Author Topic: Best news for Williams restorers ever....non-emulated Williams multi-Jamma (Read 24569 times)

Level42 · « **on:** August 29, 2008, 04:30:09 am »

http://www.jrok.com/hardware/wsf

This uses the 6809 as a CPU. So it's NOT emulation. THE FPGA contains all the other hardware from the other games except the sound which is handled by the Atmel.

This is totaly:

Now......how about a Nintendo version of this

Level42 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 29, 2008, 07:32:21 am »

Hey guess why I put it in the Restoration section....this is a dream come true for people with plagued Willams cabs with defective/missing boards(ets)......

Looks like a great solution for your Stargate Peale . And defender !

shardian · « **Reply #2 on:** August 29, 2008, 08:29:13 am »

The best part is the price - $150. How he is able to sell that even at cost for that price is amazing.

Maybe now arcadeshop will have to lower their prices.

Level42 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 29, 2008, 08:36:10 am »

Yeah the price is great, but for me the best part is that it's not emulation. No matter what, emulation is not the real deal. This is.

The Multi-Williams from AS does support some more games but.....it's emulation.

Now I need a Williams cab !

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #4 on:** August 29, 2008, 08:52:55 am »

YES! I thought this may come... He had already re-designed each of the system boards before... this really is totally awesome! I wired my Defender with a JAMMA harness

... when this becomes available... I'm definitely getting one!

ChadTower · « **Reply #5 on:** August 29, 2008, 09:23:15 am »

That would be fantastic in a bartop at that PCB size. Very little footprint.

HaRuMaN · « **Reply #6 on:** August 29, 2008, 09:57:33 am »

Gah... can't get that website right now... what games are on it?

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #7 on:** August 29, 2008, 01:31:50 pm »

Quote from: HarumaN on August 29, 2008, 09:57:33 am

Gah... can't get that website right now... what games are on it?

Defender, Stargate, Joust, Robotron, Bubbles, Splat, Sinistar and Blaster

RayB · « **Reply #8 on:** August 29, 2008, 04:17:51 pm »

What! No Inferno?!

Wade · « **Reply #9 on:** August 29, 2008, 08:51:06 pm »

I'm also really pumped about this. I've kindof wanted a multi williams, but this really makes me interested. So an elegant solution, it's hard to find fault with it. This will satisfy all but the most serious purists. I appreciate that it's not emulation and that all games on it will only play perfectly. No chinese MAME ripoffs. I'm impressed by the price, too.

Oh, and the VGA option is a very nice touch.

Wade

smartbomb2084 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 29, 2008, 11:39:14 pm »

I admit, it does look interesting. Can you hook up the original control panels to keep it more real? I absolutely CANNOT and WILL NOT play DEFENDER or ROBOTRON with microswitch based controls. It has got to be leaf switches. I would have to play it to believe it. If it is not the original hardware it is hard to believe that it plays like original hardware. I am not ashamed to be a purist.

Wade · « **Reply #11 on:** August 29, 2008, 11:52:48 pm »

Quote from: smartbomb2084 on August 29, 2008, 11:39:14 pm

I admit, it does look interesting. Can you hook up the original control panels to keep it more real? I absolutely CANNOT and WILL NOT play DEFENDER or ROBOTRON with microswitch based controls. It has got to be leaf switches. I would have to play it to believe it. If it is not the original hardware it is hard to believe that it plays like original hardware. I am not ashamed to be a purist.

Of course it can use the original panels. You could put this inside an otherwise stock Williams cabinet w/a harness adapter.

Wade

smartbomb2084 · « **Reply #12 on:** August 30, 2008, 12:08:04 am »

What kind of harness adapter? Would we be sacrificing any originality by using it?

SavannahLion · « **Reply #13 on:** August 30, 2008, 12:14:17 am »

Quote from: shardian on August 29, 2008, 08:29:13 am

The best part is the price - $150. How he is able to sell that even at cost for that price is amazing.

I've been looking around on the site and couldn't find where he has prices. What's the link?

