Introduce Yourself

[bug88]

hi all, good to meet you 

I thought it might be a nice idea if people introduce themselves here, maybe just to say a little bit about if you own the vectrex32 smartcart, what level you are at regarding basic programming, and perhaps what you hope to do with your vectrex32 smartcart?

regarding myself, i do not own a vectrex32 smartcart yet, but looking to purchase one in the future hopefully

and regarding my programming skills, i would class myself as a novice, although i have done some basic and c programming in the past (but mostly at a beginner level)

i'm interested in how the 'old school' type of video game is put together and hope to learn some things about how it is done.  hoping this new forum will be a good place to chat and learn together 

[Vectrex32]

I'm Bob and I created the SmartCart. I'm a software engineer with a few hardware skills. I bought my Vectrex back in the '80s. I actually haven't been a part of the Vectrex community, but I was aware of it. When I was looking for a new hobby project, I decided on some sort of 32 bit upgrade to the Vectrex. I've been working on it for two years.

Here's my best Vectrex story: I was sitting in my bachelor apartment one night back in the 80s, playing Star Trek on the Vectrex. I fired at a Klingon and blew up his ship. At that exact moment, there was a bright flash of light outside my window, a loud boom, and all the electricity went out in the apartment.

My first thought was: that's one hell of a game.

My second thought was: it's a nuclear attack (remember this was during the Cold War).

My third thought was: the light and the noise reached me simultaneously, so if it was a nuclear bomb, it was really close. I'd be dead now. So it wasn't a nuclear bomb.

It turned out an electrical junction box in the apartment complex had been under repair. The repairman did something wrong and it blew up. Fortunately, he was far away from it when it happened; no one was hurt.

[gliptitude]

My name is Jason. I have a background in filmmaking, animation, art, drawing and painting. I do a lot of dabbling and I haven't settled on my medium yet. Game design is a serious interest of mine.

I discovered vector graphics, Vectrex and homebrew video games all around the same time, in 2012. I've been obsessed ever since. I follow new developments for the NES and Atari 2600, but I especially keep up with the Vectrex scene.

Discovering these scenes and participating in them is something I have always taken as a creative endeavor. I haven't really delved into programming yet, and I'm not sure that will ever be a practical course for me. But I have made some overlay prototypes and I have extensively prototyped an original Vectrex game using clips of animation I made with the Lightpen.

I don't know any BASIC and I haven't bought a Vectrex32 SmartCart yet. My main object will be to test other people's programs and to be able to play whatever new stuff people come up with. So I'm kind of waiting for others to make some progress before I buy in. With the small number of units initially available I thought it made sense for those to end up in the hands of programmers and for me to wait.

[Godzilla451]

Hi I'm Rich, a Cab driver from Brattleboro VT I first got my Vectrex out of a pawnshop in tennesee for 125 bucks in 1992. I remembered it from the ads in magazines back in the eighties when all I could afford was a T/S 1000 but The hours spent punching in basic code out of magazines wont go to waste if I manage to get a Vectrex 32! I can't seem to find any info about the pricing or a firm date on availability but I am determined to get one. I still have the console but the box containing the 20 or so carts, extra controller, lightpen and all the overlays was stolen from my garage ten years ago. I've got the Vectrex, one Armor Attack overlay and two controllers left. I considered getting one of Sean Kellys multicarts but the Vectrex 32 looks like a better way to go. One of my favorite Vectrex memories is discovering the two player bug in Armor Attack and impressing all my army buddies with my ability to rack up high scores (i didn't tell them about the bug) Can't remember my best but remember once giving up at six hundred sixty six thousand because it was taking so long and I was ready to pass out.

[Vectrex32]

Welcome, Rich.

I ordered more Vectrex32s to be built a few weeks ago. I expect they'll be ready in a couple more weeks. (The one annoying thing about the company I use to make them is that they don't give me periodic status reports. I hear nothing from them for weeks and then suddenly I get a message with "we've shipped it; here's the tracking number!")

When I get them, I'll post an announcement in the News and Updates forum.

The V32 and the Sean Kelly Multicart are very different things. The V32 still doesn't have many games for it. Its main appeal (IMO) is that it makes programming vastly easier. So it's a product for people who want to do programming, without dealing with the complexities of assembly language. The multicart is for people who want to play the games.

- Bob

[LamerDeluxe]

Hi Vectex fans, my name is Milan,

I have a Vectrex32 on its way as a birthday gift from my wife, should be here in about two/three weeks. I thought the whole idea of putting a fast CPU in a Vectrex cartridge was really fascinating, so I had to get one. I always planned to program something for the Vectrex, but didn't get around to it. I did program some small demos in assembly for my Atari Lynx.

I'm currently a VR/AR developer and graphics artist (I create audio/music and video as well). I have a background in game and television development and graphics.

