iOS gaming: SFcave & iCave

I’m still hopeful that someone somewhere might be able to help me track down a copy of VeCave for the MB Vectrex or indeed for emulation via ParaJVE (see previous post – http://stiggyblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/homebrew-gaming-weekend/ ) but until then I thought I’d have a look around Apple app store to see if there’s anything that’s similar.

The first is iCave which pretty o.k. It runs lot faster than the Vectrex version but then maybe the Vectrex homebrew version is in fact a lot slower compared to the original Palm OS/Windows 3.1 original? The turning arc of your worm is very quick and so keeping it level is quite challenging as you navigate your way down the cave tunnel and around the block obstacles. Touch screen control works really well here.

iCave also let’s you change the colours of the cave terrain, worm and obstacles via three RGB sliders found in the options menu. Bight orange, pink and yellow anyone?

O.k, it’s doesn’t have that intense phosphor glow you get with the Vectrex, but it looks pretty close? No?…no, didn’t think so too

The second game is called SFcave.

Here, your worm’s turning speed isn’t so quick and with rapid touches, it fairly easy to keep it in a straight line. This means it doesn’t quiet play the same as VeCave but compared to iCave, this is much more fun to play….especially during moments when there’s hardly any room between cave roof and floor. One of those games that makes you think ‘how the hell did I make it through there!’

SFcave also offers a selection of level enhancements such as moving obstacles and playing a level in reverse. Unlike iCave, SFCave is free app, although you have to purchase the rather bizarre looking 3D 1st person version.

Red 5 standing by!

I’m also on he hunt for other homebrew versions and clones of SFcave for PC or older computers. I’v found a rather cool looking 2008 version for the Commodore c64 and also this video from a PC w.i.p project. Sadly, it’s an old video with no further updates therefore I’m not sure if it was ever finished?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkBmyhVmE-0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Of course, there’s always the immensely popular Jetpack Joyride which is loosely based on SFcave mechanics. Such a great game that gets better each time you play.

Does anyone out there have any recommendations? – especially for the ZX Spectrum?

Fortress of Narzod released for C64

Thanks to fellow RCM’er Mike for the heads up on a collection of new games thats been released the other day for the Commodore 64. All of the titles below are entries for the RGCD C64 16KB Cartridge Development Competition.

Blok Copy
C64 Anabalt
Fortress of Narzod
Get Em
Jar’s Revenge
Panic Analogue
Rong – Pong
Space Lords
The Mollusk
Wolly Jumpers (16kb version)

Being a Vectrex/Narzod fan, that third game on the list will be the first one I’ll be checking out. The YouTube vids shows that this looks be a be a great conversion.

For more information and links to download the games in cartridge and .bin format, checkout out RGCD – http://www.rgcd.co.uk/2011/12/rgcd-c64-cartridge-development.html

Time to warm up the Easyflash cartridge

Vectrex movie cartridge

I’ve been enjoying rereading classic Sci-Fi books via iBooks these past few weeks such as the collected short stories by Philip K Dick, William Gibson Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov. In particular the later being the Robot novels. This lead to further research on the theme which brought me to Martin Caitin’s Cyborg novels – which was the basis of the cult classic Six Million Dollar man TV series (which if rumours are true, could be resurrected (or rebuilt…,sorry!) as a new feature film)….where was I?…oh yes…cyborg…this then led me to pictures of the rather ropey 1982 Klaus Klinski film called Android, which finally brought me to this image.

Are those Vectrex consoles?

Further research shows that Vectrex..eseses where indeed used in the film (including a game) and more information, as well as a ton of Vectrex related goodness, can be found here -

http://www.classicgamecreations.com/android.html

…and if you want a copy of the actual Vectrex cart designed specifically for the movie, the current bid on eBay is £600….no? me neither

Right, I’m off to scan footage of Starwars, I bet there’s an Atari Woody somewhere

Two Vectrex Overlays added to my collection.

Wow, I was only saying the other day how I’d like to add more Vectrex coloured overlays to my collection (Berzerk in particular) and what do you know, two come up on eBay for a very low price.

Both arrived today.

The first is for the game – Rip Off. It’s not a game I’ve played very often before but am really starting to get into it in a big way and this overlay (if somewhat basic) adds a splash of colour and useful for a visual aid when them robbing buggers enemy ships start to come in think n fast.

Here’s the second.

Yay, Berzerk

At first I was a little concerned about the large number of surface scratches on the overlay, but once fitted to my Vectrex and with the game running they all seem to disappear.

I’m so happy to finally have my own Berzerk overlay, now I won’t have to battle out in black & white but super cool neon blue

As an added bonus, this overlay actually came with the Berzerk game cartridge. I already have it in my game collection so I’ll either trade it for another game or use the outer case as a new case for my 72-1 Vectrex multicart.

