36 replies to this topic

[goldenegg]

I was wondering if anyone happens to make reproduction overlays.  I have a few games which are missing the overlays and it would be great to have a full set.

[sqoon]

There's a guy from England who sells repro INTV overlays on ebay all the time. Maybe you could contact him.

[coleconut]

goldenegg, on Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:20 PM, said:

I was wondering if anyone happens to make reproduction overlays.  I have a few games which are missing the overlays and it would be great to have a full set.

The idea has been tossed around a bit here by a few members but there were some concerns with making a good product at a fair price and the time and effort involved to do so. I was going to run with it for a while but had challenges due to my schedule so put it on permanent hold.

[hardhat]

If someone prepared the artwork, I could try to make a prototype and see if I have a suitable technology to make overlays.

I've actually been thinking of making a game that uses overlays, so I'd very much like to find out what is involved and if I have the appropriate production capabilities.

I guess the traditional ones are silk screened most likely.  I haven't looked at one in a while.  I think for a reproduction I'd probably make it colour laser printer based with a protective coating.  It wouldn't be the same process but it would keep the production costs reasonable for small quantities.

[goldenegg]

Scans for the overlays are available on multiple sites.  I've been thinking about trying to print a couple out on printable transparency sheets.  These wouldn't be a sellable product, but (if successful) it would make a relatively easy way for people to print their own.

[NIAD]

James Carter and PixelBoy have created a lot of overlays over the years. Here are a couple files James Carter made available:

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Attached Files

•  - Overlays - How to Print.txt   939bytes   53 downloads

[Pixelboy]

The problem with doing homebrew overlays is the actual printing process selected. The first-generation overlays (Mouse Trap, essentially) had printing that was invulnerable to the abuse of inserting and removing the overlay repeatedly, and they really were the best available. But they must have been rather expensive to produce, because later Coleco made overlays via a cheaper printing process (thin mylar-like, similar to what eColeco offered for a while, but of better quality). You can feel the difference just by rubbing your finger around a Mouse Trap overlay and a War Games overlay.

The point here is that homebrew overlays need to resist to extreme abuse. Flimsy printing will easely peel off along the edges when inserting the overlay into a Coleco controller.

[hardhat]

Well my brother's sign shop has a process for putting the image under the plastic surface.  So if it's not too thick, it would certainly withstand the rigors of repeated insertion at least, but it might have a seam at the edge so I'll have to think about it more I guess.

[pboland]

Pixelboy, on Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:12 PM, said:

The problem with doing homebrew overlays is the actual printing process selected. The first-generation overlays (Mouse Trap, essentially) had printing that was invulnerable to the abuse of inserting and removing the overlay repeatedly, and they really were the best available. But they must have been rather expensive to produce, because later Coleco made overlays via a cheaper printing process (thin mylar-like, similar to what eColeco offered for a while, but of better quality). You can feel the difference just by rubbing your finger around a Mouse Trap overlay and a War Games overlay.

The point here is that homebrew overlays need to resist to extreme abuse. Flimsy printing will easely peel off along the edges when inserting the overlay into a Coleco controller.

Agree, but I think I might have a solution. I'm testing a method of making them now (DIY) and I'm doing the whole "put the overlay in take it out, put it back in" thing right now. If I get good results, I just might be able to offer overlays for those that need them.

[Pixelboy]

pboland, on Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:04 AM, said:

Agree, but I think I might have a solution. I'm testing a method of making them now (DIY) and I'm doing the whole "put the overlay in take it out, put it back in" thing right now. If I get good results, I just might be able to offer overlays for those that need them.

Now that would be a huge chunk of good news.  

[pboland]

Pixelboy, on Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:19 AM, said:

pboland, on Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:04 AM, said:

Agree, but I think I might have a solution. I'm testing a method of making them now (DIY) and I'm doing the whole "put the overlay in take it out, put it back in" thing right now. If I get good results, I just might be able to offer overlays for those that need them.

Now that would be a huge chunk of good news.  

I just want to clarify that I'm working on overlays for the standard ColecoVision controller. Not the Super Action controllers.

[jblenkle]

I've made my own overlays using a heat laminator and small plastic laminating pouches. Printed the overlay on regular paper on my inkjet and then laminated it. Trimmed it down to size and it works quite well.

goldenegg, on Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:20 PM, said:

I was wondering if anyone happens to make reproduction overlays.  I have a few games which are missing the overlays and it would be great to have a full set.

[Yurkie]

I did a thread on how I made these for my Mario Bros. Controller set. I found it by searching overlays.

http://www.atariage...._1#entry2016184

[pboland]

Yurkie, on Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:23 PM, said:

I did a thread on how I made these for my Mario Bros. Controller set. I found it by searching overlays.

http://www.atariage...._1#entry2016184

Good thread. I forgot about that one.

On side note, what is the total count of released (not including homebrew games or super action) overlays? I'm counting twelve:

- 2010
- Blackjack Poker
- CPK Picture Show
- Dam Busters
- Dr Suess
- Facemaker
- Fortune Builder
- Mouse Trap
- Smurf Paint 'n' Play
- Spy Hunter
- War Games
- War Room

Did I miss any?

