Sega Mega-Tech phase 4 was just Awesome! This step is the ‘downhill run’ to completion!
ITS COMPLETE!
At last, I am writing this with the entire project completed, I wont lie, its been testing, as one point I even offered the lot up for sale as an unfinished project, but then I slept on it and changed my mind, I NEEDED to complete this!
At the end of phase 4 we pretty much had a functioning second monitor and everything running controller wise, I then set about configuring every single emulator to suit the controller, this is a long tedious task, this is the main reason you should build up your own Hyperspin and not buy pre-configured drives, because if your controller does not match the pre-config then you are going to spend a fair few hours configuring it.
I spoke with a Hyperspin Guru, he, with the help of a few teamviewer sessions (which cost me a few pints, but was WELL WORTH IT), assisted in getting all the emulators working and configured properly, advising me to drop a couple of the systems off the install (because I had a 6 button set up and some systems required 8 or more) – I did move a couple of systems including the Playstation and Dreamcast system.
A TOTAL BRAINWAVE
I was gutted to also have to remove the Sony PSP system, as there are some favourites on there, such as Grand Theft Auto Chinatown wars, even though I had enough buttons (6) I only had the one D-Pad, whereby the Sony PSP has 2…. BUT WAIT, lets work this out, the Sony PSP is a SINGLE PLAYER SYSTEM, and here in front of me I have a 2 player system, so I could use the P2 Joystick as the secondary D Pad – Configured it and it worked a bloody charm!
OK, So we’ve got the NES, SNES, MEGADRIVE, MASTER SYSTEM, PC ENGINE, ATARI 2600, ATARI JAGUAR, PANSONIC 3D0 , SONY PSP (and Sony PSP Minis) and the MAME (Arcade Classics) sections all sorted and configured – well at least I thought I did.
Turns out there are some games on MAME that require you to individually set the controllers, which can be a real pain in the ass when you are working with over THREE THOUSAND GAMES installed, so its got me thinking I need to install a keyboard INSIDE the cabinet somewhere so that games can be configured ‘on the fly’ should any come up that are not responding – a real pain considering I want to release this machine ‘out into the wild’ (i.e. sell to someone who wants a set up pre configured machine – who probably has zero technical knowledge) – surely people cant expect you to individually test over 3000 games, can they?
PUTTING IT BACK TOGETHER
I bought a hot glue gun to repair the T-Moulding that had come away from the machine cabinet, the first time having used a glue gun, but it was easy and as long as you STICK to reading the instructions, you cant really go wrong (Sorry for the pun!). I also collected up all the tools, and got my ‘box of bits’ (the original box I put everything in that I stripped from the machine).
I screwed in the PC motherboard, created a bracket for the hard drive, screwed in the bass box (with build in amp for speakers) – left the volume down in the botton compartment for easy access to control the volume (See pix) , I screwed in the x2 VGA to CGA converters running the monitors, screwed in an extra fan for the internals (just for extra coolness) – screwed in the power supply unit, wired all the plugs to one incoming plug and then started to rebuild the originals.
I cleaned the glass covering the screen and the internal plastics and affixed them back on, then screwed the control panel back in , on its hinges, gave the case a touch up with some black spray (only in the scratched areas) and almost completed the build (yet to fix the brand new locks, but they have JUST turned up so will do tonight!).
The machine is now listed on eBay and some private selling sites, I have it listed higher on eBay as I would not like to waste so much money on fees, but it is open to offers, my next project is a Golden Tee conversion, which is why I am following the Golden Tee Marquee Scroller Hack attempts and hoping we get some more success (and publicly available code!).
A FEW THANK YOUS
I have quite a few people to thank for assisting me in this, in no particular order I would like to thank ASH EVANS, for help on part buying, soldering, general VGA/CGA advice and so much more, BOB BLAINEY for doing a bit of soldering on the power supplies for the VGA to CGA converters, LEVI (my son) for re-doing Bobs soldering when some of it came off, ANDREW HOLLOWAY for assisting me with getting the holes in the control panel and then smoothing it all down, PRINTFACTOR for printing my control panel design, CRIMS ARCADES (Nathan) for assisting with the Hypermarquee set up and general Hyperspin advice,, JASON WATERFIELD for helping me with a small technical glitch (as covered here by Simply Austin) and all the people from The Arcade Collective for assisting with the questions I have asked in doing this install. I would like to thank also my partner VICKY for helping me and putting up with me and more importantly encouraging me to complete the project and not get down on every hurdle, thanks Babe xx
NEW EDIT JAN 2016 – I have taken a deposit TWICE on this machine now, both times the buyer did not have the finances to pay the remainder – but both times I was requested to add systems, such as Dreamcast and N64 – I added Dreamcast and selected some games that would play 6 button (see Dreamcast 6 Button cab) – then I added N64 and did the same, allowing only 1 player on the N64 to utilise the other joystick and buttons (like I did with the Sony PSP – which is a one player anyways).
I have totally removed MAME, as there were still some games I could not configure to the controller, and I needed the space to add the new systems and their rather large ISO images.
NEW EDIT FEB 2016 – Machine now sold and collected at its new home….. Im gutted … But my new build components are arriving as we speak……
