Rare Pre-Production VIC-20 Cartridges

History and Preservation Issues

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nbla000
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Post by nbla000 »

Night Drive !!!

You need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

It is an early version of Road Race, the final commercial version has no name on the title screen while this version report VIC NIGHT DRIVE.

In the end of the file, the free space is filled with $FF bytes while the original with $AA, there are a lot of differences in the code but i think mainly for a different relocation of data bytes, i will investigate further but we may consider it as a prototype.

Now i will check other file images but I keep it for further investigation :wink:
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Post by carlsson »

Perhaps there is bit rot on the Gorf one? Since it is EPROM based if I understood correctly, it is possible that a byte or two have gone bad in ~28 years of time.

$FE = %11111110
$70 = %01110000

Stranger things have happened. I have a TED prototype board where one of the EPROMs seemed to have bit #3 stuck high all along the chip. I dumped those chips and some was possible to salvage, but not in its entirity if I remember correctly. That prototype board is dated in August 1983, so a few years newer than these cartridges.
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nbla000
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Post by nbla000 »

carlsson wrote:Perhaps there is bit rot on the Gorf one? Since it is EPROM based if I understood correctly, it is possible that a byte or two have gone bad in ~28 years of time.

$FE = %11111110
$70 = %01110000
Maybe, who know ?

Ral-clan may try to redump it, just the blk5 of course so we can see if a new dump produce the same result...



While talking about Cosmic Cruncher you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file ccrunchera000 is exactly the same of the final commercial version that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... uncher.prg

It is the version with $AA fill byte at the end.
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Post by nbla000 »

For Clowns you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file clownsa000 is exactly the same of the final commercial version that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... paddle.prg

It is the paddle version of course.
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Post by carlsson »

So far, these cartridges really look to be pre-production ones, perhaps rushed out to dealers or used at some expo - CES January 1981, or would that be too early for some of the titles?

.. well, if it can be proven they're not homemade copies at some point in time of course. ;-)
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Post by nbla000 »

For Money Wars you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file mnywarsa000 is exactly the same of the final commercial version that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... 20Wars.prg
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Post by carlsson »

eBay seller wrote:I was provided these as samples prior to release ...
It struck me that he might have received those cartridges the same week they went for production! So far most of us expected pre-production is the same as prototype, but unless nbla000 or ral-clan has overseen something, the ROM images checked so far are close to identical to the common ones.
Last edited by carlsson on Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by nbla000 »

carlsson wrote:but unless nbla000 or ral-clan has overseen something, the ROM images checked so far are close to identical to the common ones.
Yes, it seems you're right :? maybe except for Night Driver, i've seen cartridges with this name on ebay mainly from German seller but i've never found a cart image of it.


While talking about Radar Rat Race you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file ratracea000 is exactly the same of the final commercial version 2 that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... Race-2.prg
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Post by nbla000 »

For Sea Wolf you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file seawolfa000 is exactly the same of the final commercial version that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... 20Wolf.prg
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Post by nbla000 »

For Super Smash you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file supsmasha000 is a little bit different from the NTSC version that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... mash-2.prg

Differences are similar to Gorf eprom, just some different random bytes so i suggest ral-clan to redump it too so we can check if may be an eprom problem or a real prototype early version.
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Post by nbla000 »

For Super Alien you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file supraliena000 is exactly the same of the Alien final commercial version that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... /Alien.prg

But which is the correct name ? Alien or Super Alien ?
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Post by nbla000 »

For Menagerie you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file mngriea000 is exactly the same of the final commercial version that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... agerie.prg
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Post by nbla000 »

For Home Babysitter you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

The file homebabya000 is exactly the same of the final commercial version that you may download from zimmer:
http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/ ... sitter.prg

Again but the name is Home Babysitter or Home Babysitter II ?
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Post by carlsson »

So to summarize, here are the results:

Identical to already dumped cartridges (10)
Gorf (mask ROM), Omega Race, Cosmic Cruncher, Clowns,
Money Wars, Radar Rat Race, Sea Wolf, Super Alien, Menagerie,
Home Babysitter (II)

Small random differences, possible bit rot (2)
Gorf (EPROM), Super Smash

Small identifiable difference (2)
Night Drive <-> Road Race, Number Nabber/Shape Grabber

Broken cartridges (1)
Speed/Bingo Math
Last edited by carlsson on Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by nbla000 »

For Number Nabber & Shape Grabber you need just the a000 file because it uses 8k on blk5 only.

I think we may consider the file numnabbera000 as a real prototype since it use a different title screen with just the commodore logo and without the game name.

In any case the game play is the same of the final version present in zimmer, i will check for other differences in the gode but it seems pretty the same.

so it lacks just Bingo_Math (not grubbed), it maybe interesting if you may dump it anyway maybe we may discover the reason why it doesn't start automatically...
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