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There are a lot of non-gaming Vectrex demos out that are just pieces of animation, still pictures, and music. Here are many that can be found on various internet sites.


Title Author Description/Year Screenshot
3-D Demo Christopher Salomon This showcases various different objects that can be moved and rotated around using buttons 2-4, then button 1 moves to the next item (plus the birds one requires use of the second controller if various birds want to be chosen to move). All are set to music. (March 6, 2000) 3ddemo
3D Scape Revival Studios Originally a demo where the player could fly around on a 3-D landscape, this also included the Oldskool +3 and Performance VX demos when released on cart. (2006)
3-D Scrolling Demo Christopher Tumber Moving the joystick (or using the arrow keys on an emulator) left and right moves a scrolling landscape that spans several screens wide, then repeats. (2001)
4-D Rotating Cube Demo Unknown; GCE This has an onscreen cube, which pressing the controller buttons causes lines to intersect it. (1983)
All Your Base Demo Manu Parssinen The Zero Wing shooter arcade game kind of came and went, but it became infamously famous when it was ported to the Sega Genesis, complete with a very badly translated cinematic intro that wasn't even in the original, starting an "Engrish" movement. Here part of the demo is lovingly recreated in vector, ending with the enemy Cats' famous phrase of "all your base are belong to us". Has this been completed? Lets hope so! (2001) Allyourbase
Arsek Marq This shows a disturbing picture of either an evil Jack-in-the-box clown or a court jester with an eyeball springing out. Ew. (2000)
Astro Blast Demo Dan Siewers Also known as to just being "untitled", this was going to be a clone of the Atari 2600 game Laser Blast, where the player moves a ship that can fire in three directions (like on here) over a scrolling landscape. The demo automatically starts, as will the scrolling landscape (which will stop scrolling after a few seconds), although there are no enemies; all the player can do is move and shoot and there is no sound, as Siewers accidentally lost the source code for the game, so it might never be finished[1]. (2006) Astroblast
Bach Prelude #1 John Dondzila? This musical piece was used as a special message on a Vecmania Easter Egg. (year unknown)
Battlezone demo Christopher Tumber This just shows the player’s radar and two rotating tanks that move randomly. There doesn’t seem to be any way to fire or do much of anything else other than move around the playfield. (2001) Battlezone
CGM Example Marq This just seems to be an example of a Vectrex title screen. (2000)
Climax Slideshow Revival Studios Has 15 full-screen pixelated works of Menno Seegers, ranging from landscapes to nudes. (2008)
Control Test John Dondzila Being one of the few demos on here that actually came on a cartridge (being Vectopia), this is just how it sounds, as a representative of a Vectrex controller is onscreen and will react when you perform an action on the actual physical controller. Controltest
Curved Lines Demo Christopher Salomon This just shows his name of Chris in cursive, which appeared during the attract demo of the Moon Lander game. (1998)
Da 0ld 5k00l Demo Manu Parssinen This shows a scrolling tunnel (similar to the last stage of the arcade game of Tac/Scan), a rotating star demo and some graphics set to music. (2002)
Dual Vectrex Test #1 and 2 Unknown; GCE

Like it says, this is in regards to running two Vectrex’ simultaneously, although it’s currently unknown if there is a way to run it on an emulator [Vide emulator-yes] (if anyone knows anything/has a disassembler, please update this entry with more concrete info; thanks!). (1983)

Quote from an old rec.games.vectrex usenet thread:



I wrote those programs years ago at Western Tech to demonstrate the possibility of making a game that would play on two systems (Like you can do with gameboy now...)

This program did nothing more than display the buttons from one Vectrex on the other's display (and vice-versa).

I have no idea how these programs made it into the archive - I only showed this software to a few people... You may safely discard them. It communicates between the system by using PB6 on the cartridge. If you really want to see it work, you must connect PB6 and GND between the two systems, then run DUALVEC on 1 system and DUALVEC2 on the other.

