Q*bert Mulitgame is "Finished"

[koolmoecraig]

It's finished.

My cheap ass camera flushes the colors out a bit. Rest assured the colors are great.

I would like to thank the following:

Ultimarc.com
Mamemarquees.com
Oscarcontrols.com
Arcaderenovations.com
Ultrastyle Frontend

Opinions?

[koolmoecraig]

2

[koolmoecraig]

3

[koolmoecraig]

It doesn't show up that well, but that is a spinner knob on the left hand side.

Can you beleive that I mame'd a classic like Q*bert!? AHAHAHAAAHAAAAA!

[koolmoecraig]

A horrible quality pic of the front end.

[Gunstar Hero]

I think that looks awesome.

It adds functionality and stays totally true to the original cabinet.

And it looks a hundred times better than another all black MAME cab.  

[deadmoney5]

nice job man!

looks great!

[Grasshopper]

That is absolutely awesome.

Can you tell me how much it cost to get the CPO and sideart printed?

Also, did you MAME a genuine Q*bert cab? Can't tell whether you're joking or not.

I'm not criticising or anything, I'm just wondering whether, if you built the cab from scratch, there are any plans available?

It's a really nice shape, a bit like the old Williams cabs but with a more comfortable viewing angle.

[koolmoecraig]

That is absolutely awesome.

Can you tell me how much it cost to get the CPO and sideart printed?

Also, did you MAME a genuine Q*bert cab? Can't tell whether you're joking or not.

I'm not criticising or anything, I'm just wondering whether, if you built the cab from scratch, there are any plans available?

It's a really nice shape, a bit like the old Williams cabs but with a more comfortable viewing angle.

It's an actual Q*bert that I restored to original condition. I bought the repro side are from Quarterarcade.com who I forgot to give a thanks to. It costs $70 for both sides but it is totally worth it. Especially after the horrible artwork that I received from classicarcadegraphix.

I designed the CPO using the orginal CPO as a template. Scott at mamemarquees.com printed it from me for like $45 shipping included. I think it is a steal. That is not just a printed vinyl piece. It has a clear textured laminate over it that is damn near what the original was. Scott is AWESOME. I wouldn't think for a second about using anyone else. PLUS, he just upgraded to a ($7000!) printer!

I didn't want to butcher the original cabinet so I used a metal control panel from a junked Q*bert. All of the computer components are velcro'd to the inside of the cabinet. Nothing has been drilled in or anything. I can convert it back to regular Q*bert in about 10 minutes, and you would have no idea that it was ever mame'd

I agree with you that the viewing angle is dead on. I really think that this is one of the most "ergonomic" cabinets ever made. The height, monitor angle, control panel angel, everything really is just dead on perfect. The only thing that I wish is that it had a flat top instead being angled. It's a bummer not to have a place to rest your beer.

I know that I saw plans of the cabinet somewhere on the web. I will look for them and post then on this board, or email me directly.

thanks for the kind words everyone.

[koolmoecraig]

This is the only dimensional pic that I have seen online

[Jakobud]

This is the only dimensional pic that I have seen online

That's cause you forgot to look on my site  Although, at a glance, it looks like those plans are where I might have gotten most of my dimensions from anyways.

By the way, how come in every single thread you start, you add ******************************** to the end of the title of it?

[koolmoecraig]

This is the only dimensional pic that I have seen online

That's cause you forgot to look on my site  Although, at a glance, it looks like those plans are where I might have gotten most of my dimensions from anyways.

By the way, how come in every single thread you start, you add ******************************** to the end of the title of it?

Dude, your site is the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. You should get the word out more. I never knew about it.

I add the **** because I have OCD and because it gets attention.

peace

[Matt, GoC]

Q*bert is the bomb!  I used to play it all the time on my old Atari.  It takes some skill to play it on a B&W TV, but I did it!  Sorry for that, but I do believe that it was my very first game I owned on my very first game console I ever owned.  I'm feeling the tears welling up inside... *bawl********

Nice work on the restore, I think I'm in love (with the cab, y'know)!

