Berzerk

[RetroACTIVE]

I couldn't let Level42 be the only crazy around here!

By the way this is lamest post ever... no pics nothing... my camera is broke!

To be continued....

[Spyridon]

but you already knew that! 

[ChadTower]

Of course, this is Berzerk resto thread three, not two. 

Mine is up and running with a perfect monitor now.  I just haven't updated it because... erm... well because I've been playing Berzerk!  Yeah, that's it! 

[RetroACTIVE]

Of course, this is Berzerk resto thread three, not two.  

Mine is up and running with a perfect monitor now.  I just haven't updated it because... erm... well because I've been playing Berzerk!  Yeah, that's it!  

Actually... your thread was the first one that got me re-salivating for a Berzerk in the first place!  

I traded some stuff with mr. dns over at klov for 2 berzerk cabs... one is fully functional... the other has a monitor in it with some wiring. The empty cab is in better shape, so I'm going to transfer the guts of the functional one over to the empty one.  

I pre-ordered a repro panel... that was the nail in the coffin for my next restore project!

I will probably re-stencil...  I'm contemplating finishing both of them... with the empty cab I may put an arcadeshop board in there (so it can at least be a Berzerk) and build a custom panel for it.... and offer it up for sale.  Depends on my level of ambition... after all I've still got 2 other restores in progress!

[ChadTower]

Heh... mame might be a good candidate for the empty one, too.  Dedicated Berzerk/Frenzy, of course.

[RetroACTIVE]

Just ordered my stencils...

[HanoiBoi]

Of course, this is Berzerk resto thread three, not two. 

Mine is up and running with a perfect monitor now.  I just haven't updated it because... erm... well because I've been playing Berzerk!  Yeah, that's it! 

I gotta know...what kind of scores are you putting up?  I have a hard time once I get around 12,000 - 13,000. 

Any secrets?

[Spyridon]

I gotta know...what kind of scores are you putting up?  I have a hard time once I get around 12,000 - 13,000. 

Any secrets?

I'm still struggling to break 6,000 if it makes you feel better.

[ChadTower]

I'm around 6000 too because my joystick isn't that great.  I can play the 2600 version way higher but I'm probably not getting much further on the cab until I change the stick.

[Level42]

I made it just into the 12000 one time but that score got deleted. All my high scores are in the 11000 now.

[HanoiBoi]

Wow, you guys are making me feel like a king.   

I don't remember what kind of scores I got as a 'kid', but my highest recently is 15990.  I see some repeatable screens along the way, but was wondering if there's some 'known pattern', that I don't know of.  16000 seems a bit low considering the world record is something like 300,000+. 

I usually get to 12k, and about half the time to 13k, but then it's like I hit a wall.   

[Level42]

My "wall" was at 11k. I scored 13200 yesterday though ! Pretty sure I will be able to up further with more practice.

Known pattern ? Haven't you seen Chasing Ghosts ?

BOX pattern. You walk in circles....when you're in maze one go right, then go down, go left, go up, go right etc. etc. etc.

The mazes and robots will always be in the same spot. Memorize that, repeat until you drop exhausted on the floor and you've got your world record. But I agree with the guys in Chasing Ghosts: that is NOT playing Berzerk !

[HanoiBoi]

I have not seen Chasing Ghosts, but I have heard of it and would be interested.  I'll have to see if I can locate it...

By 'box' or 'circles', does that refer to exiting the screen?  Or does that refer to how to attack the robots per screen?  I imagine 'exiting', but I always exit to the right.  Otherwise, I'm quite disoriented.

Congrats on your personal best! 

[Level42]

Yes I always exit to the right all the time, unless I really have to outrun Evil Otto in some situations.

I guess most people to follow that pattern, as my joystick seems to hang very slightly to the right....

I indeed meant exiting the screens with the box pattern. If you follow it you will be "running around" in the same mazes every time....

[RetroACTIVE]

Here are a couple of pics of the inside:



Look at this yummie mess!


I've been trying to find a replacement harness... have had ZERO luck.  At this point it looks like I'll be repairing this friggin' mess!  I'm sorry, I simply don't understand the logic when this sort of thing is done... if your going to cut the wiring... why not cut the connector off... then make your mess... whomever did this decided to cut the middle of the harness... picking out the wires... unbelievable.

[RetroACTIVE]

Started working on my Berzerk...

Can I start off by saying... these Stern (or at least mine) cabinets are absolute crap!!! Finish sucks, cuts suck pretty much everything about them except the game thats in it (and some may argue that it also is not very good).... However Berzerk is one of my all time favorites and needs to honored appropriately as it gets cleaned up, re-painted and re-stenciled before it goes into the game room.

