All about the Vectrex

CiDeRmAn · 18-04-2021 05:25PM

deadl0ck wrote: »

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

Not yet, he says that he is going to make 50 units, see how they sell.
They will be £40 each and available from his store, Clockwork Robot.

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 !!

It's all in prep for the dedicated Vectrex forum...
Any day now

deadl0ck · 18-04-2021 05:58PM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

It's all in prep for the dedicated Vectrex forum...
Any day now

That would be pretty sweet

CiDeRmAn · 18-04-2021 08:29PM

deadl0ck wrote: »

That would be pretty sweet

And it's never going to happen!

Truth is, as vibrant as the Veccy scene is right now, year on year there's less of the consoles and the likes of the PiTrex is only going to be sold to a fraction of those owners.
As a result it's always going to an incredibly niche scene.

Still, it's pretty cool never the less!

There is a new Zaxxon/Starfighter game on the way, called Vexxon.
Looks pretty good even though it's still early days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NiJ3Z7Pjf0

deadl0ck · 18-04-2021 08:35PM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

And it's never going to happen!

Yeah - I know - I was just going along with it while it lasted.....
Maybe just a forum-een - a small forum

deadl0ck · 19-04-2021 12:39PM

PiTrex arrived a couple of hours ago !!
Will get to it after work !!
Also - need to print a case for it - will be a combination of this and this

Doge · 19-04-2021 01:34PM

Mine is currently out for delivery also, and I'll be 3D printing the same! Hopefully it will come out better than the cartridge case in the pics on thingiverse.

How are people setting up the installation with a non wireless Pi Zero?

I see Malban is running a Virtual Machine?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn8LqUbUqvs

You can just swap the sd card then into the PiTrex.

Seems to be the best way i'd imagine?

Doge · 19-04-2021 01:42PM

Just opened the package now and it shows a quick start guide.

I didn't realise it was as easy as unzipping Malbans Bare-Metal Zip file and extracting it to a FAT32 SD Card!

CiDeRmAn · 19-04-2021 03:15PM

Doge wrote: »

Just opened the package now and it shows a quick start guide.

I didn't realise it was as easy as unzipping Malbans Bare-Metal Zip file and extracting it to a FAT32 SD Card!

Yep, it uses the current set of roms as well, so there's no need for hunting about.
Also, the AAE emulator needs an older set, so look for something around 2003 for Star Wars in particular

deadl0ck · 20-04-2021 09:03AM

Didn't get time to try it yet (shakes fist at work) - going to get the case printed this morning hopefully.

20-04-2021 09:17AM

Couple of nice controllers from Vic landed today, really top quality stuff

mr bean pictures animated

CiDeRmAn · 20-04-2021 11:19AM

The man is brilliant, my 2600 controller is fantastic, and it works a treat on the Spectrum as well.
Because a lot of games used "up" as jump, because the Spectrum and Atari sticks only have one fire button, this is mapped to the second fire button on the Vic Stic, making those games a whole lot easier to play.
I haven't tried it on the C64 yet, but I imagine it will reap the same benefits there.

deadl0ck · 20-04-2021 01:49PM

Right - case printed and I got like 5 minutes with it during lunch - I'll post some pics later

Am I seeing things or do we get a full version of Vectorblade on the PiTrex with Malban's SD Image ??

20-04-2021 01:50PM

Yes vectorblade is included and an absolute load of other stuff too!

deadl0ck · 20-04-2021 02:44PM

20-04-2021 02:47PM

Excellent! Love the little top cover for the pi too.. Really nice, there's labels on the fb group too if you want to print out one.. Enjoy!

deadl0ck · 20-04-2021 02:50PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Excellent! Love the little top cover for the pi too.. Really nice, there's labels on the fb group too if you want to print out one.. Enjoy!

Deadly - I'll need to look - is that a Facebook Group for PiTrex ? Or is it the Vectrex Fans Unite group ?

