Spent a lot of coins on these 2, which I had them on the PC....
Marc
As for Hard Drivin', there is a PC version, but it's pretty lame. and you
need a 486 or something to run it. You also steer with the mouse, and it's
quite floppy. The best part about that game I remember was the force
feedback, and the wheel that could turn more than one rotation. Some games
now don't reach the force feedback quality of that game, and PC wheels still
don't spin more than one rotation. And this was an Atari arcade game from
the 80's...
The graphics were also part of my favourite graphical era.. the coloured
polygons. It was so futuristic Tron sort of looking.
Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com
>As for Hard Drivin', there is a PC version, but it's pretty lame. and you
>need a 486 or something to run it.
Jason
Normal priced PC wheels haven't got a chance of matching Hard Drivin' for
ffb -- there is a ~30 pound direct-drive torque motor in the sit-down
cabinet. Some of the development versions were even better with analog
amplifier drive to the motor...the production piece uses a switching amp
that has a little crossover distortion, and there is some small freeplay
and distortion ("greebling") near center.
If you run the credits screen (press "abort" when the arcade piece is in
attract mode) you can read the cast of characters. I'm down as "test
driver" because Atari didn't want to let on that they had input from
vehicle dynamics engineers.
-- Doug Milliken
www.millikenresearch.com
> As for Hard Drivin', there is a PC version, but it's pretty lame. and you
> need a 486 or something to run it. You also steer with the mouse, and it's
> quite floppy. The best part about that game I remember was the force
> feedback, and the wheel that could turn more than one rotation. Some games
> now don't reach the force feedback quality of that game, and PC wheels still
> don't spin more than one rotation. And this was an Atari arcade game from
> the 80's...
> The graphics were also part of my favourite graphical era.. the coloured
> polygons. It was so futuristic Tron sort of looking.
> Mike
> http://mikebeauchamp.com
> > Spent a lot of coins on these 2, which I had them on the PC....
It's a shame that someone can't make a wheel comparable to what that Hard
Drivin' wheel was. I also think the way it was implemented was very well
done, but I suppose that is because it was programmed for that one specific
wheel, and not meant to work with all sorts of different wheels made by
different manufacturers.
Either way.. a great game. I wish some arcade company would step-up and do
something like that again, only with 2003 technology.
Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com
> Normal priced PC wheels haven't got a chance of matching Hard Drivin' for
> ffb -- there is a ~30 pound direct-drive torque motor in the sit-down
> cabinet. Some of the development versions were even better with analog
> amplifier drive to the motor...the production piece uses a switching amp
> that has a little crossover distortion, and there is some small freeplay
> and distortion ("greebling") near center.
> If you run the credits screen (press "abort" when the arcade piece is in
> attract mode) you can read the cast of characters. I'm down as "test
> driver" because Atari didn't want to let on that they had input from
> vehicle dynamics engineers.
> -- Doug Milliken
> www.millikenresearch.com
> > GREAT arcade games... My ultimate favourite arcade game is SEGA RALLY
> > though.
> > As for Hard Drivin', there is a PC version, but it's pretty lame. and
you
> > need a 486 or something to run it. You also steer with the mouse, and
it's
> > quite floppy. The best part about that game I remember was the force
> > feedback, and the wheel that could turn more than one rotation. Some
games
> > now don't reach the force feedback quality of that game, and PC wheels
still
> > don't spin more than one rotation. And this was an Atari arcade game
from
> > the 80's...
> > The graphics were also part of my favourite graphical era.. the coloured
> > polygons. It was so futuristic Tron sort of looking.
> > Mike
> > http://mikebeauchamp.com
> > > Spent a lot of coins on these 2, which I had them on the PC....
Spy Hunter was my big quarter drain...<g>
Eldred
--
Help find missing child: Tatianna Ashley Chillcutt from Michigan(info on my
homepage)
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.
If that is the game where a truck keeps dropping you and your vehicle off on
a road where you start getting chased by various & sundry nasties then it
wouldn't have eaten many of my quaters.
I had that game on my Apple II ( my 2nd computer way back when ) and could
never get the hang of it. Maybe I should have started on the "quater a
shot" machine version and saved myself a lot of aggravation. I could never
have afforded the number of trys I took at that one before quitting in
disgust. ;o)
Elrikk
>>Spent a lot of coins on these 2, which I had them on the PC....
>Spy Hunter was my big quarter drain...<g>
John
a quick google led me to
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=9226&letter=R
(u can get to hard drivin' with the link at the bottom)
i like the idea of infinite play for skilled drivers!
