Anthony Flack wrote: Tue Sep 19, 2023 9:46 pm Was it Cosmic Chasm?

There's been lots of homebrew released for the Vectrex in the years since they stopped making them. It's gone from having 29(?) official games to apparently more than a hundred and counting.

Cable length is ok for my desk; the curly telephone-style cable is certainly a quirky feature. It's a standard DB9 connector, which I have an extension cable for so I could use that, probably. But the screen is tiny, anyway.

What can't really be captured is how dang bright the screen is. It's a good job there is a dimmer knob because at the brightest settings it feels like you're staring at a welder.

There are overlays that go with the original games, transparent filters that add some color and background to the games. The CRT is probably set extra bright in order to be legible through them.

https://www.retrorgb.com/reproduction-v ... rlays.html
https://vectrexmulti.ecwid.com/Vectrex- ... -c42142833

I have no desire to play Starfield except just wanting to play the space ship Lego building aspect.

biscuitdough wrote: Sun Sep 24, 2023 2:09 pm There are overlays that go with the original games, transparent filters that add some color and background to the games. The CRT is probably set extra bright in order to be legible through them.

Yeah, I have some of those overlays.

The CRT is extra bright though just because it is a vector display. You can dial the brightness up or down (and in fact you can draw lines of varying intensity when programming it, although most coders seem to have stuck with drawing full-bright for most things) and the maximum level of contrast is way beyond anything you'll see on a modern screen. It's quite something to see; a single dot can be piercingly bright.

If you really want to go all out with crazy add-ons, there is a strap-on-your-face accessory (which I don't have) which gives you 3d graphics and colour by means of a spinning disc you stare through, like a phenakistiscope. The Vectrex controls the speed of the motor by sending it a pulse-width modulated signal which is meant to keep everything in sync with the lines on the display. I have not seen this convoluted contraption in action but I imagine it's quite rare and collectable these days.

Anthony Flack wrote: Mon Sep 25, 2023 4:36 pm

biscuitdough wrote: Sun Sep 24, 2023 2:09 pm There are overlays that go with the original games, transparent filters that add some color and background to the games. The CRT is probably set extra bright in order to be legible through them.

Yeah, I have some of those overlays.

The CRT is extra bright though just because it is a vector display. You can dial the brightness up or down (and in fact you can draw lines of varying intensity when programming it, although most coders seem to have stuck with drawing full-bright for most things) and the maximum level of contrast is way beyond anything you'll see on a modern screen. It's quite something to see; a single dot can be piercingly bright.

That rings true. I've always found Asteroids to be an experience for the eyeballs to remember, but I assumed that it was a calibration thing. I haven't seen a Vectrex since I was 10, but I've shopped for them online a bit, and make a semi-annual pilgrimage to play a standup (and poorly maintained, screen-burn-wise, but are you going to expect the guy to waste a 19" CRT on the least popular game he owns?) Asteroids.

Speaking of Asteroids, did anyone play Nova Drift before the last round of updates ruined it?

If you really want to go all out with crazy add-ons, there is a strap-on-your-face accessory (which I don't have) which gives you 3d graphics and colour by means of a spinning disc you stare through, like a phenakistiscope. The Vectrex controls the speed of the motor by sending it a pulse-width modulated signal which is meant to keep everything in sync with the lines on the display. I have not seen this convoluted contraption in action but I imagine it's quite rare and collectable these days.

Christ. I bet that's really terrible for your vision. Not that anyone would wear it long-term.

Apparently the prototype was built from a modified Viewmaster.

Another wild thing I read about the Vectrex is that they created their prototype vector monitor by taking a TV and hooking up the deflection yoke to the speaker outputs of an audio amp, using the left and right channels to control horizontal and vertical deflection. Yup they just jacked a regular TV into an XY oscilloscope. They had the flyback circuitry of the TV hooked up to a dummy yoke so that it would still have a load.

It sounds like development was quite a garage operation. As soon as it started to take off they sold it on to Milton Bradley.

If my laptop wasn't broken I'd replay the original Ghost Recon.

I've only played it past the first boss (which had me labouring maybe an hour in total), but I'm confident in calling Gunbrella at least very good, possibly great. 2D pixel action platformer, good-looking, weird, and great in the hands. Switch and PC only right now, IIRC.

brephophagist wrote: Mon Sep 18, 2023 12:19 am Just started Outer Wilds. I see why it was so well regarded. The space travel balances realism with fun perfectly.

Finally finished this, I recommend. Now starting the Talos Principle. Apparently I only play philosophical puzzle games that are at least five years old now.

You know what they say, five years ago is the new recently.

Anthony Flack wrote: Tue Sep 19, 2023 9:46 pm Was it Cosmic Chasm?

There's been lots of homebrew released for the Vectrex in the years since they stopped making them. It's gone from having 29(?) official games to apparently more than a hundred and counting.

Cable length is ok for my desk; the curly telephone-style cable is certainly a quirky feature. It's a standard DB9 connector, which I have an extension cable for so I could use that, probably. But the screen is tiny, anyway.

What can't really be captured is how dang bright the screen is. It's a good job there is a dimmer knob because at the brightest settings it feels like you're staring at a welder.

It was indeed Cosmic Chasm. That is a funstrating game. Yeah, the games all came with weird little colored plastic overlays that gave the vector graphics "color" and dimmed the lines a little. You could probably gets to stage lighting gel sheets to dim it. I loved that system. Vector Asteroids is still burned into the back of my eyes.