

[Cakemeister]

I moved recently so I am going to get my stuff up to date. I am starting with my Galaga which doesn't work. Most likely I will be replacing the wiring harness. Then I will fix my pinball machine, it was working before the move but now the outhole double-registers. That should not be difficult. Last will be the MAME cab. I am going to replace the monitor and rewire the controls to a USB controller, currently the controls are on a PS/2 controller. Then I will figure out something for ventilation as two computers have died in there from the heat.

My son recently returned from the Philippines so we have been quarantined for a week, with a week more to go. It sucks. I also hate working from home, but I like it better than not working.

[nitrogen_widget]

Working through David Brubeck and making bread today.  Decided I could leave the angry robot music alone for a day or two.

 

I made bread thursday.
found out I can make beer then use the left over grain to make bread.

so tomorrow i'm making beer then bread.

also just cleaned out my pantry and planing to try the 5 yrs past best by date canned crushed tomatoes to make pasta sauce since i couldn't find any at the store.

Still waiting to hear that you survived the marinara since it's been a few days now.

It appears that I am considered an "essential worker" according to somebody somewhere in DC who is obviously considerably more important than me  so my fun time has actually just been put on lockdown.

A blessing really of course (of sorts)

I haven't made it yet.
made chicken soup instead and spaghetti.
found a jar of sauce only a yr old.
I survived that just fine.

[Ond]

Testing the bunker gear, BBQ chicken anyone?

Peri Peri seasoning and tobasco sauce liberally applied.

[pbj]

I’m disappointed it wasn’t shrimp.  Live up to your stereotypes.

[Ond]

I’m disappointed it wasn’t shrimp.  Live up to your stereotypes.

Steak and 'shrimp' are off the scale pricewise at the moment.  I literally can't afford to live up to the stereotype.

[bobbyb13]

Looks good to me!
Even if I have no idea what a peri peri is

[Ond]

Looks good to me!
Even if I have no idea what a peri peri is

It was tasty!  You probably know what Cajun seasoning is...much the same thing.

[arfink]

I'm still working, but got me a project anyway. Currently putting together a cap kit for my Proton 602m. Decided to bite the bullet on that and get it done. It's daunting though, the thing has WAY more caps than a typical arcade monitor, on account of the PSU being significantly more complex. And the official service manual has several typos that are making me second guess my component choices.

[bobbyb13]

Looks good to me!
Even if I have no idea what a peri peri is

It was tasty!  You probably know what Cajun seasoning is...much the same thing.

Aaah.... yes.  Thank you Ond-

The Double BOE type of spice!

(Burn On Entry, Burn On Exit)

[pbj]

I dragged a fan out of the neighbor's trash last night.  Spent 3-4 hours taking it apart and cleaning it.  It worked when I put it back together!  But it was making a noise.  So I slapped it, and now it's dead.  But that's 3-4 hours I didn't spend drinking myself to death and thinking about how much life sucks now.

 

[Drnick]

I dragged a fan out of the neighbor's trash last night.  Spent 3-4 hours taking it apart and cleaning it.  It worked when I put it back together!  But it was making a noise.  So I slapped it, and now it's dead.  But that's 3-4 hours I didn't spend drinking myself to death and thinking about how much life sucks now.

 

Its the small steps that are the hardest   

[jennifer]

I dragged a fan out of the neighbor's trash last night.  Spent 3-4 hours taking it apart and cleaning it.  It worked when I put it back together!  But it was making a noise.  So I slapped it, and now it's dead.  But that's 3-4 hours I didn't spend drinking myself to death and thinking about how much life sucks now.

 

Are you kidding?...Life is Awesome!

[jennifer]

I am thinking maybe that neighbor is afraid of you, Most likely he has found you face down in his trash a time or two...Lol.

[pbj]

Oh well, as I promised my wife, I chunked it in the trash this morning and returned it to the earth.  Been a long, long damn time since I've had a good trash find.

 

[nexusmtz]

Not much of a project, but I made a USB bluetooth adapter tonight using a Wii bluetooth card, for use with the Dolphin emulator. It works, but it's only marginally better than the Dolphin Bar, in that it supports the remote's speaker. And now I need to pull out my wireless sensor bar. Oh well. At least the finished product is so professional looking!

[bobbyb13]

Gotta love project box ingenuity!
And it is more than I feel like I have accomplished in a week myself so don't sell yourself short-

Bobby

[opt2not]

Getting my Twitch stream set-up all put together.
The plan is to do one stream a week of gameplay, either Arcade or Console, old or new.  Then expand to a second night where I'll be streaming more art or animation creation.
My first stream is of course going to be Robotron. Gonna attempt a live 10 million points run on the "Tie Dye" romset.


One of these days I need to prioritize restoring this cab.

I've got most of my gear already hooked up, i just got to do some streaming tests this weekend, but I'm shooting for Wednesday or Thursday night (PST).  If anyone is interested in some hot Robotron action, my twitch.tv channel is here: https://twitch.tv/gillaxian

 

[pbj]

Just hit the front edge of that cabinet with a 99 cent rattle can of satin black and you’re good to go.

[opt2not]

Yeah I don't wanna do a whole strip and restore. Just fix the kick panel wood, side edges have some chipping and it needs some paint touchup here and there.  Oh and new t-molding. Also the silkscreened CP plexi has a bunch of deformations and burn marks from cigarettes. I already have a replacement that I'll install on it. For the most part, I intend to only touch this cab up.

[Mike A]

Cigarette burn marks are a feature, not a problem.

[pbj]

It would look fine once that black is touched up,  the rest is patina.

[opt2not]

The wood chipping at the top corner definitely needs a fixing, and I can’t stand the cigarette stain/burn/warping. I can’t chalk those up to being patina. They are blemishes to me.
But new t-molding would go a long way.

The side art could be left alone, but I’d want to do some touchups.

[leapinlew]

That is a beautiful restore project. Is the sideart stenciled or is it a giant sticker? I'd struggle not going the easy route and applying sideart directly and restoring faithfully. Robotron is damn near a perfect game. 

Robotron isn't my jam, but I so would love it to be. I'm an expert Mario Bros. player, and have a pretty strong Galaga and Ms. Pacman game, but I really want to be good at the Williams games. I play defender regularly and can't find a good rhythm. I claw and scratch to break 100k. I'll score 100k one game, and have several 10-20k point games.

