Uzebox JAMMA

Topics regarding the Uzebox hardware/AVCore/BaseBoard (i.e: PCB, resistors, connectors, part list, schematics, hardware issues, etc.) should go here.
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DaveyPocket
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by DaveyPocket »

paul wrote:hey Davey,

I was thinking about getting onto this now, but I'm wondering: If you're only making a single cabinet, would it be possible to mount the screen such that all Uzebox games are supported? I'd rather see a Uzebox JAMMA that supports all games, beyond just Pac-Man. It's your call at the end of the day, but I was just wondering.
I was thinking about that. Right now, unfortunately, all of the cabinets I own mount vertically. I really want to put the Uzebox in a cabinet I have since it would be a little easier to set everything up. But finding a cab with a horizontal screen mount could take some time, though that isn't stopping me. I'm going to start building a JAMMA test rig (something simple that has joysticks and buttons, power supply, and plugs into a monitor). So basically, my answer is this: The default monitor orientation for the Uzebox JAMMA will be horizontal so that all Uzebox games that exist will work and game development will be easier (instead of modifying the kernel or flipping everything on the game). If someone wants to program a game that utilizes vertical monitor orientation, they can do that. Though I would recommend make it horizontal so most people can play if they're using an emulator or if they don't want to flip their TV sideways.

My main concern is the controller layout. Are there going to be Start and Select buttons for both players on a control panel? Are there going to be A, B, X, Y, L, and R buttons on both sides all at once? How will the Uzebox know when coin is inserted? I had planned something before to account for this, but I just want to make sure it is alright with everyone else. The Start and Select buttons on the Player 1 control pad are for Player 1 Start and Player 2 Start. The Start and Select buttons on the second controller are for each of the two coin mechanisms (Maybe put both mechanisms on start and make test switch on select?) Also, do we want DIP switches? Or am I going too far? My idea for the test switch was on the Second player Select button was to open the bootloader menu to switch games.

Let me here your suggestions so I can make some progress.
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DaveyPocket
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by DaveyPocket »

I fixed the controller issues, now I can actually play games on it :lol: The only problem left with is that the colors are messed up. I believe there is a short or break in the R-2R ladder. I'll create a color test program so I can debug it.

I'll have pictures.
hpglow
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by hpglow »

DaveyPocket wrote:
I haven't decided on what sort of cabinet the Uzebox should "officially" go into (Maybe a Nintendo or Namco cabinet, not sure) But I definitely want to design some sort of marquee or side art.
I would avoid a Nintendo cabinet, well if it has the factory monitor anyway. Many Nintendo arcade products used an inverted signal to keep people from swapping their stuff out and in the case of the "players choice" setups they used a custom color pallet and an inverted signal to keep people from trying to play the roms on their home NES.

Their cabinets would make a nice choice if fitted with a standard monitor.
hpglow
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by hpglow »

DaveyPocket wrote:
paul wrote:hey Davey,

I was thinking about getting onto this now, but I'm wondering: If you're only making a single cabinet, would it be possible to mount the screen such that all Uzebox games are supported? I'd rather see a Uzebox JAMMA that supports all games, beyond just Pac-Man. It's your call at the end of the day, but I was just wondering.
I was thinking about that. Right now, unfortunately, all of the cabinets I own mount vertically. I really want to put the Uzebox in a cabinet I have since it would be a little easier to set everything up. But finding a cab with a horizontal screen mount could take some time, though that isn't stopping me. I'm going to start building a JAMMA test rig (something simple that has joysticks and buttons, power supply, and plugs into a monitor). So basically, my answer is this: The default monitor orientation for the Uzebox JAMMA will be horizontal so that all Uzebox games that exist will work and game development will be easier (instead of modifying the kernel or flipping everything on the game). If someone wants to program a game that utilizes vertical monitor orientation, they can do that. Though I would recommend make it horizontal so most people can play if they're using an emulator or if they don't want to flip their TV sideways.

My main concern is the controller layout. Are there going to be Start and Select buttons for both players on a control panel? Are there going to be A, B, X, Y, L, and R buttons on both sides all at once? How will the Uzebox know when coin is inserted? I had planned something before to account for this, but I just want to make sure it is alright with everyone else. The Start and Select buttons on the Player 1 control pad are for Player 1 Start and Player 2 Start. The Start and Select buttons on the second controller are for each of the two coin mechanisms (Maybe put both mechanisms on start and make test switch on select?) Also, do we want DIP switches? Or am I going too far? My idea for the test switch was on the Second player Select button was to open the bootloader menu to switch games.

