334 replies to this topic

[Sterling7]

Hey all,

Palindrome - any news on Top Gear and Robotest?

I see U2 is out - lots of noise on there about the MK5 machines, looks promising ?

[palindrome]

Hey all,

Palindrome - any news on Top Gear and Robotest?

I see U2 is out - lots of noise on there about the MK5 machines, looks promising ?

I have to re-submit the driver again, without the custom printer stuff I added which was the
reason why it was rejected.

Been quite busy lately for a re-submit.


We worked out that CBOPT ( CASH BOX OPTIC ) bit 7 should only be set when a coin passes the detector and into the cashbox. Previously it was set indefinitely and I think that the Robo Test complained about that being on all the time and that was how it was fixed.

Also the other minor change was to the hopper probe signal. I turned that off indefinitely until I find out more about it and how it works, turning it off doesn't affect the playability of any games so far.

Yes the Mark 5 looks very promising. I'd say it is about 80% done. Great work by Angelo Salese.

Edited by palindrome, 02 September 2010 - 04:16 AM.

[Sterling7]

Ok sounds good, hopefully they will accept your re-submitted driver when you have the time to finish it. What was the custom printer stuff for?

I didnt realise that Angelo had completed about 80%, thats awesome, do you think he will complete it or has he just done the ground work for someone else to finish and create layouts etc?

[palindrome]

It just simulates the ticket printer whenever the main door or logic door is opened.

[freddy1]

Palindrome do you think angelo will finish the mk5 games

[Sterling7]

Freddy, Palindrom did not answer me when I asked the same question so I assume (obviously) he doesnt know. It is not his driver. We will have to keep an eye on the Mame updates to see if any more work is done on the driver.

I am enjoying MK4 Golden Canaries though!

Edited by Sterling7, 15 September 2010 - 03:29 PM.

[freddy1]

Sorry but i just cant wait to play these games.

[palindrome]

Check the MAME Developers WIPs.

http://mamedev.org/d.../Developer_WIPs

[Sterling7]

interesting, I have been watching Kale (angelo's) page and although he has done a lot of work as U2 he hasnt mentioned it on his page. Maybe he will update with some screen shots if he gets it working.

I see the rom geishanz has some refernce to MK6 machines and it is dated 2001, I wonder if they have it mistaken for MK5 hardware in MAWS.

[dream_catcher]

obviously this is very exciting news, but the way i see it is, we've waited this long, a bit longer aint gonna hurt, the work palindrome did was very much worth waiting for, part of australian gaming history is preserved.

as for geisha mk5, im sure i have seen one before, i remember it didnt looked as polished as the mk6, bit like qotn on both systems. i kind of prefer the mk5 version anyway.

[steve190669]

hi guys got MameUI64 and rom KG BIRD working but have no idear how to get the game to start to play any instructions work be great

[FrasheR]

hi guys got MameUI64 and rom KG BIRD working but have no idear how to get the game to start to play any instructions work be great

Hi there
Check out
Mamedev Wiki

It has details on how to perform an NVRAM reset to fix the metering errors.

Fr45h3r

Edited by FrasheR, 19 September 2010 - 11:12 AM.

[Rod71]

Firstly, Thanks to everyone involved in getting these games up and running. Really appreciate the skills and patience required to get something like this happening.

Enjoying the MKIV games. Can someone give me a quick rules rundown on Autumn Moon?. Does it have a bonus feature?.

I remember back in the early 90's playing Aristocrat games like Lions Share (10 free spins for getting 3 lions). Monkey Business (3 free spins for getting green, yellow or red monkeys on the first 2 reels. The reels hold for the spins kinda like Sweethearts II). Plus another game called Double It. The first 2 reels had "2X" symbols which would multiply wins by 2x or 4x.

All these games were middle line multipliers, and to me are more interesting than most of the MKIV which don't have any bonus features. Not sure what system these were on. Again they were from the early 90's. Oh yeah, there was a video version of "2UP" as well.

Edited by Rod71, 30 September 2010 - 03:04 AM.

[palindrome]

Much of a muchness at the end of the day if you play these things on a regular basis. It doesn't really matter how the game is designed, whether its multi-payline based, adjacent based, scattered pays or has a feature.

Features just make them more or less interesting, and often trick players into "thinking" they have a better chance on some games vs others. The odds and prizes are generally the same because the reels are weighted by a distribution of symbols and balanced accordingly.

Games like King Of The Nile actually give the player an advantage by offering a replay, this repeat feature is actually disabled in the Queensland version and probably banned in new games everywhere by now. An experienced player knows that the average pay in King Of The Nile after the feature should be around $5-$6 playing max lines and 1 credit per line on a 1c machine.. so if your first round of free games amount to less than 600 credits then should think about replaying them based on the observed average, good chance that you will beat your last score if you replay. However, if you win $10 off a 25c bet be then you should really consider pressing the take-win.