[Mike A]

There is no good rhythm for Defender. It was created in the bowels of hell by some ---uvula--- even the devil thinks is a bad guy.

I hate that I like the game. I own the upright and I suck at it.

[opt2not]

That is a beautiful restore project. Is the sideart stenciled or is it a giant sticker? I'd struggle not going the easy route and applying sideart directly and restoring faithfully. Robotron is damn near a perfect game. 

It really is a perfect game.

The sideart is stenciled. Also the grey is actually a silver pewter that has a slight sheen to it, so touching it up will be tricky in finding the exact paint.
But for this machine I’d like to try to keep it original as much as possible. Pbj is right though, if I just fixed the black, that would go a long way in making this look nicer.

[yotsuya]

There is no good rhythm for Defender. It was created in the bowels of hell by some ---uvula--- even the devil thinks is a bad guy.

I hate that I like the game. I own the upright and I suck at it.

One of our friends who comes to ZapCon from Texas can get like 10 million on Defender. It’s crazy watching him play.

[Mike A]

He must be in league with Satan.

[pbj]

He must be in league with Satan.

Well, there’s apparently two Texan collectors in that bucket.

 

[jdbailey1206]

He must be in league with Satan.

Well, there’s apparently two Texan collectors in that bucket.

 

Quick question.  Can you get me Satans autograph?  I'm asking for a friend.

All joking aside guys, if you plan on going out to get anything for your projects please take precautions.  Protect yourself and your loved ones and do the following:

1.  Ask yourself if its worth going out to get what you think you may need.
2.  If you do go out wear a mask and gloves for your protection.
3.  Whatever you bring home wipe it down before you bring it in the house.

Ok I'm done being weird. 

[RandyT]

All joking aside guys, if you plan on going out to get anything for your projects please take precautions.  Protect yourself and your loved ones and do the following:

1.  Ask yourself if its worth going out to get what you think you may need.
2.  If you do go out wear a mask and gloves for your protection.
3.  Whatever you bring home wipe it down before you bring it in the house.

Ok I'm done being weird.

QFT.  I'm even weirder, I guess.  I think one of the best projects you can build right now is an outside package disinfection area.  Personally, any box I receive is visibly soaked with the recommended bleach and water solution from a spray bottle, and allowed to sit until it dries.  Only then do I open it, and wipe down the contents with the same solution, immediately get rid of the box and thoroughly wash up.  Maybe it won't help, but it makes me feel better.  I should also note not to greet the delivery person.  Let them put the box on your porch and get it after they leave. 

There are no measures too extreme right now.  Don't let cabin fever cause you to end up with a real one.

[Drnick]

I should also note not to greet the delivery person.  Let them put the box on your porch and get it after they leave. 
There are no measures too extreme right now.  Don't let cabin fever cause you to end up with a real one.

My wife is a delivery driver and this is exactly what she wants people to do. She normally relishes conversation and interaction, but in these crazy days she will knock or ring then step back about 10Ft and as soon as she sees someone open the door she will point the package out and leave   Not entirely sure that shoes and handbags are essential items at the moment though that seems to be a large chunk of her deliveries nowadays   We can all go back to thanking them and greeting them when this is all over.

[opt2not]

I'm even weirder, I guess. 

Well that depends, do you ask for people's facebook page before you meet them? 

[RandyT]

I'm even weirder, I guess. 

Well that depends, do you ask for people's facebook page before you meet them? 

What is this "Facebook" you speak of?

[pbj]

What is this "Facebook" you speak of?

It's another opportunity for you to ignore emails from customers...

 

[pbj]

Today, in bored out of my mind files, my work laptop is running an HDMI to VGA adapter. That is hooked to a VGA to composite adapter. That is plugged into my 27" tube TV.   Being played with an Xbox controller..

Every day we stray a little further from the light of God.

[nexusmtz]

...Every day we stray a little further from the light of God.

Satan plays in 4K with a keyboard.

[RandyT]

What is this "Facebook" you speak of?

It's another opportunity for you to ignore emails from customers...

 

I guess I'll take a pass then.  I barely have enough free time to ignore your BYOAC posts.   

[jdbailey1206]

I'm even weirder, I guess. 

Well that depends, do you ask for people's facebook page before you meet them? 

Now that is weird.  Who would do such a thing? 

[whammoed]

Moved into new house recently so I have a huge backlog of projects.  Been slingin' romex in the new gameroom lately for various stuff.  Still a lot to do including lighting.

[bobbyb13]

Moved into new house recently so I have a huge backlog of projects.  Been slingin' romex in the new gameroom lately for various stuff.  Still a lot to do including lighting.

Tricky to stuff wire everywhere you want once the drywall is already up!
Looks like you will have a pretty solid gaming station when you're finished.

LEDs are a gift from the heavens.
So glad to be rid of flourescents.
Perfectly acceptable for your run of the mill celestial body of course, but the light in one's house isn't supposed to be plasmolyzed.

Bobby

[whammoed]

Tricky to stuff wire everywhere you want once the drywall is already up!

For sure especially when it is an insulated wall.  I have the tough part behind me now though.  Working on lighting now and slingin' romex in the open attic is not as hard as fishing a wire down or through an insulated wall.  So far haven't had to open any access in the drywall.

[Mike A]

I have both of my medium res monitors working as good as they are going to get. One looks really good and I shoved that back into my Championship Sprint cab.

The other one I think needs a rejuvenation or possibly a tube swap if this tube is just too far gone. That can wait.

I fixed up an amp issue with my Kicker PCB. That will be going in my Street Fighter cab.

I resurrected a dead Phoenix board (see what I did there?) I found sitting in the bottom of my Pleiades cab when I bought it. It just needed a good cleaning and some reflow. That is going in my Pleiades cab.

Connectors for my Time Pilot harness are coming in today. I need to wire in a spot for Gyruss's second speaker.

This week I have a project for someone else I need to finish up.

---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. Not bad considering I am still working full time.

[Mike A]

Okay. Gyruss is now in stereo. I just have to figure out where to put the extra speaker. I don't want to hack up this original cab. Maybe I will make a topper. Put both speakers up top. Hmmmmm.

