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Author Topic: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)  (Read 20403 times)

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Jdurg

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #40 on: May 24, 2008, 08:28:28 pm »
AWESOME job!   :applaud:  This really make me think we should have a dedicated restoration forums with restoration threads in it like this one so those of us who want to restore a cab can see what others have done.
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Zebidee

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #41 on: May 24, 2008, 10:41:59 pm »
Hiya Vid, love your work :)   I am soooooo glad that you didn't mame this cocktail.

Maybe you have a fast-fire hacked Galaga PCB?  This is a common derivate of Galaga.  I don't think Mame would emulate this, as it is a 'hack'.  However, you might find that one of the other Mame-derived emulators do. 

So ..... can you tell the difference in the background starfield?  Apparently Mame doesn't do this perfectly.
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WunderCade

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #42 on: May 25, 2008, 02:48:14 am »
AWESOME job!   :applaud:  This really make me think we should have a dedicated restoration forums with restoration threads in it like this one so those of us who want to restore a cab can see what others have done.

There's actually a thread recommending that cab restorations have their own forum.
You should go and vote, there's a poll there.

Nice job on the Galaga CT....what a score!  :o
« Last Edit: May 25, 2008, 02:50:44 am by WunderCade »

vidmouse

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #43 on: May 25, 2008, 06:58:34 am »
Ok, I went and voted.  Also left a message about what I was told about cab restorations...

Comparing it to my desktop PC and monitor, the one immediate thing I notice about the starfield
is that the stars seem smaller and that there are more of them in the MAME version.  But I'm not sitting w/ both of them side-by-side, so it's tough to compare.

I will boot up my MAME cab and compare them side-by-side later in the day and see.
If warranted I'll see if I can shoot another youtube video and post.

I didn't even know there was a hack until I looked at a rom website again... there's even a fast-hack rom apparently but I'm not sure what MAME version runs it.

Thanks for all the comments!

GAJoe

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #44 on: May 25, 2008, 06:51:32 pm »
Here's the note on the starfield from the MAWS database:

"The star line and pixel locations of the Galaga starfield pulled directly from a clocked stepping of the 05 starfield. The chip was clocked on a test rig with hblank and vblank simulated, each X & Y location of a star being recorded along with it's color value. Because the starfield begins generating stars at the point in time it's enabled the exact horizontal location of the stars on Galaga depends on the length of time of the POST for the original board. Two control bits determine which of two sets are displayed set 0 or 1 and simultaneously 2 or 3. There are 63 stars in each set, 126 displayed at any one time."



If I'm reading that right, I think that means the a new strafield is generated for each game you play for as long as the machine is left on.  When you reset, it starts over from the beginning.

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #45 on: May 25, 2008, 09:13:51 pm »
Ok, I didn't quite get all of that  :dunno

I think the biggest difference I notice is the
difference b/t my MAME on a standard TV vs
my cocktail's arcade monitor.  Literally, night and day.

Here's the comparison video... watch at the end for
the footage of the rapid-fire/continuous fire thing,
see how it compares to your memories or mame hacks.
(or fast trigger fingers!).  It's like playing a whole new
Galaga, like a hot knife through butter.

First up is my MAME cab, then the Galaga cocktail.
No flames on how poor I just played, it was one-handed..   :P

http://www.youtube.com/v/ehsu625uM74

GAJoe

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #46 on: May 25, 2008, 09:28:19 pm »
Yeah, the fast shot definitely isn't a part of the original.  When the game runs through its demo, the ship is supposed to get caught and taken to the top and that ends the demo.  As a result of the fast shot, the tractor beam ship gets killed at the same time it's collecting the player ship and so you just hang there till the demo starts over.

As an aside, you can control the ship during the demo and you can reset a Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga machine by shooting the tractor beam ship.

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #47 on: May 25, 2008, 11:31:24 pm »
Did you see this Galaga CT Overlay Artwork on eBay? The BIN is only 25.50.

