Mr. Brow Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 Lately, I've been interested in vector graphics displays -- what are your favorites? I'm especially interested in the way the designers make use of the vector display. I recently stumbled upon a more obscure example called Warrior (1979). The game itself seems to play really awkwardly (in MAME, anyway), but the graphics are surprisingly sophisticated. Apparently, they used motion capture to animate realistic sword-fighting movements. I traced the points in higher resolution to get a better sense for how the joints were connected -- there are quite a few of them! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamchevy Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 Black Widow is one of my favorites, and Star Castle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoyous Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 (edited) Of course Battlezone and Star Wars come to mind, but the one that I continue to play from time to time these days is Omega Race. I haven't seen Warrior before... it looks quite ambitious! The top-down view and bladed weapon reminds me of The Bilestoad for the Apple II (Marc Goodman, 1982, Datamost). Edited January 25, 2020 by Zoyous 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 They're all great. Take Space Duel for instance 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 Star Wars all day long. I'm astounded that I haven't tired of it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schuwalker Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 The Sega vectors are really underrated.Tac scan and Zektor are some of my favorites Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kombalar Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 Space Duel, Star Wars, Tempest, Asteroids Deluxe, Empire Strikes Back, Quantum, Battle Zone are all in my top-20 games. Gravitar being the biggest favorite. I scored in the 340K range in the arcades but with MAME I was able to finally complete the whole game. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 To this day my number one vector graphics game is Asteroids. The sound and glow of the ships thrust against the black background, hooked me from day one. I tend to like the earlier games like Lunar Lander (amazing deep base) and Star Castle. IIRC, the colors for Star Castle come from an overlay, I haven't come across a cabinet in quite some time. Of course I do like and play Battlezone, Tempest and Star Wars. Lets face it, vector graphics games are all pretty cool. I really need to purchase a Vectrex. ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 (edited) Warrior was a rare machine, I doubt many had seen one back in 1980. You do need the background art to play, otherwise you'll fall in a hole. Is it not a two player only game as well. It definitely deserves a closer look, the animation is special. Gravitar is another one I hadn't heard of until mame. One of my favourites as it reminds me of Asteroids. Gravitar is hard. Tempest and Lunar Lander are also among my favourites. Battlezone deserves to be mentioned because of the wireframe 3D graphics, along with Red Baron. Of the two, Battlezone had the better gameplay. With the processors of the day, this type if 3D graphics could only be done with vector displays. Edited January 25, 2020 by mr_me 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonGrafx-16 Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, mr_me said: Warrior was a rare machine, I doubt many had seen one back in 1980. You do need the background art to play, otherwise you'll fall in a hole. Is it not a two player only game as well. It definitely deserves a closer look, the animation is special. Gravitar is another one I hadn't heard of until mame. One of my favourites as it reminds me of Asteroids. Gravitar is hard. Tempest and Lunar Lander are also among my favourites. Battlezone deserves to be mentioned because of the wireframe 3D graphics, along with Red Baron. Of the two, Battlezone had the better gameplay. With the processors of the day, this type if 3D graphics could only be done with vector displays. There was a 3D game on the C64 (and some other 8-bit systems) called Cholo… it used vectors but on raster based systems. This game was remade on PC many years ago for free. Even so the original did not even come out until 1986... Of course wireframe graphics look way better with pure vectors or at least at high resolutions. http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/cyberpunk-games/cholo/ Edited January 25, 2020 by DragonGrafx-16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ft55555 Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Battlezone and Star Castle are my favorites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Stellar 7 was a 1983 Battlezone knock-off for the Apple II with very impressive 3D wireframe graphics for the time. Scaling and rotating objects was just easier to do using vector display technology. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynicaster Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Black Widow and Major Havoc are pretty cool. Never really got into Tempest, but it has started to grow on me in the last year or so. For me, the most fun vector games aren't necessarily the most visually impressive. For whatever reason, the vector games that seem to "last" for me and keep me coming back are the Asteroids-style games. Asteroids and Deluxe, Space Duel, Omega Race, etc. There's a really cool one called Eliminator that's kind of like Star Castle, but the "base" flies around the screen and the vectors are in color. Plus, it had a 4-player version, which would have been really cool. On 1/25/2020 at 10:53 AM, Flojomojo said: Star Wars all day long. I'm astounded that I haven't tired of it yet. I'm kind of astounded as well. I know it's a widely revered game, but I just don't get it myself. And I say that as a life-long Star Wars fan who loved the '83 arcade game as a kid. When I play the game now all I see is a dull on-rails shooter with a weird controller and nostalgic sounds. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 It's all that! But since I've been obsessing over having a home version of it for so long, please don't ruin my recent $500 purchase for me. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Cynicaster said: There's a really cool one called Eliminator that's kind of like Star Castle, but the "base" flies around the screen and the vectors are in color. Never seen one in the wild BITD or in recent years. Started playing this in MAME a few weeks ago and it's pretty cool but difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Boxing Bugs was/still is a favorite of ours: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 On 1/25/2020 at 10:28 AM, schuwalker said: The Sega vectors are really underrated. Tac scan and Zektor are some of my favorites Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I played Zektor recently for no other reason than I was starting from the bottom of the alphabet in MAME. I was really pleased with the gameplay. Kind of a cross between Star Castle and Asteroids with a little Space Fury thrown in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynicaster Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 4 hours ago, VectorGamer said: Never seen one in the wild BITD or in recent years. Started playing this in MAME a few weeks ago and it's pretty cool but difficult. Yes, it's a tough game for sure. I saw an upright Eliminator cabinet at The Arcade in Brighton, MI a few years ago but it wasn't running. That's the only one I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Cynicaster said: Yes, it's a tough game for sure. I saw an upright Eliminator cabinet at The Arcade in Brighton, MI a few years ago but it wasn't running. That's the only one I've ever seen. Well I had to look it up on Aurcade. There are 4 out there in the wild that is known about. http://aurcade.com/games/view.aspx?id=279 Edited January 29, 2020 by VectorGamer dyslexia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldLeader Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Asteroids Deluxe, Omega Race, Red Baron, and Star Castle! I know that's 4 but you should have seen the list before! Only a few times in the wild did I ever see Black Widow or Gravitar...I only saw Tac Scan, Cosmic Chasm, and Major Havok once each. Our arcade had Rip Off, Star Castle and Armor Attack, and a store near my house had Star Hawk and Asteroids among other games...They still have Asteroids in a barcade downtown and they just lost their sit down Red Baron (which I assume is broken)...They're replacing old games with stuff like Space Invaders Frenzy which is unfortunate; I mean it's OK, just nothing special like the actual old games... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spriggy Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 On 1/25/2020 at 1:22 PM, adamchevy said: Black Widow is one of my favorites, and Star Castle. +1, Black Widow ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlidellMan Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Tempest, Star Castle, Armor Attack, Vertigo (1986 Exidy), and Major Havoc are on my top five Vector games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davyK Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 It's between Asteroids Deluxe and Tempest for me, with Deluxe just pipping at the post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Tempest, Tac-Scan, Black Widow, and Space Duel are some of my favorites. later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 My favorite is Gravitar. Once you get controls down, game will still drive you nuts! (In a good way) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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