[opt2not]

That’s not a bad idea.

[Mike A]

Maybe make it look like an old boom box on top

[opt2not]

Only if it involves a cardboard cut-out of John Cusack holding it up

[whammoed]

Finished my game room lighting.  Moved pool table light to be centered over table, added 4 can lights to TV/arcade area, and added light for my imaginary dart board  .

[opt2not]

Wow, whammoed sightings are plenty these days!

Are you still selling those Lightmite’s? I never did get around to grabbing a couple for my Robotron Cabaret.

[whammoed]

Wow, whammoed sightings are plenty these days!

Are you still selling those Lightmite’s? I never did get around to grabbing a couple for my Robotron Cabaret.

Plan to get the site back up once the dust settles here from the move.

[opt2not]

Wow, whammoed sightings are plenty these days!

Are you still selling those Lightmite’s? I never did get around to grabbing a couple for my Robotron Cabaret.

Plan to get the site back up once the dust settles here from the move.

If you got a couple on hand now, I could use them. Did a 10 million score attempt on a live stream recently, had a camera pointing to my control panel showing what my hands were doing. My start buttons lights didn’t show up at all. 

[shponglefan]

So two days ago I decided to start learning Blender.

This is my first attempt at modeling an arcade cabinet. With some practice, I may try to make a whole mini-arcade.

[shponglefan]

Finished my game room lighting.  Moved pool table light to be centered over table, added 4 can lights to TV/arcade area, and added light for my imaginary dart board  .

That is a sweet space! Nice work! 

[Ond]

So two days ago I decided to start learning Blender.

This is my first attempt at modeling an arcade cabinet. With some practice, I may try to make a whole mini-arcade.

Nice work for just two days learning.  Try a render with a little bit of perspective added?

[pbj]

My wife is a microbiologist so this is all being taken very, very seriously.

Home office looks awesome now, it was a shitpile before.  I have a rug and everything now.

Garage is still a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- pile but it’s usable for the first time in 2 years.

I picked up the game Dropmix really cheap.  It’s been fun. 

Been playing a lot of old console games, ignoring the arcade, pinballs, ps4, xb1.  Making my way into a lot of the pc engine library.  Comparing ports of the same game across multiple consoles.  Still firm in my smug conviction that Sega tended to win there.

Walking about 5 miles a day just to keep step count up.

Watching random people play games on Twitch.  Some bands I like have done concerts.

Cashed in my ticket insurance on Ministry / KMFDM / Front Line Assembly.  Super bummed about that.


 

[shponglefan]

So two days ago I decided to start learning Blender.

This is my first attempt at modeling an arcade cabinet. With some practice, I may try to make a whole mini-arcade.

Nice work for just two days learning.  Try a render with a little bit of perspective added?

Thanks.

Just curious, but what you mean by a bit of perspective? Do you mean a change in the angle?

[shponglefan]

Been playing a lot of old console games, ignoring the arcade, pinballs, ps4, xb1.  Making my way into a lot of the pc engine library.

Any good PC Engine games you're finding? Think I tried playing the Valis games at one time, but that's about it.

It feels like a forgotten console from the 16-bit era.

[opt2not]

So two days ago I decided to start learning Blender.

This is my first attempt at modeling an arcade cabinet. With some practice, I may try to make a whole mini-arcade.

Nice work for just two days learning.  Try a render with a little bit of perspective added?

Thanks.

Just curious, but what you mean by a bit of perspective? Do you mean a change in the angle?

I think he means change the camera's FOV so it's not so orthographic (flat perspective).

[eds1275]

I finished a 2 year programming course in 3 months, just graduated, going to work on my arcade games I've dreamed up and also found an older version of Ramp and Roll (my old skeeball game I made) that will be a good starting point to continue working from (I lost my progress in a computer death) but plan to make it better than before with my newfound skills.

Also planning a bigger game project if I can get more people on board to help with art and stuff. This one might just be a dream so not looking for help until I can at least get it off the ground enough to know I'm committed.

[Ond]

So two days ago I decided to start learning Blender.

This is my first attempt at modeling an arcade cabinet. With some practice, I may try to make a whole mini-arcade.

Nice work for just two days learning.  Try a render with a little bit of perspective added?

Thanks.

Just curious, but what you mean by a bit of perspective? Do you mean a change in the angle?

I think he means change the camera's FOV so it's not so orthographic (flat perspective).

I do mean that    Camera settings are a part of learning any 3D package.  If you're aiming for a more photo real render then introducing some perspective helps.  Some of those orthographic sketch-up renders of cabinets I see make me feel all irritable     For profile renders - side, front etc orthographic may be preferable. 

I'm in a virtual Zoom class all day today.  I will be bored.  Feel free to distract me in any way....... 

[pbj]

Decided to join the parade of bored men in my neighborhood and pressure wash my sidewalks.  Have a dumpster washer that needed a new plug.  15 minutes in, the gun starts leaking.  Spend an hour or so disassembling, adding Teflon tape, reaasembling, over and over.  Quits leaking!  Put it back together... pipe inside the gun cracks.

$40 for a replacement gun or $150 for a new pressure washer.

Sigh.

[shponglefan]

Nice work for just two days learning.  Try a render with a little bit of perspective added?

Thanks.

Just curious, but what you mean by a bit of perspective? Do you mean a change in the angle?

I think he means change the camera's FOV so it's not so orthographic (flat perspective).

Ah, understood. I've yet to really muck around with the camera options in Blender, so this was done using default settings.

Though my ultimate goal is to try to make some low-poly dioramas, which seem to always have a more orthographic look to them. I suppose it evokes a more miniature appearance.

[shponglefan]

Also planning a bigger game project if I can get more people on board to help with art and stuff. This one might just be a dream so not looking for help until I can at least get it off the ground enough to know I'm committed.

What sort of game were you thinking?

[shponglefan]

I do mean that    Camera settings are a part of learning any 3D package.  If you're aiming for a more photo real render then introducing some perspective helps.  Some of those orthographic sketch-up renders of cabinets I see make me feel all irritable     For profile renders - side, front etc orthographic may be preferable. 

