Arcade Ambience 1986

[ahofle]

Greetings retrogaming people, I just finished the 1986 version of arcade ambience and posted it to alt.binaries.emulators.misc. Unfortunately, hosting for the mp3s has dried up so I can't have a direct download link. I am also sharing the file through bittorrent. Check out the downloads section of http://arcade.hofle.com for a link to the torrent file as well as a bittorrent client (in case you don't already have one).

If you don't know what I'm talking about go here: http://arcade.hofle.com

Enjoy,
Andy

[versapak]

Just checked out the sample, and that is some pretty cool stuff.

Good job and thanks.


After listening to it, I realized how much those ambient sounds really added to the feeling of the arcade back in the day.

[Martoon]

Very cool!  I love this concept.  Why don't we start torrents for the '81 and '83 files as well?  I'm downloading these from the links on your site right now, and they barely trickle, but the torrent on the third one is cruising right along.

[ahofle]

Ya I know it's working pretty well on bittorrent.  I don't know how long bittorrent's been around but I hadn't heard of it back when I made the other two files or I would've used it then too.  I will try and create torrents for the other two.  Problem is, I think there needs to be a whole bunch of people furiously grabbing the file (like what's currently happening with the 1986 version) for it to work.  I don't know how much interest there is in those older files though.  Otherwise I have to leave my computer on all the time which I don't like to do.

[somunny]

This is really cool stuff.  I use the '81 and '83 tracks as my browsing background for Mamewah.  Great work Andy!

Coop

[ahofle]

OK additional torrents have been created for 1981 and 1983 too and can be found on the downloads page http://arcade.hofle.com

Any help seeding these files would be greatly appreciated.

[Trenchbroom]

OK I'm d/l the arcade 86 and seeding the other two.  Jump on board boys!

[Safron]

I should have them all soon and will leave them up a few days to get them out there.

Great job on the ambience.
I love it!

[ahofle]

Thanks alot!  

[hunky_artist]

ok, this is quite possibly the best thing i've ever seen. well.. umm, heard, lol

It's true... you can leave a game on and occasionally hear the odd sound or two... but you dont get that 'arcade' feeling.. until you listen to that soundtrack.

I' had honestly forgotten what it sounded/felt like (I'm 32 now and havent been in an arcade since i was about 15)

and new arcades dont even SOUND like this anymore.

excellent work! well done!!  

[RayB]

Now how many of you are gonna hook up their basement with speakers and a continuous loop of this?? ;-)

[hunky_artist]

my only problem/suggestion with it (although it could be just me) is that it sounds a little.... TOO busy.

Like there's too many games going on... it's difficult a lot of the time to actually pick out the individual games.

but hey,  it's still excellent

[Martoon]

my only problem/suggestion with it (although it could be just me) is that it sounds a little.... TOO busy.

Like there's too many games going on... it's difficult a lot of the time to actually pick out the individual games.

but hey,  it's still excellent

I kind of felt that way, too, when I first heard it, but the more I thought about how a really crowded arcade sounded in the eighties, the more I realized it's about right.  They were incredibly noisy - we're just not used to hearing that kind of caucaphony in an arcade anymore (assuming you can find an arcade).

First-rate work.  I've got all three files shared and seeded, and I'll be glad to keep them there as long as needed.

[versapak]

I have all 3


I am going away for the weekend, and will have my machine seeding them while I am gone.

Once again...

Excellent work on them.

[SirPeale]

I had the old ones before, so I'm helping seed.

[RayB]

Hofle, you're great!  

What a year 86 was. I had NO life. No friends that mattered. But I spent every dime and all my time at the video arcades. Pathetic but true. Why this ambience soundtrack brings pleasure I don't know. I'm sure I could spend hours on some doc's couch exploring that one!

heh.  


My golden years of arcading ended in about '89. What about you guys?


PS: How come there's no sounds of some jerk swearing at and hitting the machine?

[Martoon]

PS: How come there's no sounds of some jerk swearing at and hitting the machine?

Yeah, you do need that in there.

Now the only things missing are the stale cigarette smoke smell and the creepy fat guy that never actually plays anything but stares at you while you play.

[Zero_Hour]

...
Now the only things missing are the stale cigarette smoke smell and the creepy fat guy that never actually plays anything but stares at you while you play.

The scary thing about that part is there was a scary fat guy who "managed" the arcade i cut my teeth in. He used to have me go grab him coffee and sandwiches in exchange for quarters. I feel so dirty now....

You Didn't happen to play at Gameroom 1 in the south hills of Pittsburgh did you?

Back on topic.

These files are simply fantastic.

[Martoon]

You Didn't happen to play at Gameroom 1 in the south hills of Pittsburgh did you?

Nope, I grew up in Minnesota, so I went to completely different arcades.  I think it's just that arcades in the eighties had a standard complement of one creepy fat guy per location.

[mahuti]

Any idea what kind of bandwidth your arcade ambience files usually take up in am month? PM me if you know,or post here if you're comfortable with that.

[RayB]

Nope, I grew up in Minnesota, so I went to completely different arcades.  I think it's just that arcades in the eighties had a standard complement of one creepy fat guy per location.