[XtraSmiley]

Dude that looks so sweet, great job!  You don't happen to want to sell or trade it do you?

[koolmoecraig]

Thank you all for the kind words. My goal was to have people think that this was something that could have actually come from 1982. I think I accomplished that.

I don't want to sell it, but I could help you build one if you want.

My next project is going to be to build another mame classic game but with the monitor in a horizontal position. That way I play horizontal games on one machine and vertical games on the other. I was thinking about using a Mario Bros. cabinet for that since it is both horizontal AND two players. Plus the "fat" Donkey Kong style cabinet is pretty cool looking. And as an added bonus, Mario Bros. isn't that popular, meaning I could probably pick up a restorable cabinet for pretty cheap.

Any more feedback would be appreciated.

peace

[NoOne=NBA=]

Do you have the knocker built into that?

If not, look up QMAME when you get a chance for the how-to.
They have an entire build of MAME designed to get Q*Bert as realistic as possible.

[koolmoecraig]

Do you have the knocker built into that?

If not, look up QMAME when you get a chance for the how-to.
They have an entire build of MAME designed to get Q*Bert as realistic as possible.

Are you shitting me? That is awesome. I thought my poor knocker was going to have to sit un-used.

Thanks man!

[NoOne=NBA=]

np.

I'm not sure if QMAME plays the other games as well, or if it will only play the Q*Bert ones.
I really didn't look into it too deeply.
It seemed like a really neat idea though.

[wj2k3]

Knockers should never go unused.

[RayB]

Try to avoid the temptation to mount the kockers close to your joystick.

[koolmoecraig]

hmmmmm

[Craig]

Looks great. Just glad not to see another DUH! "MAME" themed cabinet.

[fredster]

what is that front end you are using?

You have saved that cab.  It's a beauty and you should be very proud!

[koolmoecraig]

what is that front end you are using?

You have saved that cab.  It's a beauty and you should be very proud!

Thanks man. The front end is Ultrastyle. Here is the link: http://www.mameworld.net/ultrastyle/

I feel it is the most professional looking,easy to use, and BEST front end out there. PERIOD.

Chris is the guy who created it and he offers awesome support.

peace

 

[koolmoecraig]

I just added a smart power strip. No more mess of cords and everything works with one button.

[Witchboard]

Really slick cab.  You did a great job.

[Santoro]

I think that this was a respectful maming.    Bravo.

[koolmoecraig]

Anyone else mame a classic the "right" way?

[RetroJames]

Anyone else mame a classic the "right" way?

Love the Qbert!  Very well done.  BTW: Did Q-bert HAVE a knocker?  If so why?  

Here are my two attempts to mame a classic with class...

Moon Patrol Multigame: (Done)

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=20395

Multi-Williams Omega Mame: (In Progress)

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=16487

[koolmoecraig]

BTW: Did Q-bert HAVE a knocker?  If so why?  

Every time that you lead the snake to fall off the edge or when you fall of the edge yourself the knocker waits and then smacks the inside of the cabinet to give the illusion that the characters are falling and hitting inside. It is a REALLY cool effect.

[RayB]

It's also confusing. I remember playing it for the first time and thinking I got a free credit. (Anyone who plays pinball will understand that).

[koolmoecraig]

Anyone else mame a classic the "right" way?

Love the Qbert!  Very well done.  BTW: Did Q-bert HAVE a knocker?  If so why?  

Here are my two attempts to mame a classic with class...

Moon Patrol Multigame: (Done)

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=20395

Multi-Williams Omega Mame: (In Progress)

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=16487

Dude, Your Moon Patrol is the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. What exactly is the oscarcontrols method that you used to strip the paint? I couldn't find it on the website.

Thanks,
Craig

[danny_galaga]

that cabinet looks great, AND the front end matches the whole thing perfectly  

[RetroJames]

Anyone else mame a classic the "right" way?

Love the Qbert!  Very well done.  BTW: Did Q-bert HAVE a knocker?  If so why?  

Here are my two attempts to mame a classic with class...