20-04-2021 02:52PM

On the fb vectrex fans unite group, if your not on there let me know and I can mail you a copy. &#55357;&#56397;

deadl0ck · 20-04-2021 03:08PM

I'm on it - I just need to find it - did you manage to get the set of ROMs also for the MAME stuff (I haven't looked yet)

Doge · 20-04-2021 06:50PM

Lovely work deadl0ck!

I tried out Transparent filament for the first time and this was the result:

More challenging than standard PLA, had to print at a lower resolution, 100% infill, high temperatures and 30% your usual speed to ensure it remains as transparent as possible.

I sanded some sides and sprayed Rust-oleum Crystal Clear over them but it didnt really improve the transparency.

Probably because this transparent PLA yellows slightly, you'd get better results with certain clear PLA brands that are reputable.

I noticed our screws are slightly too long.

Mine juts out the slightest bit above the nut also but it fits the Vectrex okay.

deadl0ck · 21-04-2021 03:25PM

That looks great - It looks like the label is still a WIP over on the FB Group

deadl0ck · 21-04-2021 07:19PM

Playing VectorBlade there - did the calibration but are you guys getting the slanted score ?

On videos online it looks like it should be normal straight up as opposed to slanted

Doge · 21-04-2021 08:55PM

Is the photo yours? It looks pretty straight to me there! Maybe try the calibration again.

deadl0ck · 21-04-2021 09:32PM

Doge wrote: »

Is the photo yours? It looks pretty straight to me there! Maybe try the calibration again.

I mean it's slanted about 40 degrees to the right

In this video it pretty much straight up: https://youtu.be/FhcgFeT_3R4?t=557

Edit: so this essentially:

Doge · 21-04-2021 10:17PM

I wonder if theres a way of skipping calibration altogether for vecccys without geometry issues?

deadl0ck · 22-04-2021 08:10AM

Doge wrote: »

I wonder if theres a way of skipping calibration altogether for vecccys without geometry issues?

That being said it's perfect for me apart from that - eve the ships that fly across that are and over the score are fine - weird

CiDeRmAn · 24-04-2021 09:46PM

Can anyone tell me how I might make a Megadrive compatible arcade stick?
As I have a Vecadapt this will let me use it on the Vectrex, as have a spare arcade stick waiting to be repurposed.
I'm rubbish at soldering, so keep that in mind!

deadl0ck · 26-04-2021 09:47AM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Can anyone tell me how I might make a Megadrive compatible arcade stick?
As I have a Vecadapt this will let me use it on the Vectrex, as have a spare arcade stick waiting to be repurposed.
I'm rubbish at soldering, so keep that in mind!

What type of arcade stick is it ? Maybe you could get an megadrive adapter for it (instead of making one)

CiDeRmAn · 26-04-2021 01:30PM

It has a USB cable at present, I might find a dodgy MD pad somewhere and do a spot of soldering, I can arrange the buttons then to follow the Veccy arrangement, with Start/A/B/C equalling 1/2/3/4

I'll have a look and report back if I get something working.

Also, did anyone see the issues the most recent PiTrex release has been having?
Apparently, there is a problem with the trace relating to the "Halt" signal, causing a conflict between the Pitrex/RPi and the Veccys own main processor, which is normally halted.
I hope everyone with a new PiTrex is getting on okay and haven't been affected?

29-04-2021 12:31PM

You could always get a JIB board from James Watt and just solder the connectors on it or wrap wires around it etc, the pads are huge its impossible to get wrong

CiDeRmAn · 29-04-2021 01:55PM

Deleted User wrote: »

You could always get a JIB board from James Watt and just solder the connectors on it or wrap wires around it etc, the pads are huge its impossible to get wrong

I thought I had one, though I might have given it away...
I'll have a look in the quantum singularity that is the "box of wires under the gamesroom table", I think it is filled with cables for things that never existed...

All about the Vectrex

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