In-depth look at Ridge Racer Full Scale

[John Bennett]

But for V.R., the stock game would be enough to hack as you're just moving the camera around.

Someone's already had a very impressive attempt at porting it to PS VR:

RIDGE RACER VR - YouTube

I'm assuming they recoded the game and nicked the assets from the arcade version .

Yes, that's my VRChat world! It's using the older SDK so it's a little rudimentary but it's actually come a long way since that video. I'm currently working on a VR port of Daytona using the new SDK which basically lets you code in C# so it's a lot more advanced and closer to the arcade. Here's a very recent build:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuJZS8_e9D0

Anyways, I'm real happy to hear that RR Full Scale will finally be in MAME! I'd like to get the alternate sign textures and put them in my world as an optional toggle once the roms are available

Hopefully when Daytona is done, I can work on revamping the Ridge Racer world with the new SDK which would allow for cool things like drifting, leaderboards, you name it! I already have a very early version of Rave Racer ported too.

An honour to have you here, Zone

How'd you do it then, had me scratching my head.

Did you run vivanonno or something and grab the 3D models and textures going to the video card? (can't be MAME as that's not 3D accelerated).

Is it your own game engine, or running the original via some form of emulation?

Most impressive!

I am surprised all the versions dumped so far have Brent Leisure on the signs. It's Cyber Sled and other Namco games on Full Scale.

 

[ZONE]

Yes, you're basically right! But the game engine is written from the ground up in Unity by just eyeballing the game and approximating as best as I can. No code or animations have been taken from the arcade at all. I can't really go for 100% accuracy since changing gears in VRChat is going to be so awkward that it probably wouldn't be fun. So I'm just attempting to strike a balance between fun/accurate.

 

[2huwman]

Yes, you're basically right! But the game engine is written from the ground up in Unity by just eyeballing the game and approximating as best as I can. No code or animations have been taken from the arcade at all. I can't really go for 100% accuracy since changing gears in VRChat is going to be so awkward that it probably wouldn't be fun. So I'm just attempting to strike a balance between fun/accurate.

I tried it on a quest 2 and it seemed really good until most of the screen went pink and I couldn't see where I was going! but i think you mentioned the quest version was unfinished.

would be great to get an approximation of the drift mechanic. apparently that's only a few lines of code (think I read that somewhere).

 

[ZONE]

Oh, the Quest version is VERY old, I haven't tested it in a long time since a VRC update literally broke all SDK2 vehicles and they stayed that way for like a year... not much I can really do about that.

 

[Pinballgeek]

My memory's a bit foggy but wasn't there any exclusive music for full scale or was it pretty much the same tracks as the other models?

 

[John Bennett]

Yes, you're basically right! But the game engine is written from the ground up in Unity by just eyeballing the game and approximating as best as I can. No code or animations have been taken from the arcade at all. I can't really go for 100% accuracy since changing gears in VRChat is going to be so awkward that it probably wouldn't be fun. So I'm just attempting to strike a balance between fun/accurate.

Crikey. That's hugely impressive.

My memory's a bit foggy but wasn't there any exclusive music for full scale or was it pretty much the same tracks as the other models?

Nah, that's all the same as the vanilla game.

 

[ZONE]

Here's some actual direct capture from RRFS which shows the alternate signage quite well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOV2yuKsemg

ZONE2022-05-01 01:32:22

 

[uberpixel]

We used to have one of these full scale ones at the amusement arcade I used to work at in NW London called The Edge. It opened in April 96 and as well as arcade machines, it had a Namco Drift King course, the usual crappy ticket redemption machines as well as a bar next door as it was run by Bass Leisure. At the centre of the complex was a 16 booth internet cafe where I worked.

As staff, we obviously got to play on everything for free after we closed up so it was a pretty cool place to work. We had Prop Cycle, Top Skater, loads of Megalos, Twin sit down GTi Club, Gunblade... as Bass Leisure were behind the venture, they didn't spare any expense. I think the opening launch day, they got in a couple of Gladiators to do meet and greets (Jet and Hunter I think?!)

It didn't stay open for long as they were losing money so it closed down around 98 but reopened as a smaller arcade. This eventually closed down too and the whole space is taken up by a Wilko now.

