Dark Tower Boxed Release

[pucpuc]

ENTER THE FANTASTIC WORLD OF THE DARK TOWER!

Helmut (hcmffm) and Nico (Nic Lobo aka pucpcuc) from Germany would like to honour a Vectrex game that was not released back in the 1980s: DARK TOWER.

It's a pity that this great and unique action roleplaying game had no full physical release with box and overlay. We are going to change that!

The goal is to make the finished product look and feel as if it was teleported here from the Eighties.

PLEASE DO NOT ask to "put me on the list" because there is no list, yet. We will post here once the Dark Tower reproduction is near completion and ordering is possible. Cartridge numbers will be assigned randomly anyhow and not on a first come first served basis. Only one cartridge number is reserved already, that's Dark Tower #1 for John Hall, the original developer of the game. John wished us the best for the project (how cool is that?!).

Production of a sufficient quality box and overlay will be challenging , and the final assembly and shipping will be a lot of work. But it's not just the two of us - Mat (Mayhem), Tony (50tbrd), and likely some more Vectrex enthusiasts will help us realise this project.

Stay tuned!

The picture shows a prototype which looks better on a photo, than in reality - just to give an idea where we are aiming to. Professional printing services will be used, so the final product will look different. Also artwork is still in progress and does not represent the final product.

Nico and Helmut

[Kirchoff]

Great news and already looks professional. Looking forward to the final release!

[lazzeri]

Excellent news. Looking fantastic!

[128Kgames]

Very cool, keep us posted.

[Atari_Bill]

I'm so in for this. Can't wait to hear more.

[Blazing Lazers]

Looking forward ro this! There was an odering form from back in the day where actual Dark Tower overlays were listed as being available for sale- have any ever turned up, to anyone's knowledge?

[JEFF31]

I want!!

 

Jeff31

[kurtori]

Very excited for this release.

 

Looking forward to news about ordering.

[Blazing Lazers]

I'll be keeping my eye on this thread for when to buy!

[mmackin]

I look forward to seeing this released.

[cNp]

Great project guys, look forward to this one. Looks like you have it in hand but drop me a PM if you want to check anything about anything

[rpgcollector]

Looks amazing! Hope this is still on!

[hcmffm]

The Dark Tower project is progressing slowly (basically because of me). But we will get there - that's for sure.

[Blazing Lazers]

Awesome news that is still happening!

[+TrekMD]

Better slow than never.

[fragsinatra420]

looks very cool

[Hilts]

Hyped for this !!!

[+ArcadeJunkie]

Agreed! Cant wait to give it a go....

[imstarryeyed]

This looks like such a great project.. Looking forward to buying this one too!

[hcmffm]

Nico and I want to give you a brief update on the Dark Tower project. During the past weeks Nico and I clarified production details and cared for graphics of box, overlay, manual, and cartridge sticker which are almost finished. Tony, Mat, Jim, Chris P., Ian, and Dave kindly support us with their information, feedback, or work which is much appreciated!

 

Here's a picture of the original scan of the Dark Tower manual and what we did out of it:

It's still some few months (not years) to go. Just to make sure: Preordering hasn't started, yet.

Edited May 3, 2019 by hcmffm

[pucpuc]

Getting closer. Helmut met Kristof Tuts in Belgium who programmed the PCBs and also supplied us with cart shells

 

[JEFF31]

I've ALWAYS wondered...

 

First post (5/27/2018 - now 8/2019 - so 15 months later...) shows... well everything - but then the cart is probably just a shell...

 

So 'everything' is ready except for the game?

 

 

NOT being critical - just trying to understand the process!

 

 

How does this work?

 

 

JEFF31

 

[Mayhem]

5 hours ago, JEFF31 said:

First post (5/27/2018 - now 8/2019 - so 15 months later...) shows... well everything - but then the cart is probably just a shell... So 'everything' is ready except for the game? NOT being critical - just trying to understand the process!

The project did get put on hiatus for quite a while, that damned thing called "real life" intervened for some members. The game itself (ie the ROM) is already out there, that was the only thing ready at the start of matters heh.

 

But in quick fire terms, the following needed or needs to still occur (although we are getting there)...

 

- agreement from Jay Smith for the project to go ahead, considering he owns the rights to all the original Vectrex games

- design and agreement for the box artwork, front and box

- physical production of the box, find someone to do it, agree a price, receive units

- design and agreement for the cart label

- design and agreement for the manual, layout and text, proof-reading

- physical production of the manual, find someone to do it, agree a price, receive units

- design and agreement for the overlay, colours, whether to include a notch, quality consideration

- physical production of the overlay, find someone to do it, agree a price, receive units

- agree purchase and supply of plastic cart holders, overlay sleeves and clear box protectors for shipping.

- physical production of the cartridge board and burning of the game to ROM, find someone to do it, agree a price, receive units, test units to make they work

 

Finally then it can be all put together and we can start thinking about making it available for sale! Now some of the above physical production we have done, but a lot of it has been produced by other members of the Vectrex community as they have more experience. All the design and internal decision making was us though.

[JEFF31]

On 8/12/2019 at 7:09 AM, Mayhem said:

The project did get put on hiatus for quite a while, that damned thing called "real life" intervened for some members. The game itself (ie the ROM) is already out there, that was the only thing ready at the start of matters heh.

 

But in quick fire terms, the following needed or needs to still occur (although we are getting there)...

 

- agreement from Jay Smith for the project to go ahead, considering he owns the rights to all the original Vectrex games

- design and agreement for the box artwork, front and box

- physical production of the box, find someone to do it, agree a price, receive units

- design and agreement for the cart label

- design and agreement for the manual, layout and text, proof-reading

- physical production of the manual, find someone to do it, agree a price, receive units

- design and agreement for the overlay, colours, whether to include a notch, quality consideration

- physical production of the overlay, find someone to do it, agree a price, receive units

- agree purchase and supply of plastic cart holders, overlay sleeves and clear box protectors for shipping.

- physical production of the cartridge board and burning of the game to ROM, find someone to do it, agree a price, receive units, test units to make they work

 

Finally then it can be all put together and we can start thinking about making it available for sale! Now some of the above physical production we have done, but a lot of it has been produced by other members of the Vectrex community as they have more experience. All the design and internal decision making was us though.

 

OH!  So not much... SWEET - so I can order a cart next week?     LOL.  

 

(WOW - remind me to never get into producing homebrews - you guys are GREAT (and somewhat crazy)) 

 

Looking forward to ordering the game if (when) it is released! 

 

Thanks for educating me!

 

Jeff

[Hotgames]

Hola,soy propietario de una tienda de videojuegos en españa y el otro día un antiguo trabajador de la casa MB nos trajo una vectrex con varios juegos y accesorios y entre todo lo que trajo de encuentra el DARK TOWER  en formato prototipo junto su filtro de pantalla,haora mismo es el único prototipo existente y más junto el overlay que trae,como tienda que somos nuestro objetivo es venderlo,si alguien le interese por favor póngase en contacto para concretar más detalles.