Madtronix 3D Imager article in Video Game Trader Issue 10
vectr...@fastmail.fm
Just to let you know an article on the Madtronix 3D Imager that I
submitted to VGT is now available to read for free online. Take a look
at this link: http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=5802. The
article starts on page 47.
I submitted this article back in August last year. When I wrote that
article I had a lot of contact with Madtronix A.K.A John Macallan. He
told me how he was launching his new eShop and that he was
manufacturing products that would be soon for sale. Nearly six months
later, John has gone quiet and the website still appears to be in a
test phase, his last entry is dated 3rd August 2008 (at least the last
time I looked).
If you are planning to buy anything from Madtronix I would recommend
first making contact with him before parting with any money using the
automated paypal system on his website.
Regards
VectrexMad!
www.vectrex.co.uk
Geo...@aol.com
Very nice article!
Of the three original games, 3D MineStorm is also my favorite (by
far). I would also recommend for people to try and locate one of
Kevin Horton's 3D adapters. These work perfectly in conjunction with
a pair of readily available 3D shutter glasses, but without color.
Low priced at about $20.
George
VectrexRoli
What I found strange was the statement there that "...In 2008 a second
generation of 3-D imager was released...".
Is that really true? I placed my pre-order on the Madtronix web page around
August 2008 and never heared anything back.
Greetings
roland
vectr...@fastmail.fm
articles which are still to be published this year (I believe May and
July) - one of them is about Spike and I even had input from the
game's designer Tom Sloper! My English is not perfect but for the new
articles I have also asked the editor that he shows me the article
after it has been edited, because annoyingly for me the small editing
that was done in the 3D imager article also introduced a few spelling
mistakes/bad English...Grrrr....
> What I found strange was the statement there that "...In 2008 a second
> generation of 3-D imager was released...".
Ah yes, I actually said "Now in 2008 we are on the second generation 3-
D imager..."
The first generation (issued around the last quarter of 2005) 3-D
imager was actually a full size welding mask. I believe only a few of
these were sold before the second generation was released.
The different generations of Madtronix 3-D imager wheels - were 1st
generation - calibration mark (equivalent to the hole on the MB
wheels) made with Tipp-Ex, 2nd generation - white rectangular sticker
instead of Tipp-Ex mark, 3rd generation - "L" shaped white sticker,
4th generation - "T" shaped sticker - wheel professionally printed.
> Is that really true? I placed my pre-order on the Madtronix web page around
> August 2008 and never heared anything back.
I got my 3-D imager beginning of 2008. I bought it from his eBay shop.
I must say I was and still am really pleased with it.
It was around August 2008 when I was having several email
communications with Madtronix for the article. Since then however I
have had no communication.
I do understand the frustrations people have had when trying to
contact Madtronix. Hence my advice of only parting with cash at his
eShop once contact with Madtronix has been made.
Regards
VectrexMad!
www.vectrex.co.uk
faulty unit
Where can these adaptors be got from? Google sends me
nowhere useful..
Tim.
Geo...@aol.com
> mmm i have a pair of those shutter glasses somewhere..
> Where can these adaptors be got from? Google sends me
> nowhere useful..
>
> Tim.
This is Kevin Horton's website address:
http://www.kevtris.org
There is an email address listed on the site.
Please let us know if he has any current stock,
as I haven't emailed him in a while. Your shutter
glasses will need to be equipped with a typical
headphone-type plug (I think that's a 3.5mm
plug). If he has the 3D adapters in stock, he
probably also has shutter glasses available
(if yours doesn't have the right kind of plug).
George
faulty unit
My glasses are the eDimensional, with 3pole (stereo) minijack plug, that
came with a VGA passthru' unit. Lol.. I never used them AFAIK..
Tim.
Geo...@aol.com wrote:
> There is an email address listed on the site.
> Please let us know if he has any current stock,
<snip>
> George
jasonbar
I paid for a Madtronix 3D Imager on 1/17/09 via PayPal via their
website store.
After no response, I e-mailed John on 1/31/09.
He wrote back on 2/3/09 & apologized for the delay & said he'd ship
out on Friday (2/6/09).
