Intellivision TutorVision found w/games

[intvnut]

I think it's an Intellicart. I think I can see a white cable coming out of the cartridge going to the Mac right beside it.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It's hard to tell at that image resolution.

 

 

Now about the Tutorvision sound chip. When you say it sounds like the original 1978 Intellivision, is that different than the 1980 Intellivision?

 

I'm saying it's closest to the original AY-3-8914 in terms of how the registers behave. The most noticeable behavior is the behavior of "count == 0." That seems to be the source of "thin sound" complaints on some Intellivision 2s. The STIC1A behaves more like the AY-3-8914 here, giving a maximal count for "count == 0."

 

 

And regarding jzintv did you put a switch to turn on/off extra gram like Decle's -G2 switch or is it only automatic?

 

 

If you provide jzIntv the WBEXEC/WBGROM, it will default to TutorVision behavior. You can also explicitly set the GRAM size with the -G flag.

[+Lathe26]

Awesome work and attention to detail, jz. This is all really cool!

[intvnut]

You can also explicitly set the GRAM size with the -G flag.

 

It appears I made a minor flub and the -G switch isn't recognized. You can use the long version of the switch, though: --gramsize=#.

 

I'll post an updated executable in the next couple days that supports the -G switch as well.

[mr_me]

OK, I finally got jzIntv updated for Windows and Mac. It turns out that my emulation wasn't complete, and I needed to make a few more changes. I discovered a few more quirks of the TutorVision system.

 

http://spatula-city.org/~im14u2c/intv/

 

Note that I have not yet updated the Linux build, as my Linux box is still offline. I hate living in this cramped apartment.

 

I've also posted extensive reverse engineering notes here. This is still a work in progress.

 

EDIT: The PDF posted in the next comment is much more readable.

So there's an extra pixel and some different bus times. Any chance this STIC offers new features. There's enough ram for 24 rows of characters.

 

There's something about slightly different bus times. Would that not affect existing games. Something about gram aliases that does affect some existing games. Did you put these changes in jzintv?

[intvnut]

So there's an extra pixel and some different bus times. Any chance this STIC offers new features. There's enough ram for 24 rows of characters.

 

No evidence at all of any new features beyond what I've documented. You get some extra GRAM and the incompatibilities that come with it. And, MOBs aren't limited to 64 cards in FGBG mode.

 

 

There's something about slightly different bus times. Would that not affect existing games. Something about gram aliases that does affect some existing games. Did you put these changes in jzintv?

 

The version of jzIntv I posted implements all of the STIC differences I'm aware of, including the different bus timings. The "irq_per" test linked in my document produces roughly the expected result in jzIntv.

 

The different cycle-stealing behavior would lead to some games running slightly faster. Most games are timed off the vertical retrace, so they'd play the same speed. If a game had a timing-related race condition, it might behave differently.

 

Also, since you asked me previously: The STIC does fetch background cards from the 4 x 2114 RAMs during active display, using /BUSRQ to halt the CPU so it can fetch.

Edited April 15, 2017 by intvnut

[pimpmaul69]

 

No evidence at all of any new features beyond what I've documented. You get some extra GRAM and the incompatibilities that come with it. And, MOBs aren't limited to 64 cards in FGBG mode.

 

 

 

The version of jzIntv I posted implements all of the STIC differences I'm aware of, including the different bus timings. The "irq_per" test linked in my document produces roughly the expected result in jzIntv.

 

The different cycle-stealing behavior would lead to some games running slightly faster. Most games are timed off the vertical retrace, so they'd play the same speed. If a game had a timing-related race condition, it might behave differently.

 

Also, since you asked me previously: The STIC does fetch background cards from the 4 x 2114 RAMs during active display, using /BUSRQ to halt the CPU so it can fetch.

on the new raspberry pi version of jzintv for the studiovision games i tried adding a -g, a -g2, a -g 2, a -g1, and a -g2048 flag but i just could not figure how to get the full bitmap

Edited September 25, 2017 by pimpmaul69

[intvnut]

on the new raspberry pi version of jzintv for the studiovision games i tried adding a -g, a -g2, a -g 2, a -g1, and a -g2048 flag but i just could not figure how to get the full bitmap

 

-g is for specifying the path to grom.bin

 

Decle's hack to add more GRAM to a standard Intellivision is controlled by -G. (e.g. -G2).

