Defender not working

[megoninja]

Hey guys,

 

I just got Defender in the mail for my Coleco and I am having some trouble getting it to work. Whenever I turn it on the game seems to work OK but the scanner at the top does not display any thing but terrain. I would have just referred to the other thread (http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/159199-is-my-cv-defender-defective/) about this but it does not stop there.

 

Not only does the scanner not work but the controls don't either. I can move my ship around and fire the normal laser but that is it, no hyperspace and no smart bombs. No matter how much I mash the right button nothing will happen. The control cant be the problem as I use it for other games and if it was a problem then I shouldnt be able to select 1 or 2 players at the start of the game.

 

The game is from the US (making it an NTSC game) while my Coleco is an Australian PAL machine. I felt this was worth mentioning as the other thread I mentioned used the same combination, perhaps there is a regional issue here but I must make sure, is it possible that Defender carts can be faulty like this?

 

Any help would be hugely appreciated as I love Defender and want to play it!!

 

thanks

[Ikrananka]

I can't help you with your control problem but I can confirm that your scanner is not broken. This is down to a bug in Defender that is only apparent on PAL (50Hz) ColecoVisions. I used to play Defender on my UK PAL CV and was always frustrated by the scanner not working. The bug can even be seen under emulation - try it in blueMSX and change the video frequency between 50Hz and 60Hz. The scanner only works when the video mode is set to 60Hz (NTSC).

 

BTW - Regardless of where the game was sold, with ColecoVision cartridges there were absolutely no differences in the game ROM. There were no NTSC or PAL specific versions - they were all the same.

[megoninja]

so then there is no PAL colecovision on the planet that can run Defender in any way? That must have caused some real problems half of the colecovision world.

So should I just go and buy the Intellivision version instead?

[Ikrananka]

so then there is no PAL colecovision on the planet that can run Defender in any way? That must have caused some real problems half of the colecovision world.

So should I just go and buy the Intellivision version instead?

The only thing that doesn't work when playing Defender on a PAL machine is the scanner - the controls worked fine on my machine. It's a long shot but have you tried cleaning the edge contacts on your cartridge?