Tech: Alternatives to Free Play on Arcades

RadioJockey

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Oct 19, 2007, 3:20:00 PM10/19/07

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I was going through the internet the other day trying to find some
free play kits for certain games. As luck would have it, no free
play kits, but these games are capable of being (via dip-switches)
placed into free play.

The problem I have with this, is that these games will not cycle
through their attract mode and will stay in the "Press Player 1 or 2
button mode."

I ended up at some forum and someone suggested to wire the "Player 2
Button" to the coin mech switch. Then the machine would act as
follows:

Hit Player 2: Adds on Credit, user presses Player 1 Button and Game
starts.

If you want to Player:
Hit Player 2 Button Twice, which adds two credits and starts the
game for two players.

Seems like it might work, the only problem I could possibly think of
is the race between the credit (2 players) and the start of 2 player
button press (the signals to the CPU). Does the coin signal go in
first and then the two player start, or does the 2 player start
signal beat the coin insert signal.

Has anyone tried this? I'm going to try in this weekend and see
what happens.

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Pat D.

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Oct 19, 2007, 4:27:43 PM10/19/07

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This method of setting free-play on machines has been documented on
therealbobroberts.net. I use it all the time. Never a problem.....yet.

Pat D.

mudmantim

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Oct 19, 2007, 4:59:13 PM10/19/07

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I tried that method for a while on a few games, then cut the wires.
We hated it...

-Tim

Erisian Amusement

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Oct 19, 2007, 6:12:42 PM10/19/07

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That free play works well for me as long as the game is not being used
by people who push the 2p over and over racking up as many credits as
the game can handle; leading to the same problem you get with some free
play modes between every game.

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Mark Jenison

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Oct 19, 2007, 6:34:51 PM10/19/07

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Or you can find someone who could do a free play EPROM modification. I've
done a few in the past. Depends on the game though; some are easier than
others.

http://www.enteract.com/~jenison/mars/romhacks

What is/are the game(s) in question you are trying to set to freeplay?

"RadioJockey" <cgou...@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:T6GdnYJIwaX9noTa...@giganews.com...

goo...@brentradio.com

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Oct 19, 2007, 9:33:21 PM10/19/07

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Here's some others:

http://users.rcn.com/jenison/mars/romhacks/

http://www.brasington.org/arcade/

http://www.jeffsromhack.com/products/index.htm

http://www.jrok.com/arcade.html

http://www.scoresaves.info/scoresaves/ScoreSaves.html

http://www.arcades.plus.com/multigame3.htm

http://www.hobbyroms.com/videogames.html

jonceramic

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Oct 19, 2007, 11:41:52 PM10/19/07

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On Oct 19, 2:20 pm, RadioJockey <cgoule...@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
> I was going through the internet the other day trying to find some
> free play kits for certain games. As luck would have it, no free
> play kits, but these games are capable of being (via dip-switches)
> placed into free play.
>
> The problem I have with this, is that these games will not cycle
> through their attract mode and will stay in the "Press Player 1 or 2
> button mode."
>
> I ended up at some forum and someone suggested to wire the "Player 2
> Button" to the coin mech switch.

The other way, is just to wire a mini momentary - push to make
switch. You can get little tiny ones and mount on the coin door or
somewhere else inconspicuous. Purists won't like it if you've got a
collectible cabinet that's in good condition, but it works.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062539

When I converted my CandyCab to a JAMMA cab, I just wired the MVS
"select" switch to the coin-up. My kids (1 and 4) pound the heck out
of it, just like they do all of the other buttons, and I just "live"
with the fact it stays stuck on the "coined up" screen. But, I unplug
my games at the end of the night, so it really doesn't matter to me.

Jon

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RadioJockey

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Oct 20, 2007, 4:04:28 PM10/20/07

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The one's in question are Ms. Pacman, Centipede, Moon Patrol.

syn...@gmail.com

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Oct 20, 2007, 5:11:57 PM10/20/07

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On the Pac series I sell a multi game that runs the attract mode while
set for free play. For other games, I wire up a microswitch and
attach it with double sided foam tape inside the coin door so the coin
return mech strikes it, it's then connected to the coin drop switch.
Usually I'll clean and disassemble the coin return so it works
smoothly and sometimes put a 90° bend in the limit linkage to keep the
return button from going over-center.

That way everything can easily be reversed if ever needed and it's
quick and cheap to install.

Mike Doyle

On Oct 19, 2:20 pm, RadioJockey <cgoule...@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:

> Web @http://www.newsleecher.com/?usenet