Goodies, gamepad and goofed-up! (Oh My!)

Hi again folks!

Either i post like crazy or i disappear for a few months...(ahum). This past friday, i've received in the mail these goodies:

And despite the few scruffs here and there on the boxes, all the games are complete and looks brand new! I think the person who had them only played once as all the parts looks untouched. But now i can FINALLY simulate all the official released games for the Magnavox Odyssey as i was missing some accessories from Baseball and Invasion to simulate both these games.

What do you think i was doing this week-end...scanning and programming (you %&%? bet! LOL!!!)

Second, i wrote that i was working to be able to use a USB gamepad with OdySim, what proper way than just to watch!

So this is coming, don't worry (be happy!) =)

And third; the goofed-up!! As i was watching the video once uploaded, i notice that at 0:02 seconds (if you pause the video), you see something that wasn't meant yet:

Look on the left of the picture where you can see the folders: DOH!!! I've just shown in plain sight what are the 4 games in the "Arcade Pak"!! Double DOH!

So the cat is out of the bag! So here's what the games looks like on a 49" TV and in a 800x600 window:

FROGGER:

DONKEY KONG:

SPACE INVADERS:

PAC-MAN: EAT & RUN

So this is all the 4 games in the upcoming "Arcade Pak". Frogger is ready to be released and Space Invaders needs a simple tweak to do to be ready. Donkey Kong is almost finished as i have only 9 cards created out of 12 and Pac-Man, well this one has been retouched this morning as the logo has changed and the maze is a bit bigger. It looks like the Coleco tabletop version isn't it ? The bezel and maze are from the tabletop as the name "Eat & Run" but in this case, you have to touch all 8 bonuses to win before the ghost gets you.

How do you like these games so far ? Don't be afraid to leave a comment (good or bad).

And finally for this week-end, i'll leave with a "funny" overlay not released...LOL!!

Until next post, take care all! =)

--- Sly DC ---

Suggestions & Updates + a new "brew"

Hi folks!

It was about time that i finally made some updates and applied some suggestions that you folks given me over the past two years, so without waiting, here's what been done (so far):

Anonymous (21 Sept.2017) ask me if it was possible to have an option to display or hide the crosshair in the "Rifle Gun" games as he uses a PC Light Gun to play those games. Now it is done as you just need to download the new version  and just press "F10" to hide/display the crosshair!

Also he ask me if we could launch a game at a specific resolution, well that is still a problem as i've tied many things in the past few months so for now, this is a "nope"...sorry! But you can launch a game either full screen or in window mode with a "conf.lua" file (which i usually never include with any release).

CN10 (16 Jan.2017) suggested an additional rule for "Santa's Gift Hunt", it is now included in the manual and credited you my friend! Oh and you also suggested a "D&D-type game or a "Combat"-type game: well one of these two game-type is a work in progress. =)

Oh and almost forgot, you also suggested to use an USB controller (like Xbox 360), well this is also a WIP as i have a Tennis version that works with a generic USB controller but i won't release it until i can figure out why the game "slows down" when using a USB pad. But at least i'm working on this.

On this idea, i may even hook up an original Odyssey controller to play with OdySim, now this would be neat! And without a PIC or any $$%?%? programmable microchip...just plain good old TTL technology!

And finally, i also released a simple homebrew i've made (model SBRW07) called "Vector Tennis" and uploaded it to Archive.Org. This is a "What If" game if the Odyssey would have needed an oscilloscope to display the 2 spots, ball and net.

Well this "brew" was finished in November 2016 and decided to released it after all this time...i know...i'm lame! LOL!!!

And one last thing: The "Frogger" port for the OdySim seen on Youtube will be released quite soon but it is part of a 4 games "Arcade Pak". The other 3 games are a maze-game, a shooter game and a board game. That's all i'm saying for now (heh, heh, heh...)

So have fun with the new homebrew and updates so until next post, take care folks!

--- Sly DC ---

New updates for 5 games!

Hi folks!

