Creating new Vectrex Games in 2019 with Robin Jubber - Retro Tea Break

[@RMCRetro]

If you're one of those rare Vectrex owners then you can find out more about Robins game here: jubbernaut.com - Thanks to Robin for sharing his story with us. What are your Vectrex memories, do we have any owners or ex owners here? Neil - RMC

[@srfrg9707]

Not even a single screenshot? Come on! Is this chanel turning into a radio?

[@mhausb6436]

I have one, bought it 20 years ago on a fleamarket for the equivalent of 5 Euros. Then bought the cartridge with all the original games on it. While the experience is quite different from any other console I was a bit disappointed by the old games. Many are just variants of the kind where your spaceship is in the middle and you have to shoot everything around you. Do Robin's games have single player modes? I might be interested but I only have one controller...

[@jubbernaut]

@@mhausb6436 Hi! The biggest game on the cartridge, Incoming, has two single player modes (not including ALT settings, like turning gravity on). You can play as just one craft, or use the menu to switch between the two ships, so that you can play the game with just one controller. You can also quit out and save the level you have reached, along with times etc. because the game is 100 screens over 7 levels, so not being able to save would have been a massive pain.

[@JoeyRivers]

I have one which I purchased on EBAY back in 2007 when they were somewhat affordable even if still rare. I paid $300 aussie and came with about 8 carts. The boxes are very tattery but some come with the coloured screen overlay. I haven't turned it on in a while but it worked very well last time I fired it up which was a while ago because I don't have enough space to keep it permanently setup in my retro bench. I'll need to try it again soon now that I've been reminded of it with this video and might have to buy this new cart.

[@CantankerousDave]

My roommate had one in my sophomore year in college (1991). I’d always wanted one, but - being poor - had never owned or even played one before. Vector games were always my favorite arcade games as a kid, so I still want one...

[@monktoncrew]

After seeing it in the TV ads and catalogues when I was a kid, I very luckily got my Vectrex off a friend for £50 about 12 years ago. It's a beautiful machine. I get hugely excited every time I turn it on and find it still works perfectly, and will mourn the day it finally pops its clogs. There's a certain joy you get from showing it to people who've never seen the screen before. It really is enchanting. Bought a fair bit of homebrew for it. Best version of Thrust ever!

[@ag3ntorange164]

Tont Coles if it does break down this amazing community will help you fix it!

[@GarryGri]

IMO the Vectrex version of scramble is the best I've ever played. Including the arcade original, honestly. No hyperbole!

[@ag3ntorange164]

@@GarryGri I share your opinion. I think that goes for Berserk too, best version.

[@ag3ntorange164]

What a treat for an RMC fan who loves Vectrex. Bought my first in February 2018. I now have three. And an audio tap, A Vecadapt (Sega Megadrive controller adapter) and countless beautiful overlays and incredible home brew games. Once you see those vectors glow, you are never the same again. Isn't it about time we saw a Vectrex trash to treasure???

[@xPLAYnOfficial]

I absolutely love the Vectrex so much! It is such a unique and beautiful machine. I wish so much that this console can be brought back to life and a community can be revitalized around it.

[@skyway73]

Such an interesting interview, thanks very much. I had a Vectrex back in the 80s (when Woolies reduced them) and I've recently bought one. I love it and can't wait to try some of the amazing homebrew titles!

[@randywatson8347]

I got a Vectrex for 15 years, love it. It has so much potential. Imagine making games on chips with more rom storage.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

It's a reality. ;-) Most homebrews nowadays are 64k + but Vectorblade, which came out this year is a whopping 256k (one version anyway).

[@houseoftheted637]

I've owned a Vectrex for 10 years now. Have managed to collect the games that were released in the UK. Such a unique machine 😎 I have no memory of it at all back when it was commercially available.

[@alancheatley4378]

Had my Vectrex since 1982, still working 100 percent. I remember being at school and being the only one to have a Vectrex, most were C64 and Speccys

[@stephenquinn3950]

Fantastic video, such a nice guy. I wished I still had my Vectrex (well my brothers!). Keep up the amazing work. Thank you RetroManCave

[@ardscorner]

Still have a Vectrex, had it in 1982 for Christmas. It had the best Asteroids available at the time, and also Scramble. One thing that put it a head of others at the short time it was around, they put out a game called Spike, that had voice.........ok, from memory it only said - Help Spike.......Oh No Molly. Still have it today and last time I tried it, about a year ago it fired into life. I always though it would have been a great platform for the original Star Wars Arcade game, but sadly it never happened..............................yet.

