OPCODE GAMES announces: IntelliXpander - Castlevania & Goonies! RESERVE NOW

[mojotv67]

Subscribed!

[+BBWW]

Me too.

[Carl Mueller Jr]

Folks, before we start accepting this "expander" as the Intellivision III, think about what that would really require.

From what I can tell, in order to build an add-on module that truly upgraded us to Intellivision III power, it must have:

The prototyped Super-STIC (STIC 1B) which we know, at a minimum, provided double resolution (320x192), more moving objects, and "infinite" color. It actually existed, so there should be notes on registers, bit fields, and so on -- perhaps in Papa Chandler's notes? -- that would give us more information on its capabilities.

The same CP1610 in the Intellivision (there was no plans for an additional CPU), with extra RAM for keeping track of all the new objects.

The incorporation of the Intellivoice hardware for Intellivoice compatibility.

A second PSG (à la the ECS) for three more channels of sound (stereo capability). So in total you should only be working with 2 AY8914s, each with their own RCA out. That also means technically you should have an extra two joystick ports, and the original intent was for wireless capability.

Ray Kaestner represented Mattel's programmers at APH while the new EXEC was being designed. He should have a pretty good idea about Intellivision III capabilities. There must've been a lot of code dedicated to updating the STIC 1B. That same code would reveal more about its capabilities, like number of sprites, bits per pixel, and any other features.

Maybe contacting Ray Kaestner about this new EXEC would get you somewhere?

Otherwise, there should be no association between what Intellivision III was and what the new Intellivision Expander is.

Based on what I have read here, you would be better off calling it the "Intellivision Changer II", because it seems to function as did the original Changer, to allow you to play games made for a different system on your Intellivision (rather than technically expanding its capabilities).

For me, unless it truly follows the designs of the proposed (and largely developed) Intellivision III as listed above, it's not really Intellivision.

Anyway, good luck. Carl

[+fdr4prez]

Yeah, but the name is IntelliXpander, as the name of the thread says, and not Intellivision III

[mr_me]

Dave Chandler was working on a different project, codenamed "decade"; now known as the Intellivision IV. I think the Intellivision III was an APh and General Instrument project pushed by Mattel marketing. Dave Rolfe might have already left APh by that time. Wireless controllers were planned through the Intellivoice buffer chip; 320x192 would actually be quadruple resolution. It would have been very memory efficient, possibly running on 4k ram. There is an Intellivision III specification document at papaintellivision.com. http://papaintellivision.com/docIntv3.php

 

Edit:

The intellixpander is based on a different cpu and graphics processor. It's 256x~200 graphics might look more like Nintendo/Sega/msx graphics. The Intellivision III graphics might have looked a bit like Atari 7800/800/c64 graphics but more colourful.

Edited August 5, 2017 by mr_me

[opcode]

Intellivision 3 was going to be a standalone device, thus the need for backward compatible hardware. IntelliXpander is an expansion module. You can still play all your Intv stuff.

 

We are past 90 modules now.

 

And I made significant progress with Goonies today. A video coming soon.

[Carl Mueller Jr]

Yeah, but the name is IntelliXpander, as the name of the thread says, and not Intellivision III

That's great, but the owner of the thread has suggested that the expander's graphics are somehow on-spec with the Intellivision III. I just wanted to point out, that this is not going to be anything that one could claim was an actual Intellivision III, which I personally would rather see made rather than this "expander".

This sounds more like an MSX-compatible system changer than anything else. If people find that exciting, fine. But for me it's just not Intellivision.

[mr_me]

I'm guessing it shouldn't be a whole lot of work to modify an existing Intellivision emulator to Intellivision III. Then Intellivision homebrew programmers could use their existing skills and code to create actual Intellivision III games. According to intellivisionlives.com, Mattel's plan was to make all games for standard Intellivision and upgrade some with Intellivision III graphics.

Edited August 5, 2017 by mr_me

[CatPix]

Opcode is following most of the specs in the document, it's as much Intelli III as it can get.

Unless I'm wrong, no prototype of the Intelli III was ever made, so OpCode IntelliXpander will be as close as Intelli III than an Intelli III would have been. It's impossible to know whan could have happened, but between the planned features and the final products, you more often see that things have been downgraded or flatly abandonned.

[opcode]

I don't think I ever claimed we were doing the Intv 3. And I can assure you there is no MSX inside. So you are assuming things you don't know for a fact and I never stated here.

[Rev]

Will it xpander play Mattel carts?

 

I forget if I asked that. ?

[opcode]

Will it xpander play Mattel carts?

 

I forget if I asked that.

 

Yes, the Intellivision cartridge slot will be there. We are also adding two joystick ports. Not sure if they will stay beyond the prototype though

[Kiwi]

 

Yes, the Intellivision cartridge slot will be there. We are also adding two joystick ports. Not sure if they will stay beyond the prototype though

If you do, then 4 player version of Snafu can be done(I'm not sure if the game is already coded for 4 players.).

[mr_me]

I don't think I ever claimed we were doing the Intv 3. And I can assure you there is no MSX inside. So you are assuming things you don't know for a fact and I never stated here.

