Omega Race

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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Omega Race

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

There was a KLOV post from a nice man wanting to sell this game that was first created in 2020. He would bump his thread every few months and lower his asking price. I have a hang up regarding the purchasing tactic where someone lists a price and you immediately try to get them to go lower. I am sure that I could have paid a lot less for a lot of items I have purchased, but I don't care. That behavior is pathetic to me, it disgusts me, I won't do it. I watched as he lowered the asking price.

The game was in California. The cabaret version of Omega Race, Midway's only vector monitor game. Sure, raster monitors are "better"... I would have liked to have known a world where all the images we see on televisions are made up of vector points though. I really like vector games.

The seller bumped his thread earlier this month and I had the money squirreled away. I wrote him, sent it through Paypal and organized shipping. The last game I had shipped to Colorado was in a situation where I paid to have it sent directly to my home. Only when it got to the terminal, I was told the "truck broke down," and they'd get it to me sometime in the next week. That's ok, I just drove out and got it. Knowing that such a thing is possible, I just paid for them to bring it to the terminal in Brighton, Colorado and not even bother with anyone from there. Brighton is like an hour from my home in good traffic. I drove out late Friday afternoon to get it.

It rained the entire time.

Because it was a cabaret game, it would fit in our Highlander. The Highlander was the vehicle I inherited when my uncle and aunt passed away one month apart in 2020. My wife uses it to drive to work. Someone hit her in it, causing some cosmetic damage. I want to get it fixed, but I spend money on things like arcade games instead. I could afford both. It's just that getting an arcade game sent from California all the way to Illinois for some reason and then back to Brighton is something I "know how to do." I don't know where you even find a good and reliable body mechanic. (The dealership we've taken the Highlander to told us not to use them because they would charge way way more than any other body shop place. Great. So they won't do it and I have no leads.)

So it was raining, but that was ok. The 9 months of snow we had this last year meant we were constantly driving in it, and what I realize is that it makes rain seem like no problem at all. Oh, I won't slip? EXCELLENT, bring on rain. I got to Brighton and Waze couldn't get me exactly where I needed to go to find someone who could get the game. Which is very silly. What place needs to be more easily found than SHIPPING TERMINALS. Christ. I asked some people and they got me to the right place.

I was struck with how "far apart" everything in Brighton was. There was room. I really find that side of the state to be quite pleasant. The road are intelligently designed and paved with plenty of room. It's totally flat, you can see forever, the signs to get on the highway are quite easy to see. I had to get gasoline once in town and there was a gas station nearby and plenty of room to navigate and move around in. Having space is pleasant.

I knocked on the window of the office where Omega Race was shipped. A nice guy who was probably my age worked there and if I had to guess, I would say that he was the dude that managed the office for customers like me -- the weather has been very very mild in Colorado this spring, and the guy was wearing sneakers and shorts and a t-shirt. He had the same growth of beard that I usually do, something between 3 and 7 days. I had already paid the shipping bill, so he told me to just go around to the other side and he'd bring the game over.

The warehouse had thousands of other packages and boxes and crates. There was a Stern pinball shipping box not too far from me. The warehouse seemed serene. Calm. There were a few other guys walking around, but the general vibe of the warehouse was one of organization. I worked in a warehouse once after my freshman year of college and it was really nice when it wasn't hot, humid and when the managers weren't around. Plenty of time to bullshit with the people that worked there full time. I don't want to give up working at home, but man, it was nice to see an environment in a town that had room and wasn't cramming 8 people in an office meant for 2 like they do in IT.

(The seller of the game put Omega Race on wheels. Casters, I think the term is. And ..... let me tell you all. OH. MY. GOD. was it more pleasant and better in every way. I should mod every one of my games to use wheels instead of static feet.) As I get older, the desire for these massive brute games is lowering. There is a Pac-Man cabaret for sale on craigslist, and I sort of want to sell my full-size Ms. Pac and buy that. My horizontal JAMMA cab is an Omega Race cabaret cabinet -- it is the one that Aardvark made me a metal marquee holder for! -- but that one has static feet and moving it is a nightmare, even at its small size. You still need a dolly. This game, however, this new Omega Race game is a gem. We loaded it into the Highlander and I was off.

People out here don't feel comfortable driving in the rain and I do not think less of them. Unless they do the thing where they see an overpass and slam on their brakes and then go to the side of the highway, to let the overpass stop the rain from hitting their cars. You think the sudden braking and swerving to the left means that something dangerous is in the road! But it isn't and wasn't. Realizing that the other drivers were going to pull that nonsense, I drove home with no incident. The rain stopped halfway there and it was an absolutely beautiful spring day. Boy, it would be amazing if we lost the five straight weeks of 95-105 weather we had the last two years and just had this. Just had this perfect "high of 70s" weather. I got the game home and I was able to get it out of the Highlander and maneuver it downstairs into the downstairs area of our home. Easily, again, due to the wheels.

