Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

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CodeMystics
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by CodeMystics »

teddyy80 wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 4:29 pm You guys are twisting my words. The arcade1up version is different from the original arcade NBA HANGTIME in the ways I mentioned. You would have to be an expert to know what I'm talking about. I'll keep it simple. Look at any video on youtube of Hangtime on any system and the original arcade cabinet and you will see the timer for 'create player' starts at 4 minutes. Arcade1up starts at 2 minutes. SO THAT IS A CHANGE THAT WAS DONE THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN THE ORIGINAL ARCADE WAS. That's all I'm saying. I know you guys aren't going to do any Hangtime updates because the game isn't targeted for experts like me. I'm in the minority. All I was saying is that it is different than the original. And something as obvious as a timer should prove that.

I'm not saying this to let anybody know not to get the game. All I'm doing is making a point about the obvious differences, that's all.
Arcade1Up also has experts in the game. If you have a YouTube link to support your claim, please share. Our searches of YouTube, looking for a genuine (non-emulated) NBA (not-Maximum) Hangtime did not show evidence of a character creation timer different from what is in our emulation. The only videos we found (e.g. https://youtu.be/6YRgBXNy4rc) showing a 4-minute timer were not the arcade machine as evidenced by its differing menus. (That preceding YouTube link is, in fact, the Nintendo 64 version.)

By contrast, here is a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15YIb-zKEZM that shows an independent emulation of NBA Hangtime, clearly booting an arcade ROM and then entering the Character Creation screen, with a 2:00 timer.

(As a side note, though it's hardly conclusive on its own since it could've started late, there is also this video of a genuine NBA Hangtime machine that never shows the timer above 2:00 on the Character Creation screen: https://youtu.be/scBd5R7hn8c)

Unless you can show evidence to the contrary, no offence, but as it stands we must believe your recollection to be mistaken, particularly (a) in light of how emulation operates wherein it would be highly improbable for an emulation error to produce a surgical error of this type and that (b) we have explicitly confirmed your prior claim that 80 attribute points were achievable is not correct. Either that or you were privileged to play some early prototype arcade machine that does not represent the game in its final mass-produced form.

In case you are not familiar with the concept of emulation, emulation allows new hardware to run the original program from the original arcade machine. We do not rewrite the game, we make the Arcade1Up machine capable of running the original code. While we were subsequently forced to make deliberate edits to the original code for licensing reasons, this timer was not one of the things we edited. It was not changed from the original program. To have an error in the emulator itself such that the program merely started with a different starting time would be on par with having a broken Intel CPU whose only symptom was to misspell the word "Windows" any time it appeared on your screen, but otherwise functioned perfectly.

But again, if you can share verifiable evidence of an error, we will most definitely investigate further. We take pride in the accuracy of our work.
teddyy80
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by teddyy80 »

Can you help me obtain a new control deck? Who and how do I contact them?
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CodeMystics
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by CodeMystics »

teddyy80 wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:25 pm Can you help me obtain a new control deck? Who and how do I contact them?
Sorry, we don't have any special contacts in that regard. We could only direct you to the same people you are already talking to. Without any special insight, we'd suspect, in lieu of receipts or whatever they require as proof of purchase, that you could offer to remove the specific defective switches and send them back to them as proof. Though maybe a video wherein you demonstrate the problem would be sufficient? We can only guess. Different companies have different RMA processes, and we don't know anything about theirs.

Although we've seen in community forums their response time can be particularly slow. It's always helpful to cite the ticket number from their original response when you reply, or else every contact starts the process over from the beginning. Before doing that though it might be worth swapping the connections around to ascertain whether the defect is actually in the part you'd be removing.
teddyy80
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by teddyy80 »

Can you do an update on making the computer teammate play any defense? Sometimes he doesn't even cross half court. I've never seen it so bad. And can you tell me why is it when I play someone that their computer teammate, who could be anybody that's never been known to play defense in real life, plays harder than mine? No they don't have a created character and no smarter drone is checked.

