Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle
General Chat => Arcade Lifestyle => Topic started by: DarthNuno on July 19, 2015, 04:35:36 PM
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...and following this road trip done almost 8 years ago :P :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/10th/10thbanner.gif) (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=301.0)
...it's time to do 'something' on that game! ;D
Ok, few months ago I checked what's wrong on that one, and what a deception when I sized all the problems so far :
- main board has problem (but I already knew that when I bought it)
- power supply problem
- monitor not working anymore
Now regarding the cabinet, in addition of the side arts to replace, I've also discovered that the bottom/side of the cabinet is damaged!
Well, with the very less time I had now for the hobby, and although I really love that game, I didn't have the motivation to start a massive work on that and spend too much time/money to restore it in its original form. In addition, Spy Hunter is also well know as an horrible game to maintain working... :-\
I eventually put that one for sale...
BUT
I remembered that I bought 6 years ago a interesting device called "Led Wiz", and I remembered the idea I had in mind back then...
And what If I could emulate Spy Hunter? Sure this game can be easily emulated, but I would like to emulate it in the real cabinet, with all the it specific features: lights, yoke, pedal, shift, RGB display....and all of this of course in a non destructive way : not a single cable must be cut! All the modification must be reversible!
To have no regrets, I would still try this way before selling it...
OK, among the list of the Spy Hunters specificities, only one bothers me : how to pilot -over mame- the real 'weapons/van' light on the control panel? I've seen on the web few similar projects but none of them were clearly documented... so I'll do it here!
To resume, on a software side, I must use a mame version:
- that can send 'output' signals to a device that will light on/off the right bulbs the control panel
- that can manage the two positions (low/high) shifter on the control panel + the driving wheel /gaz pedal
On an hardware side :
- a device that can drive lamps : I have it... it's the "Led Wiz" board
- a device that can hook the original controls to a computer : the U-HID Universal Interface Board will do the job with no problem
So I wanna see if the main thing that bothers me can really & easily work as it should be! Let's install the "Led Wiz" board, and do a basic thing... Hello World, just light one led please :) :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_led_1.jpg)
Ok, so far so good! Now let's install mame & Spy Hunter.
Now I need a software that 'captures' all the output signals produced by mame during a Spy Hunter game, and send them to the "Led Wiz" board. And the program to use is called MAMEHOOKER (http://dragonking.arcadecontrols.com/static.php?page=aboutmamehooker).
Holy shit, after few configuration attempts, it works! :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_led_2.jpg)
In Spy Hunter, when the Weapons Van is coming, the "Weapons Van" button lights, and this is exactly what happened here!
The test results was the green light for me. Let's remove my 'Spy Hunter for sale' topic and continue the 'experiment'! ;D
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Cool ! i like it 8)
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Cool !
Spy hunter are a GREAT game !!
I love my spy hunter game ;D
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OK, now that my 'proof of concept' has been successfully done regarding the control panel lightening, let's work on the cosmetic part of the cabinet.
Here's the starting point :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_1.jpg)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_2.jpg)
:arrow: The entire 'full' sticker on both side have to be replaced by new ones.
The worst is inside! :-\ :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_3.jpg)
An hole in state of a back wheel in the bottom of the cab :? :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_4.jpg)
...and the piece that maintain one side of the cabinet against the bottom is detached...
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_5.jpg)
...and also the back is partially detached, I can move it see :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_8.jpg)
Ok, first a good cleaning... what's that...shit? :-X :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_6.jpg)
A proof that this cabinet was UK operated 8) :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_7.jpg)
The tools/parts to repair the bottom :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/Spy_Hunter_wip_9.jpg)
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Cool Bruno good to see that
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love it :)
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Let's remove the side art :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spy_hunter_side_1.jpg)
Done :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spy_hunter_side_2.jpg)
The other side :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spy_hunter_side_3.jpg)
...and as you can see, badly damaged :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spy_hunter_side_4.jpg)
Done... quite easy with the use of an hair dryer :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spy_hunter_side_5.jpg)
Next step, clean & fix the small damages on the sides before applying the new side arts...
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Great game
good to know it's in good hand
come on clean and fix this baby
;D
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Now, let's repair the sides.
The tools of the day :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_1.jpg)
The first side... mhhhh... not to much to do on it...
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_2.jpg)
...yeah, probably here ::) :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_3.jpg)
...but well, I'm here so let's fully repair that side :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_4.jpg)
OK, now let's fix the other one...
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_5.jpg)
Yes, clearly much damages on this one! :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_6.jpg)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_7.jpg)
The best way to fix the bottom of a side imho is the use of perspex, like this :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_8.jpg)
Et voilà :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_9.jpg)
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I have that Bosch tool too, its really awesome ( you can even cut door frames and wooden floors with it ).
Nice clean work, good to see the work is going on. Some day, I have to play Spyhunter too ( not sure if I did at the arcades ).
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Looking good Bruno ! :spaceace:
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Now the side arts... well, it's still a little bit 'scary' for work with huge stickers like that, but these ones coming from thisoldgame are great quality... no problem to do it :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spyhuntersideart1.jpg)
The best moment...slowly discovering the beauty of a brand new side art... but also so stressing ...how many bubbles will I find? ::) :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spyhuntersideart2.jpg)
Nice! :-* :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spyhuntersideart3.jpg)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/spyhuntersideart4.jpg)
8)
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beautiful!!!
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:o This looks perfect, how do you cut the edges so perfect?
Rick
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Now, let's repair the sides.
The best way to fix the bottom of a side imho is the use of perspex, like this :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_8.jpg)
Et voilà :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/spyhunter/wip_spy_hunter_9.jpg)
Hello Bruno,
Could you explain this part please ?
Dev
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You attach the perpex to the bottom of the cab and have a sharp edge for the bondo...that's all ;)
It doesn't have to be that big, just long enough to cover the whole edge you want to repair.
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You attach the perpex to the bottom of the cab and have a sharp edge for the bondo...that's all ;)
It doesn't have to be that big, just long enough to cover the whole edge you want to repair.
Ok!
I thought there was a special trick ! ;)
Thanks!
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You attach the perpex to the bottom of the cab and have a sharp edge for the bondo...that's all ;)
It doesn't have to be that big, just long enough to cover the whole edge you want to repair
Yeps, that's the trick! I've used that big piece of perplex simply because... I was to lazy to cut it! :oops: :roll: ;D