Level42 · « **Reply #14 on:** August 30, 2008, 03:59:19 am »

There was a thread about it on KLOV and JROK mentioned the price there and that betatesters now have their boards and if all goes well it will be ready for sale mid september:

http://forums.webmagic.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=2&Number=866860&an=0&page=1#Post866860

Smartbomb:
If you'd read the site (which I would expect from a purist) you'd already know this but here's a paste and copy:

One of the design goals was to allow for the use of the SysFGPA as a straight replacement for an original boardset. To do this I've also built a couple of different JAMMA to Williams harness adapters specifically for the board. They plug into the original harness and seamlessly allow the use of the board in a dedicated cabinet. I've personally been testing in a dedicated Defender cabinet and, although I might be biased, I can't tell the difference.

Basicaly, this board is simply the early Williams hardware on one single board. JROK has been developing and making replacements boards for the various parts of the Williams hardware, like the ROM board, the sound board. So, the next step was integrating it all into a single board (like he writes on the site).

It's running on the original processor, it's running the original game-code. The real hardware functions are put into that single FPGC chip and responds exactly like the real stuff. The only thing emulated is the sound, but even that is on a processor based emulation, so you shouldn't hear any difference. However, it's also possible to connect a real soud-board for the purists !

This is why I am so impressed with it: this will make the games run exactly like the original hardware. No emulation. You can either run it in a "general" cab, or put it in a Williams cab with the right adapter harness.

I bet they also make a nice match to the Multi-Williams CP's that are readily available...

If you'd prefer good joysticks and leaf buttons you can also get the panel and CPO separately...

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #15 on:** August 30, 2008, 09:40:21 am »

* CheffoJeffo runs to his box o' sticks to make sure he still had those Wico 8ways and long handles

Level42 · « **Reply #16 on:** August 30, 2008, 06:01:22 pm »

Yeah, I still have a set of top-fire home version Wico's that could very well be used in a cab......

Ummon · « **Reply #17 on:** August 30, 2008, 06:05:27 pm »

I happened to pick some up myself, recently. That price is simply the most.

Spyridon · « **Reply #18 on:** September 01, 2008, 10:05:11 pm »

Quote from: Level42 on August 30, 2008, 03:59:19 am

I bet they also make a nice match to the Multi-Williams CP's that are readily available...

The only problem with the control panel is that it would need a new overlay as that one has moon patrol on it.

That's the dilema I have now. I have that control panel with that overlay as well as the matching marquee and bezel. I was planning on getting the AS board, but this is worth considering.

Level42 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 02, 2008, 01:10:52 am »

You're right, didn't notice that ! Well you could get the bare panel and maybe some of the guys in the Artwork forum can come up with a nice new Multi-Williams CPO ?

Wade · « **Reply #20 on:** September 02, 2008, 10:24:32 am »

Quote from: Level42 on September 02, 2008, 01:10:52 am

You're right, didn't notice that ! Well you could get the bare panel and maybe some of the guys in the Artwork forum can come up with a nice new Multi-Williams CPO ?

Weren't there some silkscreened Multiwilliams CPO's made before that one and when the only Multiwilliams was the one running on original hardware and didn't have Moon Patrol? Maybe you could find some of that. There have been several versions of Multiwilliams artwork printed over the years.

Personally, I wouldn't care too much if the artwork has MP on it and MP isn't actually on the board. Very minor detail.

Wade

Spyridon · « **Reply #21 on:** September 02, 2008, 03:14:11 pm »

Quote from: Wade on September 02, 2008, 10:24:32 am

Personally, I wouldn't care too much if the artwork has MP on it and MP isn't actually on the board. Very minor detail.

I have the control panel artwork above along with this marquee:

And this bezel:

As you can see, I've got moon patrol everywhere. The bezel also has some instructions on how to switch games which is probably specific to the AS board.

Local Arcade has better options without Moon Patrol (or Blaster which I don't have anyway) available, but I have to decide it I want to scrap what I already have invested in.

The good news is at least I have the correct side art

:

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #22 on:** September 02, 2008, 03:31:38 pm »

Yup... I tweaked the one from localarcade to fit Defender... instead of just slicing the bottom off of it.

Wade · « **Reply #23 on:** September 02, 2008, 09:24:26 pm »

The sideart, CP, marquee on Localarcade were originally screen printed so you can probably find them somewhere. I personally like that artwork (especially the CP) much better than the "multi-williams" control panel pictured above. You could mix and match them and they'd all still work pretty well together IMO.

Wade

Spyridon · « **Reply #24 on:** September 03, 2008, 08:37:58 pm »

Quote from: Wade on September 02, 2008, 09:24:26 pm

The sideart, CP, marquee on Localarcade were originally screen printed so you can probably find them somewhere.

