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Wow, quite some discussion going on. Good to see that this idea may become reality. Make sure to be clear about the hardware/software used when playing: - Only original console or emulator also? - Only original controllers or any controller? - One controller or multiple different controllers? - Autofire dongles? Autofire? - Allowed to use cheats (e.g. in Armor Attack) or not? - Which software version (MB and/or GCE version)? Bug fixed version (e.g. Berzerk)? Peeking into the rules of the Vector War might be helpful. And be aware that some highscore sites like http://www.vectrex.co.uk accept scores achieved on original hardware, only.

From my point of view there is a big Vectrex community around (Facebook group "Vectrex Fans Unite!) but when it comes to the active part (e.g. playing) I have the impression that there is not so much interest. Though, introducing a monthly competition with just one game might be worth a try. Would be interesting to know whether there is such a monthly game for other consoles and whether that worked or works out.

I'd be interested but I wonder what this Vectrex highscore club would offer its members and what it would be good for. Could you explain a bit or point to an example?

IIRC, maximum that I've seen during the past for a Minestorm II cartridge was $1000 - even that is a very high price, I think. During the past 15 years prices for Vectrex stuff have increased significantly and there are a many Vectrex fans around who have big pockets and are willing to pay a fortune. My recommendation: Wait for the right time and the occassion. $4000 for a Minestorm II cartridge is definetly not the right occassionm, yet.

Thank you, Overange, for informing us about your project. It took me a short while to realize that this is not another multi-cartridge for many flashing and playing many games but a cartridge for developers to distribute a single game. Not sure whether cartridges like yours are available easily or not - but it' definitely a good thing to have several sources for hardware in case one source dries out. Thank you for your effort and good luck in finalizing your flash cartridge.

Pretty belated: Thanks, jgkspsx, for your sharing the info about the Vector War! Next Vector War XIV will start on 26th October 2024. Greetings from the non-real professor. 😉

That's a catchy heading. 😉 This Vectrex forum is definitely not dead and I guess there are many people like me who just peek and don't post. As retromgr has pointed out above, you'll find most people in the Facebook group "Vectrex Fans Unite". Vectorgaming Forum is a third place for questions and dicussions but it's not that frequented anymore but you'll find many answers, already, and if you do get an answer it's qualified and profound. Some possible ways to get Vectors: There's VIDE, the Vectrex Integrated Development, that allows for drawing. If you have and use Corel Draw for drawing vectors, then please let me know. I have written up a macro for exporting a vector lists. That's just two possible ways - I assume Vectrex developers have even more ways to create such lists. Vectrex drawing is a bit special due to hardware tolerances - make sure that you try up your binary not just on an emulator but also on the Vectrex - ideally several Vectrexes. Good luck and fun! EDIT: After rereading your post I realized that you're talking of vectors for the Colecovision (a fine console, btw). That's a different affair but the output of VIDE (see above) could be transformed into something that is useful for you. And Corel Draw macros can be adjusted in any way and output whatever you need.

Hello! Interesting question but I guess the question should be the other way round: Are there any Vectrex games that really need an overlay to play? Most Vectrex games can be played without overlay. Sure enough, the visual experience is better with overlay but just for playing games most often overlays aren't needed at all. There are some few games like Flipper Pinball which don't look good without an overlay because parts of the game graphic is on the overlay. But this isn't the rule but an exception and even Flipper Pinball is still playable. Personally, I have the impression that with an overlay applied, the flicker of the vectors gets less noticable but this might be just my impression. You can use any overlay to achieve this - a plain blue or a plain green overlay is ideal for playing any game. Minestorm overlay is also cool but I find the grid a bit disturbing. Just make sure that it's an overlay with good print quality (ideally silk print) - unfortunately there are modern overlays around which make sharp vectors look a little bit blur. All original GCE/MB overlays are silk-printed and are "good" overlay, i.e sharp overlays. I hope this answer helps a bit and have fun playing Vectrex games - in black & white or colourful with overlay.

Thank you for your effort in creating and providing printable PDFs. The Vectrex manual²s are designed in Corel Draw; Corel Draw can create and print booklets or export PDFs. An example: Dark Tower Manual (Print, DIN A4) This PDF is optimized for printing on DINA4 paper. First you print the front sides (pages 1, 3, 5, ...) and then the backside. Cutting marks allow for easy cutting. If wanted, I could provide printable PDFs of all the Vectrex Manuals² that I've created so far.

Thanks for your explanation and posting real names of the fonts, Graham. I use Corel Draw which comes with variations of the original fonts. And you're right: There are slight differences to the original fonts but these are hard to see unless you know what you're looking for.

