Author Topic: Q*bert Speedup ****** (Read 2845 times)

koolmoecraig · « **on:** March 16, 2005, 07:08:07 pm »

Hello Everyone,

I recently came into a factory speed-up pack for Q*bert. It has a Gottlieb label on it that reads "Q-Bert Speedup 7/27/83"
I have never seen one of these and I can't find any info on the net. I emailed Warren Davis about it and he was a little unsure if it is FHMC Q*bert or a speed up for the original Q*bert(kinda like pac-man with a speed up chip).

It is basically a sealed(epoxy sealed) black plastic box with 4 ribbon cables coming out of it. Warren said that the bits coming through the cables are most likely scrambled and that it would probably require a special Q*bert board that can descramble in order to read it.
I want to plug it into my Q*bert board, but I have no way to tell which cable goes into which eprom slot.

Is anyone interested or can anyone help me with this?

I have pictures if you would like to see.

Thanks,
Craig

cholin · « **Reply #1 on:** March 16, 2005, 07:55:46 pm »

Pictures please

"A picture is worth a thousand words"

koolmoecraig · « **Reply #2 on:** March 16, 2005, 08:18:51 pm »

point taken

Lilwolf · « **Reply #3 on:** March 17, 2005, 10:21:27 am »

You should really check to see if anyone on the mame team would be interested in looking at it. They are great at not destroying hardware... and they might be able to emulate that module in a qbert driver. That would be cool.... (of course... I'm not that good to need it yet

but considering that in the end... they will probably know how to get it running for you... kill two birds... one stone

RayB · « **Reply #4 on:** March 17, 2005, 02:25:45 pm »

Why would you want to kill birds?

sWampy · « **Reply #5 on:** March 17, 2005, 02:28:32 pm »

Were there actually people who thought q-bert was to easy?

RayB · « **Reply #6 on:** March 17, 2005, 02:39:45 pm »

Easy no, but too slow, yes. His jumping is kinda .... slow paced.

Lilwolf · « **Reply #7 on:** March 17, 2005, 03:32:13 pm »

Actually at the time... Yes...

But thats why faster harder qbert came in... But it never made it past the prototype... And the roms where distributed out by the only person with it in a standup... the author...

nostrebor · « **Reply #8 on:** March 17, 2005, 05:20:07 pm »

you might post the question and pic on RGVAC and KLOV forums. There are plenty of operator/repair guys there

XtraSmiley · « **Reply #9 on:** March 17, 2005, 05:52:41 pm »

I wouldn't just randomly plug it in to test.... never know what you'll fry. Best to go the MAME route. If you really are a certain "type" of person, you can even ask the MAME dev NOT to put it into MAME until you give the OK, but at least it will be available if yours is ever destroyed. The best guy to contact is Aaron Giles, he dumped and added a board to MAME for me and he's a nice guy. His site is www.aarongiles.com and just explain this to him.

JB · « **Reply #10 on:** March 17, 2005, 06:48:40 pm »

Quote from: RayB on March 17, 2005, 02:25:45 pm

Why would you want to kill birds?

Because they taste good.

koolmoecraig · « **Reply #11 on:** March 18, 2005, 03:51:56 pm »

Quote from: nostrebor on March 17, 2005, 05:20:07 pm

you might post the question and pic on RGVAC and KLOV forums. There are plenty of operator/repair guys there

I have posted it on the RGVAC and KLOV boards and people don't seem to care at all. In fact, every time I post on those boards everyone acts like a bunch of snobbish nerds.

I need to get this thing figured out. It could be an entirely new version of Q*bert that can be mamed!

RayB · « **Reply #12 on:** March 18, 2005, 03:55:32 pm »

Quote from: koolmoecraig on March 18, 2005, 03:51:56 pm

... every time I post on those boards everyone acts like a bunch of snobbish nerds.

They act that way because they are.

Stingray · « **Reply #13 on:** March 18, 2005, 03:56:17 pm »

Quote from: koolmoecraig on March 18, 2005, 03:51:56 pm

In fact, every time I post on those boards everyone acts like a bunch of snobbish nerds.

The KLOV board isn't a super friendly place is it? I vastly prefer this board.

-S

nostrebor · « **Reply #14 on:** March 18, 2005, 04:01:03 pm »

Quote from: koolmoecraig on March 18, 2005, 03:51:56 pm

Quote from: nostrebor on March 17, 2005, 05:20:07 pm
you might post the question and pic on RGVAC and KLOV forums. There are plenty of operator/repair guys there

I have posted it on the RGVAC and KLOV boards and people don't seem to care at all. In fact, every time I post on those boards everyone acts like a bunch of snobbish nerds.

I need to get this thing figured out. It could be an entirely new version of Q*bert that can be mamed!

Yeah. I've been following their responses there too... Looks like the last time I'll offer that bit of advice.

I would now like to revise my thoughts to "ask MAME devs to dump it and figure it out."

koolmoecraig · « **Reply #15 on:** March 18, 2005, 04:30:49 pm »

Quote from: XtraSmiley on March 17, 2005, 05:52:41 pm

I wouldn't just randomly plug it in to test.... never know what you'll fry.

Witchboard · « **Reply #16 on:** March 18, 2005, 04:38:29 pm »

Quote from: Stingray on March 18, 2005, 03:56:17 pm

Quote from: koolmoecraig on March 18, 2005, 03:51:56 pm
In fact, every time I post on those boards everyone acts like a bunch of snobbish nerds.

The KLOV board isn't a super friendly place is it? I vastly prefer this board.

-S

It just seems a lot of guys already know each other there. It's like trying to get in a click in high school or something. They've helped me out quite a bit, but it's not as active as this board. I try to keep it separate. My arcade troubleshooting on KLOV and my control questions here. Except for monitor questions. I use the monitor forum here since Guru and Ken answer quickly here.

Did somebody already ask where you were located Craig?

koolmoecraig · « **Reply #17 on:** March 18, 2005, 04:47:07 pm »

I am in the Los Angeles area.

XtraSmiley · « **Reply #18 on:** March 18, 2005, 05:03:12 pm »

Quote

I tried emailing Aaron but his email link doesn't work. Anyone else?

Did you use this? http://www.aarongiles.com/email.html

MonitorGuru · « **Reply #19 on:** March 18, 2005, 05:08:28 pm »

Contact Clay Cowgill. (Google for his address or check http://www.multigame.com

Why? Well first, he makes the multi-Qbert adaptor.

Second, he was one of the first people to *successfully* disassemble the epoxy blob from Bally-Midway known as the Pac-Man Plus upgrade kit!

This one looks MUCH easier and he would have the hardware and technical know how to successfully extract the info needed out of it and not destroy it.


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