2500-in-1 Multicade System Operation

 

The 2500-in-1 platform is a computer hard drive system with an integral JAMMA interface.  Although they both accomplish the same goal of playing lots of arcade video games, the 2500 is much different from a MAME setup.

 

Following, you will find information and specifications for the operation of the 2500 system.  

 

Send me an email if you have any questions:  [email protected]

 

Ultra Edition 2500 Multicade System Operation:

1.  Freeplay.

The system does not offer a freeplay setting.  So for home use, a credit button can be installed either on the control panel, or on the cabinet near the front access door.  The default credit button location is the control panel.

When placing your order, let me know if you prefer a different button location than the default location.

 

2.  Sound system and quality. 

The basic system features two channel stereo audio.  This means that, when available, your cabinet will have two speakers.  And, that the game music and sounds should as good as the original.

However, for a few games the sound reproduction may not be up to par.  Sometimes, the quality can be improved by adjusting the sound volumn, or by adjusting the volumn balance (see item 5c below).

For the few games where the sound reproduction cannot be improved, the game play and game graphics will be unaffected and just like the original.

For the best sound quality and the elimination of all sound problems, we offer a powered stereo sound system with sound card upgrade.

 

3.  Vertical game presentation. 

Since the monitor is oriented horizontally, vertical format games, such as Frogger and Donkey Kong, will appear a bit shorter than normal when presented on a 25" horizontal monitor.  Other than that, the vertical classic games will look very near to the way they looked when originally presented on a 19" vertical monitor.

 

4.  The 2500-in-1 hardware. 

Click any photo for a larger view. And, click it a 2nd time for zoom.

 

4 a.  Both an ATX power supply (shown in photo), and sometimes an arcade power supply (shown in photo below) are required.

4 b.  The cables and the 3 & 4 player interface card furnished with the system.

4 c.  A 2500-in-1 installation in process.

 

4 d.  Photo of a completed early style of installation.

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Operation and setup.

5 a.  DIP settings.  When playing games while DIP #4 is in Setup mode (On), the game Exit function is disabled.

5 b.  Boot up.  Boot up takes what seems like 5 minutes for the older systems.  There are long periods of nothing on the monitor screen, broken by flashes of light.  Do not worry.  That is the normal boot up process.

However, our 2500-in-1 will boot up in about 65 seconds.

5 c.  Volumn control.  There are two black knob pots located to the right of the JAMMA wiring harness edge connector that are used for volumn control when using original cabinet speakers.  Turn clockwise to lower volumn, or counter-clockwise to increase volumn.

Adjust the 2 knobs seperately to achieve the best volumn and balance between the game's sounds.  You can click the photo of the circuit board at item #4a above to see the location of the volumn controls.

In the photo at #4a, the volumn controls can be seen along the front edge of the top circuit board just to the right of the red bank of DIP switches.

If you are using the sound system of an LCD monitor, volumn control will be accomplished using the monitor's sound system control.

If you ordered the powered stereo sound system with sound card for your multicade, simply use the control dial found on the system adjustment pod.  The pod is conveniently located just inside the front access door.

 

6.  Operating manual.

Click this link to see scanned copies of the basic platform operating manual.

 

7.  Menu navigation.

Every step of selection and navigation is presented below: 

7 a.  Power up the cabinet.

7 b.  Wait several minutes for boot up of old systems, or about 65 secondes for the 2500.

7 c.  When game category/games list displays, select game category with either the player-1 A button, or the player-1 B button.  Use A button to select the primary game category.  Then, the B button to select any game sub-categories.

7 d.  When the desired game category is found, use the joystick to scroll the category game list.  Scroll up or down to scroll by single title.  Scroll left or right to scroll by page of game titles.

7 e.  When the desired game title is found, press 1-player start button to launch the game.

7 f.  Press the credit button to obtain credits in order to play the game.

7 g.  Press the appropriate player start button to begin the game play.

7 h.  To exit the game and/or return to the main menu, press and hold for 3 seconds the player-1 start button.

7 i.  To end the session, use joystick to scroll to "Shutdown" (located at the top of every page), and press the 1-player start button.

7 j.  Kill power to the cabinet.

 

8.  Shooting games.

Although, you will find that there are several shooting games, the system will not support all of the shooting games.

However, we have identified about 25 shooting games that operate properly by using the trackball as the crosshairs aiming device.

 

9.  System bugs and issues.

At Ace Amusements, we have undertaken with the 2500-in-1 system to make as many hardware and software improvements as we possibly can.  Quite simply, the Ace Amusements 2500-in-1 hardware package is the best there is anywhere.

Any software bugs and or issues usually manifest as games that do not load or control properly.  As we learn of these issues, we attempt to fix the problem.

I would guess that about 5%, or less, of the 2,500 games have an issue of not loading or controlling properly or some other simple problem.  As discovered, we will attempt to fix them. Usually, we are successful. But, sometimes there are issues we cannot fix. In those cases, we delete the game from the system.

Here are system findings:

9-a.  A few games will not load from their category list, but will load from the All list.

9-b.  The game Tempest will not load from the Tempest listing, but will from Tempest Tubes.  (This problem has been fixed.)

9-c.  Several of the games will select, load, and credit properly, but will then require about 5 seconds before the game play credits will display.  After 5 seconds the credits will display, and then the game play may be started.  Donkey Kong and Space Invaders are a couple of example games.

9-d.  The LaserDisc games load slowly and credit slowly, so give them a few seconds. The control button layout will have to be learned, as it does not agree with typical game button layout. Nevertheless, the games will play correctly.

9-e.  The All list shows 11 Golden Tee Golf titles. However, 3 of the titles - 1997, 1998, and 2K - do not load properly. We are presently unable to fix the games, or delete them from the All list.

 

10.  Driving games. 

You will find some driving games in the system. A few can be played using the spinner as the steering wheel.

But, a few do not load (like Spy Hunter). And, for a few others, the pedals would not be available.