3 days ago i've wrote that i'll be including the Tennis & Hockey prototype overlays and that's today, but...i went bonkers and updated 5 games instead of two. Here's the games in questions:

Tennis:

Prototype overlay

Odyssey 500 "Tennis" facsimile

Hockey:

Prototype overlay

Odyssey 500 "Hockey" facsimile

Handball:

Odyssey 500 "Smash" facsimile

Soccer:

Odyssey 500 "Soccer" facsimile

Volleyball:

Odyssey 500 "Volleyball" facsimile

All the "Odyssey 500 facsimile" are just for fun and ARE NOT simulators of these games. I just added these so people have variations in the overlays. I may even put some Odyssey2 games facsimile soon or in a near future, or Atari 2600 or....Ahhrrrg! I'm going bonkers again! LOL!!

And to download the new updates, just go here: https://archive.org/download/OdySim and download the games that ends with an "1A" like in this example: OdySim-Tennis0-10-1A.zip

The next update will the Shooting games as "Anonymous" ask if i could do an option that can show/hide the crosshair as he's using a PC Light Gun to play the Shooting games of the OdySim!

And don't worry folks, i haven't forgot all the bugs and suggestions you've made over the past two years (especially you CN10! - wink!) 

So until next post, take care folks! =)

--- Sly DC ---

Prototype Overlays ?!?

Hi folks,

It's been quite a time since the last post and the thing is that i have so much do to and to talk anything related to the Magnavox Odysssey, like for example: I must have crap in my eyes to never notice that on the box of the Odyssey, there is not one but two prototype overlays.

They are Tennis and Hockey: judge for yourself!

Notice the player on the left: On the release Tennis overlay, the player on the left (or Player one) is in motion to hit the ball and on the prototype overlay, he's looks like he hit the ball full force.

And as for Hockey, you can really see the difference! On the prototype overlay, there is only 6 players and 2 gollies which looks a regular players than gollies, also notice the nets, the black border is thicker and for last, both player in the middle has #1 and #2 and in the released overlay, both these players have #0.

The prototype Hockey overlay is shown in some pamphlets, on the Odyssey box, and also in the 1972 & 1973 commercials. Er...what the heck happened ?!?

But it wans't until i've read the article of "Kate Willaert", which she published on "The Video Game History Foundation" web site (https://gamehistory.org/ ) on January 10, 2018, that i've notice that they were prototype overlays just under our noses! Go read the article, it's a must! ( https://gamehistory.org/first-video-game-commercial/ )

So if you've read Kate's article, then now you know that there is not two but more than two overlays which exists as prototypes. So i also did my own research:

In the Magnavox Odyssey Promotional 1972 video (which last more than 5 minutes), i have notice that all the overlays are the same as the ones released except for one: Hockey as this one was installed on the TV inverted (lol!!!). But in the 1972 commercial, now this is where it takes the cake: Almost all the overlays shown in this commercial are prototypes or variations. Let me explain:

* Tennis (same on box ans shown here)
* Hockey (same on box ans shown here + also shown in 1973 commercial)
* Football (looks like the same as the released one)
* Ski, submarine & Cat and Mouse (not shown)
* Haunted House (more darker and the cats looks meaner! MEOWW!!)
* Simon Says (looks more cartoonish)
* Roulette (where's the Poke Ball in the middle?!?)
* Analogic (err...looks like a splash of paint dots in the middle ?!)
* States (like Kate wrote, Hawaii got bigger ALOHA!)

And finally, "Shooting Gallery" has 3 dots on the boats instead of two dots on the released version and Prehistoric Safari..has white clouds instead of blue clouds on the released version.

But the weird thing is...how come the 1972 commercial has so many different overlays and the Promotional 1972 video has the same ones as the released versions ??? Looks like they made the commercial before the Promotional...which i still don't understand why ?!! Now this is what i call a "WTF" dilemma!

But there is other prototype overlays, like the ones for the "Skill-O-Vision" (the previous name of the Odyssey) which are almost the same (or are the same) as the released version but they are all transparent and blue only. And also the game Ski, this game was supposed to have two overlays but they drop the idea....and this one is another story to tell.

And finally, i have remade both Tennis and Hockey prototype overlays and will include them in a newer version of Tennis and Hockey so anyone can play with and also to preserve them.

So until the next post (which should be real soon), take care and keep in touch! =)

--- Sly DC ---