4 ms·

I don't think I've ever played Asteroids in its original form. Do the shots actually sparkle and flare like that, or is that just a camera artifact?

nulltype 10y ago
The vector display seems to have a decay time so there are some trails I think but not as strong as the picture. I remember the shots being really really bright on the display, but the camera seems to add a bunch of flare. Compared to asteroids in a MAME emulator the real display is way different.
- tjl 10y ago
  I think it's because of the shutter. The camera is capturing the image over a period of time so the photons for those trails will be additive. It certainly does have that effect, but you're right in that it's not quite that pronounced. I spent a lot of time playing Asteroids in the arcade growing up (that and Tempest). I have a physical problem with my left hand so I found playing a lot of later arcade games that required a lot of very specific movements of the joystick difficult so I kept coming back to those two because the left hand control was basically just a dial.
  - PhasmaFelis 10y ago
    I found a video with some really good close-ups of gameplay, and it looks like the sparkle effect may actually be caused by the bright bullets refracting through tiny scratches in the display, which is fascinating. I've queued up 3:12, and there's a specific shot around 3:16 where the concentric radial glow is very clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w60sfReTsRA&t=3m12s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w60sfReTsRA&t=3m12s
Extigy 10y ago
I recently played an Asterioids cabinet at a retro gaming convention. The shots in particular are extremely bright. Perhaps the cathode ray sits there slightly longer than for the other lines so that it's brighter. I have a lasting impression of just how different the screen looks from modern displays. The combination of high contrast, light bleeding and the long image persistence makes it so different to emulation.
rhizome 10y ago
Not on original Asteroids, no. I want to say the first game I can remember with sparkling or pulsating shots is either Star Castle or Space Duel.

nulltype 10y ago

The vector display seems to have a decay time so there are some trails I think but not as strong as the picture. I remember the shots being really really bright on the display, but the camera seems to add a bunch of flare. Compared to asteroids in a MAME emulator the real display is way different.

tjl 10y ago
I think it's because of the shutter. The camera is capturing the image over a period of time so the photons for those trails will be additive. It certainly does have that effect, but you're right in that it's not quite that pronounced. I spent a lot of time playing Asteroids in the arcade growing up (that and Tempest). I have a physical problem with my left hand so I found playing a lot of later arcade games that required a lot of very specific movements of the joystick difficult so I kept coming back to those two because the left hand control was basically just a dial.
- PhasmaFelis 10y ago
  I found a video with some really good close-ups of gameplay, and it looks like the sparkle effect may actually be caused by the bright bullets refracting through tiny scratches in the display, which is fascinating. I've queued up 3:12, and there's a specific shot around 3:16 where the concentric radial glow is very clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w60sfReTsRA&t=3m12s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w60sfReTsRA&t=3m12s

Extigy 10y ago

I recently played an Asterioids cabinet at a retro gaming convention. The shots in particular are extremely bright. Perhaps the cathode ray sits there slightly longer than for the other lines so that it's brighter. I have a lasting impression of just how different the screen looks from modern displays. The combination of high contrast, light bleeding and the long image persistence makes it so different to emulation.

rhizome 10y ago

Not on original Asteroids, no. I want to say the first game I can remember with sparkling or pulsating shots is either Star Castle or Space Duel.