(Got it ! Love it !) Buying a Vectrex : a good idea ?

[oldric]

Ask for a photo of the big spaceship at the beginning of minestorm (the one that spreads the mines across the screen).

If this one looks decent (i.e. Vectors look well aligned), the unit is okay...The big spaceship uses a quite large Vectorlist, so you can see if the unit can still display it or not.

 

I bought a bad unit on ebay a year ago, and the spaceship was completely unaligned, so all of the other games didnt look well too. Fortunately the next unit i bought was near perfect (and still is).

 

Hope i could help (and btw, check out my site www.borrmann.in for demos of my homebrews ! )

I got one from ebay today 75€ with 2 games (loose, Clean Sweep with the overlay, Scramble without) after the seller sent me this pic : no unalignement problem !

 

The console looks very good :

 

For your homebrews, i will rush on them as soon as i get the console and the Vecflash.

[SRGilbert]

Congrats! Looks like you got a nice deal after all, and the Vectrex looks to be really clean too. Have fun!

[Steril707]

Nice!!!

 

Welcome to Vectrex World..!!!

[oldric]

Got it ! It works like a charm ! In fact i wonder if it's normal for the picture to "wave" a little bit...

What's your opinion ?

[atarilovesyou]

I missed out on a recent auction on a Vectrex..it was even in Canada!....damn.

 

There's one set up at a local gamer shop here, and while I LOVE vector games, the system doesn't seem to have the power to play even a version of Asteroids...at least one that compares to the original. Are there any homebrews that rectify that? Minestorm looks cool but Asteroids, it ain't...one bullet?...wtf?

 

The controllers are cool, but the buttons take a bit to get used to. Add to that the sheer lack of games and I think unless a screamin' deal came my way, I'll settle with my VCS.

 

What I'd like to see is a NEW Vectrex, that plays ALL the classic vector games we remember...how damn cool would that be? I'd pay BIG bucks for that.

[Richard H.]

Minestorm looks cool but Asteroids, it ain't...one bullet?...wtf?

Rockaroids remix is the best version of Asteroids on the Vec.

 

BTW if you want to see what the machine can really do check out Protector.

 

 

In fact i wonder if it's normal for the picture to "wave" a little bit...

A little bit of waviness is normal, if it's extreme it's usually a sign the capacitors need replacing.

Edited August 28, 2007 by Richard H.

[Lord Helmet]

Rockaroids is great (and hard!)

 

The Vectrex has plenty of power to play most of the classic vector games you remember...get coding

[oldric]

Minestorm looks cool but Asteroids, it ain't...one bullet?...wtf?

Rockaroids remix is the best version of Asteroids on the Vec.

 

BTW if you want to see what the machine can really do check out Protector.

 

 

In fact i wonder if it's normal for the picture to "wave" a little bit...

A little bit of waviness is normal, if it's extreme it's usually a sign the capacitors need replacing.

 

As a coincidence i plan to order a Vecflash !

 

My first feeling with the beast is WOW ! Nice graphics, nice sounds, smooth animation and a great gameplay. I think it's a very good idea to own ATARI and Vectrex consoles together

[oldric]

VecFlash Ordered, Vectrex games roms loaded on my PC. Yes !

I do love Mine Storm, the gameplay is far better than Asteroids. Scramble is nice but haaaard.

[Rob Mitchell]

With all the games .. and circuits that change the game play .. the Vectrex rocks! My favorite is the digital to analog circuit that allows me to plug an Atari stick .. or the Starplex 5 Button controller .. that allows me to play Minestorm or Gravitrex or Thrust like the arcade versions!

 

Rob

[Steril707]

A little bit of waviness is just normal on certain games. If i may bore you with a little bit coding techtalk, it has to do with the refresh/recalibration the Vectrex does every frame. On some occasions, when there are really many many vectors on the screen you may notice that games start to "wobble" a little bit (some quite much).

 

This happens when the programmer of the game used up to many cpu-cycles in one Frame (over 30.000) for calculations, or more frequently for displaying stuff which takes up the most processor time by far.

 

In some games you have frequent wobble (Scramble, if i remember correctly), but others just sometimes. Watch out for Clean Sweep for instance. When the third of fourth enemy enters the screen, the whole thing starts to wobble like mad, but before the screen stays quite steady. This happens, because when the third/fourth enemy enters the screen, the cycle count goes over 30.000 for displaying him.

 

Hope i could be of help,

greets,

Michael

[oldric]

A little bit of waviness is just normal on certain games. If i may bore you with a little bit coding techtalk, it has to do with the refresh/recalibration the Vectrex does every frame. On some occasions, when there are really many many vectors on the screen you may notice that games start to "wobble" a little bit (some quite much).

 

This happens when the programmer of the game used up to many cpu-cycles in one Frame (over 30.000) for calculations, or more frequently for displaying stuff which takes up the most processor time by far.

 

In some games you have frequent wobble (Scramble, if i remember correctly), but others just sometimes. Watch out for Clean Sweep for instance. When the third of fourth enemy enters the screen, the whole thing starts to wobble like mad, but before the screen stays quite steady. This happens, because when the third/fourth enemy enters the screen, the cycle count goes over 30.000 for displaying him.

 

Hope i could be of help,

greets,

Michael

 

Thanks a lot ! I was exactly playing with Clean Sweep when i saw the wobble ! I'm very happy to know it's because of the game itself !