« Last Edit: May 25, 2008, 11:32:57 pm by WunderCade »

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #48 on: May 26, 2008, 12:07:24 am »
Slightly changing focus here, but is there anyone else out there that does the 'Galaga Dance':dunno

Judging by the blank looks, I'll guess not.  Well, here is a confession I want to make.

Whenever I play Galaga and get a PERFECT score in the bonus stages, and the music goes crazy, I just can't help myself .... I have to do a Galaga dance!  Alternatively, if I happen to be in my shed where I have a chin-up bar, I'll do a couple of chin ups while the music plays because I get so PUMPED that I just have to do something physical!  Sometimes it is the only exercise I get .....

Yeah, I know ..... I'm a sick man, but cheap thrills are often the best  ;D

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GAJoe

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #49 on: May 26, 2008, 12:48:36 am »
Slightly changing focus here, but is there anyone else out there that does the 'Galaga Dance':dunno

[...]

Yeah, I know ..... I'm a sick man, but cheap thrills are often the best  ;D

I don't dance, but I do hum the "Perfect" music and tap the button along to it.  I love that tune, about as much as the intermission music from Ms. Pac-Man.

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #50 on: May 26, 2008, 01:09:44 pm »
Did you see this Galaga CT Overlay Artwork on eBay? The BIN is only 25.50.



A few others pointed these out back on page 1.  If I felt like my restore job
turned out bad I could always do this, but I'd have to get new glass too.

May still do it, just not a priority right now, given the other cab projects
I'm starting.

Also something odd I just noticed... the new underlay is missing a few
of the logos fro Midway, Namco, and Bally.

And I've never gotten 100% on the bonus, so I have no idea how
to do the Galaga dance.  Yeah, I suck.  At least now I have
incentive to practice!



GAJoe

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #51 on: May 26, 2008, 02:52:09 pm »
And I've never gotten 100% on the bonus, so I have no idea how
to do the Galaga dance.  Yeah, I suck.  At least now I have
incentive to practice!


Everyone should have the joy of hearing the "Perfect!" music.  The first bonus is easy, especially with double ships and your fast shot.  Stay in the center and just keep firing.  You may have to adjust a tiny bit to the left or right, but pretty much all the ships cross the very center of the screen.

Zebidee

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #52 on: May 26, 2008, 09:09:07 pm »
And I've never gotten 100% on the bonus, so I have no idea how
Stay in the center and just keep firing.

Don't worry Vid, we'll get you dancing soon.

You can get the PERFECT bonus this way with even just one ship, if you are in the right spot.  Use the score at top to line yourself up and refine your technique. 

With 2 ships (I always have two at the first bonus screen) line up your right-hand shot with the left side of the second numeral from the right (ie, the 'tens' for those mathematicians out there).  Then them bugs will be dropping like, well, flies .....  :laugh2:
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Zebidee

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #53 on: May 26, 2008, 09:50:04 pm »
... something odd I just noticed... the new underlay is missing a few
of the logos fro Midway, Namco, and Bally.

I've just attached a PDF with logos for Bally, Midway, Capcom, Williams and SNK. :woot


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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #54 on: May 31, 2008, 10:34:35 pm »
Wow.. that is some good old fashioned 'make it work' restoration. My galaxian cocktail is suffering from lack of CPU, attack of the Trivia Whiz, and the fun game of 'let's put scratchy stuff on the plex-i-glass..

Have you shown it to the neighbor yet? I'll bet masonry was defecated.




If you order a pizza, put 1 quarter in their Galaga and the pizza's done before you are, you might be a video game junkie.. if you offer to tweak the crt , definitely.

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #55 on: June 05, 2008, 01:21:15 am »
Regarding the fast shots, here is something I found on the Galaga wiki page:

"Two "rapid fire" modifications are available for the arcade version. One replaces chip 3J on the original Galaga CPU board, allowing the player to hold down the fire button and fire continuously. The other modification changes the speed of the player's shots, occasionally causing shots to pass through enemies due to the animation speed."

