fdr4prez

Well it certainly isn't considered a classic console. Too bad there isn't a vaporware subforum

they don't need to close this thread. It just needs to move to the Modern Gaming subforum. That is...unless the typical Amico haters start stinking up the thread and then it could/should be closed.

Please read the the post immediately above yours. It explains the current status.

I just found the instructions to the original game. Tomy-Caveman.pdf Some interesting things that i didn't recall, or that I never knew about. 1) I did not know (or forgot) that you if you place an egg at your home's "egg counter" position that you do not get points for it until when you placed a second egg down and that first one actually enters your home. I guess that makes sense since the pterodactyl can take it, so you don't get points until it is protected in your cave. 2) Your cave only hold 8 eggs, but you need 9 eggs to end the level. 3) when you go to the dino to grab an egg, you do not get it immediately/instantly. You actually need to stay there for a bit of time (not specified in the manual), and then the egg blinks and that's an indication that you have it so you can leave with it. This means that while you are waiting at/under the dino for the egg to blink, then the dino can breathe down on you. This is even harder on the Pro mode since the dino breathe down more often. 4) Once the egg is laid, then you have 8-seconds before it rolls back to be hatched. I certainly knew about the baby dino being hatched, but I didn't know it was an 8-second window.

I've not played since I was a kid back in the '80s. I can pop some batteries in to see if it still works after all these years, but i do recall that the amateur level had a few levels of progression. First level is just you and the dino, so no lava and no pterosaur. Second level added the pterosuar and no lava. Third level was lava and no pterodactyl. fourth level was lava and pterodactyl. I don't recall if it just stays like that from there on out. You plan to follow that same level progression? Your last video seems to indicate that you start on level 3 of the original game. And the dino lays eggs when dizzy. If there is already an egg available and you hit the dino, then you can typically grab that egg and one more egg before the dino recovers. Maybe your can do that for your amateur setting, but the Pro setting would not have the dino lay eggs while dizzy. Just to spice things up a bit. I don't remember the Pro level progression. I just know that it starts with two pterosaurs flying around, and you throw your single axe and you have to go home to get another.

yeah, from doing a google search on pterosaur sizes, they vary greatly. So i guess your pterodactyl needs to be large enough to carry away an egg, and since your egg is a bit large then the bird needs to be suitably large. Not necessarily as large as the caveman, or maybe even larger than the caveman. So long as the egg and pterodactyl are a nice ratio to each other, then it'd look good. In the original game, you can see that the egg is held in the bird's mouth and is carried away. It'd be nice to see the egg being carried away in your game. If an egg just disappears, then the size of the pterodactyl isn't so important, so long as it looks good.

This is my list, but i do not know if it is correct, or complete, because I just recently learned about Reflex and now possibly the Laseresal that you posted here. AsteroidsDC+ Death_Derby__2LK_16___24_03_2003___Glenn_Saunders Grandmas_Revenge - DC in Right Port Heartbreak Indy 500 Indy 500 - Alternate Tracks Indy 500 - XE Laseresal 2002 (Brooni) (2002) (Andrew Wallace) [a] Omega Race Reflex SprintmasterDC Stell A Sketch Thrust - Platinum Thrust+ Turbo Arcade zombie_chase-blackwhite mode for DC

The new opening is neat. The flying pterodactyls in the original game has two flight paths. They are basically the same path, but randomly they would pop down and grab an egg and sometimes they would just stay up and not grab the egg, so there is a random chance that they don't go down to grab it and you never know if your egg will be safe or not. Do you have a list of additional things to be added? Such as the dino biting down (or breathing down) on you as you grab the egg? Remember the original game had the dino breathe fire down on you. While an egg is there she still goes down to breathe fire on it. Maybe she is keeping it warm so it'll hatch, or she's just trying to block you away from the egg. And she would just randomly biting/breathing down if there is no egg there. Still a plan to have the egg roll back to have a baby dino pop out? So you need to get the egg within a certain amount of time, otherwise you loose that egg. I think those are the two main things missing from the original game. Any new things you thinking of adding to expand on the game? In the original game there is an advanced mode. In that version there is only one axe/hammer, so once you throw it then you need to return home to get another, and there are two pterodactyls flying around.

thanks. I'll add it to my DC collection as that is a rather short gamelist

these are now waiting for me:

You can do a nanochess holiday collection. Cupid game for Valentines Day Leprechaun game for St Patrick's Day Easter Bunny game for Easter A game for The Day of the Dead A turkey game for Thanksgiving Reindeer Games for Christmas (or a Krampus game )

yes, but 3 ICs (SIPO + 2x 4CH optoisolators) will take more real estate on the board compared to one Maxim IC, more traces to route and more soldering for the sockets (although that's the easy part). Do you have the room on inside your case for the Arduino and the three other ICs? Are you planning on mounting the Arduino to your board, or are you planning to use just the Atmega chip on your board to save space?

