OK!

ESA is closing in and it is time for the mandatory EQUIPMENT THREAD.

With all the money we had left from past ESA events, we put it in the lottery but didn't win anything, so unfortunately for ESA2015 we still can't provide house consoles all the way, sorry !

Because of this limitation, we REALLY want to push the runners to be responsible for having a system present for playing.
In the past we've had cases similar to "Uh.. I don't have a system and this dude like can't give me his Jupiter gaming system anymore because he is practicing, I didn't mention that I had my run now". Let's get rid of that !
If you have a system you already play on at home, you might just as well bring it with you for the same trouble.

Assume that you must bring:
- > Your system (PC or Console)
- > Your game you're going to play

We will love you if you can provide:
- > RGB or Component cable (depending on system)
As not everyone has invested on funky RGB setups, we will provide some cables for some of the more popular systems.
If you are doing a race then we kindly suggest on bringing your own with you as we might not be able to cover everyone.

Capture HW and other stuff is something we will worry about. No need to bring those!

If your system doesn't support RGB (like commodore64, older atari etc..) then s-video is always an option.

PC runners:
There will be some lower end PCs that can be used for gaming and practice, If nothing bad happens, we will have the dreamhack PCs again, which feature a rather solid system from 5+ years ago (first gen i7 and GTX200 series I think). These should be able to run pretty much most of the games at a playable rate and some more modern games with low settings.
However, we STRONGLY recommend that you will arrange a gaming PC of your own for your run, if your PC doesn't output VGA at all then please let us know in advance.

As usual, if there are any special requirements for your exotic system then let us know !

- - -

System donations for the event are welcome (especially PC, thanks to those who have contributed in the past!) but please beware that these will be used 100% of the event and can't be taken away for practice (unless there are no more games in store for that system in the future). This is to prevent extra hunting for the system and cables when it's time for a run. You will of course get the system back once it's no longer needed.

However, we do encourage runners to share systems and organize who will be bringing what.
This thread is to be a place where people can pool in on what they need / have when it comes to tech.
While I "really" enjoyed dragging my PC and CRT to a LAN party with tears of joy back in the days, it's not really something we expect people from around the world to do. Please contact us if you run in to trouble with PC stuff, if the dreamhack PCs arrive again then those should cover most needs already.

We have been doing some inquiries on what tech runners will bring and what we should prepare for in terms as video output, don't get surprised in case these get suddently asked, knowing these in advance help us a LOT!

EDIT: A list of stuff gathered so far https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NT8rFFndccoNSep5JJqWCeTwRQBUX_Nsfpbe1ZNY-OA/edit?usp=sharing
Will be updated now and then. Also from now on, when offering a system for ESA use during the event (<3) please make it clear in your post. Otherwise we will just consider it an open offer for other runners.

I can supply one PS2 90k NTSC-U with confirmed working RGB cable for the duration of the event.

I will be bringing my gaming laptop, but it doesn't have VGA output, only HDMI and 2x Mini Displayport.

My run requires a good pc that can run the game at a high frame-rate for some of the tricks to work.

I really hope it doesn't become a problem.

EDIT; I will also bring my Region Free Wii, EUR Wii U and my Region Free Gamecube with the Gameboy Player 😉

Okay, so I have a laptop with a VGA-port which can run my game just fine. However, does your setup cause any extra stress to my laptop, or are you just capturing the footage? I don't think it can handle anything extra besides the game itself.

Do you want me to bring my Sync Strike?

There will be a Google doc created where we can list "needs" and "haves".

Alko: Great!

los: Great! I've made orders for HDMI to VGA + Mini Displayport to VGA converters. Hopefully that will solve that issue.

FinnSpire: The setup does not affect your laptop in that way. External hardware deals with all video processing.

KrazyRasmus: Yes!

MickeyMickeyMickeyMickeyMickeyMickeyMickeyMickey

I will bring:
- my XCapture-1 and a sync strike (Piratestream?!)
- a PAL GameCube with GBPlayer, but I do not have a proper RGB cable for it (mine works but is too dark, will bring anyway + composite cables)
- a PAL PS3(slim) with HDMI & Component cables (also work with PS2)

- will also bring a slew of other consoles I haven't decided yet.. PS2 +SCART / Component will definitely be there, but will most likely be used for tournaments and other shenanigans

Hey!

Thanks a lot for the contributions so far guys, I'll note these down.

And yes, we will have a scary box that should take anything in aside from RF.
Although, there will always be a few corner cases and we want to iron out any potential issues.