I taught myself programming about 37 years ago on my VIC-20, which I also got for my birthday. Been programming as a hobby and profesionally ever since. Went from basic, to machine code, assembly, C, C++, Visual Basic and now C#. I now have about eighteen years of professional programming experience.

Apart from that I've also been creating graphics, 2D hand-pixeled, 3D modeling and animation for games and television. Started with 3D graphics in 1988. Currently using Blender for modeling VR/AR objects.

Synthesizers have also always been one of my interests. I love doing audio synthesis on hardware and software synthesizers. I compose music for videos of our VR/AR projects using the ReNoise soundtracker.

We used to have a Vectrex set up at the local toy store, coin-operated with the stand with the cool blue bubble on it. A toy store in the main town nearby had four of them that could be played, running different games.

And then my parents knew someone who worked at an electronics store. He had an Atari 2600 with (almost?) all games, a ColecoVision also with all the games and a Vectrex with a lot of games and a light pen. Really enjoyed playing on the Vectrex. It also had something unique and magical about it, including the sounds of the games.

Over twenty years ago the internet finally provided a marketplace where I could get a Vectrex, I hadn't seen one in about fifteen years and suddenly I was at the home of a collector being able to choose one of three of them. I chose the one with the highest serial number and it turned out to be one without the buzz.

Got one of the very first VecFlash and VecVox units for it, as I was keeping track of their developer creating it. Got the Protector/YASI and Debris (the creator of that was a colleague of mine) homebrew games for it. I really love the Vectrex homebrew community.

Anyway, can't wait to start experimenting with the Vectrex32, I'm looking forward to be able to quickly try some ideas with it. I wish I could also program it in C++ or C#, but I can imagine that would be a massive amount of work to implement. And maybe the extra performance wouldn't even help, as the Vectrex wouldn't be able to keep up with drawing everything.

Thanks for creating the Vectrex32, it is a really cool idea!

[Vectrex32]

Welcome Milan! Glad to see you here.

- Bob

[LamerDeluxe]

Thanks Bob!

Look what the mailman dragged in today

Did have to pay for customs, but it is worth it. Now to be patient until this work day is over.

[Vectrex32]

Did have to pay for customs, but it is worth it. Now to be patient until this work day is over.

Sorry about the Customs. How much did they dun you for?

- Bob

[LamerDeluxe]

Did have to pay for customs, but it is worth it. Now to be patient until this work day is over.

Sorry about the Customs. How much did they dun you for?

- Bob

23 Euro, so not a whole lot, fortunately the Vectrex32 was on sale.

[LamerDeluxe]

I've been reading through the manual and I really like the programming architecture you have created for this, can't wait to try it. Won't be tonight unfortunately because of a work meeting.

[VectorWorlds]

Hello,

My name is Andrew and I hoping to buy a Vectrex32 in the very near future.  My first memories of seeing a Vectrex was when I was about 12 years old.  I was in hospital for about 2 months recovering from an operation.  All the long stay patients were allowed to bring in their computers / consoles to keep themselves amused.  I was able to borrow my brothers ZX Spectrum for a couple of days, the girl in the next bed had a Commodore Vic 20 and the boy on the other side had a Vectrex.  I was struck by how cool the whole machine looked and the games were fun too.  It took another 30 years before I would see another Vectrex when my wife kindly bought one for me.  It was slightly broken when I got it but nothing swapping out the DAC chip couldnt fix.

I've always been a vector / XY graphic fan, and Im particularly fond of the Atari's Star Wars arcade game.  I spent a lot of money down the arcades as a kid playing that game.  A few years back I built my own Star Wars cab from scratch using mame (unfortunately not with a real vector monitor yet).

I recently also just finished an alpha demo of Star Wars on the Pico 8 virtual console.

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=36008

I've been really impressed by the video of the Tron light cycles game that is being made Jaymz, and that's what lead me to discover that Vectrex32 existed.  I'm keen to have a play about it with and see what I can come up with

Cheers for now,


Andrew

[Arjay-El]

Just discovered the Vectrex world in Dec 2019 when I saw a system for sale at a small computer show. Instantly hooked so I ended up purchasing three systems through various sources,  one complete with the arcade stand owned by a ex-MB employee. And of course I just received the Vectrex32. Amazing piece of hardware that I look forward to coding with.

[Vectrex32]

Welcome Arjay! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

- Bob

[Lardo Boffin]

Hello all 

I really wanted a Vectrex as a kid (I saw one in a posh department store) but it never happened sadly. I did however get one earlier this year. Its a very early one I think - the AY chip is soldered in and the buzz is really bad. Or at least it was until I fitted a buzz-off kit and now it much better.

I saw the Vectrex32 on a popular auction site and then got a reduced price offer and bought one.    I should really have waited until after Christmas but never mind...
Thanks also for the good postage rates.  Shame our post office charges a £8 fee just for handling paying import taxes. Hey ho.

Anyway looking forward to getting to grips with programming this! I have a couple of things in mind to have a go at so will see if I can get anywhere.