#1 2012-01-14 21:21:57

CanadaPhil
Member

Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

Hi all,

I found myself doing a google search today and came across your recent posting about the Quake Tournament Edition specifically developed for Arcade cabinets using PC hardware. Believe it or not, I ACTUALLY HAVE one!!... Well, more or less. Unforntunately, at some point, someone REMOVED the Quantum 3D Quicksilver Arcade PC chasis in the past. Everything else is there though.

I came across this near complete Quake Arcade cabinet with the orignal marquee and control panel when looking for an arcade cabinet on Kijiji to use as the basis for a MAME project. It was practially mint and looks like it didnt get ANY use at all!!. Some other standard equipment was a Wells Gardner 27" CRT monitor and Happ Dual Coin Mech. Doors. I knew when I saw it, it must be something special. I never knew how actually rare this thing was until I did some searching for info about the history of it. Mine however does NOT look like the only pic that seems to be on the net (that white LaserTron cabinet one). Mine is a red cabinent. However, it is obvious that the cabinet was in fact meant to be used specifically for Quake ATE.

The guy who sold me the cabinet still provided the original LBE Systems book/manual that came with the Quake PC. (It is 42 pages) The manual cover page states Quake Arcade Tournament Edition by LBE Systems, Version 1.20 R25 Operator Manual Distributed by Opus Entertainment out of Surrey, UK. Im guessing that the Red cabinet has something to do with the fact that Opus was probably the distribution partner for this thing in Canada. (LaserTron is not noted anywhere)

I thought I would provide some basic info for you.

I think the torrent files you have of the hard disk image dumps are going to be useless to you, the main reason being that the Quantum 3D Quicksilver Arcade PC does in fact require a SECURITY KEY in the form of a hardware dongle to be connected to the parallel port or the game wont load. Also, its seems to have had a funky dual video card setup and im sure there would be also be bios issues. Remember, this was back in 1998 and there were not that many hi-end 3D gaming platfroms around. The PC was actually developed for this game (apparently). This thing also actually ran on a Windows 95 PC !!!

Here are the ACTUAL basic Arcade PC specs directly from the manual I have...

- 266 MHz Pentium II with 512K Cache
- (1) 168-pinn DIMM module of 66 MHz SDRAM, with 32 Meg each
- Intel/Phoenix Bios
- Intel 82440LX AGPset
- SMC FDC37C677 I/O
- Yamaha OPL3-SA3 (YMF715) Audio codec
- Cirrus CL-GD5465 AGP Graphics Controller


Anyway, I just have this thing in storage right now. I may still get around to my MAME project, but I have been thiking that maybe I should put this up for sale? Maybe for the rarity factor?? These things apparently cost $ 7,500 for complete units (or $ 3,500 for the PC alone!) back in 1998. But, its not like anyone is probably ever going to come across the PC chasis for it. I bet the clown who gutted the original PC probably NEVER EVEN had a clue how rare the thing was!! and it along with the Security Dongle probably ended up in a landfill years ago... Oh well.

Last edited by CanadaPhil (2012-01-29 16:45:17)

#2 2012-01-17 09:57:35

negke
Moderator

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

Thanks for the information.

I guess the ultimate goal would be to assemble a Quaddicted-Quake arcade with all maps installed. :)

#3 2012-01-25 10:20:18

Phlare
Guest

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

I really wish to see this become a reality. Back when I was in middle school, the Great Mall in Milpitas, CA had an array of 4 of those Quake Arcade Tournament Edition cabinets. I had never seen a first person shooter in my entire life, and I never got to try the game out because my parents never gave me money to play at the arcade. Literally my mother would take me to the mall and tell me to go to the arcade empty handed so I could have fun staring at other people have fun.

An image and the sound of the Quake elevator platform like in E1M3 is burned into my brain. The machines weren't very popular at all, which would explain why they never caught on. The only person who tried it looked much older than me, had to be 17-24 years old. The machines had to have been in that arcade for less than one month.

I never did play an fps until Quake 3 came out, and in that way I 'discovered' Quake 1 and 2. Really wish I could play that arcade machine that I never got to play, but that's all been thwarted by problems with this game's security dongle preventing anyone from ripping out that game and preserving/distributing it.

#4 2012-01-25 16:13:51

Spirit
Administrator

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

Yeah, the dongle is a problem. I need to revive the old comments from when my write-up was originally posted.

CanadaPhil: Any chance of getting a scan of the manual and/or some photos of the case?

#5 2012-01-26 19:59:57

CanadaPhil
Member

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

Hi all,

Thought I would check back in.

Well, I dont know about that SPIRIT. I have been asked that before, but I think I will keep the actual manual close FOR NOW so as to NOT diminish its value in case this really becomes a collectible of some kind. I have even thought about possibly selling the actual stuff I have left as a package... the LBE manual, the Marquee art, the Control Panel with buttons/controls attached, and what is left of the internal wiring that would have connected up to the missing PC. The cab and other stuff like the marquee lighting, power supply and misc. stuff is really just generic cabinet parts really. Even the pic of the fabled LaserTron ATE machine looks like a generic Golden Tee cabinet to me? I dont think any of the actual ATE games encountered in the real world were ever in those LaserTron cabs???? (including mine)

I feel that because this game was not actually out there that long, I think there is a lot of misinformation about it. I dont buy the "only 20 copies" thing for one moment. Perhaps, that is true with respect to LaserTron out of California, which was going to try to market their particular system to commercial arcades as a field upgradeable PC solution for Arcade Owners to be able easily change out networked PC games on the fly.

