TheCurlyBard

BTW, this is awesome to me for different reasons, I've been looking an emulator that works on a pi, excellent stuff

Hey everyone, I've got some rules together - and the first score thread!

Round 1 - Feb 2024 - Mine Storm Status: This round of the Vectrex HSC is over. Please check the pinned topic for the current round. Final scores and ranking: Welcome! What better way to start the Vectrex High Score Club than with a game we all definitely have*: Mine Storm! Normally scores would have been achieved within the month for the club, but as it's the very first round, the competition for Mine Storm scores is live now and will last till end of February. So get posting those scores! * Well... it's not quite that simple, if you aren't aware there was a kill screen in the original release at level 13, this was later fixed and then the game could be played to level 89, see this article for more information. In this HSC we are welcome to use whichever version you have available, but in this case it may severely limit you. It shouldn't be an issue though, as emulators and flash carts are allowed, so if you feel you can make it past level 13 then it should be accessible. It won't normally appear in the ROM lists as it's part of the BIOS, so to play the UK version switch the emulator to the UK bios Manual/Tips: • http://vectrex.de/_static/2017/Mine_Storm_Manual.pdf • https://vectrex.fandom.com/wiki/Mine_Storm#Strategy_guide DrSnuggles Emulator: https://drsnuggles.github.io/jsvecx/? Settings: N/A Twin Galaxies High Scores: (any version of Mine Storm but capped at lv13): 1st: 299,975 playvectrex 2nd: 291,075 redelf Vectrex.co.uk High Scores: • Mine Storm (US): 993,181 DarrylB • Mine Storm (UK): 2,378,463 Jordi J. Gran • Mine Storm 2: 1,700,121 RetroVicio-JAL

Welcome to the new Vectrex High Score Club rules thread. The point of this club is encourage us all to play with our toys more, explore the games we might have put much time into, and to push each other to do better and have fun. The rules will be quite relaxed here, but if you also want to submit your score to another score board, say either Twin Galaxies or http://vectrex.co.uk/hiscore.htm, please read their rules and make sure that you observe any further requirements. Format Each game will run for a calendar month to give everyone a chance to at least play a little. The games will be selected from a variety of sources, but a larger portion will be the games that are easily available, eg the official library or the Vectrex Academy games Games will be announced ahead of time A thread will be created for each game for participants to post their scores. Feel free to post running updates on personal bests Rank and Points At the end of the months points for a game will be awarded for your final rank. Points per rank depend on the number of participants in that month: 1st rank: <number of participants> - 0 points 2nd rank: <number of participants> - 1 points 3rd rank: <number of participants> - 2 points etc. Last rank: 1 point Points per month are tallied into a league table for the year. Rules #01 Play on what you have! These machines aren't particularly cheap and the point here is to be as inclusive as possible, and as such emulators will be allowed, as are the use of alternative controllers, autofire boxes, flash carts and Pitrex's etc - but you must state what you used when reporting your score. Emulation is well developed, and easy to access. Have a look at some of these resources: 1. Browser based emulator here: https://drsnuggles.github.io/jsvecx/? 2. ParaJVE is a good choice for MS Windows if you don't mind running Java https://www.dosgamers.com/vectrex/vectrex-emulator-parajve 3. Many other options such as MAME, Retropie, PSP etc https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Vectrex_emulators #02 Proof will be required in the form of photograph or screenshot of the score. Please try and include enough detail in the photo to make the game identifiable, this is difficult with some games. #03 Scores must be obtained within the timeframe of the competition, the idea is to get us all to play more so don't just post old personal bests. #03 Unless otherwise stated, any official version of the game will be allowed. #03 No ROM hacks unless otherwise stated. #04 No other forms cheating, eg Armor Attack's bug #05 The score must be performed without the use of save states. Using them to practice difficult sections is allowed, but you cannot submit scores achieved with the a save state The moderator team We currently have two moderators, myself - @TheCurlyBard and @hcmffm. if you have any rules queries or help with anything related to the club, please reach out to either of us

Oh that's awesome thanks for sharing those lists. I think emulators are fine, and even in Malbans easy to install pitrex image, I can slow it down or use save states, so unless we demand full video proof it's going to be hard prove any score is real. I drafted a first post, and I'll finish it this weekend. Was still thinking minestorm as it's so accessible. I'm assuming nobody minds if I submit scores? I don't consider myself the sole judge, I'd actually appreciate some help in spotting cheats

@hcmffm yeah it's great we have the retail library, and all the bios files free to copy, was hoping there a list of free homebrews though. I saw one the other day that noted downloads were available, but I'm not sure the author cared about consent or not.

