+LS650 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 At the same time, there's rarely- if ever- been a game as deep as Solaris on the VIC-20. There is a pretty good homebrew scene for the VIC-20, with some releases in the last couple of years that really push the hardware. If you are looking for a more in-depth simulation, take a look at this recent release "Theater of War" from Cronosoft: http://cronosoft.orgfree.com/vic20.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFL Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 Bandits on Vic20 is pretty good, sadly it's one title that isn't quite emulated properly due to some of its code, and it gradually falls apart in Vice. Pity. You really need to play it on real hardware. Can you play it on a PAL system? I thought it was NTSC only... It'd be nice if there was a PAL build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Yeah, that's the other problem, it's NTSC only to boot, so I can't even play it on my real PAL Vic20 here. It's hard to compare the VIC-20 to the Atari 2600... they really are different beasts, despite having similar CPUs. The Atari 2600 could push more color and had smoother scrolling, while the VIC-20 had larger characters and more faithful gameplay in its better titles. Jelly Monsters is much closer to the arcade version of Pac-Man than any of the Pac-Man games on the 2600; even the good ones like Ms. Pac-Man. At the same time, there's rarely- if ever- been a game as deep as Solaris on the VIC-20. Jelly Monsters IS an official Pac-Man conversion. Technically. Commodore had the rights to port the game in Japan from Namco, where it was labelled Pac-Man on the cartridge, but came a cropper when trying to get it released as a game (with a new name) in the West as Atari held the home rights to the arcade. The same thing happened to Star Battle (aka Galaxian) and Radar Rat Race (aka Rally-X), but the latter survived a change of graphics to still be released. Yeah, Atarisoft did a good job porting their games, even to competing systems. I believe Donkey Kong has all four levels in every version Atarisoft made (not counting the 7800 version which was made much later) Atarisoft was merely the publisher, all the titles were converted by third parties contracted to the company, not internally, so you have them to thank for the excellent conversions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Back to topic, the 2600 wins hands down no contest - hey c'mon, when it comes to colour and flexible graphic transitions it can top the 64; go ahead and put Enduro on the 2600 up against any c64 racer and the visuals aren't even close. The C64 wins on sound of course because nothing can beat the SID chip even today Not sure about the technicalities, but I can't imagine the Atari 2600 graphics could ever compare to the C64 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Back to topic, the 2600 wins hands down no contest - hey c'mon, when it comes to colour and flexible graphic transitions it can top the 64; go ahead and put Enduro on the 2600 up against any c64 racer and the visuals aren't even close. The C64 wins on sound of course because nothing can beat the SID chip even today Not sure about the technicalities, but I can't imagine the Atari 2600 graphics could ever compare to the C64 Here's a YouTube video that shows various Commodore 64 racing games: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mseNdfiBaVE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Test Drive and Pitstop II on C64 were pretty sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 (edited) There is a pretty good homebrew scene for the VIC-20 Here are 3 I really like, especially Omega Fury, a sequel to Omega Race. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-1ivobMp7s EDIT - I mention in Berzerk MMX that the game lacks the arcade voices. There is an updated version with them included. Edited April 24, 2012 by AtariLeaf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 (edited) VIC 20 home to one of the most rare Ultima game: http://en.wikipedia...._from_Mt._Drash Edited April 24, 2012 by high voltage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Back to topic, the 2600 wins hands down no contest - hey c'mon, when it comes to colour and flexible graphic transitions it can top the 64; go ahead and put Enduro on the 2600 up against any c64 racer and the visuals aren't even close. The C64 wins on sound of course because nothing can beat the SID chip even today Not sure about the technicalities, but I can't imagine the Atari 2600 graphics could ever compare to the C64 Dino, programmers can dither; we can twist, turn and perform exacting mental gymnastics to push the technology beyond limits. And in a state of heightened focus and extreme concentration, an adept can literally materialize new colours straight from the ether, creating new shades and hues exotic to the hardware; this magic is a rare artifact (pun intended) that can only be seen if the user posesses