Ramblings (Underdog Chamber)

First off, I missed a day this week, which was Wednesday. My day off, and for some reason, my car dealer took 2 1/2 hours to fix my car! Should have taken only about an hour. Oh well, it threw my sleep schedule off, and I ended up sleeping way too much. In fact, I sleep most of Wednesday, for some darn reason. Thus I spent part of today trying to make up for it, along with getting some college homework done as well (still trying to get ahead during Spring break for next week).

I managed to pull out my Intellivision and test it on my old Sharp TV upstairs. As expected, no problems at all, even if it is using RF (I have yet to get the video upgrade installed and working on a INTV unit yet – maybe for next year). I tested it out with Dracula, not my favorite game, but for some reason I’m drawn to the crazy thing. I like the day/night cycle in the game play. Oh well, it works, and it is in the show officially now.

I also tested the 2nd iMac I had in my basement, sitting on my workbench since last year. Gort, the best of the original CRT iMacs that I have powered up as I expected and ran Quake just fine. This model is from 2001, and is indigo in color, with the best processor and graphics of the iMacs I currently have. The system date was a bit off, but the time was correct. Hopefully the battery keeps going, as it seems okay, otherwise the unit would not have booted up. So, that is two Macs ready for the Quake LAN. Hopefully will actually start testing them on the LAN in a day or two. I’ve pulled out the LAN equipment, and just need to get everything in order to do the LAN testing. Unlike other years, I’m just going to test two at a time, just to make sure nothing has gone wrong from last year (plus I need to change one setting in the Quake game on each Mac to adjust for 7 players).

I know I stated that the Gamecube was finalized before, but I never really got the games all set to go. Today I did that, making sure they were set on the cube’s memory card, and that I had all the controllers in order. Thus, the Gamecube is truly ready for the show. I expect it to be a popular part of the UC area this year, at least I expect it to be. Since I’m not running the iconic games from Nintendo, this may turn some folks off. But, in true Underdog fashion, I’d rather run games like Gun and Ikaruga!

Dracula on the Intellivision – Intellivision and Cuttle Cart 3

Gort, booting up OS 9 – Quake

Ikaruga on the GC – Gun screen shot

I finally started work on the Macs for the 7-player Quake LAN for this year. I didn’t have a lot of time today, so I just checked out Hawk, the name I gave to an old original iMac (with a 500MHz upgrade in it). (Yeah, I name my Macs, because I can). This machine originally came out in 1998, and is setup with the old Mac OS 9.2.2 operating system (this is for the Midwest Gaming ‘Classic’). As it has been plugged into my workout room since last year, I expected it to be fine, and it is. Quake ran with no problem, and the computers battery is working like a champ. The only thing I had to tweak was the time, as it didn’t Spring ahead (the old OS doesn’t know the new rules for that).

So, one Mac ready, 6 more to check (including completely configuring one – which shouldn’t be too hard, I hope).

Hawk, ready for the Quake LAN

Trying to get the heads-up on the rush to next weekend, I got two systems ready for the show today. At least in testing them out and making sure they are working properly.

Against my better judgement, and I’m glad for it, I went back the the Atari 5200. I remembered today that I have a Masterplay adaptor for the 5200 (only one though), which could help with the joystick issues. After hooking everything back up, the Masterplay adaptor works just fine, and with this in place I’m putting the Atari 5200 officially into the 2008 UC show. I also re-tested the trackball too, and found that it is working good enough for me to go on display as well. I still may run a few games that use the 5200 joysticks, but this will be limited. One game that would still work great, as it doesn’t use the side buttons, would be Space Dungeon (and Robotron as well). These two games kick butt with dual joystick!

I also got out the old trusty Odyssey2, and of course, it tested out just fine. Note that as with last year, this system will not have the original joysticks. But, I did pick out some that are about the size of the originals. I could dig around for original joysticks, but I’ll be honest in the fact that I don’t feel like it. This works fine for me, as long as it works. As shown below, I’ll have Frogger running, along with other games. This will include Tutanhkam and Route 66 (the last being a rare release). (Note: for you O2 fans out there, Frogger is game of the Month on the O2/VP forum – check it out!)

Masterplay for the 5200 – trackball for the 5200

The End in Missile Command – Kaboom on the 5200

Odyssey2 with the Voice – Frogger on the O2

I finally got around to testing the Atari 5200 system today, and much to my disappointment it is having some problems. The main thing is that I only have one working joystick at this point in time. I had four about two years ago, but three of them don’t work now, and I do not know why. It is not from use, as they have been boxed up. The 5200 roller-ball controller is having a few issues itself. Thus, with little time to attempt any type of fix, the Atari 5200 is officially pulled from the 2008 UC area.

I’m debating what to put in its place, possible the Apple IIgs again, the Bally, or maybe just leave it at four systems instead of five. I’ll figure something out within the week.

Atari 5200 – 3 of the 4 non-working joysticks

With work and school, I’ve been just to darn busy to work on the UC stuff for this year. That means with Spring Break next week, I get to work on homework for the last week of the month. Thus, I will be doing last minute UC area stuff next week, and mainly the week just before the show. A mad dash for sure. Expect many more updates than I have posted so far in the weeks leading up to March 29th and the 30th!