[Coco] Vectrex

[Roger Taylor]

Thanks for the info.  Some kind of default 3-D battle game appears to run 
in Vectrex mode of M.E.S.S.  Looks kinda neat to see the 6809 do nice 3-D 
in 256x192.

I am adding the Vectrex mode to my IDE in the list of M.E.S.S. 6809 
machines on the front panel.  This should allow game paks to be written and 
tested by anybody who knows how the Vectrex ticks.  Getting the ROM image 
onto a compatible EPROM would be their job (of burning it).



At 05:14 PM 11/3/2003 -0500, you wrote:

>I have a couple of Vectrex machines and accessories (like light pen and 3D
>goggles) and some docs and schematics and ROM dis-ass listings.  It's a 
>really
>cost-effective system using analog integrators to generate graphics vectors.
>
>Most important, there is quite a culture surrounding these machines.  Fans
>have long since figured out and documented all the ROM system calls, have
>combined several games (all of them!) onto one large ROM chip in a Pak, 
>and you can
>even find such all-game paks on eBay (search for "Vectrex"; luckily, nobody
>else used this trademark.).  Hackers have even written new games for 
>it!  Maybe
>by now a floppy disk interface, keyboard, ...?
>
>Like the Coco, a Vectrex box has a built-in ROM with the "OS" of common
>routines for playing sound, drawing lists of vectors, reading the 
>joysticks, etc.
>Plus a bus slot for plugging in separate program Paks.
>
>   Joysticks are analog just like the Coco, each stick has 4 buttons, 
> sound is
>8-bit D/A, plus there is one Atari-type GI sound generator chip (3 musical
>notes plus percussion) so screen motion can continue while sounds play, but
>stops during speech (yes, some games talk).
>
>All in a very clean and portable package.  I don't at this time have any up
>to date links to Vectrex Web sites, but I'd bet the subculture is still out
>there (try Google on "Vectrex"), anyone?  --Mike K.