Vectrex Core

[caffeinekid]

MiSTer is not here to give us game roms, and doing so would open it up to takedowns and cease and desist orders I'm sure.

It's a faff perhaps, but we have to supply the copyrighted material ourselves.

[jca]

[caffeinekid]

The person who posted to ask that roms and overlays were bundled in has deleted their post.

[MiSTer_Kirk]

The person who posted to ask that roms and overlays were bundled in has deleted their post.

Smith Engineering [Jay Smith] has given permission to make copies of all Vectrex related materials (manuals, games, overlays, etc.) as long as it is not for profit.

[caffeinekid]

I was not aware of that. That's awesome.

[MiSTer_Kirk]

This is awesome, yes. It's not public domain, but the fact that he allows this is great.
But what isn't awesome is the elitist Vectrex homebrew scene that has an air of Bullington Boys club, about it. Where limited runs of homebrew are sold, then ended, thus creating an artificial scarcity, and rarity, making any homebrew carts suddenly very valuable - which then just sit on shelves of assholes.

Take this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stramash-Zon ... 3446762811

£235 for Stramash Zone, simply because the author refuses not only to make more available, but also blatantly refuses to release a paid rom - not a free rom, but a rom that many of us would gladly pay him for. The Vectrex scene, as well as many Atariage scenes are full of this bullshit.
Sorry for the rant, I get really pissed about things like this.

[RascalUK]

Yeah this has been pissing me off for the last few years. Elitist attempt at profiteering.

[ShyTalk]

Sorry to derail the conversation away from homebrew bastards, but, does anyone have a 'jittery-graphics' issue with the Vectrex core? I've tried a couple of different vsync/resolution settings in the Mister.ini but nothing seems to work. Would anyone mind sharing their settings that produces rock solid graphics? Or have I missed something entirely?

For what it's worth, all the games I have work and overlays work and I'm using an LG CX display (obviously HDMI connection).

Thanks for any help!

Cheers.

[MiSTer_Kirk]

Not trying to stir anything, but forget Mister, or even emulation for Vectrex, and just get a REAL one, you'll not regret it.
Nothing looks like a real Vectrex running, not Mister, not Retroarch, not shaders, nothing. Vectors look the best on a Vector Monitor, not on some modern display.

[djsquare]

Not trying to stir anything, but forget Mister, or even emulation for Vectrex, and just get a REAL one, you'll not regret it.
Nothing looks like a real Vectrex running, not Mister, not Retroarch, not shaders, nothing. Vectors look the best on a Vector Monitor, not on some modern display.

you are 100% correct but these days they don't come cheap. You can still have fun with this core just like you can still have fun with the Asteroids core but yeah...you simply can not replace a vector monitor.

You know...there has to be a way to connect a MiSTer to an old school real actual black/white vector monitor. 1st dude who does it gets bragging rights!

[MiSTer_Kirk]

You know...there has to be a way to connect a MiSTer to an old school real actual black/white vector monitor. 1st dude who does it gets bragging rights!

Now that, I would love to see. Or even a way to use the Vectrex as a passive vector monitor.

you are 100% correct but these days they don't come cheap.

I actually paid a lot less than I paid for a full Mister setup, for my Vectrex. Just don't go for a mint condition one, or a boxed one - those fetch silly money. Mine was scruffy, but a few hours cleaning, de-dusting, and it looks as good as new.

[jca]

...
Just don't go for a mint condition one, or a boxed one - those fetch silly money.
...

You can always get the box later: there is one for sale on eBay, in a not very good condition, $300.00 only.

[MiSTer_Kirk]

Wow, only $300, lol.
I'm not in the US, but the UK. But even over here, empty boxes often go for more than the system they're supposed to house. Such as an original Gameboy DMG01 box, those go for silly money, often around £60+ ($80). Not sure if you guys in the US have anyone doing repro boxes, but over here we have an eBayer selling superb repro Atari 2600 Heavy Sixer Chess Piece boxes, Atari Jaguar Boxes, C64 Breadbin boxes, etc.. I have asked him if he intends to expand to other areas, but nothing so far, and he doesn't make the poly inserts.
I remember following an auction back in late 2019, for a collection of empty retro boxes, one being a Vectrex box in superb condition, better than anything I have yet seen. The auction ended well over £350 - or $500 - for just some old cardboard and polys
The retro scene has gone full-on, down-the-rabbit-hole insanity.

