Need dipswitch help with US Championship V'ball

[+GoldenWheels]

So I got a supergun on ebay recently: https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=152257119363&view=all&tid=1752782953005

 

...to play US Championship V'ball. My goal was to play the game in co-op (both players on one team) as I have played it via emulation for many years with my buddy.

 

However when I start the game up, it only allows 2p mode in vs mode. So I got online to find some info and find this:

 

https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10276

 

V'Ball Description

Two-man teams play pro beach volleyball on a tour of the US. One to four people can play simultaneously on a four-player cabinet, cooperatively and/or competitively. On a two-player cabinet, two players must play in competition.

Technical

By adding 2 additional sets of controls to the standard 2 JAMMA controls four people can play at once. Two or four player mode is selected with a dip switch. Selecting 4P mode in a 2P cabinet will allow 2-player cooperative play.

 

Now, those things kind of contradict each other, so I was not sure what to do. But I figure ok, at the very least I need to switch the game to 4p mode to TRY to get co-op play right? So I go get the dipswitch settings:

 

https://www.arcade-museum.com/dipswitch-settings/10276.html

U.S. Championship Beach Volley V'Ball Taito, 1988   Pinout = JAMMA------------------------------------------------------------------                                                                 Option Switch Settings -----------------------------------------------------------------------------                          DIP Switch No. 1 Settings 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8    Option-----------------------------------------------------------------------------                                  Difficulty Level                                  ----------------Off Off                           MediumOn  Off                           EasyOff On                            HardOn  On                            Hardest                                   Game Time                                  ---------        Off Off                   1:45        On  Off                   2:00        Off On                    1:30        On  On                    1:15                                   Start Buttons                                  -------------                Off Off           Normal                On  Off           Button "A"                Off On            Button "B"                On  On            Normal                                   1 & 4 Player Joysticks                                  -----------------------                        Off       Normal                        On        Rotate 90 degrees                                   Player Mode                                  -----------                            Off   2 Players                            On    4 Players

**********************************************************************************************

 

Ok so dipswitch 8 on row 1 of the dips makes it 4p....I flip that switch to on...and the game acts exactly the same. NO matter what order I enter credits in (one or two player credits first) it makes no difference. If I hit start on player 1, I get a 1p game. If I hit start on player 2, I get the two player VS game.

 

Am I doing something wrong or missing something? I DESPERATELY want to play this game in co-op, NOT vs mode. I can't figure out what the heck, if anything, I am doing wrong. ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mr_me]

it's behaving like the dip switch is in "2 player" mode. Try flipping the dip switch the other way.

[+GoldenWheels]

it's behaving like the dip switch is in "2 player" mode. Try flipping the dip switch the other way.

Did that....seems to make no difference. Can still only get 1p or 2p VS. No co op.

 

I am wondering if I need to wire up J3 and J4 (there are two nine lead connections on the actual arcade board, both labeled with one big "J2" which I think are the p3 and p4 controls leads for 4 player machines) to insert credits via the third or fourth controller and THAT would then be the way to start a co-op game.

 

I'm also wondering if, without those wired up, the board won't work as a 4 player board AT ALL, regardless of what the dipswitches are set to.

 

Any one have any experience with this? I know with Konami games etc you need another kick harness to do 3-4p games. I'm hoping I can get something similar, though custom, to work here.

[mr_me]

When the dip switch is in 4-player mode each player start button activates that player. You have to wait for a timer before the game starts. Player 1 and 2 are on the left team, player 3 and 4 are on the right team. When you start player 2 which of the four players on screen is activated. Is he on the left team or right team?

 

When the dip switch is in 2-player mode only one button press starts the game immediately.

Edited September 10, 2018 by mr_me

[+GoldenWheels]

When the dip switch is in 4-player mode each player start button activates that player. Player 1 and 2 are on the left team, player 3 and 4 are on the right team. When you start player 2 which of the four players on screen is activated. Is he on the left team or right team?

No matter the position of that dipswitch (done it both ways many times), hitting start on the controller plugged into the player 2 port on my supergun starts a VS game with player 2 being on the right side. Player 1 is always on the left side.

 

Player 1 and 2 being on the left together is how I have always played this in emulation...when I fired up the PCB I was stunned to see it was VS.

[+GoldenWheels]

I'll give it a shot again tonight me_me...do you have the same board or are you testing it in MAME or something? You seem to understand how it works well, but that's not at all how it seems to be working for me.

 

The only change that seems to happen when I hit dip 8 is that i can get the time to go to 2:30 FROM 2:00...the manual I linked above says:

3) Player Mode: Use this setting to adjust your game for a 2 player or 4player configuration.  When set at the 4 Player Mode, game time increasesfrom the original setting.  For example, if your game time is set at 2minutes, setting this switch to the 4 Player Mode will increase your gametime to 3 minutes.

So it does seem that the thing is registering dip 8 somehow. Just not what I expect to happen.

[mr_me]

Try setting the start button dipswitches to "button A".

 

I'm only testing in mame, it could be that without the extra controls wired up it's overiding the 4-player dip switch.

Edited September 10, 2018 by mr_me

[+GoldenWheels]

Try setting the start button dipswitches to "button A".

 

I'm only testing in mame, it could be that without the extra controls wired up it's overiding the 4-player dip switch.

I messed with changing the start buttons to either setting already, as I had read that bit in the manual that had something to do with proper 4p play....with 5/6 on/off, off/on....the game still only starts with the start button on the controller. None of the buttons (other than start of course) on either controller do anything until the game starts.

 

I really wonder if it is the fact that I don't have J3 and J4 wired up. And my board only has UNUSED solder points there...it does NOT Have an edge connector soldered there (as some boards online seem to, see below at the top right). Those two edge connectors aren't on my board, just the solder points for them.

 

[+GoldenWheels]

Oh...is the manual being truly literal here?

V'Ball is a JAMMA game.  

To play in 4 Player Mode, you must have the jacks

at locations J3 and J4 wired as follows:

J4 - Player #3--------------1  | 3P Right2  | 3P Left3  | 3P Up4  | 3P Down5  | 3P Button "A"6  | 3P Button "B"7  | Not Used8  | 3P Start9  | Ground J3 - Player #4--------------1  | 4P Right2  | 4P Left3  | 4P Up4  | 4P Down5  | 4P Button "A"6  | 4P Button "B"7  | Not Used8  | 4P Start9  | Ground

Drives me crazy to think it won't go to 4p mode without me having both completely wired up. I DON"T NEED 4p and 3p, I'll never use them! Could it REALLY need to DETECT them being wired up to respect the dip position? Seems crazy to me but I am about out of ideas...the way it seems to detect Co-op play was 4p play selected IN a 2 p cabinet where they WOULDN'T be wired up, ever, so I am really lost.

[+GoldenWheels]

One more thing I'll throw out, no idea if it matters....this is the Japanese PCB version of this game, as I wanted to see the extra animations etc that were apparently pulled for the US version (yes, I am a huge fan of this game for whatever reason). So maybe the US manual is wrong in this case? Maybe the Japanese version never had co-op? I dunno!

 

And whether I get this figured or not, really appreciate the time you took here me-me. Thanks.

[Popeye Master]

I wired up my p3 and p4 via J2 (2) 9 pins harnesses. I bought these baseball ones but keep in mind they strip the black and it's not the ground. Once connected properly pin1 on 1 and 9 on 9 if you reference the pinout for p3 and p4 vball, you'll see which pins are what....see pics attached

[Popeye Master]

I used these..... works great. Just be aware of actual pinout from vball and don't use the sheet given with the baseball ones....