Arkanoid Multi - a DIY mod

[Nes4life]

A simple mod to allow selection between Arkanoid & Tournament Arkanoid on your genuine Arkanoid PCB.



I originally posted about this on KLOV in October 2022, but not everyone has access, so here's a UK repost.

Select between Arkanoid & Tournament Arkanoid by holding down the P1 Start button. Adds Freeplay and cocktail mode to both via DIP switch settings.

Here's a demo of it in my own cab:

- this mod could not have been possible without the hard work of @mdeslaur on klov
- Treat this mod as a DIY solution. It requires getting PCBs printed, burning EPROMs and an ATTiny85, some assembly and also soldering patch wire to 2 points on the board. The EPROMs are daisy-chained together by patch wire which you may need to maintain. Replacing all the patch wire with longer connections would allow you to feed it under and through components to neaten up the final presentation.
- Color PROMs at IC24 / 23 / 22 must be socketed to fit the mod
- I've open sourced the entire design on GitHub
- I've got 2 1 remaining complete kit available for people in the UK (at £41.50 posted).
- Alternatively I've got both PCBs available as a pair for £10 posted
- High Score Saves make their own Arkanoid multigame mod that has more features and takes a different route to the solution. Definitely consider buying theirs if you want a professional plug & play solution: https://www.highscoresaves.com/Free-Play-and-High-Score-Save-Kits/Arkanoid/

This diy mod is 5 EPROMs daisy chained together by patch wire and 2 PCBs.

Step 1) Go to the GitHub link and follow instructions to create 5 EPROM images. The ATTiny85 image is already included. If you get stuck attempting to make your patched ROMs then feel free to contact me to help.

Step 2) Burn EPROMs and ATTiny85 using an EPROM burner.

Step 3) Print both PCBs (main mod PCB and MCU bypass PCB). Links to Gerbers and printing services are included below

Step 4) Remove original EPROMs / PROMs / MCUs and keep somewhere safe:
- EPROMs IC64, 63, 62, 17 & 16
- 68705 MCU at IC14
- colour PROMs at IC24, 23, 22

Step 5) Fit MCU Bypass PCB at IC14

Step 6) Fit Arkanoid Multi PCB where colour PROMs used to be at IC24 / 23 / 22.

Step 7) Fit EPROMs at IC64, 63, 62, 17 & 16.
These must have their pin 1 legs hanging out of their sockets. Make sure they dangle out but do not touch anything else (like the legs of nearby orange ceramic capacitors). These pin 1 legs must all be daisy chained together by soldered-on patch wire and then soldered to the 'A0' connector on the Arkanoid Multi PCB. This allows the multi to select the game.

Step 8) Solder a wire from the 'RST' connector on the Arkanoid Multi PCB to pin 1 of the 74LS273 IC at IC32. This allows the multi to reset the board after changing game.

Step 9) Solder a wire from the 'NXT' connector on the Arkanoid Multi PCB to pin 3 of the 74LS257 IC at IC10. This allows the P1 Start button to be held down for 5 seconds to change the game from the control panel. Alternatively, hold the dedicated push button on the Arkanoid Multi PCB for 5 seconds.

GitHub repo with docco, scripts and gerbers for Arkanoid Multi: https://github.com/Phillrb/arkanoid_multi
- GitHub repo for MCU Bypass PCB gerbers and docco: https://github.com/mdeslaur/arkanoid-mpu-bypass
- PCBWay shared project for Arkanoid Multi: https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Arkanoid_Multi_PCB_v1_1_5169cf60.html
- PCBWay shared project for MCU Bypass PCB (with permission from @mdeslaur on klov): https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Arkanoid_MCU_Bypass_PCB_v1_2_2c4eb5f2.html
- GitHub repo for ATTiny mutli-ROM-controller: https://github.com/Phillrb/multi_rom_controller

 

[Sbdesign]

I do t have an Arkanoid pcb, but appreciate what has been done here.

Well done guys!!

 

[qjuk]

This is a cracking piece of kit guys.

It is easy to install and there’s scope to add more Arkanoid fun in addition to the Original and Tournament versions at a later date.

I’m certainly enjoying mine and well worth the asking price for the complete kit.

 

[Kingpin]

Really great effort with this! Thanks!

One question, is this work (still) in progress and if so, is there any chance of highscores being saved?

 

[Nes4life]

It's theoretically possible if the CPU-accessible RAM is replaced with an NVRAM, but the game code would need to be changed to save the highscores in different locations that don't conflict with the other game. Not something I'm going to do, but still possible.

I'd suggest taking a photo 😆

 

[Retroman839]

I have a project breakout cab would
Be great for it. Well done with all the hard work👍

 

[Kingpin]

Saw that Arcade ROM Patcher V13 supports Arkanoid and highcore saving. 2 RAM chips needs to be replaced.

PATCH INFO "Arkanoid"
HSS: Adds high score saving if ram chips are replaced.
HSS-RESET: Power up with 1 & 2 player start buttons.
HSS-NV RAM: IC57 & IC58 need to be changed for DS1220, M48Z02, U63716DC etc.

