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Psyko-M1

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I see a lot of Rom boards for Taito F2 out there.
Runark/Growl
Ninja Kids
Dino Rex
Dead Connection
Majestic Twelve
etc.

Example...
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So I got this Metal Black.
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I was under the assumption it was a Taito F1 platform board, but it's 2 pieces.
System 16 doesn't really explain what it is outside of the fact its shown as 1 board.

So is my Metal Black technically an F2 or an F1?
Can I buy those above rom boards, and just plug em in to the mother board and they'll work or do they need PALs or something?
Thanks for any help you folks can provide.
 

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That's definitely a F2 motherboard, the "long" variant to be exact. There's also a shorter more compact version.

You should be able to attach any F2 rom board :)
 
That's definitely a F2 motherboard, the "long" variant to be exact. There's also a shorter more compact version.

You should be able to attach any F2 rom board :)
I trust this is the "Short board" mated with a "Dead connection"
s-l500.jpg


I assume the variants of the Long vs the Short have certain differences?
Is one better than the other for certain games over the other???

Thanks for the knowledge on this.
 
AFAIK there's no difference between F1 and F2. while the system 16 website separates the games the MAME driver lists them all as "Taito F2"
https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/drivers/taito_f2.cpp

I own several of the games on System16 F1 and F2 lists and can tell you the mobo is the same.

there are two variants, the long and short as oneleaf stated, but they're functionally identical.

a lot of these games also came as single board versions, essentially the mobo and game board rolled into one. I've started to collect the single board versions, since the mobos seem extremely difficult to track down. and they're a lot more compact.


And before anyone asks about conversion... it's really not all that viable. nearly every "ROM board" and single board version is unique.

There are a few games that use "very similar" PCBs but even those would require PCB modifications and additional chips to make a conversion work.

I've played around with trying to convert Football Champ to Dead Connection, I think it's possible but it requires some 74-series logic ICS and adding wires for extra address lines. without access to a real Dead Connection PCB to see how it differs in routing I couldn't get very far.

For this same reason I don't know that a Multi would really be viable on this platform either, there are a lot of different custom chips that are only used by one or two games each.

Can I buy those above rom boards, and just plug em in to the mother board and they'll work or do they need PALs or something?
yeah, if you wanted to you could just buy those ROM boards, plug them into the mobo on your Metal Black and go, nothing else special needs to be done.

if you have any other questions I own the following:
Ah Eikou no Koshien - ROM Board Version (x2)
Cameltry - EU Single Board version
Dino Rex - JP ROM Board Version
Euro Football Champ - EU Single Board Version
Growl - EU Single Board Version
Hat Trick Hero - JP ROM Board Version (x2)
Majestic 12 - JP ROM board Version
Majestic 12 - US Single Board Version
Mega Blast - JP ROM board Version

3x Long Mobos
3x Short Mobos

I get the impression that most JP releases were the ROM board/Mobo combo and most International releases were Single board versions. At least my own collection seems split along those lines.
 
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Edit: Not adding anything new, I missed a line in @twistedsymphony exhaustive post. :(
 
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Ok that makes sense.
I was seeing a lot of the single boards and were just trying to put my finger on why, and what.

There's not been a lot of clarity on the F1/F2 platform.
I was confused when seeing a single Metal Black board, and wondering if I have a specific variant.
In my case it worked out OK since I have a split board for other games.

I've been wanting a Growl, Dead Connection, and potentially DinoRex (for it's super cheese)
Too bad there's only a limited number of titles were released on the F1/F2, but some of the titles are sure worth tracking down.

Thank you for the detailed explanation.
 
Hi,
I have some glitch on my Metal black.
Do you have an idea where can I found this custom chip please?
@twistedsymphony 🙏
 

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Figured I would ask there instead of making a new thread, but are there really restrictions on long/short motherboard and certain top boards?

I ask because I have a MizuBaku that doesn't appear to run on the short mother and I had seen reference to this restriction on a YJA listing not too long ago.
 
So I've got quite a bit of F1/F2 Equipment

Someone recently had a Short-Mobo that was paired with Hat Trick Hero and worked fine but then when mated with Ah Eikou no Koshien it had graphical Errors.
I tried this Ah Eikou no Koshien Board with several different mobos in my possession and it worked perfectly with all of them.

I think given that there are a lot of different functions present on these F2 games and not every game uses every function it's possible for a mobo to have a defect that is only apparent on certain games.

One thing I DID learn is that there are 2 revisions of the short Mobo "A" and "B". Looking at the boards side by side the A Revision has some factory jumper wires on the connector side and these are replaced by proper traces on the B Revision. I've only ever seen one revision of the Long board, It seems to me that the Long board is the oldest, followed by the Short Rev A and then the Short Rev B.

I've got several Long Boards, Several A Revision Short board and one B revision short board.
For mating Game Boards I have
  • Ah Eikou no Koshien that I converted to Gun Front
  • Dino Rex
  • Drift Out Prototype (look to originally be a Cameltry that was heavily modified by the factory)
  • Final Blow
  • Hat Trick Hero
  • Hat Trick Hero that I converted to Dead Connection
  • Mega Blast
  • Majestic Twelve
  • Metal Black
  • Ninja Kids
  • And a couple of Quiz games (I forget which ones)
I've never found any of these games to have any compatibility issues with any mobo
 
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Thank you for the detailed information. I can now point my attention to repair on the top board. Some capacitors were broken off and some had dry joints joints. Hoping nothing got plugged in backwards.
 
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