Advice for someone getting into the VIC-20

[zetastrike]

Yesterday I was considering picking up a 600XL, but since I already have an 800XL and 130XE I perused ebay looking at C128s. After looking around for a while, I found a listing for a Vic 20 from the seller Save2600 that was well taken care of, cleaned up, and tested and all that. It includes a PSU, composite cable, joystick, and CIB copies of DK and Rat Race. I thought the price was very fair for what I was getting. I decided to jump into the Vic because it's not a platform I'm very familiar with, looks to be very interesting, and it has many games on cart that don't require any external drives or drive emulators. I'm very eager to get it.

 

Do you have any advice for a new Vic owner? Should I look into getting a new/different PSU?

[+frankodragon]

I don't know if the person's still taking orders but the Mega-Cart which has lots of games/programs on one cartridge though it seems that the Mega-Cart.com site doesn't work for me. More info: http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2037&highlight=mega

 

There's also the Penultimate Cartridge. https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/index.php/penultimatecart

[scotty]

This is the one you want.... It is a disk drive emulator, memory expansion and multi cart, all in one. Heather, the girl that makes them is first class. She has them in stock, and ready to ship.

 

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=65219

[krslam]

It's always a good idea to check Commodore power supplies with a voltmeter, preferably under load, before plugging them into the computer, although the VIC doesn't seem to have as many issues with power supplies as the C64.

[Arnuphis]

Put heatsinks on the chips. Especially the VIC chip. If you get the earlier VIC with the two prong power connector then the power supply should be fine. If you get the later version then consider replacing the power supply as they can be flaky. Enjoy! This was the first computer I ever owned and it was a lot of fun. Cosmiads and Jelly Monsters sucked away so much of my time.

[carlsson]

Some comments on the various cartridge solutions:

 

• Mega-Cart was among the first but as noted it has a huge waiting period if it is delivered at all.
• Penultimate cartridge seems to have a good set of games and features if you want a ready-made solution.
• Behr Bonz is a little older, but low priced and has a good set of common games.
• Final Expansion has a lot of features but I think you'll need to fill it yourself compared to the other cartridges that come preloaded with games.
• UltiMem by Jim Brain probably has the biggest spec of them all, but is also something of a DIY solution once you order it.

There may be even more solution worth mentioning, like combining a SD2IEC or even standalone 1541 Ultimate with a memory expansion but it would be more cumbersome than those cartridges that have games or memory capacity onboard as well as working as RAM expansions (not all of them do, but most do).

[RobertB]

And there is the VIC-20 Multicart/Development Cart found at

 

http://www.gamingenterprisesinc.com/vic20/

 

Writing from Stockholm, Sweden,

Robert Bernardo

Fresno Commodore User Group

http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[zetastrike]

It's great to know the Vic has a community keeping it alive. I'm really stoked to get into it. I think the carts with built in memory expansion are the way to go. Do the games hold up as well as C64 or A8bit?

 

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[RobertB]

It's great to know the Vic has a community keeping it alive.

 

(snip)

 

Do the games hold up as well as C64 or A8bit?

Yes, check out the VIC-20 community in the forum at

 

http://sleepingelephant.com/denial

 

As for games, the new ones are really pushing the capabilities of the VIC-20. Other users and I are particularly impressed with Pulse, which was released last year.

 

Doing my postcards before I leave Stockholm,

Robert Bernardo

Fresno Commodore User Group

http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[carlsson]

VIC games generally have a special vibe to them due to the lower resolution and the fact that characters tend to be wider than they're tall, a little depending on how you adjusted your TV settings and it appears that PAL characters are more squashed than NTSC. The games often are simpler with more basic graphics, much due to the fact it lacks hardware sprites. By 1981-82 standards I think the games generally hold up well, perhaps they seem a bit lacking compared to late 1983, early 1984 games which was when the VIC-20 was starting to dwindle and eventually discontinued.

 

As Robert writes, there are plenty of modern homebrews that show what the hardware is capable of, but that is true for all other formats as well.

[+cvga]

Check out the Scott Adams adventure series if you haven't played those games elsewhere.