I actually like that CP better as well. Any idea where to find the screened version of it?

shilmover · « **Reply #25 on:** September 03, 2008, 11:36:53 pm »

Quote from: Spyridon on September 03, 2008, 08:37:58 pm

Quote from: Wade on September 02, 2008, 09:24:26 pm
The sideart, CP, marquee on Localarcade were originally screen printed so you can probably find them somewhere.

I actually like that CP better as well. Any idea where to find the screened version of it?

I can't get to LocalArcade.com right now to see the art

, but I think I have a place that can print it. I will check out and let you know.

Barry

Flake · « **Reply #26 on:** October 29, 2008, 11:56:57 am »

So since this offers 49-way joystick support could your control panel have one 49-way and one 8-way and still be able to play all the games correctly? For instance, could the 49-way be used to play Defender/Robotron? I guess since Sinistar is a vertical game and this would be on a horizontal monitor it doesnt really matter anyway huh?

Any ideas on release date?

The reason I ask is I have a gutted Defender cab just sitting around.

Level42 · « **Reply #27 on:** November 07, 2008, 03:41:24 pm »

Looks like the release will be soon:

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #28 on:** November 08, 2008, 07:07:47 am »

(+_+) · « **Reply #29 on:** November 11, 2008, 04:03:23 pm »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on September 02, 2008, 03:31:38 pm

Yup... I tweaked the one from localarcade to fit Defender... instead of just slicing the bottom off of it.

The only thing I've never liked about the button layout is the Hyperspace and Inviso being so close to the right joy. It should be moved over to the right slightly. Probably a real estate issue though.

TOK · « **Reply #30 on:** November 12, 2008, 06:00:09 am »

I went to use that CP art for my bartop, but found the Inviso button to be way too far off the original layout. It didn't feel right to me, so I went with an original Stargate overlay. The buttons should be almost touching.
Some graphic mod to that would have made it perfect (move over the smart bomb text and move the Inviso in).
Pic of the original button layout... The rest isn't good for Multi-Williams, obviously.

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #31 on:** November 15, 2008, 05:52:32 pm »

Apparently he is now taking orders ... and, yes, I ordered before posting this ...

Level42 · « **Reply #32 on:** November 15, 2008, 07:07:40 pm »

You son of a b......SSHHH !!

Jrok has to figure out the shipping to The Netherlands first !

.....now all I need is a Williams cab.........

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #33 on:** November 15, 2008, 07:28:18 pm »

Quote from: Level42 on November 15, 2008, 07:07:40 pm

You son of a b......SSHHH !!

FWIW, I haven't heard back yet ... and I read it somewhere else (other than KLOV) first ...

debauche · « **Reply #34 on:** November 30, 2008, 03:28:56 pm »

Awesome... was just gonna get a defender board for my Stargate... at about the same price!

debauche · « **Reply #35 on:** November 30, 2008, 03:34:54 pm »

Level, can you buy that complete control panel somewhere?

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #36 on:** November 30, 2008, 03:49:30 pm »

Better hurry -- the list is apparently rather long -- I'm in the "latter half" of the list and am anxiously waiting to hear back from jrok.

As for the MW panel:

http://www.arcadeshop.com/parts.htm#Panels

Level42 · « **Reply #37 on:** November 30, 2008, 04:09:08 pm »

Are there drawings for williams cabs around ? I think finding an original Williams cab here is close to impossible.

Luigi · « **Reply #38 on:** December 03, 2008, 06:24:57 am »

Any news on the boards??

Would be perfect for the Defender cab we have. We need an all new CP and wiring (

) but it will let us play the cab while we try to get our hands on a working pcb-set

Luigi · « **Reply #39 on:** December 03, 2008, 06:37:16 am »

Quote from: Level42 on November 30, 2008, 04:09:08 pm

Are there drawings for williams cabs around ? I think finding an original Williams cab here is close to impossible.

http://vectorlib2.free.fr/jakobud/

I might be able to get my hands on a Joust cab. It has been changed for playing other games but it was in good shape (what I saw from the pictures). The monitor seems to be dead but I have never seen it personally.

