Re: Cinematronics Multigame

Hi Mark!

Put me down for two...

John :-#)#

Mark Shostak wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> As some of you know, we here at CineLabs :-) have been working on a
> multigame system for the Cinematronics platform (CMG for short).
> I've been making a major push lately and have redone/improved the system.
>
> What will it do:
> ----------------
>
> The CMG will support ALL of the known, existing Cinematronics vector
> games (Star Castle, RO, SQ, BUGs, etc. (except Cosmic Chasm)).
>
> There will be plenty of space for additions, revisions, new games, etc in
> EPROM (2meg or 4meg).
>
> There's a menu system to select games (of course).
>
> A control panel based escape sequence, similar to IBM's three finger salute.
>
> There's also some extra diagnostics (RAM for example).
>
> My plan is offer a kit which will include:
> ------------------------------------------
>
> An assembled daughter card which will piggy back onto the Cinematronics
> CPU board. The board will plug into an existing EP/ROM socket, connect
> in series with the control panel and have some miscellaneous connections
> to the CCPU for control signals.
>
> The final cost should be around $75. (That covers the CMG cost and
> hopefully the development tools as well).
>
> Control Panel:
> --------------
>
> There are currently two versions of the CMG, one for Armor Attack and one
> for Rip Off.
>
> The reason is both of these games use basically the same configuration.
> I've patched a bunch of games to work with these CPs. I plan to patch the
> rest of them in the future, based on input from the group on what the best
> solutions are for the particular game.
>
> Color Support:
> --------------
>
> As it stands right now, everything is monochrome. All games, including
> Boxing Bugs work fine on a bi-level monochrome display (as used in
> RO and AA). Hopefully color will become available at a later date, by
> my efforts or someone else's.
>
> Sound:
> ------
>
> As you know, every game has its own sound board. I'm concentrating on the
> actual game portion at this time. The CMG will have support for Cinematronics
> Multisound in software, but I'd love to hear from anyone interested in this
> end of the project.
>
> In the mean time, you can always physically swap the sound boards.
>
> ---
>
> Anyone interested in one? I'll do a run of boards as long as I get a few
> people interested (10-15). As usual, the more people interested, the
> lower the cost can drop.
>
> I will also order a couple extras and sell them to the general RGVAC
> population to help cover costs and get the volume up, but the price
> will be somewhat higher. So if you want one cheaper, speak now.
>
> -Mark

-- 
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