Commodore VIC-20 Worth Owning?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Here's a good read about the old Dunjonquest games.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/dunjon ... nquest.htm

Looks like Temple of Apshai made it to VIC-20 as well.

[CRTGAMER]

The cassette stuff is interesting. Note that some cassette games require additional RAM. I think this plugs right into the cartridge slot, but don't quote me on it. Additionally, some cart games (like text adventures) can use blank tapes for saving your progress.

But again, the tape stuff is for hardcore VIC-20 users. I don't own any of that shiz. I simply hook my VIC to the TV and use it like a 2nd console. With the exception of text adventures the keyboard is rarely used for cart games - usually just initially to choose "1" for 1-player or whatever.

Appreciate the insight! Could you give me a few suggestions on the must play RPGs for the vic-20? I came across what looks like a homebrew series called "Realms of Quest" by Psytronik that looks pretty interesting. Do you know anything about it? Other than that, the only other game i've seen is the classic Adventureland.

There were dungeon style games such as Sword of Fargoal, most are slow plodding top view as in the original Zelda series and not near as well done. There are also the Scott Adams series on cart, but these are text adventures. Speaking of slow, the cassette tape games took forever to load, the disc drive also is slow. There are 3k, 8k and 16k ram carts. The 3k uses a different memory allocation compared to the larger carts, games had to be matched to which cart to use. Many of the tape and disc load games will work without the expansion though.

Look for the unique games such as the ones I mentioned earlier, there are quite a few that are very good and have not been remade on the newer systems, many on cart.

[Ghudda]

Look for the unique games such as the ones I mentioned earlier, there are quite a few that are very good and have not been remade on the newer systems, many on cart.

Will do, I only picked up Avenger for the time being, but Omega Race was there so I may go pick that up later.

So I picked everything up and need some help with a possible repair job. Everything overall looks pretty good. I may give the console the hydrogen peroxide treatment that I gave my PC Engine, but i'll at least disassemble it and give everything a nice scrub. But my main concern is with the broken 'X' key. It looks like the stem of the key broke off into the membrane? I'm trying to get everything setup so I can test and see if the key is even registering. Does it look like a broken key stem, or a broken membrane? Is it possible to replace the entire keyswitch on the Commodore boards (soldered or not)? And is there a place where I can purchase individual commodore keys?

EDIT: Looks like the stem of the key is the only thing that's broken. I found a seller on eBay that's selling original keys so i'll pick up a replacement 'X' for about $3.

Lastly, I need the best video output option. I'm going to invest in some Scart cables for my PVM for the VIC, but I was wondering if there are any other console composite cables that are compatible with the VIC, such as the Genesis. I'm currently trying to figure out how to connect the RF to my PVM, if that's even possible.

EDIT: Could I salvage the RF connection and build my own composite cable? I'd feel a little guilty killing the RF cable, but it may work.

[Hobie-wan]

That looks about like the cream color that the Vic 20 came when new actually. I don't think you have any yellowing to correct.

[Ghudda]

That looks about like the cream color that the Vic 20 came when new actually. I don't think you have any yellowing to correct.

I didn't know that! It looks slightly more yellowed in person, but I wasn't aware that it wasn't originally white so I may save myself the trouble. I think after I get the dirt and stuff off of it, it'll look much more like new.

[Hobie-wan]

And so it followed that the C64 was brown. Apple IIs were cream too. I think the Apple IIc, which was the flat one with the handle was the first gray one of those.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Whoa nice find with the cassette deck!

As for TV hookups, I use something like this for both VIC-20 and C64.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cordon-Cable-Au ... 3aa0dfb34d

[Ghudda]

Whoa nice find with the cassette deck!

As for TV hookups, I use something like this for both VIC-20 and C64.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cordon-Cable-Au ... 3aa0dfb34d

Thanks! Is the cassette deck a bit difficult/expensive to track down by itself?

I went ahead and ordered some similar composite cables.

Update: stripped down the keyboard and found the culprit plunger
My shopping list now includes: plunger, spring, and key. All together should set me back around $10 I imagine.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Whoa nice find with the cassette deck!

As for TV hookups, I use something like this for both VIC-20 and C64.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cordon-Cable-Au ... 3aa0dfb34d

Thanks! Is the cassette deck a bit difficult/expensive to track down by itself?

More than $30, surely.

[Ghudda]

More than $30, surely.

Ah, then that's a relief. A nice addition for sure. I've got all the replacement stuff ordered so I guess i'll take this time to do a thorough scrub down of everything. There were also some tape games at the shop, but I forget exactly which ones they were. Out of about 4-5 of them, only one or two of them sounded like actual games. I'm going to go and try to see if I can get a deal on the lot of them. Otherwise, they wanted about $4/game which still isn't bad.