Pickup in Germany (67435 Neustadt)....I will ask if it still there if you want and I would pick it up for you so you can see our gameroom when you come to pick it up

Level42 · « **Reply #40 on:** December 03, 2008, 03:11:52 pm »

Good lord Thorsten, you are not kidding me right ?

I would LOVE that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just PMed you !

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #41 on:** December 10, 2008, 09:33:39 am »

I got my PM back from jrok last night and fired off payment for my 2 boards first thing this morning!!!

Level42 · « **Reply #42 on:** December 10, 2008, 11:22:48 am »

Quote from: CheffoJeffo on December 10, 2008, 09:33:39 am

I got my PM back from jrok last night and fired off payment for my 2 boards first thing this morning!!!

Me too. 1 board that will find a nice place inside that wonderful Joust cab that Luigi found for me !!!

RayB · « **Reply #43 on:** December 10, 2008, 12:48:06 pm »

Why does his site make no mention of these being available?
http://www.jrok.com/

And where is the order page?!

http://www.jrok.com/hardware/wsf/

Level42 · « **Reply #44 on:** December 10, 2008, 02:17:12 pm »

Send James an e-mail.

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #45 on:** December 10, 2008, 02:19:13 pm »

Yeah, he's not putting them on the site until he gets through the throngs of folks, so he can figure out how much stock (if any) he is going to have left.

RayB · « **Reply #46 on:** December 10, 2008, 02:26:22 pm »

I emailed him and he's said: "None of them are for sale at this time."

It's ok, they are probably not in a price range I'm willing to spend right now (damn christmas!)

Level42 · « **Reply #47 on:** December 10, 2008, 02:32:03 pm »

$165,- is not expensive. Try to get all the original board-sets for that price. (Let alone trying to keep them running). He has mentioned he will do another run after all of the first run stock are gone.

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #48 on:** December 10, 2008, 03:30:16 pm »

Yep, that's what my second board is for ... I've been chasing sound issues in my Joust cocktail for months and haven't been able to nail it down ... gonna just rewire to JAMMA (I do have harness issues that should be addressed anyway) and drop in jrok's board.

Level42 · « **Reply #49 on:** December 13, 2008, 06:00:08 pm »

Mine has started it's journey across the pond.

I think it will be exactly on time to go straight into the Williams cab that I will be picking up next weekend !!

YIHAAA !

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #50 on:** December 13, 2008, 06:15:43 pm »

I got my tracking info today as well ...

sfrascella · « **Reply #51 on:** December 14, 2008, 07:54:22 pm »

Got a pm from James today! I sent payment and got confirmation a few minutes later that it will ship tomorrow.

That is service

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #52 on:** December 23, 2008, 10:17:55 am »

Look at what Santa just brought me ...

... if only I had a suitable donor cab in the shop -- it could have been a MultiWilliams Christmas.

Level42 · « **Reply #53 on:** December 23, 2008, 12:26:05 pm »

Quote from: CheffoJeffo on December 23, 2008, 10:17:55 am

Look at what Santa just brought me ...

... if only I had a suitable donor cab in the shop -- it could have been a MultiWilliams Christmas.

HA, i beat you by a couple of hours ! Delivered today as well

It's already in my Joust cab ! The monitor is not very good though, I can hear the high-voltage leaking under the cup and I can "smell" the ionized air. But I'm sure a cap-kit and some cleaning will improve things a lot. Also the buttons don't work, but whatever that is will be fixed soon enough.

Paladin · « **Reply #54 on:** December 23, 2008, 10:25:12 pm »

I've had mine for a couple weeks. I've got a converted Joust cab to put it in, but haven't decided what to do about a control panel yet. I wired up the board last week, and tonight I started work on a temporary control panel that will just have 2 joysticks with one button each as well as p1 and p2 start. I just couldn't wait until I got my control panel sorted out to play some Joust and Robotron!

I'd love to hear/see what everybody else is doing/planning for their control panels. I can't decide whether to just have mamemarquees print the multi Williams artwork on localarcade, or if I'm going to use the Joust variation that's being worked on by a guy over on KLOV.

Level42 · « **Reply #55 on:** December 24, 2008, 02:52:10 am »

I'd go for the Joust. At least I'm going to keep the cab as "Joust" as possible. I don't really like the multi-game marquees (too busy and the look fake). That's why I would love to have the Joust themed CPO that Barry Shilmover (who is the guy you mention, he's also a member here) designed. Trouble is, Euro-Joust has different sizes so it will require some re-engineering.

