Convert an existing Pole Position to play other driving games??

[GCS]

Is this doable??

If so what would I need??

Basically I am picking up a PP in decent shape tomorrow for cheap and would love to be able to eventually stuff a computer in there and run some of the other driving games as well.

I do realize that many of them will need a regular gear shift and clutch to play properly and of course some way to interface with the computer (ie IPAXC???).  So basically is this at all doable??

LMK what you guys think.

Thanks

Greg

[paigeoliver]

ALmost no EMULATED driving games use a clutch.

Is this pole position WORKING? If so, then leave it alone and play it, as there are 5 non-working pole positions out there for every working one.

You also  probably would not need an i-pac if maming a driving cabinet, as your mouse interface (oscar mouse hack) covers your coin input and your start buttons, while the analog joy hack used for the gas pedal should have 4 buttons, which should cover your shifter (a 2-way shifter uses ONE switch) and give you three left over.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I personally would look into getting an Atari 4-speed shifter to replace the 2-speed stock one.
With that addition, just about all the 360 degree driving games should be playable.
The Atari style ones (from Drag Race, Sprint, etc...) should drop in with minimal rework, and will not look out of place on a PP.
You can remap the inputs so that games that use a 2-speed are still playable with the 4-speed, but the 4-speed will give you a sizable increase in the number of games available, and make the cabinet more "complete".

The only games I can think of off-hand that use a clutch are all 270 degree games, which won't be playable anyway.

[GCS]

Gotcha.

Sounds alright, I guess just need to learn how to hack mice and joysticks now.

BTW what games would be playable on this setup (ie is there some way to sort a list in MAME to show me this)

[pocketbikez]

some of the good ones for 360 wheels...

night driver
firetruck
super bug
sprint 1
monte carlo
grand champion
turbo
pole position 1&2
buggy challenge
demolition derby
stocker
championship sprint
super sprint
american speedway
APB <-- make sure you add 2 buttons to your control panel
redline racer
hot rod
bad lands
ironman stewarts super off road
danny sullivans indy heat


and believe it or not breakout style games are also fun with a 360 steering wheel.

[GCS]

Ok.

Anyway to tell on KLOV or somewhere else which games are 270 or 360 wheels??

How about Outrun, Chase HQ, Final Lap

[pocketbikez]

Anyway to tell on KLOV or somewhere else which games are 270 or 360 wheels??

How about Outrun, Chase HQ, Final Lap

download mame32 and sort the games by trackball. about half of them will be driving games.
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/

outrun, chase hq and final lap are all 270 degree potentiometer based games.

i forgot to add drag race and grudge match to the 360 game list i posted earlier. but those are pretty much it. theres a couple others but they dont have sound so i didnt include them. like laguna racer, speed freak, and turbo tag.

[GCS]

OK.

SO I guess there is no way to play those 270 degree games on a 360 degree wheel or vice versa huh??

Basically the PP is working, it has no board in it but we popped in a board from another PP and everything seemed to work fine and the monitor looked pretty good.

Basically I would like to be able to play as many of the driving games as possible and wouldn't have a problem making some changes if needed.

Thanks for the all the advice so far btw.

Greg

[paigeoliver]

Oh, your game has no board of its own? Forget it then, Mame away as a working Pole Position board sells for more money than a working Pole Position does.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Chase HQ is actually pretty playable with a 360 wheel, if you pay attention to how you steer the car, and where center is on the wheel.

It used an optical wheel in the arcades, rather than a pot based wheel; but the wheel had centering springs, and I "think" had a center flag to tell the hardware when it was centered.

You will need to add a few buttons to the CP for different games.

[dirt]

i built a pp mamecab with oscars mousehack and optic board and an ipac. it worked great until i used the computer for another project. it is still in the garage awaiting another computer.



dirt

[DarkKobold]

Not to mention, if you look at a Pole position board wrong, it will stop working!

[NoOne=NBA=]

They are fine if you LOOK at them wrong.

Just avoid BREATHING on them, while you're looking.

[GGKoul]

i built a pp mamecab with oscars mousehack and optic board and an ipac. it worked great until i used the computer for another project. it is still in the garage awaiting another computer.
dirt

Hey Dirt

Can you snap a few pics of how you set op your PP MameCab?  As I have a 95% working PP2 unit in my garage.  As it has a faulty background chip and needs a shifter.  So I'm either going to fix the PP2 machine or Mame it with some of the ideas in this post.

Thanks

[dirt]

Hey Dirt

Can you snap a few pics of how you set op your PP MameCab?  As I have a 95% working PP2 unit in my garage.  As it has a faulty background chip and needs a shifter.  So I'm either going to fix the PP2 machine or Mame it with some of the ideas in this post.

Thanks

sure i can, but it wont be until this weekend. i just rearranged the garage today and the game is blocked in. i can get it out on saturday and snap some pics for you.


dirt

[GGKoul]

Thanks Dirt.  Either email them to me at ggkoul@cogeco.ca or post them here.

[GCS]

Well the end result was I passed on the PP project.

Instead I ended up with Twin Sitdown Virtua Racing game   !

It needs some work and a cleaning but should dam cool once I am done.  It won't be anywhere near as nice as Wade's as I can't put in that amount of time, $$$, or effort into it.

As of now I have managed to get one whole side working (all but Force feedback).  The other side still has a 3D issue.

Anyway just figured I would let you guys know the outcome.

Thanks

Greg

[GGKoul]

I would have taken the Virtua Racing Cab over the PP cab.  As I would love to have a Dual Virua Racing Cab.

Let me know if your ever interested in selling yours...