Project Vectrex

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Sapphyre

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I suppose I may as well outline one of my biggest hobbies. I haven't before and I'm not really sure what would be an appropriate space for it. This is as good as any.

I'm not even entirely sure why I am drawn to it. It's partially nostalgia; Vectrex was my first exposure to video games after all. It's also partially the challenge.

The Vectrex had a few very interesting accessories, but what caught my attention was the 3D Imager. It's certainly primitive by today's standards, but it entailed real stereoscopic 3D.

Unfortunately, what games existed for the Vectrex utilized the 3D in only a gimmicky sort of way. Naturally, I was curious to see if more could be done.

It can. ^_^ Because the CPU has two accumulators which can be multiplied together, it is mathematically capable of performing realtime stereoscopic perspective projection. The algorithm is rather involved -- and includes a lookup table -- but is already implemented and working.

I've written some 2400 lines of assembly code thus far. Color me dedicated? It's honestly been more fun than I can easily express. And I don't really have anyone to share it with who would readily understand. o.o I suppose it is an exercise in extreme software optimization.

My next hurdle is 3D rotation, which isn't simple at all. I think I can do it with quaternions, and in parallel with actually drawing the vectors on the screen and resetting the vector hardware between frames. ^.^

Anyone done anything akin to this?
 
So let me get this straight. (and I tried to do a little research before writing this.)

you're telling me you have an archaic 9 inch screen/consul system that had 3D video game power that was never truly utilized in its time, and as a hobby you are using this outdated system to reach its full potential and create a virtuosic game experience that was never achieved in its time?

Props to you, where do I sign up to play. What kind of game are you coding?
 
That's about the size of it, yes. ^.^;;

To begin with I'm working on a 3D version of the built-in game, Mine Storm. There already is a "Mine Storm 3D", but it doesn't employ any actual perspective projection and the 3D effects are just simple gimmicks. I want to do it a little more justice than that. ^.^
 
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