What is interesting is that every game has a cycle for everything, so if you know them then you can probably increase your chances a little. The problem is that the cycles for combos that matter are so huge that its practically impossible to count and monitor their frequency.

As for autumn moon, its an awful looking game so I haven't had the chance to play it. Check out Golden Canaries which gives you 8 free games if you trigger at least 3 eggs ( or with 1 x cat sub on reel 3 ) from L->R or L<-R

[Sterling7]

Interesting you mention KOTN, do you think this is identical to QOTN with the added replay feature or is there a difference in the math? If it's the same then it would make more sense to play KOTN although I prefer QOTN!

[Rod71]

Regarding Top Gear
Mame 0.140 is out. Not sure whats going on, but Top Gear seems to kinda work for me now. Only issue seems to be you cant play more than 5 credits at a time, and there's no sound in the bonus feature.

Last version of mame, couldn't get this game out of audit settings

[palindrome]

Regarding Top Gear
Mame 0.140 is out. Not sure whats going on, but Top Gear seems to kinda work for me now. Only issue seems to be you cant play more than 5 credits at a time, and there's no sound in the bonus feature.

Last version of mame, couldn't get this game out of audit settings

All MK 4 games are using a generic button layout and Top Gear only has 6 play buttons including the max bet button.

In this form, it is a 10c machine and max bet is 50c.

If you're getting stuck in audit try restarting the game or deleting the nvram if that doesnt work, there is currently a bug in the RTC that is causing lockups in audit and from startup

[Heihachi_73]

First post in a while.

Top Gear's button layout is:

[Collect] [NC] [MAX] [NC] [NC] [NC]
[Service] [1 line] [2 lines] [3 lines] [4 lines] [5 lines] [NC] [NC]

Top Gear and 3 Bags Full do not have a gamble/double up feature and will add all wins directly to the credit meter.

Someone said that only a couple of games in the driver actually have a feature. Not quite...

Sweet Hearts II / Coral Riches II feature: 3 spins after a left to right scatter win; all scatters pay anywhere on screen in feature. If any more scatters appear in the feature, the free spins are reset to 3 again (not added to remaining spins). Being NZ versions, 5 scatters only pays 35 x bet instead of 50 x bet.

Enchanted Forest / Phantom Pays feature: As stated by Palindrome, whenever the substitute appears, the entire three vertical positions where the symbol appeared are paid, even if it is not on the payline.

3 Bags Full feature: 5 money bags on a lit line triggers a second screen feature where you can pick three bags containing credits. Don't know what the 'bonus' bag does, whether it just sits there saying Bonus or becomes selectable after picking a certain 3 bags... Someone said it might become usable if you select 3 of the same prize, not sure.

Golden Canaries feature: 3 or more eggs from one end of the screen triggers 8 free games. During the games, the more canaries that appear gives you a higher repeat win at the end of the feature. Of course, if you don't win any credits in the feature, you get a repeat win of zero! The cat in reel 3 substitutes for the eggs and all other symbols, and pays are from both ends of the screen.

Autumn Moon feature: When 3/4/5 moons appear left to right on a lit line, the credit values on each moon are multiplied by the bet per line as a bouns win. All other symbols pay adjacent (they must touch with no gaps, e.g. 3 of a kind in reels 2/3/4 is a win, but reels 1/2/4 is not). The maple leaf is a scatter, but the same rule applies, 3 or more in adjacent reels.

Top Gear feature: No idea how to get it, but it's a racing feature where you have to pick a drag car to race, earning you credits even if you come last!

Gone Troppo feature: 2 or more shells on a lit line triggers a second screen feature which gives you the change to win up to 50 credits. All symbols pay from both ends. Not emulated just yet, but shouldn't be too hard to add (it's a MK2.5 game from 1986, 5 line machine with the same button panel as Top Gear).

The other games do not have or require features, and as such, they actually pay decent wins more frequently than the feature games.

Black Rhino / K.G. Bird
White Tiger
Fantasy Fortune

Edited by Heihachi_73, 28 October 2010 - 07:57 AM.

[palindrome]

Gone Troppo is working, I fixed the feature gfx some time ago.. had one of the shapes mixed up. It hasn't been submitted yet. I guess there are more pending issues and the MAME people seem fairly busy.

Top Gear needs 3 eagles or 4 panthers on the first 3 reels, I think these are scattered. Can't remember exactly.

[Rod71]

Thanks for the Top Gear info. Still a little confused though. Say you play 4 credits. Lines 1 - 4 will lite up, but line 5 will be grayed out. Play 5 credits and grayed out line 5 disappears, leaving lines 1 - 4 lit.

Will have to give 3 bags full another run. Wasn't aware of the feature

Also, whats the chances of other MK2.5 games appearing, like "Clockwise" etc. Is it the case of someone coming across the roms and submitting them?. Or the roms are already "Out there" but just need to be worked on.