 

[edd20sx]

i remember one at southsea in the 1990's i think that was scrapped too?

 

[Alpha1]

i remember one at southsea in the 1990's i think that was scrapped too?

I know the engineers and it was sold onwards but they can't remember to which arcade. Same as the Galaxian3 theater they had.

 

[Pinballgeek]

Been playing a bit of Ridge Racer/ridge Racer 3 on the ps1 recently and got me thinking, what's the update on full scale?

Been trying to rack my head around how the radio was setup in the roadster especially looking at old photos it had an OEM Mazda radio hmm

 

[Jasonmgs]

Was a dummy radio that did nothing.
Music was selectex by choice of gear like standard gameJasonmgs2022-11-09 17:07:17

 

[John Bennett]

Been playing a bit of Ridge Racer/ridge Racer 3 on the ps1 recently and got me thinking, what's the update on full scale?

I'm still working on reversing/emulating the dashboard and room light control stuff when I can get the chance. Making good progress, but no big reveal yet.

It's still the case that car, PCBs and some signage was saved, but the room around it was needlessly destroyed.

 

[ColinD]

Are all the roms preserved now ?

 

[John Bennett]

Are all the roms preserved now ?

Yep, all is safe on that front.

 

[pooman2084]

Brilliant guys, well done.

 

[Tedward]

Someone on Reddit is claiming to have seen another Full Scale in storage somewhere (!)

Not sure how seriously to take this, but if this is real, surely the one from the Pleasure Beach could be restored with it by pooling the parts together?

 

[John Bennett]

Someone on Reddit is claiming to have seen another Full Scale in storage somewhere (!)

Not sure how seriously to take this, but if this is real, surely the one from the Pleasure Beach could be restored with it by pooling the parts together?

Interesting. I'm not on Reddit, so some comments as I went through the replies.

1. What state is it in? There's a car, three CRT projectors, three System22 boardsets, signage, a full-on stage and room around it. There'd plenty of scope for stuff to be damaged or bodged. The Blackpool machine was in a very rough state.

2. The Blackpool machine was effectively given away (in the thought it was going to a museum, not a back garden/scrapyard).

3. I was amongst the most obsessive in the world about this game and £4k would've been my upper limit for the Blackpool one (and not 'cos that was all I had).

4. You wouldn't make $20,000 back in income, ever. It'd also cost a f**king fortune to power 3 CRT projectors if you wanted to keep it original (and a supply of projectors and spare System 22 bits).

5. The unit in the UK can and will be fixed. Might not be 100% original, but it can be good enough to look and play correctly. Tedward - it doesn't need anything from this one, you'd be better off having two than cannibalising one.

6. They're not quite standard System22 boards. The texture ROM PCB is different - it's about 4x the size as it uses EPROMs, not mask ROMs. This was because it was a low-volume version of the game (and it has different texture ROMs). But that makes it easier to fix if anything. All three boardsets are the same, so you have lots of backups to burn new EPROMs with if any ROMs fail.

7. Amongst all the bits, there's also a V138 Drive PCB that does the dashboard and stage lights. I've pretty much reversed and repro'd that (save a protected PAL).

8. There would be a LOT of wood boxes and pallets to contain an entire Full Scale. Like an entire van's worth of stuff, not including the car.

9. There is obviously another one in the world, this thread is hardly hidden from Google.

10. $20,000 is not a bargain, they can jog on for that.

P.S. ... has anyone done a high-quality dump of the Galaxian 3 Laser Discs, so everything needed to emulate it is preserved. Bit disappointing if not, seeing as they've clearly passed through various hands over the years.

John Bennett2022-11-14 20:14:30

 

[rotunda]

Hey guys, I'm back again! Came back to see if anything had progressed on this and it's great to see what has happened. Big thanks to Andy and John for their work on it. Hopefully some day everyone can relive the feeling of driving this beast is some shape or form.

Someone on Reddit is claiming to have seen another Full Scale in storage somewhere (!)

Not sure how seriously to take this, but if this is real, surely the one from the Pleasure Beach could be restored with it by pooling the parts together?

