Author Topic: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^  (Read 88978 times)

DarthNuno

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #30 on: January 02, 2009, 06:20:04 PM »
Now it really looks cool  :-*

OK, it's a dark picture  ::)... but check this out  :arrow:



 :-*

gravitone

  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9
    • View Profile
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #31 on: January 02, 2009, 07:25:08 PM »
Wonderfull to see this machine back in action. Hope you can enjoy it to the fullest running aae.

p.s. are you running the game on a tv or on a crt monitor? raster monitors tended to have a smaller dotpitch / higher-resolution then the standard arcade monitors.  Suffice to say I think it looks best at high-res on a good CRT monitor.

DarthNuno

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #32 on: January 02, 2009, 08:10:03 PM »
It's now a VGA monitor... because it 'draws' better vectors than a CRT 15Hz. The next step will be to implement AAE (vector games emulator). I've already tried AAE with Asteroids few months ago, and since Star Wars is now emulated, I'm very curious to see it running  :P

Alpha1

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 1143
    • View Profile
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #33 on: January 14, 2009, 06:47:15 PM »
Seen this Bruno - www.vectorvga.com

btw - nice work on tidying up the bottom of the cabinet.

« Last Edit: January 14, 2009, 06:52:18 PM by Alpha1 »

DarthNuno

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #34 on: January 14, 2009, 07:49:59 PM »
Seen this Bruno - www.vectorvga.com

btw - nice work on tidying up the bottom of the cabinet.


Thanks for the link Ol'  ;) (I've seen it on J+ board). I think It's useless for this project. I've already ask them the question, see  :arrow:

Question : Can this one by used with mame, in order to have a better ‘Vector Feeling’ on a classic VGA monitor ?
For example, I have a Star Wars cockpit, and for the moment I’m using a mame + VGA Monitor. Is there any interest to add your VectorVGA module between my computer and the VGA monitor in terms of display quality ?


Answer : The VectorVGA converter inputs the X-Y vector signal from a real game board and converts it to a VGA signal that goes to a monitor.  The MAME that you have only outputs a VGA signal, so the two are not compatible.  Unfortunately that's the downside of MAME; it doesn't have the realistic "vector" look.

Strictly speaking, your idea is possible but it would be a lot of work.  There is a special version of MAME called VectorMAME that outputs vector data to a special converter board called the Zektor ZVG.  VectorMAME requires a DOS computer with a parallel port and sound card.  You could then plug the Zektor ZVG output to VectorVGA and achieve the realistic "analog" feel.
- Lee Cross
 



...but this interface is a GREAT thing, and i'm curious to see the quality of the display (the existing youtube demo video is too small).

scr33n

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 1674
    • View Profile
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #35 on: January 14, 2009, 08:05:58 PM »
WOOOOWWWWww very interesting  8)

I love vector games and especially Tempest  :-* :-*


SORRY OT:

Bruno, it's difficult to find a dedicated Tempest cab here in Europe?  ???

PROJECTS FROM SCRATCH:

Galaga - PacMan - Donkey Kong Red Cab - Track & Field Upright - Tempest - Burgertime - Gyruss - Defender - Track & Field Cocktail - Robotron 2084

RESTORATIONS:

Q*bert - Timber

level42

  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • ***
  • Posts: 13555
  • Ridderkerk, arcade capital of Europe !
    • View Profile
    • Arcade 42
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #36 on: January 15, 2009, 12:35:14 AM »
Bruno,

If I understand this device correctly you would not reach anything with it in your situation.

This merely converts a real X-Y color signal and transforms it to a _raster_ VGA signal. In a way, it's exactly the reverse of a Zektor vector.
You can see that it's raster already on the Youtube video (which looks like they use shockingly poor dot-pitch CRT's too !).

To me, this takes the heart out of a vector game.

In your case, running that special vector mame version will be probably even looking better.

I see only one nice use for this device: you can use it to test vector boards on a regular test monitor that you may already have (although we usually use CGA monitors for checking of course).
But then again, I don't repair vector boards nor test them much. And it's pretty pricey.


On another note, but very SW / vector related, this looks interesting:
http://www.vimeo.com/2815795
« Last Edit: January 15, 2009, 12:40:43 AM by Level42 »

DarthNuno

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #37 on: January 15, 2009, 05:35:33 PM »
Yes, but I was hoping that this interface would be able to 'drive' a VGA monitor in a special way that would make vectors looks better than Mame currently does, using maybe some 'hardware' tricks or something  :oops:

I've to try now AAE emulator with Star Wars, I hope the result will be as good as the test I've done with Asteroids  :arrow:



Very impressive  :-*

On another note, but very SW / vector related, this looks interesting:
http://www.vimeo.com/2815795

Woow  :o Yes... why Atari didn't release Return Of The Jedi, like the two first movies  :-\ This version, currently documented right here looks amazing !  :-*

Spyridon

  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 40
    • View Profile
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #38 on: April 17, 2009, 07:34:09 PM »
Any progress on this?


DarthNuno

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #39 on: April 17, 2009, 08:21:51 PM »
Any progress on this?


Not yet. I've already got an other computer for that, more powerful and an other graphic card that fits the AAE emulator requirement... but It's still on the waiting line.  8)

garykagan

  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 32
    • View Profile
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #40 on: April 19, 2009, 02:06:26 PM »
Nice work - very impressive.  I was checking out your hack for the yoke with the sidewinder.  How do you know which wires go to which wire on the yoke?  I'm just starting to look into this, I have a yoke in really good shape and have hunted down a sidewinder joystick.  Just trying to dig into those photos a little deeper.  Is this the best hack for the yoke?  how well does it really work?  thanks,  gk

DarthNuno

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #41 on: April 20, 2009, 08:36:49 PM »
Well, I've founded the solution on the 1UP's ARCADE website here : http://www.1uparcade.com

 :? OOOPS :? That website is now dead  :shock:

Hopefully, I still have the web pages available on a CD-Rom somewhere in my mess ( :oops:)... Let me few days, and I'll find it for you  ;)

Uncle

  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 5
    • View Profile
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #42 on: April 21, 2009, 07:46:45 AM »

DarthNuno

  • Administrator
  • ArcadeLifeStyler'
  • *****
  • Posts: 11708
  • Singe's castle
    • View Profile
    • Dragon's Lair Fans / Arcade LifeStyle
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #43 on: April 21, 2009, 11:18:28 PM »
Welcome here Uncle  :-*

Thanks for the link... this tutorial is very important  :)

I've used it two times... first for this Star Wars cockpit, but also to bring back to life my Return Of The Jedi Cab.  ;)

Spyridon

  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 40
    • View Profile
Re: Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^
« Reply #44 on: April 23, 2009, 09:16:52 PM »
Nice work - very impressive.  I was checking out your hack for the yoke with the sidewinder.  How do you know which wires go to which wire on the yoke?  I'm just starting to look into this, I have a yoke in really good shape and have hunted down a sidewinder joystick.  Just trying to dig into those photos a little deeper.  Is this the best hack for the yoke?  how well does it really work?  thanks,  gk

What he is not telling you is that he parted out a complete Star Wars in order to Mame it!   >:(