Was playing Flipper last night, is there a bug with random scores? or did you just mean the ball is erratic. Is there a good list of the games that can be legitimately downloaded? We should mainly stick to these, but occasionally play a paid for homebrew also. Maybe with a vote, not much point picking it unless at least some of us have it. I'll draft up some rules and start a new thread this week

I've been playing with my pitrex, and while it's quite involved it probably is possible to slow games down. It's quite easy to abuse save states though, even on the beginner bare metal version. I'm still tempted to leave the rules relatively open though, if people really are gunning for world records then they can observe the TG rules to submit it there as well. I like the idea of occasional homebrew month, no point having them if we don't play them is there

All great questions! My first thoughts are to leave it open to emulators and whatever controller the user likes in order to get more participants, but I'm open to suggestions as autofire/save states are going to be a big advantage. I was thinking of just jumping in with Mine Field, but learnt of the multiple versions and the issues that will cause. Is it safe to assume that everyone has somesort of flashcard or sd solution? That would eleaviate the Mine Field problem, I'm not sure if Berserk Debugged is downloadable or not. If it's freely available I think we should use it, I don't want to leave people out or encourage them to steal a copy.

Mine Field, Solar Quest and Scramble, enjoying them all tbh. While I've found the overall ergonomics of the controller fine for my hands, why is btn 4 the default fire button? I'm gonna end up with a very muscular pinkie on my right hand lol

I don't mind at all no, awesome. I'm new vectrex and currently spamming the oz post tracker, and I've only got access to 3 games until that parcel arrives. Was thinking a month long contest, random game selected from the official releases and freely available homebrews, so anybody can join in.

Sweet! My pitrex is on the plane, as soon as its here I'll have access to the official library and put a post together

I'd be happy to help with the admin and such. Are the clubs you run on here? Mind if I steal the format?

Well I found this site has a few games tracked, again little participation https://www.videogamesrecords.net/en/game-platform-vectrex-p60/index Nevertheless, I'm going to set about claiming top place on the otherwise empty boards. Please feel free to show me how puny my efforts are

I've joined that fb group, but I think my post is still waiting approval. The community does seem to be collection focused, which is fair there are some cool rare items and homebrews to collect, but mines new to me and set up in the kitchen where it will get played. Like I say, the other sub forums in here seem to have high score clubs and I'd be happy to help get one going.

I was hoping to find one here tbh @Mikey50 @hcmffm if there is enough interest, a monthly game with a points reward for position achieved to go in an overall leaderboard maybe? It's inspiration to play more, and games we may not have put much time into

I'm a newbie to Vectrex, but as its a regular tube with a modified control unit, I'd say its absolutely going to be prone to burn in. You should def power it off when possible.

That's very cool dude

49.0, Normal, no cheats. Route I've been using - Collect the armour to the left Walk to first room, shoot the guy Turn right, shoot the next guy, but that's the last one I bother to kill. Run forwards, get the key, run back to the first room, turn right, then left, then keep forwards to the end. Definitely room for improvement with my movement - this clunky Atari mouse wasnt built with this game in mind - and it's possible to clip walls in useful places too Surely somebody can beat me?? Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Just got round to playing, I love it and can't wait to play more of it. Still need to find all the secrets and beat the hardest difficulty. Completely distracted me from re-learning STOS this weekend Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I thought I answered you sorry, it's an 1040 STE, which us exactly what teenage me would have really wanted Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

More than likely Demos, but some games are likely, and I'm interested to learn about GEM apps, but I don't have any ideas of what to create yet. Just watched FirST Love on it, was waiting for the hardware Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Greetings, thought I'd share my latest project, I hope you like it? I'm really pleased to be back in the Atari camp. I've lurked here for years. Mainly in the Coleco sub forum, which is oddly the most active place to talk Coleco outside of social media sites (booo) Looking forward to revisiting old games, but mainly I want to code this beast. Recently whet my appetite learning some Z80, but time to crank it up a level. I'll no doubt be back asking questions Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Hello, I registered for the site and submitted a score, however I'm not able to log in again now I've lost that initial cookie. Was kind of hoping I could find an admin on here as it's pretty hard to contact them without being able to log in. Anybody know who could help me? Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Hello! This all sounds very likely. Telegames shipped games in all sorts of boxes, the original run would include a normal cardboard box but they would frequently use those red or green plastic clamshells when they ran out, with a photocopied cover and manual. I don't know if anyone has ever compiled a list of verified box variants to check this for sure, but I'm confident you have a genuine box that the game left Telegames inside off, although it's not the original cardboard one that collectors often prefer. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk