All about the Vectrex

The Last Bandit

Ya just managed to snag a bare board version, site was getting hammered.

deadl0ck

Jaysus - that was stressful

The Last Bandit

Saddest thing is I’ve got nothing better to do on a Saturday night

Doge

Now the awkward wait to see if we actually snagged one after paying with PayPal!

CiDeRmAn

The bare board one is the only that was available for me, but that was the first release.
The cases should have their plans up for printing for those that need them.
I'm looking forward to having even more people to talk to about them!

CiDeRmAn

How many did they have for sale anyway?
It's just one guy making them at the moment.
The hope is he'll ramp up production, but then there's only a finite number of Veccys in the world anyway!
So, I wonder how big the potential market is?

CiDeRmAn

Apparently there's three left!

deadl0ck

Well, just got a confirmation email:

"Your payment for order #nnnn has been received and it will now be processed. You can expect another Email to confirm postage of your order within three Australian business days."

CiDeRmAn

It's an easy setup, for the baremetal stuff I've been using.
Just download the image from Vide Malban, flash it to your micro SD, stick the roms from a recent MAME in the relevant folders as well.
Stick the RPi0 onto the PiTrex, you have the time while waiting on the post to install the right header on the RPi0.
Turn on the Veccy and you should be straight into the PiTrex menu.
There might be some calibration via the setup menu but that's it.

CiDeRmAn

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

It's an easy setup, for the baremetal stuff I've been using.
Just download the image from Vide Malban, flash it to your micro SD, stick the roms from a recent MAME in the relevant folders as well.
Stick the RPi0 onto the PiTrex, you have the time while waiting on the post to install the right header on the RPi0.
Turn on the Veccy and you should be straight into the PiTrex menu.
There might be some calibration via the setup menu but that's it.

Quick question for you, my roms only work in the roms folder but not in their own respective folders within the roms folder, not sure what there for exactly as nothing works in there for me, only in the main roms folder, I did manage to get most of them now though, some of the cinatronics ones are great and black widow play fine although needing some configuring of the controls but incredible to be able to play it on the vectrex

CiDeRmAn

The roms go in the folder zipped, no need for game specific folders
While Malban is taking a week or two of a break, others are continuing to work on improving the emulation and the controls.
Malban has some very interesting plans for the Pitrex.
There's an excellent chance that Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back will be coming to the format.
Not only that but we could see vector based titles, new ones, come to the device...
It's looking good!

Yeah that's what I thought but from the image there seems to be rom specific folders, maybe left over from before zip support was added, battlezone plays great too now, need to put together a dual stick at some stage for it

Doge

There was meant to be 2 dudes working on a playstation 1 to vectrex adapter in the Facebook group going back a good few years now.
I find the Vectrex controller the least ergonomic thing and would love a joypad instead.

There is a guy converting neogeo pads on there, not sure on the pricing but look pretty good and of course for the non analogue there's always the option to use a megadrive pad and adapter from the same guy selling the pitrex

The Last Bandit

I probably make my own console adapters once I've got my setup running again, Saturn & Playstation for analog support. Have the code from the superguns which is most of the work already done.

deadl0ck

Doge wrote: »

There was meant to be 2 dudes working on a playstation 1 to vectrex adapter in the Facebook group going back a good few years now.
I find the Vectrex controller the least ergonomic thing and would love a joypad instead.

Maybe contact ombertech and add one of these to your order before it ships then

CiDeRmAn

I got the Megadrive to Vectrex adapter, it's not bad but not ideal, the NeoGeo control pad or arcade stick would be perfect

deadl0ck

RPi ordered and memory card - now the waiting game begins

CiDeRmAn

So, Malban just released a new update for the PiTrex Baremetal work he is doing,
And Battlezone looks amazing, and sounds great.
It is now playing on the single stick, as well as other configurations, and the sounds are inplemented, aside from the engine noise, which is coming in a later update.
But, I have to say, it plays very smoothly.
Here's a user playing it with a homemade overlay.
He's also using his own twin-stick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcQ4_DKercc

Asteroids is still great, but even better now that he has implemented the explosion sounds using samples, it feels almost arcade perfect.
Only problem, I find, is that while movement, thrust and fire are all mapped to the controller buttons, as is right and proper, pressing button 1 and 4 together brings you to the dipswtich screen, which interrupts play, so I have to use the stick for movement instead... must message him about that.
Tempest also works beautifully, but sound isn't implemented just yet.
He has the rudiments of Star Wars on there, but I haven't the right "files" installed for that.
By all accounts it's just about playable but it is very flickery, he has some plans to improve the flicker and frame rate, to make it more playable but it will be as good as the arcade, still, getting it working in a playable state on a Vectrex is pretty amazing nevertheless!

Here's Malban playtesting his implementation, go to 4:45 or so for gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGKwOvMjiq8

I can imagine a custom overlay with the Cockpit and other colours on there, eventually.

Let me know how those of you with a PiTrex are getting along with the new update, the rest of you can just wish you had one!

Really enjoying the latest update, Major Havoc is also playable apparently but havent found the correct roms yet, if you find working star wars files let me know please!

CiDeRmAn

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Really enjoying the latest update, Major Havoc is also playable apparently but havent found the correct roms yet, if you find working star wars files let me know please!

If you look for a old mame romset from around 2008 or before, it'll work, as the AAE emulator is from 2008.
I've tried Star Wars and it works, but the lines for the ships and other critical features are too faint to see in daylight

CiDeRmAn

This is incredible.
There's a dialogue about the poor position of the RPi0 and inaccessibility of the usb ports.
Turns out it is because Malban has got Elite running on the Pitrex but he can't hook up a keyboard!
This is amazing news!
Depending on the emulated system this could open the door for countless more vector based computer games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIy01XsI7d0

deadl0ck

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

This is incredible.
There's a dialogue about the poor position of the RPi0 and inaccessibility of the usb ports.
Turns out it is because Malban has got Elite running on the Pitrex but he can't hook up a keyboard!
This is amazing news!
Depending on the emulated system this could open the door for countless more vector based computer games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIy01XsI7d0

Wow - I can't wait for mine - it was shipped on the 30th of March and I have the RPi here waiting for it.....

CiDeRmAn

The group are working on how to integrate a BT keyboard into the PiTrex system, maybe controllers as well.
The possibilities are tantalising.
Imagine being able to wirelessly get your PS4 arcade stick to work with the Veccy, playing all of your games on the Pitrex system with it.
Or, with the help of the keyboard, being able to play the Vector games from an entire generation of consoles, such as the ZX Spectrum.
I mean, if Elite works, there's lots more, from 3D Tank Duel to Starstrike to Starion, and lots more.
It's a great time to be in the scene, I can see them selling a Pitrex to every soul with a Vectrex.
They are cheap and will be available to anyone that wants one, so no ebay scalpers like with the Vecfever

Doge

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The group are working on how to integrate a BT keyboard into the PiTrex system, maybe controllers as well.
The possibilities are tantalising.
Imagine being able to wirelessly get your PS4 arcade stick to work with the Veccy, playing all of your games on the Pitrex system with it.
Or, with the help of the keyboard, being able to play the Vector games from an entire generation of consoles, such as the ZX Spectrum.
I mean, if Elite works, there's lots more, from 3D Tank Duel to Starstrike to Starion, and lots more.
It's a great time to be in the scene, I can see them selling a Pitrex to every soul with a Vectrex.
They are cheap and will be available to anyone that wants one, so no ebay scalpers like with the Vecfever

Damnit, i should have went with the Pi Zero "W" then!

Time to order another me thinks.

Doge

Just ordered one with headers from the PI Hut this morning which is cheaper I believe.

Heads up , Theres a global chip and semiconductor shortage at the moment and someone I know who worked in the business is warning people to buy whatever stock they need immediately and not to wait.

STMicroelectronics STM32 chips are scarce as hell at the moment and it's affecting people I know who make hardware for music production, and that's just one area affected.
What little are left have are going for ridiculous amounts of money.
It's just a matter of time before it affects Raspberry Pis, Arduinos etc...

CiDeRmAn

Vide Malban is after pouring cold water on the possibilities of BT and the baremetal approach to the PiTrex.
In fairness, while his approach has been the most user-friendly, the Raspian approach is still being developed and there will be more hope that this will integrate BT accessories into the system.
The problem with the Raspian approach is that, currently, it requires people to ssh into it to run games.
Now, this will hopefully change and it will end up being as simple as flashing an SD image, pre-built, to your card and put your games on there and that's it, but they aren't there as yet.

Malban has poured some cold water on hopes, pointing out that it really is only four or five people in active development on the system, that this is only in their spare time and this is going to limit ambition somewhat.
Also, it has to be said, Malban is pretty quick to speak his mind and that can appear quick... brisk and sharp, so there is no guarantee that he will remain a part of the scene, and his absence would be felt especially as he is the whole baremetal scene is his.

That said, even if he ceased development now, the current image is a spectacular success and is worth the price of admission as it stands.
I was playing Star Wars last night on the Pitrex and it looks amazing, despite its obvious early state.

CiDeRmAn

The latest, frankly insane, development for the Vectrex is a kit that turns any Sanwa type arcade stick into an analogue using the Hall Effect .
This pcb and a magnet combo is genius, and James Watt is selling them at £40 a pop, so I'm going to buy one.
Coupled with one of his controller PCBs it allows the building of a arcade stick that works as an analogue one, he is also hoping to build a switch setting to go digital, if necessary.
The ingenuity of the builders on the Vectrex scene is just incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAQJgIMtfjU

Yeah imagine how cool it would be playing vectorblade with one of those sticks! Also have you seen the guy using his phone as a controller for pitrex! Hopefully this means Malban can get Bluetooth keyboards working for elite etc and support for many other controllers

https://youtu.be/5R5Bz3HGGfw

deadl0ck

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The latest, frankly insane, development for the Vectrex is a kit that turns any Sanwa type arcade stick into an analogue using the Hall Effect .
This pcb and a magnet combo is genius, and James Watt is selling them at £40 a pop, so I'm going to buy one.
Coupled with one of his controller PCBs it allows the building of a arcade stick that works as an analogue one, he is also hoping to build a switch setting to go digital, if necessary.
The ingenuity of the builders on the Vectrex scene is just incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAQJgIMtfjU

Wow - fantastic stuff - is there a link to buy them yet ?

Edit - BTW Cidey - time for you to set up a Vectrex information hub / blog
You're really keeping us up to date here on this thread ! Thanks !!