mmaxfit Posted January 15, 2021 Report Share Posted January 15, 2021 In this video I take a look at the LTO Flash cart that arrived yesterday. And I ask, where's an HD Intellivision clone console already? RickR and socrates63 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 15, 2021 Report Share Posted January 15, 2021 Perfect timing! I got the same cart earlier this week, but haven't had time to open it yet. I will watch your video and get mine set up this weekend. mmaxfit and socrates63 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaxfit Posted January 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2021 The packaging is high quality. I'll add some games to mine over the weekend too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 16, 2021 Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) I'm loading up games now. Please note, I had to load the "Virtual Com Port" drivers to get my old laptop to recognize the LTO Flash cart. Next step is to get a CRT and my INTV out of the attic and try it out! Edited January 16, 2021 by RickR mmaxfit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaxfit Posted January 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 55 minutes ago, RickR said: I'm loading up games now. Please note, I had to load the "Virtual Com Port" drivers to get my old laptop to recognize the LTO Flash cart. Next step is to get a CRT and my INTV out of the attic and try it out! I tried last night but the lto application wasn't recognizing the cart. I connected it to my laptop and would hear the notification that something was connected but didn't see the cart in my documents. I'll try that virtual port. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 16, 2021 Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 7 minutes ago, digitalgamecapture said: I tried last night but the lto application wasn't recognizing the cart. I connected it to my laptop and would hear the notification that something was connected but didn't see the cart in my documents. I'll try that virtual port. Thanks! Go here: https://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm And download this one (assuming you have Windows) mmaxfit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 16, 2021 Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 It works! mmaxfit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 16, 2021 Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 And it seems to correct Intellivision 2 compatibility issues. mmaxfit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaxfit Posted January 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 2 hours ago, RickR said: Go here: https://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm And download this one (assuming you have Windows) So far this is working, you're the best! But what files go onto the cart? I downloaded 7z files which don't seem to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 20 hours ago, digitalgamecapture said: So far this is working, you're the best! But what files go onto the cart? I downloaded 7z files which don't seem to work. Requires the actual .bin format of the files I believe. Also some of the games especially some of the homebrews require an additional .cfg file to go with them so that the LTO knows what to load and setup to emulate the cartridge function. It has been at least 2 years now? maybe longer since I loaded up my LTO! but it gets quite a bit of use in my service work on consoles. Although my actual MTE-201 cart has largely replaced it out. mmaxfit 1 Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 21 hours ago, digitalgamecapture said: So far this is working, you're the best! But what files go onto the cart? I downloaded 7z files which don't seem to work. It seems to work fine using many different formats (.bin, .int). You should uncompress that 7z file of yours and it will load fine. Use a program called "7-zip" for that (if you don't already have it). On my old laptop, I created a "Intellivision ROMS" directory and placed all the files I could find there (and uncompressed those that were in .zip or .7z format). Then I pointed the LTO program there using the "add files" button. Then just drag from the left panel to the right. I actually had a lot of fun arranging things just so. First, I created directories on the LTO flash for the major companies (Activision, Atari, Coleco, Imagic, Mattel, Parker Bros) and one for homebrews. Under Mattel, I created "sports", "action", "arcade", etc. It took time, but I imagine I'll only have to do this once. Every ROM I had or could think of fits with no issue. mmaxfit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaxfit Posted January 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 I got it working! I unzipped the files to int but forgot to drag them from the left to right in the application. All good now. RickR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 The LTO! is a pretty amazing cartridge and should contain MORE than enough internal flash storage for everyone's needs. I really like the LTO! and my VecFever for the simple fact that they don't require having to use an SD card to load them up. Sure it is nice to pop out a little card and load it up and put it back in. But most of these newer flash carts use microSD and it can be a right bear to insert those back into their slots properly without them sliding off inside the cart etc. I like just plugging a cart into my computer and having it basically just show up like any other USB flash device to quickly and easily transfer files to it. Having an LTO! also means you have the ability to get digital releases of newer games months ahead of when they are available in physical form such as the amazing releases from Kai Magazine. RickR and mmaxfit 2 Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaxfit Posted January 18, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 38 minutes ago, CrossBow said: Having an LTO! also means you have the ability to get digital releases of newer games months ahead of when they are available in physical form such as the amazing releases from Kai Magazine. I am looking forward to new digital releases. I bought a physical copy of Shark Shark 2 (board and box) for $50 but really just wanted the rom for $10. This was before I had the LTO Flash!. Moving forward I can now get these digital games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Well, it kinda depends. On the latest Kai Magazine release "A Tale of Dragons and Swords" you only got the digital when you pre-ordered the physical. They do plan to make the rom available eventually but yeah, the caveat on this was if you wanted to play the game now, you had to own and LTO since the rom image they send you is locked to your LTO cart and you had to purchase a physical version. I was already planning to buy the physical release anyway as I have with most of Kai Magazine's other releases but still, just something to be aware of. But there are other home brew authors that I believe make the rom versions available for sale for a much cheaper price and that is a welcome addition. I certainly never thought years ago that our retro/classic game consoles might go to digital only releases LOL! Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 I've been playing Intellivision all weekend, and it's really a blast to have everything available in one cart. I've found that I missed a few favorites (Sharp Shot, Mystic Castle), and I need to delete the homebrews that are just silly demos or don't work. So I'm not putting that laptop away quite yet! In the meantime, I think I'll look to see if there's any bundle of free homebrews available for download. mmaxfit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 50 minutes ago, RickR said: I've been playing Intellivision all weekend, and it's really a blast to have everything available in one cart. I've found that I missed a few favorites (Sharp Shot, Mystic Castle), and I need to delete the homebrews that are just silly demos or don't work. So I'm not putting that laptop away quite yet! In the meantime, I think I'll look to see if there's any bundle of free homebrews available for download. I've heard mention of Mystic Castle before. Isn't that the prototype name for what would eventually be released as Thunder Castle? Or is it something different? Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 It is a prototype for Thunder Castle that was tweaked a bit. Your player moves a lot faster, and that makes the game a lot more fun IMO. I can't find my copy of the ROM, although I'm sure I purchased it before. Oh well, I'll keep looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) I can't find Mystic Castle. But I have several homebrew titles that are absolutely outstanding. Donkey Kong Arcade - If Coleco had released this one back in the day, we would have all crapped our collective pants. It's so good. I'm a "buyer" on the theory that they purposely made their Intellivision titles crappy (so it would not compete with the Colecovision) after seeing this. Ms. Pac Man - Really fun. Missile Domination. Excellent Missile Command Port. Meteors - Asteroids done right. Space Patrol - a well done version of Moon Patrol. Stonix - Arkanoid on the Intv. What I'm finding is that the Intellivision had so much more to offer if the software developers could have pushed a little more back then. It was absolutely as capable as the 5200 or Colecovision. The Atarisoft and Imagic libraries are also pretty incredible. Mattel had a good group of developers, but clearly they could have used some fresh ideas and talent. Many of the Mattel titles look and sound the same, and that's a shame. All my opinion, of course. Edited January 18, 2021 by RickR mmaxfit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 @RickR have you seen what some of the more recent home brews on the Intelly look like? Absolutely mind blowing stuff graphically. They are essentially doing what was displayed to be part of the Intellivision III but on stock 2609 model 1 units and I'm not talking about the INTV III but the actual planned successor to the Intellivision itself. These are not my vids as I've not really featured any Intelly games on my channel but yeah...check these out: A Tale of Dragons and Swords: Kai Magazine 2020 Star Mercenary: Kai Magainze - still in development as far as I know And the Pre-order page and details for Kai Magazine's newest release : The sorrow of Gadhlan' Thur can be found here: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/314880-pre-order-period-for-“the-sorrow-of-gadhlan’-thur”-kai-magazine-for-intellivision-begins/ RickR 1 Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 45 minutes ago, CrossBow said: Absolutely mind blowing stuff graphically Oh man, those look fantastic! I will keep my eye on those. For all the "what-if's" we love to play with Atari, Mattel doesn't get enough for their mangling of their superior product. Imagine a Mattel that: Realized the Intellivision controller was a weakness and designed something better. A stick to replace the disk, and normal buttons to replace those painful side mounted ones. At a bare minimum, this should have been done when they designed the Intellivision 2. Pushed their development staff to innovate. More colors. More speed. More action. Got a better legal staff that could have avoided the daily FTC fines for the missing keyboard component. Or just come up with the fluff ECS much earlier. Stopped focusing so much on realism in their sports games and instead looked to make them more fun and accessible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 @RickR Exactly. Can you imagine if even some of what you've seen in those links above had been done back in the day?! I mean, the 5200 was nice and the CV was an arcade port beast at the time, but the Intelly would have been where it was at back in the day if they had this kind of stuff. Some of the graphics pass for early NES stuff and the sound ain't bad either! RickR 1 Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Sometimes it isn't fair to say "if this game was released back then". For example, the most modern 2600 games like Galagon, Star Castle, Draconian, etc. Clearly, there are better tools and less restrictive memory requirements nowadays. But most of what I'm experiencing on the INTV right now with this LTO Flash absolutely was do-able back then. Just start with Donkey Kong arcade. It's fast, looks great, and has three screens. I think it plays better than the CV version! Plus the INTV came out so much earlier than 5200 or CV. And you're right RE: the NES comparison. I keep thinking that the INTV could easily do the more simple baseball/golf/hockey games that the NES had. Instead, they gave us more realistic, two-player, super-slow games with a huge learning curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Far as I know the only restriction for the newer releases we have now and coming out, is that I know they are using some bank switching and that was likely way too expensive back then. But it was possible. But you are correct in that the more recent 2600 releases are mostly using a separate processor inside them to actually do most of the grunt work and then cycle feed it to the VCS hardware to display on the screen. But then, Nintendo was doing that on NES games before it was fashionable back then. Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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