It was nice to be able to simply put the PCB in the Jamma connector and play.
The buttons/right joystick not working was solved in the set-up screen. Of course Defender and Stargate are still not playable, but I could play a 1P game on Joust and Robotron worked fine too.

Paladin · « **Reply #56 on:** December 25, 2008, 11:53:52 pm »

After a 2 week vacation, my first day back at work was today - Christmas. What a let down, but I had something waiting at home to cheer me up! I fired up my Multi Williams for the first time, and it works! I had put it together yesterday, but the lights in the house were blinking due to the recent snows and rain. I didn't want to risk frying something if the power decided to go nuts. We did end up loosing power, but only for an hour.

I've got the player 1 up/down wires swapped and the picture needs to be tweaked a bit, but after a 12.5 hour shift at work I'm too tired to work on it tonight. I don't know if it's my imagination, but Joust seems to handle better than I remember in MAME.

I've attached a picture of the cab, and yes it is truly ugly. The good news is that it's only going to get better! I don't think I'll do any work to the cab until the spring. I do plan on replacing the marquee, monitor bezel and control panel fairly soon though.

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #57 on:** December 26, 2008, 08:18:28 am »

I'm jealous ... nice to hear it is working out well.

Ummon · « **Reply #58 on:** December 26, 2008, 07:18:44 pm »

Quote from: Paladin on December 25, 2008, 11:53:52 pm

I've got the player 1 up/down wires swapped and the picture needs to be tweaked a bit, but after a 12.5 hour shift at work I'm too tired to work on it tonight. I don't know if it's my imagination, but Joust seems to handle better than I remember in MAME.

I've attached a picture of the cab, and yes it is truly ugly.

Cab isn't that bad. Just cosmetic. On Joust: yeah, after playing an original machine, this is something I've noticed and mentioned before, too. However, I've been able to get the hovering thing down some in Mame. New mame seems maybe a little more like the original. Hmmm.

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #59 on:** December 27, 2008, 01:20:28 pm »

I put one of my boards in a temporary home in my MultiJAMMA cab ... all I can say is that this is the best money I have spent in this hobby yet.

I have achieved Williams video nirvana!

Paladin · « **Reply #60 on:** December 28, 2008, 07:50:53 pm »

I just straightened out my control panel wiring mess, adjusted the monitor and lowered the voltage going to the board to 5v as the switcher in the cab was cranked up to 5.5. I can now say that both Joust and Robotron definately have a different feel from what I was used to. I've ordered a set of 4" joystick shafts, as the sticks mounted to the bottom of the panel definately seem too short. I think that with the extra half inch of the new shafts I won't have to route out the control panel underneath to make the sticks higher.

This board is totally awsome!

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #61 on:** December 28, 2008, 08:16:25 pm »

Quote from: Paladin on December 28, 2008, 07:50:53 pm

This board is totally awsome!

+1

Any new cab always gets extra play in our house, but the kids and I just can't stop playing this board.

RayB · « **Reply #62 on:** December 29, 2008, 10:42:18 am »

Quote from: CheffoJeffo on December 28, 2008, 08:16:25 pm

+1

Any new cab always gets extra play in our house, but the kids and I just can't stop playing this board.

Bastard. +1
PS: I hope your holidays were good!

usedelectronics · « **Reply #63 on:** January 11, 2009, 01:48:38 am »

I am desperate to buy one of these boards for my recent Joust cab acquisition... But can't seem to get in contact with the seller.

Any suggestions?

Level42 · « **Reply #64 on:** January 11, 2009, 05:04:24 am »

Did you e-mail Jrok ?

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #65 on:** January 11, 2009, 05:53:50 pm »

I just finished rewiring my Joust cocktail and dropping in my other board (had some sound and wiring issues). It really is a wonderful solution and I really appreciate the attention to details, like providing headers for H+ and V+ sync as in the original boards.

I've also convinced myself that I need a dedicated Sinistar (I don't mind playing it sideways, but I don't want to plunk a 49-way in the middle of an already crowded MW CP), so I guess I'll need another board!

CheffoJeffo · « **Reply #66 on:** January 11, 2009, 07:34:08 pm »

Just heard from jrok -- he's already ordered the blank boards for the second run, so if anybody wants in, I would head over to KLOV and PM him.


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