gliptitude

That would be awesome! I suggest you proofread for grammar and spelling before you publish it though. It can get especially confusing when you are talking about program commands that are not recognizable words, and where every character has to be correct.

Any highlights to share? Were any of the recommended games new or pleasantly surprising to you? Do they include arcade games?

Ha ha. Yes, I was referred to V-Model by Mr. Pelonis, who apparently still uses it all the time! I guess YOU made that one? Maybe I've got THAT Vectrex Chris correct? ... Sorry for the mixup, and thanks for your Vectrex stuff.

Well I downloaded and tried it out. Also downloaded "Lamps". I could not get either of these .bin's to write to my VecFlash. Both produced a write error. ... So I don't know how the revised program runs on Vectrex. I did get the new vtwist.bin to run on an emulator. I see that you switched directional controls to the joystick, that you implemented left and right kick actions, changed/added some sprites and implemented a countdown timer. ... Looks like it is coming along and becoming more of a "game". I couldn't tell if I was hitting things or not or how to pick up the hour glasses. Didn't reach the boss screen. ... I'd spend more time with it if I could get it to flash and run on Vectrex...

I'm curious, and I believe I saw these items listed on ebay. The two overlays you have happen to be the same two that were reproduced by vectrexmad. Are these by chance his repros? Or are they originals? His repros were quite good and I would consider that a selling point for this lot if that's what they were. You can tell by the copyright info on the overlays. If they are original there should be tiny writing with 1982 in it. I can't remember if the ones he made have a date or copyright info on them at all....

I made an inquiry of my own with Vecorzoa about this game, MANY MONTHS AGO. I never got a reply. I am fairly confident saying that this game is no longer available. Besides my unanswered inquiry, I seem to also remember navigating on his site and finding a list of buyers for Spike's Circus. I think it was a set number of copies that he produced and that every copy is accounted for, with a list of the individual buyers published on his site. I think it may even be the case that Vectorzoa is done selling Vectrex games altogether. His site has not been updated in a long time. I haven't heard much of anything about Spike's Circus from people who own it. It does look like an awesome game though.

Well not Atari but, RE: the title of this thread, and adding to other Vectrex stuff already named: http://www.furyunlimited.com/ (^ has made over a dozen Vectrex games, many originals as well as arcade ports and new controllers) http://www.kristofsnewvectrexgames.comli.com/ (^ maker of one of the most popular and dazzling vectrex homebrews. Awesome overlays too!)

D-Pad vs Stick is an issue of substance I think. And if it's difficult for you to transition back to the stick, imagine going all the way back to button only controls! If you've never played button only arcade games of the steer/thrust/shoot variety, it is a very difficult transition. To some extent it is an issue of preference. But in many instances the games were intended to be played a certain way. It's a small issue with some games/systems and a bigger issue with others. In some instances it's almost cheating to use a pad. I play mostly Vectrex anymore and I shuffle between a few different controllers. For many games a can play better and score higher with a pad controller. But for most of those games it is much more fun to play with the original control panel/thumb stick. I love that little springy thing!

I have bought 9 of them (sold one of those and gave another away as a gift). Several are broken. None are for sale at the moment. I generally try to pay 100 for working, 50 for non-working. It takes some hunting and I won't sell at these prices. If it is in really nice shape and includes the Minestorm overlay, I will pay a bit more. The best one I have is really good and I paid $140 for it. It is very easy to spend more than this. Things to look out for: - Sceen Off-Center - this is very common. I think it is fairly easy for a knowledgeable person to fix this, but I'm not that person. Slightly off center is not that big a deal, but the last one I bought was so off center that the top 25% of the game graphics are off screen (I paid $62 for that Vectrex). When it is that badly off center you really can't even play the games, let alone line up the graphics with the overlays. ... The easiest way to approximate how well the screen is centered is to look at the Vectrex boot screen ("entertaining new ideas"). Look at the rectangular border and make sure there is a semi-consistent margin between that border and the edges of the monitor. A little off center is acceptable. -Controller functionality - Sometimes the springs in the joystick fail, leading to it not returning to center. Also many games entail excessive use of button 4, so that button is the most likely to stop working. -Hopefully the seller has a game on cartridge to demonstrate the cartridge port. I bought one locally (with a small lot of rough condition carts/overlays for $75) which makes a grinding noise when you insert a cartridge. There is one I've seen on ebay that has a Solar Quest cart inserted while Minestorm is playing. -Volume/Power knob and (rear) brightness knob. Make sure both are in tact and work. The volume knob on my everyday Vectrex is touchy (audio crackles and cuts in and out). The easiest way to get a decent deal is to spend $300 to $400 on a large lot with games, on ebay. Often times there is less competition on those bigger lots.