Moon Patrol Multigame: (Done)

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=20395

Multi-Williams Omega Mame: (In Progress)

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=16487

Dude, Your Moon Patrol is the <auto-censored>. What exactly is the oscarcontrols method that you used to strip the paint? I couldn't find it on the website.

Thanks,
Craig

Thanks, this is on the second page of the Moon Patrol thread;


A response to a prvt message question, thought it might be of use to others.

Quote:
Say, can you explain to me what Oscar described?  I am trying to restore a Tatio cabinet and will need to strip the black paint

Did you use the spray goof off 2? or another type?  It comes out as a paste correct?  
 

Sure, the stuff I used is Goof Off 2 (GO2) .  It is the water based, citrus smelling, indoor friendly, version of Goof Off (which is more pungent, etc).  The GO2 that I used came in a windex type spray bottle and was not a paste, but a liquid.  Same consistency as water.  I had to strip the cab indoors hence my choice.  Goof Off (1) may work the same way?

I simply laid the cab on its side, the sprayed the GO2 on the entire area to be stripped.  Wait between 5 - 15 min (checking periodically to see how fast it is working).  When it starts to seperate from the cabinet use a soft to medium nylon bristle brush and wipe the stripped paint away.  On the areas that do not lift on the first round, reapply and wait a bit, repeat etc.  

Couple of notes:

The key trick here is that the paint used on the cabs from the factory must be oil based wheras the operators generally used latex spray paint for conversions.  GO2 is a latex paint stripper so it will not react with the oil based paint underneath the spray paint*.

* This is MOSTLY true, however, I did have a couple of spots that were stubborn so I brushed a bit more vigorously in those areas.  When I was finished, I saw that I had stripped some of the factory clear coat or shellac off and in at least one spot thinned that oil based paint underneath.  Brush lightly, and accept what you get (IMHO).

Use paper underneath the cabinet or a tarp, the little paint flakes get EVERYWHERE.

Lastly, when finished I used warm water and mild dish soap to clean the sides.  I wanted to make sure I did not have residual stripper anywhere continuing to react with the paint and wood.

[nighthawk2099]

This may seem like a dumb question, but here goes.....

I too have a q*bert cab which I am planning to restore for classic games.  The side art and paint on the cab are trashed and I will have to strip it down and repaint.  My question is, what color paint did you use (I know yellow, but I would really like to get the exact color mix.)  if you have it.  Thanks.

[Minwah]

Awesome job, I love it.  Kudos for making the effort not to wreck the cabinet and doing a tasteful conversion

[koolmoecraig]

This may seem like a dumb question, but here goes.....

I too have a q*bert cab which I am planning to restore for classic games.  The side art and paint on the cab are trashed and I will have to strip it down and repaint.  My question is, what color paint did you use (I know yellow, but I would really like to get the exact color mix.)  if you have it.  Thanks.

Print this and take it to Home Depot, They will hook you up. That is the EXACT code for Q*bert.

craig

[nighthawk2099]

EXCELLENT !!!!

Thanks alot.

[cbmeeks]

Hey, sorry to bring up and older topic but I just found your Q*Bert restoration.

MAN IT IS SWEET!

In fact, I might have to copy your idea....but unfortunately, my cab isn't a Q*Bert but a Twin Eagle.  I know maming a "classic" is a no-no but I hardly consider Twin Eagle a classic...lol

Anyway,  here is a link to my cab:

http://signaldev.com/cab2/

As you can see, it is a little rough around the edges but I know it is fixable.

I want to do a total Q*Bert theme....I know the cabs aren't the same but I think it would look cool...and I plan on putting nothing but my favorite verticle games in there.

How did you handle the rotated joystick?  Did you rotate the stick 45^o?

I am thinking about getting an E-Stick so that I can rotate it for either Q*Bert/Congo Bongo and maybe put a trackball in.

What do you guys think?

cb

[koolmoecraig]

Thanks for the kind words. I used a T-Stick plus on my Q*bert. That way I can switch between 4 and 8 way. As for moving diagonally(Q*bert,Congo Bongo) I just configured Mame to require two inputs for each movement. Example: to move down right diagonal you have press right and down at the same time etc.

