Thursday, February 24, 2005
Wow.
Remember in the last post about the key fobs that people are selling, I saw another one on ebay last night, and the buyer had posted feedback (negative) with a link to 2 pics, the pics seem to be down at the moment, but they were quite revealing.
They showed the "device", this miraculous manipulator, opened up so you could see what was inside it. Guess what was inside............
Nothing, other than three 1 pence coins taped inside to give the item some weight....
Now surely the seller does not expect a plastic case with 3 one pence coins to actually make a fruit machine payout more money than its supposed to? Nah, its fraud.
I also forgot to mention the other device, the so called new one (which is in fact the oldest of the lot) - on sale for around 55 UK pounds. Save yourself some money, if you actually want to try this (On a machine you 0wn only) - go out and buy a cheap piezo electric cooker/gas lighter for a couple of pounds. Why? Because thats all these things are......
Years ago people claimed to get free credits from the old arcade machines by sparking them, now in the olden days, this may have worked, but newer machines, well put it this way - if it could be done, they would not be on the market, as they would never make any money as everyone would be doing it......... Not to mention the extra security built in to machines, and the fact that even if you did manage to "confuse" it there is no way you could predict what it would do, and in reality it would just end up resetting.......
They showed the "device", this miraculous manipulator, opened up so you could see what was inside it. Guess what was inside............
Nothing, other than three 1 pence coins taped inside to give the item some weight....
Now surely the seller does not expect a plastic case with 3 one pence coins to actually make a fruit machine payout more money than its supposed to? Nah, its fraud.
I also forgot to mention the other device, the so called new one (which is in fact the oldest of the lot) - on sale for around 55 UK pounds. Save yourself some money, if you actually want to try this (On a machine you 0wn only) - go out and buy a cheap piezo electric cooker/gas lighter for a couple of pounds. Why? Because thats all these things are......
Years ago people claimed to get free credits from the old arcade machines by sparking them, now in the olden days, this may have worked, but newer machines, well put it this way - if it could be done, they would not be on the market, as they would never make any money as everyone would be doing it......... Not to mention the extra security built in to machines, and the fact that even if you did manage to "confuse" it there is no way you could predict what it would do, and in reality it would just end up resetting.......
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
The heart of the machine.
Fruities are a lot more sophisticated now than in the olden days, long gone are the mechanical machines, no more machines stuffed to the brim with relays and cranks/pulleys/gears.
Now, they have a nice tidy, modular motherboard that controls things. To be honest they can be compared to a games console that takes cartridges. The pie factory machine, and others from the same group of manufacturers use MPU 5 technology (MPU=Main Processor Unit) into which the "program" is plugged in. The program, or how the game plays, including sound effects is stored on a cartridge that plugs in to the main board. If it wasnt for the fact that the machines have different graphics on the glass, different reel designs and lamp layouts, changing a machine from one type to another would be as simple as swapping the cart.....
A photo of the MPU is shown below, to make it more interesting I have removed the top cover, and program cartridge.
The board is nicely laid out, and has connectors for the wiring looms which take the signals to the lamps/reels etc.
With these machine, the reels and lamps also have their own microprocessor controlled boards to look after them, and these are controlled from the MPU via the "BARBUS" loom which is basically a set of wires containing the power and a serial rs232 like signal to the other boards.
As you can also see, these machines are clearly computer controlled, so remember when it says 78 percent payout (or whatever) then you are playing a COMPUTER PROGRAM that is designed to keep 22 percent of the profits in the long term......
I will go into more details about the MPU in a future post, as this is just a quick overview of whats inside the machine to start with.
On the subject of the MPU, a lot of people are selling "RF Manipulators" and "Machine Manipulators/Hopper emptiers" etc on ebay.
There are two main types on sale, and BOTH are designed to steal money not from the machine, but from the idiot that purchases them..........
The first type looks like a car alarm keyfob (the thing you turn your car alarm on and of with). The reason it looks like one, is because that is what it is.....
These unscrupulous people on ebay sell these claiming it will affect the computer in the fruit machine, and cause you to get financial gain from the machine.
There are many reasons why this will not work, not least of which is
1. The device is a car alarm keyfob.
and
2. You would need something a lot more sophisticated to crash the machine, and
if it crashed why would it always "crash" the same way like they claim?
and
3.The machines will have a watchdog built in, so even if they do crash, the watchdog will not receive an "ok" signal and will just reset the machine.
The other type is a infra-red light basically that is supposed to be shone into the machine to make it pay out more. I will go into more detail onto why this wont work these days when I post about the payout system in fruit machines.