ROMS-TO-PATCH: Mame Filenames (Actual filenames will be detected using SHA1 hash of file data)
"a75-01-1.ic17", "a75-11.ic16"

 

[Nes4life]

Awesome. If it's got patches for Tournament Arkanoid then it's nearly there. You just need to make sure the scores are saved to different locations, otherwise they'll overwrite each other, and that the scores don't interfere with variables for the other game.
Definitely possible if the code is patched accordingly and there's space in RAM.
I won't make the changes but if someone does then I'm happy to add the option to this solution.

 

[Kingpin]

German Amiga demo-scene group "Abyss" has recently made and released the first proper (I think) demo using original arcade hardware which is really really cool! I've seen similar things on PacMan hardware by @Hurray Banana (I think it was?) but this is a complete demo with music etc. just like any demo on the Amiga.

Apart from that Abyss have also released a couple of modified ROMs which adds features like trainer/cheat, free play etc. all done through a menu upon booting. It's really neat and nicely done. To be able to run, the MCU protection chip needs to be replaced (like with the Arkanoid multi). I've tested it myself on bootleg Arkanoid ("BETA" version) but it will run on original hardware as well.

Attached is a ZIP-file containing the demo ROMs and Python script to patch Arkanoid ROM sets.

If you would like to watch the demo here is the YouTube link:

 

[Hurray Banana]

I'm surprised it's taken so long for the scene to target arcade hardware. Great stuff.

I need to finish up some demos on pac hardware

 

[Kingpin]

Sounds great @Hurray Banana, looking forward to that!

 

[Pr3tty F1y]

Sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but I'm running into a weird issue with this mod on my Tournament Arkanoid (original Romstar) board. The board seemed to be functioning flawlessly prior to attempting this mod (and reverting back to the original chips is fine too). I had followed the instructions at Phillrb's GitHub repo for the Arknoid Multi as well as the additional guidance on the PCBway project site.

While the gameplay works (I'm not seeing any overt graphical issues and the space ship/intro animation also works fine), the title screens of both Arkanoid and Tournament Arkanoid are corrupted (as well as the GAME OVER overlay text during attract mode). Weirdly, upon switching games I briefly can see an uncorrupted title screen (see GIF below) during system reset/game swap. The GAME OVER text also briefly uncorrupts before switching games.

Any thoughts on what could be causing this? My ROM SHA-1 hashes match the hashes in the python file (which ran without issue after renaming some _'s in MAME's current rom names to -'s which the python script expected) from the GitHub repo and I redumped the EPROMs and they're reading out as a byte-for-byte match.

I can take pictures of my board later, but I have all of the 27C512 roms PIN 1 (A15) daisy chained to A0 on the multi PCB plugged into the PROM slots, PIN1 is NOT making contact with the board on any of those 5 sockets, RST is wired in PIN1 on IC32 for the reset functionality (and that seems to be working fine), NXT is wired to PIN 12 for the start button (which seems to work), and the ATTINY85 programming seems to be functioning fine with either the start button or momentary switch on the multi PCB. My multi-meter is showing continuity where there should be continuity (e.g., with the wiring) and no continuity where there shouldn't be (i.e., no continuity between PIN 1 on the 27C512's and the PIN 1 of the DIP28 EPROM sockets on the board).

I do have the MCU bypass PCB plugged into the 68705 MCU slot, but removing it doesn't seem to change anything. Maybe it's faulty? I have it oriented silk screen up with the notch facing the back of the board, which would match all other IC's on the board. I went through OSHPark to manufacture the PCBs as I'm in the US and didn't want to deal with tariff/customs/import issues. I'm hoping it's not a pcb quality issue.

Anyway, here's a screenshot of what it's doing (I slowed the animation down 5x and cut out a bunch of frames so that the 4 second wait in between game changes didn't take an eternity):


EDIT: I finally plugged the board into my my test bench and used the logic probe (which I, admittedly, am not an expert with) but I can clearly pick up on the high/low pull on PIN 1/A15 of the EPROMs when switching games on the multi.

I had also just assumed that the Tournament Arkanoid board = Arkanoid board, but they don't seem exactly identical - so maybe that's my issue.

 

[Nes4life]

Hey, sorry to hear you're having trouble with the mod @Pr3tty F1y . I'd love to see a photo of your PCB and how you have it setup, although It does sound correct. Did you fit the pull-up resistor on the multi-board; what value did you use? I would not expected that to be a problem if you see pin 32 on the 27c160 is being pulled up to 5v successfully.
What you're seeing is almost the opposite of what you want; the eprom with the logo data seems to be selected when the other game is being loaded. Very puzzling! I'll give you a link to the ROMs I use and we'll go from there.

 

[Nes4life]

This was fixed by a merge request on the GitHub account by @Pr3tty F1y ! Seems as though my script assembled the final ROM in the wrong order. Thanks for testing and fixing. It's awesome to see someone else using this.

 

[Funhouse71]

This was fixed by a merge request on the GitHub account by @Pr3tty F1y ! Seems as though my script assembled the final ROM in the wrong order. Thanks for testing and fixing. It's awesome to see someone else using this.

Thanks for the update, I seemed to remember messaging you about a rom discrepancy some time ago and ended up making my own multi-rom for my board from scratch, maybe this was the issue I spotted?.