review of the Madtronix 3D Imager for Vectrex

[Greg2600]

It's on the microSD that came with the VecMulti. At least mine was.

[iesposta]

I asked George P. from Furyunlimited that I wish he would get a Madtroninix Imager and make more 3D games, or a 2D game in color.

He replied that if you were going to do just color, it is not much more work to do the 3D.

There are 2 ways to program 3D. Duplicating the same image you get vectors on different depths, but in Lord of the Robots for instance the firing "shot line" is actually what each eye would see so the bottom appears close and extends down into the distance.

 

(Hardware makers: Send hardware to developer programmers. It may help to sell more hardware in the future! Like George should get sent an imager, Stephen A from Stella should get an AtariVox+, etc. Just my opinion.)

[desiv]

It's on the microSD that came with the VecMulti. At least mine was.

Yep, right there.. Can't believe I never looked in the Utils folder.. ;-(

 

desiv

[Mayhem]

If you don't know then... I know because I've been using VecFlash and now VecMulti for years, so the need for patching was talked about more often perhaps.

[madtronix]

I asked George P. from Furyunlimited that I wish he would get a Madtroninix Imager and make more 3D games, or a 2D game in color.

He replied that if you were going to do just color, it is not much more work to do the 3D.

There are 2 ways to program 3D. Duplicating the same image you get vectors on different depths, but in Lord of the Robots for instance the firing "shot line" is actually what each eye would see so the bottom appears close and extends down into the distance.

 

(Hardware makers: Send hardware to developer programmers. It may help to sell more hardware in the future! Like George should get sent an imager, Stephen A from Stella should get an AtariVox+, etc. Just my opinion.)

I'd just be careful that suddenly there would be dozens of programmers out there, once it gets known you hand out free stuff;-) (Well if you limit the handouts to people as well known as George that's of course a different thing.)

I'm not interested in selling too many 3D Imagers at the moment because at the current prices/manufacturing technique its not worth the effort in a monetary way. It's fun though and the prices will adjust and the technique improve, so yes I will be willing to borrow out 3D Imagers. In the future. Or trade for to be released games.

I'm not up to date with the situation on the VecVoxes? But have some left from back then... Could even upgrade them with RS232 serial interface (the space on the pcb is already there).

Edited February 4, 2014 by madtronix

[iesposta]

AtariVox+ can be opened up, and by changing the dip switches, become an AtariVox, VecVox, or VecVoice.

 

The last of the assembled AtariVox+ units were just sold on ebay by The.Golden.Ax who has permission to make them.

Richard Hutchinson sent production to user MOS6502, who spent the time and money to get the circuit boards and he reportedly got a deal from the makers of the SpeakJet chip - currently the most expensive component.

MOS6502 took a loss and kindly sent the completed ones to The.Golden.Ax and asked for nothing in return (instead of just sitting on them). The.Golden.Ax sold them here on the forums and the final ones on ebay. The.Golden.Ax has been "away from the scene" due to health problems, and probably won't be able to fund new AtariVox+ for some some time.

 

(I have everything, besides money and a PIC programmer, to make them.)

I would eventually like to see them for sale in the AtariAge Store.

[vectrexroli]

I'm not up to date with the situation on the VecVoxes? But have some left from back then... Could even upgrade them with RS232 serial interface (the space on the pcb is already there).

 

John, if you want to see the AtariVox+ in action, here is how it works:

It is a neat little device.

Your VecVox has a speaker if I remember correctly from your order page? Does it come in a case where the speaker is built in? Just curious how that looks as I have not seen a photo on your web page.

[Hyperboy]

I received my Imager and Lightpen with a little unexpected surprise, A copy of Mail Plane. This whole setup rocks and you couldn't ask for a better experience from start to finish.

 

Thank you for your hard work!!

[Vectrexer]

"huge schnozz" + Madtronix Vectrex 3D Imager = Free "Plastic" face alterations.

 

See? No nose left on the smiley face!

 

Thanks to John the price of facial alterations is even greater than the cost difference between an original and Madtronix imager.

 

 

Just kidding folks! John's imagers are excellent. I recommend them to anyone looking to experience Vectrex 3D games.

[gliptitude]

I'm considering making a pretty big investment in a copy of 3D Sector X, but I'd like to know beforehand that there is a high probability of it working on my hardware. I use the Madtronix Imager and I too had problems running 3D Lord of the Robots.

 

I never tried the patch, (and don't have a PC at home ATM to do this, or even re-flash my cart). .. But with LOTR, is the real cart version more likely to run with this repro-imager than the ROM was?

 

.. Will the 3D Sector X cart work on my set-up : certainly/probably/possibly?

 

I can't patch a cartridge can I?

[vectrexroli]

I'm considering making a pretty big investment in a copy of 3D Sector X, but I'd like to know beforehand that there is a high probability of it working on my hardware. I use the Madtronix Imager and I too had problems running 3D Lord of the Robots.

