I'm writing a new entry for no other reason than I just updated the NGPACE blog and thought it high time I did so on this blog too.
After learning (from the Retro Gamer article) that the Sega Saturn version of Lode Runner had a sequel - Lode Runner Extra - a quick eBay search turned up the same Japanese seller I'd just bought the former from, so I just had to have that as well. It has arrived and looks to be in excellent condition, though as-yet untested.
Little else has changed since my last entry; time is still very hard to come by so I'm going to have to start making a dent in my sleep time again. Either that or work out a way to program whilst cycling.
Oh yeah, another idea for a retro port - an enhanced (additional processing power) cartridge for the Vectrex that would enable a perfect port of the arcade Battlezone. Not sure at this point whether the enhancement would involve a micro, or an FPGA, or something else.
I like the Vectrex idea. I wonder what the capacity of the display is? Could it handle Asteroids? (my favorite). Lots of arcade vector games to consider.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. IIUC the main impediment to the arcade ports is the maths, not the vector drawing. There are some technical documents floating around that might allude to the limitations of the vectors; I've seen them before but I need to re-read in light of this project.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, first candidate would be Asteroids. As I have a fully working implementation in an FPGA already, I'll likely connect one of my FPGA dev boards up to a vectrex cartridge PCB and prototype from there... the 6809 on the Vectrex will be doing little more than processing the vector display list output from Asteroids.