Posting about awecades in my blog (video avail on Youtube)

[Shannon]

I ordered one of these with a spinner added on. Since it was a little delayed to a hold-up with the lightguns I decided out of my boredome to put some stuff in my blog. Kinda a way of getting my self pumped up! Once I get the unit I will take pictures and maybe a video (hello utubes?) and post 'em.

 

I have a three part series. A covereage of available pak's with a few comments, my whining about the loss of my game/junk room, and a series of wishes for future pak's. It's nothing fancy just something I typed up real quick each night. I'm taking a little break for a few days, but there is about 4 days worth of junk in there.

Edited September 14, 2006 by Shannon

[yuppicide]

Nice. I'd buy one, but the one thing that always holds me back is not enough games on the systems.

[Shannon]

Yeah that much I agree. But when it comes to "legal" emulation that is always gonna be a problem. But that is fine. I have "other" plans to handle that issue.

Edited September 14, 2006 by Shannon

[Shannon]

ok! Here it is a short video (5:20) of the awecades unit powering up as well as me showing the menu and playing a few games.

 

Disclaimer...

 

Any video artifacts you see like the vertically scrolling bar, moire patterns are the result of recording a monitor with a digital video camera. They do not exist in real life. It happens in all movies/tv shows, just watch them.

 

Sound... It turned out better than I thought but I may have cranked it up a little too much.

 

I decided to film it with the lights out to reduce glare and reflections. Nothing like seeing a floating hand and camera in the reflection of the monitor.

 

I was operating and playing the games with one hand while holding the camera with the other. I do not suck that bad in real life!!

 

I specifically chose games that can be played with the spinner (Asteroids, Tempest) and trackball (Missile Command). 2600 Asteroids and Adventure were just a bonus!

 

I think that about covers it. Here is the video of the awecades unit in action!

 

Hope you enjoy it.

Edited September 14, 2006 by Shannon

[Shannon]

OK here are some pictures... I have not completely cleaned up the unit so there is still stuff from the packaging used to protect it. So here we go!

 

This is a picture from the side of the cabinet facing into the kitchen where it currently resides until I can clear some space for it. I chose this odd angle because I'm hoping it will show the awecade's size relative to other things, like the oven.

 

Seems like it'd fit just perfect where the oven is doesn't it? Of course if I plan to eat, maybe I shouldn't. I would have liked to get a pic of it next to the fridge but it would have been a little too much trouble.

 

The 2nd picture is a front view of the cabinet in the kitchen. It's next to the dishwasher. Any smudges you see are either reflections or my finger prints when I removed the front panel. I really need to wipe that thing more carefully.

[Shannon]

Pictures of the control panel.

 

Mine has a trackball and Spinner on it. Note the left right arrows on the panel above the spinner. And here I thought all along I was supposed to spin it up and down!

 

Above the panel are some instructions for those of you who are a little slow figuring out what to do.

 

All of the buttons are happ buttons (hope I spelled that right). I'm not sure about the trackball and spinner. The layout is pretty simple. Player one on the left, player two on the right. Trackball in the middle. The spinner was placed above player one who is most likely to use it.

 

Believe it or not the spinner is turning into one of my favorite things. Primarily intended for Tempest and a paddle game like Super Breakout. I find that I use it in Asteroids, and to steer the police car in APB. I actually got further in APB then I ever could on my xbox!

 

The trackball plays a mean game of Missile Command. The sensitivity of it needs a little tweaking for other games like Centipede and Crystal Castles. Curt is gonna send me a USB pen with the latest tweaks as well as a few control setup fixes.

 

The audio/credit button will bring up the volume control display while you are in the menu. I'm not sure what the credit part does. Player 1 and player 2 start a one/two player game. The menu/exit button returns you back to the menu hold this one down for a couple secs. It'd be pretty cool if we had blinking Player 1/2 buttons. I know it's emulated in MAME, but I don't think the digital eclipse team emulates that part though.

 

I found out there is a reason the menu button has to be held down. The awecades team set up each game so that it runs in high priority (for the best possible emulation). Pretty clever, but considering we are already running on a stripped down version of win 98 I'm sure it's cranking away reasonably well. Think "lite98". Google it.

 

That's the light gun in the middle. The thing is actually real accurate. Too bad I'm not. I think I'll eventually get the hang of it. You can calibrate it by flicking the safety switch wave it up/down and then left/right several times. I've only messed with one light gun game so far. It'd be neat if there was some type of holster that could be attached to the side of the cabinet to put the game in. I'm gonna see if I can find one and then velcro it to the side.

 

Look at the nice colorful buttons! They are all color coded to make it easier to remember what button is for what. The menu screen shows the assigned button layout for each game! There are two hex screws on either side for easy removal of the control panel. Lastly that space below the buttons? I actually found myself resting my arm on it while playing.

Edited September 16, 2006 by Shannon

[Shannon]

Looking on the inside. The guts.

