
        COMMODORE FREE MAGAZINE

        Issue 25 November 2008
         www.commodorefree.com
       Free to download magazine
    Dedicated to Commodore Computers

 Available as Text, Html, PDF, SEQ and
      Commodore 64 D64 disk image

http://www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk/

Editor:

Last Issue was numbered 24, so that
marked Commodore Free's 2nd birthday.
I never celebrated a one year birthday
for the magazine, basically because I
didn't think that I, or Commodore Free
would last out. I wasn't going to
celebrate 2 years but as it's a mile-
stone and after 2 years the magazine is
still in production I think, even
though it's an issue late, I should
celebrate 2 years of Commodore Free. 

I won't say its been an easy 2 years.
There were more downs than ups, and
the first hurdle was how to create a
website and copy issues to it so
others could download the magazine.
Issue 1 for some time was emailed to
friends, then as I had a hosting
company the website took shape. I kept
the site simple because I am aware not
everyone uses Evil machines to access
the content and some users prefer text
only browsers or use their Commodore
64 with the wave for example. Being
aware that there could be issues I
kept a very simple site design and
that's how it remains. I had a few
issues with various browsers but it
was a learning curve and although I
won't be taking up HTML coding in any
form commercially I do have a website.

The Domain name was supposed to be a
.co.uk but some mix up in the
communication between my none U.K.
based hosting company ended in me
paying for a .com. I still think it
was a marketing trick making me buy a
.com rather than a .co.uk so the
hosting company could obtain more cash
from me. Still .com is easy to
remember but means I have to
re-register and stump up the cash each
year, the hosting or web space isn't
free but this gives me flexibility and
no popups which are limitations of the
many free hosts out there.

The problem with my magazine creation
is that it doesn't leave me much spare
time to actually utilise my machine. I
have purchased new hardware for my own
pleasure but haven't had any time to
utilise the hardware to its fullest
extent. I hope this will change and
have promised user point view reviews
of various devices, I also Owe Robert
Bernado a review of a music hardware/
software combo so I need to get that
done soon. Sorry Robert.

What Happens Next
Well as far as I can see its basically
more of the same, Commodore Free will
continue running and I have settled on
around 20 pages for each issue. This
makes editing and creating the various
formats easier for me. Sometimes I
have loads of information and the
magazine fills up quickly, sometimes I
wonder if I will get 5 pages never
mind 20.

Commodore Free magazine is trying to
cater to the needs of everyone, and I
know that is impossible, I haven't had
any Readers Letters for a while bar
the odd one here and there, (I hope
that means I am doing a good job!) I
do know Some of the articles in the
magazine are aimed at the beginner, so
advanced users will look and sigh.
Then again,some of the articles are
aimed at advanced users, some articles
are just of general use or general
news. I hope the mix is equal and no
one reads the issue and thinks there
was only 1 page relevant to the level
I am on. Pushing yourself to learn new
things is always a positive in life or
something like that, I am very good at
miss-quotations.

The Commodore Computer Club is taking
shape and I have some articles for the
shop kindly donated by members. These
will be sold to fund the purchase of
hardware/software so we can have
regular sales or a stock/inventory.
Club Members receive discounts & info
from like minded individuals. I am a
founding member so that's why I push
the Club every issue, I know you are
fed up with this, but I will ramp down
the Commodore Club force feed in the
next issues, if you have a club you
would like to plug feel free to send me
details. The Commodore Computer Club
forum is being used and no one has
killed anyone yet, (to my knowledge) so
that must be good, I am aware forums
can become messy fighting grounds. In
this issue I have permission to reprint
an article from the Commodore Computer
Club Forum about running the SCPU
CMD's Super CPU accelerator for the
Commodore 64 and Commodore 128; many
people will learn something about the
device from this text, especially
about its stability in heavy use.

Sadly I haven't had any good news
about Maurice Randal from Click Here
Software http://www.cmdrkey.com but I
notice the website looks like its
accepting orders. Obviously I didn't
follow it all the way through as I am
still waiting for an SCPU from
Maurice, I think it's been on order
for over 4 years. I can't see there
being a delivery of my order and while
that leaves me out of pocket it serves
as a warning to others NOT TO USE the
website, nothing will be delivered and
Maurice is, for want of a better word,
in hiding from angry shoppers.

