OPCODE GAMES announces: IntelliXpander - Castlevania & Goonies! RESERVE NOW

[+fdr4prez]

I'm a little surprised at what I perceive as negativity toward this project. I would have thought the brotherhood would have welcomed this with open arms. I know I can't wait for release. I took a pass on the Coleco super game module just to be able to spend my funds on this. Why the resistance?

 

for me, I am on the fence about purchasing one, but no resistance from me.

 

Channel F and Intellivision were my consoles as a kid, and towards the end I got a 2600 that I rarely touched because I had the Intv adapter. I've never owned any other systems, and that means no newer ones like NES, SNES, etc. And so I am not interested in anything other than these systems that I had as a kid.

 

If this was a Coleco adapter, then I am in. I've never played Coleco games before, and I don't want to start collecting a different system, but BITD I vaguely recall that there was a proposed Coleco adapter, so if one was made I'd buy one and I'd pickup some of its popular games. But this will not be that adapter...

 

If this is built to nothing better than the proposed Intv III or Intv IV video specs, then I am in the "maybe" camp. And I think this is primarily the goal of this project at this point, but I'll hold out until later to make my decision while seeing how things develop. I like the idea of trying to keep in the Intv family scope of things.

 

If this is to add super duper graphics and do/add things that the Intellivision was never designed to do, then I am definitely out. At this point why not just move to a newer system. And from all the discussions, so far, I don't think this is the path of this project.

 

My dream expansion would be an all-in-one for Intellivoice, ECS, and obviously have a port for Intv carts, and if the Tutorvision needs any special support then add that too just in case carts/roms become available, so I can leave it permanently connected and play everything.

[+cmart604]

I heard GraziGamer will get you a beer. In fact I heard that if she attends PRGE, the beers are on her...

Awesome!

[+DZ-Jay]

Oh boy, wait a minute... =P

I can't make it to PRGE, can you ship my beer by post?

[vprette]

 

Well, people are notoriously secretive about sales numbers for some bizarre reason. The BEST best sellers go well over 200, but that's certainly not the norm. Maybe people who track serial-numbered games can refute me - are there a lot of #4xx and up out there?

 

200+ copies is not hard for a good game... 500+ copies is extremely rare (I know for sure only about 2 games reaching this goal)

[opcode]

 

200+ copies is not hard for a good game... 500+ copies is extremely rare (I know for sure only about 2 games reaching this goal)

Coming up with an Intv killer app is more chanllenging for me than coming up with a ColecoVision killer app. But let's see if I can get at least some interesting options.

[wolfy62]

To me, and for me , the Intellixpander is a great idea and super add on and adapter for the Intellivision.

 

This is the system I play,buy and collect for!

 

Opcode, keep up the great work!

[Intymike]

I heard GraziGamer will get you a beer. In fact I heard that if she attends PRGE, the beers are on her...

 

 

That's sounds promising.

[mr_me]

...And finally there is the chance there might be some cross development between the two, where someone can port games from the classic Intv to the IntelliXpander (as I plan to do), and vice versa.

It's not possible to port Intellivision games to Intellixpander. They would have to be rewritten. My understanding is that you can port games from other systems to Intellixpander. And I'm using the term port as making code "portable" ie. copying it over.

 

Edit:

And I think few Intellivision games use the limits of the Intellivision hardware. Almost all of the Mattel library use an inefficient software framework. And it takes time for new programmers to learn all the tricks and techniques.

If I understand things correctly it should be possible for an Intellivision programmer to take one of their existing games and improve it with Intellixpander graphics and other features like more sprites. Modify an existing cp1610 program by changing writes to stic and backtab addresses to shared memory in the intellixpander. The Intellixpander can interpret that data into graphics, sprites, etc. and feed back collision data. So the Intellixpander becomes a graphics processor for an Intellivision cp1610 program.

 

...