 

Taking it apart! This is a picture of the bottom of the control panel after I removed it. I'm no expert but from what I can see everything is pretty clean. That little gray cord runs to the motherboard and connects to the USB port from a custom ICB. There is a black wire for the spinner that connect to a USB extension off of the motherboard.

 

2nd picture is a picture of the inside bottom of the cabinet. If you look it's quite roomy! My wife asked why there was so much empty space in there. At once I wanted to ask her why there was so much empty space in her head. But then I decided I valued my life more than the enjoyment of saying that. This picture is related to that white thingie you saw sticking out the front. I decided to stuff my own subwoofer in there for a little extra kick! Hmm maybe I could stick a Q*bert knocker in there... The white knob sticking out the front is a volume knob for the subwoofer. I took the time to also connect it to the internal speakers. Now I just need to find some velcro stuff to hold it in place.

 

The third picture is the back panel that you can take out. It's not the greatest pic, but hey... Notice it has a lock to keep out prying eyes. Just make sure you don't misplace those keys! It's a little hard to see but there is a little board behind it that sticks out, this locks it in place when it's in the unit.

[Breakpack]

Pictures of the control panel.

 

Mine has a trackball and Spinner on it. Note the left right arrows on the panel above the spinner. And here I thought all along I was supposed to spin it up and down!

 

Above the panel are some instructions for those of you who are a little slow figuring out what to do.

 

All of the buttons are happ buttons (hope I spelled that right). I'm not sure about the trackball and spinner. The layout is pretty simple. Player one on the left, player two on the right. Trackball in the middle. The spinner was placed above player one who is most likely to use it.

 

Believe it or not the spinner is turning into one of my favorite things. Primarily intended for Tempest and a paddle game like Super Breakout. I find that I use it in Asteroids, and to steer the police car in APB. I actually got further in APB then I ever could on my xbox!

 

The trackball plays a mean game of Missile Command. The sensitivity of it needs a little tweaking for other games like Centipede and Crystal Castles. Curt is gonna send me a USB pen with the latest tweaks as well as a few control setup fixes.

 

The audio/credit button will bring up the volume control display while you are in the menu. I'm not sure what the credit part does. Player 1 and player 2 start a one/two player game. The menu/exit button returns you back to the menu hold this one down for a couple secs. It'd be pretty cool if we had blinking Player 1/2 buttons. I know it's emulated in MAME, but I don't think the digital eclipse team emulates that part though.

 

I found out there is a reason the menu button has to be held down. The awecades team set up each game so that it runs in high priority (for the best possible emulation). Pretty clever, but considering we are already running on a stripped down version of win 98 I'm sure it's cranking away reasonably well. Think "lite98". Google it.

 

That's the light gun in the middle. The thing is actually real accurate. Too bad I'm not. I think I'll eventually get the hang of it. You can calibrate it by flicking the safety switch wave it up/down and then left/right several times. I've only messed with one light gun game so far. It'd be neat if there was some type of holster that could be attached to the side of the cabinet to put the game in. I'm gonna see if I can find one and then velcro it to the side.

 

Look at the nice colorful buttons! They are all color coded to make it easier to remember what button is for what. The menu screen shows the assigned button layout for each game! There are two hex screws on either side for easy removal of the control panel. Pictures will be in the next blog since I clogged this one up. Lastly that space below the buttons? I actually found myself resting my arm on it while playing.

 

 

Only thing I dont like is the 6 button layout on the 2p side.Strret Fighter 2 would be hard to adjust to.

[Shannon]

Is it the reverse angle to the player 1 controls? Or the actual angle? I was just thinking about that today that the player 2 controls are like a reverse mirror of the player 1 controls. I'd have to look at the layout of different original consoles.

 

I'd be willing to bet you could have them changed on request. They did alot of moving around when they added the trackball and spinner.

 

It's alot to fit in a limited space.

[Shannon]

I forgot to mention. If you leave the machine unattended in menu mode, it starts cycling thru the games. You can actually start the game if you wish, although there is no sound. I'm guessing they lower the sound volume when in demo mode?

 

Oh, and something rather strange happened today. See the pictures. Look in my blog for more details.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Shannon

[Breakpack]

I forgot to mention. If you leave the machine unattended in menu mode, it starts cycling thru the games. You can actually start the game if you wish, although there is no sound. I'm guessing they lower the sound volume when in demo mode?

 

Oh, and something rather strange happened today. See the pictures. Look in my blog for more details.

 

 

Dont let the tiddy bears hurt each other

[Shannon]

I was thinking of having the bears hold hands and sing koombayah!

[Shannon]

Here are the guts/brains....

[Shannon]

I created a little "Quirks, Oddities, and Necessary Evils (awecade)" section in my blog. It's a little too lengthy to put here and is still kinda a work in progress.

Edited September 19, 2006 by Shannon

[Shannon]

Here is some info on the "Awesome control panel utility". This handy dandy utility lets you reprogram the control panel whichever way you like. Although for compatibility with the original Awesome hard-drive / OS it is best to leave them alone.

