VectorGeddon possible on Vectrex?

[ComputerSpaceFan]

Just got into this very cool game on iOS called VectorGeddon and it almost seems like a game that would be possible on the Vectrex. Not too many items onscreen at the same time, not too fast, but it's a fun sort of tower defense game crossed with Missile Command with a splash of Star Castle.

 

So, without knowing anything about Vectrex programming I'm jut wondering if something like this would be possible to make? And okay I'll admit it, I'm hoping one of our awesome Vectrex homebrewers might take up the challenge. I confess.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfFOPOahqIg

[Vectrexer]

Looks like the game would be doable.

[Bill Loguidice]

I'm no programmer, but it looks like if the particle effects and physics were greatly scaled back, it would be doable. Maybe make the game less intelligent and simplify the visuals, and you could more or less achieve the same effect. Of course you'd have to make considerations for using a joystick instead of a mouse. It certainly looks fun, though.

[Hatta]

The vectrex has an analog joystick. You could use absolute positioning to simulate mouse control.

[Reaperman]

The vectrex has an analog joystick. You could use absolute positioning to simulate mouse control.

I don't know why, but people don't tend to like that control style very much.

I do--hyperchase is my favorite vectrex game.

[50TBRD]

Liberator

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASv9An4Gkio&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[ledzep]

I don't know why, but people don't tend to like that control style very much.

I do--hyperchase is my favorite vectrex game.

 

I prefer the analog stick for games as well, the trackball even more (for games that are meant for that). And you can read an analog stick as though it were a digital (8-way, 4-way, 2-way) stick but you can't read a digital stick like it's an analog one.

 

Vectorgeddon looks much like Liberator except that the PC police decided that changing the emphasis from planetary bombardment to saving the Earth from killer asteroids would be more empowering. Just sarcasm, I have no idea what motivated this game but it seems like something that should have been in arcades in the early '80s. It could almost be the Earth end of Space Battleship Yamato anime with Earth shooting down planet bombs fired from the Gamilas Pluto base.

 

One minor complaint, why is there a moon orbiting a planet that isn't rotating? Might be cooler to have a rotating planet with a couple missile bases and also one on the orbiting moon. If I were making that game for the Vectrex then I'd have more bases for sure, there are 4 fire buttons on a Vectrex controller, and I'd have the planet rotating so that potentially firing from the wrong base (far side) would result in the missile taking too long to get to the target. There should also be an occasional comet, faster and harder to kill off. Not a fan of earning power-ups like this is a racing game. I'd also have the occasional bigger asteroid break in 2 and have one of the pieces still coming at the Earth, though maybe it gets bounced out a bit before falling back into Earth's gravity well. Still, that's being picky, glad someone made this game. Even more glad that the vector game style is popular, it's my favorite. It would be cool if someone made it for the Vectrex for sure, have an overlay for the middle area (planet and moon) similar to Star Castle or Solar Quest with a warning area for asteroids that are really close in.

 

I wonder how hard it would be to code that for a Space Duel or Gravitar cabinet (with a trak-ball added in or a Quantum game with fire buttons added). I'm still hoping that homebrewists start making new boards for old arcade games though I understand that that's much harder than coding for home consoles.