[bpatte02]

All Vic 20 games are made better when paired with 80s music. Also if you want to explore BBSs (Bulletin Board Services) I would suggest picking up a Wi-Fi modem such as the WiModem or strikelink modem, unless you want authenticity then shoot for a 1200 baud "dial up" modem. Then for the terminal program I suggest Mighty Term. It is pretty easy to connect a Wi-Fi modem to your router, especial if you have a WPS option.

[zetastrike]

Does Ray Carlsen make a new power supply for the two prong Vic? I'm pretty sure that's what mine is, it arrives today hopefully. The pictures on Ray's site don't make it clear to me if he makes one I can use.

 

I did pick up the pirate text adventure, along with Battlezone, Ms. Pac Man, Grid Runner, Donkey Kong, and Rat Race. I'm excited.

 

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Edited September 28, 2017 by zetastrike

[sparkdrummer]

One thing you can do with a 2 prong Vic is obtain a 5 pin "female" din , solder the correct 9v a/c leads coupled to a 2 pin connector, which are pretty common. I did this because I got tired of swapping ps bricks when I wanted to play c64 or Vic

[carlsson]

While the above mod to most part will work, remember that the DIN power supply delivers 9V AC @ 1A while the two-prong power supply delivers 9V AC @ 3A, i.e. far more beefier as that motherboard doesn't have an input for the 5V DC line.

 

Other devices with beefy 9V AC supplies tend to be the Atari 8-bit line, in particular the 1050 floppy drive. Since Zetastrike already is into Atari products, you might as well consider getting a male (?) DC power jack that mates with a 1050 PSU and connect the other end of the jack to the VIC-20's two prong.

[zetastrike]

I'm having a hard time picturing what you're describing. I emailed Ray today and he replied that the two prong unit is just a transformer. The brick units contain regulators that fail and damage the computer by letting too much power through. He said that the psu I have is safe to use as is, a replacement isn't needed.

 

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[carlsson]

Aha, I understood that the VIC you bought either didn't come with a power supply or that it was DOA. Yes, the two-prong is just a transformer so doesn't need replacement or a protection.

 

In the case you were short of a working power supply, my idea was to get a male DC jack 5.5/2.1 mm or whichever dimensions e.g. the 1050 is using, some suitable wire and then attach the two ends to the two-prong connector or inside the vIC-20, and in that way let you use the 1050 transformer/power supply without damaging it for further Atari usage.

 

Sparkdrummer discussed wiring a DIN power supply (7 pin I think is required due to the positions of the pins) and use a regular VIC/C64 power supply, the ones that Ray will built replacement models for, in case you didn't have a two-prong one, to which I replied it might be on the weak side. It has been tested before and as long as no power hungry peripherals are plugged in, it probably will work.

[zetastrike]

What are your thoughts on heatsinks? I got it today. I love it. It's very different from the Atari. I'm surprised how good Donkey Kong is. I also like the Commodore joystick. It molds to the hand nicely.

 

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[sparkdrummer]

Damn, yeah, 7 pin female din. Sorry about the confusion.

[carlsson]

Some chips run very hot, so heatsinks probably are good to install, just that I never got to do it. Regarding the Commodore branded joystick, I suppose you're kidding but regular Atari joysticks are compatible if you get tired of the stick.

[zetastrike]

Can anyone recommend a place to get heat sinks? I just spent 30 minutes playing and the underside got pretty warm.

 

Battlezone is an awesome port. I like Ms Pac Man too, aside from the horrible ringing sound. You can definitely tell that onscreen objects aren't sprites by their movement. It's really interesting.

 

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[Laner]

I use these

[Atari PAC-MAN Fan]

VIC-20 games are not attractive. From a glance, It looks really ugly. But to me, that doesn't matter.

 

It's all about the gameplay.

[RobertB]

Does Ray Carlsen make a new power supply for the two prong Vic?

Yes, he does. It's a special order, and I have two of them. They run much cooler than the original two-pronger.

 

Writing from Prague, the Czech Republic,

Robert Bernardo

Fresno Commodore User Group

http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[RobertB]

VIC-20 games are not attractive.

The classic "Outworld" has a very attractive gamescreen with a lot going on; it looks almost C64-ish. The newer "Pulse" is also attractive with its fast-moving, side-scrolling software sprites and landscapes.

 

Writing from Prague, the Czech Republic,

Robert Bernardo

Fresno Commodore User Group

http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm