A few people have asked me about an overlay for Beluga Dreams. I decided to go ahead and make one. It can be downloaded here. You can use it in an emulator, print one out yourself, or pay someone who knows what they are doing to print it for you.
I purchased this one from Kray Kray overlays on Vectrex Fans Unite (Steven Kray on Facebook). You can also see the various overlays he has up for sale on eBay.
This is what it looks like in an emulator:
I might make a box next if there is interest.
This is the Free version of Beluga Dreams with the following changes:
Over the last few weeks I worked on a Vectrex Christmas PCB.
I made a few odd design choices but it works well. It is designed for the 27C256 32kb EPROM, 5 805 resistors, and 5 603 LEDs. The LEDs are a little odd. They are double-wide, slow flashing, 603 LEDs. Hand soldering them is kind of a chore. I should have used 805 LEDs or larger.
The EPROM contains a little animation I threw together. I finished just in time for a Vectrex gift exchange.
Update (12/6/20): In the end, Brett ended up being my giftee. Knowing he would probably want to solder it up himself I sent him a kit.
Here is a video of his installation:
Now I need to figure out what to do with the remaining PCBs…
Project Information
I decided to do something ridiculous for a potential upcoming project… I made a 4-player Vectrex game. I know, four players on a Vectrex sounds strange and very few people have four controllers. I just really wanted to make something that my kids and I could play together on the Vectrex.
Although I have some ideas on how to do a proper multitap I decided to cheat. The interest in something like this is not very high so I don’t feel too bad about going the easy route. Instead of four players having use of all directions and all buttons, each player gets two directions and two buttons.
In this game, “Super Smash Blocks”, each player can go left and right as well as jump and hit. Left and right on player 3 / 4 controller is connected to what is normally up and down for player 1 / 2. Buttons 3 and 4 on player 3 / 4 controller are connected to buttons 1 and 2 on player 1 / 2 controller. Players 1 and 3 plug into port 1. Players 2 and 4 plug into port 2.
Aside from making it easy to design and code for, it is also easy for anyone to wire up their own adapter if they want one.
Since I’ve become interested in designing my own PCBs, I decided to take a crack at making one for this project. Big thanks to Brett W. for helping me with KiCad.
Each board, which I called a “Vectrex 2×2” (2 buttons/directions x 2 controllers), is meant for one joystick port. Either players 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. The idea is to combine two boards in a case to create a “Vectrex 2×4”. If only one board is needed for three player gaming, or just to use the light phaser port, that is okay too.
The test batch of these boards had an issue that I overlooked but it is easily fixed by cutting a trace and adding a jumper. The issue will not be hard to fix for future boards if I decide to make more.
This is just something I felt like doing and will not necessarily be releasing. Sometimes you have to get things out of your system, no matter how silly it is.
New Beluga Dreams PCBs designed by Brett W.
I designed these spacers to keep Vectrex cartridges centered and protected in the most common universal game case. It has not been tested in every iteration of the UGC.
The original (left) will keep your game centered and protected somewhat but it won’t take much of a drop without cracking.
Because I needed something more durable during shipping I created the newer one (right). It is deeper but takes about 40% longer for me to print.
Another project I started before finishing my previous ones…
Inspired by a certain game in which demons (space ships?) attack you. This game is very early in development but the base game is there. I don’t have a name for it yet so I’ll refer to it as Demons! for now.
Not coming anytime soon…
A Home Run Derby game for the Vectrex
Grab a cold one and prepare yourself to be transported back to the 80s where you can become the champion of your local bowling alley or dive bar.
Play against a friend in Vs. mode or race against the clock in Arcade mode.
Coming soon.
I designed this so I could keep the cartridges I use the most organized.
See the readme for more details.
Beluga Dreams for the Vectrex
Take control of Mr. Beluga as he dreams of flying. Try to avoid the obstacles to keep him in his wonderful dream.
Physical Release:
The physical version comes with the cartridge (black), sticker, and case. It has a few Easter eggs in it that the free version does not have. This can be purchased in the store.
Free Version:
Special Edition:
Beluga Dreams: Special Edition is for trading with other developers/creators. Contact me if you are interested and would like to trade for something you made (A Vectrex game or accessory). This is the same as the standard edition but with a clear shell and a custom label.
