gliptitude

I prefer the real thing but they are two different and awesome things and I do them both. Some stuff will never be adequately emulated, such as Vectrex. With a lot of the emulation I do I'm not really looking for the authentic experience, but rather a new experience. I really like emulators written for consoles, rather than PC's. In the past I was playing NES games and mono GB games on a GB Micro with an emulator. These days I'm playing Virtual Boy games with 3D glasses and Atari paddle games with motion controllers via emulators on a Wii. .. Also playing a lot of other games that I would just never end up tracking down or buying. Overall though I think emulators are better suited to testing than to actual gaming.

I'm not sure if it would help or hurt. My first thought was that this would be too fancy for my taste. My second thought was that i don't want to be discouraged from running through each room. .. But then I thought maybe the HP rewards would make it more fun to fight the enemies, by reducing some of the risk involved. I did find the enemies difficult and i wasn't sure if i wasn't hitting them right or if it just takes multiple hits. Maybe different audio feedback could help with this? Or a visual indication, such as the enemy flashing with each hit. I do think some feedback here would make the fighting more gratifying. I only spent a small amount of time with the demo and only on an emulator so far, but it looks like a really exciting project. It's interesting to me that you already have the complete game on a more advanced platform and I wonder what your main goal or idea is in making the 2600 version.

I'm not going to get caught on the criteria if the title of the thread is so straight forward. If it is homebrewed it is a candidate, regardless of format, availability, legality or even level of completion. We shouldn't rule out the best attributes of any program. top two for me: Juno First Oystron (Both of these seem completely inspired to me). Others: Princess Rescue Thrust+ Starfire Skeleton+ I'm hoping to include Zippy and Marble Craze but I haven't played those yet.

For a driving game i think a better combination would be Paddle and Foot Pedals. If the Driving Controller suits you as well as the Paddle, I know that this has been combined with the Foot Pedals before, wink wink cough nudge. .. I do think some kind of game where one person uses two paddles or spinners could be really neat though.

Wow cool! I never thought of that. Sounds like an excellent and clever negotiation. Ironically I too have proposed a Night Driver hack in the past and I DO currently have a spare bedroom. .. Although my proposed hack was so simple it might not really even qualify as "an idea".

I admit mine still sits in the box. .. I do think that a single and complete step by step instruction for "standard assembly" would be useful. For myself a printed version would probably be more useful than a video. The customizable nature of this controller is appealing and I definitely hope to complete mine in a unique way, but I guess I would be much more likely to get started if everything needed to assemble a working model was included, (except for tools of course). I'd really like to see and feel how this thing functions before i build a custom enclosure, or decide how to orient things permanently. .. I'm not suggesting sending enclosures to people who already bought. Just saying that it might be a better way for the next batch, or for another future project. An all-in-the-box kit would widen the customer base to appropriately include novices. .. It might be just as good for me though if a few others complete their kits and report back here what it's like and how it turned out.

A homebrew system would be awesome! .. This might be a bit farfetched but i think a great homebrew Adventure Vision game would be a primitive 3D game, like Night Driver, or a very basic rail shooter.

I think Night Driver is a great candidate for a graphics hack. It's kind of a shame that such an elegant game has such clumsy sprites. The 3D effect is truly awesome and I think it'd be a huge improvement to simply eliminate the backround graphics, (houses and trees). In my opinion the cars aren't so bad and even the blocky player's car would look okay with only minor alterations. The game has a nice attract mode and some of the color schemes that it cycles through would be cool to have as in-game options. .. But black and white and minimalism really seems like the best standard version of this game to me.

Well i think there was a peculiar release of the Star Sling ROM. Not for sale but I don't think it is freely available either. The author Vectorzoa would provide it directly to individuals who contacted him directly for it. Not just a case by case basis, this was advertised as the availability as a rule, and not to be distributed otherwise.

No Warrior ROM. According to his site there are about 50 pre-order Warrior games remaining to ship still. If you look at the games that he has released ROMs for and when they were released relative to the cartridge distribution, it will probably be years before Warrior is released as ROM and it might NEVER be released. I,Cyborg hasn't gotten a ROM release and it is older than most of the games that he has released as free ROMs.

A lot of the best games mentioned so far can be easily and effectively emulated. The Metroid and Zelda ones are cheap and LEGAL at the Nintendo eShop if you have a Wii or 3DS. The 3DS versions of the N64 games are not so cheap but they are completely awesome and worth it. Ocarina of Time 3D is download only at this point. Last I checked the N64 versions could still be downloaded to Wii for about $10 each. The SNES and I think also the NES Zelda games were also reissued on cartridge for the GBA along with NES Metroid, if that makes it any easier for anyone. This is a great game you have to play! The PS3 version comes with Shadow of the Colossus and probably costs less than PS2 Ico by itself, but you said you don't have a PS3. .. If you know about Ico but didn't put Shadow of the Colossus on your list, I'll assume you've already played that one. It's totally amazing, one of my favorites. My top list of yet to play games is mostly arcades: Gravitar Night Driver (280Zzzap would be just as good or better substitute) Tac Scan (sub any of the Sega vectors, all of which look great and none of which I've played) Star Hawk Tailgunner Bioshock (any) Outside of those it's mostly famously rare stuff I don't really expect to ever be able to play: War of the Worlds (arcade vector) Cosmic Chasm (arcade vector) Aztarak (arcade vector) ADVENTURE VISION (preferably Defender) Nurburgring (arcade, predecessor to Night Driver) .. There are plenty of popular games I am supposed to have played but have no interest in playing, such as Call of Duty and HALO. Won't bother listing all of those.

Sorry. I was already in the process of editing my post. Just woke up.

I wouldn't ask for a ROM for this purpose and i don't understand why the author would give you one. In this case the author seems like a really generous guy so he might actually agree to it. But you can't properly display this game without the overlay anyway. If you have a Vectrex, Vector Pilot is a mandatory purchase. That the author is still producing and selling the complete game with a professionally manufactured overlay is really special, awesome for the scene and completely without precedent. .. I don't know that any of the other homebrew overlays compare in quality (so far) and they ALL were made in very limited quality, now unattainable to the casual collector.

All of my recs are Game Boy mono. I strongly agree with some games already mentioned: Operation C Catrap Qix Kid Icarus Bionic Commando Gradius nemesis .. I wouldn't call any of these obscure or hidden, except maybe Catrap. But Catrap was revived in the Nintendo eShop. .. Operation C is a Contra game and one of my favorites. Not as difficult as the NES original. A few more: Marble Madness R-type R-type II R-type DX (both games on one cart) Sagaia ZAS Mole Mania These ones are really interesting but kind of unfair and frustrating to play: Altered Space Monster Max Castelian Marble Madness is really great and a pretty cheap game to pick up. It's scaled down a bit but this is a fun way to play the classic game. The two player game has an advantage over other platforms because each player has their own screen in simultaneous play, so you won't get lost if you are way faster or slower than your opponent. .. Qix is another good two player game. Eh? The GB version is almost the exact same game. The map and levels are basically identical and there are no gameplay elements unique to the GB version. Are you referring to the GB Color game maybe?

You are correct. The black and white KODAK TRI-X REVERSAL FILM, $21.95 at B&H is the one you want. The $38 B&W product would also work. The $15 ones won't work for you because they are only on spools, not super 8 cartridges. (I presume these are made to load on re-usable cartridges that were common in USSR and maybe Europe). The color ones won't work for you because they are negative films. Reversal vs Negative? I have already somewhat explained it, but it might still be confusing if you have never shot any kind of film (such as 35mm still photography). If you ARE old enough to remember when all photgraphy was film then you will remember getting NEGATIVES back with your picture prints from the photo lab. Negatives are used to make PRINTS. If you wanted to make more prints you could take the negatives back to the lab and they would use them to make new prints. Typical still photography film is NEGATIVE film. When you look at the processed film that went through the camera you see a negative image, an image where the things that were dark in real life appear bright and the things that appeared bright in real life appear dark. .. The print that is made from the negative could be called a positive image, bright is bright and dark is dark. Well have you ever seen a SLIDE? A slide was just a single frame of 35mm film mounted in a cardboard frame. To view the slide you simply shine a light from behind it, just like a stain glass window, or put it in a slide projector with a magnifying lens. When you bought a roll of slide film, took your pictures and dropped it off at the lab, you got the same film back (cut up and mounted in cardboard frames). SLIDE FILM IS THE SAME THING AS REVERSAL FILM. In fact some of the slide film stocks are the exact same film stocks they used for Super 8 movie film. It is simply cut and perforated in different dimensions in order to conform with different cameras. "Reversal" and "negative" are designations of the actual film stock you are putting in your camera, which is the same physical length of film the lab will return to you after processing. Does this make sense? .. I guess if you shoot negative film the lab will probably offer you a PRINT and they can probably skip the film print and go straight to a video transfer. .. In general negative movie film is more for professionals and you should use reversal to learn first. Also a large part of the fun is getting a roll of film back that you can actually look at. The Tri-X is a really great place to start. It was always the easiest movie film to use, even when Kodak still had their full range of products. There is still some stuff you'll need to learn, but less than if you use anything else.

None of the film frame rates divide evenly into any of the video frame rates, except for special (now obsolete) film cameras specifically made for television broadcasting. Motion picture film technology is a very straightforward mechanical process. Video is not. "Frame" and "frame rate" are very concrete concepts in film, much less so in video. The film is coming to a complete stop inside the camera every time a frame is captured. It is only moving (one frame at a time) while the shutter is closed. The projector does the same thing at the same rate. With video, and all electronic image capture, there is a scanning process and a corresponding drawing process when displayed. You are not consistently being presented with a concrete sequence of individual full pictures. There is overlap. TELECINE is the older technology for transfering film to video, and probably still the prevailing technology for consumer "home movie transfer". This diagram explains it: I used a semi-pro telecine machine to transfer some stuff a few years ago when the equipment was part of a free film workshop at one of the art museums in Los Angeles. There are also cheap consumer products sometimes called telecine that basically just use a screen to obscure the flicker while you record with a digital camera. I've never used one of those but i would guess that it will suffice for most home movie purposes and i am certain that some of the businesses advertising film transfer just use one of these, rather than real telecine.