The best way to empty a machine, and this ALWAYS works, is to OWN the machine, and collect the takings that other people have put into it. Buying a device on ebay to empty a machine, will just result in you emptying your pockets for peice of junk.
After all if YOU had a device that could easily earn you hundreds of pounds a night, would YOU sell it on ebay?
Now, they have a nice tidy, modular motherboard that controls things. To be honest they can be compared to a games console that takes cartridges. The pie factory machine, and others from the same group of manufacturers use MPU 5 technology (MPU=Main Processor Unit) into which the "program" is plugged in. The program, or how the game plays, including sound effects is stored on a cartridge that plugs in to the main board. If it wasnt for the fact that the machines have different graphics on the glass, different reel designs and lamp layouts, changing a machine from one type to another would be as simple as swapping the cart.....
A photo of the MPU is shown below, to make it more interesting I have removed the top cover, and program cartridge.
The board is nicely laid out, and has connectors for the wiring looms which take the signals to the lamps/reels etc.
With these machine, the reels and lamps also have their own microprocessor controlled boards to look after them, and these are controlled from the MPU via the "BARBUS" loom which is basically a set of wires containing the power and a serial rs232 like signal to the other boards.
As you can also see, these machines are clearly computer controlled, so remember when it says 78 percent payout (or whatever) then you are playing a COMPUTER PROGRAM that is designed to keep 22 percent of the profits in the long term......
I will go into more details about the MPU in a future post, as this is just a quick overview of whats inside the machine to start with.
On the subject of the MPU, a lot of people are selling "RF Manipulators" and "Machine Manipulators/Hopper emptiers" etc on ebay.
There are two main types on sale, and BOTH are designed to steal money not from the machine, but from the idiot that purchases them..........
The first type looks like a car alarm keyfob (the thing you turn your car alarm on and of with). The reason it looks like one, is because that is what it is.....
These unscrupulous people on ebay sell these claiming it will affect the computer in the fruit machine, and cause you to get financial gain from the machine.
There are many reasons why this will not work, not least of which is
1. The device is a car alarm keyfob.
and
2. You would need something a lot more sophisticated to crash the machine, and
if it crashed why would it always "crash" the same way like they claim?
and
3.The machines will have a watchdog built in, so even if they do crash, the watchdog will not receive an "ok" signal and will just reset the machine.
The other type is a infra-red light basically that is supposed to be shone into the machine to make it pay out more. I will go into more detail onto why this wont work these days when I post about the payout system in fruit machines.
The best way to empty a machine, and this ALWAYS works, is to OWN the machine, and collect the takings that other people have put into it. Buying a device on ebay to empty a machine, will just result in you emptying your pockets for peice of junk.
After all if YOU had a device that could easily earn you hundreds of pounds a night, would YOU sell it on ebay?
Monday, February 21, 2005
Enough tech stuff for now, lets have some fun...
If you have not played a UK fruit machine before, then pretty soon, you can be
playing one for FREE on your PC. Even if you have, its still nice to play them for free, no risk of losing your wages into the machine when you dont have to put any coins in at all!
A talented bunch of people have created emulators which can read the ROM's (the chips from REAL machines) and play them exactly the same as the real thing does.
Obviously the software cant pay out real coins, or have genuine reels, but the game play is IDENTICAL to the real machine, as it uses the REAL MACHINE ROMS!
These emulators are FREELY available, so are the roms, and they are not meant to be sold for profit, but still people keep on selling them on ebay (along with ROMS, which upsets the manufacturers.)
So put your money away, dont pay for it on ebay, especially when that money does not go to the authors of the emulators, who give the stuff away for free....
Just download it from one of the many sites out there that cater for fruit machine emulation.
On the left hand side of this blog is a link to the fruit-emu site, this is one of many sites that deals with the emulation scene, and emulators and roms can be downloaded from there.
As the site says, you will not find emulators for the most upto date machines, but plenty of popular classics are all available.
playing one for FREE on your PC. Even if you have, its still nice to play them for free, no risk of losing your wages into the machine when you dont have to put any coins in at all!
A talented bunch of people have created emulators which can read the ROM's (the chips from REAL machines) and play them exactly the same as the real thing does.
Obviously the software cant pay out real coins, or have genuine reels, but the game play is IDENTICAL to the real machine, as it uses the REAL MACHINE ROMS!
These emulators are FREELY available, so are the roms, and they are not meant to be sold for profit, but still people keep on selling them on ebay (along with ROMS, which upsets the manufacturers.)
So put your money away, dont pay for it on ebay, especially when that money does not go to the authors of the emulators, who give the stuff away for free....