Not a single wobble with Scramble or Mine Storm.

 

PS : I'm waiting for my VecFlash before trying your homebrews

Edited September 4, 2007 by oldric

[MrAtari2600]

A little bit of waviness is just normal on certain games. If i may bore you with a little bit coding techtalk, it has to do with the refresh/recalibration the Vectrex does every frame. On some occasions, when there are really many many vectors on the screen you may notice that games start to "wobble" a little bit (some quite much).

 

This happens when the programmer of the game used up to many cpu-cycles in one Frame (over 30.000) for calculations, or more frequently for displaying stuff which takes up the most processor time by far.

 

In some games you have frequent wobble (Scramble, if i remember correctly), but others just sometimes. Watch out for Clean Sweep for instance. When the third of fourth enemy enters the screen, the whole thing starts to wobble like mad, but before the screen stays quite steady. This happens, because when the third/fourth enemy enters the screen, the cycle count goes over 30.000 for displaying him.

 

Hope i could be of help,

greets,

Michael

 

Thanks a lot ! I was exactly playing with Clean Sweep when i saw the wobble ! I'm very happy to know it's because of the game itself !

Not a single wobble with Scramble or Mine Storm.

 

PS : I'm waiting for my VecFlash before trying your homebrews

 

 

when i use my vectrex ( close to mint condition) god i love this thing!

armor Attack, <<< that game wobbles more then clean sweep

gave my friend a headache he says,

lol. i laughed, i played it for 3 hours straight xD

I really suck at cleansweep though my score is like 30,000

On minestorm max level i get to is 4.

and on armor attack score is 21,000

im not good at games

but i try

who cares really though its all about having fun.

i think it is atleast..

[Steril707]

A little bit of waviness is just normal on certain games. If i may bore you with a little bit coding techtalk, it has to do with the refresh/recalibration the Vectrex does every frame. On some occasions, when there are really many many vectors on the screen you may notice that games start to "wobble" a little bit (some quite much).

 

This happens when the programmer of the game used up to many cpu-cycles in one Frame (over 30.000) for calculations, or more frequently for displaying stuff which takes up the most processor time by far.

 

In some games you have frequent wobble (Scramble, if i remember correctly), but others just sometimes. Watch out for Clean Sweep for instance. When the third of fourth enemy enters the screen, the whole thing starts to wobble like mad, but before the screen stays quite steady. This happens, because when the third/fourth enemy enters the screen, the cycle count goes over 30.000 for displaying him.

 

Hope i could be of help,

greets,

Michael

 

Thanks a lot ! I was exactly playing with Clean Sweep when i saw the wobble ! I'm very happy to know it's because of the game itself !

Not a single wobble with Scramble or Mine Storm.

 

PS : I'm waiting for my VecFlash before trying your homebrews

 

 

when i use my vectrex ( close to mint condition) god i love this thing!

armor Attack, <<< that game wobbles more then clean sweep

gave my friend a headache he says,

lol. i laughed, i played it for 3 hours straight xD

I really suck at cleansweep though my score is like 30,000

On minestorm max level i get to is 4.

and on armor attack score is 21,000

im not good at games

but i try

who cares really though its all about having fun.

i think it is atleast..

 

I think Clean Sweep is one of the rare occasion where i am having a completely different view than the Video game critic

http://www.videogamecritic.net/ ....I really like this game, and i think its a well done Pac Man clone, even if its a bizarre Setup (a hoover in a bank, hunted by menacing claws?), but i have seen weirder things in 80ies videogames.

 

On Minestorm i once got to wave 12, but then crashed...which is sad, i wanted to see the Wave 13 Bug in action (the game crashes after level 12, the prgrammers thought nobody would get that far at the time ).

[MrAtari2600]

I think Clean Sweep is one of the rare occasion where i am having a completely different view than the Video game critic

http://www.videogamecritic.net/ ....I really like this game, and i think its a well done Pac Man clone, even if its a bizarre Setup (a hoover in a bank, hunted by menacing claws?), but i have seen weirder things in 80ies videogames.

 

On Minestorm i once got to wave 12, but then crashed...which is sad, i wanted to see the Wave 13 Bug in action (the game crashes after level 12, the prgrammers thought nobody would get that far at the time ).

 

 

 

lol the cleansweep reminded me of pacman aswell

except its a lot more challenging which i like.

my pacman score isn't highest, it is just over 430,000 at the moment,

>.> if thats good tell me not really sure >.<

But uhm

Yea the minestorm the enemies that follow you

always get me! iTS LIKE DARN YOU !

x.x"

[Gorf]

How could you not want the first and ONLY portable (self contained anyway)

vector graphic console? If you got a shot at one for decent price, just do it.

 

I have two. They completely rock. Vector games are still my favorite type.

[oldric]

Finally I got my VecFlash (Thanks really a lot Richard !) and it's a fantastic multicart ! Definitively a must have for every Vectrex owner !

I didn't know the Vectrex sound system was so good (same as atari st), some homebrews have same musics i used to listen from demo disks or crackers team ( ) on my atari st ! Old good time !

Wich brightness level do you play with ?

I've had to lower it because the max brightness was really too brilliant ! It seems that my console was not very often used, the seller got 10 (!!) and i think he couldn't played with each !

Edited September 10, 2007 by oldric