Major Havoc: the quest for a roller!

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I put these up for Worm, but you guys can enjoy them as well:

http://www.joltcountry.com/downloads/major_havoc.rar

Unrar the rar archive, but you don't need to unzip the zip files contained in the archive, due to how MAME works.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

This should probably go in the MAME Files thread, if not for the fact that nobody gives a crap.

Major Havoc is the ultimate vector game. Ima post a screen shot here in a sec.



Here's the deal, though. You control your dude using two buttons, one for jump and one for "shield." Fair enough, fair enough.

The OTHER way you control him is with a roller. This thing shaped like a coffee can that you spin left and right. It's functionally like a spinner, but not.

Because Major Havoc goes for thousands of dollars, I decided that I wanted my MAME cabinet to allow me to play it correctly. So I bought one of these:



Arcade fans are PIMPS. That's a reproduction roller for Major Havoc, which I am going to install into my Polybius cab. I probably need an encoder for it, but that will come.

I actually did some original research for Major Havoc, for an article to be posted on Caltrops, so I'll try to knock that out and bump this thread when that happens.

[pinbacker]

Major Havoc is the ultimate vector game.

Dear Rome,

I agree. Major Havoc IS the ultimate vector game. No wonder it rated so high on Jonsey's Top 100 list.

Signed,

Tempest and Asteroids.

[AArdvark]

Now I have GOT to see this mame control board when you are done. I bet it looks like Sulu's station on the Enterprise when you finish with it.


THE
SET COURSE FOR
EMULATOR-12
AARDVARK

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Now I have GOT to see this mame control board when you are done. I bet it looks like Sulu's station on the Enterprise when you finish with it.

I've decided to "nix" full support for two players at the same time. It's rarely if ever going to be an issue for me, and if it is I'll just have a gamepad coming out the back of the thing. So that got rid of a lot of buttons.

When the roller shows up (with how things have been arriving from eBay lately, I'll put the prediction of when it shows up to be this Saturday - seriously, sellers in general have been charging a shitload for shipping and then they take up to a week to send stuff out, at least in my case) I'll be able to map out where everything is going on the wood I've earmarked for this. I'll post a pic then.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Major Havoc is the ultimate vector game.

Dear Rome,

I agree. Major Havoc IS the ultimate vector game. No wonder it rated so high on Jonsey's Top 100 list.

Signed,

Tempest and Asteroids.

I was not aware of Major Havoc when I created that list. But the keyword is "vector." It is the ultimate "vector" game. Tempest and Asteroids are just good games, period.

Major Havoc is doing more things with vectors than either of those two games and just, in general, has a lot more going on. There are different phases of gameplay, as well: a part where you are shooting down other ships, a part where you dock, a part where you are defusing a bomb.

Let me ask you this: have you played it yet?

[pinbacker]

Let me ask you this: have you played it yet?

Major Havoc? Shit yeah, back in the day. Popped my share of quarters into that bitch.

Good game. Fine, fine game.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I have never seen one in person. You have the advantage of me, sir.

[AArdvark]

So 'Star Castle' dint even get honorable mention? Or my favorite 'Night Driver' ( I think that was on the list)


THE
BEAM OF LIGHT
AARDVARK

[pinbacker]

Night Driver wasn't vector.

Red Baron and Battlezone, yes. Night Driver, no.

[bruce]

I have never seen one in person. You have the advantage of me, sir.

You haven't?

It was very common for a while. It was the conversion for your Tempest cabinets after they stopped making money. In fact, I've always resented Major Havoc a little because it cannibalized so many Tempests, and although Major Havoc is good, it ain't no Tempest.

Bruce

[bruce]

So 'Star Castle' dint even get honorable mention?

I played Star Castle at CGE.

I gotta say...it sorta blows.

It's all right. Probably better than Omega Race. And it was early so it's not fair to compare it with, oh, Quantum or Tac-Scan, but, well, it's nowhere near, say, Asteroids.

Now...Tac-Scan. There was an excellent forgotten vector game.

Bruce

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Let me ask you this: have you played it yet?

Major Havoc? Shit yeah, back in the day. Popped my share of quarters into that bitch.

Good game. Fine, fine game.

I only asked you that because I had to get back to work, and I was concerned that the thread would otherwise die. I can't even remember if I said that Major Havoc is a better vector game than Tempest and Asteroids, but those are better games in general. It sounds like something I typed.

I know there are only like 14 levels in Major Havoc. Using warp codes, I'm all over the place on the GP2X handheld system that I have spent 90% of my Major Havoc time on. But 14 is also a lot of levels. I want to play them right, Ben.

With a roller.

I also wish, with my MAME cabinet, to make bread.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

So 'Star Castle' dint even get honorable mention? Or my favorite 'Night Driver' ( I think that was on the list)

Star Castle is all right. I have it for the Vectrex, in cartridge form. It's literally within arm's release, in fact! I dunno, there's not much meat to Star Castle. Good game, don't result the ten bucks I spent on the Vec cart.. but I think the Asteroids control scheme is best served by Asteroids, and not SC or the arcade version of Space War or what have you.

It's like, if I made it so that you could play Fallacy of Dawn with two joysticks and no other controllers, eventually you'd wish you were playing Robotron.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I have never seen one in person. You have the advantage of me, sir.

You haven't?

Sadly... I have not. In fact, you mention something called Tac-Scan that I am going to look up right now. I only became aware of Quantum a couple years ago (when a guy - and I don't mean to keep going back to the Vectrex thing, but I guess it's apropos when we are talking about vector games - made something called "Star Sling," and was later informed that the gameplay was like Quantum, which he had not played. I went and looked up Quantum at that point).

It was very common for a while. It was the conversion for your Tempest cabinets after they stopped making money. In fact, I've always resented Major Havoc a little because it cannibalized so many Tempests, and although Major Havoc is good, it ain't no Tempest.

I would agree with you there. I don't know why I feel that Major Havoc, while good, isn't great like Pac-Man, but let me address this briefly:

- My experience with Major Havoc is that two of the three stages are fun. I like to shoot ships and navigate a maze, that's cool. The second board, docking, is kind of stupid. And then there is the whole bit with the reactor. I don't know, with Pac-Man it just seems like the enemies you face are more interactive. That there is more going on. With Major Havoc, it's "wait for the fireball to fire," "use shield," "repeat."

Good game, but not a great one in my opinion. And I know that most games wither when compared to The Pac, I'm just saying, is all.