Ok, I remember this one. I could never beat it, though...
Eldred
--
Help find missing child: Tatianna Ashley Chillcutt from Michigan(info on my
homepage)
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.
They were the first reasonably realistic (as far as physics go) arcade
racers, and no other has touched them IMHO.
I'd love to have one of each in my living room :)
-Larry
>Spent a lot of coins on these 2, which I had them on the PC....
Todd Wasson
Racing Software
http://PerformanceSimulations.com
http://performancesimulations.com/scnshot4.htm
You are correct that the steering wheel in Hard Drivin' is tightly
integrated with the vehicle "physics" model--still the best way to do it,
imo. The wheel is hardly an "optional accessory" in a real car, why should
it be any different in a simulated car<grin>?
Some of us actually discussed making ffb wheels, long before the consumer
wheels came on the market. I concluded that I would never be happy with
something made for a typical consumer price point. In hindsight, probably
not the best business decision...although I still think it was correct from
a "technical" point. Also, back then Atari was probably policing their
patent on ffb (issued to one of the HD team), so there would have been a
licencing issue too.
The wheel in the HD upright cabinet uses a smaller motor with a V-belt
drive to get enough torque, and works nearly as well for a bit less money.
Would probably still be too expensive and heavy to sell in volume. Might
be nice in the "simulator"***pits that people make for home use.
Atari (or whoever owns Atari these days) still has rights to the game,
I suppose that if someone offered them "enough" they would sell PC rights.
I have no idea how a deal like this might work, but it would be fun if
someone came along to do it!
If you have room, there are HD and RD units on the used market, I have one
and several of my friends do too. Nice conversation piece. Watch the
arcade games newsgroup, that is where one of them was found a few years
ago.
-- Doug Milliken
www.millikenresearch.com
> It's a shame that someone can't make a wheel comparable to what that Hard
> Drivin' wheel was. I also think the way it was implemented was very well
> done, but I suppose that is because it was programmed for that one specific
> wheel, and not meant to work with all sorts of different wheels made by
> different manufacturers.
> Either way.. a great game. I wish some arcade company would step-up and do
> something like that again, only with 2003 technology.
> Mike
> http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> > Normal priced PC wheels haven't got a chance of matching Hard Drivin' for
> > ffb -- there is a ~30 pound direct-drive torque motor in the sit-down
> > cabinet. Some of the development versions were even better with analog
> > amplifier drive to the motor...the production piece uses a switching amp
> > that has a little crossover distortion, and there is some small freeplay
> > and distortion ("greebling") near center.
> > If you run the credits screen (press "abort" when the arcade piece is in
> > attract mode) you can read the cast of characters. I'm down as "test
> > driver" because Atari didn't want to let on that they had input from
> > vehicle dynamics engineers.
> > -- Doug Milliken
> > www.millikenresearch.com
> > > GREAT arcade games... My ultimate favourite arcade game is SEGA RALLY
> > > though.
> > > As for Hard Drivin', there is a PC version, but it's pretty lame. and
> you
> > > need a 486 or something to run it. You also steer with the mouse, and
> it's
> > > quite floppy. The best part about that game I remember was the force
> > > feedback, and the wheel that could turn more than one rotation. Some
> games
> > > now don't reach the force feedback quality of that game, and PC wheels
> still
> > > don't spin more than one rotation. And this was an Atari arcade game
> from
> > > the 80's...
> > > The graphics were also part of my favourite graphical era.. the coloured
> > > polygons. It was so futuristic Tron sort of looking.
> > > Mike
> > > http://www.racesimcentral.net/
> > > > Spent a lot of coins on these 2, which I had them on the PC....
> Eldred
-Time on initial coin up
-Added time for making it to the goal posts (mid-lap milestones)
-Added time on completion of lap
While most games in the field were just left on "default", some of the
operators did take advantage of this flexibility. The game also keeps
track of every game, how long it lasted, time of day, etc, and presents the
data on the screen in bar charts so the operator can monitor the players of
that particular machine. With this data, it _should_ be possible to keep
making it a little harder (in small steps) so the players keep coming back,
but don't get to drive forever on one coin-up. Obviously the goal for the
operator is to maximize return on investment...the list price for HD was
US$10000, in the late 1980's.
Bottom line -- different people have different memories of how hard it was
to get high scores and extra time/laps...and there may be a good reason for
this.
-- Doug Milliken
www.millikenresearch.com