Relicgamer

December 19, 2020

4 hours ago, 5-11under said:

I thought about making games for the Microvision close to 10 years ago, when I was working on trying to reconstruct the Microvision (using an Arduino compatible microcontroller and color LCD screen). Somewhere I have some "screenshots" of games that I thought would work well for the Microvision, with it's 16x16 monochrome display and paddle controller. I started buying games and systems as part of both of these projects. The reconstruction was cancelled after I found out that duplicating the LCD was an easier and cheaper solution. The games programming was still in my head, though.

If you recall, there's an unreleased game for the Microvision, Barrage, that was advertised in the Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog for 1982. I think all that exists is this picture from the catalog:

I thought it would be fun to create a game based on this picture. I call it Barrage 2021, so it's not completely confusing compared to the unreleased game. About 3 years ago I started programming the game. It got lost in busyness, and about 2 months ago, I finally finished it off with some tweaks and an additional game mode.

Somewhere in there, I also made a few board layouts for the Microvision. I've got a newer one, but this is the one I used (because apparently at some point I bought a batch of boards):

The original Microvision games use old microprocessors that are difficult to find and program, so instead, I'm using relatively modern parts... an Atmega328 as well as a 9V<->5V level shifter. The '328 has some EEPROM space, which I've used to store high scores. I programmed the game in the Arduino IDE, and programmed the '328 with a TL866 programmer (without the Arduino bootloader). Programming the Microvision has some similarities to chasing the beam on the Atari 2600, as you need to refresh the screen on a regular basis. There's a few other timing/switching things to be concerned about, but mostly it involves setting up the row (or column) patterns you want to display, and sending out that data on a regular basis. To help in this, I set up a bit of a "state machine", to make it fairly easy to output the correct display, depending on the current status (for instance title screen, setup screen, gameplay screen, game over screen). Just change the mode (state) from 1 to 2, for instance, to switch the display from title screen to gameplay screen.

A few years ago I created the box and labels and manual layouts, but lost them when my computer died (back up your files, people!!! ). It's been a crazy year, so I can't even remember if that was one or two years ago. Anyway, over the past month, I recreated those, to match the standard design of other Microvision games. I haven't 100% duplicated everything, but it's close enough, and in some ways makes more sense for today.

Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to produce a batch of these for anyone who wants one (don't PM me yet... this might take a while to get everything figured out... there'll be plenty of notice). For the pictures below, all of the materials for the pictures below are printed on regular paper, using a laser printer (instead of being properly printed, with decent paper, mylar, and sticker material). The bezel was also quickly painted by hand, and is cracked - I need to figure out a good and repeatable way to do the painting better. I also just used an existing box - I'd much rather make my own boxes from scratch - so I'll need to find some material for that. Here's some pictures...

The box:

Unboxed:

Manual (outside) and cart with system:

Manual (inside):

There's a lame backstory in the manual, but basically you need to catch all the single-block-wide "fireballs" that are falling from the sky. However, if you see a double-wide "ship", you want to avoid that. The main mode has one ship every other wave. There's an alternate mode that has a ship much more often. There's 3 skill levels, and 99 waves (30 fireballs/ships per wave), that vary in speed and vary in amount of space between one fireball and the next. As you proceed through the waves, the speed generally (but not always) increases. You start with 8 or 16 "players" depending on skill level, and if you miss a fireball or catch a ship, you lose one player. In the main mode, if you miss the rare ship, you get an extra player, and in the alternate mode, you gain an extra player every other wave. The bottom row of the display shows the number of players.

Gameplay video, in the spirit of Blair Witch. Apparently when I'm trying to play a game and hold a phone at the same time, I'm really bad at both. This is the alternate mode (and uses a slightly outdated program file):

Cheers!

Holy crap thats amazing. Hats off to you sir well done. Love to have that game.

December 5, 2020

Wow looks great.

November 26, 2020

On 11/24/2020 at 9:31 AM, 5-11under said:

100% agree, except (or maybe especially):

Damn straight! This project "is" important to, but not "that" important to me. From about May to about October, this was absolutely nowhere near the top of my personal priority list. In fact, I had less than zero interest in this project. Like it or not, that's the way it was. Fin.

Back to our regularly scheduled broadcast... the local reps of the LCD company have contacted the China office, who is now working on dialing in the correct contrast.

And thats totally fair. I mean its a vintage toy not a heart replacement. I get it. All I was saying is is updates means alot even if you tell everyone you are putting this project on hold for a few months. Thats all I was getting at.

November 24, 2020

15 hours ago, Shawn said:

Um no. He milked Harvey's thread for all he could until he was asked to leave after he proclaimed he wanted to stay around.

Look I feel everyone needs to cool it. And to claim this other guy was l

Milking it is a stretch. We all had been asking got nothing, not a response.

