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Post by ledzep on Jul 31, 2012 18:49:46 GMT -5
Ok, I know the vector arcade heyday was in the late '70s/early '80s and nobody makes new vector monitors (as far as I know). But what I'm wondering about is mods to existing games. I think most vector arcade game fans are aware of Tempest Tubes, the Tempest hack with new levels, along with Vector Breakout - www.multigame.com/tempest.htmlWhat I want to know is, why do those seem to be the only hacks available? I would think by now that somebody would have made more hacks that could be wired into Space War or Tempest or Quantum or Black Widow depending on what controllers were more useful. I mean, there are people who have mastered programming for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Vectrex, etc., I was expecting someone to take being the King of Homebrews to the next level and hack arcade game boards. Wouldn't it be cool to see a vector Galaxian or Qix? Or cross port a Vectrex game over to an appropriate vector arcade game? I think Bedlam would rock in a Tempest cab. |
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Post by VectorX on Jul 31, 2012 19:31:36 GMT -5
But what I'm wondering about is mods to existing games. What I want to know is, why do those seem to be the only hacks available? I mean, there are people who have mastered programming for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Vectrex, etc., I was expecting someone to take being the King of Homebrews to the next level and hack arcade game boards. Good question. I'd guess that there are some out there (please? Someone?) that just haven't been released for some reason or another (kind of like the person who writes poetry for years but is too scared to share it with anyone). Also with Infogrames suing people over copyright infringement/having various games removed from Apple and apps stores (Vector Tanks and Asteroids-like shooters several months ago) could be another factor. And btw, that Vector Breakout looks great!  |
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Post by detonator on Jul 31, 2012 23:10:30 GMT -5
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Post by VectorX on Aug 1, 2012 3:43:05 GMT -5
Oh, so THERE'S Vector Locust! We were looking for that a few weeks ago.
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Post by TrekMD on Aug 2, 2012 8:47:34 GMT -5
That looks cool. With some modifications of the "locusts" it could pass as a firt-person perspective War of the Worlds game.
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Post by ledzep on Aug 8, 2012 17:59:08 GMT -5
I read on KLOV that VectorLabs is thinking of offering a new Tempest multi board that would be similar to Cowgill's old one but instead of Breakout it will end up having three slots to hold downloads of TempEd - www.thundercross.freeserve.co.uk/temped/temped.htmSo, not a new game but something user-definable at least. Dammit, my Tempest cocktail has Cowgill's board, hate to lose Breakout for this. |
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Post by ledzep on Aug 8, 2012 18:08:29 GMT -5
Further to that TempEd idea, it would be cool to expand that to other games, maybe change the ships in Star Trek or Space Wars, add new shapes in Space Duel, whatever. Still not new games but it's something. I wonder how hard it would be to make a vector Missile Command for Quantum...
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Post by ledzep on Aug 8, 2012 18:11:09 GMT -5
Of course, no fire buttons on Quantum, maybe could use one/two player start buttons or something. Or make a vector Space Invaders for Asteroids or Rip-Off.
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Post by VectorX on Aug 8, 2012 19:11:06 GMT -5
I wonder how hard it would be to make a vector Missile Command for Quantum... I wouldn't think it would be too hard, due to the Vectrex clones of that of Patriots. But that could be an apples/oranges thing though. |
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Post by ledzep on Sept 11, 2012 13:39:37 GMT -5
Ok, further to the news about the new Tempest multigame board that will have 3 open slots to put in user-designed levels, it appears that those slots might be capable of running other games? Not sure but someone on that thread forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=233092&page=5said that he has been working on a vector adaptation of an Atari 8-bit game called Bacterion that is a version of Rip-Off (hahaaha, a rip-off of Rip-Off) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=61N8L7-l1GUI never heard of Bacterion, seems kind of cool except for that maddening inability to shoot in every direction (looks like only 16 directions are possible) that most raster games suffer from but the guy in the Tempest thread said that he had adapted the Tempest spinner for his version and he also said that since both Tempest and the Atari 8-bit computer family used 6502 machine code and the POKEY chip for sound it was pretty straightforward to convert. I wonder if there are other Atari 6502/POKEY games that could be slotted in. New games, dammit!! |
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Post by ledzep on Nov 20, 2012 22:04:19 GMT -5
Good question. I'd guess that there are some out there (please? Someone?) that just haven't been released for some reason or another (kind of like the person who writes poetry for years but is too scared to share it with anyone). Also with Infogrames suing people over copyright infringement/having various games removed from Apple and apps stores (Vector Tanks and Asteroids-like shooters several months ago) could be another factor. And btw, that Vector Breakout looks great! Ok, this - www.turnarcades.com/2012/10/09/secret-project-1-pac-manic-miner-man-2/is exactly what I'm talking about. Well, not "exactly" since it's not vector. But this dude hacked a ZX Spectrum game onto actual Pac-Man hardware. I wonder how hard it would be for homebrew programmers of Vectrex games, for example, to get their games (in color!) onto a Space Duel or Black Widow or whatever cabinet. I know it's not easy by any stretch, I'm just wondering why something like this hack took so long considering MAME access to ROMs and the like. |
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Post by VectorX on Nov 20, 2012 22:28:40 GMT -5
Wow, that's killer! I wonder how hard it would be for homebrew programmers of Vectrex games, for example, to get their games (in color!) onto a Space Duel or Black Widow or whatever cabinet. I know it's not easy by any stretch, Yeah, you've probably seen the shots of the Vectrex being turned sideways and getting Star Wars and Battlezone to run on it. I'm sure that wasn't real easy either. Makes you wonder... |
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Post by ledzep on Nov 20, 2012 23:28:39 GMT -5
Wow, that's killer! Yeah, you've probably seen the shots of the Vectrex being turned sideways and getting Star Wars and Battlezone to run on it. I'm sure that wasn't real easy either. Makes you wonder... Well, if it's this board - www.zektor.com/zvg/index.htmlthen it's actually kind of straightforward. Meaning you need a computer, this board (sold out), a Vectrex, VectorMAME, arcade controls MAME-wired into the PC and a harness - www.zektor.com/zvg/vectormame.htmwww.zektor.com/zvg/cables.htmin order to get Star Wars and Battlezone on it www.zektor.com/zvg/zvg_vpix.htmI have one of those boards to one day do just that. It ain't easy but at least I don't have to code anything, just get VectorMAME running. |
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Post by VectorX on Nov 21, 2012 0:09:56 GMT -5
Yeah, that's the stuff. I never really looked over it to see how complicated it is or isn't to do.
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Post by sokurah on Nov 21, 2012 4:09:02 GMT -5
I have a better example of a ripoff of Rip Off. My own version of Rip Off was remade by someone else - who for some reason decided to remake my version instead of the original. It's so close that it's hard to tell the difference. Read this post I made about it: tardis.dk/wordpress/?p=755www.turnarcades.com/2012/10/09/secret-project-1-pac-manic-miner-man-2/is exactly what I'm talking about. Well, not "exactly" since it's not vector. But this dude hacked a ZX Spectrum game onto actual Pac-Man hardware. I know it's not easy by any stretch, I'm just wondering why something like this hack took so long considering MAME access to ROMs and the like. He didn't actually "hack" a Spectrum game. He re-wrote it from scratch for the arcade hardware. |
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