Oh sorry. No I am not that sort of collector, and I didn't think it necessary to mention the exclusion of these two games. I have Minestorm 1 (inside of each of my Vectrex units) and I have a couple copies of Clean Sweep (one being boxed). If I had Minestorm 2 or Mr. Boston I would certainly sell them. I can't get past level 6 or 7 on Minestorm 1 and Clean Sweep (Mr Boston) is a crap game. I should have specified though that I was referring to the original GCE library. I do NOT have every homebrew.

Yes I have seen this, and I too was wondering what causes it to show some times and not others. I have seen the same graphic with two different text messages, one of which is the one you quoted and the other I can't remember. The "other" text would come on directly AFTER a game over. ... When I was trying to get this graphic to show again I ended up resetting the high scores. After that I ended up seeing it a few more times. For me that graphic is a stand-out on the game. As fun as the game is, I don't particularly love the in-game graphics. (The color is great though.) ... But once I completed all of the levels, and saw the ending animations, I was completely convinced of Vector Pilot's beauty. If you haven't beaten the game, and if you like this "it is not easy" graphic, you have GOT to play through and see it!!! Trust me it is awesome and you should be motivated to play for it, (plus you unlock a new playable air craft in the process). I've already done it once and I can't wait to do it again.

IDK, it's kind of a gross scene on ebay in my opinion, and I'm not sure etiquette has any meaning. ... I was trying to get one of the "Brand New Non-Working Vectrex Monitors" this weekend (bidding on one and losing, then moving onto the next, losing, moving onto the 3rd and final, losing). The same guy won all 3 auctions. I have seen the 3D imager listing linked above. I am very skeptical that this will end up being a better deal than the recent Buy it Now's. There are already over 30 bids, with several days left in the auction. ... There was a $600 BIN boxed one that recently sat for weeks. I will honestly be shocked if the current auction does not exceed $600. And consider on top of that how stressful and annoying and time consuming it will be to compete with all of these people, just for a CHANCE to pay all that money. In my experience, the high demand Vectrex items (like the 3D imager), have been completely absurd in auctions. Often times the auctions somehow generate more interest than the BIN's, and end up exceeding them in price. (I passed on a $30 CIB Space Wars BIN last month, only to watch one auction for over $50 this weekend). The only way I've gotten decent Vectrex deals on ebay is to buy large lots. Also I think we're still in a peak Seller's Season, with Christmas and then tax returns coming. Summer may be a more favorable time for buyers. ... Sometimes too, the time of day/week when the auction ends can be a factor in how competitive an auction is, (if it ends at 4 in the morning on a Wednesday it is going to have less last minute activity than a Sunday evening).

Just an amazing console. I got my first one about a year ago and have been playing almost nothing but Vectrex ever since. I have cart/overlay for every game, except for the 3D ones. The multi-carts are over-rated in my opinion. It is more important to have a few of the better overlays than it is to have every single game ROM. If you haven't played Web Wars WITH the overlay, then you haven't really played Vectrex, in my opinion. Buy/acquire Web Wars/overlay. Buy/acquire Pole Position/overlay, if you can find/afford. Then choose the others based on their appeal to you. Buy Protector from classicgamecreations.com for about $12. That's the single greatest value in retro gaming. Also available at the same place is GRAVITREX PLUS, for about $25. This is Mr. Dondzilla's clone of Gravitar. It is very well done and there is a lot of game there, compared to most of the other Vectrex games. You can spend a lot of time playing this game. Two player co-op is fun in Rip Off and Armor Attack, if you have a 2nd controller. If you haven't the skill to make your own gamepad mod, you can buy one today from recycledgamer.com, for about $50. For me the original Vectrex control panel is always the most FUN to play with, but I generally require the modded pad to get high scores on hectic games like Protector/Gravitrex/Vector Pilot etc. The games to get, in my opinion: Web Wars/overlay I,Cyborg (OOP) Gravitrex Protector Pole Position/overlay Fortress of Narzod/overlay Cosmic Chasm/overlay Bedlam/overlay Vector Pilot/red overlay War of the Worlds 2011 Welcome to Vectrex!