Thank you for your announcing the 12th Vector War here, jgkspsx. The yearly Vector War is for both exports and novice players. And you can win prizes. Join in and find out! Game list for Vector War XII is fixed, now: GCE/MB: 1. Armor Attack 2. Heads up Soccer 3. Hyperchase 4. Solar Quest 5. Spike 6. Star Hawk Homebrews: 1. Save the planet by Raphael Aberle (RubberDuck) 2. Hex by Chris Malcom (Binary Star Software) 3. Gyrostronomy and Gyrostrology by Peer Johannsen 4. Spike gets squished by Brett Wallach (www.playvectrex.com) 5. VeCaves by Mark De Smet

Thank you for sharing your pics and asking, mikesk8. From what I can see in the pictures your Vectrex is o.k.. Picture looks very slightly twisted clockwise but this might be camera perspective and even if there is a slight twist you wouldn't notice when playing most of the Vectrex games. If you want a perfect picture and have fun adjusting potentiometers and are familiar with electronics you might try to adjust the slight twist (if there there is any at all). Personally, I'd leave it as it is and stick to the motto "Never change a running system!". Just my 2 cents... EDIT: Just saw the a bit wobbly Vectrex image in your short video. AFAIK, a wobbly image is a sign for old capacitors. This might be solved with recapping but this needs good solderings skills. Last not least: With a test cartridge it's good to have the appropriate test cartridge overlay plus the Vectrex service manual at hand. Page 18ff describe how to perform the test. But don't expect too much - from what I can see in the Vectrex Service manual it says "Take a note" if something isn't 100% good but I see no direct info what to do to solve the issues noted down. But I'm sure there are people around who are familiar with Vectrex adjustements and may help you.

Yes, I'll put the 3D imager leaflet onto my list.

Sounds unusual to me that Kristof doesn't reply to your mails at all. Did you use the correct mail address (see his webpage)? Perhaps Kristof is just very busy these days...

As cjher pointed out, already, the Sean Kelly cart is quite good: It comes with plenty of binaries and is pretty much up-to-date. If you want to try out free and latest binaries, too, then a multicartridge with SD card like VecMulti should be your choice. And if you even want extra features and processor power for running arcade binaries you should go for a PiTrex or a VecFever.

Thank you, Antiluddite, for letting us know. Almost a bit unusual that your Vectorcade doesn't have a written message inside but some Vectorcades like #5 don't have a message either. I've just added your Vectorcade to a list of Vectorcades which I've started some years ago. PS: A nice "System Shock" avatar you have at Steam. EDIT: Just saw that the Vectorcades #1-#8 celebrated their 20th anniversary these days. Hmm, maybe not the Vectorcades but Brett, the creator of these, might celebrate.

3D Narrow Escape isn't sold often but a price of $2000 is far too much. I just had a look at the bidding history and it was two bidders, only. Looks like both bidders really wanted this item badly.

Thank you for your detail description of the differences of the two Star Ship overlays, Lamer Deluxe tm. From what I can see the differences that you describe are basically variations in silk printing and producing the overlays: Different colour tones, offset between colour layers, and more.

Interesting. Do the colours and the white paint of the two Star Ship overlays differ, only, or does the copyright text also differ? EDIT: I just looked through all the overlay scans of Chris P. The copyright text of the Pole Position overlay says "*Pole PositionTM is created by Namco (c) 1982. General Consumer Electronics, Inc. 1983. All rights reserved. 120001-0021 ART REV A". So on some overlays they added the part number. "120001" is the prefix number for "overlay" and "0021" is the game number of Pole Position. This number can also be seen on the back of the Pole Position manual. MineStorm has game number "0001" - therefore it says "120001-0001" on your Minestorm overlay. So I'm pretty sure that your Minestorm overlay is an original despite the small difference in the copyright text.

Until now, I haven't heard of any variations of copyright text on original Vectrex overlays. So my guess is that your Minestorm overlay is a repro due to the addition "120001-0001". Long version: It's very hard to say whether the Minestorm overlay that you have bought in the retro store is a reproduction or not. Most reproduction overlays are printed using an inkjet printer. Typically, inkjet-printed overlays have very small dots because inkjet printers mix colours by using base colours cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Those dots can be seen when looking closely. Silk-printed overlays are printed with the exact (premixed) colours (several layers of ink can be applied to mix colours, too, but in this mix you won't see any dots). There are silk-printed Vectrex repro overlays around; e.g. Vectrexmad (http://www.vectrex.co.uk) offers them. FAIK, Vectrexmad's Minestorm overlays have a small addition "Repro" to the copyright text. I guess in your case the creator of the repro overlay added "120001-0001".

Apart from Dark Tower there are Quartz's Quest and Akalabeth: Quartz's Quest: https://vectorgaming.proboards.com/thread/2236/new-vectrex-game-quartzs-quest https://www.vectorrepublic.co.uk/ Akalabeth (Ultima Zero) http://forums.vectrex32.com/index.php/topic,70.0.html http://vide.malban.de/vectrex-akalabeth-1

I've just finished and uploaded the manual of Mail Plane. By now, 25 out of 30 Vectrex manual²s are done.

Always good to see new Vectrex developers around, tanuki. Controlling the game with a sort of cap on the finger looks very interesting and I'm curious how this works. Looks like some sort of lightpen but from what I can see there is no cable to the controller port?!

Every year, in the first November week the Vector War is on. The Vector War is an international Vectrex tournament initiated back in 2011 by Rob Maerz. Vector War X will take place from Sat 31st Oct - Sat 7th November. Both beginner and expert Vectrex players are invited to participate. Have fun and compete with other Vectrex players all over the world! You can even win prizes! You'll find more information in the Vector gamingforum.

Since the last news about the Dark Tower project months have passed. In the background, things were progressing a bit, but in small steps. The steps were too small and not satisfying, so that Nico and I finally decided to leave the project in good hands. And they are good hands: Only recently Sean Kelly has taken over the Dark Tower project and will complete it. Thank you for your understanding and patience - the wait should be over soon and will be worth it. To you, Sean, many thanks for taking over the Dark Tower project. Nico and I wish you every success in completing it!