[CafeClimber]

re: MiSTer vs. a real Vectrex, of course the real thing is best. I've had the same one since around 1986. It's in good condition. I have a light pen, overlays, and multi-carts. I enjoy the whole experience. That said, I like having the Vectrex core on the MiSTer for playing on the living room TV or taking to friends' places.

I'd really like to see light pen functionality enabled -- in the form of mouse point-and-click. That is, point with an on-screen crosshair and click to engage pen touch. I believe something like this has been effectively enabled on emulators. (Yes, I know MiSTer is not "emulation" but this mechanic could work well here.)

This would also enable good video and music capturing of Vectrex.

[edburns]

Hello MiSTer community,

I have the Vectrex core working great on my HDMI tv, but when I hook it up to my CRT TV I get what looks like an NTSC/PAL problem. That is, it scrolls rapidly and I can't really see much except that I know what the white rectangle looks like and I can see those lines.

I don't see any settings in the Vectrex core OSD that seem to relate to NTSC/PAL. Other cores/games work fine on this same TV, for example Atari 800, SMS, Genesis. Is there something I'm missing when trying to get the Vectrex core to work with composite video?

Does anyone have a clue how to troubleshoot this? My MiSTer.ini is at https://dpaste.org/tJ7i.

Stack

• MiSTer DE-10 from MisterAddons https://misteraddons.com/products/mister-bundles product page

• Antonio Villena Composite adapter https://www.antoniovillena.es/store/pro ... o-adapter/ product page

• Vectrex core version 21.03.03

[dmckean]

Hello MiSTer community,

I have the Vectrex core working great on my HDMI tv, but when I hook it up to my CRT TV I get what looks like an NTSC/PAL problem. That is, it scrolls rapidly and I can't really see much except that I know what the white rectangle looks like and I can see those lines.

I don't see any settings in the Vectrex core OSD that seem to relate to NTSC/PAL. Other cores/games work fine on this same TV, for example Atari 800, SMS, Genesis. Is there something I'm missing when trying to get the Vectrex core to work with composite video?

Does anyone have a clue how to troubleshoot this? My MiSTer.ini is at https://dpaste.org/tJ7i.

Stack

• MiSTer DE-10 from MisterAddons https://misteraddons.com/products/mister-bundles product page

• Antonio Villena Composite adapter https://www.antoniovillena.es/store/pro ... o-adapter/ product page

• Vectrex core version 21.03.03

This core isn't compatible with 15khz displays, regardless of whether they're NTSC or PAL.

[adamchevy]

This is awesome, yes. It's not public domain, but the fact that he allows this is great.
But what isn't awesome is the elitist Vectrex homebrew scene that has an air of Bullington Boys club, about it. Where limited runs of homebrew are sold, then ended, thus creating an artificial scarcity, and rarity, making any homebrew carts suddenly very valuable - which then just sit on shelves of assholes.

Take this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stramash-Zon ... 3446762811

£235 for Stramash Zone, simply because the author refuses not only to make more available, but also blatantly refuses to release a paid rom - not a free rom, but a rom that many of us would gladly pay him for. The Vectrex scene, as well as many Atariage scenes are full of this bullshit.
Sorry for the rant, I get really pissed about things like this.

This is the main reason I have sold all of my old hardware. I get so tired of the elitist bull. The last straw for me with the Vectrex community was the availability of the coveted VecFever cartridge. I have been a subscriber on Atariage for a few years. Some of that does exist there, but atleast developers release there final binary more often and often ways to pay for them. The best in the business of purchasing excellent homebrew roms is Champ games. They have an awesome website and homebews worth your money.

Mainly I grew tired of continually modding consoles and all the expense that entails. I also was extremely tired of continually buying funky Micro SD cart Everdrive type solutions. Try purchasing a Vectrex and a couple good working controllers with a multicart. It will make the Mister seem cheap.

I am so glad to see an FPGA implementation of the Vectrex!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[jd213]

Is there a way to output to a CRT oscilloscope like the Scopetrex? https://github.com/schlae/scopetrex

[LamerDeluxe]

Is there a way to output to a CRT oscilloscope like the Scopetrex? https://github.com/schlae/scopetrex

I mentioned the same idea before, as the Vectrex display on the MiSTer doesn't look great (it is drawn by the FPGA).
It isn't possible currently.

It would be great if this was somehow possible using the VGA output (it would need an x and y output for position and z for brightness). The resolution would need to be pretty high, as the resolution of the Vectrex is relative to the drawing speed you set.