Guys, I need help! Does anyone here have a spare Intv II power supply for sale? I need to take one of those with me to Brazil for testing. Kind of urgent. Please contact me inbox if you can help me.

Those adapters can be hard to come by. I've heard that there are lots of common alternatives. Any AC/DC adapter that fits and is around 9v DC with greater than 850mA specs can work. eg. atari 5200 and jaguar adapters, TurboGraphx-16, maybe some Sega adapters.

 

 

for me, I am on the fence about purchasing one, but no resistance from me.

 

Channel F and Intellivision were my consoles as a kid, and towards the end I got a 2600 that I rarely touched because I had the Intv adapter. I've never owned any other systems, and that means no newer ones like NES, SNES, etc. And so I am not interested in anything other than these systems that I had as a kid.

 

If this was a Coleco adapter, then I am in. I've never played Coleco games before, and I don't want to start collecting a different system, but BITD I vaguely recall that there was a proposed Coleco adapter, so if one was made I'd buy one and I'd pickup some of its popular games. But this will not be that adapter...

 

If this is built to nothing better than the proposed Intv III or Intv IV video specs, then I am in the "maybe" camp. And I think this is primarily the goal of this project at this point, but I'll hold out until later to make my decision while seeing how things develop. I like the idea of trying to keep in the Intv family scope of things.

 

If this is to add super duper graphics and do/add things that the Intellivision was never designed to do, then I am definitely out. At this point why not just move to a newer system. And from all the discussions, so far, I don't think this is the path of this project.

 

My dream expansion would be an all-in-one for Intellivoice, ECS, and obviously have a port for Intv carts, and if the Tutorvision needs any special support then add that too just in case carts/roms become available, so I can leave it permanently connected and play everything.

We already know that the Intellixpander resolution is different than Intellivision III would have been and would look different. We don't have specs on other features like Intellixpander number of sprites. A Coleco Vision cartridge adapter would be of interest to many Intellivision fans but not so much to homebrew programmers. And it's not possible to upgrade an Intellivision to Tutorvision through the cartridge port, unless you produce the whole system and feed it though the video/audio pins. Someone should make an FPGA Intellivision/Intellivoice/ECS/Keyboard Component/Tutorvision/Intellivision III; that can be played with existing FPGA systems that are already available and already play Atari 2600, Coleco vision, NES, Sega, and others.

Edited August 21, 2017 by mr_me

[+DZ-Jay]

If I understand things correctly it should be possible for an Intellivision programmer to take one of their existing games and improve it with Intellixpander graphics and other features like more sprites. Modify an existing cp1610 program by changing writes to stic and backtab addresses to shared memory in the intellixpander. The Intellixpander can interpret that data into graphics, sprites, etc. and feed back collision data. So the Intellixpander becomes a graphics processor for an Intellivision cp1610 program.

Is that really possible? My understanding is that there is an entirely new CPU and circuitry to drive the new platform.

 

That would be like an Intellivision game interacting with the System Changer hardware to control the gameplay of Atari games.

 

dZ.

[mr_me]

The Intellivision does interact with the System Changer, sending Intellivision controller information for atari games. And as you said, there is an entirely new cpu and sound processor in the intellixpander. You would need the other CPU and a program written for that cpu to process the graphics information coming from the intellivision program. You could ignore the intellixpander sound processor.

[+DZ-Jay]

The Intellivision does interact with the System Changer, sending Intellivision controller information for atari games.

 

That's different. The Intellivision sends the System Changer hand-controller data which is then sent as input to the VCS hardware just like the joysticks input.

 

Notice that the main game code running is actually the Atari one on the System Changer, and the Intellivision just sends data. There is no synchronisation between them, the System Changer uses that input as it needs it.

 

 

And as you said, there is an entirely new cpu and sound processor in the intellixpander. You would need the other CPU and a program written for that cpu to process the graphics information coming from the intellivision program. You could ignore the intellixpander sound processor.

