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Post by gliptitude on Apr 1, 2012 19:44:08 GMT -5
I bought another Vectrex on ebay and was shocked by the distortion it is displaying. This is my second Vectrex and my other one does not do this at all. When the brightness is turned up all the way there are lines all over the place, most are straight streaking lines. Others are curved warping lines. Also text such as titles and scores becomes engulfed in thick horizontal lines. See attached photo. Like I said my first Vectrex has never done this. The seller is telling me he thinks this is normal and that i should just turn the brightness down. Does your Vectrex do this? Does this indicate something bad, like it seems to to me? Attachments:
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Post by VectorX on Apr 1, 2012 19:53:00 GMT -5
It's normal if you have the brightness up all the way, yes. Mine looks exactly like that.
Does it still look like that if you turn the brightness down, is that what you mean?
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Post by gliptitude on Apr 1, 2012 20:01:18 GMT -5
No it goes away with brightness down. Like I said my other Vectrex does NOT do this EVER, so clearly not ALL Vectrexes do it.
Perhaps my Vectrex that doesn't do this is defective?
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Post by VectorX on Apr 1, 2012 20:06:14 GMT -5
Well all graphics differ from Vectrex to Vectrex a little, hence why some games such as Vectrexians and Y* A* S* I require you to align them. Some have minor problems, such as with Moon Lander on mine, as your ship will dip below the surface a little before a landing actually registers. When Mark Shaker was making those games, he said it didn't look that way on his Vectrex. And sj said collision detection works a little differently on one of his games that no one else had said happens with theirs (Fortress of Narzod, I think it was).
I wouldn't really worry about it either way unless someone tells you differently.
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Post by sj on Apr 2, 2012 10:49:08 GMT -5
Yup. Narzod and Space Frenzy. I don't play 'em much 'cos of the hit detection - or lack of.  |
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Post by gliptitude on Apr 2, 2012 11:28:50 GMT -5
We talked about this before I think, about Narzod, and I informed you that it says in the manual that it takes several hits to kill enemies when they are far back in the field. I don't think you confirmed at the time though, when enemies are close to the front of the field, do you still have problems killing them with one shot? Also, the flying birds should be frozen with a single shot, even in the backfield. That would be a good way to test.
Anyway, sj, does your Vectrex also display the streaking and warping lines when you turn the brightness up? I don't have to turn the brightness "all the way up" for it to start happening. But it does go away at a certain point.
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Post by VectorX on Apr 2, 2012 11:56:08 GMT -5
We talked about this before I think, about Narzod, and I informed you that it says in the manual that it takes several hits to kill enemies when they are far back in the field. I don't think you confirmed at the time though, when enemies are close to the front of the field, do you still have problems killing them with one shot? Just to clarify, I'm not sure if you mean me or sj here, as I don't have Narzod (yet!), I just played it on emulation and on a multicart at a gaming expo last year, so I can't really answer this if you meant me (probably not, but I'm just making sure). The collision detection was fine on the latter. I can't recall if the enemies took several hits before being destroyed when they were far off though. |
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Post by sj on Apr 2, 2012 12:56:51 GMT -5
You're right Gliptitude. We have been here before.
The hit detection is so poor (with Narzod), it must be a quirk of my Vectrex. I can be right underneath a target blasting away and it's a complete lottery whether I kill it or not.
With reference to your original post. Mine sounds like your second one.
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Post by gliptitude on Apr 2, 2012 14:13:02 GMT -5
With reference to your original post. Mine sounds like your second one. Which one is my "second one"? Does your vectrex streak and warp? |
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Post by sj on Apr 2, 2012 15:26:56 GMT -5
Sorry. Not very clear. Yes, mine streaks and warps with the dial past about three quarters.
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Post by sj on Apr 2, 2012 15:31:03 GMT -5
... and am I correct in thinking if you turn up the control fully - streaking and warping - and play Armor Attack, you get a a bit of forward notice as to where the helicopter is coming from...?
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Post by desfeek on Apr 3, 2012 22:10:19 GMT -5
Yes sj, that's what the glitch refers to. However, I've never really gotten it to work right, and it looks terrible like that. I'll just play normally.
Glip, it sounds to me like your first Vectrex (no streaks) might have just less-bright Vectors than normal. It sucks that the one with strong Vectors is the one with 3/4 orientation. That, however, is an easy fix, just replace the capacitors and you should be ready to go!
I've had three loose Vectrexes, and they all streaked. I've really never seen one that didn't.
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Post by VectorX on Apr 3, 2012 23:26:38 GMT -5
I've had three loose Vectrexes, and they all streaked. I've really never seen one that didn't. Yeah that's the first time I've heard of one myself. |
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