Somewhat related, PiTrex developers have been working on displaying MAME vector games on a Vectrex by sending display (plus audio and receiving input) data from a desktop computer over WiFi. I wonder if a spin-off could be created where the Pi connects to a CRT scope instead.

[werpu]

Hi I have a question. I now have a rotatable monitor attached to my mister.
Problem is, while rotating the monitor and changing the display orientation works really well in the arcade cores, the Vectrex core is missing such a possibility. Is there any way to achieve that maybe in the mister settings itself by altering the mister ini display settings for the vectrex core?

[breiztiger]

I think vertex , and some other like amstrad core, must be updated with last framework to have this capability

[werpu]

Ok thanks, then we probably have to wait for the core authors to do that. The Vextrex definitely would need it, given that the original console was 3:4 instead of 4:3 to mimic the arcade cabinets of its time.

Reedit, I checked the core on github again, seems pretty abandone to me.
Too bad, thats basically the last really important function missing on this core
(well not the last but the most important one, some shaders also are missing which would give it a more original look, but I am not sure if that is even possible, Mame can do it, but mame has way more control over what it can do with the display output)

[werpu]

Ok just checked the latest change notes, from Sorg... seems like he has added a rotate option to the Vectrex core, finally, and thank you Sorgelig for doing it. This is absolutely great, I will update asap!

[werpu]

Btw. now I am getting nitpicky, the vectrex core now works fine, rotation works like a charm, thanks Sorgelig for fixing this.
The thing which irks me most and which instantly shows that the screen is "emulated" is that the vectors are badly emulated. A normal phosphor based vector display has no edges and shows a mild bloom around the lines, Mame can emulate that pretty well and for instance in star wars arcade you get thanks to modern high res displays an output which comes very close to the original if you add a few post processing filters.
In Mister you get lines with edges no bloom whatsoever, I tried to apply post processing filters and shadow masks but nothing comes close to what I want to achieve? Is this even possible with the current state of the post processing filters, or do we have to wait for someone to tackle this issue. I know this is nitpicking but I would love to see a perfect implementation!

[akator]

^ I agree the video output could be improved.

The video output is very definitely pixelated. Even if vector effects like persistence and bloom weren't added, increasing the resolution would greatly improve the appearance.

[werpu]

^ I agree the video output could be improved.

The video output is very definitely pixelated. Even if vector effects like persistence and bloom weren't added, increasing the resolution would greatly improve the appearance.

Actually a perfect emulation of the output would be following

a) increase resolution to remove the edges
b) add a blur effect to the borders
c) increase the luminance of the connection points
d) Make the luminance of the entire picture pulsating (aka make it brightest when newly drawn and then slowly make it fade

Thats exactly what mame does and it really shows, star wars if enabled looks exactly like the original, for instance!

[lanedenson]

Yeah, my biggest wish for MiSTer vector games is improved fidelity - they just don't look great, but I realize it's a pretty niche request.

Also, while we're wishing big, incorporating HDR would help improve the vector display emulation as well. Last time I played Asteroids on a real arcade machine, I was shocked at how bright your ship and "bullets" were compared to the rest of the elements on screen.

[antibolo]

Is there any possibility of the Vectrex core outputting to 15kHz some day?

[werpu]

Yeah, my biggest wish for MiSTer vector games is improved fidelity - they just don't look great, but I realize it's a pretty niche request.

Also, while we're wishing big, incorporating HDR would help improve the vector display emulation as well. Last time I played Asteroids on a real arcade machine, I was shocked at how bright your ship and "bullets" were compared to the rest of the elements on screen.

Agreed, improved fidelity for vector games would be really nice, not that a ton of games would benefit from it, but a few classics, and yes asteroids is a prime example where really almost know one has seen the original (I was quite lucky last year to revisit the game in its original state again)
But there are others.
And yes it is absolutely nieche as request unfortunately i am not able to do it myself, so we all have to wait until someone tries to tackle this issue in the long run!

[akator]

asteroids is a prime example where really almost know one has seen the original

I must disagree. I played the original Asteroids many times in the 80s at many different locations. So did many people that I grew up with, some that I'm still friends with today.

With a Vectrex running a PiTrex cart or VecFever cart it's possible to play the Asteroids MAME ROM. It doesn't have that super cool reflected artwork, but the game is excellent nonetheless.