[@zxkim8136]

Vectrex is a great platform and it's fantastic news that new software is being written for it 🤗 brilliant episode Neil ....🤗🤗🤗 Kim 🤗 🤗🤗

[@dykodesigns]

The 6809 was also used by a very cool system: The Fairlight CMI. This is an early sampler / audio workstation that had a dual 6809 based design.

[@Heisenberg2097]

So true the Vectrex still has a very unique aura around it. i still remember seeing it the first time in the toy store. Then I got a VIC 20... but the image and the aura of the Vectrex still remain in my memory.

[@davidelviajero1841]

I hope it catches and we can have new vectrex games soon :)

[@rbus]

Vectrex is an amazing system! First time I saw it, it was in a high-end audiophile store -- if you remember those stores, they had seperate rooms for reel-to-reel decks and amplifiers, wood-grain walls, very dimly lit with spotlights gleeming off the aluminum hardware -- but one small room with a table in the center was completely bare except for a Vectrex running on the table. I had to have it when I saw it. Years later, after being in storage for nearly decades, I brought it out and it still works 100%, and now I have a PiTrex which is like a PiStorm for the Vectrex. Still have to find time to dive into coding on it but LOVE the idea of coding graphics on a vintage system with the CPU power of a quad-core 64-bit ARM. It's like traveling back in time and coding on a machine with the horsepower of a couple of Cray supercomputers.

[@mysticmonkey0143]

Absolutely love these interviews. 👍🏻

[@sffpv9671]

Another really interesting video Neil. The Vectrex is one of those systems that seems so out of reach for many of us but its great to see people like Robin still producing games for them.

[@MoultrieGeek]

Thank you for this! I've been a fan of the Vectrex system ever since Ashens featured it on his channel and new information is greatly appreciated as there is not much available.

[@namcos]

My dev setup for the vectrex is: as_09 assembler notepad++ Para VJE (as it can assemble from source using the above assembler and is useful for finding faults that may not get picked up with Vide) Vide (a great IDE but I just use it for debugging). The example fault is that I had accidentally allowed Vide to write a variable to the ROM portion (instead of the RAM portion) which is why I couldn't understand why Para VJE wasn't doing the same thing as Vide. So I now use Para JVE as well for a "sense check". It's also quick to load too! :) For the graphics, as I'm just on 2D for my next 2 projects, is Inkscape. It natively saves as SVG so I can then open it in a text editor and then take out the path information. This is then rounded up to integer values and plugged back into the vectrex source. The only thing I've found is that Inkscape seems to plot all but the last line as I have to input that myself.

[@jubbernaut]

I used pretty much the same setup - took me a while to transition from as_09 (and some simple batch files called from visual studio) to VIDE. Worth it once I'd figured out the editor - but ParaJVE is, as you say, still handy for double checking. Inkscape is interesting as a method for drawing shapes - I'll have a play.

[@GarryGri]

Almost exactly the same here, except I tend to use the VECX compiler (for quickens) during the initial writing phase, and ParaJVE for sound and game-play testing and bug spotting/fixing before seeing how bad it runs on an actual Vectrex.

[@VectrexRoli]

Thanks for having him on your show!

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

The 6809 was also use by CMI for the FAIRLIGHT V synthesizer system, Might be a similar unit that uses a LASER and moving mirrors to emulate the Vectrex.

[@ribbit876]

I've had mine since Christmas 1982 .When they went out of business I took my allowance and bought all the games I could. I remember riding my bike to I think it was Sears and begging my Mom for more money .So I could get them all before they were gone. Missed so many.

[@EsotericArctos]

I never owned one of these machines, but I am now wanting to find one as I am curious about them. I love your channel. Your style, well spoken and dressed yet laid back and relaxed, is just so unique and calming. Content is impeccable and well researched. I really enjoy this and it makes me feel a part of your "cave" :)

[@mccstuff]

My mate had a Vectrex which I was lucky enough to play. Was a unique console for the time but he struggled with the limited library.

[@djmips]

Space Wars existed in the original Vectrex library a great two player game!

[@Tamaracade]

I love the Vectrex, there's just no other console like it. It's awesome that new games are being developed for it!

[@ukcroupier]

I used to sell Vetrex in a toy shop when I had a Saturday job as a 16 year old. I owned an Atari 800 at the time, and loved it, but there was always something special about the Vetrex and I would have loved to have been able to buy one for myself. I'd still like to get my hands on one, but can't really justify the price.

[@TrudgeRC]

Added to eBay cart. Just waiting for pay day :-). Had to replace the transformer in mine, but it's working perfectly again now.

[@senilyDeluxe]

The 6809 (or 680x) was a very popular CPU in Arcade machine - like all the early Williams games (eg. Defender) use it, Taito's Qix uses three. And Pinball. Bally and Williams (the biggest two) used these CPUs for their pinball machines.