This happens alot on Atariage. Ive been waiting a year and others 2 or more years to get a response from a guy to make nuon controllers. Of which hes already made in the past and sold then states more are coming and nothing for years. So spare everyone the drama. 511 is no doubt busy and I get that. But it only takes a couple of minutes to update your thread and give your interested ones that update. I was there when the other person came in and took on the project as well. Yet 511 hadn't responded not once till months later. Telling me it wasn't that important to him. You can say what you want but in the end dropping in once a month to let everyone know your still trying, goes a long ways. I get alerts when this thread has new comments as well as others. And I'm not the originator of it. Yet 511 not once responded when that other person jumped in. Why is that? Because he wasn't making it a priority. Not interested, not at least all those months this thread went dark. I watched people come every month asking about it and zero response. As I said earlier this isnt uncommon on Atariage so sorry if you think people have lost faith because its been a repeat experience on here.

Also I might add that if it wasn't for that other guy who knows how long 511 would have taken to move this along.

Might have been the necessary fire under the feet this project needed. IMHO

November 21, 2020

1 hour ago, 5-11under said:

Quick update: customs has cleared. That makes me feel better, after being in customs for about 48 hours.

Very exciting news, thanks for the update.

November 9, 2020

10 minutes ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

Thanks! I feel like I got booted! ? I was at the point of no return to stop now. I've been working really hard with the vendor on this.

I wasn't trying to take the guys project. He just never responded to messages or forums posts. No idea. Does he not get notifications?

Your correct. Its been dormant too long. I get it its difficult and you have to keep people informed. I had a similar situation with something and people were asking me all the time and I just responded the facts. And when it didnt pan out I told them. He has a point about you having your own spot and thats actually better. I was thinking this project was dead. Then you came and got things moving. In the end I hope this lites the fire on this project and gets this little handheld the attention it needs.

Thanks for your efforts

November 9, 2020

I wanted to post a comment so I can be in the loop. I'm happy with your continued work on this.

November 8, 2020

Im glad to see you back. And definitely think you should continue moving forward. None of this would have happened and raised interest in this little ol handheld if you hadn't gotten the ball rolling.

I think having 2 in the works is great. In the end its a passion project and keep gaming history alive. Anything I can do to help promote it let me know. Thats for you and rwburbage

October 30, 2020

On 4/9/2020 at 6:05 AM, michaelr said:

hi guys

I make Atari 2600 vcs reproduction console boxes plus repro game boxes. All retyped with all original fonts, retouched and professionally assembled from scratch with no scans or jpegs used. They're all on my etsy shop. Take a look and spread the word if you can. Thanks!
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/boxingatari

Do you still make these and if so do you ship to the States? Also do you know bbn of anyone that does reproduction boxes for the colecovision console itself

October 6, 2020

So I just received 2 units with broken screens so add me for 3 screens total.

October 1, 2020

14 hours ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

That's a good thought. I'm not sure how you notice what chip you have externally. If you use hot air gun over the label it covers the screw.

Does the commodore 64 have a cooling fan in the case?

Not sure how common the c64's had problems. They seemed pretty solid. I had one through the 90s early 2000s and never had any problems. Sold that one. And fast forward bought another one last year again zero problems and we're talking about a computer thats over 30 years old. Also will add what really is common with c64 failures is the power supply. They can fail all of a sudden and allow higher voltage to the computer and destroy it.

As for the microvision. I have the newer unit with the shielding and uses 1 battery. Still works but from what I read in the past is these being stored in warmer climates or left in the sun will speed up the failure rate to the screen itself. Mine spent most of if not all of its life in the Pacific northwest which is mostly cooler climate year round. Less chances of being hot.

September 24, 2020

1 hour ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

The Microvision LCD Project is back on track! ?

will be shipped for further testing.

Stay tuned for another exciting episode of... Are those Microvision LCD's done yet?

Hot diggity dog, thats great news.

September 19, 2020

13 hours ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

There's been a huge setback. ? The 2 units sent to the supplier were "rainbowed" on arrival. ? One unit was barely working when it left and the other unit had a very clear LCD with no sign of leaks. Both were DOA upon opening.

They can't replicate the LCD unless they have a working unit to test. I've confirmed that with 3 different suppliers, unless you can completely spec it out for them to build. They all require at least 2 samples and the device if possible.

The next step is to send the last working LCD by itself somehow protected from not only temperature but pressure changes. Cargo holds have extremes of both. I'll talk with a DHL rep to see if they have packing suggestions. ? ?

Sorry to hear that. Never thought about the air pressure effecting them.

September 18, 2020

46 minutes ago, towmater said:

What's going on here? I came back one last time to click on "Ignore This Thread" only to find that there is hope yet. Is this thread still acting as an order-of-interest list?