I gutted the cab and this is whats left...





I got an idea lets run the heck out of our CNC machine until the bit chatters like crazy... uh oh... BAH... ship it!


Seeing how Berzerk has NO LEG LEVELERS and sits pretty much on the ground... You will find many of them have the bottom edges all chewed up...
I used two pieces of wood lined with metal tape then filled it up with bondo...


Just about done with it here


I've also cut a new slot all the way around... Berzerk only has t-molding on the front and up over the top... I'm going to wrap the whole game.
Here is the bottom with the two new cross members


Up next... new leg levelers...

[IG-88]

Looking much better!   

Did you have any problems with the bondo sticking to the metal tape?

[RetroACTIVE]

Looking much better!   

Did you have any problems with the bondo sticking to the metal tape?

Nope... I didn't let the bondo cure to 100% before I removed the molds.

[RetroACTIVE]

I was able to get the bottom woodworking finished with new leg levelers....





I will be repairing all the minor damage next and preparing it for paint this week...

[RetroACTIVE]

On coat 4 of black... plus got all of the trim back from the powder coater... (see APB thread).

Will probably be able to stencil by the end of next week.

[Spyridon]

How is the weather holding up for you?  It's too cold here to do any major restoration work.  I really wish I had a big heated garage to keep working in.

[RetroACTIVE]

How is the weather holding up for you?  It's too cold here to do any major restoration work.  I really wish I had a big heated garage to keep working in.

It's getting tough... 50-60 during the day... just enough for paint to dry... and I'm using every single day I can... my garage is attached to my house so I get a little (prob 2-3 degree) boost...

Getting close to the end ... I'm working desperately to get this done so I can get Space Invaders going... (fingers crossed).

I do have a heater but its not that great...

[RetroACTIVE]

Was able to get it stenciled!!!!

It's on there pretty thick... I happen to like that effect.  The cab is matte black with a glossy stencil and it looks really really sharp.  This was my second set of stencils from gamestencils... Defender was my first and like Defender, they are really great.   The only issue I had with these is that they had been sitting around for about a year and I didn't lay them flat first so it was tricky getting them on there.   There are a few goofs but what I find with stenciling is that you don't really pay attention to those little goofs... once all of the masking is removed and the cab is populated all of the little "problems" fade and it just looks fantastic!!!!

Almost ready to bring this bad boy down to the game room and fill it up with its guts !!!!







space invaders is next...

[Spyridon]

Looking good!!!

 

[Superully]

looks nice, but where has the texture gone?

[RetroACTIVE]

looks nice, but where has the texture gone?

Gone... gone for good . It's a clean cut Berzerk... like it's older brother Frenzy.  After cleaning, filling and sanding for a week I couldn't get myself to booger it up with texture... so I left it clean.  Besides I've never beena fan of that crappy textured look... I know it's not authentic but I think it looks better.

[RetroACTIVE]

Can I first start by saying that clnmoore's control panel is perfect in every way!!! When he announced he was doing another run, he inspired me to get going on getting a Berzerk to restore... lots of pics because I think this is probably one if not the best part of this restoration!!!!

Here are all the goodies.  I re-cut the wood panel and customized it to fit the Happ P360 joystick.... I routed the bottom and the top for the dust washer and installed t-nuts to use as anchors for the screws holding the stick in from the underside of the panel



It fit nicely in the recess..


Easy mounting from the underside using t-nuts.. plus this eliminates the need to use the adapter plate typically found to retrofit the old bat stick with wico leaf stick.


Nice and clean...


Installing the stick... I painted the recess in case the dust washer exposed the wood when using the stick... turns out it doesnt...


Configure the P360 with the sleeve ... small side up = 8 way...


All in...


Important... for the P360 orientation... the terminals for the stick need to be facing the player's right


Stick from the top... it looks crooked... its not... its not aligned yet... (I've not bolted the panel to the wood)


Attach the panel to the wood with the 4 stainless screws supplied by clnmoore!!!


Installing the buttons...You will see the buttons have little raised ribs that are designed to fit into the metal panel so the button won't spin...


Pop it in as far as it can go... then


Give it a good push... the holes on the panel are slightly small.... and that's fine by me... the buttons fit nice and firmly into place.


Doesn't that look slick!!!


Five pack of PAL nuts from good ol' Bob...


Finger tighten the PAL nuts... they should go on easy... be careful not to cross thread them... I can't tell you how many control panels I've taken apart where people cross thread and mash up the buttons...


