Tempest MAME

[ericball]

I've rescued a monitorless Tempest cab (with CP) in okay condition.  My plan is to put in a PC monitor, but otherwise restore it and make no other modifications.  What games can be played using just the Tempest controls (RH spinner LH index & thumb buttons)?

MAME's listinfo gives me the following:
720 Degrees
Arkanoid
Arkanoid - Revenge of DOH
Block Gal
Cameltry
Cerberus
Embargo
Free Kick
Gigas & Gigas Mark II
Kick
Atari Mini Golf
Major Havoc
Omega Race
Plump Pop
Quester
Razzmatazz
Riddle of Pythagoras
Tac/Scan
Tempest
Two Tigers
Wall Crash
Wheel Of Fortune
Wolf Pack
Zektor

plus the racers (including those which have analog pedals)
American Speedway
Bad Lands
Buggy Challenge
Car Polo
Championship Sprint & Super Sprint
Demolition Derby
Final Lap 1/2/3
Four Trax
Grand Champion
Hot Rod
Indy Heat
Super Off-Road
Pole Position
Pole Position II
Redline Racer
Super Speed Race
Super Speed Race Junior
Stocker

My initial scan on just dial found a bunch more, including some which didn't have specific controls.  Have I missed anything important?  Also, is there any way to map (or fake in HW or SW) the dial to Left/Right?

[DiamondDave]

Wow,
 What a dumb idea, why not use a different cabinet? A Tempest in any condition is getting hard to find? Then to turn it into a Mame cabinet??? Why not trade it for someting more suitable? It's like turning a Mercedes into a Hot Dog cart?

[Magnet_Eye]

It's like turning a Mercedes into a Hot Dog cart?

hahaha!  

[teef two]

Dave - It's only post 2 for you so I'll be kind  

I suggest you read the above again

My plan is to put in a PC monitor, but otherwise restore it and make no other modifications.

before having a go.

Now as I'm sure you'll know getting hold of a proper vector monitor is nigh on impossible so putting a pc monitor in there is probably the easiest way to go.

Good luck on the restore.

[Lilwolf]

As for the dumb idea idea.... Hes right to a point... Try and put a monitor that doesn't damage anything so you can always turn it back.  You never know when you find a good vector monitor and start thinking converting it back..

I would start off by putting your full computer in it for a few weeks and try each game that will work.  There are a ton that work OK... And then another group that will work GREAT.  You will have to decide on each which you want.

So give it a week with all of them... Then swap the computer with one specific for the cabinet and move all that you liked.

Don't forget Blasteroids...

[DiamondDave]

  Vector monitors aren't that hard to find, You just have to spend the money, I've been able to find one when I need one, I have two sitting in my shop right now.
  I been restoring and repairing video games and pinball machines for almos ten years, and I just find it crazy to hack up a original game for a Mame machine, There are lots of more suitable cabunets out there easy to find, Hell if anybodys ever looking for one, drop me a line, theres two sitting in my driveway  right now.

[SirPeale]

Dave:

He said he's NOT going to hack it up.

[ericball]

Thanks teef and Peale for actually reading what I wrote.  I do recognize that I have something unique and special and I want to respect that to the best of my abilities.

Dave, unfortunately, I don't have hundreds of dollars to buy a vector monitor along with the refurbishing which it will probably require.  I am also uncertain of the condition of the PCBs.  There's a lot of unknowns which could very quickly increase the cost for the sole benfit of being able to play Tempest.  (Which is a great game, but there's a break even point on cost vs reward which would quickly be exceeded.)

Thus I will work with what I have:
1. Original control panel & controls in decent shape.  Therefore I will limit myself to those games playable with those controls (Blasteroids btw requires 3 buttons).  It's a decent list and it looks like paddle (270 wheel) games will work too.
2. Cabinet & sideart are servicable, though far from pristine.  Cleaning (any suggestions on what do use?) is what this needs, maybe repainting (not the sideart) at some point in the future.
3. No marquee so I will replace it ($).
4. No XY monitor.  Assuming no-one has one for sale dirt cheap I will put in the largest monitor I can afford ($).  This also has the advantage of letting me play more games (which also increases the WAF).
5. PCBs exist but are in unknown condition and are useless without the XY monitor.  So give them to another BYOACer who might be able to use them to get a Tempest working.
6. Put in a decent PC ($).

Now, for those of you who want to have a Tempest of your own, the following are/were on eBay :
Working Tempest, sold for US$1000
Working Tempest, 0 bids at US$700
Tempest PCBs, unknown condition, current bid $30
empty Tempest cab, no monitor, PCBs, controls, or marquee, 0 bids at US$10
working Tempest PCBs, no bids at GBP95
mostly working Tempest, current bid US$340

[Mr. Dude]

Dave:

He said he's NOT going to hack it up.

Yeah exactly, I think ericball's doing the right thing here.  He's not harming the cab in any way, he just wants a monitor in the thing so he can play spinner games on it with MAME.  This is totally reversable if he ever wanted to convert it back.....  (warning rant on!)And on the other had I am getting sick to death of people not reading these threads and flying off the hook saying OMG he's killing a classic!!!!  I swear to God these jack@sses see the word MAME and a classic cab together and automatically jump to conclusions!  (rant off) .....whew.    

[DarkKobold]

I'd agree. As long as he isn't taking a hacksaw to the sides, adding a slick-stick franken panel, and saying it plays 10,000+ gameseses-seses, it is good in my book.