[@EngineeringVignettes]

I had an older friend in the 80's who had _all_ the toys, including a Vectrex. The consoles were cool but the Vectrex was magical. All I had was poverty. Cheers,

[@Colin_Ames]

Very entertaining. Thanks!

[@doctorcrankyflaps1724]

I was playing a Vectrex as my main games machine until 1989 when I bought a Sega Master System. Wish I still had it.

[@005AGIMA]

I "think" I played a vectrex at a friend's house but if have been like 6 or 7 years old. Was it green? I recall an asteroids like game, and some platformer where the character was all spikey?

[@6581punk]

Many Vectrex faults are caused by the power switch. Cleaning it will fix it. It's a right pain to do though. I recommend once you do clean it to leave the switch on and just switch it off at the wall or use a switching 4 way lead.

[@darkwinter7395]

6809 was also used on the TRS-80 CoCo (not the regular TRS-80 - that used a Z80)

[@jubbernaut]

I'd like to get hold of one of those - there were three editions of the CoCo I think - would be interesting combining 6809 with actual colour graphics.

[@VectrexForever]

Vectrex owner reporting in. Where are the other two? Just bought a Vectrex32 for it and started programming some things for it, really interesting device.

[@SwainyAtRetroAsylum]

Would love to pick this up at some point as I think my son would enjoy some two player games on my Vectrex.

[@skyway73]

I haven't got a second controller but after watching I feel like I need to buy it just to support and show appreciation for his efforts!

[@SwainyAtRetroAsylum]

skyway73 Yeah, if I could I would support all of the Vectrex home brew projects. Unfortunately funds are a bit tight at the moment.

[@senilyDeluxe]

If your Vectrex doesn't turn on, turn it on and leave it on unplugged. The grease in the power switch gets sticky. Common problem on Vectrices.

[@AlphaFox78]

Im one of the 3 working vectrex owners!

[@kazriko]

I've only seen a vectrex in person once, one of my father's airforce friends had one when we visited. Also the first time I ever had little caesars pizza. The Vectrex was better. I loved Velocity, it was a great game. Also was just playing its sequel, Velocity2X on the vita while watching this video.

[@jubbernaut]

You have fine taste in games :-)

[@markpitt5248]

Makes me want a Vectrex!

[@magicknight8412]

I have two working Vectrexes :)

[@trickysoft]

I recently bought a Vectrex, but currently don't have any games. I am a BBC Micro developer and was happy to hear that Robin came from that background. I have a Vectrex game in mind to write, but currently have a backlog of BBC games to finish! bbcmicro.co.uk/index.php?rt_R=&rt_B=&rt_M=&rt_P=&rt_U=&rt_W=&rt_L=&search=broadhurst&sort=b

[@jubbernaut]

Your BBC output is very impressive! I've only written one so far bbcmicro.co.uk/index.php?rt_R=&rt_B=&rt_M=&rt_P=&rt_U=&rt_W=&rt_L=&search=jubber&on_T=on&on_Y=on&on_P=on&on_A=on&on_G=on&on_S=on&on_Z=on&on_C=on&sort=b - but one day I'll have another go

[@OldNerdPlayingOldPCGames]

Great job. Liked.

[@KuraIthys]

The specifications for the vectrex were made publicly available, weren't they? That means in theory new ones could be built. Of course, in practice you run headlong into dealing with obsolete parts; The CRT in particular - how do you replace that? And even a 6809 CPU... There's only a handful of older CPU designs still readily available as new stock; Primarily the 6502/65816 family, and the z80... Others... Not so much. of course, the 6502 was originally meant to be pin compatible with the 6800... But that doesn't really cut it for a purpose like this one...

[@EngineeringVignettes]

You cannot replace the CRT. Any reproduction has to use one. Everything else could be emulated though. Some possibilities would be to scavenge an old black and white TV, a TTY video terminal like a VT-100 or an oscilloscope CRT which are still available... It may be fun to make a larger one in an arcade cabinet... Cheers,

[@senilyDeluxe]

I'd so buy one of these... if only I can get a second person to play with...

[@GaryAudley]

Can remember my grandma buying me one from woolworths for my birthday god knows what happend to it though.

[@RobA500]

Good interview, I’ve never tried a real vectrex but have tried emulators of it, it is an interesting little machine. He certainly didn’t sell himself very well with the what games did you make for this and that machine - “well I made some rubbish ones” seemed to be the general reply.

