Atari Battlezone arcade (1980) repair, part 5

In part 4, I saw that the tanks were quite dim. Also I remembered that there were supposed to be mountains? Adjusting the contrast control on the monitor board fixed things right up. Here's some gameplay!

[@AxelWerner]

wow! vector based 3d multi layer graphics from the late 1970s/early 80s. it looks so simple, yet there is so much math and engineering in this game code. amazing

[@leknowlton]

Thank you! I really enjoyed your electronics troubleshooting, especially when you found that the manufacturer had soldered in the wrong chip!

[@martinda7446]

There were three versions of Battlezone arcade machine I knew of, the tabletop, the regular and the biggun with periscope style viewer..They were wonderful and this along with Defender were my faves. Yes, a dumb comment I know...I just got excited remembering.

[@dagobertkrikelin1587]

Being excited is never dumb. :) I too remember the games of that era fondly - kids today have no idea what they are missing... ;)

[@mallatratt36]

Glad u got that machine working I played that game in the 80s best arcade game ever and yeah you have to keep moving as u will be blown to pieces super tanks and missiles are bad ass 👍

[@cfella1974]

Well done! It looks fantastic! BTW, You can adjust the height of the radar using one of the small 4 pots located in the analog section of the CPU board. You should not need to touch the monitor to correct this. In addition, test mode has nice a grid which can be used to aid you in positioning and symmetry.

[@RobertBaruch]

There are actually only 2 pots: XSIZE and YSIZE. There are locations for 2 additional pots for centering X and Y, but apparently in this revision they decided that you should use the monitor yoke magnets to do that, so they didn't include the centering circuitry. Presumably it's easier on the monitor that way? Dunno.

[@cfella1974]

Well that’s just a bummer.... You might be able to get things a little closer by reducing the size. It doesn’t look too far off... Also, the smaller size will be less stress on the monitor deflection circuit.... Another thought I had is for you to check that the monitor and cardboard bezel are properly positioned. Maybe there is some repositioning that can be done with them to help center things up. I recall Battlezone’s monitor actually sits in a wood like tray that can slide out from behind. If it’s not fastened down, it might be able to be pushed forward or pulled back slightly which may be all that’s needed. Good luck!

[@allenlorenz]

Nice Finish!

[@martinda7446]

Battlezone possibly the greatest arcade machine nobody thinks is the greatest arcade machine...

[@1959blantz]

I hope to someday find another Battlezone. I bought one in 1983 after a local arcade was going out of business for $250. The machine was in near mint condition as it being only 3 years old. In 1985 I thought I was going to move so I sold it for the same price I paid for it. I have kicked myself so many times for selling it. I just really hope I can find another one even though knowing I'll probably pay 10 times more than the one I had.

[@zesty9815]

I seem to recall that the Billy Crystal character in 'Running Scared' had a Battlezone machine in his apartment. One of the few things I remember about the film.

[@laozi6405]

@@zesty9815 In the 1983 movie Psycho II there's a brief cameo of the director of the film (Richard Franklin) playing Battlezone in the diner.

[@jonathanhendry9759]

Might be fun to build a low plywood platform to stand on while playing, then hook up the game's audio to a subwoofer amplifier and a "bass shaker" attached to the platform. Really *feel* the rumble. (Okay, given the limitations of 1980 audio, you want to run the signal through a pitch shifter to drop it an octave or two.)

[@cristiannicolae6309]

It looks awesome! The graphical detail is so much better compared to systems like the Vectrex. Really nice!

[@xxxvenmxxx2269]

Nice 👍

[@benjaminscherrey1124]

What's the processor in this game? Presumably it was written in assembly? I blew a lot of quarters in this game. Pretty innovative in its time. Timeless in fact!

[@RobertBaruch]

6502. Yes, it was all in assembly language.

[@davegott4783]

Why were the intensities out of wack to begin with

[@photosbymaddog]

You are kidding.. my last score on the game was 418000. The arcade owner stopped me cause he was closing

[@zesty9815]

_"KEEP MOVING -- DON'T JUST SPIN IN PLACE OR YOU WILL BE HIT"_ kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmnNZGiqnM6Gga8 Case in point: 1:45

[@lucywillis4535]

Port this to the oculus rift...