Ah, so not really enhancing existing games to take advantage of the IntelliXpander's graphics like if it were the STIC. You need custom code for the IntelliXpander to drive the graphics subsystem.

 

Then you also need to synchronize it to the main game code which is running of the Intellivsion's CPU.

 

Perhaps you should stick to praising the actual practical qualities of the IntelliXpander.

 

dZ.

[mr_me]

So you're saying its possible.

[+DZ-Jay]

So you're saying its possible.

I am saying that it may not be possible to synchronize one to the other. I am also saying that even if it were possible, it is very impractical, so why would anybody bother?

 

This is what drives the negativity in this thread: claims of fantastic or impractical things that people will see with the IntelliXpander instead of just calling it what it is: new non-Intellivision games.

 

There is nothing wrong with new non-Intellivision games, and a lot of people will find that exciting. New games with better resolution and graphics and improved sound is a very attractive idea. However, people should know what they are getting and what to expect.

 

dZ.

[opcode]

I am saying that it may not be possible to synchronize one to the other. I am also saying that even if it were possible, it is very impractical, so why would anybody bother?

 

This is what drives the negativity in this thread: claims of fantastic or impractical things that people will see with the IntelliXpander instead of just calling it what it is: new non-Intellivision games.

 

There is nothing wrong with new non-Intellivision games, and a lot of people will find that exciting. New games with better resolution and graphics and improved sound is a very attractive idea. However, people should know what they are getting and what to expect.

 

dZ.

The only negativity in this thread is coming from a very specific group of people, should I say the status quo? And the claims of "fantastic things", whatever you are inferring, is being created by you, as I don't remember announcing anything that wasn't true here. I may have omitted a lot of tech details so far, as I don't want to talk a hardware until I have a prototype, that is something I have learned from experience, but I don't believe I posted anything here that wasnt real, or at least wasn't real at the time of the post, as the specs changed a bit since we started, and it is documented in theses pages.

 

That said, I get you don't like the idea, so my suggestion is that you move on with your life. It is becoming clear that you and a few others have a clear goal, and I won't tolerate you call me a liar here. You still have a long way to go before you can call me that my friend.

[+DZ-Jay]

The only negativity in this thread is coming from a very specific group of people, should I say the status quo? And the claims of "fantastic things", whatever you are inferring, is being created by you, as I don't remember announcing anything that wasn't true here. I may have omitted a lot of tech details so far, as I don't want to talk a hardware until I have a prototype, that is something I have learned from experience, but I don't believe I posted anything here that wasnt real, or at least wasn't real at the time of the post, as the specs changed a bit since we started, and it is documented in theses pages.

 

That said, I get you don't like the idea, so my suggestion is that you move on with your life. It is becoming clear that you and a few others have a clear goal, and I won't tolerate you call me a liar here. You still have a long way to go before you can call me that my friend.

 

I really wonder if you even read my posts.

 

There are many more people posting here than you, so my comments to tone down the hype are not intended to call you a liar.

 

I also stated my interest on the device many times -- as a game player. I just don't see the use of making dubious claims about the potential (e.g. existing Intellivision games modified to run on the CP-1610 and use IntelliXpander graphics as a GPU, etc.), when the actual capabilities of the device are impressive already.

 

Yes, read that last sentence again and tell me where I "don't like the idea."

 

I am actually suggesting the same as you: to concentrate on the actual positive things that the device can do.

[opcode]

I really wonder if you even read my posts.

There are many more people posting here than you, so my comments to tone down the hype are not intended to call you a liar.

I also stated my interest on the device many times -- as a game player. I just don't see the use of making dubious claims about the potential (e.g. existing Intellivision games modified to run on the CP-1610 and use IntelliXpander graphics as a GPU, etc.), when the actual capabilities of the device are impressive already.

Yes, read that last sentence again and tell me where I "don't like the idea."

I am actually suggesting the same as you: to concentrate on the actual positive things that the device can do.

