Nickel City/Chicago

[ChaosUnown]

Pretty much all of what Kytsune said, and when I was there with him, the usb drives seemed to be deactivated again, I'd recommend they be switched back on since they allow players to play their own custom files on the machine.

Although these following statements can be easily fixed, I'd like to add that the game is only allowing two songs per round, which doesn't seem to be very fair, as most basic ITG machines allow at least 3 songs per round.

Another thing I'd like to point is that the background imagery is set at a very high brightness. For those brightly colored background changes, it makes it really hard to read the arrows you are supposed to hit. I simply recommend that the background brightness be turned down a few notches (I'm sure there's some kind of option for that in the service menu)

But aside from the things Kytsune and I pointed out, this machine is definitely looking up. c:

[CyberPuppet]

Alright, thanks guys. I'll be there Saturday to check over all the little things you mentioned. Hoping by next week to have the smaller issues (brightness, usbs, etc) dealt with and then to continue on to the bigger repairs on the pads and the bad speaker. You're right, the pads play alright now, but I believe they could be even more responsive for those who play more difficult songs. And yeah, there is a computer sitting there, doesn't fit inside anywhere so it's just tucked back there for now.

Hope you enjoyed your time there despite some issues. I'll keep you updated on its progress and hopefully it will be in much better shape the next time you visit. And as of yet, no there are no plans to do anything with the DDR cabinet. That may change at some point, but I can't guarantee anything.

[Kytsune]

And as of yet, no there are no plans to do anything with the DDR cabinet. That may change at some point, but I can't guarantee anything.

Actually, as far as DDR goes, the issues are pretty basic. The P2 Up arrow sticks a lot (To the point of unplayability), and the left marquee speaker appears to be blown. As it is now, playing on the P1 side is fine as long as you don't mind the music being kinda hard to hear.

[ChaosUnown]

I was just at Nickel City earlier tonight. When I got there, unlike last time where it was stuck in slowmotion, the machine was stuck on an abnormally fast motion. It was a pretty busy night so I didn't want really touch anything, so I told someone at the front desk. Even though I told them I knew exactly what was wrong, they insisted I wait until the repair people make their next visit. I'm beginning to wonder if every time the machine boots up it instantly becomes stuck on fast or slow mode.

[CyberPuppet]

I was just at Nickel City earlier tonight. When I got there, unlike last time where it was stuck in slowmotion, the machine was stuck on an abnormally fast motion. It was a pretty busy night so I didn't want really touch anything, so I told someone at the front desk. Even though I told them I knew exactly what was wrong, they insisted I wait until the repair people make their next visit. I'm beginning to wonder if every time the machine boots up it instantly becomes stuck on fast or slow mode.

I know exactly the problem you are talking about. It involves a graphical glitch where the refresh rate for the animations seems to either rocket out of control or slow down to a painful speed. This seems to happen only after several hours of being active and if the machine is reset it goes away. I'm checking in this week and getting this fixed.

Sorry about this problem, hopefully it didn't ruin your visit tonight. Maybe when the machine is fixed up I can treat you to some games or something. I'll post back and keep you updated in the meantime.

[ChaosUnown]

Well if it's anything like stepmania, grab a keyboard and tap "left tab" or the "~" button and it should go away. That's what Kytsune told me how he fixed it when it was stuck in slowmotion.

But I find it odd how it was triggered on its own in the first place. Have you ever tried running the machine a full few hours without the keyboard attached?

And don't worry about my visit, although I never got a chance to play ITG, the guy up front gave me a full refund.

[Kytsune]

Yeah, StepMania (and therefore ITG) has two default keys for triggering "fast" and "slow" animations. Holding Tab will cause animations to speed up and ~ will cause the animations to slow down. These can also be toggled by accessing the debug menu by holding F3. Neither will actually make the game unplayable, but navigating menus can be a pain and weird animations during gameplay can get distracting.

When I was there, none of the keys on the keyboard appeared to be stuck, and holding F3 revealed that none of the toggles were on. However, tapping the ~ and Tab keys just once resolved the problem. It's worth noting that I've had that problem in StepMania before, where the program doesn't realize you've let go of a key.

For what it's worth, typical ITG cabinets disable keyboard input in-game altogether. Also, out of curiosity, do you know what OS the computer is running?

[ChaosUnown]

Just want to say, I may be going out there tonight or tomorrow night if anyone is game (Really depends on how the Roselle machine is doing).

[CyberPuppet]

Just a quick update.
The usb drives are activated now, and custom songs are enabled. The song limit is set at 2:30, so keep that in mind if you want to try it. I also turned down the brightness a little for backgrounds. The second player start button isn't as twitchy anymore and the pads seem to be responding a bit better. Still need a little work, but not bad. Hopefully the graphical glitches are gone, but I can't be certain yet. As for the speaker, it turns out that the speaker itself is fine and it is actually the amp that is faulty. Seems like the machine has had this problem for a while.

And is this Roselle machine still out of order?

[ChaosUnown]

Actually it was working just fine last night, the workers there must have tweaked the pads a little. Still, since it's about a 40 minute drive for me I can't go there often.

And it's great to hear the Nickel City machine is looking up, the usb drives are something the Roselle machine doesn't have anymore, so this is a very good sign, and that custom song time limit is very reasonable. I'll take a look at it myself sometime, trusting my second term at college doesn't hold me up a lot. I've also learned never to go there on a Saturday, so crowded, haha.

I'd like to point out adding in the ITG3 and ITG Rebirth songs was a very good move, this way there's a lot more songs to choose from when people don't have a flash drive ready. Adding these extra songs on the machine is what made the Roselle such a well visited place for ITG.

[ChaosUnown]

Bump, any possible status report up to today?

[CyberPuppet]

Bump, any possible status report up to today?

Well, not much has changed in the past two weeks. A little work, but nothing really noticeable. However, it now looks like both the DDR and ITG machines are going to be worked on. We are currently trying to get parts for them so that they can start getting repairs.

[ChaosUnown]

Awesome. Trusting, they're still in playable shape (With repairs and upgrades and all), me and a friend were considering going over there next week. With a tournament coming up in less than a month, we've been looking for a machine that plays custom songs.

[Phaiyte]

I'm actually really glad to see arcade employees actually at least trying to take care of their ITG machines. I can't count how many arcades I've been to where any "dance" game is just unbearable to play on simply because no one takes care of it even if they're asked to by the owners of said arcade.

[ChaosUnown]

Quick question: Despite the repairs and upgrades, can it still be played right now? I'm planning on stopping there tomorrow or saturday night.