The ones I went to in my LATE teens had Peepshows in the basement and the obligatory "shady guy" offering to sell pot!  

[Knoxximus]

Like I always tell women I date....before women even paid me attention, games where there....and they ain't going nowhere so deal with it or get dealt out.

Seriously though, my buddy owns a video game store (I know....lucky me ), and I've been there many a time when some poor sap is reluctantly trading in his old "babysitters" because the "fiance" doesn't like them and gave him the ultimatum.  I'm always like, "Dude, are you serious?"

....then we give him next to nothing and call dibs on the good stuff

Could...not....be....ME

Oh yeah, how do you seed with Bittorent?  Just leave your computer on?

[missioncontrol]

those are awesome really gives an arcade feel....reminds me of being at Showbiz Pizza back in the day...the only thing missing is an occasional "table (random number) your pizza is ready"

[ahofle]

Any idea what kind of bandwidth your arcade ambience files usually take up in am month? PM me if you know,or post here if you're comfortable with that.

I actually don't know.  I never had enough diskspace to host them myself.  I currently have them linked to external sites, so I can't track the traffic AFAIK.  

And to answer Knoxximus, yes, to seed, just leave your bittorrent window up after you finish downloading the file.

[l8nite]

I was wondering what the next year you're doing is?  I think whatever year dig-dug came out would be awesome (1982 iirc).

[Zakk]

I downloaded the 83 mix, and I'm sure I heard the little digger in there.  

RayB: I had one off the net quite some time ago that had some kids yelling and whatnot, but it got a bit annoying since if you looped it you would hear the same kid yelling the same thing (after a time)

[telengard]

I downloaded the 83 mix, and I'm sure I heard the little digger in there.  

RayB: I had one off the net quite some time ago that had some kids yelling and whatnot, but it got a bit annoying since if you looped it you would hear the same kid yelling the same thing (after a time)

hehe, I found those too.  I actually made a similar thing to the ambiance ones by merging pieces of a bunch of them together ( without the kids ).  It came out pretty good but for some reason it is *really* loud compared to everything else in my cab.

[l8nite]

Thanks Zakk: I listened again and definitely heard dig-dug in there, cool.  

Still wondering what Andy is gonna cook up next.. How about more of the shooting games / "alternative games" sounds like shooting gallery, skeeball, hoops, etc?

I love these tracks though

Shaun

[telengard]

Thanks Zakk: I listened again and definitely heard dig-dug in there, cool. 

Still wondering what Andy is gonna cook up next.. How about more of the shooting games / "alternative games" sounds like shooting gallery, skeeball, hoops, etc?

I love these tracks though

Shaun

I played some skee-ball yesterday and had never realized how much I liked the sound effects.  These are the older ones.  Very cool stuff.  Can't find samples of them anywhere on the net unfortunately.   

~telengard

[CJK]

I played some skee-ball yesterday and had never realized how much I liked the sound effects.

[telengard]

I played some skee-ball yesterday and had never realized how much I liked the sound effects.  These are the older ones.  Very cool stuff.  Can't find samples of them anywhere on the net unfortunately.   

Wow -- I am glad you bumped this thread! I wasn't aware of Andy's project (too much of a newbie), but I have now downloaded each of his tracks. They're awesome!

I agree with you about Skee-Ball -- probably my favorite non-video arcade game, because it brings back all kinds of memories of our family vacations in Ocean City, MD. (There were GREAT arcades in Ocean City along the boardwalk!)

The next time I'm in Dave & Busters, I might try recording some ambient sounds, especially Skee-Ball. (My recorder is easy to conceal, but the mic is kind of large. Not sure how D&B's will feel about me recording stuff in their establishment.) I'll post here if I get anything useful.

-- Chris

Heh, no problem...

That'd be cool.  I've taken all kinds of other stuff to Funspot (protractor, measuring tape, digital camera, etc) and they never said anything to me about it.  The sounds on the newer skee-ball machines don't seem to be the same.  I was trying to find model #s etc yesterday but I think my significant other was getting a little embarassed so I stopped poking around.   

~telengard

[Xiaou2]

 It would be cool if someone could make a program that would allow you to
make a virtual room (top view)...  pop games in it, then drag them into place...
then assign them the sounds.    You select a game for constant play.. attract mode only,  or a random of both .. all with a set-able time to repeat delay.   You could also tweak individual games volumes too.

 Then, select the listen spot.    The program would then adjust the volumes of the games according to how far they were from the listen spot.   Then the app could either just play in the background.. or make a recording mp3.

[TheGatesofBill]

Then the app could either just play in the background.. or make a recording mp3.

The program is possible, and it would probably be a neat idea. However, it would pretty much need to record it to a file, because otherwise it'd eat up quite a bit of processing power.

[SirPeale]

Trying to help seed, is the tracker down for the torrents?

[CJK]

Seems to be -- I couldn't get it to work yesterday. Ended up downloading everything from mirror1.

-- Chris

[stellarola]

There may be no room for the young peeps in here. Any chance anyone could work on a arcade ambient mp3 for the early late late 80's, early 90's. I'm talking like Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat 1 and 2, After Burner, Outrun, Daytona USA, Virtua Cop, Time Crisis1, Metal Slug. Those were my days in the arcade