Just download it from one of the many sites out there that cater for fruit machine emulation.
On the left hand side of this blog is a link to the fruit-emu site, this is one of many sites that deals with the emulation scene, and emulators and roms can be downloaded from there.
As the site says, you will not find emulators for the most upto date machines, but plenty of popular classics are all available.
The Coin Mech...
Modern fruit machines take a wide range of coins, 5p 10p 20p 50p £1 and £2 coins
are the norm for a pub machine.
Old machines, in the dim and distant past used to mechanically measure the coinage to make sure it was of the correct size, and they were fairly easy to cheat on, by just making a "fake" coin the exact right size.
New machines are a lot more sophisticated, as they use electronics to determine the coin acceptance. When a coin enters a machine, it usually does not drop straight into the coin mech, as this would make it to easy for people to try to "pull coins" back out of the machine (a process known as strimming).
In order to defeat this (and other types of fraud) the coin first passes through a guide which then drops it down into the coin mech. This guide is designed to make strimming a thing of the past.
A picture of the coin mech is shown below, above the mech is the coin chute guide.
Once in the coin mech, it passes through a channel, where the coin is measured using magnetism from a set or more coils, the coin mech is pre-programmed with the known measurements of several different "good" coins. If a match occurs then the mech outputs a signal to the fruit machines main mother board (mpu) which registers the coin and gives you your play.
As the coin mech relies on detecting the electrical characteristics, a coin does not have to be just "the right size" it has to be made of exactly the same metals, and in the same way as a real coin for it to match.
Coin mechs can be re-programmed to accept virtually any coinage, so owners can update
their machines when new coins are introduced. Fake coins known as "slugs" are in existance, but owners can download updates to make the coin mech aware of these fakes, so they are rejected.
The mechs are not foolproof, but they are do offer a good level of security.
Some coin mechs, particularily in the USA do not hold data for multiple coins, instead they actually compare the coin you put in with readings from a real coin stored in the mech, this means its easy to change the mech to a new coin - but it can only ever handle one type of coin at a time.
Bent coins can cause problems inside the machine, so the coin mech tries to catch those, and jam them so they dont go any further, if this happens the user simply presses a button on the front of the machine, which is physically connected to the mech, this releases the mech door slightly allowing the coin to fall back out into the payout tray.
are the norm for a pub machine.
Old machines, in the dim and distant past used to mechanically measure the coinage to make sure it was of the correct size, and they were fairly easy to cheat on, by just making a "fake" coin the exact right size.
New machines are a lot more sophisticated, as they use electronics to determine the coin acceptance. When a coin enters a machine, it usually does not drop straight into the coin mech, as this would make it to easy for people to try to "pull coins" back out of the machine (a process known as strimming).
In order to defeat this (and other types of fraud) the coin first passes through a guide which then drops it down into the coin mech. This guide is designed to make strimming a thing of the past.
A picture of the coin mech is shown below, above the mech is the coin chute guide.
Once in the coin mech, it passes through a channel, where the coin is measured using magnetism from a set or more coils, the coin mech is pre-programmed with the known measurements of several different "good" coins. If a match occurs then the mech outputs a signal to the fruit machines main mother board (mpu) which registers the coin and gives you your play.
As the coin mech relies on detecting the electrical characteristics, a coin does not have to be just "the right size" it has to be made of exactly the same metals, and in the same way as a real coin for it to match.
Coin mechs can be re-programmed to accept virtually any coinage, so owners can update
their machines when new coins are introduced. Fake coins known as "slugs" are in existance, but owners can download updates to make the coin mech aware of these fakes, so they are rejected.
The mechs are not foolproof, but they are do offer a good level of security.
Some coin mechs, particularily in the USA do not hold data for multiple coins, instead they actually compare the coin you put in with readings from a real coin stored in the mech, this means its easy to change the mech to a new coin - but it can only ever handle one type of coin at a time.
Bent coins can cause problems inside the machine, so the coin mech tries to catch those, and jam them so they dont go any further, if this happens the user simply presses a button on the front of the machine, which is physically connected to the mech, this releases the mech door slightly allowing the coin to fall back out into the payout tray.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Lets lift the lid....
There are many people out there who can put LOTS of money inside these machines, many players can loose heavily on them, some people are addicted to them, and they can cause misery when this happens.
There are many people who can play them for just a bit of fun, and some who can make a profit on them, but theres not many places where you can see inside a machine, and see what makes it tick. So I will do several posts showing the internals of a machine, and over time explain just how they work.
Firstly for security reasons, I am not going to reveal everything, but I will be going into a lot of details, so you can see just where your money goes and what happens to it. It will hopefully educate some people, and make them aware of just why certain items that are sold on ebay to beat these machines, are all a waste of time and money.