Really?? I've been looking for many, manyyy years and knew of a few in storage. Most had been scrapped sadly but some i never found out for sure what happened so it's entirely possible somewhere there is at least one in storage.

1. What state is it in? There's a car, three CRT projectors, three
System22 boardsets, signage, a full-on stage and room around it. There'd
plenty of scope for stuff to be damaged or bodged. The Blackpool
machine was in a very rough state.

John, how rough is rough? And do you mean rough when it was removed or rough now? I'm curious how badly it's deteriorated since i saw it in person back in 2017. It would be nice if this person did have the original CRT projectors as they had recently swapped it over to 3 Epson digital projectors when i saw it and although it kept costs way down being LED and the picture was fantastic it did sadly produce some pretty bad input lag.

2. The Blackpool machine was effectively given away (in the thought it was going to a museum, not a back garden/scrapyard).

Horrific... I told them way back that i would pay good money if they ever got rid of the machine so god knows why they did this. I guess I'll never know. Whoever took it should be really ashamed on themselves.

3. I was amongst the most obsessive in the world about this game and £4k
would've been my upper limit for the Blackpool one (and not 'cos that
was all I had).

I think I'm the same as you John in terms of obsession for this title and i must say you are right on that valuation. I offered more back then but this was when the machine was in fairly good condition for it's age and Namco still repaired boards. Now that they don't I'd not even take it on i don't think. It's a big risk with those System22 boards.

5. The unit in the UK can and will be fixed. Might not be 100% original,
but it can be good enough to look and play correctly. Tedward - it
doesn't need anything from this one, you'd be better off having two than
cannibalising one.

Agree wholeheartedly it would be so much better to have more than just one. I'd be very concerned about the state of the board sets though if they have been in storage for ages. But yes.. If two could be made playable no matter how original i think it's a huge win.

6. They're not quite standard System22 boards. The texture ROM PCB is
different - it's about 4x the size as it uses EPROMs, not mask ROMs.
This was because it was a low-volume version of the game (and it has
different texture ROMs). But that makes it easier to fix if anything.
All three boardsets are the same, so you have lots of backups to burn
new EPROMs with if any ROMs fail.

This is EXTREMELY interesting! Any photos of these Point ROM PCB's? I'm curious how it looks. Really reassuring that they are all duplicates i always wondered if they each had their own set of textures.

7. Amongst all the bits, there's also a V138 Drive PCB that does the
dashboard and stage lights. I've pretty much reversed and repro'd that
(save a protected PAL).

Often wondered how the stage lights worked. The actual lighting in the car area would dim down when the game when credited up. It was a very cool cinematic effect and i did wonder how they pulled that off.

8. There would be a LOT of wood boxes and pallets to contain an entire
Full Scale. Like an entire van's worth of stuff, not including the car.

God yes... the thing is HUGE!

For anyone curious about game play on this vs the dlx or upright cabinet. Here are a few of my TG submissions which show a lot of game play on the actual machine which has been recovered. There are quite a few little differences but the actual game is the same. The 6 point steering makes it quite the challenge and changing gear without the clutch isn't possible unlike the dlx cabs as there is a physical lock out on the shifter.

https://www.twingalaxies.com/showthread.php/156140

https://www.twingalaxies.com/showthread.php/156258

Again, i hope it can be brought back and i will certainly pay it a visit when it is back.

 

[John Bennett]

It was rough as in the car was in serious need of a bodyshop, a windscreen, an interior etc.
CRT projectors were long gone. They probably burned out years ago.

Point Roms look like this (2 of the 3 identical stacks:

https://www.ukvac.com/forum/data/uploads/2675/rrfsx2.jpg

if this thread is a mini-history of the game, then it's maybe worth mentioning that my brother stumbled upon some bits to the successors to Sim Drive.
Mitsubishi and Namco kept going and made a range of driving simulators for driving schools, evolving the technology.
So there is the DS-5000, which is System21 based (and is a 18 PCB rack that drives 6 CRTs!, three for the windscreen and three for the mirrors).

And there's the DS-6000 which is Super System22 based.
https://twitter.com/philbennett3d/status/1526977391611899905?lang=en-GB