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The Vectrex Computer

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Re: The Vectrex Computer

#41

Post by noman-land »

bsenftner wrote: post #39
noman-land wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the South Park scandal?

The first Tiger Woods PGA Golf game for the PlayStation has/had a copy of either the South Park pilot or it's first episode. I don't really remember which it was. The original PlayStation's disc format required a 20MB file of audio silence at the beginning of every disc, which at the time was a bit of a hassle - the size of the file. This file was supposedly to protect home speakers if someone tried to "play" a game…

Hahaha, amazing story. I've never heard about this before. This also implies that anyone putting the disc inside an audio player could listen to the South Park episode.

Re: The Vectrex Computer

#42

Post by PaulHoule »

gcanyon wrote: post #40
PaulHoule wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the physical limit -- the length of the line you can draw; probably you can sweep the voltage faster when you are moving from one line to the next. Here's the best example of text display I've ever seen on a vector display https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJv94FPRddA where you see about 60 "words" on the screen albeit with variable size and other effects you wouldn't see on computer displays at the time. The li…

Yep, Atari was always a challenge to us on the vector front. I think the most drawing we ever did was the center of the Cosmic Chasm, about 2 minutes in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ0Szz8gpiE Fun fact: at the end of that video, the default high score list includes me! I'd forgotten this, so thanks for the bump to find this.

Now that I think about it I remember these things which used a storage tube and really could show a whole screenful of text

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tektronix_4010

which I think you could have made a word processor for even though it couldn’t scroll. I remember drawing charts on it though, not looking at a lot of text. I think the one I used was side-by-side with a WYSE terminal that was VT-something compatible.

Re: The Vectrex Computer

#43

Post by bsenftner »

noman-land wrote: post #41
bsenftner wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first Tiger Woods PGA Golf game for the PlayStation has/had a copy of either the South Park pilot or it's first episode. I don't really remember which it was. The original PlayStation's disc format required a 20MB file of audio silence at the beginning of every disc, which at the time was a bit of a hassle - the size of the file. This file was supposedly to protect home speakers if someone tried to "play" a game…

Hahaha, amazing story. I've never heard about this before. This also implies that anyone putting the disc inside an audio player could listen to the South Park episode.

No, they could take the first file off the disk, rename it to anything.mpg and then view that South Park episode in glorious 320 resolution video.

Re: The Vectrex Computer

#44

Post by kragen »

kragen wrote: post #25
wsintra2022 wrote: post #9

So what exactly is a vectrex computer? My real question is what’s the limits of a vector display and why didn’t it take off?

Vectrex was a home video game console with a vector display. Vector ("calligraphic") displays were a common alternative for high-resolution graphics from the 01950s until about 01990. Evans & Sutherland were among the last vendors standing. I don't think it's accurate to say it didn't take off; it just landed afterwards, like cassette tapes or slide rules. Advantages of a vector display: you can display a 1024x1024 3…

This should read, "so raster displays made them [vector displays] obsolete." Those responsible for the error have been sacked.

Re: The Vectrex Computer

#45

Post by oofoe »

oofoe wrote: post #23
gedy wrote: post #16

Had a Vectrex bought on clearance from Toys R Us, sold it long ago unfortunately. I randomly though still have its Lightpen in my drawer here, any retro hardware aficionados need it?

Puts hand up... Contact in profile. Thanks!

Oh well. Back to Mine Storm.

If anyone else is interested in Vectrex light pens, here are some instructions on building your own: https://playvectrex.com/vectech/mvlp/mvlp_f.htm (Site uses frames, so I had to bust it out to get the direct link. Be sure to check out the top level as well for some other projects.)

Doesn't look too hard, so maybe I'll give it a go once I manage to clear all this _other_ stuff off my bench...

Re: The Vectrex Computer

#46

Post by gedy »

oofoe wrote: post #45
oofoe wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Puts hand up... Contact in profile. Thanks!

Oh well. Back to Mine Storm. If anyone else is interested in Vectrex light pens, here are some instructions on building your own: https://playvectrex.com/vectech/mvlp/mvlp_f.htm (Site uses frames, so I had to bust it out to get the direct link. Be sure to check out the top level as well for some other projects.) Doesn't look too hard, so maybe I'll give it a go once I manage to clear all this _other_ stuff off my ben…

Haven't forgot ya, just wasn't where I thought it was. I have it, just looking.

Re: The Vectrex Computer

#47

Post by oofoe »

gedy wrote: post #46
oofoe wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh well. Back to Mine Storm. If anyone else is interested in Vectrex light pens, here are some instructions on building your own: https://playvectrex.com/vectech/mvlp/mvlp_f.htm (Site uses frames, so I had to bust it out to get the direct link. Be sure to check out the top level as well for some other projects.) Doesn't look too hard, so maybe I'll give it a go once I manage to clear all this _other_ stuff off my ben…

Haven't forgot ya, just wasn't where I thought it was. I have it, just looking.

Thanks! Sometimes that stuff wanders around if you're not keeping a close eye on it...
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