Nickel City/Chicago

[angelheadedhpst]

Went there this weekend after seeing how cheap it is (six nickels=three songs (wasn't aware there was a $2 entry fee, though)) but the ITG machine's volume was ridiculously low. Has anyone else from here been there? Encounter any asshattery from the staff that works there?

EDIT: I didn't drive from Ohio to Illinois just to play ITG, I just happened to be in the area for a convention. >>

[ChaosUnown]

That was the very first ITG machine I ever played. It was cool at first, but then the pads started sucking, the volume got quieter, and they upped the volume of the Tekken machines (which were near the ITG machine at the time). The staff were cool to me whenever I asked to turn up the volume, but the location was just so bad, even with the volume turned all the way up it was drowned out by the other machines.

[angelheadedhpst]

The volume was muy sucky, but the pads I could deal with since I step hard enough so they register. One of the staff members was uber douchey... haha, eh, and it kinda felt odd since most of the people there are like, children. P: Moreso than other arcades I've been to.

[RODD]

Went there this weekend after seeing how cheap it is (six nickels=three songs (wasn't aware there was a $2 entry fee, though))

Wow haha. Ours is 3 nickels for 3 songs and same fee as well haha

[ChaosUnown]

I actually stopped by there yesterday with Aoreo (because the Roselle machine was still out for repairs). The pad's aren't any better, the DDR machine on the opposite side functions better than the ITG machine, but both still suck. both player sides on the ITG have there own problem. The left side's pads are in better shape, but the speaker on that side is shot and doesn't play as loudly. The right side's pads are terrible, but the speaker on that side plays very loudly. It's unbelievable. If you're ever in Illinois again, I'd suggest going to Brunswick Zone Naperville or (when it gets repaired), Brunswick Zone Roselle.

[Kytsune]

Those machines are absolutely ancient.

The ITG cabinet (I assume it's still the upgrade cabinet with some panel graphics missing) used to be a 5th Mix machine (Maybe even 4th Plus? I can't remember). Anyway, I wouldn't recommend going to Nickel City for ITG -- but there are other reasons to hit the place up if you've got some spare time. At least in my opinion.

[ChaosUnown]

Yeah I figured it was pretty ancient. But with the Brunswick Zone Roselle machine still being under repairs, Nickel City was the closest machine I could get to. (13 minute drive)

It's unbelievable how the Roselle machine up to today is still out for repairs. Jim and I are pretty concerned.

[CyberPuppet]

Greetings. I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm working with Nickel City at the moment and stumbled upon this thread.
I'm fully aware that the ITG cabinet is not in great shape. That's probably partly due to it not being touched in a long time. The good news is that it is in the process of being upgraded. During this I hope to eventually get the rest of the cabinet fixed up as well; replacing the bad speaker, fixing both pads, and adding missing graphics. I also want to get usb drives working since I don't think they were enabled before.

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions or any issues with the machine that you feel should be dealt with feel free to let me know. Just keep in mind that the machine isn't going to be completely finished for quite a while. The cabinet is quite old and lots of little problems have added up over the years. I fixed the volume issue however, now instead of being quiet all the time, it's quiet only at the demo screens and then gets louder when a coin is inserted.

As for the kids running around everywhere, after 6 most of them usually go home (and the employees might be in a better mood as a result )

[ChaosUnown]

I'm very pleased to hear the machine there is getting upgraded. And last time I was there, the usb drives were on and working quite well.

The bad pad sensors and the shot speaker(s) were the only things I recalled needing repairs. If there's any way to make the arrow pads not as sunken into the whole platform, I think that will greatly benefit gameplay (Because I think DDR arrow pads are sunken in more than ITG pads)

[Kytsune]

I'm actually going to be heading up on Thursday with some friends. I'll probably be able to offer some input afterwards, if you want. =)

[ChaosUnown]

I'm actually going to be heading up on Thursday with some friends. I'll probably be able to offer some input afterwards, if you want. =)

Haha I was actually going to do the same thing and see what else was up with the machine. XD
Is it cool if we met up?

[CyberPuppet]

I'm very pleased to hear the machine there is getting upgraded. And last time I was there, the usb drives were on and working quite well.

The bad pad sensors and the shot speaker(s) were the only things I recalled needing repairs. If there's any way to make the arrow pads not as sunken into the whole platform, I think that will greatly benefit gameplay (Because I think DDR arrow pads are sunken in more than ITG pads)

You're partly right about that. A more level playing surface makes it easier to hit steps and can help sensitivity. I'll try my best to get them in better shape. For the time being, they at least all work with moderate pressure.
Did the USB drives allow custom songs last time or did they just save scores?

I'm actually going to be heading up on Thursday with some friends. I'll probably be able to offer some input afterwards, if you want. =)

Feel free to. Just keep in mind it's sort of at a halfway point right now. It's fully playable, just the lights and the usb drive are off for now. I'd recommend playing on the left side since the pad is better and the right start button was being twitchy last time I checked.

[ChaosUnown]

Did the USB drives allow custom songs last time or did they just save scores?

The usb drives did in fact allow custom songs, and they did save scores if I recall.

[ChaosUnown]

(My apologies for this bump)

I'm gonna head to Nickel City soon, so I'll definitely give some feedback.
By the way just curious, is the DDR machine also going to be worked on?

[Kytsune]

Alrighty, so here's what I see with ITG. The pads aren't too bad. I don't know how much you can do with an upgrade cabinet, but they felt alright to play on, in general. Left speaker is hardly outputting any sound, and the right Start key is, as you mentioned, finicky.

Here's the real problem though: Why is the machine running off of a PC set behind the cabinet? I happened to look back there because the game was lagging its animation (as if it were in Slow mode), so I thought maybe someone had left a keyboard plugged in by accident. Lo and behold, there's an entire computer behind it. So, long story short, I have no idea what's up with that one.

I was able to fix the animation lagging just by tapping the Tab key (The "Fast" key for StepMania) and letting it go. Solved that problem just fine. I also adjusted the offset from within the game to -0.012 or whatever the standard global is because everything felt pretty early to me; that said, feel free to change that however you want, I suppose.

The biggest issue is that the graphics card appears to lag every few seconds during gameplay. It seemed to be at its worst when the game transitioned background animations. Now, I know a lot about the software and tweaking the game to do what you need it to do, but I don't know how to go about solving a graphics problem like that. Additionally, the left/right arrows on the pads are registered as valid menu input -- that's a pain in the ass for most players, to put it bluntly.

My biggest question is, where in the world did you guys get this PC from?