So where does that leave us? Well I
hear some company is working on an
SCPU clone, and lets face it, the SCPU
needs a revamp. The SCPU is too big,
too power hungry and prone to
crashing, but the Commodore 64 wasn't
designed to run any faster that 1Mhz
so maybe that could be the main issue.
Should designers be working on a
Commodore 64B an upgraded Commodore 64
with built in acceleration, better
graphics and better sound? Probably
not. 

The SCPU clone would be most welcome.
Lets hope it's a neat design, power
friendly and works well on both the
128 and 64, and lets also hope it
works equally well on both PAL and
NTSC machines. If I could find the
funds I would be looking to purchase
such a device, although we do really
need some software to utilise the
device fully as Metal dust and
Geos/Wheels are not really enough to
tempt everyone to mass purchase.

Back to the issue and it's more of the
same interviews, news and other
tidbits to excite and amaze your
Commodore needs. Hope you like it and
hey, someone send me a readers letter
it makes me feel better.

THANKS Go to
Richard Bayliss for the The Sceptre of
Baghdad review
Paul 'Trooper'Green for the Coding
enviroment write up
AL Jackson for creating the D64 Image

Regards
Nigel 
Website www.commodorefree.com
Email commodorefree@commodorefree.com


Editor                        Page  2
News                          Page  3
Super CPU Information         Page 11
Interview with Jeff Daniels   Page 12
Programming Environment       Page 14
In the beginning 10           Page 18
The Sceptre of Baghdad        Page 22
Questions about CCC U.K.      Page 23

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


NEWS
====

Mille Bornes - Orion70
----------------------
has released a brand new game for the
Commodore VIC-20. Mille Bornes is a
French card game and is played with a
special deck of cards. There are
hazard, remedy, safety, and distance
cards. Each hazard is corrected by a
corresponding remedy, and is actually
prevented from happening in the first
place by a corresponding safety card.
The target distance is reached by
playing distance cards. You can play
the game on a VIC-20 with a 8kbyte RAM
expansion:

http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/
  bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2880

The game is based on the C64 version
published in the August issue of
Compute!'s Gazette in 1993.


SOAMC
-----
The Stone Oakvalley's Amiga Music
Collection is almost complete. After
the amazing project of recording all
HVSC music from a real C64, the next
step was taken. Take an Amiga and
record all available music to MP3.
There are now more than 30,000 tracks
available for download. It took over
200 days 24/7 to make this possible.

http://www.paula8364.com/


FunkPaint 0.39
--------------
Soci from the group Singular released
a grafix program for the Commodore 64
called FunkPaint. It can be used to
edit Hires, Multicolor and DTV
pictures. The program supports a REU
for undo and has mouse support.
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/getinternalf
ile.php/63922/FunkPaint_0.39d.zip


Cannon Fodder New Campaign (Amiga
News)
---------------------------------------

Cannon Fodder New Campaign consists of
72 completely new maps grouped in 24
missions. Phase's system is the same
as the original Cannon Fodder. CNFC
has new mission titles and soldiers,
there are also modified graphics and
games sprites. The original game
engine is unchanged though, and every
map can be completed. Maps were tested
by a group of testers and author.
Additional information can be found in
Amiga guide file inside CFNC archive.

Requirements:
AmigaOS 2.0 up to 3.9
Cannon Fodder (english, disk version)
WHDLoad package
Installer, XFDMaster, gpatch
In addition we recommend:
Some Fast RAM (required by PRELOAD
option)
Colour monitor
Audio amplifier
Good mouse (important!)

http://www.ppa.pl/cannonfodder/
 about.html


FastATA 4000 MK-V controller
----------------------------
http://www.elbox.com/products/
 fast_ata_4000.html

With the FastATA 4000 MK-V controller
you can take advantage of the latest
low-cost, high-capacity ATA/EIDE
devices like hard drives, CD-ROM
drives, CD-RW drives, ZIP drives,
LS-120 drives, etc.

The minimum hardware configuration is:
Amiga 3000 or Amiga 4000.
The recommended configuration is:
Amiga 3/4000 with 68060 (or PPC with
68060) processor card with 64MB RAM.