There seems to be a big divide between different types of render. Personally I'm more drawn to the low-poly look which seems to be more cartoony and consequently not very realisitic.

OTOH, I've seen some crazy good realistic renders out of Blender. I imagine those must take a lot longer to create.

[Ond]

I do mean that    Camera settings are a part of learning any 3D package.  If you're aiming for a more photo real render then introducing some perspective helps.  Some of those orthographic sketch-up renders of cabinets I see make me feel all irritable     For profile renders - side, front etc orthographic may be preferable. 

There seems to be a big divide between different types of render. Personally I'm more drawn to the low-poly look which seems to be more cartoony and consequently not very realisitic.

OTOH, I've seen some crazy good realistic renders out of Blender. I imagine those must take a lot longer to create.

Poly count is not so much the issue; any 3D style game has a perspective view with adjustable FOV.  It’s possible to have low poly with hi-res texture applied which is the way game engines run.  Being free, Blender is a great 3D program with tons of features.  Highly detailed photo real renders are about Hi-res textures, good lighting setup and a suitable render engine like Vray or others.  High-poly count also helps for fine details.  Occlusion and normal maps are used to 'fake’ details on lower poly models.    

opt2not will step in any sec now....   

[opt2not]

Nope, you got it right, brotha Ond. No need for me to pile on. Besides, I heard good things about Blender. It’s come a long way over the last decade. I haven’t checked out the latest version yet, but I know a lot of indie teams are using it now.

[shponglefan]

I do mean that    Camera settings are a part of learning any 3D package.  If you're aiming for a more photo real render then introducing some perspective helps.  Some of those orthographic sketch-up renders of cabinets I see make me feel all irritable     For profile renders - side, front etc orthographic may be preferable. 

There seems to be a big divide between different types of render. Personally I'm more drawn to the low-poly look which seems to be more cartoony and consequently not very realisitic.

OTOH, I've seen some crazy good realistic renders out of Blender. I imagine those must take a lot longer to create.

Poly count is not so much the issue; any 3D style game has a perspective view with adjustable FOV.  It’s possible to have low poly with hi-res texture applied which is the way game engines run.  Being free, Blender is a great 3D program with tons of features.  Highly detailed photo real renders are about Hi-res textures, good lighting setup and a suitable render engine like Vray or others.  High-poly count also helps for fine details.  Occlusion and normal maps are used to 'fake’ details on lower poly models.    

opt2not will step in any sec now....   

Oh when I say "low poly", I was thinking more of the aesthetic term, not the technical term.

Though I suppose slapping detailed textures onto renders isn't in keeping that aesthetic. Maybe I'll make some pixel-art style textures and use those instead. 

[shponglefan]

Nope, you got it right, brotha Ond. No need for me to pile on. Besides, I heard good things about Blender. It’s come a long way over the last decade. I haven’t checked out the latest version yet, but I know a lot of indie teams are using it now.

I'd been curious about it for years, but was always put off by the UI horror stories. The UI overhaul they gave it for 2.8 seems to be decent, though. So far haven't had any real barriers in learning it.

[Ond]

Nope, you got it right, brotha Ond. No need for me to pile on. Besides, I heard good things about Blender. It’s come a long way over the last decade. I haven’t checked out the latest version yet, but I know a lot of indie teams are using it now.

I'd been curious about it for years, but was always put off by the UI horror stories. The UI overhaul they gave it for 2.8 seems to be decent, though. So far haven't had any real barriers in learning it.

I always thought it looked tricky to learn, not too user friendly.  I might take another look at it then.  I'm all for free programs like that, Gimp etc. even though I use non-free equivalents.  Good on you for perservering with it.

[eds1275]

Also planning a bigger game project if I can get more people on board to help with art and stuff. This one might just be a dream so not looking for help until I can at least get it off the ground enough to know I'm committed.

What sort of game were you thinking?

a third person horror, silent hilly or along those lines. I'll be trying to get a character moving around before I look into it any further

[opt2not]

Nope, you got it right, brotha Ond. No need for me to pile on. Besides, I heard good things about Blender. It’s come a long way over the last decade. I haven’t checked out the latest version yet, but I know a lot of indie teams are using it now.

I'd been curious about it for years, but was always put off by the UI horror stories. The UI overhaul they gave it for 2.8 seems to be decent, though. So far haven't had any real barriers in learning it.

I always thought it looked tricky to learn, not too user friendly.  I might take another look at it then.  I'm all for free programs like that, Gimp etc. even though I use non-free equivalents.  Good on you for perservering with it.

Hey Ond, if you using Gimp check out Glimpse. https://glimpse-editor.org/
It’s a branch of Gimp but with better UI.

[Howard_Casto]

Just on the 3d tools advice, I'm not a huge fan of blender.  It could be that I didn't give it enough of a chance, but back in the day we did all the 3D arcade models using 3dsmax and occasionally maya.  They have great spline and extrusion tools which are useful for doing models of arcade cabinets.  This is just an amateur talking though... blender might be a good alternative after all. 

[pbj]

Hm.  Glimpse looks interesting.  I noticed that Gimp had totally redone their UI, right around the time I finally got comfortable with the old one....

[Drnick]

Hm.  Glimpse looks interesting.  I noticed that Gimp had totally redone their UI, right around the time I finally got comfortable with the old one....

HAHAHAHAHA, So True

[shponglefan]

Tried another Blender experiment today.

This time I went for a deliberately chunky, low-poly look. I initially tried scaling the actual textures to get a highly pixelated look, but that didn't work so well. Ended up trying to paint a rough approximation in Photoshop.

Not sure if this really works, but it's fun to experiment!

[shponglefan]

Just on the 3d tools advice, I'm not a huge fan of blender.  It could be that I didn't give it enough of a chance, but back in the day we did all the 3D arcade models using 3dsmax and occasionally maya.  They have great spline and extrusion tools which are useful for doing models of arcade cabinets.  This is just an amateur talking though... blender might be a good alternative after all.

I'm not overly familiar with other 3D software, but I'm finding Blender not too bad as I get used to it.

I've started to figure out a workflow for doing an arcade cabinet that involves importing and tracing the sideview of the cabinet, extruding into a 3D model, further extruding the sides, and then tweaking the geometry. All told it could probably take minutes to quickly model a cabinet once I get the steps down.

