October 2011 KwadKade update
Oct 3rd
Due to limited space at new location of CGC Hobbies & LAN Center, we will be removing the machines. We tried to make it work, but there was just not enough room. 1 machine may be setup, if possible. A couple of machines will be making road trips to various local conventions such as the River City Comic Expo. We’re not getting rid of the machines, so if things go well in the future, it’s possible that the KwadKades will make a reappearance somewhere.
KwadKades are Moving!
Aug 28th
CGC Hobbies & LAN Center is moving, and the KwadKades are moving with it! We’re moving to 1430 Old Morrilton HWY , about 1/2 mile away. You can almost see the building from our current one. The games should be at the new location and up and running on September 2nd, if things go according to plan.
Once things settle down, and if there’s room, another cabinet might be in the works. Stay tuned…
August 2011 updates
Aug 19th
Still trying to work on the Custom Cabinet. Hit a issue with the control panel. It needs more support to hold it up. For light usage it would be fine, but for the abuse it’s expected to get, it will need something else to keep it from breaking. Also want to make it a bit bigger and re-layout the buttons in a Neo-Geo Pattern as it will be using 4 buttons per player. Will need to re-cut the marquee section as well as some support boards. The weather here has cooled down, but, there’s been a lot going on the last couple of weeks and will continue for the rest of the month. Don’t see getting much done until the 2nd week of September.
There’s been a swap in the positions of 2 of the cabinets (Final Lap 3 & Neo-Geo) and re-done some power to allow the machines to be shutdown easier at night.
Be on the lookout for some important news with in a week or two.
Custom cabinets
Jul 29th
Currently in the works is a custom cabinet. It’s about 40% or so done with it. The Control panel is nearing completion.
I may make cabinets in the future, but with a slightly different design and using a different wood type.
Also, I will be modifying an existing wooden box into a Stepmania cabinet after the above is complete. It just needs a few things done to it for the conversion to be complete.
Once the 2 cabinets are done, they will bring the total number of machines to 10. This might possibly be the largest amount in one place in Conway, AR.
Future Game – NvZ
Jul 19th
I am currently working with a couple of developers on a fighting game engine. I’m working on graphics for my own game using this engine. It will be a beat-em up. The tentative name is Ninjas VS Zombies (aka NvZ).
I’m also in the process of building a cabinet that I plan on using for this game. The bottom 1/2 is almost complete. Pictures will be posted when nearing completion.
I was hoping to have this all done by July 23 for this month’s Monthly Arkansas Gameatholon, but, there is still too much to do on both the game and cabinet. Looks like it could debut in August.
Please Welcome the Newest Addition: Marvel vs Capcom
May 24th
Just added on June 23, 2011 is Marvel vs Capcom, and has been dubbed the Mark VIII. There’s a little work to be done on this, like swap out the pushbuttons to make them match up between player 1 & 2, some monitor work, and a little clean up. The game is currently playable and is ready for you to duke it out with Marvel & Capcom characters.
Holding off on the Reworking of Machines
Mar 31st
I’m going to hold off on reworking of the machines this week due to lack of time. I was fighting with a headache caused by lack of sleep yesterday so I didn’t get to progress with the switching like I hoped. More parts have arrived, and if there’s enough time, Neo-Geo should be back up by Saturday.
The good news is I will be picking up some more stuff tonight. None of it will be ready by this Saturday’s fighting tourney at CGC. Might not get to start on any of it till Sunday/Monday. I’ll announce what I’ve got once it’s all tested & running.
Reworking Cabinets… Again
Mar 29th
I’ll be doing some cabinet swaps again this week. Robot Unicorn Attack will be pulled out of the Mark II cabinet to make room for game swaps/additions. The plans are to move Raiden II into the Mark II, Tekken 3 into the Mark IV and “another game or two” into the Mark VI. The game going into the Mark VI should be announced soon once everything is good to go.
Robot Unicorn Attack may someday make a return, if and when I can get enough cabinets.
I’m also working on a test box/portable arcade machine. This will be used to test “new” boards and to be able to take games “on the road”. It’s just about usable now, but, I still need to build and mount the monitor box as well as do some painting/staining. Plans are to have this done in a couple of weeks, or at least before A-Kon in June.
A couple more black lights were added last night. Hopefully additional bulbs will be added soon along with some more accent lighting at the entrance.
KwadKade now has it’s own Facebook Page. If you’re on Facebook, make sure you Like it. Updates from the website will get posted there as well.
I’m sure you noticed yet another theme change…. I’m still working on getting the right feel for the site. And no, I don’t have a Donkey Kong cabinet as of yet. Maybe sometime later in the future.
March 2011 minor updates
Mar 14th
Mark II now has Robot Unicorn Attack: Heavy Metal. This replaces the regular version of RUA. RUA:HM seems to play smoother than RUA. It also keeps the highest scores on the screen after a game is over.
Mark I’s joysticks have been replaced with Happ Competition joysticks. This should fix the issues with Street Fighter II’s controls.
Some minor re-arranging has been done with a few of the cabinets to make room for future additions.
Tekken 3, New Controls and other updates
Feb 23rd
Tekken 3 is now playable, although more work is needed to make it complete. Right now I have a 17″ CRT monitor in the cabinet. I am wanting to add a 19″ LCD sometime in the near future. Plexi/Lexan is still needed to be cut for it and a coin door is needed to make it mostly complete. Minor things like getting the Marquee lit-up and swapping the controls for punch and kick are needed.
New parts came in yesterday (Feb 22) and some upgrades will be going in. Mostly the joysticks will be swapped out in Street Fighter 2 with some Happ Competitions and plans are to cover the control panel while the joysticks are out. Raiden 2 will have the second player controls added once Street fighter 2 is done.
Robot Unicorn Attack’s joystick controller has been removed and replaced with a keyboard controller which should make the controls more responsive. I could tell the difference once it was put in. Not sure if anyone else will. I’ve got the material for its new bezel, just have to cut it. I’m wanting to add the Heavy Metal version of RUA to the cabinet. This will give it a little more variety and hopefully keep our brains from being slowly numbed by the song from Erasure.
Final Lap 3 is in and running. Maybe sometime in the not to distant future I can pick up another one so they can be linked and have multiplayer.
The Neo-Geo is having power supply issues at the moment. I have a new one in to test and hopefully have it up soon. Once this is fixed, all 7 cabinets will be running.
The arcade area at CGC is now darker and has some black lights going. Additional black lights and more atmosphere lighting will be added in the upcoming months. Hopefully once the coming string of weekend Conventions settles down. The stuff in the old Anime-Retro Lounge has been moved out and more machines will be put in once more have been acquired. I may do some rearranging of the cabinets to make more room for new finds.
Future projects/plans:
- Stepmania might be making a comeback sooner than I thought. That is if everything goes through. If so, it will be impressive.
- Ports/remakes of some old school retro-games might be appearing once more cabinets are found.
- I’m currently working on some plans for building my own cabinets. One of the items in the order I just received was a T-Molding groove cutter. Hopefully soon I can pick up a circular saw and some MDF and start working on them. This might be sometime in the Summer or Fall before I get to start the work.
- I’ve got my eye out some more arcade boards. I’ve got some in mind and maybe I’ll have enough money to invest in them after tax refunds come in. That is, if the upcoming conventions don’t tap me out first.