I used an Arduino Uno for my design testing for my Inty controller design, and I am using an Arduino Nano in my prototype IntelliGamepad. I plan on using the Atmega328 directly on the finished board. But I am not connecting to both ports. That Maxim Switch IC looks isolated enough, so if it can be used instead of the SIPO, then it may be worth building a sample for testing using only one port. How do you plan to connect to both ports?

Neat. DC? Or joystick or paddles?

Not sure if this is helpful as his Arduino is not connected to the console. His Arduino is outputting serial talk going to a SIPO chip, and so the SIPO is connected to the console.

That's a nice consideration

Sorry, I can't help beyond the recommendation that you have some isolation between your controller and the console. I know optoisolators offer a complete isolation. Beyond that, anything else can be used that you are comfortable using. That Maxim switch IC looks neat.

Oh, if you are planning to use those, then I wouldn't worry about a charging circuit. Let the operator/purchaser use their own battery charger for those types of batteries. I was thinking of the lipo batteries, and then you can add a charging circuit. There are many sample circuits to follow online - or use a pre-made charging board.

An optoisolator is not another logic chip. It is really just a transistor (phototransistor) that is triggered using an internal LED. So the LED side is triggered from the SIPO and the transistor side is connected to the pins on the cable going to the console. The two components are physically two separate components in one package, hence the isolation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opto-isolator?wprov=sfla1 You can look into using two 4-channels to cover all 8 pins

There is no power pin on the Intellivision controller. There is a ground pin only. 9 pins on the connector > 1=gnd and 8=controller output That has always been the trouble for third-party controllers for Intellivision. And you cannot really power your controller from the "high" pins used for the controller output. You'd have to solder a +5v wire from internal to the console and run it along with the cable out to the controller. And no one wants to do that. Or you'd have to use an external wall adapter - I use normal USB wall warts for phone chargers. But it's advisable to have isolation if your SIPO doesn't provide it. Or you'd have to use battery power, like evg2000 does, but it's advisable to have isolation if your SIPO doesn't provide it. Using a 3v Arduino means that your SIPO needs to run off of 3v, but the SIPO output pins need to be 5v tolerant since that it what it will see from the console. And again, it is advisable to have isolation if your SIPO doesn't provide it. Using a transistor or even just a diode, per pin, can offer some level of isolation but there is still a direct connection between your powered controller and the console. Using optoisolators, as evg2000 mentioned, can run off of either the 5v or 3v power, and offers complete isolation to the console. Optoisolators are neat things. If you are considering transistors, then look to see if you have room for optoisolators. If your SIPO are sufficient for isolation, then this is all moot. On a side note: If you can do a 3v version, then there is a chance to use lipo rechargeable batteries. You'd have to provide a charging circuit, LED indicators for power and charging status, and something like a microUSB port to charge the battery, etc, but that'd be neat.

Notice on the link from my first post: So the pins on the console should be measuring 5v until you pull it low. That is another reason for isolation. You also don't want that 5v messing with your SIPO pins (unless they are 5v tolerant)

It is highly recommended that you isolate the controller from console - unless you pull the +5v from the console itself. But if you are using an outside power source, you don't want to accidentally inject your power into the console and damage the ICs in there. In my testing, the Intv2 handled it OK, but that doesn't mean that there would be no long-term damage. But the original console would just have a garbled display, and isolating the controller fixed it.

Pin out: Deathskull Laboratories! - Intellivision Controller Pinouts (xmission.com) Pin numbering matched standard DB9 numbering, and that is mapped out to the original Intellivision console controller (inline 9-pin)

Does this count? 2009 movie - Aliens in the Attic One of the kids wore an Activision Grand Prix t-shirt throughout the movie