 

I never tried the patch, (and don't have a PC at home ATM to do this, or even re-flash my cart). .. But with LOTR, is the real cart version more likely to run with this repro-imager than the ROM was?

 

.. Will the 3D Sector X cart work on my set-up : certainly/probably/possibly?

 

I can't patch a cartridge can I?

 

If the ROM runs on your Vectrex or not has nothing do if you use the repro imager or the real one. Either the ROM works on both imagers or it doesn´t.

You get the LOTR ROM file from here:

http://www.furyunlimited.com/_sgg/m1m3_1.htm

If you use the VecMulti flashcart and the ROM does not work you can always try the Patch program that came on the MicroSD card with your VecMulti.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

I'd give my right arm for 3D Sector X .... last of the 3D games I don't have

[iesposta]

I'm considering making a pretty big investment in a copy of 3D Sector X, but I'd like to know beforehand that there is a high probability of it working on my hardware. I use the Madtronix Imager and I too had problems running 3D Lord of the Robots.

 

I never tried the patch, (and don't have a PC at home ATM to do this, or even re-flash my cart). .. But with LOTR, is the real cart version more likely to run with this repro-imager than the ROM was?

 

.. Will the 3D Sector X cart work on my set-up : certainly/probably/possibly?

 

I can't patch a cartridge can I?

I own 3D Sector X, and both the original Imager and the Madtronix Imager.

I'll give it a play Thurs late evening and report back here.

Every 3D game is nicer on the Madtronix Imager that I can recall.

 

I didn't know there was a demo on another game. I don't have that.

[vectrexroli]

I'd give my right arm for 3D Sector X .... last of the 3D games I don't have

 

I think about 1-1.5 years ago or so George still had a few left when you asked him via mail, but I guess they are all gone now. Still might be worth asking him.

Who knows, maybe one day he will release the ROM around Christmas time as he did with some of his other games?

Edited August 13, 2015 by vectrexroli

[vectrexroli]

I own 3D Sector X, and both the original Imager and the Madtronix Imager.

I'll give it a play Thurs late evening and report back here.

Every 3D game is nicer on the Madtronix Imager that I can recall.

 

I didn't know there was a demo on another game. I don't have that.

I think on the original Vector 21 cartridge there is the "Star Fury 3D demo" but that´s not really a game.

[iesposta]

 

I think about 1-1.5 years ago or so George still had a few left when you asked him via mail, but I guess they are all gone now. Still might be worth asking him.

Who knows, maybe one day he will release the ROM around Christmas time as he did with some of his other games?

Correct, Vectrex Roli!

I got my 3D Sector X for a reasonable price, and the original AtariVox (before the.golden.axe sold the AtariVox+) by asking an online company directly with e-mail if by chance they had what I was looking to buy!

I shouldn't hurt to ask, but in the case of Fury games, George can takes things the wrong way very easily from what I've read so be nice or don't bother him.

[gliptitude]

I own 3D Sector X, and both the original Imager and the Madtronix Imager.

I'll give it a play Thurs late evening and report back here.

Excellent! Thank you iesposta.

 

.. Would be interested in a brief review of the game too. How's the 3D?

[vectrexroli]

Correct, Vectrex Roli!

I got my 3D Sector X for a reasonable price, and the original AtariVox (before the.golden.axe sold the AtariVox+) by asking an online company directly with e-mail if by chance they had what I was looking to buy!

I shouldn't hurt to ask, but in the case of Fury games, George can takes things the wrong way very easily from what I've read so be nice or don't bother him.

I can only say that I always got a helpful response from George whenever I asked him something. My cat destroyed a cartridge box and I needed replacement or I wanted to have Continuum on cartridge and he always responded quite fast.

The only fact you have to accept is that when you preorder something from his web page, it can take even years until you will get it, but at least so far everything showed up at some point.

Edited August 13, 2015 by vectrexroli

[Mayhem]

 

If the ROM runs on your Vectrex or not has nothing do if you use the repro imager or the real one. Either the ROM works on both imagers or it doesn´t.

 

That's not strictly true, actually. I own two genuine GCE 3D Imagers, the original first run Madtronix 3D Imager, and three Vectrex consoles. One particular pairing of genuine imager and console refuses to work with 3D Sector-X. All the other eight possible pairings are okay. It's quite bizarre really.

 

Here's my original post about it from RGV: "Any idea why it refuses to work with one of my Vectrexes? All the other 3D games are fine, including Lord of the Robots, but here it just fires up the imager (official CGE), the screen briefly blinks the first enemy and my ship and then the screen goes blank and the imager stopped spinning. Most peculiar. Thankfully it works okay on my Kouso (!) so that's being pressed into service currently."

