How to use the Vectorzoa Drawing Test Tool
The grid above shows a sketch of the fish produced on a grid background. The grid measures 120 x 120 with squares of size 5 x 5.
This enables figures to be drawn quite easily and counting to be performed in 5s with the extra option of finer detailed if required.
Note when you produce a Vectrex drawing it is important to draw it large and then use scaling to shrink it for efficiency. Always
make sure your drawing fills an entire 120 x 120 grid even if it will be displayed very small. With Vectors you can control the final size
later! Note: this is not a software tool it is just a grid to be drawn in a paint package on on paper. A blank grid is provided here
for your convenience. With practice you will not even need a grid! A simple sketch on blank paper will enable you to caluclate the figures yourself.
The Vectorzoa Drawing Test Tool offers you two ways to draw efficiently on a Vectrex. The first methods is used for continuous
lines whilst the second can be used to add finer details using individual lines. It is best to do most of the work with the first
method and then add in the final touches with the second method. In our example the outline is drawn first and then the three fins
added as an option. This means the Vectrex has the choice of showing a quick and rough version whilst adding detail when the is
opportunity. You can use either technique on its own and if possible try to get a good result with only method 1. Remember if you
can draw the shape without taking your pen from the paper or going back over existing lines then it's perfect for method 1.
Where possible cross lines over to give more detail without adding more points/vertices. This can be seen on the tail and is used
to great effect on the ships in Protector.
To start:
- Download and unzip the Vectrex Drawing Test Tool here
- Double click on the COMPILE_HERE icon to build you BINARY (.BIN)
- Run the .BIN in any of these:
| Emulator | Real Vectrex with |
| ParaJVE | VecFlash |
| Vecx | VecRAM |
| MESS | Programmed EPROM |
| DVE | EPROM emulator |
- Edit EDITTHIS.ASM as directed in the file
- Repeat from 2
Have fun! Remember to email your EDITTHIS.ASM to vectrex@vectorzoa.com