 

Here is the current configuration..

 

Player 1:

Up, Down, Left, Right

mapped to arrows keys

Buttons:
1 (Red)	-> space
2 (Yellow) -> X
3 (Blue)   -> C
4 (Green)  -> V
5 (Orange) -> B
6 (Purple) -> N
Player 1   -> 1
Audio
 /Credit  -> F2

Player 2:

Up	-> R
down  -> F
left  -> D
right -> G

1 (Red)	-> T
2 (Yellow) -> Y
3 (Blue)   -> U
4 (Green)  -> I
5 (Orange) -> O
6 (Purple) -> L
Player 1   -> 2
Menu/Exit  -> Escape

notes:

(6 is mapped to L to allow P to be used for Pausing built into all games)

buttons 7 & 8 on both players are not mapped to any keys.

 

Here is a picture of the interface. It is pretty simple, nothing really complicated. Select the button you want, enter the keypress you want it to use. There is also a menu option that lets you reset to the default P1/P2 or P3/P4 configuration. The fact they included P3/P4 configuration kinda implies what may be to come in the future from the awecades team.

 

Awesome Control Panel Utility

 

Oddly enough the "default" configurations are not what the control panel currently uses. So it is best to read the current config and save it as backup. In fact the original default configurations actually match the MAME defaults practically to the T.

 

As tempting as it is I'm probably gonna go ahead and play it safe and shoehorn my alternate hard drive keys to match those of the defaults. That way if I somehow destablize my personal set-up and I can still fall back on the awecade drive without wearing out the MCU's flash.

 

Anyways.. Here is the cool part. If you look closely at the interface you will see what is known as a shifted key. What this does is allow you an extra 23 alternate keypresses (27 if you count the missing buttons 7&8 for each player). As Curt put it, here is how the shift key works...

You can assign a specific button to act as a shift key and that will allow you to give all of the pin assignments other functions -

 

Example - Button 10 could be set to be a shift key, when pressed buttons 1-9 could go from their standard functions and you could assign them to do functions like for MAME - F2 (Advance) F3 (Reset), etc.... it gives you a lot more expandability allow you to have more inputs for more complex games.

This will come quite handy for assigning a few "missing" pre-defined keys as well as other unusual key configs used by various emulators, and even the "TAB" key which mamewah makes use of.

Edited October 6, 2006 by Shannon

[madhatter667]

Is the Awecade a MAME run box? What did that run you? I'd love to get an arcade cab when I am able to get into a house, as opposed to a cramped apartment. Arcade machines are always fun.

[Curt Vendel]

If you're tight on space you can check out our new "PAM" Personal Arcade Machine, which is a Cabaret style/sized unit and if you want, the top of the unit can come off and become a tabletop unit (or you can purchase just the tabletop unit only) Has all the great games included with the Awecades Arcade Center, just a small package with a 17" LCD display.

 

Check the PAM and the Arcade Center out at www.awecades.com

 

 

 

 

Curt

 

Is the Awecade a MAME run box? What did that run you? I'd love to get an arcade cab when I am able to get into a house, as opposed to a cramped apartment. Arcade machines are always fun.

[madhatter667]

Link to a website?

[diggs130]

Link to a website?

 

 

 

http://www.awecades.com/

[madhatter667]

What's the run down on the games supplied with the unit?

The PAM isn't a bad deal for what it is, I have seen just cabs go for more than that.

[Shannon]

 

It cost just under $2000 for my unit. It runs the emulations by digital creation (for the williams/ late Atari games) and the Atari classics 80 in one. Plus some laser disc games.

 

Basically it consists of (too put it in classic release terms)

 

Midway Arcade Treasures 1 & 2

Atari classics 80 in 1 (which includes the atari 2600 games)

Exidy games (done with mame), these include the light gun games.

Laser Disc games - Dragon's Lair I & II, Space Ace.

 

For more details click here.

 

Coming soon will be a Taito edition (equiv to Taitio Legends I) and laser games Thayer's Quest, and Dragon's Lair III.

 

I think what Curt was going for here (besides an affordable system) was legal emulation (Note that the Exidy games do use MAME). The stuff it comes with is pretty much locked down (encrypted). BUT!!

 

He does include the awesome control panel utility, which would allow you to set-up your own MAME system if you wish. Either by erasing the hard-drive or creating a new one. I myself plan on building a seperate hard drive (eventually). That way I can fall back on the original if I mess something up. I even set up one of the shift keys to act as a "P"ause button.

 

One of the neat things about the custom set-up they have (besides the little control panel showing you which buttons to press) is they have been working on tweaking it to make it more efficient. When I get the next OS revision I'll probably talk about it in my log.

 

Honestly though, I've only worked my way up to the "R's". Can't seem to stop myself from sneaking in a quick game of Millipede or Joust.

Edited October 8, 2006 by Shannon