4 months ago, around the beginning of January and the New Year, I began this project...
I moved this old Water Race game down the Boardwalk piece by piece.
Just pulling the massively sized, and crazy heavy, sections out of the building where it says for the last 10 years, was a task in itself.
Then moving them down the Boardwalk was a feat, as the width of each section would not pass the width of Boardwalk Walkway, without angling to pass buildings and mounted trash cans in the middle....!
Once the Sectionals were on location, then came the Fork Lift fiasco, as I attempted to lift the massive sections into position, and mount the heavy top section, on the Main lower section.
Finally, the pieces fastened together, and the work was perilous as the tremendous weight had to sit on mover dollies, as much more work was required to get the giant machine into position.
Then began the act of restoration.
This poor old game was left in pieces laying outside in the rain for over a month, after it had been removed from the building where it had been operated for a long time.
Because of the size and weight, I assume moving this equipment was simply not realistic for them back then, and it would have cost a bunch of money to get a bunch of men to get it off of the boardwalk...
And then, it would have had to be tricked someplace to be stored in a warehouse somewhere, costing monthly rent payments which would have gone on and on, until maybe someday, it had to get moved again with some possible new place to run it...
So it was abandoned, and left to die outside on Sportland Pier, laying in the walkways in front of the old Bozo Dunk Game, blocking the egress.
I was sent to tell the people who just dumped it on the pier, that the Pier Owner said it had to be moved off the Pier, and the answer from them was they had no place to put it, and throw it away, or do whatever you want with it.
They had simply given up on the old game, understanding the massive cost which would be involved with trying to move it and save it, especially since it had already been left out in the rain for the last many weeks.
The Pier Owner wanted me to get guys and break it up, to be tossed into a dumpster, but feeling sorry for the old game, I got him to let me move it into a building, hoping that someday it could be saved and made to work again....
10 years it sat, corroding and rusting away, with its computer boards turning into complete trash from the moisture and salt air...
Until finally, I was told to get it out of there, and I found it a place where it could go and hopefully i could get it to work once again.
It was a long hard process, which required time and time of new parts costing BIG MONEY.
The Original owner/operator, who had sold the have to the last operator who had abandoned the machine done years after that when they gave up the rented location, saw me trying to restore it, and said it would be cheaper to buy a new one, considering the time I was putting into this, and what someone would have to pay me for the MANY hours of specialized work I would have to do, not to mentioned costs of the parts required....
But I said, I would get it to work again, and that was a huge risk, relying ONLY upon my skills and expertise to do that monumental task.
I also had my other tasks to do all winter, plus resurrecting the old Gorilla Water Race Game, which was a long project which I started first, and overlapped this project, as I had to resort BOTH of this old games before Spring, and opening!
I finished the Gorilla Water Race Game first, as I had started it first, and I had to open that location for Easter which was early at the end of March, as my Retro Arcade would open with Fasci6fir Easter Weekend...
But 4 months after I started first moving the sections of this other water race game, it JUST NOW has neared the point of completion!
ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO, as my custom repairs and circuits are install and tested!
All that's left now is to add the water, along with the pump, and guns, and repair all the leaks!
It is ALMOST MAY, and the new operators of this old game now enjoying a new era of pride and glory, is about to begin!
In 1 month it will be memorial Day weekend... And this old girl with her new systems, will be getting hit hard, and put to the strain of hard work.
I am certain she will do just fine, and when something comes up where she needs my help, I am just a few doors down at my Retro Arcade, and I will be there to fix whatever ails her...
As long as I am still around to take care of all the machines which rely upon me... But who takes care of me?
Time is running out, and then what happens?
That is when that final Game Over light comes on I fear.
Here, in this Video, you see the 1st time all lights are lit, and all systems are tested and functional, even with some added features never been done before, making this old game BETTER then she ever was before, AND BETTER THRN ANY NEW GAME MADE TODAY!
Информация по комментариям в разработке