It works perfectly and there is no need for a dedicated diagonal joystick.

As for a trackball, how many vertical trackball games are there? Not many I assume. That is why I went with a spinner knob. Arkanoid and Tempest are perfect.

I think your Taito cab would look pretty bad as s in a Q*bert theme. If I can help you with the control panel overlay design or anything, let me know. That is the thing that took the most time on my cabinet.

Peace

[cbmeeks]

hey thanks man!

yeah, I think the cab will clean up nice and make a great Q*Bert cab.

I am torn....I want a dedicated, rotated joy for Q*Bert/Congo Bongo but I don't want a cluttered CP.

The only game I know that I would want a TB for is Centipede...

I think I might go down the verticle list (no pun intended) and see how many games I would like that take either a TB or Spinner....

I notice you have three action buttons...what are the extra two for?  (what games?)

I will probably rip off your CP layout if you don't mind...however, I like the old Centipede player 1/2 start buttons...you know, the tiny red ones that glow?...but that might not be authentic Q*Bert.  I'm not shooting for 100% accuracy with my Q*Bert theme but a high 90% would be nice...lol

I thought long and hard and I didn't want another blank MAME box....and I don't like any of the multi-game artwork....so, I knew I wanted one game to focus on....and that game is Q*Bert.

I have $35 invested in this cab so far...so I consider myself lucky.  It has TWO leaf switch controllers on it that look and feel GREAT....but they are 8-way and every game I want is 4-way.  I wonder how hard it would be to convert to 4-way then I wouldn't have to buy a stick and I would have leaf switches to boot!?

cb

[koolmoecraig]

I'm telling ya you don't need a diagonal stick, but say la v. The feel is better with leaf switches though.

Email me privately and I will email you the CPO artwork in illustrator format so you can tweak it as you please and check and make sure that it is the right width. When you are ready to print, go to Scott at MameMarquees.com. He has already adjusted all of the colors for the control panel.

I have 3 buttons for various shooters that use them. Plus "Punch Out" requires them. Joysticks are pretty cheap. I would get some new ones if you can swing it. The switchable ones are really nice cause there are plenty of shooters that need 8-way. But if you are strictly Donkey Kong, Galaga, Frogger, Pac-Man, then you obviously dont need them. Are you going to keep the real arcade monitor?

peace

[SirPoonga]

You better have a working knocker in that!

[cbmeeks]

oh yeah!

that will come later I guess....does the Q*Mame work with other games or just Q*bert?

cb

[SirPoonga]

The only problem with q*mame is it uses the keyboard leds, so do other games.  So you'd trigger the knocker on those games too.  Maybe an on/off switch?

I still want to make a USB I/O controller for BYOAC for stuff like this.  Errr, was Druin doing something like this?

[cbmeeks]

probably wouldn't be hard to put a simple toggle switch somewhere hidden to cut off the supply to the knocker....

you know, I read that history of Q*bert and the guy said they actually put a piece of foam or something under the knocker to produce more of a "thud" but it was pulled out because it added to the production cost...so, the knockers (no jokes please) where added but it didn't have the sound the programmer wanted...

I may have to experiment with some knockers....damn, I said I wouldn't joke about it...  ;-/

[Tekman]

Check out my MAME cabinet. I have a Q*bert knocker setup using the toggle switch method.  My switch is hidden under the control panel.

http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/hardware_knocker.asp

[koolmoecraig]

Check out my MAME cabinet. I have a Q*bert knocker setup using the toggle switch method.

[SaiNRuB]

Check out my MAME cabinet. I have a Q*bert knocker setup using the toggle switch method.

[Oddfeld]

that will come later I guess....does the Q*Mame work with other games or just Q*bert?

As I understand it, Q*Mame is a source tweak so that the Q*Bert games will light the keyboard LED when the knocker is supposed to go off (so that you can use one of the keyboard LED wires on an IPAC to switch your knocker circuit on and off). I assume the rest of MAME is still in there...

http://members.cox.net/brado426/QMAME

[Tekman]

Thanks for the welcome SaiNRuB!