[eds1275]

In my experience, blender has one hell of a learning curve. For architectural stuff I wish that Sketchup played nicer for poly counts because it's so fast to build stuff in it and I wish I could use it for games. Would be great to make buildings in Sketchup and then texture it in blender! It's been a few years since I looked into what SU was doing so I am gonna go take a peek shortly

[shponglefan]

In my experience, blender has one hell of a learning curve. For architectural stuff I wish that Sketchup played nicer for poly counts because it's so fast to build stuff in it and I wish I could use it for games. Would be great to make buildings in Sketchup and then texture it in blender! It's been a few years since I looked into what SU was doing so I am gonna go take a peek shortly

Unfortunately SketchUp is not what it once was. After Google sold it off, the company that now owns it (Trimble) has taken things in a different direction. It's now primarily a web-based application and the free web version has less functionality than the old SketchUp Make desktop application.

This was a big reason I decided to try Blender, because I wanted a desktop 3D modeling tool to replace the old SketchUp. I am finding Blender not as difficult as I thought it would be and much faster to do things with than I expected.

I think it will serve as a reasonble SketchUp replacement, although minus the huge library of ready-made objects that SketchUp has.

[pbj]

I can't justify buying another mini console.  I've got a Famicom, SNES, 2017 Genesis, 2019 Genesis, countless Pis.  And Covid has shut off delivery of the TG16 mini anyway.

So I dusted off my old original Xbox.  Grab a copy of Big Ass Emulator Disc... it's easily found.  The emulators are creaky and from 2004.  Because all the main menu does is point to a directory and its respective default.xbe file, you can easily drop in an updated emulator and not break anything.  You'll just have to update the rom paths and tweak the skin.

And that's how I got a copy of MednafenX PCE from 2017 on an original Xbox today.

 

[Howard_Casto]

I might get the tg-16 mini later on because I doubt I'll ever get a real one as they are still stupid expensive and I think the menu on the mini looks nice.  It depends upon how easily it can be hacked and if they knock it down from a ridiculous $100  for the console and one controller.  I'm not running emulators off the xbox though.... Having a forty pound 2ftx2ft brick in my entertainment center doesn't sound like fun in 2020. 

[pbj]

All this locking in has me browsing old consoles.  Seems like the prices have spiked even more.  You can get a decent PCE multicart for $35.  But that single controller port and composite output has me unexcited.  Looks beautiful via component on my Xbox on my CRT, though.

Realizing BAED came out in 2004 really had me pondering life today, though.

 

[Howard_Casto]

Like most non-Nintendo consoles, the tg16/pce has native rgb out, you just need a cable and appropriate upscaler.  But yeah that's the problem with tg stuff.... the console comes with jack and squat, so it adds up pretty quickly.  I'm thinking it'd be around $300 to get a decent setup, so in that respect the mini is a bargain. 

[wp34]

All this locking in has me browsing old consoles.  Seems like the prices have spiked even more.  You can get a decent PCE multicart for $35.  But that single controller port and composite output has me unexcited.  Looks beautiful via component on my Xbox on my CRT, though.

Realizing BAED came out in 2004 really had me pondering life today, though.

 

I've been doing the same and would agree that prices are going up.  Seems like people with income stuck at home are spending a lot of time buying/bidding on video games.

[opt2not]

Now’s the time to sell high!

[Howard_Casto]

If nothing else, if I have trouble finding work I have stuff to sell off for a buffer.

[yotsuya]

I have a bunch of old consoles I should just sell as a lot. They don’t necessarily have all the cables and stuff but I bet you hoarders have those lying around.

[shponglefan]

So here's my result of spending a week learning Blender. After modeling a couple of arcade cabinets, though it would be fun to make a mini-diorama game room:

[pbj]

Ditch the jukebox, acquire pinball. Get a Bluetooth speaker for your sound system. It's current year.

[Locke141]

Long time since I posted but been reading around. This virus has really put me on lockdown, mostly do to my chemo and cancer treatment generally. That said the chemo, being stuck at home, and not allowed to do much physical exercise has been rough.

The good news is other the the dam chemo fatigue and the to much time stuck at home, I'm doing well. I feel good, sleepy but well, my odd's of survival are very high, and I have a loving wife, family, and teacher community that have all been very supportive.

For now my goal is to finish a little arcade project I have been working on but haven't posted as a project yet. Other goals are modding my other home consoles like my wii's, PS2'S, and OG XBOXE's as gifts for friends and family. At some point friends and family just started giving me their old consoles for free. For now I plan just cloning drives, doing the mods, and gifting to family.

[pbj]

Yesterday, I cut the skin and fat off a pork shoulder.  The skin was turned into pork rinds.  The fat was melted down into lard.  The lard was mixed with flour and made into tortillas.  The pork shoulder was eaten on those tortillas.  That took hours. 

I also disassembled and cleaned a DVD player remote.  Now the play button works properly when I watch 90s porn DVDs in the background.

Today I finally broke down and spent $50 on a replacement hose and gun for my pressure washer.  I'll join the parade of neighbors pressure washing my sidewalks.

[pbj]

The pressure pump cut off switch assembly exploded in my pressure washer as I was doing the second pass on my sidewalks.  Rather than rig it and risk another trip to the ER, I spent countless hours trying to source a replacement online.  Found some stuff in Europe that would probably work, but I felt like it was going to be an endless cycle of replacing plastic parts just to watch another one explode.  So I returned it to the earth.


Yesterday I tried to make naan.  Didn't have any bread yeast so I used distiller's yeast.  It wasn't bubbling enough for my tastes, so I added sugar.  Didn't want to use olive oil, so I used Papa John's garlic butter sauce I had in a drawer.  I ended up with basically garlic bread unglazed donuts that are incredible but aren't naan. I couldn't reproduce these if I tried.

 

[BadMouth]

I was only off work a day and a half before getting called back in.  Been enjoying saving money and not having to be social on weekends though.

I set a dumbell workout area up in the basement.  Worked out 4 days in a row.  Moved like an 80yo the following 3.  Avoided for a week.  Bought a dumbell rack, so have start again on Monday to justify the purchase.  Lighter (10 & 15lb) dumbells coming on Tuesday because apparently I've never been so weak.  Yay walmart free shipping!