[Pixelboy]

pboland, on Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:47 AM, said:

On side note, what is the total count of released (not including homebrew games or super action) overlays? I'm counting twelve:

- 2010
- Blackjack Poker
- CPK Picture Show
- Dam Busters
- Dr Suess
- Facemaker
- Fortune Builder
- Mouse Trap
- Smurf Paint 'n' Play
- Spy Hunter
- War Games
- War Room

Did I miss any?

Nope.  

[ColecoDan]

you didn't miss any but what everyone would probably want if you are going to make reproductions is for you to make reproductions of all the overlays that were made by people for games that should of had an overlay but didn't or ones that were redone better like.

2010
Gateway to Apshai
Quest for Quintana Roo
Aquaattack
Miner 2049er

[pboland]

ColecoDan, on Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:11 AM, said:

you didn't miss any but what everyone would probably want if you are going to make reproductions is for you to make reproductions of all the overlays that were made by people for games that should of had an overlay but didn't or ones that were redone better like.

2010
Gateway to Apshai
Quest for Quintana Roo
Aquaattack
Miner 2049er

I guess I could do those as well, but those are going to take some time. I never actually owned any of the games with overlays (except MouseTrap). I'll need to go over the manuals of those games and play them on the emulators to get a good feel for what the overlay should look like.

On another side note, My test overlay seems to have pasted my testing.    I put the overlay in the controller, pressed all the buttons, and then removed the overlay from the controller. That is one cycle. I've done that 120 times and the overlay looks great. The printed image in totally intact and the there is no separation of the overlay. There are minor scuffs on the surface of the laminate from putting the overlay in the controller and then taking it out again, but it is only visible if the light hits it just right. Looking straight on the overlay, you can not see the scuff marks.

[ColecoDan]

pboland, on Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:42 AM, said:

[
I guess I could do those as well, but those are going to take some time. I never actually owned any of the games with overlays (except MouseTrap). I'll need to go over the manuals of those games and play them on the emulators to get a good feel for what the overlay should look like.

On another side note, My test overlay seems to have pasted my testing.    I put the overlay in the controller, pressed all the buttons, and then removed the overlay from the controller. That is one cycle. I've done that 120 times and the overlay looks great. The printed image in totally intact and the there is no separation of the overlay. There are minor scuffs on the surface of the laminate from putting the overlay in the controller and then taking it out again, but it is only visible if the light hits it just right. Looking straight on the overlay, you can not see the scuff marks.

Here is some help for the one I was talking about

http://home.comcast....co/overlays.htm

[Pixelboy]

pboland, on Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:42 AM, said:

ColecoDan, on Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:11 AM, said:

you didn't miss any but what everyone would probably want if you are going to make reproductions is for you to make reproductions of all the overlays that were made by people for games that should of had an overlay but didn't or ones that were redone better like.

2010
Gateway to Apshai
Quest for Quintana Roo
Aquaattack
Miner 2049er

I guess I could do those as well, but those are going to take some time. I never actually owned any of the games with overlays (except MouseTrap). I'll need to go over the manuals of those games and play them on the emulators to get a good feel for what the overlay should look like.

On another side note, My test overlay seems to have pasted my testing.    I put the overlay in the controller, pressed all the buttons, and then removed the overlay from the controller. That is one cycle. I've done that 120 times and the overlay looks great. The printed image in totally intact and the there is no separation of the overlay. There are minor scuffs on the surface of the laminate from putting the overlay in the controller and then taking it out again, but it is only visible if the light hits it just right. Looking straight on the overlay, you can not see the scuff marks.

Now this is BIG news!  

2010 already has an overlay, but it's not terribly good looking, which prompted others to do homebrew version of the overlay for that game.

As for the homebrew overlays, I still have all my templates, and hopefully you could print them as-is.  

[Ikrananka]

Pixelboy, on Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:51 AM, said:

As for the homebrew overlays, I still have all my templates, and hopefully you could print them as-is.

Pixelboy's templates are awesome and I would love to be able to buy them.

[Pixelboy]

You know, this piece of news combined with the disassembly and analysis of Utopia by intvnut makes me think that perhaps I should have a set of Utopia overlays produced.

Not that all this will prompt me to do a CV version of Utopia any earlier than I had planned (I do still want to do BasicVision first) but with this disassembly now available, I'd say the odds of me doing Utopia some day has greatly increased. So I could have the overlays done right now, in preparation...  

Edited by Pixelboy, Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:54 AM.

[Darrin9999]

I`m in for a set of overlays when done!!

[pboland]

I just realized I never showed a picture of my test label. Here is the label I made for the above testing:



BTW, this is a picture of label taken after the testing. If you look closely you should be able to see some minor marks on the surface of the label (yet the image is undamaged).

[Pixelboy]

Very nice!  

So what are the dimensions of the image template you're using? Just curious...

[ten-four]

Very nice label you made Phil.

I will definitely buy some of them eg, Miner 2049'er, Boulder Dash and a few more.