[@jubbernaut]

Heh - I was being honest. The thing about the games industry is you don't often get to choose the quality of the titles you're working on. Some games like Velocity and Coconut Dodge I was the sole coder on, working in a tiny team of two people. Other games I was just one cog in a large machine, so you can't do much about the direction of a title but grit your teeth and try and do the best job you can on a flawed idea. It's often a job like any other where you're just trying to pay the rent. Also there's the release rate to think about. In the industry you might work on three games for every one that actually makes it out the door. Projects run out of funding all the time or you're halfway through when it suddenly becomes obvious the basic idea just won't work. This is why so many old game coders of my vintage (and older!) do these hobby projects on the side. We love making games but ironically our actual jobs in games don't allow us to pour the right amount of love into a project.

[@wimwiddershins]

Great fella! Man, I'd pay more than is reasonable to get my mits on a vectrex.

[@GarryGri]

Now everybody pays more than is reasonable. I've seen them going for more than Five times what I payed for mine, not so many years ago!

[@danielson9579]

I'd love to see that bbc master I've never used one 🙂

[@markanne54]

Surely some sort of Battlezone clone should be included?

[@derekwhidden9730]

In regards to the Vectrex not having color except for the screen overlays, that is not exactly correct. The Vectrex is very rare, but even more rare are the stereoscopic glasses that were made and would run color 3d games. I am suprised no one has mentioned this. There was a great video of Ben Heck repairing one of these units using a 3d printer and a whole lot of patience. It is well worth watching as it explains how everything works together.

[@Jamal_Tyrone]

Here's an interesting use of that mathematical formula for figuring out how much of something is left: classics.honestjohn.co.uk/news/comment/2019-06/future-classic-friday-kia-pride/

[@KuraIthys]

Ever since I heard about it I've certainly found the vectrex fascinating. At some point I wanted to create a 'virtual console' - as in, a computer program that sort of 'emulates' hardware that never existed. And my idea was to create something that sort of resembles what the vectrex might've been if someone had tried to build it in the late 90's instead of the early 80's. (not really, because who would do that, but still) So, the 'vector' part of it would of course be completely fake, but I started to think through what kind of features would be nice, given I don't technically have to care about display tech limits... So last I thought about it I had a system that draws a single continuous line in each frame, where you have full RGBA control over what the line draws. Going with the idea that raster displays started to copy vector logic behind the scenes (see, all of 3d graphics, pretty much), I then thought the line could read data from a 'texture', which basically told it to change the RGBA values on a regular basis. So then doing graphics would consist of a sequence of instructions that specify a beam direction, how far to move before the next command, and a 'texture' to apply along that length of line. (and maybe a dedicated feature to turn the beam on and off, even though that's sort of redundant with full alpha blending being possible.) I was trying to think about how long the line should be per frame, and how much 'texture' data it should allow, and it struck me... If you can fake vector graphics on a raster display, then logically you can do the reverse (get the vector display to emulate a raster scan pattern) Which told me precisely how long the line would have to be, and that the 'texture' detail would be on the order of what's required to draw a 640x480 raster scanned image. Is this remotely how a vectrex works? No idea. But ultimately for this kind of fictional 'console' that doesn't matter. Real-world hardware limits are unimportant in this context. It was just a weird, interesting little idea...

[@WildVoltorb]

Just do it. Don't let tour dreams just be dreams. Just DO IT!

[@imranahmad2733]

Would be pretty cool if there was a piece of hardware you could use on a X,Y display or oscilloscope in X,Y mode.

[@absalomdraconis]

I believe there's some homebrew stuff.

[@GarryGri]

There's always been a good Vectrex Home-brew scene, producing some really good-looking and playable games, it's just that it was all largely invisible to the gaming world in general! I've wrote a few games fro the Vectrex in the past, most of which are on multi-carts, and I would definitely recommend the Vectrex as a platform to learn Assembly language on. The ROM drawing procedures are excellent for begging with, although not the fastest way to write vectors, they will get you up and running quicker than you think. Unfortunately you do really need a real Vectrex for testing, as what you see on an emulator will probably not work properly on a real system. Emulators are totally digital, the Vectrex is not!

[@thedungeondelver]

You can emulate the Vectrex, though...

[@RMCRetro]

You can, this comes up in conversation again a little later in the episode where you'll get some clarification. It's not that you can't emulate the system, you just can't recreate the look and feel of that display

[@VectrexRoli]

Trust me, it is just not really like emulating a Speccy, C64 or Amiga.

[@mikgus]

Someone needs to create a laser vectrex emulator like they did for the vector games in mame

[@VectrexRoli]

People built such stuff, but what I also find also quite cool is the other way round, There is a cart called Vecfever you can connect to your PC and use the Vectrex as a vector monitor for MAME and you can even use your Vectrex controller for that if you want.

[@GaryAudley]

Great interview makes me want one now shame ive only got moths flying out of my wallet lol

[@hanniffydinn6019]

I wish I hadn’t sold my vectrex for peanuts ! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍

[@ag3ntorange164]

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