01960: qbert, qbertjp, probably all the others: Qbert is not playing the knocker sound.

ID	Category [?]	Severity [?]	Reproducibility	Date Submitted	Last Update
01960	Sound	Minor	Always	Jul 1, 2008, 05:16	Jul 25, 2008, 04:19

Tester	LarryBrown	View Status	Public	Platform	MAME (Official Binary)
Assigned To		Resolution	No change required	OS
Status [?]	Closed			Driver	gottlieb/gottlieb.cpp
Version	0.125u6	Fixed in Version		Build	Normal
		Fixed in Git Commit		Github Pull Request #

Summary	01960: qbert, qbertjp, probably all the others: Qbert is not playing the knocker sound.
Description	When QBert or Coily jump off the field, the knocker.wav sound sample should get played but it is not. Instead there is a sound like static.
Steps To Reproduce	Jump QBert off the field. At the end of his fall you should hear the knocker.wav.
Additional Information	I have been playing M.A.M.E. for many years and have never heard the knocker sound. I tested to see if QBert is playing the knocker.wav by substituting one of the other qbert samples for knocker.wav, but the sound did not get played, proving that QBert is not playing that sample. I repeated this technique for the "Hello, I'm turned on sound" and did get the expected result, proving that Qbert is using the samples for at least some sounds. The static sound, with some imagination, could be considered to sound like a "splat." I remember from my arcade days that, while early Qbert cabinets used the knocker, later ones did not and instead produced this exact same static sound. I always assumed that the knocker in those cabinets was malfunctioning and when the game tried to fire the knocker it got an overload causing the static. But now that M.A.M.E. is producing this exact same sound, I wonder if they cut the cost on later cabinets, did not include the knocker, and programmed this electronic sound into the game. If that is the cause, it should be prominently noted in the opening screen of the game. An extensive search of the internet, various M.A.M.E. sites, this bug database, and the source code produced no information on this issue.
Github Commit

Flags
Regression Version	0.107u4
Affected Sets / Systems	qbert, qbertjp, probably all the others

Attached Files	mame107.mp3 (41,232 bytes) Jul 1, 2008, 12:42

No.01459 Fujix Administrator Jul 1, 2008, 06:10 edited on: Jul 1, 2008, 06:11	Please use zip name for applicable sets. Fixed the field.
No.01460 john_iv Senior Tester Jul 1, 2008, 06:32 edited on: Oct 12, 2012, 18:16	This is a regression from quite some time ago, the knocker did actually work in prior versions maybe a year to 2 years ago. [Edit] I initially meant to say that 'I can confirm that the knocker does not knock these days'. /zombie bug update.
No.01463 Fujix Administrator Jul 1, 2008, 12:43 edited on: Jul 1, 2008, 17:58	The last version I confirmed the work of the "splat" sound is 0.107. Uploaded sound clip.
No.01650 LarryBrown Tester Jul 16, 2008, 07:47	Hi Fujix and John_iv: Thanks for commenting on my bug report and marking my bug as "confirmed." Unfortunately I can not decipher the meaning of some of your comments. Below I will paraphrase in my own words what I think you are trying to say with your comments, with questions where I can't guess what you mean: >John_iv writes in comment #01460 (2008-07-01 06:32): >This is a regression from quite some time ago... Confirm that the knocker does not knock these days. Is this what you meant? I have confirmed that the knocker sound does not play these days. ?Your comment confuses me because when you say "Confirm that the knocker..." it sounds like you are commanding someone to check on the issue. >Fujix writes in comment #01463 (2008-07-01 12:43): >The last version I confirmed the work of the "splat" sound is 0.107. Uploaded sound clip. Is this what you meant? I confirmed the correct operation of the knocker sound back in version 0.107. I have uploaded a sound clip of the incorrect "splat" sound. ?Your comment confuses me because you say you confirmed the "splat" sound. So what, are you saying that the splat sound, as opposed to the knocker sound, is expected behaviour and that it was splatting in 0.107? The sound clip that you uploaded does have the splat sound, but do we all agree that splat is incorrect and it should be knocker.wav instead?
No.01751 aaron Developer Jul 22, 2008, 19:51	This behavior is by design. The knocker was changed from playing a sample to a simple output. The idea was that people could hook up a real knocker and listen to the output messages.
No.01778 LarryBrown Tester Jul 25, 2008, 04:19	Hi Aaron: Thanks for your comment and clarification of the issue. It's great to get some news on this issue. But that's simply silly. It doesn't make sense to disable the knocker sound. 1st off, only .1% of all Q*Bert players (like you, since you use a laptop) will ever hook up a knocker, so this design decision sabotages 99.9% of users for the benefit of .1%. 2nd: The knocker sound would not detract from the user experience of having a real knocker. If both worked you would still get the "live" effect just fine, so there's no justification for turning it off. 3rd: You appear to be trying to make a joke when you say "listen to the output messages." I'm sure you mean "listen to the physical knocker." 4th: Why not make it user configurable in the game options? Use real knocker or use sample, let the user decide. 5th: It seems that you and other M.A.M.E. developers don't like to waste time chatting with people like me, but I wonder if you could please give me some details on this fix: like: in what version of M.A.M.E. was the knocker disabled? What source file(s) were changed? If you choose to do this for me, thank you ever so much.