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Hack my Pac: 4-in-1 Pac-Man Menu
When I bought my above average Pac-Man cabinet, I wondered if there was a way to choose between playing Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man. My wife said she wanted to play Ms. Pac-Man with the fast mode enabled.
Of course I first ran across the 96-in-1 Multipac. But why in the world would you want to have 500 variations on Pac-Man (plus Pengo)??? Ok, Pengo would be cool, but I don't want to play "Pac Electric Cowboy", or "Pac Mr. Roboto"!
Thankfully I found Jason Souza's 4-in-1 Pac Hack. WOW! This is exactly what I wanted. No more, no less.
Before I could install the 4-in-1 Pac-Man multigame, I had to get the Pac-Man operational. (Note to self: make sure daughter boards are not upside down on day 1!) Since I was already ordering parts from Bob Roberts, I asked him to include the supplies to install this hack. Not including shipping, it cost me $26.50 for the two ROMs, ROM programming, ROM sockets, and wire. So, after flipping the Z80 Buss Sync Controller, replacing 2 RAM chips, and replacing the sound transistor, we were ready for the hack.
Two months pass... while I am waiting on parts for my Space Station Pinball repair I decide it is time to hack my pac. :-)
It was very tedious, and at times difficult to solder the tiny wires to the chip legs. And then there was the worry that I would connect things up wrong, so I quadruple checked every wire. I even used a continuity checker to ensure none of the legs I soldered were accidentally shorted to the leg next to it (there were a couple of those that needed to be corrected).
I am almost embarrassed to share this with you... it looks like my pac board got attacked by a spaghetti monster. But the end result was worth it. :-)
Of course I first ran across the 96-in-1 Multipac. But why in the world would you want to have 500 variations on Pac-Man (plus Pengo)??? Ok, Pengo would be cool, but I don't want to play "Pac Electric Cowboy", or "Pac Mr. Roboto"!
Thankfully I found Jason Souza's 4-in-1 Pac Hack. WOW! This is exactly what I wanted. No more, no less.Before I could install the 4-in-1 Pac-Man multigame, I had to get the Pac-Man operational. (Note to self: make sure daughter boards are not upside down on day 1!) Since I was already ordering parts from Bob Roberts, I asked him to include the supplies to install this hack. Not including shipping, it cost me $26.50 for the two ROMs, ROM programming, ROM sockets, and wire. So, after flipping the Z80 Buss Sync Controller, replacing 2 RAM chips, and replacing the sound transistor, we were ready for the hack.
Two months pass... while I am waiting on parts for my Space Station Pinball repair I decide it is time to hack my pac. :-)
It was very tedious, and at times difficult to solder the tiny wires to the chip legs. And then there was the worry that I would connect things up wrong, so I quadruple checked every wire. I even used a continuity checker to ensure none of the legs I soldered were accidentally shorted to the leg next to it (there were a couple of those that needed to be corrected).
I am almost embarrassed to share this with you... it looks like my pac board got attacked by a spaghetti monster. But the end result was worth it. :-)
Tags: hack, ms. pac-man, multigame, pac-man, speed
Comment
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Comment by Brian Hanifin on July 1, 2009 at 11:12am -
Thanks Spyridon! It is nice to get some variety. But, Super Pac-Man is a bit too goofy for me.
I liked the Pac-Man 4-in-1 so much I think I am ready install a 60-in-1 in my very generic, midway style cocktail table (that has plexiglas and a credit button in place of the coin door). Maybe for my birthday in a couple of months.
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Comment by Spyridon on July 1, 2009 at 9:27am - Nice work. I went with Mark Spaeth's six pac. Adds normal and fast versions of super pac-man. Cost a little more at $75, but it plug and play.
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Comment by Brian Hanifin on June 30, 2009 at 12:27pm
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If I had to do this project over again I would have added heat shrink tubing to the wires on the side that attaches to the chip legs. While soldering the super thin "wire wrap" wire to legs of the ship socket I later realized the insulation near the solder melted away (either that or I left my bare wire too long). This exposed enough bare wire that when I inspected the bottom of the socket, I found two wires overlapping!
To avoid future problems as things settle, I am going to pick up a hot glue gun to hold the wires in place.
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