[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

Whole e-Carp... I don't know how I did it, but I broke 40K!!!

I just kind of got into a rhythm and I was there before I realized it.  Will I break 50K? I doubt it, but it sure will be fun to try!

44,860

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

woohoo!  I finally made the 30K club!  Time to work on 40

32,200

[Homemade or Custom Controllers]

Next up  I have my 7800 arcade sticks.

As I said earlier in this thread:
For my 7800 arcade sticks, the joysticks were $9 each, the arcade buttons were $1.50 each, and the cables were $15 for the pair. (I printed the cases, so they were probably about $10 worth of filament combined)

My wiring looks really messy, but it works.  I would like to redesign the cases at some point to have rounded edges and corners, but they work great for now. If/When I make new cases - I will clean up the wiring too.

As an added bonus - they fit perfectly in an Ikea spice rack (using Atari Carts as spacers, and a bit of rope to secure them in place) for playing some twin stick Robotron!

 

[Homemade or Custom Controllers]

5 hours ago, HDN said:

@MaliciousCarp I am subbed to your channel now. I have a question for you: where do you source your parts? They must be a bit pricy given the niche nature of arcade controller building.

Oh, and thanks for subscribing.  I usually just post random stuff there that I want to share with my friends, or if I make content for a friend's channel.  I hope you enjoy it - it can get kind of random🙂

 

[Homemade or Custom Controllers]

4 hours ago, HDN said:

@MaliciousCarp I am subbed to your channel now. I have a question for you: where do you source your parts? They must be a bit pricy given the niche nature of arcade controller building.

Honestly I buy from sellers either on Amazon or eBay.  If you shop around and are willing to wait a bit - you can get them relatively cheap.

For my 7800 arcade sticks, the joysticks were $9 each, the arcade buttons were $1.50 each, and the cables were $15 for the pair. (I printed the cases, so they were probably about $10 worth of filament combined)

For stuff like resistors / capacitors / spare switches / wire / spade connectors / proto board / hear shrink tube... I have been buying assortments of them over the years.  I have a pretty good selection on hand at any given time.

[Sega Dreamcast (North American edition) is 21 Years Old today!]

I originally bought the console because I loved Crazy Taxi so much!  (I still do) 

My other go-to games are The Typing Of The dead and Chu Chu Rocket.

The Typing of The Dead is a retooling of House Of The Dead where letters, words, or phrases appear above the zombies... I mean Mutants... that you need to type to target them.  They also tweaked the character graphics a bit so that they are wearing a Dreamcast on their backs and have a keyboard tray hanging in front of them.  It is amazingly well done and fun!

Chu Chu rocket is an addictive multi-player puzzle game where you place arrows on a board to lead mice into rockets while avoiding obstacles and cats.  Multi player has multiple people on the same board placing arrows trying to direct the mice to their own rockets and direct the cats to go after their opponents.

[Sega Dreamcast (North American edition) is 21 Years Old today!]

Released in North America on 9/9/99, the Sega Dreamcast is officially old enough to drink (in the US) today.

Let's show the Dreamcast some love!

What are your favorite Dreamcast games?

[Mold-A-Rama]

1 hour ago, HDN said:

I have some of these I got at the Milwaukee Zoo a few years ago. I love the bright, single colors and the old 1960s-70s design of the machines That delicious plastic stench the machines emit when they're making the creatures... so cool!

Is that the zoo near Brookfield, where Midwest gaming classic used to be?

[Homemade or Custom Controllers]

11 minutes ago, HDN said:

What a cool Warlords controller! I LOVE the idea of making game-specific controllers! Think of the possibilities! Dragster controller, Robotron 2084 controller, Asteroids controller, Raiders of the Lost Ark controller, Video Pinball controller; the list goes on and on! I would love to create some of these someday.

My two biggest constraints are space and time 🙂 Once I build them I don't have the heart to tear them down! 

[Homemade or Custom Controllers]

I really love the idea of building my own controllers for various systems.  

This is a topic for showing off your own creations.

 

I want to start off with my 4 player Warlords controller!  I built this to force everyone to crowd in for 4 player warlords for some shoulder to shoulder competitive play.  Of course it had to be retired for now due to COVID because it is not social distancing friendly, but I am confident that it will see action once again someday!

Here is a video that I made a while ago showing it off:

 

[Mold-A-Rama]

Today I took my Family to Como Zoo in Saint Paul MN and they actually had 2 of their 4 Mold-A-Rama machines up and running!

I remember seeing them there when I was a kid, so it was really cool to let my kids see the magic that is Mold-A-Rama!

 

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

2 hours ago, Justin said:

Great work @MaliciousCarp! Are you able to just wire the cables directly to the buttons and joysticks or is there more work involved?

