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Ideas for sound board to replace 8-track sound in old arcade game

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ThomasStevens

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I picked up an arcade shooting gallery from 1972 called "Haunted House" by Midway. The game uses an 8-track player to produce background music and sounds as each target is hit or 'shot'. The 8-track tape and the player are both broken and I don't want to invest too much time/effort into repairing or replacing them unless I have to...

The game is based on 1972 technology- all logic is controlled by copper leaf switch stacks and relays connected to coils. The only circuit board in the game is inside the 8-track player... So, when a witch target is shot, a relay inside the game triggers the witch sound and advances the score reels. There are separate switch stacks for each type of target (witch, monster, and black cat)

I already have .mp3 sound files for all of the game sounds. Basically what I'd like to do is build or buy a simple sound board that would piggy-back off the existing switches and play the background music when the game is started, then play the .mp3 or .wav sound for each type of target hit. Since there are different sounds for each type of target, I would prefer to cycle-through the sounds as each is hit (for example, the first time you hit the witch, she says, "You shot my broom". The second time, she says, "Ouch!" etc...)

I am hoping that someone can point me to a sound circuit that I could build, or even an existing sound card/MP3 player that can be modified to play sounds as switches are engaged? I'd really like to replace this 8-track player.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Google Nuvoton and look at their ISD series of voice recorder ICs, lots of info and app notes. Well priced and available from Digikey. E
 
Here's a project just waiting to be made... https://www.moty22.co.uk/sd.php If you know how to program you can make the changes, otherwise ask someone here to modify the switched inputs to select the correct track...
 
Simple players can be had for about $10, but you would need one for each target.
How many sounds does it use?
 
It has one song that plays as background music; about two minutes worth of music that loops.

Then it has three characters that make about 6 sounds each (witch, monster, and cat)

Ideally I'd like to have a single player that handles all the sounds. I did find an interesting project board that costs around $50 here:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12897

My only concern is that in the reviews the person says that it is unusable if your wires are more than just a few inches, and mine will be several feet as they have to traverse through the cabinet.
 
That,s a nice board. If you read the comments the cap thing has been fixed.
 
I picked up an arcade shooting gallery from 1972 called "Haunted House" by Midway. The game uses an 8-track player to produce background music and sounds as each target is hit or 'shot'. The 8-track tape and the player are both broken and I don't want to invest too much time/effort into repairing or replacing them unless I have to...

The game is based on 1972 technology- all logic is controlled by copper leaf switch stacks and relays connected to coils. The only circuit board in the game is inside the 8-track player... So, when a witch target is shot, a relay inside the game triggers the witch sound and advances the score reels. There are separate switch stacks for each type of target (witch, monster, and black cat)

I already have .mp3 sound files for all of the game sounds. Basically what I'd like to do is build or buy a simple sound board that would piggy-back off the existing switches and play the background music when the game is started, then play the .mp3 or .wav sound for each type of target hit. Since there are different sounds for each type of target, I would prefer to cycle-through the sounds as each is hit (for example, the first time you hit the witch, she says, "You shot my broom". The second time, she says, "Ouch!" etc...)

I am hoping that someone can point me to a sound circuit that I could build, or even an existing sound card/MP3 player that can be modified to play sounds as switches are engaged? I'd really like to replace this 8-track player.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Midway's Haunted House Gun Game Video

If you watched, relays are already there: :)
<>Disconnect common ground and normally open terminals on each sound trigger relay.
<>Then tie each directly to the guts of USB game controller buttons.
<>Then plug the game controller into any cheap/land fill computer or netbook.
<>Run a program that plays stereo/quadophonic sounds and even videos when game buttons are pushed.

This can be done because: :D
<>Common grounds on the switch terminals are not connected.
<>USB game controller chips have built in ESD resistors.
<>No electricity will pass to the game controller, just temporary shorts.

If you use computer motherboards, then additional things can be added to the game: :woot:
<>Display screen computer monitor can be added to the back panel of the game board.
<>Characters like Wizard of Oz witch video flying on a video screen planted in the back of the game when the witch is hit.
<>Attract mode can be added.
<>Different playfield colors can be added by changing the background color of the monitor in back.
<>With a few tricks, the gun can be connected to the USB port also, and add additional video game targets in the mounted screen.
<>Computer relay outputs can be created to add lazer/disco/explosion lights, and other effects.

This same process can be applied to any electromechanical game.:p
 
I think I remember that game (showing my age), I wasnt old enough to understand what was going on inside in those days though.
In my scrap box I have some digital sound effect players, they were 99p a piece on ebay, they only play one sound effect, maybe you could stack a few of them and mix the o/p's into your amplifer.
 
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You see a $40 to $60 ebay netbook has a small screen that can be mounted to the back of the playfield. The game controller interface I mentioned will trigger a simple custom program you can create with any simple programming language like Visual Basic. You can layer all the sounds and videos you want. You can connect the audio out of the netbook to stereo amplifiers, or just connect the netbook speaker wires directly to low wattage paper speakers and no additional amplifier is needed.

The electronic alternatives can not match all the features that a cheap netbook can offer.
 
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