IAMAMRA Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I just one my first classic computer, a Vic-20! Anthing I should look at getting for it? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 MegaCart http://www.mega-cart.com/ I don't know what the wait time for one is now, but it's amazing. Includes pretty much every cart for the system including the RAM expansions, programmer's aids, and a lot more. There's a couple other solutions similar to this available, but I don't know anything about them, including their availability. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2608136 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I don't know what the wait time for one is now, but it's amazing. It's about a year. Literally. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2608161 Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 The Vic 20 is a very fun machine! No need to limit yourself to what carts you can get, get a 1541 cable and download a bunch of games for it! If you do hardware mods, you'll LOVE the system, as there are SO MANY mods for it. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2608503 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 True! (Nathan). Also, that makes me think about all the books available for the Vic, with type-in programs and such. Many of them available in PDF format. Here's some of them. http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/books.htm Also check out Compute! and Compute!'s Gazette magazines , especially from about 1981-1982 before the Vic was overshadowed by the C64 and other more powerful machines for more type-in games and such. Most of those are available on disk images too, so you don't actually need to type all of them in (though that can still be fun for awhile too). The Vic is a great machine. Was my first real experience with a computer of my own. The games for it have their own unique Vic charm! 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2608511 Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 (edited) Well, until you get your Megacart... You'll want a tape drive. There's some good software on tape and you can transfer it over without too much trouble (if you still have a way to record to tapes). For games, OmegaRace is incredible. And I've always been a fan of Gorf. There's lots of surprisingly great games for this little box. Enjoy.. Also, for less money (and less features, but...) http://www.gamingenterprisesinc.com/vic20/ desiv Edited September 28, 2012 by desiv Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2608530 Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle_jedi Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 You might want to check this VIC-20 thread from a few months back: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/198950-vic-20-questions/ I still say skip the tape and disk drive, grab a memory expansion and a uIEC and be done - at least until you get a MegaCart. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2608877 Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 (edited) Well, that was fast... I ordered the Vic-20 multicart I listed above and I already have it!! Yes, it's dip switch based and not some fancy menu... But for the price and the time to receipt, awesome. It comes as a board (no case), but it didn't take me too long to take a case I had from a broken Vic-20 cart and make it fit. Now, it doesn't "just fit" because the dip switches sit a bit high, but as you're going to want to uncover that part anyway, it's no biggie. I could have taken my time and used a dremel and done a great job, but if you know me.... Well... The dikes and a pliers worked great. Now I can change the games with the cart still plugged in, but it's still in a case. (Not while it's plugged in of course.. ) I'll have to see what I can come up with for a label. I was toying initially with the idea of putting the list of games and dip switch settings on the case. But.. There's 32 games and when the cart is plugged in (minus the hole I cut for the DIP switches), I'm not sure there's enough room to have anything legible (not using a tiny font) for 32 games/settings... Maybe.. I'll see... All in all, not too expensive, fast shipping, fun games.. Of course, the Megacart is better, but at least in the mean time... I have several games on cart already, but this is the first time I've played Ms Pacman on my Vic-20... Not bad.. As I've told people about the Vic, it's not that it's the greatest system out there, but they've managed to pull off some incredible games in that little guy.. desiv Edited October 2, 2012 by desiv Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2610445 Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAMAMRA Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 It did not come with the video cord, will need to find one somewhere... Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2610454 Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 The pinout is really easy. If you've the ability, it's easy to make one. If it came with an RF modulator, you can gut that for the cable end. Supposedly, it's the same cable as the Atari 8-bit and TI 99/4A (and C64 5-pin.. C64 switched to 8-pin later tho) from what I can tell googling.. desiv Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2610460 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 C64 switched to 8-pin later (and by later, I mean MOST of the C64s you will see). However, the 8-pin C64 video port will still (is backward-compatible) with the 5-pin composite VIC-20 cable. This is also the same cable as the TI 99/4A. So, to restate, and Atari COMPOSITE (NOT S-video, NOT split chroma/luminance) cable and a TI-99/4A cable will work on a VIC-20. Where things differ, is once S-video or separate chroma/luminance (same signals on RCA plugs, rather than the DIN S-video connector) are concerned. Atari never left the 5-pin connector, but offered chroma/luminance on the same 5-pin connector. C64 left the 5-pin connector, and moved to 8-pin connector, and 8-pin connector is required to achieve S-video out of C64. On Atari, "only" 5-pin connector is required to achieve S-video. So 5-pin connector will work in either one. VIC-20 does not offer S-video, so it's 5-pin by default. So "standard" Atari 800 cable (or TI-99/4A) cable will work. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2610479 Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Regarding the video cable, I once read/heard it referred to as an American standard but I don't know which one it'd be. Clearly a number of manufacturers used similar pinouts as the basis, but unlike the Atari 9-pin joystick I doubt anyone patented the video pinout. Apart from the listed systems, I think SVI-318/328 might have the same layout as well. It should be noted though that any cable for the TI-99/4 (minus A suffix) wouldn't work, as that one doesn't have composite output. As for S-video, actually the VIC-I chip has a such signal on its pins and in modern times people have been modding their VIC-20's to get S-video from the computer, but it is not featured as standard. The suggestion to add an uIEC/SD or other sd2iec based device is very good, and probably not any more expensive than getting a 1541, some floppy disks and a suitable X-something or ZoomFloppy interface in order to connect the floppy drive to a PC to transfer software in the first place. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2610615 Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFL Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I also agree that going the uIEC route is the way to go. It's cheap, it works well and it has increased functionality when you eventually get your Mega Cart (JiffyDOS and menu loading). As for games, all the Atari carts play well on the Vic and as mentioned above Omega Race can't be beaten on the Vic. Also, buying a Datasette and some tapes isn't a bad way to go. Because of the low memory in the Vic the tapes load a lot quicker than on most other tape based systems and it's a great format to collect for... The composite video cable is easily found for a couple of quid on eBay and is a great investment. Just as an aside, you should have a look at some of the demos out there too. The Vic has been pushed in so many ways and the graphics and sound have a charm all of there own - in fact, the Vic sound is my favourite of all early 8 bits! Youtube is your friend in this case (look for PWP or, indeed, some of Carlsson's work...). Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/203367-just-won-a-vic-20/#findComment-2610619 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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