Main audio receiver took a dump so I swapped in the one from the workshop.  Workshop has been without tunes for months.  Finally hooked up one of the TI chip amps I have laying around for projects.  It's plenty loud enough for the workshop so good for now=good enough.  Today I built a housing out of oak because there was a piece of scrap already thin enough for the front and back.

Also hung my old dartboard in the workshop.  Been enjoying throwing again.

[BadMouth]

Forgot something I'm chuffed about....

Bought a wireless charger for $10,  but it would stop charging because my phone case is too thick.  Tore it down, but it was too much of a PITA to transplant the guts.

Reassembled it, then threw it on the belt sander until a few mm was removed from the top.  It works fine now. 

[ZZleeZZ]

I started and completed a bartop!

Built it for my nephews who are big fans of my previous work. They requested I make them one. I told them to not be daft as that would cost way too much money and time. I hope they like it!

One of them is a Spidey fan...


The other is into the Batman.


If anyone is interested I am writing up the whole build on a blog... https://morefunmakingit.blogspot.com/
The blog is not complete yet but I am almost done, when it's finished on there I will transfer it over to the Project Announcements section.

[shponglefan]

That looks like nice work! Is that a heatsink in the cutout?

[pbj]

Feels silly to start a new thread about this, so hopefully the rest of you sort by unread and click through all the new threads like I do.

My computer speakers suddenly quit working today.  Altec Lansing ACS295 that I purchased from the Dell outlet in Austin in August 1998 for $75.  I think they retailed around $150ish but style in computer speakers had changed to those little cubes on a stand making these look obsolete.  These speakers have seen some serious ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.  (I did laugh when I saw this style has come back around 22 years later per Amazon)

Obvious culprits such as bad cables and blown fuses were quickly eliminated, so I cracked open the subwoofer which houses the electronics for this set.  Everything powers on and the speakers pop when power is applied but no sound.  Next step was to reflow solder on the amplifier and input jacks.  No change.  Then I decided what the hell and started pressing on components while it was powered up to see what happens.

So, if I put my fingertip across the non-inverting input on one of the op amps and a positive terminal on a nearby capacitor, I get sound on one speaker.  If I put my fingertip across the inverting input and that same capacitor, I get sound from the other speaker.  If I jumper the paired pins to each other, and then to a 100k resistor, and then that capacitor, I can get sound on one or the other speaker without having to sacrifice my finger tip. 

While this rig gets sound on one channel, I cannot get any response with the volume/treble/bass controls. 

Doing similar experiments on the other op amps does absolutely nothing.
 

So, I guess I'm looking at 4 options here.  1 is replace that op amp and see if that one component was magically the problem.  2 is replace the subwoofer unit and hope the "new" one works... about $50 on Ebay.  Option 3 is strip out the controls from these speakers and wire them up to a new amp (about $45).  And option 4 is toss the set and start anew.


I'm hoping one of you has more experience with audio repair....

 

[Drnick]

As mentioned about 7 weeks ago, the wife wanted the bedroom redecorating and basing around Haunted Mansion theme,  Well I finally completed it I even went round and painted some of the creature eyes with Glow in the Dark paint. Looks pretty good for about 10 minutes after the lights get turned off

[BadMouth]

That looks like nice work! Is that a heatsink in the cutout?

Yep.  Heatsink doesn't get very warm, but I'm not using the subwoofer side so twice the heatsink for the main amp chip.

[RandyT]

Option 3 is strip out the controls from these speakers and wire them up to a new amp (about $45). And option 4 is toss the set and start anew.

Probably not what you want to do, but unless you have schematics, to trace and properly test everything, throwing expensive parts at it might make you cry in the long run.

My daughters had a nice little bookshelf system a couple of decades ago and the sound went out.  It was never cranked or anything else which would tax the amplifier.  Nonetheless, I took a shot in the dark and ordered the expensive amplifier chip and replaced it (no small task in itself.)  It lasted about two months before dying again.  The moral of the story is that when a part dies, there's usually a reason which is unrelated to the dead part.  Finding that reason to make sure it doesn't happen again is a more difficult task.

Keep the speakers and cob up a new amp for them.  A nice little amp can be had for less than the cost of replacement parts and your time.

[nitrogen_widget]

Was going to build a steel roof over my deck.
priced everything out and realized I could just buy a metal hard top gazebo kit from big lots for hella-cheaper with their spring sale and get curtains and skeeter netting to boot.
put that together.
those kits come in two boxes and they are not light.
I've lagged it to the deck so it don't blow away and then lagged those deck boards to the supports underneath because they were only held on by nails and i've seen them pop up in a good storm on a friends gazebo.

I had an old 4 person patio set made of solid metal with lots of decorative bends for the backs of the chairs and the table under the glass.
made for lots of wire brushing and having to paint from many sides to cover.
then because the seats had no wood I got some plywood, painted that and ordered cushions from target.
fits under gazebo with the glider perfectly.

built a 10ft gate for the side of my house.

hacked my shrubs down until sunlight was able to reach the inside from the top and declared "they'll come back". I don't know why but every old guy I've known got excited about hacking their shrubs down to nothing every few springs and saying "they'll come back". and they do.

My hop plants leaped out of the ground the last few days.
they were barely peaking out on friday but after a few days of sun one is over a foot tall and the other's are close behind.
I need to restring the trellis for them.

[pbj]

Got up on the roof today.  Had 4 trees growing up there so they needed to come down.  Some of the leaves had composted into dirt and turns out there was a giant ant bed, so now I'm covered in ant bites.  Didn't die, though. 

Vacuum cleaner blew the belt, so I went on an expedition to find one.  Decided to clean out the vacuum cleaner while I was at it.  I cannot unsee the amount of dog and wife hair I cleaned out of that thing.  I also cannot unsee the amount of dirt and hair I pulled out of my carpets after I hit them with a cleaned unit.

[bobbyb13]

Got up on the roof today.  Had 4 trees growing up there so they needed to come down.  Some of the leaves had composted into dirt and turns out there was a giant ant bed, so now I'm covered in ant bites.  Didn't die, though. 

