IAM/KLOV Site Updates Today

[mclemore]

There are two main site upgrades that went online today.

1. STRONGER AND MORE FLEXIBLE SEARCHING: The Search functions on KLOV/IAM have been fairly simple the last few years. When we imported KLOV into MySQL and rewrote the site in PHP, we lost some search functionality (ie: control panel searching) and added others (ie: type of game, full date range searching, etc.). We slowly have added functions one at a time. We eventually added the ability to do a full text search through nearly the entire text record instead of just the title, and more recently added a feature that allows you to search for normal vs. vector monitors. I spent quite some time yesterday working on the search. It isn't final (mostly due to data cleanup issues) but it should be a god-send to those that like to do micro-detailed searches. The current search functionality as of today is:

Existing Search Abilities:

a. Search Title

b. Search Title and Descriptions

c. Search Manufacturer

d. Search Date or Date Range of Manufacture

e. Search Genre (ie: Driving, Fighting, Golf, etc.)

f. Search Machine Type (ie: Videogame, Pinball, Slot Machine, etc.)

g. Search Max Number of Simultaneous Players

h. Search Monitor Vector vs. Non-Vector.


And with Today's Additions, you can now search:

i. Machine Class (Concept, Prototype, Wide Release, Bootleg, Hack/Rom Swap).

j. Play Type (Single, Alternating, Joint, Competitive, Team, Either)

k. Control Panel Type (Multi-Player, Multi-Player Ambidextrous, Multi-Play Controls Differ, Single Player, Single Player Ambidextrous)

l. Control Panel Layout (Dozens of vary specific options for searching on types of joysticks, trackballs, # of buttons a machine has, shifters, periscopes, steering wheels, etc.)

m. Monitor Orientation (Horizontal, Vertical, Either)

n. Monitor Type (Raster Standard Resolution, Raster Medium Res., Raster VGA, VR Headset, TV Monitor, Vector) [This an several other fields will get updated options in the redo].

o. Monitor Color (Color, B&W, B&W w/ color overlay, Either B&W or Color)


Check it out:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/search.php


2. MORE CONTROL PANEL LAYOUT INFORMATION: It turns out we have been collecting not only control panel information on games (ie: 5 buttons), but also what those buttons are for. Although none of this information has been displayed on the site, we actually have 2588 of these control panel layout labels in the database. Effective immediately, you can now see those labels when you are looking at a game.

Ie: Mortal Kombat:

Before:

Controls:

• Joystick: 8-way
• Buttons: 5

After:

Controls:

• Joystick: 8-way
• Buttons: 5 [High Punch|Low Punch|Block|High Kick|Low Kick]

Ie: Galaga

Before:

Controls:

• Joystick: 2-way (left, right)
• Buttons: 1

After:

Controls:

• Joystick: 2-way (left, right)
• Buttons: 1 [Fire]

Ie: 3DDX (one of the best examples)

Before:

Controls:

• Buttons: 1
• Buttons: 1
• Buttons: 5

After:

Controls:

• Buttons: 1 [Select Left]
• Buttons: 1 [Select Right]
• Buttons: 5 [Up-Left|Up-Right|Center|Down-Left|Down-Right]

I hope you enjoy the upgrades...

Greg