If you are referring to the color super 8 films at B&H, it looks like those are all NEGATIVE films.

A single 50ft cartridge of Super 8 film is worth more than most Super 8 cameras. 50ft of 8mm film equals less than 3 minutes of footage when shooting at 24 fps. You also have to find a lab that actually still processes movie film, and pay them. It's encouraging to see that B&H has some Kodak Super 8. I'm pretty sure it is NOT still in production, or at least not directly by Kodak. Kodak made Ektachrome color super 8 movie film up until their bankruptcy. I bought a few rolls from them a few years ago for about $25 per roll. Now that (recent and refrigerated) stock is selling on ebay for over $70 per roll. .. Most of that stuff at B&H is probably not for you. You need REVERSAL film in order to yield an actual film you can watch. NEGATIVE film is a professional film which will yield a negative image which you will need to take to another lab and pay for a print on print film. ... That Lomokino does look neat! .. It seems strange though that they didn't use a smaller size frame in order to fit more in.

Rolo, don't worry. I don't feel ripped off or entitled to a replacement or anything. It just looks like your new board will allow more enclosure options, which appeals to me. You're right there is not much that makes sense with a postal exchange between Germany and U.S. Perhaps you could offer the new populated board (purchased) by itself? Would this save much? That's a nice offer Tony. If you are sure you want to do it then I'd be happy to go along. .. Would it be easier to just send the boards, or maybe they should stay together as kits? If I'm the only one who cares to upgrade and if Tony is willing to do this then there's nothing else to figure out i guess.

Shucks I think I prefer this new design quite a bit. I haven't assembled my kit yet. Is there a way to upgrade to the new board without getting a whole new kit?

Well I'll keep the vector games in a totally separate category, and I really don't think there is any comparison. I'll rate almost every vector game higher than almost every non-vector black and white game. So for best black and white games I'm going with NIGHT DRIVER and STARSHIP 1. I might prefer one of the Night Driver type games that preceded Night Driver: Night Racer, 280 Zzzap or NURBURGRING. But i've never played them.

Thanks for the answers Rolo. Yes by extra stick i just meant the plastic stick, not the potentiometer assembly. I might end up really liking the stick as it is but i wanted to try to fashion a longer one, which would be my preference. It makes sense for you to charge extra for extra stick(s), if it is something you are willing to do at all. At $3 or less i would buy two extra. $5 or less i would buy one extra. More than $5 i might just stay with what is in the kit.

.. Well I got 3D Sector-X and it seems to work just fine with the Madtronix Imager. I also patched the 3D Lord of the Robots ROM and it works fine as well. .. I really like the game so far. It makes me want to play Sectis again, although I think Sector X is more fun and nicer looking than Sectis. The 3D effect in this game actually to me seems less exceptional than the game itself and I even think Lord of the Robots seems more three dimensional than Sector X. .. But the game itself IS pretty exceptional IMO. And I do like the open ended puzzle aspect of it. .. There are some neat touches like how when you move to the lower level the thrust sound gets softer and quieter. This is as far as I have gotten as well. (I think anyone who has played Sectis and Continuum will make it this far after a few tries). .. I was able to inch off of the small square a tiny bit (slowly) without being killed right away, and the bird-fly-thing stops moving. .. So I'm going to think and experiment more before I try to look up the solution. .. I will say i've found it absolutely necessary to use the recommended color wheel (Narrow Escape/Crazy Coaster). The manual says that either wheel will work and that the game will detect which one you are using, but I don't see how this is possible with the equipment i am using and when i do try to use the Minestorm wheel almost everything is green. I suppose there is some sort of unique wheel registration in the original imager that does not exist in the reproduction?

Yes I had arrived at the word "rotary" eventually. Also "wafers" for the portion that would be different inside the pot. It's a lot to sort through and still haven't found exactly. Also i suppose the exact right part would depend on the particular joystick and mechanic i was trying to outfit, which I don't have yet. It would be nice if playstation or wii nunchuck could be used for experiment, and i have some of those. But they seem too small to successfully modify. I do think it would be cool to have a nunchunk permanantly modified for VCS. Or for Vectrex for that matter, maintaining analog. For Vectrex it would be missing at least one button, even if you kept the motion switch operational as one button. Many Vectrex games could be played without a button one or two though.

I think that this is a picture of the conductive/resistive element of a typical potentiometer: Retrieved from: http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm The same page describes some possibilities for manipulating this portion of the component and reassembling the potentiometer for different results. Isn't it possible that this element could be modified and reassembled to produce an on-off-on switch? Maybe just removing the resistive coating and then cutting the copper at the peak of the arch? (And rewiring for Atari digital pinouts) Alternatively couldn't that one element be manufactured to that end with shop equipment suited to PCB printing/cutting?