No, you are just making a fool of yourself and being an a****, just like a few people warned me you would be. There is no negativity here except whatever you and a few other programmers that don't like the idea but love to stay around have been posting. And please don't quote me for things I never said, like "modifying existing games". So there is no "dubious claims", except the ones you are making, even though you have no privileged knowledge of the hardware.

And finally, I have been focused on the Xpander and games for a while, no need for your advice. I believe I have asked for opinions, comments and suggestions here, be them positive or negative, but as long as they are constructive. Coming here systematically with the goal of trying to undermine my credibility isn't the same.

[+DZ-Jay]

No, you are just making a fool of yourself and being an a****, just like a few people warned me you would be. There is no negativity here except whatever you and a few other programmers that don't like the idea but love to stay around have been posting. And please don't quote me for things I never said, like "modifying existing games". So there is no "dubious claims", except the ones you are making, even though you have no privileged knowledge of the hardware.

And finally, I have been focused on the Xpander and games for a while, no need for your advice. I believe I have asked for opinions, comments and suggestions here, be them positive or negative, but as long as they are constructive. Coming here systematically with the goal of trying to undermine my credibility isn't the same.

Again, you are reacting without reading my comments. I wasn't quoting you before, in fact, I was specifically responding to mr_me's post. Or are you suggesting that was also your post?

 

I am not making any claims on the device, but others (read: not you ) have.

 

Insult me all you want to, I didn't turn this into a personal attack.

 

Good luck with your project.

[+SoulBuster]

As predicted, opcode. You just have to ignore the trolling.

[1980gamer]

Wow!

 

I think we have a little communication breakdown. Opcode, I didn't read anything negative from dz to you.

 

I am a huge fan of Opcode's work as well as Christmas Carol. I don't know where the breakdown came, but it is clear from the outside, some other talk goes on.

 

People should form opinions, not be given them by others. Soulbuster... "As predicted"... Is this an indication of the true source of negativity?

 

Soul, you know I have nothing against you. I think it was you I tried to help with DIIK SE roms sales a few months ago.

 

The only skin in the game for me is to see a new Intellivision product. Yeah, it may not be what Mattel would have done. But many companies made add-ons

in the 80's for other companies consoles. Amiga made a SKIING board and we had the Super Charger, cartridge selectors etc.

 

I think of this as a 3rd party add-on. In fact, that is what it is! Will today's Activision or Imagic support it? I hope so.

I especially like the idea of creating games in the style/manner of the original Intellivision games, with better possible graphics, sound and maybe even speed.

I believe this is Opcodes vision, as well as other games like Goonies. Heck, Cool-aid Man could have been Goonies. So maybe even this is Intellivision-ish...

 

[mr_me]

...

I may have omitted a lot of tech details so far, as I don't want to talk hardware until I have a prototype, that is something I have learned from experience, ...

 

 

When do you expect to have your first prototype? Is the ability to use the Intellivision/STIC as a graphics processor for Intellixpander no longer a feature? Edited August 23, 2017 by mr_me

[opcode]

I am flying to Brazil today, and I should have the prototypes with me when I return in about a month.

[ColecoGamer]

I am flying to Brazil today, and I should have the prototypes with me when I return in about a month.

I know this is steering the conversation in the other direction, but has Opcode decided on which games they're launching with the IntelliXpander? The Goonies? Castlevania? Maybe Gradius? Maybe all three?

[+JasonlikesINTV]

Side question. What's the relationship between Gradius and Life Force for the NES? Sequel, clone, coincidence?

[Intymike]

Side question. What's the relationship between Gradius and Life Force for the NES? Sequel, clone, coincidence?

 

 

Life Force is the 2nd name for Salamander, the sequel to Gradius which was also named Nemesis on home computers. Questions answered?

Edited August 27, 2017 by Intymike

[+JasonlikesINTV]

Awesome answer! I have a loose Life Force cart, but no Gradius. I thought I had it boxed, but turns out I have a boxed Gyruss instead.