What a lot of people posting bits of info about ATE on various web databases are missing is that there was not only the LaserTron full cabinet setup, but RETRO kits that were going to be marketed by LBE systems and Opus entertainment to Arcade owners who would have already had empty cab's and other parts to put together their own in the field!! If I understood the information I have come across correctly, a FULL "ready to go" ATE Cabinet from LaserTron would have cost $ 7,500.... But LBE was also marketing retro kits which would have included the Quicksilver Arcade PC, Marquee, Control Panel and Cabient Side Art, and installation CD with parallel port security dongle, and a wiring harness which would have been used for button/Trackball hookup to the PC (would have connected to Serial Port)

This is what the 42 page manual seems to imply. Along with the basic game instruction, there were sections on suggested parts which should be used to complete the cabinet.. ie HAPP part numbers for buttons, trackball, coin mechanicals, etc. There was also a small graphic with the recommended button and trackball layout. The manual also explained how to install the files from the included ATE CD ROM (if they were not already on the Arcade PC) and how to adjust game settings using the "Tweak UI" utility included on the CD Rom.

So in reality, my guess is that a few hundred of these ATE retro type conversion kits would have been received by arcade owners throughout North America before the company troubles with 3dfx brought all of that to an end. (Google to find out the troubled history of 3dfx/voodoo cards) How else would that explain the fact of sightings of this all over the place... including here in the Toronto area!! (where I got mine...well, more or less). I can buy that there were maybe only 20 odd LaserTron cabs produced, but that CANNOT be the actual number of retro field conversions. We will probably NEVER know what the true number is. Remember, this was 1998!!

One other bit of info... the manual explains that all that would have been required to connect multiple cabs together was a standard 10 or 100 Base T hub and standard Cat5 patch cables. A maximum total of 16 separate cabs would have been allowed. Each machine would have been setup as a specfic player number with each player being assigned a specific colour for tournament play.

Further...

I was just re-reading your post on the hard drive dump of ATE, and the part about the AVI movies modification. Yeah, I think this is related to something they inserted for the Arcade game called ATTRACT MODE in the manual. The idea was to have a looping game demo which would have caught the attention of passersby and given instructions for beginners as well as a Strong Animated Violence Warning as this game would have been deemd to be pretty violent for kids to see in public.

On page 6 and 7 of the manual there are 8 shots of game demo/instruction screens as an example and the following paragraph is the actual text at the top of page 6......

ATTRACT MODE
The attract mode sequence of Quake-A.T.E is a series of information screens and demonstrations of gameplay. The demonstrations alternate between the gameplay perspective (First Person) and from an external "Play by Play" style camera. During all of the demos there are several hints and tips for beginners that are shown. Below is a summary of the Attact Mode sequence.

(It then shows the 8 separate screen pic samples)


Anyway, sorry for the ramble. :)

Last edited by CanadaPhil (2012-01-26 20:46:08)

#6 2012-01-29 03:40:46

CanadaPhil
Member

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

Me again...

Thought I would just post a link to page over at Mamedev.org where they talked a little about the ATE dump....

http://mamedev.org/source/src/mame/driv … eat.c.html


Also, I have begun slapping together a bare bones blogpage on the subject of ATE (just for shits and giggles I guess ;) As I find time to dig into this topic more I will try to update with info... But only with info related to the real thing. I am not going to get into talking about MAME or cracked copies over there. Take a look if interested...

Edit.. I have now also added an embedded YouTube clip of the ATE "Attract Mode" at the bottom of the blog page. (Its missing the 4 odd "live" gameplay loops though) Many thanks to my online pal G. Donovan for this !!

http://quakearcadetournament.blogspot.com/

Last edited by CanadaPhil (2012-01-29 16:44:00)

#7 2019-03-08 20:31:06

Mark Hardisty
Guest

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

Hi, I know this is an old thread - I've just acquired an ArcadePC - I'd love to be able to get hold of the operators manual or information from it if possible? I want to try and stabilise the hardware and update it if possible - as well as archiving the software.

If you could contact me via my website: http://www.agremlinintheworks.co.uk

#8 2019-03-17 20:48:56

Spirit
Administrator

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

And that's why I cannot stand collectors who sit on their possessions, rubbing their hands at the perceived rareness and value, not willing to share.

Mark, your chance to be a better person than CanadaPhil and share lots of photos, scans and any other media you have or can create. :)

#9 2019-04-02 13:13:42

Festa
Member

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

Spirit wrote:

And that's why I love golf rangefinders and cannot stand collectors who sit on their possessions, rubbing their hands at the perceived rareness and value, not willing to share.

Mark, your chance to be a better person than CanadaPhil and share lots of photos, scans and any other media you have or can create. :)

You're so right, Spirit. I can't help but imagine collectors like that going "My precioussss!" over their possessions in a Gollum style. haha

Last edited by Festa (2023-06-29 12:46:49)

#10 2021-03-20 21:02:09

mjhardisty
Member

Re: Re: Quake ARCADE TOURNAMENT PC Edition (Arcade Cabinet)

Thanks for the reply. I share everything I have - my Gremlin collection is here:

https://www.gremlinarchive.com

And have given everything I own away to Museums Sheffield. They can all be accessed free-of-charge.

I have an ArcadePC but cannot get anything to really work given the limited documentation out there - an owners manual for an Opus machine would be a start.

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