the proper talisman, such as an old style television. Nevertheless, Enduro tops any of those fantastic racers for the c64 by leaps and bounds; Enduro's smooth fades and sunset transitions draw me in with hypnotizing, mesmerizing graphics and fast responsive play 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 If they had had anything like Realms of Quest 3 for the Vic-20 when I was younger, I would have found a way to get a memory expander!!!! :-) http://www.monroeworld.com/forums/showthread.php?16041-My-new-RPG-game-for-the-VIC-20-REALMS-OF-QUEST-III And I've been watching a few of the incredible 5k demos on youtube recently (Impossiblator 1-3, etc..).. WOW.. desiv (Did they even have 32k expansion for the Vic back then? Probably, but I only remember 8k and 16k) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I had one of these 24K expansion cartridges for my Vic 20 (photo from ebay as I'd sold all my original Vic hardware in the mid 80s). 24K was the most that could be added to BASIC. The extra 8K in a 32K cartridge could typically be mapped to fill the 3K area (the other 5K is ignored) or to fill the 8K cartridge ROM address space. Some of them had a switch to "write-protect" that 8K so you could load a cartridge game image into it, switch on write-protect, then hit a reset button to play the game. I also had a cartridge port expander like this one. Besides the 24K I had a 3K cartridge plugged in. I ran a BBS that I wrote which used a combination of BASIC and 6502 machine language. The machine language routine was an "interceptor" that resided in the 3K while the BBS itself was written in Basic. The interceptor routine would take anything printed to the screen and also send it out the modem (converting to ASCII for non-Commodore callers) and likewise would take any incoming data from the modem(converting to PETSCII if needed) and present it as though it were keyboard input. I'd keep games in the other 3 slots and could play them by hitting the buttons on top (the 5 black buttons enable/disable the correspondingly numbered slot, the red button resets the Vic). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 This is a tough comparison, but I see why it's being made because they both seem similarly "primative" not only my modern standards (obviously) but also - in the case of the Vic-20 - by machines of even the same era (Atari 400). If I had to choose (glad I don't) I'd say 2600. But Vic-20 with Megacart is a modern twist that makes the Vic a lot of fun for very little trouble, but for some expense. Sometimes Vic games don't look too bad, though. Vic-20 Donkey Kong looks better. VIC-20 DONKEY KONG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auAtyiiMJwQ ATARI 2600 DONKEY KONG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzI1RBdK2_g Vic 20 Pacman ain't the greatest, but looks (and sounds) closer to arcade than 2600 VIC-20 PACMAN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjRT039lTgc ATARI 2600 PACMAN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL2p2ANFlQ4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akator Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I guess I'm in the minority, because if I could only have a 2600 or a VIC-20, I would take the VIC. I used and owned other computers and not a VIC, but it has always fascinated me. While there aren't as many games overall as the 2600, there are still plenty of decent ones available that are a blast to play. I definitely have a soft spot for the VIC as "the little computer that could," even with so many of its technical limitations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Jelly Monsters IS an official Pac-Man conversion. Technically. Commodore had the rights to port the game in Japan from Namco, where it was labelled Pac-Man on the cartridge, but came a cropper when trying to get it released as a game (with a new name) in the West as Atari held the home rights to the arcade. Vic 20 Pacman ain't the greatest, but looks (and sounds) closer to arcade than 2600 Never knew about Jelly Monsters - it's on my Mega Cart so I gave it a spin and damn, it's quite well done http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0gD_8mdq-w Also did a recording of Cosmic Cruncher, which is the Pac Man game I used to play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRpOOxXBFNM One thing I noticed right off on Jelly Monsters was that they added additional columns and rows (compare the top/left/bottom borders of the 2 games) to make the maze fit better. Besides the default 22x23, the Vic could be configured for a variety of screen sizes - up to 26x29 for NTSC and 29x35 for PAL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cncfreak Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Yeah if you own a Vic 20 you definitely need to pick up a Mega Cart. Best thing i ever purchased for my Vic20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt_Woloch Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Technically speaking, the