I have enough parts for koolmoecraig to build one extra knocker circuit. He will have to purchase the power supply from Radio Shack. I will build it for him just after the holidays.

Oddfeld is correct that it requires a source modification. This simply uses the LED function from the IPAC and drives a transistor to fire the knocker when the LEDS flash. Very simple to do. You must use a SPST switch to disable the circuit when not being used. The hard part is compiling your own version of MAME every new release. I finally stopped doing this and run an old version of MAME when I play Q*bert. The link you had is the same guy I got this idea from. His source is old and was specific for that version only. I took the source code and made a script that will modify any newer version of MAME.  I haven't tried it for the last three releases or so. I'm sure it's still good.

[Gunstar Hero]

Wow.

And here I was happy just kicking my cab when I'd jump off of the board!

"Whooooooooooooaaaa..." *KICK!!!* "@%&$$!!"

[koolmoecraig]

my original knocker

[koolmoecraig]

Well....Thanks to John from www.johnsretroarcade.com , I finally have my original Q*Bert knocker working within Q*bert in Mame.

That's right. John modified the source code so that the knocker would trigger just like the original(When Q*Bert or the snake fall off the pyramid). Not only did he modify the source that I used, but he built the LED and knocker driver boards for me. Everything was done to perfection. He even guided me through everything via emails while answering my annoying questions.

John, you are the man.

It fires perfectly every time and even works with FHMC Q*Bert!!!!!!

Thank you!

[koolmoecraig]

UPDATE*

I have absolutely no programing skills at all and I write all day at a computer and don't feel like learning what I need to know(i.e. lazy)

I need someone to compile command line mame .86 with the Q*bert patch file from:
http://www.johnsretroarcade.com/downloads.asp

Compile it and email it to me or make it available for me to download, and I will pay you $20 for your time(and talent).

John was nice enough to send me mame .91 with the Q*bert patch compiled, but I am getting a stutter in alot of my games that I never had when I was using .86. So I want to go back to .86. I need the Q*bert patch so my knocker will fire.

Can someone help me?

[koolmoecraig]

Thanks

[mahuti]

You asked about tasteful mameing. Still need to do the sideart. Unfortunately for me, I have to stencil & paint the art on to be accurate.

http://homepage.mac.com/mahuti/defendercade/PhotoAlbum47.html

[koolmoecraig]

I just finished adding a jukebox program and installing a pair of 2.1 speakers.

Also, I built a matching table to go along with it.

I'll post pictures of the table later today.

peace

[Veinman]

This is the first I've looked at Ultrastyle. The website mentions Daphne, but I would assume you could hook up any emulator you wanted.

Would you say it is as good as Mamewah in that respect?

[dphirschler]

Nice job.  Only criticism I would offer is the spinner knob should not be black, but red or yellow.

There was another Q*bert MAME cab I saw a couple of years ago that I was impressed with.  It was not a Q*Bert cab but another cab design, painted gloss black.  This was at the time almost all of the MAME cabs you saw were all black with some marble vinyl contact paper on the cpanel.  But the Q*bert one stood out because it was beautiful gloss black and had the Q*bert side art on it and a redesigned cpanel that matched the Q*bert style.

Can't find the link right now.  Perhaps somebody else has it.  It was nice.


Darryl

[koolmoecraig]

Does anyone know how to run Daphne Vertically? Is it possible?

[koolmoecraig]

My Q*bert at night.

[2600]

You've got to give us more pics then that. 

Still looks good.

[the3eyedblindman]

Is that a scratch built cab or a real dedicated cab? either way, it looks great..Im proud of you!

[koolmoecraig]

There are a bunch of pictures at the beginning of this thread.

It's a dedicated Q*bert converted to MAME. It can be swapped back in about 10 minutes with no evidence.

Thanks for the kind words.

[MaximRecoil]

Nice job.

[koolmoecraig]

Scratch that.

[koolmoecraig]

Scratch this too.