Vacuum cleaner blew the belt, so I went on an expedition to find one.  Decided to clean out the vacuum cleaner while I was at it.  I cannot unsee the amount of dog and wife hair I cleaned out of that thing.  I also cannot unsee the amount of dirt and hair I pulled out of my carpets after I hit them with a cleaned unit.

All so terrifying at times, ain't it?
As one with rather short hair my whole life I never knew those horrors until I fell in love and moved in with a hair farmer.
Now I'm shocked with how often the drains need to be snaked- and how nasty the spoils of that adventure are. 

[BadMouth]

Vacuum cleaner blew the belt, so I went on an expedition to find one.  Decided to clean out the vacuum cleaner while I was at it.  I cannot unsee the amount of dog and wife hair I cleaned out of that thing.  I also cannot unsee the amount of dirt and hair I pulled out of my carpets after I hit them with a cleaned unit.

I have a Shark Rocket with "duo-clean".  It is the best thing ever for hardwood floors.  It wasn't picking up as well, so I looked into replacing the filters.  Turns out it had another filter that I was unaware of.  Says "clean filter monthly"  right on the cover.  Right on top the vacuum. Never noticed it.  I've owned it 3 years.  The thing was a brick of dust.

[shponglefan]

Still plugging away at my Frogger clone. It's been quite the learning experience thus far:



Also started toying around with some other game ideas. I'd really love to make a cyberpunk-themed game focused on hacking mechanics.

[Howard_Casto]

Looks good.  How about adding snakes?  Snakes eat frogs and having something that chases you rather than a passive obstacle might add something new to the game.  Then again scale-wise it'd might look odd. 

[shponglefan]

Looks good.  How about adding snakes?  Snakes eat frogs and having something that chases you rather than a passive obstacle might add something new to the game.  Then again scale-wise it'd might look odd.

Thank you, Howard!

Snakes are currently in progress.  I'm just trying to figure out how to optimally implement them, plus working on the graphics and animation.

This is what they currently look like, but it may change as I play around with the art:

[Howard_Casto]

No those look good.   It's a good size I'd say.  If it were me I'd have the snakes kind of "steer" towards you but still travel across the screen like all the other obstacles.  As in if you are in row three and it's in row two and there's an open space above it it'll move up to row three and continue it's path across the screen but not chase you like a pac-man ghost or anything.  Of course you'd have to worry about how it interacts with traffic then so it might prove too cumbersome to code. 

[PL1]

How about scorpions for the higher levels?

Maybe use different colors to indicate different levels of venom/lethality/strike speed?
- Picture one that kills with a single sting and another that slows your frog with the first sting and kills it with the second.


Scott

[shponglefan]

No those look good.   It's a good size I'd say.  If it were me I'd have the snakes kind of "steer" towards you but still travel across the screen like all the other obstacles.  As in if you are in row three and it's in row two and there's an open space above it it'll move up to row three and continue it's path across the screen but not chase you like a pac-man ghost or anything.  Of course you'd have to worry about how it interacts with traffic then so it might prove too cumbersome to code.

I love the idea of having threats chase the player. It definitely would add some more dynamics to the levels.

As you say, though, the traffic does pose a challenge with moving things vertically. Right now all core logic and collision detection is based on having things move horizontally (excluding the player of course).

I'll play around with some things and see what I can come up with.

How about scorpions for the higher levels?

Maybe use different colors to indicate different levels of venom/lethality/strike speed?
- Picture one that kills with a single sting and another that slows your frog with the first sting and kills it with the second.

Coincidentally, I have ideas for a desert-theme world, so scorpions would fit right in! 

[pbj]

Cracked open one of those garage boxes full of dumpster dive monitors.  Now my home office has a huge 24" 16:10 monitor in it, replacing the 20" 4:3.  This one supports HDMI so I can retire that cheap HDMI -> VGA adapter that's been hanging off the laptop.

Bought a soundbar from Best Buy for $60 shipped overnight.  The PC speakers previously hooked up to my 4 player pedestal have been moved to the home office.  Not as powerful as the ancient dead ones but they thump enough.

Wal-Mart thinks I'm Latino and pays me to take surveys occasionally.  Used that to get an optical cable for the sound bar.

And so it goes.

[pbj]

Sound bar is now mounted to the wall below my turtle box pedestal tv.

Streets of Rage thumps like never before.

This was a good upgrade.

[bobbyb13]

Sound bar is now mounted to the wall below my turtle box pedestal tv.

Streets of Rage thumps like never before.

This was a good upgrade.

You have given me an idea for an idle soundbar orphaned by our move a year and a half ago

[pbj]

Streets of Rage Remake sounds incredible, some nice stereo separation effects going on when I’m just 2 feet away from the sound bar.

I also found out CoinOps already included streets of rage remake, oddly in the Megadrive games list.   Spent a lot of time hunting that game down unnecessarily.  Oh well, my version is slightly newer.  If any of you are still rocking an original Xbox, check it out.

[Locke141]

Streets of Rage Remake sounds incredible, some nice stereo separation effects going on when I’m just 2 feet away from the sound bar.

I also found out CoinOps already included streets of rage remake, oddly in the Megadrive games list.   Spent a lot of time hunting that game down unnecessarily.  Oh well, my version is slightly newer.  If any of you are still rocking an original Xbox, check it out.

Nice, will do. My son loves Streets of Rage 4.

[Howard_Casto]

Got the ceilings 98% finished over at grandma's.   The tiles were falling down and I'm lazy so I just bought a $30 tub of ceiling daises.  A few spots need some spackle and/or paint but that's one major thing finished.  Now I've got to work on plumbing and the carpets.  I've also started repainting the shutters. The house was originally trimmed in green but everything got painted black when the black roof was put on.  Got the no primer stuff from lowes... seems to work well. 

[pbj]

Today, I attempted to make pork rind wrapped stuffed jalapeños.  The end result was weird but tasted okay.  Need to revisit my method the next time I get my hands on pork skin.

Been also dusting off my old Nintendo handhelds.  Man, what a journey of pirate carts. 

 

[Howard_Casto]

Need to revisit my method the next time I get my hands on pork skin.

Just going to let everyone make their own joke. 