VIC-20 has advantages and drawbacks over the Atari 2600. The advantage is basically the higher resolution and the fact that the picture can be displayed by the VIC without involving the CPU with each scanline. The drawback is that there's only one plane of objects... which displays tiles or hi-res graphics (which technically is also tiles), while the Atari 2600 has got multiple objects in 4 colors per scanline which can appear on top of each other, so it is more flexible with displaying moving objects than the VIC-20 is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFL Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 ^ I think that's what makes the comparison so interesting. They're very different beasts but both have shared titles such as Galaxians, Donkey etc. And then there are the games that are very different - The Vic has it's text adventures while the VCS has it's graphical adventures for instance. I find them to be very complimentary to each other and by owning both systems I have access to pretty much every style of game from that era. That's pretty cool! The Megacart is indeed a nice piece of kit. It's great to have so many games all available on the Vic at the flick of a switch. I'm from the UK so most of my gaming in my youth was by way of the Datasette. I feel spoiled having both the Megacart and the Harmony these days! Instant 'on',silent machines with thousands of games avaible in the blink of an eye... Who needs PS3 and Xbox with their whirling fans and disc loading and internet downloaded updates!?! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyRockets Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Where would you say (maybe a couple websites) does the defacto VIC/C64 gang hang out at? You know the equivalent of AtariAge, or maybe there isn't one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 I don't hang out at them myself, but probably Lemon 64 and Denial(for the Vic). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyRockets Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Thanks, just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potatohead Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 (edited) Just had to comment on this: But it was mine.. I loved that thing.. Damn right. Almost doesn't matter what computer we got our hands on. We got our hands on one!! 48K Apple here too, and yes, it was the schools. My school didn't care what we did off class time, so we did a lot, sometimes with the clean up crew warning us to take everything with us, because they were locking the door. Exit only at that point, unless somebody stayed inside. (weren't those the times!) Atari 400 with the funky keyboard, 16K, cassette. It was limiting, but I made a whole bunch of C15 cassettes. Raided the thrifty store for some motivational tape set with the good cases with screws. From there, I took a few good quality C60 tapes --the nice, thick media kind, and just cut the tape, installed it on the rollers and re-threaded it into those cases. White cases, scuffed up a bit with a pencil eraser made for nice storage. I would write the titles right on the tape case in pencil, and erase them for something else, or whatever when done. Wasn't bad actually. A friend had a VIC 20. I remember liking the big pixel display, and some of the games were great. The VIC Omega Race was great. Other games maybe, maybe not. The BASIC ran fast, which was a plus for simple goofy game programming. At the time it was a steal for the price. Had I not gotten the 400 for a song, the VIC was on my list for $$$ reasons. Edited April 29, 2012 by potatohead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin_Lunchbox Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Jelly Monsters IS an official Pac-Man conversion. Technically. Commodore had the rights to port the game in Japan from Namco, where it was labelled Pac-Man on the cartridge, but came a cropper when trying to get it released as a game (with a new name) in the West as Atari held the home rights to the arcade. Whoa, "Jelly Monsters" for the Vic-20 might be the most amazing Pac-Man port I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fygar13 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 The 2600 had a life cycle of over 14 years. The VIC-20 had a life cycle of just 5 years. That alone should tell you which was better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 They're both great. But at the time, I sold my 2600 to partially pay for a new Vic-20. I went from just playing games to learning about computers and writing programs. To me, that was no comparison. Now, I enjoy both, because I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 The 2600 had a life cycle of over 14 years. The VIC-20 had a life cycle of just 5 years. That alone should tell you which was better. New things are still being done for both, so they ain't dead yet 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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