Magnavody - emulator for the Magnavox Odyssey

[dodgyville]

Hi,

 

I'm pleased to release the first version of Magnavody, an emulator/simulator for the Magnavox Odyssey.

 

Odyssey was the very first home video game console. It languishes in obscurity but it deserves a big re-evaluation imo.

 

Why?

1. Kooky dial devices for a unique gaming experience

2. Weirdly contemporary game design philosophy combing table top gaming with electronic mini games

3. Fabulous internal design (the "cartridge" system is bonkers cool)

 

28 games were made for it between 1972-75 and there are a smattering of homebrew games made since 2009

 

It's hard to use physically and takes a different mindset. However once you "get it", it is very rewarding.

 

The aims of this emulator (and simulator): Accuracy, authenticity, accessibility and fun

 

At the moment it only imperfectly plays "Table Tennis" (the first game) but I have special plans for overlays and homebrew.

 

If you know anything about the pin connections on Odyssey let me know!

 

Thanks!

[+cjherr]

Cool! I picked it up. Thank you!

[scotty]

Cool!!  Look forward to trying it, and watching the progress.  Thank you!!

 

[dodgyville]

This has been updated to "simemulate" Card 5.

When plugged in, Card 5 has the following effects on Odyssey:

Player 1 bounces the ball on collision
Player 2 RESET launches ball from the far right screen
Player 2 and Ball collisions hides ball and Player 2

Card 5 was used with three games: Submarine, Invasion and Wipeout.

With this update, Magnavody should be capable of playing those games (if you have the pieces). I'm still working on the best way to recreate the pieces and overlays digitally.

Additionally this update has a few quality-of-life improvements -- autodetects gamepads, rebalanced gamepad sensitivity, and fullscreen setting is now saved.