3 ms·
I am obsessed with Vector computing and I recently became the lucky owner of a Vectrex. Projects like the VecFever, and PiTrex, exist to make it possible to co
by Der_Einzige 11mo ago
I am obsessed with Vector computing and I recently became the lucky owner of a Vectrex.
Projects like the VecFever, and PiTrex, exist to make it possible to combine vector displays with much more modern CPU technology, allowing emulating even old Vector arcade titles like Star Wars or Battlezone.
It is criminal that Vector Computing never took off past the 1980s, and has died. Nothing, not even OLEDs (sorry Vectrex-Mini guys!) can replicate the beauty of phosphor glow.
Speaking of amazing forgotten lighting effects, the techniques for the cool lighting effects used in Don Bluth films (and his games like Dragons Lair) are also forgotten/unused and I find them analogous to vector displays.
I find the death of Vector Displays and the cool display tech Don Bluth did to be great examples of "Worse is Better" and counterexamples to the idea that progress overtime inevitably makes things better.
I wanted a TechTronix vector computer super bad, and still do, especially the one's with the fast 3D and color add-ons.
I'll drop a few motivating videos:
0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M98VOoGFLL8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M98VOoGFLL8 (TekTronix 3D/Color stuff)
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dv15YRAmzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dv15YRAmzM
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60DV0Ujp_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60DV0Ujp_E
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAPHGBM2sQ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAPHGBM2sQ8
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUB6OYeCKek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUB6OYeCKek
- megiddo 11mo agoGet Scramble and let me know if you can beat it. At a young age, that game destroyed any interest I had in video games. I played Scramble for hours, always dying at the same point over and over.
- Y_Y 11mo agoYou may enjoy bitluni's homemade laser vector tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdo3djJrw9o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdo3djJrw9o
- DonHopkins 11mo agoI bet you'd love the GT40! It had a lunar lander game with an easter egg: a McDonalds on the moon. I wonder if Lars got a GT40 emulator working with SIMH: https://simh.trailing-edge.narkive.com/1AQn3HSi/simulating-a-gt40 https://simh.trailing-edge.narkive.com/1AQn3HSi/simulating-a... https://fritzm.github.io/gt40.html https://fritzm.github.io/gt40.html This looks like it: https://github.com/Isysxp/GT40 https://github.com/Isysxp/GT40 Playing Moonlander (LEM): https://github.com/Isysxp/GT40/blob/master/PDP11/lunar11/lunar.txt https://github.com/Isysxp/GT40/blob/master/PDP11/lunar11/lun... The restoration of a GT40 to play lunar lander | VCFMW 18 (2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4lPE5Nytfc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4lPE5Nytfc