Made an account of my adventures importing a classic Atari game from the US.
It's a happy ending so hopefully it will embolden someone to do this.
http://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/importing-a-classic-arcade-machine-into-the-uk/
Any comments and questions, just fire away!
Hey pal, loved that story.
Where do I start, firstly I like your logical approach to your chosen cabinet!
You should join UKVaC if your not already a member, how has it been going since you got it, any major failures other than those mentioned and are you getting more confident with it?
I joined jammaplus and met a few people there.
That site has wrapped up recently so I am at ukvac now.
I also posted at Atariage who have an arcade section on their forums.
I did have one other minor issue I forgot about. I was getting dummy readings off one of the rotate buttons. The control panel comes out easily - two nuts to loosen and the whole panel opens up towards you on a hinge. I could see that the contacts for the offending button were touching so I just bent them up a little bit. The control panel is built like a tank - the contacts are the size of your thumb - it's built to last!
Apart from that the game is working beautifully. :) I'm gaining confidence and starting to really enjoy it.
There's a mod for the Deluxe board that lets you play original Asteroids and Lunar Lander! That might be something I'd think of in the future - but for now I'm delighted with it.
Very nice read and it was quite the adventure getting this all set up! Congratulations!
Its a great machine, is the wife still happy lol?
Sort of!!!
She does like the look of it though she doesn't like the game itself - too tough.
So, fast forward, how are you getting on why this now mate?
Working well - it's a tough old game though - my 3 top scores are over 50K but I usually only score 30K or so - it gets really tough when you hit the 30,000 barrier.
I've had some sticky button problems but that's been easy to resolve. The control panel is held in place with 2 bolts and wingnuts - undo those and the whole panel tilts forward on a hinge letting you see the underneath of the panel connectors. The buttons and contacts are really big - really easy to work with and clean.
I was never that good at either version of Asteroids. I recall seeming people in the arcade on the original version - leaving that one rock and waiting for the spaceships. This tactic never ended well for me :)
On a similar note I recall back in the day when the local arcades were awash with Defender machines all the local arcades had the name of the same game on them. BOF. All 8 all time high scores we BOF on all the machines with a score of 999975
Since the score clocked past this point getting that score was somewhat of a black art I believe - because its really tricky to die in Defender without scoring - a bullet killing you scores 25 pts.
I actually came across the guy once - playing a Stargate.
I digress.. having read that article I am now compelled to do 2 things.
1. Fire up my robotron machine over the weekend - which ive not done for some time. Hope the thing still works.
2. Remove the "real" boards and look into refurbishing them.
I bought the boards many years ago and got a Joust cabinet to put them in. The I sanded the sides down to remove Joust decals with the intention of putting Robotron ones on there. Perhaps I might revisit that option :)
Seems like you need one of these :)
https://www.funstockretro.co.uk/atari-tshirt-black-asteroids
You must really love this game! The cabs look amazing but if I got bored of wanting to play the same game after 6 months, it's just sitting there doing nothing.
That looks great!
Maintenance via the control panel is nice and simple, whats better a lot of the railway ran using similar tech so I am clued up on this stuff by complete and utter chance lol.
Liking the look of that t-shirt.
Robotron is another stone-cold classic.
Hows life with the Arcade mate, any regrets now?
Quote from: davyk on February 11, 2019, 22:16:22 PM
Liking the look of that t-shirt.
Robotron is another stone-cold classic.
The best ! (I'm biased of course !)
Quote from: zapiy on February 12, 2019, 17:10:55 PM
Hows life with the Arcade mate, any regrets now?
Nope. I still love it. Asteroids is a real slow burner game for me. I just keep coming back to it.
I don't play as much as I did but it still gets played each week - usually around the weekend. It's nice to come in from work on a Friday night and play a few games and fill up the hi score table. i also like playing the 2 player mode myself - for some reason I seem to get my best scores that way.
I need to play more often if I want to get better - but for now I'm enjoying it just playing semi-casual. My top 3 scores are in the 50Ks now but I'm happy if I get a 40K score at the minute. :)
Another little update.
My favourite way to play this is on a Saturday afternoon. Wife and daughters are out and I put some 80s music on the hifi with the volume up loud. This really seems to help. Having the 80s music on brings back the feelings of being in an arcade and I have found that my scores improve too!.. Still haven't topped my 50K+ high score yet though. Need more practice. :)
I've learned about a new board that plugs into the main board in the cabinet that adds original Asteroids and Lunar Lander. For now I'm more than happy with the game but it's nice to know I can add a bit of variety in the future if I want to. I can remember playing Lunar Lander in the arcades way back and it's a nice game - not one I would buy in a dedicated cabinet (unless I won the lottery) but it's good to know that it can be added to the cabinet.
That is cool. The Activions anthologies play 80's music if the background if you want, I'm guessing for that very same reason you like to play it It takes you back in time. :)
It's weird but it really does make a difference. :)
Of course it does. Ambiance!
Quote from: davyk on August 21, 2019, 10:07:43 AM
Another little update.
My favourite way to play this is on a Saturday afternoon. Wife and daughters are out and I put some 80s music on the hifi with the volume up loud. This really seems to help. Having the 80s music on brings back the feelings of being in an arcade and I have found that my scores improve too!.. Still haven't topped my 50K+ high score yet though. Need more practice. :)
I've learned about a new board that plugs into the main board in the cabinet that adds original Asteroids and Lunar Lander. For now I'm more than happy with the game but it's nice to know I can add a bit of variety in the future if I want to. I can remember playing Lunar Lander in the arcades way back and it's a nice game - not one I would buy in a dedicated cabinet (unless I won the lottery) but it's good to know that it can be added to the cabinet.
Thats cool about the additional board mate, are they expensive?
I always prefer playing games when the family are out too, not sure what it is, maybe just feeling like you can be you helps that as well.
About £150 for the board. No soldering required for installation.
Thats not bad really considering.
I think so too. It's a slightly better deal for someone with an original Asteroids cabinet as they are getting Deluxe and Lunar Lander added. You get high score saving too which original Asteroids doesn't have.
For a deluxe owner it just isn't quite the same deal having original Asteroids added - but you are getting Lunar Lander too of course - it's still something I'd consider in the future.
Got 57K over the weekend. My wife was nagging me for a lift otherwise i might have broke 60K.......
:)
More importantly, something feels as if it has clicked. I'm moving around a lot more -vital not to be a sitting duck for ufos or homing missiles. Once you pass 30K if you hit a satellite while sitting still you are dead. You need to be moving away from them when they split into missiles.
Their speed past 40 and 50K is ridiculous - you simply have to start getting comfortable with the wraparound to stay away from them (even though they plot their paths using it too - AND ufos shoot wraparound shots).
Nice score! Even if the wife didn't let you reach the 60K mark! Something to strive for next time. :)
Just for fun - created some footage of me playing badly. Unless I play this every other day my skills deplete - still it's a 30K score so you sort of see how it plays. I just plonked my phone on the plexiglass and I'm surprised how it came out. If I was to zoom in a bit things would be better - though you wouldn't see the vector monitor below of course! Some people might like seeing that...
Anyhow - test footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3cMRDRK0mQ
Oh, cool!
Great stuff mate, come out really well considering.
Yeah - will experiment with different zoom settings etc. I have a tripod but lighting and reflections are a nightmare when trying to record actual arcade game footage - and that would get in my way of playing.