These are 7800 compatible, so there is a little bit of extra wiring needed.  I used a great wiring diagram that I found on AtariAge as a guide 

(https://atariage.com/forums/topic/258152-byo-atari-7800-controller-schematic-for-dummys/)

I just built a simple circuit on a scrap bit of prototyping board, but I recently found out that EdLaddin makes a board for building your own 7800 arcade sticks  (I think @HDN had posted about them).  Those would make it super simple to do.

You could wire everything directly, but it would get really ugly really fast.

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

13 minutes ago, RickR said:

Those look good!  You should definitely create that post showing off your creations. 

Q:  Do you just steal the cable and connector from an Atari joystick?

No  I actually ordered the cables from Ebay (The brand is Classic Game Source.  They sell them in packs of 2)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TWO-8FT-9-Pin-Replacement-cable-cord-wire-to-repair-Atari-7800-Joystick-E22/172745283257?hash=item28386bd6b9:g:2IcAAOSwHLNZTUdP

You could take one from an actual joystick, but it would be hard to find 8' cables that way! 

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

6 hours ago, RickR said:

No fair, @MaliciousCarp is using coffee!  

I'm kidding of course.  Hey, get us a picture of that sweet looking controller you're using.  Looks pretty nice.

 

So, I am a little obsessed with building my own controllers because parts are so readily available and cheap!

That one is part of set that I built pretty recently. This one did make me realize that I have a lot to learn about design though - I designed the cases in Tinkercad and printed them on an Ender 3.  Unfortunately, I didn't consider the importance of rounded corners and edges though (whoops!).  They are still great to play with though (even though they are a bit pokey).  I will probably redo the cases at some point, but I always have a million projects in flight.

 

If I get around to it - I will have to make a post showing off some of the different controllers that I have built (in a more appropriate thread 🙂 )

[Squad Challenge - Galaxian (Atari 2600)]

My first entry for this one:

22,930

This is another game that I have had in my collection forever, but hardly ever play.  I forget how fun it can be when you get into the zone 🙂

 

[Hi from Winnipeg, Canada]

Welcome!  

I don't have anything to sell or trade, but I am curious what you are looking to add to your collection. 

Are you hunting down games that you have always wanted to play, games that you used to own that you want back, or just looking for games that you missed back in the day?  

 

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

That was fun!  I had never given Pole Position 2 a fair shake before, but it is a definite gem on the 7800.  

I kind of hit a wall (or maybe it was a sign) with my score there towards the end, but I sure had fun trying.

thanks for organizing and running these contests, @Justin! (And congrats on first)

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

Holy Carp - I finally finished the race!  For me switching to a gamepad made a big difference.  I no longer was accidentally down shifting when things got tense and I feel like I had a little better response time.

Current score: 67,200

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

I can't be the first person to point this out, but when you crash your car explodes into a giant fireball.

This was obviously the inspiration for the 1992 movie Freejack 🙂 

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

Hey - a marginal improvement.  I haven't finished a race yet, but I have come close

64,030

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

7 hours ago, Justin said:

Dude you actually have Svengoolie artwork hanging above your TV. How cool is that?

 

5 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

I've rocked out to that sound track in the past often.  It was one of my favorites.  Blue Sky was the one I listened to most.  Love the Svengoolie stuff @MaliciousCarp.

Thanks! It is the portrait that local (to me) comic artist Christopher Jones did a few years back.  I bought a signed print and took it to Midwest Gaming Classic to have Sven autograph it too! That was so fun!

He recognized the print right away (he does have one on set as well that you can see if you are looking for it) 

[Quick question for all you Atari 7800 owners out there]

On 8/18/2020 at 3:40 PM, HDN said:

@dauber I've been looking at the Edladdin Easy 78 controller board thing and am considering building an arcade controller for use with my 2600 and if I get one a 7800. Would you recommend that? 

I'm not Dauber, but I feel like I am qualified to answer this one since I have built a couple of arcade sticks for my 7800- I hadn't heard of the Easy 78 before you mentioned it - those look AMAZING.  I would definitely have gone that route had I known that they existed.  As it is my wiring is very...um... let's say "functional" 🙂 

Those look like they would have made life a lot easier!

[Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)]

Listening to the Daytona USA Sega Saturn soundtrack while playing made me slightly less mediocre this run!

54,740

(It also helps to say "Time Extension - Your Time Has Been Extended" to yourself when you finish a lap)

[One of my favorites--Major Havoc]

22 minutes ago, HDN said:

Those Arcade 1up machines seem really expensive for what they are. If I could get just one, however, I'd be a fool not to get the Atari one with it's controller options not available on modern consoles.

I have 2 of them that I bought at a warehouse sale (Refurbished / open box stock) for $100 each.  They are actually great machines, but the MSRP is way too high.  If you keep an eye out for them you can actually get them for a reasonable price.

[One of my favorites--Major Havoc]

I have the Atari 12-in-1 Arcade 1up machine.  It is the first time that I have played Major Havoc.  The clickey "spinner" controller makes it difficult to play, but once you get a feel for it it is manageable.  It is a really innovative game!