Bill Hawkins

Dualvectrex
Etch-a-Sketch Jeff Woolsey Just like it sounds, this is a Vectrex version of the long-produced drawing toy. Needs the Light Pen though. (1985)
Joystick Demo Manu Parssinen Also just like it sounds, you move the joystick in several directions and you’ll get an onscreen indication saying that it works. (2000)
Line Demo (unknown) This shows several lines intersecting, along with several circles on the screen. (2001)
Lines and Digitized Sounds Demo (Christopher Salomon)

This just shows an image of what could be a lizard (or possibly a dinosaur?) appearing from one side of the screen to the other while something is being said. (1998)

Man - that is a frog!

Mad Planetoid Test Wk John Dondzila Also available on Vectopia, this is a REALLY early sketch of a clone of the arcade game of Mad Planets, where the player can move their ship around and fire, but can't destroy the planetoids or anything, so hence it is not an actual game. Madplanetoids
Magic 8 Ball Christopher Tumber Press button 4 on the controller or your keyboard (if running on an emulator) and you’ll get a display of bubbles while it gives you various snotty answers (which you should ask it a question first before doing so, one must assume), just like a real 8 Ball. (2001) 8ball
Music Demo FURY? This automatically cycles through several well-known brief Vectrex title intro music pieces. (2001)
Oldskool +3 Revival Studios Martijn Wenting’s homage to the Commodore 64. (2002)
Performance VX Revival Studios Shows various shapes floating and scrolling around in a 3-D manner. Also released in 2007 on cartridge form. (2003)
ROM Music Demo Manu Parssinen Plays one brief musical piece. (2000)
Rotation Demo Manu Parssinen Has the zooming “vec” word that is also found on the Vimpula demo, just minus the landscape. (2000)
Saw Gallery 1-3 Christopher Tumber

Demos created for retro-technology art exibition at the SAW Gallery in Ottawa, Canada.

The scrolling words of “I am not obsolete” are followed by a graphic animation that is similar to docking with a black hole in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. 1 and 2 seem to be the exact same. (Note: this doesn’t have anything to do with the Saw horror movies, which would not be released until a few years later.) (1999)

Saw
Scorefont 3 Demo Manu Parssinen Like the title says, this just showcases a font, as numbers just steadily increase, with there seeming to be no way to do anything with them. (2002)
Snowflake Challenge 2 (Alex Nicholson) Shows a glittering graphic of a star. (year unknown)
Sound1 Demo Clay Cowgill or Christopher Salomon? This has a countdown that seems to be exactly like the one that can be heard during the attract mode of Moon Lander, along with the words of “we have ignition” being added. (year unknown)
Space 16 Demo Manu Parssinen There is a spaceship that can be moved around the screen, and that’s it for this one. (2000)
Star Fire Early Work John Dondzila This by all means looks like a game on Vectopia, as it would later become the second stage on Star Fire Spirits on Vecmania, where the player can do loops through the Dark Planet area and shoot at laser tower tops, but can't destroy them. Starfire
Star Fury Test Work John Dondzila Is this an early test for what would later become Space Frenzy? On this one, what looks like a plus sign forms and follows the player's ship around, but that's it, as all the player can do is thrust around the screen on this demo from Vectopia and shoot and that's it. Starfury
Star Fury 3D demo George Pelonis Not being an actual game as of yet (maybe never?), this demo was available on the Vector 21 cartridge, where the player can only engage shields, fire, and control the angle of their shots. Needs a 3D Imager or modern day equivalent to work. (2006)
Tank Demo 1 and 2 (unknown) These just show a rotating tank graphic. It is unknown for sure, although it probably is not the rough beginning of the Battlezone demo that was started but not finished years ago by Christopher Tumber, as his name is identified on lots of other Vectrex demos, but not this one, and the tanks look different. (2001) Tankdemo
Taulukko Demo Manu Parssinen Unless this has something to do with the Light Pen, there doesn’t seem to be any interaction with a joystick or buttons, as a square keeps on appearing and reappearing down the center of the screen. It’s currently unknown what the function of this ROM is, so again, if anyone knows anything/has a disassembler and can read the code in regards to what this is, please update this entry with some actual info. (2002) Taul
Test Michael Borrmann Starting with the Vec Fu splash screen, pressing 4 will start the demo, then pressing it again will cause the player's square to be chased by several diamonds. If the player's square is caught by a diamond or if several seconds elapse then the demo will end. It is currently unknown as to what this demo will become eventually. (2012) Test
This Is Just A Non-Playable Demo Martin Balazs This has a pretty spiffy zoom-in of a title screen that reads “Cologne Nightline Presents”, then the demo shows a man with a gun walking through some neighborhood. Why aren’t the cops after this guy? Messages appear at the top to “keep the Vectrex alive”, along with having promises of it (whatever it is) being ready by summer, 1999, plus the e-mail and address to Balazs’ web site so you’ll know who to sic the cops on. (1999) Thisisjust
Tono Demo Marq and Antti This shows a picture of a cabin among some trees and the [man in the?] moon smoking a pipe. (2000)
Tron (author unknown) Coming out on video on April Fool’s Day and claiming to be a long lost prototype of an unfinished Tron game for the Vectrex, it is currently unknown as to what this is exactly: is it just a graphics demo suggesting how cool it would be to have a Tron game on the machine? Is it a game in progress? Who knows, although the picture that is seen to the right was uploaded by VectrexMad! himself, so maybe he knows something about it? (2010?) TRON-S2
Various music pieces Jeff Woolsey These music pieces of the Bach Prelude #1, My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean, Star Spangled Banner Music Demo, and several versions of We Wish You a Merry Christmas showcases the excellent soundchip capabilities the Vectrex had. (1985)
Various pop culture music pieces (author unknown)