Updating my own list which was Protector and I,Cyborg before. Add to that now Gravitrex Plus and War of the Worlds - both still available on cartridge and both awesome. Gravitrex Plus (Gravitar remake) is fun and engaging and offers a very robust experience, with tons of levels and challenge. War of the Worlds is a more straight-forward and quick play (remake of a rare arcade vector classic), but very addicting with great graphics and sounds. I can't think of any other Vectrex game with this much animation. Check out my homemade overlay prototype:

Vectrex is amazing and I can't get enough of it. It's the best and pretty much only semi-accessible way to play real vector graphics video games anymore. The homebrew is awesome and figures to keep running strong. ... Only thing lacking is a reliable service to produce new overlays of as high quality as the originals, (most everyone who has ventured to produce them seems to move on to other things, or even swear never to do it again, because of the hassle and expense involved) If I'm ever a billionaire I swear I will dump a ton of cash to commission the manufacture of a (backwards compatible) Super Vectrex console! Among other "recreational investments", I would certainly contract a programmer(s) to make my Vectrex ideas a reality. However, I'm just a thousandaire at the moment, (and barely that), so my best hope is to someday complete my collection with the 3D imager/3D games, an MB console/controller and some of the harder to acquire homebrews. I have just about everything else, minus Space Wars and a few boxes.

Hey I just saw this thread and started looking at the blog you linked. ... I have been reading about the development of Star Castle which you've written about in the Cinematronics section. REALLY INTERESTING. I do not count myself among the many enthusiastic fans of Star Castle, so if any of this history is common knowledge to fans, it makes sense that I wouldn't know about it, and I'm only learning about it now from your blog. (That the original idea was an "adult game" featuring player controlled swarms of sperm, targeting an egg in the center of the screen, etc.) Star Castle doesn't blow my mind and also the original adult concept of "Oops" doesn't sound like something that would immensely amuse me. But that progression is really interesting to me. It seems rare that we are ever provided with any kind of psychological explanation for the inspiration or design of a video game, or that video games are interpreted as windows into the human psyche (the way art, literature and cinema often are), or that they are even based on life in any meaningful way. So thanks for writing about that. It was useful to me. ... I visited this thread while searching for ideas and info for my own video game book (just a concept at this point). Mine would be more of an art book with lots of pictures, and no kind of complete history, aimed more at general audiences / art-lovers / designers (game and non-game) rather than gamers or game fanatics. Basically a curated visual overview with a pretentious title like "Interactive Videocraft". (I'm messing around with some game design and I'd love to have a book like this to refer to, with basic game concepts demonstrated and contrasted, and various aesthetic issues cataloged and represented visually). Anyway, I plan to spend more time looking through your blog. If there's is any other particular stuff in there (or elsewhere) that explains the design concepts of any classic games, I'd appreciate it if you (or anyone else) could direct me to that.

Sounds awesome. Is it easy enough and reliable enough that you might make another Vectrex controller and sell it to me?

Vectrex is the only system that is simultaneously cool enough (to me) AND small enough of a library for me to contemplate completing. I started out with just seeking the games I really wanted (with or without packaging), but after buying various lots to that end, I got close enough that I decided to go for it all. (Not there yet) At this point the only non-3D (U.S.) GCE game that I completely lack is Space Wars. I don't have the 3D imager or any 3D games. Have cart/overlay/manual for everything else. There are 7 game BOXES that I don't have and I don't have any boxes or packaging for any hardware. Some of the games I only have really crappy boxes for. 3D stuff is beyond my budget for now and I would definitely settle for repro-hardware/games if it ever happens (again). Wouldn't dream of collecting every significant homebrew game/hardware/accessory, since a lot of it is OOP and impossible to score. Just buy what I want that is still attainable as far as homebrew goes. ... For non-U.S. stuff, (currently have none), I'd just like to land a MB console/controller and the "Web Warp" version of Web Wars.