So if you wanted to restore it to an original Galaga, I guess you'd need to get a new 3J chip.  It doesn't mention if those were official modifications from Namco/Midway, my guess would be no.


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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #56 on: June 11, 2008, 08:18:12 am »
I'll bet masonry was defecated.
... 
Haven't shown it to my neighbor yet.  I think his son was the one who was really into it and he went off after school let out this year, not sure where to.  When I see him next time, I'll mention it.

Regarding the fast shots, here is something I found on the Galaga wiki page:

"Two "rapid fire" modifications are available for the arcade version. One replaces chip 3J on the original Galaga CPU board, allowing the player to hold down the fire button and fire continuously. The other modification changes the speed of the player's shots, occasionally causing shots to pass through enemies due to the animation speed."

So if you wanted to restore it to an original Galaga, I guess you'd need to get a new 3J chip.  It doesn't mention if those were official modifications from Namco/Midway, my guess would be no.
I haven't noticed shots passing through enemies but I have noticed that the hit box on my ships seems a little smaller than I would've thought... I tried it in MAME too and it's the same way.

Zeb asked me about changing it back to "normal" game too but I don't think I will... why give up my "homecourt advantage"?  :)  Besides, it's a good mod, actually makes the game more exciting and fun.

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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #57 on: June 11, 2008, 09:28:31 am »
Regarding the fast shots, here is something I found on the Galaga wiki page:

"Two "rapid fire" modifications are available for the arcade version. One replaces chip 3J on the original Galaga CPU board, allowing the player to hold down the fire button and fire continuously. The other modification changes the speed of the player's shots, occasionally causing shots to pass through enemies due to the animation speed."

So if you wanted to restore it to an original Galaga, I guess you'd need to get a new 3J chip.  It doesn't mention if those were official modifications from Namco/Midway, my guess would be no.



I have the Galaga enhancement pack on my Gallag board with the rapid fire hack being optional on game start. The rapid fire for that does run off of 3J (or whatever the gallag equivalent is; its the same programming either way) , but many shots would go straight through, often causing an untimely death. Kind of annoying. I would assume the Namco/Midway "Galaga rapid fire board" is the hack that doesnt allow the shots to go through.

Slightly changing focus here, but is there anyone else out there that does the 'Galaga Dance':dunno

Judging by the blank looks, I'll guess not.  Well, here is a confession I want to make.

Whenever I play Galaga and get a PERFECT score in the bonus stages, and the music goes crazy, I just can't help myself .... I have to do a Galaga dance!  Alternatively, if I happen to be in my shed where I have a chin-up bar, I'll do a couple of chin ups while the music plays because I get so PUMPED that I just have to do something physical!  Sometimes it is the only exercise I get .....

Yeah, I know ..... I'm a sick man, but cheap thrills are often the best  ;D



I dont go the extreme of chin ups (I couldnt do one if I was given ten thousand dollars...), but If no one is around I have more of a jig. Theres no way to describe it though...

If people are around, I usually just drum on my CP with the music. It was through that that I found the weak joint on the green drive resistor in my monitor.

edited for crappy grammar
« Last Edit: June 11, 2008, 09:40:39 am by Mauzy »
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Re: Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)
« Reply #58 on: June 11, 2008, 09:57:35 am »
Quote
I dont go the extreme of chin ups (I couldnt do one if I was given ten thousand dollars...), but If no one is around I have more of a jig. Theres no way to describe it though...

I just remembered, or realised, today that I have a little routine for "Time Pilot" as well (or "Time Pillock" as I prefer to call it), when your ship gets warped to a new war zone.  The main similarity is that both routines have a kind of therapeutic stretching effect, to ease stress in my joystick hand and button-mashing finger.  So, dance on party-goers!
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