PCB - Gauntlet

By: Atari
Released: 1985
Display: Horizontal (upright only)
Pinout: Gauntlet Proprietary
CPU: MC68010, YM2151, (TMS5220 Voice Synth Chip)
Players: 4 (simultaneous / co-operative)
Identifying Marks: Top-left corner of PCB has "Atari Games, Gauntlet". Of note is the fact that there is no edge-connector for this game! Instead, the game connects to the cabinet via several smaller plugs which connect to small outlets at various locations around the PCB.
In Gauntlet, the gameplay is simple: Kill everything, and try to stay alive :-) Up to 4 people can play at once, and each will be a different character: Elf (Questor), Valkyrie (Thyra), Warrior (Thor), or Wizard (Merlin). (In Gauntlet-II, you may choose your character when you join, however, in Gauntlet, you are assigned a character based on the controller you choose). There are hundreds upon hundreds of levels, and no end to the game (due to on-the-fly variants to the existing levels). The game features some pretty neet voice synthesis. The chip which drives the voice-synthesis is actually the same one used in a Speak&Spell! Depositing additional quarters during play increases your health immediately.
Playing Gauntlet in a JAMMA Cabinet
I have sucecssfully converted my Gauntlet PCB to operate in a JAMMA cabinet. I can not guarantee that this won't damage your PCB. All I can say is, it's working ok for me. DO THIS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Here's what I did to make my Gauntlet PCB work in a jamma cabinet:
- Video: You can pull the R, G, B, and Composite Sync signals from the PVID pins as follows:
  Pin 1: Red
  Pin 3: (missing)
  Pin 4: Green
  Pin 6: Blue
  Pin 8: Ground
  Pin 9: Sync
- Joysticks: If you have a 4player Gauntlet, it's up to you how you wish to wire players 3 and 4 (or leave them disconnected). But for players 1 and two (PPL1 and PPL2), wire them like this:
  Pin 1: Ground
  Pin 2: (missing)
  Pin 3: Start (doubles as Magic button too)
  Pin 4: Fire
  Pin 7: Right
  Pin 8: Left
  Pin 9: Down
  Pin 10: Up
- Coin Switches (PCOIN)
  Pin 1: Ground
  Pin 2: (missing)
  Pin 5: Coin2
  Pin 6: Coin1
- Audio (PST): This is the tricky one: Gauntlet's audio is NOT amplified. Your Jamma cabinet wants amplified audio. So, you can use the Gauntlet Audio board if you have it, or if (like me) you do not have that PCB, you will have to find another way to amplify your audio. I thought of two solutions: 1) I could buy a small amplifier and use that to drive the speakers in my cabinet. 2) I could put two RCA jacks on my Gauntlet PCB so I can drive my tuner/amp that's part of my home entertainment center. Seeing as that means I have a lot more control over the audio, like having tone controls, and seeing as that was the quickest solution too, that's what I went for. Anyway, here's the pins you'll need to know about for audio:
  Pin 3: (missing)
  Pin 4: Audio Left
  Pin 6: Audio Right
  Pin 7: Ground
  NOTE: You can attach a switch (not push-button!) between Pin 2 and Pin 5 on the PST to get to the self-test and options screens.
- Power (PPWR): This is the SCARRY one! But it's only scarry if you goof and then see smoke. Here's the pins You will want to wire to your JAMMA cabinet:
  Pin 1: Ground
  Pin 6: -5V (yes, the pin-outs for Gauntlet ask for -15V here so we're skimping it, but everything seems to work fine anyway)
  Pin 8: Ground
  Pin 9: +12V (again, kinda skimping it, the board asks for +15V but it seems to work fine for me!)
  Pin 10: +5V
  Pin 11: +5V
  Pin 12: Ground
  NOTE: Here is a diagram of the pin-orders. 1 is marked on the PCB, Use the diagram to find the others:
```
+--------+
|1 4 7 10|
|2 5 8 11|
|3 6 9 12|
+--------+
```
  NOTE: Once you have that all wired up, GO BACK AND DOUBLE CHECK YOUR WORK!!! Next, power-up the game and QUICKY test the various power pins to make double-sure you aren't frying something. Within seconds, you should see a picture on your monitor. If you don't, then power-off quickly and look again at what you've done. I hope that doesn't happen to you!
  NOTE: The bare minimums which are required to get the game up and running (picture only) are Pins 1 & 10 of PPWR, and all the pins mentioned above for PVID. I don't know how long you should run the game in that configuration, but I did for a few minutes and it didn't seem to do any damage.

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