I got this on my iPad2, with the game pack too. ... I'm glad this was made and released, but I guess I wish it was more straight-forward - fixed controls, simpler menus, fewer special features - basically just an emulator would be my preference. ... I still think the best vector graphics conversion I've seen on any iTunes app is the arcade games in the Atari Greatest Hits app. Most everything else I've seen kind of annoys me. If you're playing the Vectrex Regeneration app on the touchscreen (no iCade or iPhone link), the joystick control is incredibly frustrating. That's really my main comment on the app (a negative one), but I keep this comment separate because it's one thing that they could potentially fix in an update, and probably they will I think.

Hey me too. I haven't even tried it because I am so used to Atari Arcade working with NOTHING. Have you EVER found a non-Atari app that works with the Atari Arcade?

I downloaded this app (and subsequently the game pack) to my iPad2 minutes after it was released. I'm not concerned about them charging for the games ($7 for all of them is pretty slight). I understand the argument about the rights to Vectrex being conditional on there being no profit, and I suppose this technically violates that. But these guys did a ton of work providing this software for you, and to what ever degree they are not entitled to compensation for that, you are even less entitled to free access to it. They did the work to put it on your tablet, which is apparently worth something to you as that is the subject of this thread. You can get the raw ROMs for free on you desktop/emulator, but there's still no way for you to get the real thing for free. Even that Vectrex Homebrew Godfather John Dondzilla charges money for reproduced GCE cartridges. ... He has permission to do that and I would not be the least bit surprised if the Vectrex Regeneration folks do too. Heh but about this app, it is in no way a substitute for the real thing. The joystick function makes it nearly unplayable for me. Why is it not stationary?

Hey by the way gorf68, I've since tried out Geometry Wars. ... I do see now how easily and satisfyingly it might translate to a real vector game. But I'm afraid it is way too hectic of a game for Vectrex to handle! ... Seems like you would have to scale the enemy hoards down considerably, which might really make it a whole different game. ... A whole new game would be my personal preference anyway though.

(( EDITED POST )) Glad to hear you've worked more on VTWIST, that was definitely my favorite among them. I'd love to try it out again when you put a new revision out there. I've read recently that the notion of "sprites" is problematic in vector graphics (not just because there are not pixels but also) because a large part of the programming is manipulating how things display, frame rate etc., and getting it to work. ... So maybe you are already deeply immersed in this process. I guess it is fundamental to all Vectrex programming. If you haven't read Christopher Tumber's account of programming VFrogger, you might find it helpful. I just read it, but it will hopefully be more useful to you. He explains his process of attaining some goals with the display of his game, eliminating distortion, optimization etc.: http://vectrexmuseum.com/share/coder/DIS/CHRIS/VFROGGER/SOURCE/PROGGER.TXT

Heh, too late to affect your decision I suppose, but Star Castle is rare and valuable, (as well as too difficult for the casual gamer in my opinion), so maybe not a safe choice. Web Wars is much MUCH better with the overlay, and if you can get a hold of one, it is THE essential game to showcase the Vectrex in my opinion. The 3D effect requires the overlay, and it is quite impressive. It's really not a very complicated game either. Maybe just requires a brief introduction. (SHOOT/DODGE the stars, CAPTURE the trophies, ENTER the doors). - It's in my top 5 all time video games, and better than Tempest in my opinion. Web Wars may not be THE simplest game for a stranger to pick up, but it is certainly the most impressive sight for a stranger to see on this curious old console. Solar Quest is very straightforward and actually pretty fun in my opinion. It provides a longer and less hectic experience than other games of its type. But there is nothing spectacular or impressive about it.

I think your new control idea would work really nicely. I still think it would be incredible fun to push the joystick to fire, but your way I think would really make a lot more sense. MOVING in only 4 directions in this game, would seem like much less of a handicap than SHOOTING in only 4. Also, naturally whichever one is controlled by the stick is going to be the easier and more intuitive one to do. Being able move and dodge quickly would really be mandatory, for this game not to be incredibly frustrating. ... If some players are not very good at moving the gun, they could still leave it in one position and move the ship around the screen for a while. Spreading the enemies out would also be an improvement I think, or have some variety maybe that they begin clustered, but eventually stray in calculated ways, and maybe at a variety of different speeds. Maybe not random, but sort of have a pattern as a group. I suspect that sound effects would make the collisions seem less glitchy.