Time Pilot and Gyruss high score save
Matt Osborn
I've made a Time Pilot and Gyruss high score save.
It's quite simple to install, but it does require some soldering skills
(you need to install a 24-pin socket for the non-volatile RAM).
I'm going to put up a web page fairly soon (hopefully within a
couple weeks) with all the details.
I just wanted to get an idea of how much interest there is in this.
I've got a friend testing it out in his Gyruss right now using a
battery-backed SRAM (ST M48Z02 or Dallas 1220), but I'm
using a Simtek 25C48 which should be good for 100+ years!
So I was wondering how many people would be willing to buy
a high-score save kit containing the EPROM (which installs into
an existing empty socket on the PCB), a machine-pin socket,
and the Simtek NVRAM that should save your scores for life.
Price will depend on how good of a deal I can get on the Simtek
chip (quantity will bring the price down). I estimate the cost will
be ~$25.
Please email me if you're interested so I can get an idea of how
many NVRAMs I need to buy.
Thanks,
Matt Osborn
David Widel
Cool, now I can tell the people nagging me to do this to nag someone else;)
Matt Osborn
Hello? Anybody out there?
These are two of the best Konami games ever made, and nobody cares?
What happened to this group? Do I need to put "FA" or "eBay" in
my subject to get some attention? Sad....
Oh, I guess you don't need a high score save if you're using *MAME*....
"Matt Osborn" <osb...@alum.mit.edu> wrote in message news:U5z1b.1584$1Q3...@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net...
David Widel
> [crickets chirping]
>
> Hello? Anybody out there?
> These are two of the best Konami games ever made, and nobody cares?
> What happened to this group? Do I need to put "FA" or "eBay" in
> my subject to get some attention? Sad....
I agree those are two of the best konami games and you can't beat the price
you're aiming for. I've got 3 names that are definately interested in time
pilot, If you google for widel gyruss you'll come up with 3 or 4 more that
said they were interested when I mentioned it.
> Oh, I guess you don't need a high score save if you're using *MAME*....
I think MAME is going to kill a lot of multigame and hi score projects.
It's a shame really. I can see why some people don't like mame.
arcadeinsane
Brent
Hockeyman
Todd
M. Calvert
Yes, I've already emailed Matt with my intentions to get a couple.
Thanks Matt!
jrok
Kit sounds good, but it's a pain having to desolder the RAMs.
After I had a few request from ppl reading the SOHS pages I put
together a Time Pilot kit. It follows the same style as the
galaga e-pack and the Scott B, kits. A single plug in board that
goes into the Z80 socket has the ROM and eeprom on board. The
advantage is no soldering at all, just remove the z80 from the socket.
The only pain is board clearance, the kit sits under the sound board
which depending on how long the board spacers are can be very tight.
I'd need put some pictures up today as hadn't yet put it up
officially (!) Pricing will be $45 + shipping..
- James
------------------------------
Jrokland http://www.jrok.com
------------------------------
In article Matt Osborn says...
David Widel
jrokweb
>
>My z80 was not socketed. I wonder if that's unusual.
The technical description is "well your board sucks then" ;-)
On a serious note is this an original Konami ? With the legion of
bootlegs I've come across, of the 4 different TP boots 3 of them had
socketed z80's ( makes me wonder if the game that popular to make it
worth the bootleggers time ??? ).
The original Konami's that I've seen, granted only 4 or 5 at most,
featured conveniently socketed Z80s.
Cheers
James
------------------------------
JrokLand http://www.jrok.com
------------------------------
David Widel
"jrokweb" <jr...@san.rr.com> wrote in message
news:bidul...@drn.newsguy.com...
> In article David Widel says...
> >
> >My z80 was not socketed. I wonder if that's unusual.
>
> The technical description is "well your board sucks then" ;-)
Yes, I am unlucky.
> On a serious note is this an original Konami ? With the legion of
> bootlegs I've come across, of the 4 different TP boots 3 of them had
> socketed z80's ( makes me wonder if the game that popular to make it
> worth the bootleggers time ??? ).
I've only got the one but it looks like it to me. It has a lot of chips
that are labeled Konami and the board number and konami is screened on. But
on the other hand the rom labels are handwritten.
Matt Osborn
I think you'll find that they'll have twice as much soldering to do that way...
I've seen many Time Pilot and Gyruss boards and I don't recall ever
seeing that Z80 socketed. Wait, I take that back, I have a bootleg
Gyruss with the Z80 socketed (and the RAM is all socketed as well).
I'm sure there are some out there that do, but I think you'll find that the
vast majority of boards do not have the Z80 socketed.
Matt
P.S. My high score save ROM for Time Pilot and Gyruss will be made
available for free download, along with the simple instructions. I am
putting together a very limited number of "kits" as a courtesy to fellow
collectors, since the Simtek NVRAMs are difficult to buy in small
quantities. As you can tell by my price, I won't be making much from these.
"jrok" <jro...@san.rr.com> wrote in message news:bidmb...@drn.newsguy.com...
Matt Osborn
For those of you interested in seeing if James' plug-in board for Time Pilot will work for you, the chip in question is located on
the bottom board in position 3E. The chip markings are ground off on many boards. If not, the chip is likely to say "D780C-1" (NEC
version of the Z80).
On Gyruss the Z80 is located at 13G.
Matt
Mike Appolo
the bootleg Gyruss PCB I have (Matt has it and the layout is different).
Desoldering the RAM was much preferrable to desoldering the Z80 - just over
half as many pins. I was the guy who beta tested Matt's change. It is
really slick - put an EPROM into an existing socket, desolder a RAM, install
a socket and put in a Dallas battery backed RAM - that's it. It was only 10
minutes worth of work. All the other game ROMs stay the same.
--
Mike Appolo
http://www.appolo.com
"David Widel" <pac...@mystupidjob.com> wrote in message
news:Kqt2b.256421$o%2.116261@sccrnsc02...
Matt Osborn
The NVRAMs have been ordered and should arrive soon.
I'll email everyone who reserved a kit once I get them together.
Kit will contain:
an EPROM (installs in the extra socket already on the board, no need to remove any of the original ROMs)
a 24-pin machine-pin socket (you need to desolder one RAM chip, if there is not a socket already there)
a Simtek 25C48 NVRAM (good for life! no battery to worry about)
a capacitor (optional, but always a wise idea when using these non-volatile RAMs)
I'm putting together a webpage now with all the details; pictures, tech info, etc.
The ROM image will be available for download AFTER the good folks who reserved kits receive them.
Matt