There we go... I used black bolts for the 4 (would be) joystick bolts.


Another thing about the way I chose to mount this stick... I prefer the dust washer to be up close to the control panel... If I had used the adapter plate and the existing wood panel the dust washer would have been way down on top of the joystick body... For you observant folks... yes those bolts have marked heads... PLEH!!!! I will be changing them out.


In place... no wiring yet that will be next... I have an APB seat to finish!!!!

[ChadTower]

That looks really good!  Nice job.  I'm not sure if the replacement CP I picked up was a repro or not.  It's not as heavy as the original is but the ebay auction listed it as NOS.  Either way, the graphics are chipping off already in a couple of spots on the edge, and I'm not entirely sure what to do about it.   

[RetroACTIVE]

That looks really good!  Nice job.  I'm not sure if the replacement CP I picked up was a repro or not.  It's not as heavy as the original is but the ebay auction listed it as NOS.  Either way, the graphics are chipping off already in a couple of spots on the edge, and I'm not entirely sure what to do about it.   

Touch it up and spray coat the thing with minwax polycrylic?

[RetroACTIVE]

When I applied the stencil ... I moved the artwork slightly so the bolts would fall in the proper place so they could be painted to match...







that's it for today

[ChadTower]

Touch it up and spray coat the thing with minwax polycrylic?

Something tells me stainless steel isn't going to like that.  Obviously I'll only get one shot.

[RetroACTIVE]

Touch it up and spray coat the thing with minwax polycrylic?

Something tells me stainless steel isn't going to like that.  Obviously I'll only get one shot.

True... or take it to an auto body shop and have them hit it with a couple of clear coats?  That may work better, maybe...

[VanillaGorilla]

Lookin brilliant. Needs the texture coat IMHO, but to thine self be true. I have a scramble thats gonna get the treatment, I will be using the sand texture however....at least your serial # is intact. I'm stealing your tech for the underside resto.

[RetroACTIVE]

Painted the inside... put monitor board in...






Installed new speaker






put foam tape around marquee...





installation of the marquee lamp board..





coin door plastics...


polished up the chrome with some novus 2 and 3


I had two coin doors one was banged up pretty bad but the insides were perfect and vice versa ... so I had to swap out the wiring...

good mechanics:

good wiring:

transferring....


done...


I had the bolts powder coated to match...


Strapping the metal together...



Slides...



Added the "foam bumper"...





Berzerk gets a brand spanking new vp...


Here it is  ... almost done...

[RetroACTIVE]

Old crappy leafs... these were pretty tired... didn't have too much pep left in them


New one from Bob... the thickness of these is a bit less then the original


see the diff here...


I have taken the old switches apart and used the spacers


to build up the new ones to the correct height...


Reassemble the switch with the old hardware...



put the two spacers between the switch and the nylon standoff...


use the screws to mark the panel board for the pilot holes...




secure the switch...


all switches mounted...


ground strap soldered in place...


soldered each switch...


all switches done!


dealing with the ground bleeder ...



crimp...


...add a tad of solder


...and mount it to the panel bolt...


Wiring up the P360
start with a finger board and solder a 156 header to it..




P360 has +5 and GND wires already attached... I chose to remove them and ad spade lugs to it..




I used the same color coded wire as the Berzerk harness...

Adapter complete...


... llllllllllike a glove!


That's IT!!! Control panel works perfectly... I played a couple of games of Berzerk and Frenzy today for the first time!!!!

Unfortunately I have to play it with the speaker disconnected until I get my new sound board...

[Funnel]

Wow I'm very impressed! You guys are too much... excellent job RetroACTIVE.

[RetroACTIVE]

Got the door latch reworked to my liking!!!!

Ok... so I modified the cab from its original design... some may like it some may not... I happen to like the clean look of the front and that lever-latch-thingie-on-a-spring was just poo...

So I decided to use a standard 2" surface slide bolt...


... mounted on the door:


... with the bolt fully extended it will not actually hit the finished surface so if its left in the engaged position and the door is accidentally slammed it wont hurt a thing!


...here is the little catch for the bolt


...view from the inside.



It holds it nice and tight... I'm going to put a small strip of 1/4" single sided foam tape around the door frame (on the door not the cab) to give it a nice soft fit.

Still have to finish the door it has the old crappy finish on it... and THAT WILL BE IT FOR BERZERK!  YAY!!!!

[1500points]

Out scouting for old Berzerk restoration information. Outstanding work here.

At the start, you mention mazes and patterns.  Here is how the mazes work, including a full map.
http://www.robotron2084guidebook.com/home/games/berzerk/mazegenerator/map/