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Can buy this Turtles in Time PCB, anyone can tell if it used to be a Quiz or other conversion?

https://imgur.com/a/aT7g2
Looks original to me (Mask roms in the right place) but the prog/sound might been replaced at some point. Stickers don't look anything like the original so likely region/2p/4p swap? Also, the sound pots don't match up with what i've seen on many original Konami boards, so probably replaced.
 
I looked into Konami conversations a while ago because I was hoping for a less-expensive way to pick up Xexex. It looks like even within the same board "family", Konami used different custom chips on pretty much every individual game. I'm sure it was partly an anti-piracy measure-make each game unique so that arcade operators couldn't convert their boards.

I think we'll both just have to save up for what we want. :(
Hello,

Xexex game runs on a dedicated PCB, no other game uses that pcb..... :thumbdown:
Also, from my top of my head, Xexex & xmen share the "evil" sound module 054544, making the board almost "priceless", if you have a Xexex/xmen with a fucked up 054544, you are in deep sh*t, cuz that module cant be sourced, besides a repro. :thumbdown:
This is me : http://www.jammarcade.net/konami-hybrid-sound-modules-undress/

And yes, conversion Sunset Riders<<<-->>> Turtles 2 is possible. :evil:


Have a good night, Dragos.
Tell me about that, I've got a mute Xexex, the module has been socketed and capacitors replaced by through hole ones.
Anyway no trace seems to be broken on the module.
There's only one custom chip on the module, and you can sac a Lethal Enforcer to get it.
 
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Grave digging a little here... A friend of mine has a pile of Vendetta boards, we were wondering what are "do-able" conversions without having to scavenge custom chips from other pcbs.

Any inputs?
 
Grave digging a little here... A friend of mine has a pile of Vendetta boards, we were wondering what are "do-able" conversions without having to scavenge custom chips from other pcbs.

Any inputs?
usually the first thing you do to see if conversions are possible is to look at the MAME driver. 99% of the time the only conversions available are going to be other games that use the same driver.

looking at the MAME Driver for Vendetta the only other game that uses that driver is Escape Kids:
https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/drivers/vendetta.cpp

next thing you should do is look at the MEMORY Mapping in the MAME driver. if they're the same between games that's very good for conversion. but it looks like Vendetta and Escape Kids use different maps :-/
this means that either PCBs are different or they use special PALs to produce the different maps.

A good way to see if it's just PALs or if the PCBs are different its a good idea to look at PCB pictures:

Vendetta:
ven2.jpg

Escape Kids:
1078001443.jpg

You can see while they are quite similar, they are ultimately different PCBs, so it's not likely you will be able to convert.

Konami games in the 90s used unique PCBs for just about every game. There are very few instance where the same PCB is shared by more than 1 game.
 
Grave digging a little here... A friend of mine has a pile of Vendetta boards, we were wondering what are "do-able" conversions without having to scavenge custom chips from other pcbs.

Any inputs?
Vendetta is not a bad game, surely you could just sell them off without too much hassle?
 
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Hello,

Escape kids and vendetta both share the same motherboard ONLY, with some IC's being populated and other missing, depending on the game.So conversion between the 2 games is possible.

Premier soccer, from my memory, runs on a dedicated HW, so no conversion possible.

Grave digging a little here... A friend of mine has a pile of Vendetta boards, we were wondering what are "do-able" conversions without having to scavenge custom chips from other pcbs.

Any inputs?
usually the first thing you do to see if conversions are possible is to look at the MAME driver. 99% of the time the only conversions available are going to be other games that use the same driver.
looking at the MAME Driver for Vendetta the only other game that uses that driver is Escape Kids:
https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/drivers/vendetta.cpp

next thing you should do is look at the MEMORY Mapping in the MAME driver. if they're the same between games that's very good for conversion. but it looks like Vendetta and Escape Kids use different maps :-/
this means that either PCBs are different or they use special PALs to produce the different maps.

A good way to see if it's just PALs or if the PCBs are different its a good idea to look at PCB pictures:

Vendetta:
ven2.jpg

Escape Kids:
1078001443.jpg

You can see while they are quite similar, they are ultimately different PCBs, so it's not likely you will be able to convert.

Konami games in the 90s used unique PCBs for just about every game. There are very few instance where the same PCB is shared by more than 1 game.
The second PIC is from an Asterix pcb, if im not mistaken.

Dragos,
 
There are few possible Konami conversions for instance:
- those old Konami classic games (Track and Field, etc.)
- that mahjong game to TMNT2
- all games on Twin 16 hardware (it doesn't even need patching!)
- Konami Hornet seems to be possible too with some code hackery
- Oh and Devastators to... I don't remember. And in one way you need to install missing chips.
 
Oh now I remember that Gaiapolis in need of a reflow on some custom chips. :D
 
For anyone that's interested...

I bought a Quiz Gakumon PCB on YAJ for about $40+shipping/fees to swap to TMNT2
There is 1 PALs that needs to be replaced with a GALs, it's been dumped and is in the JAMMA Arcade PLD archive.
Then replace 10 ROMs with MAME dumps.
The "magic", I guess, is that after you've replaced the ROMs and the PAL you need to hold down the test button on boot to clear the system memory.

For chips you'll need
4x 27c010
1x 27c160 (50ns)
2x 27c400 [there are 4 of these on the PCB but Mask ROMs 3K and 7K hold identical data between TMNT2 and Quiz Gakumon and don't need to be replaced]
1x 27c512
2x 27c800
1x GAL22V10

It should be obvious which chip goes where. The real magic is spending the time to desolder 200+ pins to remove the pals and mask ROMs. I ended up socketing them all because I didn't want to have to re-do anything if I had problems with any of my chips.

I did actually play this game a bit before converting it... i found it to be an exceptionally boring quiz game.

But, if anyone genuinely feels that the Quiz Gakumon boards are worth saving then I have a deal for you. Mine came with artworks and a manual and if you want them for preservation... they're yours free of charge.

EDIT: updated the above information to reflect the fact that the PAL16 doesn't need to be replaced, nor does the 3K or 7K Mask ROMs
Your method works awesome for me. I desoldered only the 22v10 gal from the board, in rest, i cut the legs of 5 chips and then i removed the pins with my tweezer using my iron station. the 27c160 chip is rated on 100ns (i don't have on 50ns) and working great + i used only 2x 27c400 (for 12k & 16k positions) writed with my Top3000. Thank you once for your helpful notes sir!
 

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