RDI Halcyon - Exposed with Pics (lots of pics, 56k beware)

[norkusa]

Oh wow. I'm a HUGE fan of laserdisc games and the RDI Halcyon has been my personal holy grail for years. I've seen bits and pieces from other Halcyon systems over the years but never a totally complete set up like this before. Thanks for sharing, that's amazing.

BTW, there are some nice tidbits of info on the Halcyon on the Dragon's Lair dvd's from Digital Leisure. Basically a couple of television interviews with Rick D. at the RDI headquarters.

@ Jajaja: Time Gal was for the LaserActive system (and later released for the Saturn & Sega CD).

[98PaceCar]

What about Time Gal? Isnt that for this system?

I don't think so. I've never seen that title mentioned in anything I've read.

The unreleased games were:
NFL Football - Cowboys vs Redskins
Orpheus
Shadow of the Stars
Voyage to the New World
The Spirit of the Whittier Mansion

That's all the references I've found to any other games even in development for the system, but there could have been more.

Man that is awesome, at least an R4!

Dang! I was hoping I'd finally have gotten an R5 at least. Oh well, back to the drawing board!!

[Captain Wrong]

Take notes kids. This is a find.

Excellent thread.

[vintagegamecrazy]

98pacecar that is most definitely your best find you will ever find. Those are so rare and the value is astronomical, even if it's not your personal grail, that owns all. PS is there any way you could take a pic of thing with the keyboard too, I am the section editor for the console, it would come in handy for a possible edition into the guide.

[98PaceCar]

98pacecar that is most definitely your best find you will ever find. Those are so rare and the value is astronomical, even if it's not your personal grail, that owns all. PS is there any way you could take a pic of thing with the keyboard too, I am the section editor for the console, it would come in handy for a possible edition into the guide.

I agree completely and fortunately, it is one of my personal grails!

Let me know what all pics you'd like and I'll provide them to with without the watermarks. I was worried that if I didn't protect the pics, they would show up on ebay or something like that. But for the guide, no problem! It will take me a couple days to get it all together for a pic of the system and keyboard, but I will get it done. Any preferred background or picture size? My g/friend is a pro photographer, so she's got some good equipment and can do it right!

[vintagegamecrazy]

just the console and keyboard, on a white sheet or towel just like other consoles appear in the guide.

[Ed Oscuro]

I could only imagine how much that would fetch on Ebay, upwards of $2,000 bare minimum!

lol for sure

Nice, nice pics.

[Ed Oscuro]

What about Time Gal? Isnt that for this system?

Nope. It was originally a 1985 laserdisc game by Taito (they made at least another about that time that I've seen) that eventually got ported to Mega CD, Laseractive, and Saturn.

[CRV]

The unreleased games were:
NFL Football - Cowboys vs Redskins
Orpheus
Shadow of the Stars
Voyage to the New World
The Spirit of the Whittier Mansion

Dragon's Lair Project has video from those unreleased games here.

I would imagine all the filming and whatnot was completed and the footage is now sitting somewhere gathering dust.

[Fighter17]

What about Time Gal? Isnt that for this system?

Nope. It was originally a 1985 laserdisc game by Taito (they made at least another about that time that I've seen) that eventually got ported to Mega CD, Laseractive, and Saturn.

The other Taito laserdisc game was Ninja Hayate. It was ported on the Sega CD by Wolf Team (they also did the Time Gal port on the Sega CD as well). The funny thing is that the Ninja Hayate port was only release for the Sega CD in the US only as "Revenge Of The Ninja."

[CRV]

Taito's third Laserdisc game was M.A.R.C 3 (Japan, arcade only release).

Do you mean "M.A.C.H. 3?" That was originally developed and released in the US by Gottlieb/Mylstar.

[Steve W]

Wow. I've looked all over the internet for some tiny fragments of info about the Halcyon, but only manage to see the same pictures over and over and get very little in the way of info. This thread has probably quadrupled the amount of into on the web about the RDI Halcyon. I didn't even know it was a rebadged Pioneer player. I wonder if Pioneer's involvement with the Halcyon might have spurred their interest in interactive laserdisc players, resulting in the LaserActive years later?

[Fighter17]

Taito's third Laserdisc game was M.A.R.C 3 (Japan, arcade only release).

Do you mean "M.A.C.H. 3?" That was originally developed and released in the US by Gottlieb/Mylstar.

Woops, my mistake. x_x

[98PaceCar]

Wow, awesome score!

If you've played any of the other versions of Thayer's Quest, you've played this. It's basically the same gameplay as Dragon's Lair, only it's not as reflex based. You have to make the proper decision based on the information presented to you. Not the most exciting game I've ever played, but still kind of cool. This one feels a bit more complete than the football. I haven't noticed any obvious bugs in it yet.

The Halcyon, arcade, and DVD versions of TQ are all a little different from each other. The arcade version is an 'edited' Halcyon version, and the DVD is closer to the Halcyon version, except some of the pathways (and most of the menu choices) have been slightly altered

Thayer's Quest is extremely linear

Actually, it's probably the least-linear laserdisc game ever made. Unlike Dragon's Lair or Space Ace, in TQ you're given choices as to which way to proceed from scene to scene.