To be an msx computer it would have to have the msx bios with its basic interpreter.

 

Is its cpu z80 compatible and its graphics processor v9958 compatible?

 

 

If you do, then 4 player version of Snafu can be done(I'm not sure if the game is already coded for 4 players.).

Should be a simple hack for ECS rather than rewriting the game, although I think the music code could be ported to intellixpander. Edited August 6, 2017 by mr_me

[opcode]

. To be an msx computer it would have to have the msx bios with its basic interpreter.

 

Is its cpu z80 compatible and its graphics processor v9958

The V9958 isn't a good video chip for games IMHO and it doesn't fit the specs, so no, we aren't using MSX chipset. We have a video chip that has never been part of any commerciacially released console or computer. I will provide details once we have the prototypes ready.

 

EDIT: All commercially available in the 80s, as I mentioned before.

[imstarryeyed]

I personally do not care if it follows some old design or not, I say just make the best unit you can Opcode as whatever you make will be a dramatic improvement over a stock Intellivison. I am looking forward to your new design as I loved the one you made for the Colecovision. I am sure that this one will be just as good if not even better. Of course I am really waiting for the Prometheus system as well!

[Rev]

 

Yes, the Intellivision cartridge slot will be there. We are also adding two joystick ports. Not sure if they will stay beyond the prototype though

Will it have two slots?

[+grips03]

Could be neat if the expander offered higher quality video connection, i.e. RGB or component. Is that possible?

[mr_me]

The V9958 isn't a good video chip for games IMHO and it doesn't fit the specs, so no, we aren't using MSX chipset. We have a video chip that has never been part of any commerciacially released console or computer. I will provide details once we have the prototypes ready.

 

EDIT: All commercially available in the 80s, as I mentioned before.

What's wrong with the v9958? It has full hardware scrolling, lots of colours and sprites? Maybe there are more cost effective/practical options.

 

I personally do not care if it follows some old design or not, I say just make the best unit you can Opcode as whatever you make will be a dramatic improvement over a stock Intellivison. I am looking forward to your new design as I loved the one you made for the Colecovision. I am sure that this one will be just as good if not even better. Of course I am really waiting for the Prometheus system as well!

There are already lots of retro systems that are technical improvements over Intellivision. Some have huge game libraries. Are the intellixpander and prometheus compatible? Edited August 7, 2017 by mr_me

[1980gamer]

"What's wrong with the v9958? It has full hardware scrolling, lots of colours and sprites? Maybe there are more cost effective/practical options."

 

I believe it has a 4 sprite per line limit. That is pretty limiting. Unless you use flicker as a feature... Hmmm, may have to think about that!

[opcode]

What's wrong with the v9958? It has full hardware scrolling, lots of colours and sprites? Maybe there are more cost effective/practical options.

 

There are already lots of retro systems that are technical improvements over Intellivision. Some have huge game libraries. Are the intellixpander and prometheus compatible?

The V9958 tile modes are the same as the ColecoVision. The new bitmap modes are hard to use for games. The sprites are single color per scan line and very CPU demanding to keep. Among other issues and idiosyncrasies.

 

No, IntelliXpander and Prometheus aren't compatible. Prometheus is fully ColecoVision compatible and considerably more complex and powerful.

Now I am curious about your question: would you prefer they shared the same architecture? That can be done (thought not fully CV compatible due to case size), with no impact on price, as this is all deprecated chipseet from the 80s anyways. We just didn't want to go overboard with the Xpander.

EDIT: having two pieces of hardware that are at least partially compatible makes a lot of sense, especially considering both are niche systems. But to be honest I am 100% sure how I personally feel about that. Every time we change the specs or discuss changes I start to sweat. My intuition regarding Intv stuff is still lacking I must confess.

 

As for AV out, the prototype offers that, but since the case is kind of small, there is no space for that and Intv cartridge slot in the final unit, so we must chose either Av or Intv cartridge slot.

[+Ransom]

Subscribed for one brownie, no grey stuff (although I hear it's delicious).

[mr_me]

"What's wrong with the v9958? It has full hardware scrolling, lots of colours and sprites? Maybe there are more cost effective/practical options."

 

I believe it has a 4 sprite per line limit. That is pretty limiting. Unless you use flicker as a feature... Hmmm, may have to think about that!

It has eight sprites per scanline. The older versions found in coleco vision and msx had four. Didn't know about the color limitations but they did have to maintain backward compatibility. [wikipedia mentions "1,3,7,15 colors per line"] Edited August 7, 2017 by mr_me

[opcode]

It has eight sprites per scanline. The older versions found in coleco vision and msx had four. Didn't know about the color limitations but they did have to maintain backward compatibility. [wikipedia mentions "1,3,7,15 colors per line"]

As I said, the V9958 isn't a good option for games. Too many idiosyncrasies. And we aren't looking for CV compatibility anyways.

[ColecoGamer]

Just received the sprites graphics for Goonies from Illya. I am going to add that to the game that is already running and see how that loooks later today.

IMG_1980.JPG

Those sprites are beautiful! I can't wait to see them in action.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the video.