 

Not that I'm trying to scare Gliptitude here, and it was the only problematic hardware combo that George had reported to him once he'd released the game (following some fairly strenuous testing to eliminate problems such as these), so I suggest it's incredibly unlikely to occur. Both George and myself were fairly philosophical about it, and thankfully didn't stop me from enjoying the game. I just had to use a different imager to my usual one to play the game.

[vectrexroli]

 

That's not strictly true, actually. I own two genuine GCE 3D Imagers, the original first run Madtronix 3D Imager, and three Vectrex consoles. One particular pairing of genuine imager and console refuses to work with 3D Sector-X. All the other eight possible pairings are okay. It's quite bizarre really.

 

Here's my original post about it from RGV: "Any idea why it refuses to work with one of my Vectrexes? All the other 3D games are fine, including Lord of the Robots, but here it just fires up the imager (official CGE), the screen briefly blinks the first enemy and my ship and then the screen goes blank and the imager stopped spinning. Most peculiar. Thankfully it works okay on my Kouso (!) so that's being pressed into service currently."

 

Not that I'm trying to scare Gliptitude here, and it was the only problematic hardware combo that George had reported to him once he'd released the game (following some fairly strenuous testing to eliminate problems such as these), so I suggest it's incredibly unlikely to occur. Both George and myself were fairly philosophical about it, and thankfully didn't stop me from enjoying the game. I just had to use a different imager to my usual one to play the game.

That´s interesting, never heard about that issue. When I have too much time I will test that as well.

[50TBRD]

Jason, should 3D Sector X not work with your Imager, I will purchase it from you.

 

George has always been extremely helpful and responsive, even with all the annoying question that I've had for the Definitive Guide to Vectrex Collecting.

[gliptitude]

Thanks for the replies all. I have one Imager but several Vectrexes, so I guess I won't let fear of incompatability stop me, since it is such a rare problem.

 

Thanks for the offer Tony. I will keep in mind. .. I'm trying to work a trade and I don't know yet what the prospects of it working out are. Likely to include a boxed Polar Rescue if it actually happens, and I don't anticipate ever having another one of those in my hands again : /

Edited August 13, 2015 by gliptitude

[50TBRD]

Don't be so sure about never having another boxed Polar Rescue. I think having a faithful Repro box is not out of the realm of possibility.

[iesposta]

Excellent! Thank you iesposta.

 

.. Would be interested in a brief review of the game too. How's the 3D?

3D Sector X works with the Madtronix Imager.

 

However it doesn't start right up.

At the title screen, you have to press 4 on the controller.

 

The 3D depth "level surfaces" i.e. far, close, and demon bursts that move up towards your ship that you shoot is some of the best 3D effect I've seen in a Vectrex game!

 

Mini Review:

 

There's not too much in the way of the documentation.

It says you can use either color wheel, and that the wheel for 3D Narrow Escape / 3D Crazy Coaster is best. The game remembers what wheel you use.

 

The first level is as described above.

 

After so may hits, you're presented with a close square, your ship, and 5 far away squares.

Flying over the close square takes you down to the 5 far away squares.

(I had to look up online what to do.) You need to fly to the next square in a pentagram pattern.

 

Then you battle a demon dragonfly that descends down to your ship which will electrocute your ship if you don't time your firing correctly.

 

The next level is similar to the first, except the far away squares where the bursts come from can fire up at you!

 

Then the next level has close square and ship and 2 far squares, one with an angel/dragonfly.

Dropping down, the angel/dragon fly fires at you and I'm always killed so that's as far as I've progressed.

 

It has a title-screen with a creepy tune that repeats.

 

All of the 3D games so far are sparse with vectors due to the fact that timing is important and everything is drawn twice.

3D Sector-X is the best example so far as to what can be done with the 3D imager. Objects are Red, Green, Blue, or Green & Red.

Having said that, I think 3D Mine Storm is the most fun 3D game.

[gliptitude]

Thanks for the review iesposta. .. I glazed over the parts where you give the solutions, (think i'll try to figure it out first) ... but you had me at "some of the best 3D effect i've seen in a vectrex game".

 

 

Don't be so sure about never having another boxed Polar Rescue. I think having a faithful Repro box is not out of the realm of possibility.

Yeah and i haven't really been working towards a complete -- boxed -- collection anyway. But this was almost certainly the most valuable thing in my collection, and positively the most valuable thing i was at all willing to trade. this will probably be the last really big trade I'll be able to make.

 

.. Sticking with the original thread topic, i think we are really lucky to have Madtronix and his 3D Imager so readily available. It is a really neat device. Of course the possibilities have only been hinted at with the small number of 3D games. But as more people are getting these reproduction models it is becoming much more practical for homebrewers to consider programming new stuff. I hope it happens!

 

I will say that maybe it is not for the casual Vectrex player. There are enough games to justify its existence, but i think it either needs a higher volume of decent games or (better yet) that one completely awesome and essential game, to make this a really mandatory peripheral.