This particular machine is a "front opener", older machines had to be pulled forward away from the wall, and turned around so you could unlock the back door to gain access to the insides. To make things easier for the engineers newer cabinets are front opening. You unlock the top half with your keys, and then the top feature board just lifts up.
Despite the fact that the top board is probably quite heavy, its remarkably easy to lift it as it is supported by two gas hydraulic struts that keep the lid from falling shut on your head!
You can clearly see the main game reels, and the top reels in the picture.
As you can also see there is not that much inside these machines, and they are very tidy inside.
I will go into details of how the machine accepts your money from you next.....
There are many people who can play them for just a bit of fun, and some who can make a profit on them, but theres not many places where you can see inside a machine, and see what makes it tick. So I will do several posts showing the internals of a machine, and over time explain just how they work.
Firstly for security reasons, I am not going to reveal everything, but I will be going into a lot of details, so you can see just where your money goes and what happens to it. It will hopefully educate some people, and make them aware of just why certain items that are sold on ebay to beat these machines, are all a waste of time and money.
This particular machine is a "front opener", older machines had to be pulled forward away from the wall, and turned around so you could unlock the back door to gain access to the insides. To make things easier for the engineers newer cabinets are front opening. You unlock the top half with your keys, and then the top feature board just lifts up.
Despite the fact that the top board is probably quite heavy, its remarkably easy to lift it as it is supported by two gas hydraulic struts that keep the lid from falling shut on your head!
You can clearly see the main game reels, and the top reels in the picture.
As you can also see there is not that much inside these machines, and they are very tidy inside.
I will go into details of how the machine accepts your money from you next.....
A closer look at a UK Fruit machine...
We will take a look at a machine called Pie Factory - its a fairly popular pub / arcade fruit machine, made by a company called Vivid, which is a sister company to Barcrest (one of the larger manufacturers of AWP machines in the UK).
Some basic facts about this machine.
Launch Date 01/06/2001
Machine Type UK AWP
Game Style Hi Tech AWP
Cabinet style :Tall Genesis, front opening
Technology :MPU 5
Float value £125 (£250 note acceptor)
Stake options 5p, 10p, 20p, 25p, 30p
Prize options £5, £8, £15, £25
Cabinet Dimensions(HxWxD) 179cm x 68cm x 68cm
Cabinet Weight 120kg Max
As you can see from the stats, its a hefty machine, as are almost all UK AWP's, this one is currently set on 30p play and 25 pound jackpot. Dont worry if you dont understand some of the terms in the spec, I will go into details explaining them all in future posts.
The 3 main reels at the middle of the machine, are the main game reels, a better view is shown below.
Some basic facts about this machine.
Launch Date 01/06/2001
Machine Type UK AWP
Game Style Hi Tech AWP
Cabinet style :Tall Genesis, front opening
Technology :MPU 5
Float value £125 (£250 note acceptor)
Stake options 5p, 10p, 20p, 25p, 30p
Prize options £5, £8, £15, £25
Cabinet Dimensions(HxWxD) 179cm x 68cm x 68cm
Cabinet Weight 120kg Max
As you can see from the stats, its a hefty machine, as are almost all UK AWP's, this one is currently set on 30p play and 25 pound jackpot. Dont worry if you dont understand some of the terms in the spec, I will go into details explaining them all in future posts.
The 3 main reels at the middle of the machine, are the main game reels, a better view is shown below.
You can see how these machines get the name "fruit machine" from the symbols on the reels, you can also see on this picture that two of the reels are showing little chefs on them.
Many machine use additional symbols like this, they differ according to each machines style, but the general principle is that you either have to get three on the winline, or often just 3 visible to enter the feature board above.
Some machines use numbers instead, but the principle is similar, get so many points, and you gain access to the features.
On the top of the machine, on the left you can see a trail of numbers starting from 1 pounds and going up to the Jackpot of 25 pounds. This is the cash trail, and you can gamble your way up it (if you have the nerve to do so, as its easy to lose!) by choosing higher or lower on a reel with 12 numbers. The machine contrary to popular belief does not randomly choose what number come next, if it wants you to win, you will win. If it wants you to lose you will - every time.
On the right side you see the feature trail, this has a number of different games on it, each game will award a cash prize (or nothing if you lose...) and the higher up the trail you get, the better the prizes can get..
In the middle, you have another set of 3 reels, with pies on them, these are the "super" reels, and when the machine gives you spins on these, you will always get a win from each spin. The win amount from these reels goes into the cash pot, which is the large display above these reels. You have the option of collecting this, or continue gambling for more.......