No package yet & no responses to my mails on 2/18/09 & 2/24/09.
Anybody have any contact or input to help me out?
Thank you very much,
-Jason
Bort/Richard
I had and still have an outstanding item from john.
I bought a big lot. It didn't arrive and I didn't receive any replies
to my emails.
I ended up doing a paypal claim and at the last possible moment he
replied.
He eventually sent a box out but with a normal vexvoxx instead of a
dev one.
I sent the standard one back and he said he would send a dev unit out
but again, I receive nothing. After a year I am still waiting.
Extremely shoddy service seems to be his forte.
Richard.
faulty unit
they are just slow, not scammers. I have bought from them a couple of
times, and the products are on-the-button good.. Worth the wait etc.
This comes up regularly here - 'WHER'S MAH STUFFS!!' - and someone
always comes in to reassure the frustrated one(s) that Madtronix do
actually deliver, and the stuff is good when it arrives.. I guess it's
my turn to do this now!
:)
vectr...@fastmail.fm
which I have copied below:
"2009-03-05:
DO NOT PLACE ORDERS NOW!!!
sorry guys, i'm such a PHP analphabet - i'm working on the new store
(yes i decided not to use the current one since it can be easily
hacked) i got all your emails and i will answer them in the next days.
the store will be up and running either today or tomorrow and over the
next days i will add all products. after a long and dark year i moved
to sweden 2008-10 and am now faced challenges such as learning the
language [...], using the snow truck, to be able to go to my house,
and of course figuring out a way to serve your needs. reliably.
madtronix will from now on be my full time job (well and i have to
build a house aswell) so communicaton and shipping will be very smooth
in the future.
thanks so much for all of your support!!
john"
regards
VectrexMad!
www.vectrex.co.uk
jasonbar
I received my imager & wheels this week. 3D Minestorm works great.
However, when I run 3D Crazy Coaster or 3D Narrow Escape, I get the
intro screen, then the wheel spins up, then I see the briefest blip of
a playing field, then just blackness & the wheel slows down to a
stop. Thinking it might be an issue of balance or weight, I tried
running these 2 games w/ the 3D Minestorm wheel (same results) & with
no wheel at all (never saw the blip of game graphics).
Is anybody aware of any incompatibility with the 72-in-1 cart & those
2 3D games, or does anybody have any recommendations on how to fix
this? Is this a wheel calibration issue?
Thank you,
-Jason
vectr...@fastmail.fm
>
> Is anybody aware of any incompatibility with the 72-in-1 cart & those
> 2 3D games, or does anybody have any recommendations on how to fix
> this? Is this a wheel calibration issue?
>
> Thank you,
> -Jason
Hello Jason,
It seems that Crazy coaster and Narrow escape aren't getting the
syncing pulse (each rotation of the sticker past the IR detector) at
the appropriate time.
I just plugged in my 72-in-1 cart and tried running all three 3D games
with the Madtronix 3D imager and experienced no problems at all - So
its not an compatibility issue with the 72:1 cart.
The games also ran without problem with each other's coloured wheels.
Its a longshot because you say you can't even to get the games to work
with the Mindstorm wheel, but are the "sync" stickers in the correct
place? If you go to my website I have a document showing my imager
wheels (go to DOCUMENTS tab -> Articles -> Madtronix 3d Imager Colour
Wheels)
If you ask, I can also photocopy (1:1) the wheels so you can see
exactly where the stickers should be.
Another thing is to try it on somebody elses Vectrex.
I have one Vectrex where for some unknown reason Crazy coaster and
Narrow escape don't work but 3D minestorm does - sounds like your
problem, but it even does this using the original carts. Also my
VecVox misbehaves on this Vectrex too - parts of spoken words are
missed. This makes me think there is some timing issue with the second
port on this Vectrex -perhaps a capacitor has gone out of spec - I
don't know - haven't had time to fully diagnose. I am guessing but I
am thinking maybe that Crazy coaster and Narrow escape are less
tolerant to syncing pulses not arriving within a set time.
So if you can, try and test your setup on someone else's Vectrex, to
see if you experience the same problem.
regards
VectrexMad!
www.vectrex.co.uk