Saturday morning, it was if my body realized that it was simply keeping things going as best it could from a sickness standpoint. I got clobbered with the flu, or bronchitis, or COVID-19 or whatever this is. Unproductive cough and delirium and aches and pains. Mucous everywhere, so much mucous. A feeling of just being sick. The same crud took me out Sunday and I didn't get to see my nephew that day (my wife watched him and took him to where our in laws were doing some glamour camping, so I missed him entirely). Monday I am juuust starting to get back to normal. I am very very cross that I missed a three day weekend being sick. Like my body is a pussy towards capitalism. Ooooh can't take WORK DAYS off! How handy, a three day weekend to be sick! My body disgusts myself.

Omega Race is such a fun game. A vector spaceship running around a rectangle, shooting up other ships. I have a few other projects I need to finish, but I am inspired to make a version of it for the Atari Jaguar, which I think has enough homebrew games and knowledge that things could be done. It should have been a franchise, it should have been as famous as the other arcade games. It's not, but it's fun and pleasant and the spinner is the only way to play it and get the full arcade sensation. I am going to move it into the room where I am typing this. Where it will be home.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

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AArdvark
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Re: Omega Race

Post by AArdvark »

Unless they do the thing where they see an overpass and slam on their brakes and then go to the side of the highway, to let the overpass stop the rain from hitting their cars
Can you unpack this... behavior in more detail? I don't understand what or why the drivers in Colorado are doing.


Congratulations on having a positive experience acquiring Omega Race! That's always been one of my favorites and if I ever finish the spinner project thats one of my top five Mame roms it's getting used for.

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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

AArdvark wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 5:00 pm
Unless they do the thing where they see an overpass and slam on their brakes and then go to the side of the highway, to let the overpass stop the rain from hitting their cars
Can you unpack this... behavior in more detail? I don't understand what or why the drivers in Colorado are doing.
Yes! Imagine hail falling out of the sky on the highway. You may not want your car to get beat with it. So many people, I have observed, will pull over under an overpass. They will go to the left or right side. The overpass acts as a sort of shield, so their car gets smacked less.

Out here, people do it with RAIN as well.
Congratulations on having a positive experience acquiring Omega Race! That's always been one of my favorites and if I ever finish the spinner project thats one of my top five Mame roms it's getting used for.
Tell me about this spinner! project! Please!
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Also, 84,650
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Jizaboz
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Jizaboz »

Very cool. I went to load up this game on the Vectrex last night aaand "File not found". I had forgotten I had to re-arrange all my roms and such after the recent VecFever upgrade. Pretty sure that allows me to use the Atari Racing Controller as a spinner.
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Tdarcos
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Tdarcos »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 4:46 pm There is a Pac-Man cabaret for sale on craigslist,
Inquiry: I know a "cocktail" is liquor mixed with fruit juices and .... Sorry, wrong 'cocktail'. In video games, a cocktail is a machine about waist high where the display is on a horizontal, glass countertop, playable while sitting down. But what is a cabaret and how does it differ from a cocktail or a full-size retail commercial (coin operated) video game?
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What good forces have invented or made.
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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Great question. A cabaret style game is smaller than your typical standup. Usually featuring a monitor size of about 13", they were meant to be cheaper and more compact versions of their larger standup game equivalents. The giant-ass cabinets were always a production to move around. Arcade operators could cram more games in per square foot if they had the cabaret versions.
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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

93,000, rounding down.

Having the game inside is a good idea. I may have made a horrible mistake having them all in a garage. I just get up and play a game of Omega Race throughout the day. I recommend all of you do that with a game of your own. Just put it in the house!
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I moved it to my office and freeplay wasn't working.

I opened it up and switched DIP switch 7. Freeplay was working again. I'd have to look to see if I moved it to on or to off. But that is the right DIP switch.

It seems very very SUS that rolling the thing to a new room would make a DIP switch change. I assume someone has been in my house?
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AArdvark
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Re: Omega Race

Post by AArdvark »

You have dip poltergeists, it is obvious.

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Jizaboz
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Jizaboz »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Sun Jun 11, 2023 11:22 pm I moved it to my office and freeplay wasn't working.

I opened it up and switched DIP switch 7. Freeplay was working again. I'd have to look to see if I moved it to on or to off. But that is the right DIP switch.

It seems very very SUS that rolling the thing to a new room would make a DIP switch change. I assume someone has been in my house?
It could be that the contact is just getting janky in the switch. I usually spray em with a bit of contact cleaner when I'm working on PCBs.
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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I think I need to do that. I moved both DIP switches at the 8th slot to "off" and it's back to working correctly in freeplay mode.

I love Omega Race. I need to see if it has a high score save.
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Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: Omega Race

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I installed the ArcadeJason board so I would get a bunch of other vector games!

But the board lowers the brightness. I could not see all the enemies in Omega Race.

I found the pot on the monitor's board and I raised the brightness.

I have bright enemies!

And a high score save now thanks to the board.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

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