Next on the list is a Scramble overlay.

Vectrex vs. Vectrex

Taking a (short) break from all those Commodore shenanigans I had an idea to run the most excellent Vectrex emulator (ParaJVE) on my vertical mini Mame cab side by side with my actual MB Vectrex console.

As you can see, I’ve still not got around to painting my mini Mame cab yet due to having way too much fun actually playing with it. Work will recommence shortly!

ParaJVE is by far the best Vectrex emulator out there and includes such great features.

- Customisable graphics options including vector glow, anti aliasing, Vectrex console chassis and persistence settings to recreate that famous Vectrex phosphorous glow.

- Accurate reproduction of the coloured overlays for all the commercial, demo and home brew games.

- Like for like sound emulation including that authentic Vectrex buzz.

If you’ve not tried it before, or in fact have never played on a Vectrex console before, it’s well worth checking out ParaJVE.

http://vectrex-emu.blogspot.com/

Emulated – Minestorm

Actual – Minestorm game with transparent overlay.

Scramble is one game I’d really like for my Vectrex because I really like the colourful overlay. I don’t have the original game cartridge/overlay yet, but I’m still able to play the original rom via my 72-1 Vectrex Cartridge. Of course, the emulated version is complete with reproduced overlay.

After Scramble, Berzerk is another of my favorite games on the Vectrex, indeed any port of this game gets a thumbs up from me, but on the actual console with the analogue controls, it plays really really well. The minimalist graphic overlay is produced perfectly on the emulator.

Side by side Vectrex Berzerk – ‘Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert’….etc etc

Pole Position may look pretty good on the emulator, but it’s a bugger to play without analog controls. On the Vectrex, it’s much better…I so wish I had the colourful overlay though

ParaJVE not only contains all the original Vectrex games, but also has got quite a few homebrew titles like Defender clone ‘Protector’ and a great conversion of ‘Thrust’ complete with custom overlay. Many of the homebrew titles are also present on my 72-1 multi cart but sadly these two are missing. There are other Flash carts out for the Vectrex that will enable me to transfer Trust so maybe I’ll take a look at these in the near future.

As you can see from the screenshots above, I don’t really own many overlays for my Vectrex. In fact, the only one I have is for Minestorm. Occasionally the odd one will pop up on eBay but usually ends up sold for quite a hefty price.

I came across a site providing instructions on how to create your own DIY overlays and although they’re tricky to reproduce and results may vary, it’s something I’m going to be trying over the next few weeks.

Here’s a quick video of me loading Minestorm on both my fake and real Vectrex.

More Vectrex iPad wallpapers

Following on from the MineStorm wallpaper, here’s a shot of current iPad wallpaper which is based on Dark Tower overlay for the Vectrex console.

Sadly the game was never released but rom image survived and is included on the 72-1 Vectrex Multi-cart I have. This high res overlay will be the first that I’ll be experimenting on to create my own set of overlays for my Vectrex. In the meantime, I’m enjoying using them as wallpapers, especially as the iPad screen is almost identical in size.

It’s very bright but I think even Bedlam works well too.

Vectrex iPad wallpaper

Just a random trawl through the Internet and I happen to come across a great resource for all things Vectrex. There’s some great articles here as well as game reviews and a large selection of boxart, instruction and overlay scans.

http://www.vectrex.nl/

Using the overlay for Mine Storm, I’ve given my iPad a Vectrex make over

If only there was a Vectrex emulator for iOS, now that would be something!

Vectrex 72-1 Multicart

My Vectrex 72-1 Multicart arrived yesterday and despite not having a lot of free time to use try it out, my initial thought is that this is a must have add-on for any Vectrex owner.

The 72-1 Multicart is basically a cartridge designed for the Vectrex that contains a custom rom chip containing not only the entire catalogue of Vectrex games but also includes prototype games that were never released, games created by fans well over 20 years since the Vectrex’s demise and also homebrew demo’s created by talented coders to show off this stunning vector based machine.

 

Here you can see the actual board and imitation Vectrex game label designed to stick on to a cartridge case once installed. A fully cased version is available to purchase however I chose this uncased version (about half the price) and will fit my own case at a later date.

The board is designed to fit an original Vectrex game cartridge and includes the same three mounting holes. Here’s another shot of the circuit board next to an original Vectrex game cart.

It looks simple enough, but considering that this is a home made board produced by hand, the quality is of  very high standard.

After inserting the board in the Vectrex cartridge slot & switching on (no puff of smoke!) a simple menu system offers access to Original games, Unreleased games, Homebrew games, Modified original games and Homebrew GFX demos. Navigation is done via the joystick and fire buttons to launch the selected title.