The only other reel on the machine is the higher lower reel, which although numbered from 1 to 12, is not numbered in order, which makes some of the skill features harder than they should be (for example sometimes you have to stop the reel from spinning, but stop it on a even number...)
Going to take a little break now, but when I return I will go into more details, I start by showing a quick overview of what is inside the machine.
So, what is a fruit machine?
As many of you reading this blog are probably from the USA, or another country far away from the UK, I shall start with an overview of just what a typical English Fruit machine is, and how it differs from the slot machines in the USA.
USA slot machines (and you will have to forgive any innacuracies, as I have never been to the USA, so never actually played one, just read about them..) tend to be quite simple in operation.
Insert coin, spin reels, then either curse as you lose your money, or delight in the sound of coins cascading into the payout tray (or onto the floor on some machines!).
They will keep a percentage of profit for the house, so the house is usually always in profit, and payout at random intervals, with no skill involved from the player. No player has any real advantage of any other, everyone has a chance to win by just spinning those reels and crossing their fingers.
Found normally in casino's these machines are also over here in england in the form of "lo-tech" fruit machines, the looks will differ, but the game play is the same - spin and win, or lose depending on your luck.
The UK has a different brand of fruit machine however, often refererred to as a "hi-tech" or "progressive" machine. These machines have the reels, like american machines (but usually have fruit symbols on the reels, hence the name fruit-machine) but in addition they have additional "feature" games where you can win money if you are lucky.
Machines are often themed, on films, tv-shows or board games, and have good quality sound effects, lovely artwork, and different gameplay depending on the machine you chose to play on.
Payout is progressive, in that you can gamble the winnings, or play on the feature board to increase your winnings, machines have hidden features, cheats and the like so experienced players can try to get more winnings from them - its not just a spin reels and hope machine. In fact its more an Amusement with Prizes machine, which is why they are also called AWP (amusement with prizes...)
UK machines can repeat wins, and often "streak" giving multiple repeats of the jackpot, making it possible to walk away from a machine with a healthy profit - for those lucky souls who use the machine at the right time.
In my next post, I will post some pictures of some UK machines, and explain a little more about the feature games and gambles, so everyone gets a feel what they are about.
Later on, I will also tell you how to play EXACT copies of many of these machines, on your pc - for free.
USA slot machines (and you will have to forgive any innacuracies, as I have never been to the USA, so never actually played one, just read about them..) tend to be quite simple in operation.
Insert coin, spin reels, then either curse as you lose your money, or delight in the sound of coins cascading into the payout tray (or onto the floor on some machines!).
They will keep a percentage of profit for the house, so the house is usually always in profit, and payout at random intervals, with no skill involved from the player. No player has any real advantage of any other, everyone has a chance to win by just spinning those reels and crossing their fingers.
Found normally in casino's these machines are also over here in england in the form of "lo-tech" fruit machines, the looks will differ, but the game play is the same - spin and win, or lose depending on your luck.
The UK has a different brand of fruit machine however, often refererred to as a "hi-tech" or "progressive" machine. These machines have the reels, like american machines (but usually have fruit symbols on the reels, hence the name fruit-machine) but in addition they have additional "feature" games where you can win money if you are lucky.
Machines are often themed, on films, tv-shows or board games, and have good quality sound effects, lovely artwork, and different gameplay depending on the machine you chose to play on.
Payout is progressive, in that you can gamble the winnings, or play on the feature board to increase your winnings, machines have hidden features, cheats and the like so experienced players can try to get more winnings from them - its not just a spin reels and hope machine. In fact its more an Amusement with Prizes machine, which is why they are also called AWP (amusement with prizes...)
UK machines can repeat wins, and often "streak" giving multiple repeats of the jackpot, making it possible to walk away from a machine with a healthy profit - for those lucky souls who use the machine at the right time.
In my next post, I will post some pictures of some UK machines, and explain a little more about the feature games and gambles, so everyone gets a feel what they are about.
Later on, I will also tell you how to play EXACT copies of many of these machines, on your pc - for free.
Welcome to the fruityarcade..
This is my attempt to cover things related to fruit machines (slot machines for those outside the UK), expose a
few cons that are being played on people, arcade machines, mame, jamma and much more...
Posts will be varied, and will include useful links, photos and explanation of how the machines work,
and general posts of interest, for those who are interested in this area.
few cons that are being played on people, arcade machines, mame, jamma and much more...
Posts will be varied, and will include useful links, photos and explanation of how the machines work,
and general posts of interest, for those who are interested in this area.
