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Post by matthewdfisher on Oct 9, 2012 9:55:25 GMT -5
Yeah, would love to hear from anyone who has received it! Got #5 last Friday and haven't had the chance for an extended playing session, but here are some initial impressions. Packaging/presentation: Top notch. Not the same packaging as the original releases, but very nice. Box, being all black, will be hard to keep pristine. For you baseball card collectors out there, think 1971 Topps. Overlay: Also very nice. The white on the back is some sort of sticker, not screen printed, but the printing on the plastic is great-looking and the plastic is not thin and flimsy. It definitely adds to the playing experience in my opinion. Game: I've only played around 15 minutes so far, all one-player, so take these comments not as any kind of review, but as very initial impressions. I appreciate that George included centering adjustments for the pits, as even my best-adjusted Vectrex is not currently perfect. The game itself seems to play exactly the same as the arcade version, which, I suppose, is what everybody wants, except that now it has a one-player version. I haven't gotten to any bosses yet, so I can't speak to that. The first opponent was pretty easy once I got the hang of the controls, but I expect the difficulty to ramp up. I'll share more thoughts when I get a chance to really sit down and play. Haven't played two-player yet, but I'm sure it's a blast. I'll try to convince my kid to turn off Skyrim and give it a go. Overall: Another winner, George! Well worth the wait, and I'm not a bit sorry I preordered. |
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Post by TrekMD on Oct 9, 2012 10:35:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments, Matthew!
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Post by fury on Oct 9, 2012 11:14:35 GMT -5
Thanks Matt, enjoy the game! The white area of the overlays is actually airbrushed with a window masking spray. That's the type of backdrop used on holiday window displays, for example. The spray is used in those displays for the exact same reason as the white backing on the overlays, which is to provide a translucent white backing to the image. I've found this to be superior to any white paint or sticker (which is opaque not translucent). There are two calibration screens built-in to the game. If you're noticing any discrepancy, generally you will need to move the pits toward the side(s) where the warrior seems to fall into a pit too soon (assuming that's the issue) and move the warrior calibration in just the opposite direction. This is setup similarly to calibration control on Sundance. You can then also turn off the vector pit display, allowing you to use just the overlay artwork for the pits. From my experience, most Vectrex systems will need you to use at least one of the calibration screens. One of my systems displays perfectly without calibrating. Two of them require calibration, but then display fine. One displays a little off even after calibrating, but calibration still helps to improve it. It's an unfortunate side-effect to systems that were manufactured 30 years ago, and that's why I started including a calibration system with Sundance. On a side-note, every emulator displays the game perfectly without calibration. If only the emulators displayed real vector graphics...  |
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Post by fury on Oct 9, 2012 13:50:05 GMT -5
Just re-read my post and I wrote it incorrectly, sorry...
On the pit calibration screen, move the pits AWAY from the direction that the warrior appears to fall in too early. So, if you have a situation where he appears to fall into the pit on the left side before he reaches the pit, calibrate the pits all the way to the right side and then turn off the vector pit display. The only other way to further correct your Vectrex is to go into the unit, and a few members here know more about doing that than I do. One thing that you might already know, you can get electrocuted if you touch the wrong thing inside of a Vectrex even when it is unplugged so please be careful.
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Post by VectorX on Oct 9, 2012 15:57:19 GMT -5
If only the emulators displayed real vector graphics... Sounds like something else you need to work on there, George! Along with all the other things you've got going! So snap to it! |
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Post by ledzep on Oct 9, 2012 18:44:23 GMT -5
Got #5 last Friday and haven't had the chance for an extended playing session, but here are some initial impressions. Packaging/presentation: Top notch. Not the same packaging as the original releases, but very nice. Box, being all black, will be hard to keep pristine. For you baseball card collectors out there, think 1971 Topps. Overlay: Also very nice. The white on the back is some sort of sticker, not screen printed, but the printing on the plastic is great-looking and the plastic is not thin and flimsy. It definitely adds to the playing experience in my opinion. Game: I've only played around 15 minutes so far, all one-player, so take these comments not as any kind of review, but as very initial impressions. I appreciate that George included centering adjustments for the pits, as even my best-adjusted Vectrex is not currently perfect. The game itself seems to play exactly the same as the arcade version, which, I suppose, is what everybody wants, except that now it has a one-player version. I haven't gotten to any bosses yet, so I can't speak to that. The first opponent was pretty easy once I got the hang of the controls, but I expect the difficulty to ramp up. I'll share more thoughts when I get a chance to really sit down and play. Haven't played two-player yet, but I'm sure it's a blast. I'll try to convince my kid to turn off Skyrim and give it a go. Overall: Another winner, George! Well worth the wait, and I'm not a bit sorry I preordered. I have #004 and my work made me wait to finally play it. I mostly agree with what matthew wrote except to say that I love the packaging, any time the full effect (box, manual, overlay) can be included in a homebrew, I'm happy. As for the play, I agree that it's exactly as I remember the arcade version to be. Of course I haven't played that game in ages but I remember the player movement and sword movement to be the same. I like the animation for warrior death and reincarnation, all of it feels right. I also haven't had a chance to get to the new warriors or to play against someone else. Unfortunately I have a Vectrex that seems to need an alignment. I could the adjustments improved but the two pits weren't where the overlay said they'd be, with or without adjustment. Which is fine, the thing also has a little bit of a wiggle to the display, just a sign that it obviously needs work done to it. Anybody know where I could get my Vectrex serviced? I even bought a cap kit for it. I'm sure I would ruin the thing if I tried to deal with the problem. |
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Post by VectorX on Oct 9, 2012 18:47:37 GMT -5
Try a local tv repair place. Could be a problem since they hardly get any of the old tv sets that the Vectrex somewhat resembles (well, not counting the vertical monitor) but someone might take a stab at it anyway, since Vecys have many (old) off the shelf components that tvs did.
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Post by fury on Oct 9, 2012 20:05:41 GMT -5
Good to hear you guys are enjoying the game (calibration issues aside). I emailed several recipients regarding calibration today. I got three responses, two of them had no issues, and one said he does a minor tweak on the calibration screen and it's fine. I think that maybe something like this is more noticeable in a game like Warrior just due to the nature of the game play. I would like you both to try what I mentioned in my last post, though LedZep, if your Vec is "quivering" it has issues and needs to be worked on. Otherwise, the only thing I can do is broaden the calibration area in order to accommodate more severe calibration issues. Warrior uses the exact same calibration range as Sundance. Also, take a look at your opening GCE logo screen with the flashing rectangular box. Is that perfectly centered when comparing the distances to the cabinet bezel left/right and top/bottom? I would appreciate it if you guys would check this out asap because I need to know in order to make a decision. This is an easy fix if needed. I will simply double the calibration area and issue a new PCB to anyone who needs it. Most games have not shipped, so it's not going to be a big deal. If I decide to double the calibration area, all new shipments will have the update. Still, if your Vectrex units are not calibrated properly I would rather not have to do it Let me know, I want this fixed/over/done. |
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Post by fury on Oct 10, 2012 0:58:32 GMT -5
Ok, so I've just finished programming the update, but I will wait for responses before replacing any PCBs because it's unnecessary if the following remedies their situation:
"On the pit calibration screen, move the pits AWAY from the direction that the warrior appears to fall in too early. So, if you have a situation where he appears to fall into the pit on the left side before he reaches the pit, calibrate the pits all the way to the right side and then turn off the vector pit display. "
Otherwise if I go ahead with this, all new shipments will have the updated calibration system which will hardly be noticed because it's the same as the old one just with a wider x/y range of calibration for the pits.
The update allows you to now overcompensate greatly for any warrior to pit discrepancy. I believe that ANY Vectrex can be calibrated now with this insane update. Any huge fix will compel you to toggle off the vector pit graphics (an option that was already included) because they will be far displaced from the overlay graphics in such cases. So you will be able to perfectly align a warrior's fall with the pit overlay graphics, regardless of the condition of your Vectrex, but in extreme cases you will want to toggle off the vector pit graphics.
If your Vectrex is not out of whack, everything will be fine and you can tweak it a little if you need to. You will be able to still choose vector pit graphics on or off, as normal. Nothing will be different for you, as this update will not affect you.
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Post by TrekMD on Oct 10, 2012 10:05:45 GMT -5
Thank you for the update and your continued efforts!  |
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Post by sj on Oct 10, 2012 10:43:40 GMT -5
In twenty years time when copies of Warrior are being traded on eBay or the like, will they be sold as 'pre-tweak' or 'post-tweak'? Which will be worth most? Pre-tweak, I reckon. George. Fair play for all your efforts with this project. I wish I'd ordered a copy now. Mind you, if MAJOR HAVOC has pulled out my twenty quid is still on the table.  And George. STOP READING THIS AND GET BACK TO WORK.  |
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Post by fury on Oct 10, 2012 10:54:46 GMT -5
Thanks TrekMD
SJ, are you kidding..if I didn't tune in here I would never know that my boxes were being compared and contrasted with Topps baseball cards from 1971! ;D
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Post by sj on Oct 10, 2012 11:17:15 GMT -5
Wot, I? Alright, alright. Twenty-one. |
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Post by fury on Oct 11, 2012 9:36:27 GMT -5
Well, not getting word back from anyone yet. I have decided just to go ahead with the update. Any game shipped now will have the update. I'll handle replacement PCBs by private email, not here. Matt/LedZep, still would like to know the results, once checked.
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Post by VectorX on Oct 11, 2012 10:05:08 GMT -5
Well, not getting word back from anyone yet. You might want to try posting on the Vectrex newsgroup too. |
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