These music pieces were converted ym-files using VSound (a ym to vectrex conversion tool programmed by Christopher Salomon).

These are music pieces recreated on the Vectrex of Axel F - Beverly Hills Cop, Bebop Best Sound, Bebop Sound, Dr. Who theme, Jaws Theme Music, Madonna's Get Into the Groove (!), Misfits 1 Music, the Star Wars theme, and Zombies from the Crypt Music. (1998)

Various sound effects (mostly games) (Christopher Salomon)

These music pieces were converted ym-files using VSound (a ym to vectrex conversion tool programmed by Christopher Salomon).

This is pretty much just like it sounds (pardon the pun), what with creating Bubble Bobble Sounds 0-3, Commando (High Score) Sound, Count05 Sound, Fast Food Sounds 1 and 2, Ghouls 'n' Ghosts Sounds/7-9/9best (we assume that there are Sounds 2-6 out there somewhere?), Great Giana Sisters (Bonus, Ingame and Title), Hey, Music Lover Sound, Klax (Level Begin) Sound, Monty on the Run Sound and HiScore, NO' Sound, Pac-Mania Sound 1-2 and 4 (is there a 3?), Rainbow Islands Sound, Real Ghostbusters Sound, Song Demo, and Turrican 1 and 2 Sounds. (1998)

Variouscount5sound
Vimpula Manu Parssinen This just shows a scrolling landscape (there seems to be quite a few of those) with the word “Vec” zooming in independently of the landscapes (same as the Rotation Demo). (2002) Vimpula
Voz 2005 Voz This has various random images of some women, hearts, animations, and the word “voz” appearing several times, all set to music. There is also a line of credits that scrolls by at the top during the entire demo. (2005) Voz
Voz 2008 Voz This has various animations, some words in a raster and 3-D forms, and a couple of nudes set to music. (2008)
ZZAP - Scrolling Space Game Demo Ville Krumlinde This is just how it sounds –- a scrolling landscape -- which became the basis for the hidden bonus game on Thrust several years later. (1989)


There are probably others out there, so be sure to add whatever it is you come across!

Links[]

  • Martin Balazas's site
  • Classic Game Creations site
  • FURY site
  • Ville Krumlinde's site
  • Dan Siewers's site
  • Revival Studios site

References[]

  1. E-mail from Siewers.


This article was featured from May - June, 2011.

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