I guess linear isn't quite the word I was looking for. I guess it's more a lack of randomness in what happens, from what I've seen. Almost like once you know the steps, you can just repeat them over and over for the exact same result. But I haven't played it a whole lot, so I may be mistaken.

The solution for the DVD version can be found in >this thread<, along with some other TQ info. More info and pics can be found in the Easter egg entry.

One thing I'd love to know is how exactly TQ ends on the Halcyon- in other words, what comes up on the screen? I can send you the arcade walkthough if you'd like (I'm hoping to have it online here for everyone sometime soon).

Do you know if the walkthrough for the DVD is close enough to beat this version? I'd be more than happy to follow it through and get some screen caps of the end.

[Jeff Kinder]

>> Personally, I don't think it would have really stood a
>> chance at it's retail price ($2500) as the games are
>> very limited in gameplay.

Originally the system was going to use a MUCH cheaper CED Videodisc player. Unfortunately that deal fell thru and they were left with more expensive laser disc player to use, which caused the high retail price.


>> According to the manual, there were supposed to be 2
>> different versions of the controller. The one I have that
>> works with the Pioneer LD-700 and another one that
>> would work with the Pioneer VP1000/PR8210, the
>> Magnavox VC8040, or the Sylvania VP7200.

The other controler used an IR-LED to control the laser disc player. It was nothing more than a suction cup type arangement that would stick to the IR area on the front of the laser disc player. Pretty neat.


>> the system will say that either the Cowboys or the
>> Redskins have the ball instead of the Chargers or
>> Raiders.

I've never noticed this behavior during gameplay, but I havent been around the system enough to notice. I can tell you that the Cowboys / Redskins was supposed to be another game released for this system.

Good luck with it. A great find, indeed.

http://www.d-l-p.com/community/relat...stems/halcyon/

[Jeff Kinder]

>> I don't think so. I've never seen that title mentioned
>> in anything I've read.
>>
>> The unreleased games were:
>> NFL Football - Cowboys vs Redskins
>> Orpheus
>> Shadow of the Stars
>> Voyage to the New World
>> The Spirit of the Whittier Mansion
>>
>> That's all the references I've found to any other
>> games even in development for the system, but
>> there could have been more.

Urban legend states that "The Spirit of the Whittier Mansion" was actually completed, but never released.

[CRV]

Urban legend states that "The Spirit of the Whittier Mansion" was actually completed, but never released.

Like I said before, the video must at least all be shot. Production costs money.

[98PaceCar]

>> Personally, I don't think it would have really stood a
>> chance at it's retail price ($2500) as the games are
>> very limited in gameplay.

Originally the system was going to use a MUCH cheaper CED Videodisc player. Unfortunately that deal fell thru and they were left with more expensive laser disc player to use, which caused the high retail price.


>> According to the manual, there were supposed to be 2
>> different versions of the controller. The one I have that
>> works with the Pioneer LD-700 and another one that
>> would work with the Pioneer VP1000/PR8210, the
>> Magnavox VC8040, or the Sylvania VP7200.

The other controler used an IR-LED to control the laser disc player. It was nothing more than a suction cup type arangement that would stick to the IR area on the front of the laser disc player. Pretty neat.


>> the system will say that either the Cowboys or the
>> Redskins have the ball instead of the Chargers or
>> Raiders.

I've never noticed this behavior during gameplay, but I havent been around the system enough to notice. I can tell you that the Cowboys / Redskins was supposed to be another game released for this system.

Good luck with it. A great find, indeed.

http://www.d-l-p.com/community/relat...stems/halcyon/

Thanks for the info Jeff! Do you happen to know if the controller bus is the same for the CED player as it is for the laserdisk player? I've heard that a few of the disks were mastered to CED, but as far as I've learned that's just a rumor.

I'll try to get some screenshots of the Cowboys/Redskins screens. The voice is correct, but the screens are wrong. I probably wouldn't have noticed it myself, but my girlfriend was playing at the time and spotted it.

[Captain Wrong]

This could be a clue in the Halcyon/CED link...http://cedmagic.com/featured/nfl.html

I'm assuming the gameplay isn't identical, but I find it a bit of a coincidence that the two matchups in the arcade game are Chargers/Raiders and Cowboys/Redskins.

[tteich]

@98PaceCar:
Congratulations for your find! This is awesome. I've seen a couple of RDI Laserdiscs (TQ, and the Football game) on eBay over the years, but never spotted a RDI computer, let alone a complete working system.

While I'm thinking about this, do you see any possibility to dump the contents of the two game cartridges (probably with the help of the dragons-lair-project.com guys, or the daphne.com guys, -> Jeff Kinder probably)? This would open the door for emulating the Halcyon stuff so the small number of laserdiscs left could be used used sometimes (although a lot of work would still be required).