[pbj]

Needed the mental distraction so been doing all kinds of dumb stuff on the old Gameboys.  My DS Lite has now been flashed to skip the health warning screen and can now boot NDS games off Slot 2 (the GBA slot).  Played around with the Gameyob emulator.  Can't get it working on my Supercard, but it runs great on the R4.  Supercard has Goomba on it but the image is roughly the size of a postage stamp.

Totally pointless exercise, but a nice distraction.

 

[Howard_Casto]

My portables are all screwed up.  Really need to get on that myself.  I've been aiming to install a cap kit and a rechargeable battery for my gamegear as well, but then I remembered there's nothing on it that I actually want to play.  I'm going to get my arcade cabinet back in a playable state this summer as well, mark my words. 

[pbj]

Have you considered a Pi?

[pbj]

In what has become an obsession, I managed to get Lameboy running on my Supercard.  Had to grab the scsd.DLDI from here and patch the .nds file.

https://www.chishm.com/DLDI/

So that means I can scale up the image to fill the screen, and the emulation is supposed to be "better" than Goomba.

Gameyob won't work no matter what I do.  I either get "error opening directory" or a blank screen.  So, I tried patching it with the scsd_moon.dldi file, and that gets me into the app and displays my directory contents.  If I try to open a directory or run a ROM in the root, it freezes.  Tantalizingly close.  Supposedly the best emulator out there.   

On the other hand, at least I've brought the emulation from circa 2006 to 2012. 

Mostly posting this to document what I did so I can find it again in 10 years.

 

[Howard_Casto]

I finally got the new wifi thermostat working on the house.  I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working.....got under the house... the wires going to the thermostat were split and re-patched in two places...... The color coding didn't match up in either place.   

I'm covered in cobwebs, my knees are shot and I smell like dirt and butt, but I can turn on my AC from around the world now. 


Strangely the old thermostat.... according to how it was hooked up, shouldn't have worked, but somehow it did.  When I fixed the wires and before I hooked up the new thermostat it wouldn't turn on the heat... so I don't know what the hell that was about, but it works.  They were both honeywell too and not that far apart in terms of when I bought them. 

[pbj]

While I wait for the backlight kit to arrive, thought I would see if I could do something about the missing lines on my childhood Gameboy.

Couldn't find my triwing screwdriver, so I took a triwing bit from a security set and ground it down.



Here's the before.



And here's the after.



Repair involves removing the foam off the ribbon cable and then rubbing a hot soldering iron back and forth across the cable until the lines come back on. It's hard to believe this repair works, but it does.

Screws will be replaced with Phillips m2 if I ever get around to it.
I, of course, found another triwing I forgot I had in my phone opening tools an hour later. Oh well.

Not sure how we ever played these damn things. I've been holding it under an LED work lamp. Warioland, which I've never played before, is pretty damn fun. Can't wait for that backlight kit to arrive.

 

[Mike A]

Seems like a lot of work.

Wait for it......

Have you considered a Pi?

All kidding aside, nice work on the hardware and software mods and fixes.

[pbj]

Yes, I have.  Nobody can design a menu for it that doesn't suck and nobody can solve the power down problem.  I have several Pis laying around and I only use one of them.

 

[RandyT]

Have you considered a Pi?

Somehow I knew that you forgot to add the "/s" to this post.

[Howard_Casto]

That's one of the three running jokes, along with "Will it play Gauntlet Legends 100%?" and "Will it play Castlevania III Japan without audio issues?"

[RandyT]

That's one of the three running jokes, along with "Will it play Gauntlet Legends 100%?" and "Will it play Castlevania III Japan without audio issues?"

I pity new users sometimes.  Someone should make the above a sticky

[Howard_Casto]

Oh that's the fourth....Once something becomes a sticky nobody reads it.  Not so much a joke as a strange happening. 

[opt2not]

That's one of the three running jokes, along with "Will it play Gauntlet Legends 100%?" and "Will it play Castlevania III Japan without audio issues?"

Don't forget these two constants: 

"I'll give you $10 cash in hand."

"Will it fit in my basement?"

[pbj]

Castlevania 3... still giving me PTSD.  Why do people care so passionately about a game nobody actually wants to play....

Maybe it's because Canadians and Yankees are pale and timid, but I fail to see the problem with cash in hand offers.  Take it or leave it, no pen-pal arrangements necessary.

 

[opt2not]

Hey I'm half asian, to asians, cash is king. Haggling over price is part of the heritage as well.

I'm a big fan of the $10 cash in hand technique.

[Howard_Casto]

Hey now I play Castlevania III every halloween.  Mind you it's the 'Merican version.  We like money around here but it has to be setup like a drug deal.... cab and cash change hands at the same time. 

I forgot about "will it fit in my basement?"

[bobbyb13]

Hey now I play Castlevania III every halloween.  Mind you it's the 'Merican version.  We like money around here but it has to be setup like a drug deal.... cab and cash change hands at the same time. 

I forgot about "will it fit in my basement?"

For me it has become "can I get it up the stairs...?"
I still get eye rolling from the missus about making the stairs and landing to the workshop loft wide enough to be able to get the sit down RUSH 2049 cabinet up there.

[pbj]

Bought a Japanese SEGA Saturn and a Fenrir.  I pray the Saturn is compatible with it or I’ll be flogging them here cheap soon.


 

[Howard_Casto]

I wouldn't bother until the drive wears out.  You don't have to do anything fancy to burn Saturn discs. 

[pbj]

It’s 2020, I’m busy, I have a job, and I hadn’t burned a disc in several years until this afternoon.  Ain’t nobody got time for a spool of CDRs anymore.  Radiant Silvergun will hold me until the Fenrir gets here.  Turned out I still owned my legit copy of Samurai Shodown Land of Wind and Ghosts so that will get some play, too.  Last time that disc was spun, I had an R.A. beating on my door because the drum beats were shaking the floor of my dorm.   

[nitrogen_widget]

I have a large pop-up saltwater pool.
keep it up all winter no problems.
Ladder is a death trap.

cracked and screws popping out of treads on the outside.
New pool ladders are not cheap and wasn't liking the used ones.

So...build a deck, cut the bad legs off my ladder and mount it to the deck.
8'x10'

it took many weeks to finish simply because nobody had pressure treated lumber.
Finally found enough boards of wood to finish the stairs and railings.
so that'll be done this week.