I, and others too, believe there is some kind of cheat like computer assistance when a person is leading then the losing team gets their shooting percentage increased.

And I thought about something I never have. Why do you have to play in order to get a 'privilege' of having a smarter drone? I know why from back then because they wanted you to keep putting money in. But you could do 2020 updates like other systems have such as having the ability to check more than 2 privileges on the created character screen. Still think you need to change the timer to 4:00. Also when are you going to get the other players like Glenn Robinson for Milwaukee? This game should be updated on the regular.
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CodeMystics
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by CodeMystics »

teddyy80 wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:40 pm Can you do an update on making the computer teammate play any defense? Sometimes he doesn't even cross half court. I've never seen it so bad. And can you tell me why is it when I play someone that their computer teammate, who could be anybody that's never been known to play defense in real life, plays harder than mine? No they don't have a created character and no smarter drone is checked.

I, and others too, believe there is some kind of cheat like computer assistance when a person is leading then the losing team gets their shooting percentage increased.

And I thought about something I never have. Why do you have to play in order to get a 'privilege' of having a smarter drone? I know why from back then because they wanted you to keep putting money in. But you could do 2020 updates like other systems have such as having the ability to check more than 2 privileges on the created character screen. Still think you need to change the timer to 4:00. Also when are you going to get the other players like Glenn Robinson for Milwaukee? This game should be updated on the regular.
To reiterate, this is an emulation. These would be questions for the 1994 Midway development team. (Aside from the team roster questions, which are Arcade1Up/NBA licensing issues.)
teddyy80
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by teddyy80 »

How do I contact them about updating the rosters?
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CodeMystics
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by CodeMystics »

teddyy80 wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 2:45 pm How do I contact them about updating the rosters?
Try one of their social media outlets like Facebook or Twitter.
teddyy80
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by teddyy80 »

Need to also have something where we can talk to other players online. Getting tired of these guys saying they are number one but you never see or hear from them. Nor do they ever challenge any of the top players.
teddyy80
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by teddyy80 »

Contacted Mark Turmell, the original lead programmer for Hangtime. Sent him a video of the arcade computer teammate and the arcade1up teammate playing a game. Even he said they didn't make the computer AI that terrible at playing defense. He said he doesn't run fast, get any rebounds, play any type of defense. He's just out there jogging (running with no turbo). And he looked at the opponent AI team and they were playing lights out. Challenging everything, etc. I asked if anyone had an emulation of the game could they reprogram it. He said yes but it would take too much work. He asked which game of the 3 gets more players. I said I see more people playing the original NBA JAM than Hangtime because it doesn't have your computer teammate playing that bad. Plus it has more players like Shaq, Barkley that Hangtime doesn't.
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CodeMystics
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Re: Arcade1up NBA Jam software updates

Post by CodeMystics »

teddyy80 wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 5:38 pm Contacted Mark Turmell, the original lead programmer for Hangtime. Sent him a video of the arcade computer teammate and the arcade1up teammate playing a game. Even he said they didn't make the computer AI that terrible at playing defense. He said he doesn't run fast, get any rebounds, play any type of defense. He's just out there jogging (running with no turbo). And he looked at the opponent AI team and they were playing lights out. Challenging everything, etc. I asked if anyone had an emulation of the game could they reprogram it. He said yes but it would take too much work. He asked which game of the 3 gets more players. I said I see more people playing the original NBA JAM than Hangtime because it doesn't have your computer teammate playing that bad. Plus it has more players like Shaq, Barkley that Hangtime doesn't.
Have him contact Arcade1Up then. If he can provide quantitative guidance (source code etc.) that demonstrates an emulation error, we will gladly address it.

Update: we have reached out directly to Mark Turmell through a mutual industry acquaintence. He has no recollection of receiving video from anyone demonstrating an issue with Hangtime's AI.
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