Not sure what you mean. But someone else is making strides to have a screen replacement and possible built in light. If you were already aware of that disregard my comment

September 17, 2020

13 minutes ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

I just saw that website today. I was blown away the cartridge detail when all the work they went into it. They even had the keys labeled and new stickers put on the cartridge. It was really a great job.

Ot would be great to see a surge of homebrews come out somehow once these dead units are back up and running.

September 17, 2020

1 minute ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

I found the pics in his posts. I tried to do a quick search but there are so many posts I couldn't find it quick enough.

Love to get that homebrew of tetris lol

September 2, 2020

5 hours ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

the units arrived at the supplier. waiting for the results...

Wow this is good news.

August 15, 2020

On 8/14/2020 at 1:45 AM, Shawn said:

It's very underhanded to be trying to make the exact same thing as 5-11 and openly discuss taking the ball and running with it for your own ends right in the guys own thread. I mean come on, you could at least start your own thread somewhere else right? I get it you don't like that he's not produced a bunch of these yet even though he did show working protos back in 2018 but that doesn't give anyone the right to come in and say they are gonna do it instead and will sell to the same people that 5-11 had down as interested.

Well perhaps 5-11 could be better with updates. Then people could know if its happening or not. Also this other person has reached out but again no response. Give the guy a break. Int not loke hes stealing a million dollar business deal from 5-11

July 29, 2020

Im in for 2 and backlighting for me.

July 26, 2020

On 7/24/2020 at 7:46 PM, racerx said:

Get the fcuk out, dude.

Dude that comment was Epic. Man you are the real deal. Props to you. Those pictures were cool to see, really awesome things you have been involved with. Thanks for sharing and it also shows you can be a serious fan and be honest about the vcs. Thank you

July 23, 2020

10 minutes ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

Well, I created an item on ebay discussing this issue. https://www.ebay.com/itm/224090610358

I have a supplier that's ready to make these. The cost is still being worked out. The supplier also builds the replacement units for all of the old gameboy units with a white backlight display. Those are for sale all over ebay.

These Microvision displays are extremely simple.

If anyone knows how to contact 511under, let me know.

So are you saying that these could have a backlight? And are you working with a supplier to get these made yourself? If so thats great. I hope everyone on here wanting these can jump on board and we can get this going. And people can start enjoying these.

July 23, 2020

11 hours ago, rwburbage@msn.com said:

Who exactly is working on this replacement screen? 5-11under? Anyone else working on this?

I enjoy working on solutions for these old games. We all enjoy a little fun nostalgia with playing the old games. I've recently purchased a unit on ebay. It was not working and I wanted to find a solution. I quickly found this thread.

I rebuild the games Dark Tower with new motors, brighter displays and new battery contacts. Also restored are the record players for voice of the mummy, Seance and Mattel Instant replay-talking baseball and football. All of these repairs are new motors and replacing the nasty battery corroded contacts custom made from Cheeeena manufacturers. Sometimes other hand made customs plastic part repairs are needed. Here is the website. www.voiceofthemummy.com

It's really cool for everyone to enjoy playing these restored games once again. I would like to work on getting a replacement LCD display made but it seems like this project has gone on for years now!

Does anyone personally know 5-11under?? Is a replacement getting manufactured?

Thanks for any help.

Not sure whats going on. Seemd like it was possibly happening but then nothing. Has to be frustrating. Im 1 of the lucky few to have a working unit. Knock on wood. I keep mine in a cool area and being in Washington state its typically cooler here. As you probably know these are known for failing due to the lcd when in warm temperatures. Or so I've heard. I wanted a couple just as backups. An update or something would be nice

June 27, 2020

On 6/24/2020 at 5:21 PM, Rik1138 said:

Yeah, that is what it does, but the problem was the new LCDs aren't dark enough even at the darkest setting.

I believe he said they would work if you replace a resistor (or one little component), and I'm starting to think he should just offer that option now. Keep working toward a drop-in replacement, but for those of us that can solder a single device I'd like to get my Microvisions working again no matter what. Unless the company really thinks they can easily fix it, just bring on the extra work! I just want them working again...

Agreed. These old systems need sone love. And having a way to being these back from the dead would be nice

May 31, 2020

8 minutes ago, sixersfan105 said:

I had read elsewhere (perhaps somewhere on AA or similar) that Lee has enough chips "for a lifetime," so that's apparently not a concern, which is a good thing!

Agreed. We just need the developer to return to AA and/or respond to emails.

Wonder if Nick can have better luck contacting lee

May 30, 2020

18 minutes ago, sixersfan105 said:

If you're talking about Nick P, I'm not referring to him. I'm referring to the guy that makes the boards with the chip on them. Believe his name is Lee.

Well yes thats what I mean. I believe it was Nick that told me that they were all out of the chips. And till they got more he couldn't make any more controllers. Im not sure what the process is to getting more made. But maybe if we can get enough people onboard we could get the other guy to make the chips

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