[pimpmaul69]

 

-g is for specifying the path to grom.bin

 

Decle's hack to add more GRAM to a standard Intellivision is controlled by -G. (e.g. -G2).

that works thank you. i just now got it working with --gramsize=2 as well

[pimpmaul69]

 

-g is for specifying the path to grom.bin

 

Decle's hack to add more GRAM to a standard Intellivision is controlled by -G. (e.g. -G2).

so is the lto flash capable of running the extra gram?

[intvnut]

so is the lto flash capable of running the extra gram?

 

The Intellivision is incapable of receiving extra GRAM from the cartridge port. The GRAM is on a private bus that is not accessible from the cartridge port.

 

The GRAM lives on the thick blue bus below named "STIC Data/Addr Bus", which is on the other side of the 16-bit System RAM and STIC. There's no way to extend that bus from the cartridge port (the purple buses, plus brown bus for bus controls):

 

[pimpmaul69]

 

The Intellivision is incapable of receiving extra GRAM from the cartridge port. The GRAM is on a private bus that is not accessible from the cartridge port.

 

The GRAM lives on the thick blue bus below named "STIC Data/Addr Bus", which is on the other side of the 16-bit System RAM and STIC. There's no way to extend that bus from the cartridge port (the purple buses, plus brown bus for bus controls):

 

good to know. Edited September 26, 2017 by pimpmaul69

[mthompson]

Using Joe Z's latest build of jzintv, I got the Tutorvision games running in emulation today. It was fun to see them and try them out. Because I couldn't find any existing videos of these games, I decided to make my own so people can see them in action.

 

Here is Map Mazes.

 

[m-crew]

Thanks for sharing that !!!!

[Intymike]

Thanks a lot!

[Atari_Bill]

Wow, I love that. Too bad it never made it out for wide release

[JasonlikesINTV]

Very cool, thanks!

[mthompson]

Here is a video for Shapes In Space.

 

If anyone has other Tutorvision game files that they'd be willing to share, I'd love to make videos for them as well. Just send me a PM.

 

[stupus]

I believe these are the only 2 known to be in the hands of the public.

The blue sky Rangers likely have the rest backed up on discs....but don't know if they will ever see the light of day....especially now that Keith R. passed

[decle]

I've not looked through the code, but it looks to me as though the maps might not be very random. And is this an Easter Egg I see before me? In Hal we trust! I also like the homage to Lock N Chase in the music.

 

Although these are games for younger childen I think the level of polish is excellent.

 

[mr_me]

I believe these are the only 2 known to be in the hands of the public.

The blue sky Rangers likely have the rest backed up on discs....but don't know if they will ever see the light of day....especially now that Keith R. passed

Waiting for Geo Graphics. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/270315-tutorvision-games-interest-check/page-1

 

... I also like the homage to Lock N Chase in the music.

 

...

Thanks I thought that music sounded familiar. That would have been a data east copyright violation. Edited October 3, 2017 by mr_me

[stupus]

Oh wow, I had totally missed that thread about a 3rd game being dumped and the possibility of repros being made! Thanks!

I knew chuck had dumped his 2 games, but I wonder where the 3rd showed up from? That's excellent!

[stupus]

My son also 3d modeled a tutorvision cart and printed 1 but the 3d printer he has acess to is not great. Would be neat to 3d print off white carts for the repros!

[pimpmaul69]

Using Joe Z's latest build of jzintv, I got the Tutorvision games running in emulation today. It was fun to see them and try them out. Because I couldn't find any existing videos of these games, I decided to make my own so people can see them in action.

a while back i made a splashscreen for retropie

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by pimpmaul69

[AnnaWu]

Sorry guys, I am a absolute beginner for jzIntv.

I found 2 dumped TutorVision games (Map Mazes, Shapes in Space) in this forum.

Can I run these games on the jzIntv emulator or do I need additional TutorVision System ROMs?

If those games are running with jzIntv without additional TutorVision ROMs is it possible to give me an example for the command line?

Thanks in advance!

 

Anna

Edited November 14, 2017 by AnnaWu

[mr_me]

You'll need the Tutorvision exec (aka wbexec); there is a tutorvision grom file but it is optional as the standard Intellivision grom file would work.

 

Rename the Tutorvision system files exec.bin and grom.bin and place in the jzintv\rom folder. Jzintv recognizes the tutorvision exec and makes the necessary changes when running the emulator. Using jzintv is no different than with Intellivision cartridge rom files. Here is an example command.

 

"path\to\jzintv.exe" -z3 %1

 

Where %1 represents the filepathname of the cartridge rom file and -z3 is for 1024x768 resolution. If you're using windows you can place the above command in a .bat file and then drag and drop cartridge rom files onto it.

Edited November 14, 2017 by mr_me