..and here’s me trying to get pole position on..well Pole Position!

One of the many homebrew games – This ones appears to be a Frogger clone.

..another homebrew title which looks to be a clone of Discs of Tron. Two player version of this should be fun especially being a huge fan of the arcade original.

When i get chance i’ll post a few more pictures and maybe a few reviews on the homebrew games. Here’s a complete list of whats on the cartridge.

Games List

ORIGINAL GAMES ARMOR ATTACK BEDLAM BERZERK BLITZ. CLEAN SWEEP COSMIC CHASM FORTRESS OF NARZOD HEADS UP ACTION SOCCER HYPERCHASE POLAR RESCUE POLE POSITION RIPOFF SCRAMBLE SOLAR QUEST SPACE WARS SPIKE SPINBALL STAR CASTLE STAR HAWK STAR TREK WEB WARS PROTOTYPES CLEAN SWEEP (MR BOSTON) DARK TOWER ENGINE ANALYSER * MINE STORM II PITCHER’S DUEL POLAR RESCUE (PROTO) STAR TREK (PROTO) TEST CART REV. 4 TOUR DE FRANCE HACKED ORIGINAL GAMES ARMOR ATTACK (SPINNER HACK) *** BEDLAM (SPINNER HACK) *** BERZERK (DEBUGGED) MINE STORM II (FRED TAFT HACK) MINE STORM II (SPINNER HACK) *** NARROW ESCAPE (2D HACK) POLE POSITION (SPINNER HACK) *** STAR TREK (CONTROLLER HACK) 3D GAMES 3D CRAZY COASTER ** 3D MINE STORM ** NARROW ESCAPE **

LIGHT PEN GAMES ART MASTER * MELODY MASTER * HOMEBREW GAMES ALL GOOD THINGS ± CITY BOMBER HANGMAN PATRIOTS 3 ± PATRIOTS ± ROCKAROIDS ± SPIKE HOPPIN’ ± SPIKE’S WATER BALLOONS ± V-FROGGER ±± VECTOR VADERS ± VPONG ±± HOMEBREW GAME DEMOS ABYSS DEMO ± B.E.T.H. DEMO ±±± DISC DUEL DEMO ± VECSPORTS KINGPIN ±±± NONAGALF ±±± SPIKE GOES SKIING (BETA) VEXPERIENCE ±±± YOEHL ±±± ZTAGGER ±±± MISC DEMOS ALL YOUR BASE DEMO ±±± BACH PRELUDE #1 ^ BB2 DEMO ±±± MY BONNIE LIES OVER THE OCEAN ^ ‘NO’ SOUND ±± OLDSK00L DEMO ±±± VECTREX DEMO 3 ±±± VIMPULA ±±± WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS ^ * REQUIRES LIGHT PEN ** REQUIRES 3D IMAGER *** REQUIRES SPINNER CONTROLLER ± BY JOHN DONDZILLA ±± BY CHRIS SALAMON ±±± BY MANU PÄRSSINEN ^ BY JEFF WOOLSEY

My Vectrex – Retro gaming chic

Many of the older gaming consoles from the early seventies through to the mid eighties have always appeal to me and one that I’ve always wanted to own is a Vectrex. Unlike other consoles requiring connection to a TV, the Vectrex unique design incorporates its own black and white CRT designed to display vector based graphics.

First released in 1982 it didn’t do to well and was discontinued after a relatively short period in 1984. Only a limited number of software titles were ever released but thanks to cult following of retro gamers, many more homebrew titles and demos have since been released.

After a sweat inducing countdown of one i spotted on eBay, the was the winner bidder and collected it from the seller last weekend. Not only is the Vectrex is a very good condition, it came with multiple controllers (which i hear are becoming quite rare), several boxed games, instruction booklets and the transparent screen overlays used to pseudo color to black and white game titles.

Here’s the basic unit, with one of the control panels tucked away in the bottom slot making for a nice compact machine.

Each controller incorporates a very responsive analogue joystick and four fire buttons

Here’s some of the game cartridges, game boxes and instruction manuals

Right, a quick read of the instructions, not that there’s much to it and off we go!

Actually, i didn’t insert a game cartridge as the Vectrex comes with a build in Asteroids clone – Mine Sweeper, which is rapidly becoming a very addictive game!

These still shots don’t do the silky smooth movement of the vector graphics any justice!

Tine to add some ‘colour’ using one of the transparent overlays.

…and off we go again in stunning neon blue!

A rather crude looking vector pinball game but actually plays quite well!

Many after market and homebrew cartridges have been released on one i’ll be getting  soon contains the entire Vectrex game catalogue was well as many modern homebrew games and demos all stored on one cartridge.