Let me here your suggestions so I can make some progress.
If you want to have a coin switch button, there are plenty of unused buttons on the SNES controller that you could map for that purpose. You would just have to program the game to have credits, and to look for the coin switch. You would then just need to hack the PCB of the SNES controller and lets say you decide that the top left shoulder button is the coin switch then you just solder two wires on there and run them down to the switch. I think for something at home it is a tad overkill though.
Tornadoboy
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by Tornadoboy »

I couldn't tell you if their prices are good or not, but here's a good source for pretty much every conceivable arcade game controller:

http://happcontrols.com/

Ebay is of course the best source for cheap used parts!

This is awesome BTW, if there was ever a device that I wanted to learn how to program, it's this! :mrgreen:
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voldo83
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by voldo83 »

I don´t want to rush the project, I just want to know how it goes.
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DaveyPocket
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by DaveyPocket »

Tornadoboy wrote:I couldn't tell you if their prices are good or not, but here's a good source for pretty much every conceivable arcade game controller:

http://happcontrols.com/

Ebay is of course the best source for cheap used parts!

This is awesome BTW, if there was ever a device that I wanted to learn how to program, it's this! :mrgreen:
Yes, I have considered looking on the website for parts, and I have bought some parts from them for my arcade cabs.

Some of the things I am going to plan on now that I know my arcade machines:
1. Cabinet artwork (marquee, side art, control panel overlay, monitor bezel, etc..)
2. What cabinet will it fit in?! JAMMA obviously, but people will need to customize the control panel or possibly do some wiring depending on cabinet
3. Some cabinets have vertically oriented screens, some have horizontal. I guess people will make games for both then :mrgreen:
Tornadoboy
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by Tornadoboy »

Does anyone know if this could be made to work with vector monitors? Even very simple games look damn cool when done in real vector! :)
hpglow wrote: Many Nintendo arcade products used an inverted signal to keep people from swapping their stuff out and in the case of the "players choice" setups they used a custom color pallet and an inverted signal to keep people from trying to play the roms on their home NES.

Their cabinets would make a nice choice if fitted with a standard monitor.
I don't know about the PC-10 cabs but the others can be adapted to normal sync with a kit from The Real Bob Robert's website, they're like $5 or something, and adaptor boards can be gotten relatively cheap off of Ebay on occasion.

BTW I'm an arcade game collector too with some experience working on arcade cabinets, so if anyone has some question I'll try to help.
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DaveyPocket
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by DaveyPocket »

Tornadoboy wrote:Does anyone know if this could be made to work with vector monitors? Even very simple games look damn cool when done in real vector! :)
hpglow wrote: Many Nintendo arcade products used an inverted signal to keep people from swapping their stuff out and in the case of the "players choice" setups they used a custom color pallet and an inverted signal to keep people from trying to play the roms on their home NES.

Their cabinets would make a nice choice if fitted with a standard monitor.
I don't know about the PC-10 cabs but the others can be adapted to normal sync with a kit from The Real Bob Robert's website, they're like $5 or something, and adaptor boards can be gotten relatively cheap off of Ebay on occasion.

BTW I'm an arcade game collector too with some experience working on arcade cabinets, so if anyone has some question I'll try to help.
The Uzebox is able to directly plug into a standard arcade monitor through RGB, the Nintendo monitors (Sanyo 20EZ) would need the inverter board.
I was considering a vector version, though I don't own any vector monitors and my oscilloscope only does not have a Z-input.
I will investigate that once I have finished this one.
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codecrank
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by codecrank »

Image
Awesome work !

I have 3 cabinets now, and I've been itching to play some megatris on them, simply because it's the best version of tetris next to the DS version ( which obviously would not run well in a cab ;) )

video
I thought about tapping in the RGB out, but I'm not sure how the sync would work. I have 2 machines with a 15khz display and 1 machine with a tri-sync display. and I'm too chicken shit to take a change and end up frying a chassis... can you elaborate on that a bit ?

input
so you're basically using a 4021 to encode the microswicth signals into nes/snes input ? [ n00b alert ] what language / tool did you use for that ?
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