Edenal, those should be a big help!

Finnspire: The only thing your computer will do is mirroring the display, this places zero load on your system. Think of it like capturing console footage, the system won't even know it's being streamed!

I guess I may as well put this down here so people know what I'm bringing, even though I was already asked about it.
I will bring:
PAL Wii (softmodded), Component and composite cables
PS2/PS3 Component cable (I remember there being not enough PS3 cables last year, so bringing this in case people need one, cable only, no console)
X360 USB Wireless controller adapter for PC
Possibly a PAL Wii U, although it seems very unlikely at the moment.

However, I cannot bring my PC (I have a Arc midi R2 case, pretty impossible to fit into a suitcase), and my FF13 run is on PC. While the dreamhack PC's should be fine, the game has some issues with hardware compatibility. Most NVidia graphics setups run it fine, but if someone is possibly bringing a more modern setup with an NVidia card, would it be possible for me to do my run on that if the supplied PCs have issues? (For reference my Home PC has no issues with a i5/750Ti)

Well, knowing the trip I'm going to do, I would like not having to bring my 360 / PS3. However, I'll be bringing:

- PS2/PS3/360 Cables (Edit: Component), just in case.
- PS2 / PS3 Controllers.
- 360 wired controller (PC/360).

I'd like to know who's bringing a 360 that I could use for my run, since the run of the game I do on ps3 will be just after exe_de's run and he told me I could use his ps3, so I don't have a problem with that.

@MLSTRM

My laptop has a GTX 765M 2GB and an i7 4700HQ at 2.4GHz, it runs games pretty well, but I've been having some graphics card driver issues lately. I might be able to buy a temporary desktop that I could bring to ESA. I will post updates here.

I can bring a voltage converter, which should be especially useful this year considering we have a few more Americans and Canadians joining us.

In addition to the stuff I need for my own run, that is.

If you want that kind of setup again I could bring my PC to be used for PC gaming this time aswell. There has been some individual game issues with it before but I think the setup went ok. It's becoming more outdated with the years though but it should run most games on the schedule well.

I'll also be bringing my super slim PS3, a PC monitor to go with it and a softmodded wii for Project M purposes.

I'll bring my laptop for my own run, which could be used by those who specifically need a powerful PC. It has a GTX 970M (approximately a GTX 680), an i7-4720HQ and an SSD, which got 1xHDMI and 2xminiDP. That's if I get it before the event (if it takes more than 2 weeks to get delivered, what the hell).

If in the rare case I won't have it, I'll bring my midi-tower PC to use for my own run, but won't be lending it to other runners. It has DVI-I/VGA, DVI-D, HDMI and DP.

zzzlol94: That sounds good, thanks for the offer! Let us know in case we can use it, sounds like something we could definitely use.

eTholon: Cool! What specs did it have again? I think it should still cover most of the stuff. Thanks for bringing it during previous years 🙂
Another option is for me to bring a spare HDD and do a clean install, I think I can just buy an 120gig SSD or something and we can use that as a system drive. This way it would at least be a clean install and you wouldn't have to clean up after the event itself.

Also guys! I posted a google doc at the top. This will be updated with more info once we are done with pestering runners about their gear. Has some general guidelines and a run down on who has what.
If you are listed there and not filled in, let us know so that we can stay up to date!

I'll be bringing my own US NTSC genesis.

I'm playing in windowed mode (4:3) on my laptop with both VGA and HDMI out which i will definitely be bringing, so i can run like that @ ESA, too. On site PC would be fine aswell.

Edit: I will also bring the game ofc.

I will be bringing my PAL Xbox (and game, naturally) with the composite RCA cables, should also have one of those RCA to SCART blocks lying around if that's somehow helpful (I have no knowledge of this stuff)

I'll bring my laptop + separate mouse + separate flat 1024x768 monitor + separate keyboard so I can close the lid and actually see what is on the monitor OpieOP . (laptop does include the games I will be running, and the 4:3 monitor is for AoE2 which does not run at 16:9 resolutions.) The laptop comes with VGA and HDMI output so that should be good. I can also bring a fat NTSC PS2 and a component cable for that. I can also bring an S-Video cable for that though I doubt it will be needed since there is component anyway. I could also bring an NTSC GameCube if needed. I can also bring controllers for both consoles.

@SeductiveSpatula: I'll also bring Xbox Component cables. They look way way better than anything else. The only problem is that they most likely require an HD monitor. I guess we can figure out what to do with them on the spot.