There are a numerous amount of respectful mamings. 1Hooked did a wonderful job, not once, but twice, if you look at his omega race and moon patrol.

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

Dhansen did a wonderful Joust 2 cabinet, which I wish I could find, it looks just amazing.

A complete centipede restore, that Justin did an amazing job on
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=12177

koolmecraig did a qbert that I still can't get over how good it looks.
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=26333

Zakk's pac, mame under the hood. Does it matter? No. Does it look great? Yes
http://www.mameworld.net/massive/Cabinet/Zakk_Pac/zakk_pac.html

Besides, if it looks like a tempest, plays like a tempest, makes you sweat like a tempest, who cares if it is a computer or the actual boards?

Finally, XY games are flaky to say the least. Lets say that he got a WG6100 XY monitor. Chances are, the low voltage section will blow, and he will have to get an LV2000 upgrade. $30. Next, the AVG chip on the board will die, as they love to do. $35.

Let me know if I forgot any great mame restorations.

[Stingray]

Sounds like a helluva good idea to me. It's not as if he's taking a working Tempest and junking all the insides in favor of a frankenpanel MAME setup. It'll still be original looking and you'll still be able to play Tempest on it.

-S

[Gunstar Hero]

If he saved a cabinet slated for the junkyard anyways, I find it far from a crime to MAME it. It's not like he's planning to paint it black and slap a big blue MAME logo on the marquee.

Even if he did take what was left of the original Tempest guts out and sell them, they'd go to save other Tempest cabs. right?

[paigeoliver]

 Vector monitors aren't that hard to find, You just have to spend the money, I've been able to find one when I need one, I have two sitting in my shop right now.
  I been restoring and repairing video games and pinball machines for almos ten years, and I just find it crazy to hack up a original game for a Mame machine, There are lots of more suitable cabunets out there easy to find, Hell if anybodys ever looking for one, drop me a line, theres two sitting in my driveway  right now.

Whenever you see a vector monitor for sale you can almost be sure that the seller pulled it from the cabinet. You can always find them because they are up to like $450 now and a working Space Duel or Gravitar isn't worth much more than that, SO guess what happens?

There seem to be 10 times as many vector cabinets without monitors as there are vector monitors without cabinets.

[Paladin]

I bought a Tempest that was converted to a horizontal JAMMA cab, and restored it back to a fully functional Tempest.  It cost me just under $1000 including the cabinet.  Details are here, including a price breakdown:
http://home.comcast.net/~dark.paladin/tempest/index.htm

I just bought another converted Tempest, and realized just how lucky I got with the first one.  The new one has been spray painted gray and it will not come off without taking the art with it, has cabinet scratches down to (and into) the wood, has no marquee panel, PCB, power supply, coin door guts, etc...  Pictures can be found here:
http://home.comcast.net/~dark.paladin/tempest2/index.htm

I originally planned on restoring the outward appearance to Tempest, but running MAME on the raster monitor that is in the cab.  I have since changed my mind.  My current plan is to strip and sand the sides, apply black paint and Galaga graphics and run MAME.  This will not cause any more damage than is already there, and it will be less expensive than restoring the outside to a Tempest.

How rare can these cabinets be?  I was able to find 2 converted cabinets within driving distance. I know of another local collector who bought one fully functional Tempest, then sold it to buy another one he found in even beter condition.  I think a lot of Tempest cabinets were converted and are still around.  It's the monitors that are hard to find.  

I have no quilty feelings whatsoever about converting this second cab, as long as I do no more damage than is already there.  It just isn't financially feasable to restore it when complete working cabs go for $500-900.
Think about this - for every Tempest cabinet that is restored, another classic vector game has problably been killed for it's monitor.  My restoration uses a monitor from a Space Dual that a local collector was hanging onto in case his Space Dual needed it.

As long as you're not chopping the thing up, I say go for it!

[paigeoliver]

Exactly, you can't unconvert a converted vector game, or restore a stripped vector cabinet without taking part in (perhaps unknowingly) the slaughter of another vector game somewhere else.

Why do you think there are always so many Space Duel parts on ebay?

Right now there is a complete one with NO MONITOR (imagine that), a working boardset, a control panel, and a monitor glass.

I have actually been hoping to find a local "no monitor" Space Duel, so I can MAME it. Although all I would be doing is putting a same size PC monitor in it and hooking up the original control panel.

[ChadTower]

How does a regular monitor look running Vector games?  I have a fully working Space Duel I intend to VectorMAME soon, but that ZVG board is expensive.

[SirPeale]

Not anywhere as nice as the real thing, I can tell you that.

[ChadTower]

So a vector freak like me would really want to drop the $250 on the ZVG... got it.

[paigeoliver]

So a vector freak like me would really want to drop the $250 on the ZVG... got it.

Definitely worth it. Add a spinner and you will be golden.

[ChadTower]

Nyeh, I'm going with swappable (NOT modular) control panels.  If I'm going to make the investment, I'm going all out.

[paigeoliver]

Cool don't forget that you will need.

Trackball
Star Wars yoke (should be good for Red Baron too).
Number pad 1-10 (Space Wars)
Dual 8-ways.
Space Duel setup
Top fire with spinner (Aztarac)
Steering wheel with gas pedal and 4 position shifter (Speed Freak).

[ChadTower]

Yep... I've already got the Space Duel setup and the Star Wars yoke... though the yoke has a big WEAPONS VAN button in the middle of it.  LOL.