The FastATA 4000 controller features
represent the ultimate technology in
its category:

- Fast transfer rate of up to 16.6MB/s

The FastATA controller with its
maximum transfer rate of 16.6MB/s in
the PIO 4 mode offers a huge capacity
reserve for fast mass storage devices,
especially for fast hard drives.
Therefore, applications may run much
faster if they can count on fast
access to large data files.

-Support for ATAPI standard devices
The FastATA 4000 controller implements
the ATAPI standard as well, for use
with devices like CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW,
ZIP, LS-120, DVD drives. This enables
connection of ATAPI-standard devices
to the Amiga with no need to install
any additional software.

- 2 buffered & terminated EIDE ports
The controller operates with two EIDE
ports, which enable installation of up
to 4 IDE/EIDE/ATAPI devices. Both
controller ports are fully buffered
and terminated in accordance with the
recommendations set forth in the ATA-3
specification. Compatible with PIO-0,
PIO-3, PIO-4, ATA/33, ATA/66, ATA/100
ATA/133 devices.

- Fully compatible with HDDs > 128GB
Limitations on support for > 128GB
HDDs have been eliminated in the
FastATA 4000 controller. The LBA 48
addressing support is included in the
onboard BootROM.

- Automatically configured devices
The controller automatically
recognises any device attached to it,
negotiates the highest possible data
transfer rate, switches the device
into its appropriate mode & transfers
data at the maximum transfer rate.

- Automatic processor type recognition

The FastATA 4000 controller
automatically detects the type of
processor, optimising and modifying
software routines in order to achieve
the highest possible data transfer
rate between the controller and the
computer memory.

- 32-bit access
The computer recognises the controller
as a 32-bit device configured in the
Zorro III address space. Full 32-bit
operation of the controller combined
with very efficient software guarantee
significant increase in the speed of
your computer.

The FastATA 4000 controller is
compatible with all A3/4000 processor
card models.
The FastATA 4000 controller fits any
selected Zorro III slot.
The FastATA 4000 controller is
available with a standard software
pack including FastATA4000 software.

FastATA4000 software bundled with
FastATA 4000 controllers provides
support for:
- HDD drives,
- CD-ROM drives,
- CD-R drives,
- CD-RW drives,
- ZIP drives,
- LS-120 drives.

The FastATA 4000 is also available
with an extended software pack with
Allegro CDFS included.


Although this isn't really Commodore
related I thought it was amusing


PC gamers Demand Gamers bill of rights
--------------------------------------
- Gamers shall have the right to
return games that don't work with
their computers for a full refund.
- Gamers shall have the right to
demand that games be released in a
finished state.
- Gamers shall have the right to
expect meaningful updates after a
game's release.
- Gamers shall have the right to
demand that download managers and
updaters not force themselves to run
or be forced to load in order to play
a game.
- Gamers shall have the right to
expect that the minimum requirements
for a game will mean that the game
will adequately play on that computer.

- Gamers shall have the right to
expect that games won't install hidden
drivers or other potentially harmful
software without their express
consent.
- Gamers shall have the right to
re-download the latest versions of the
games they own at any time.
- Gamers shall have the right to not
be treated as potential criminals by
developers or publishers.
- Gamers shall have the right to
demand that a single-player game not
force them to be connected to the
internet every time they wish to play.

- Gamers shall have the right that
games which are installed to the hard
drive shall not require a CD/DVD to
remain in the drive to play.

Read more here
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/
 2008/09/01/gamers_bill_of_rights/


SUBHUNTER Released
-------------------
Richard Bayliss and Frank Gasking have
released the long awaited Psytronik
game, Sub Hunter C64. From their
description -- "Sub Hunter features 25
levels of sub-aquatic action, amazing
multi-layered parallax scrolling,
fantastic intro sequence, superb
detailed graphics, varied missions
including shoot 'em up levels, rescue
missions and terrifying boss
encounters." Go to:

http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/
 index.php?main_page=product_
 info&products_id=430>

in order to purchase the game. Note:
Frank writes, "The game will only be
available from Psytronik for the first
month, but afterwards the full game
will be put up for free download & will
include a bonus disk of used/unused
materials from the game."


English SCACOM issue 4
  and German issue 8
----------------------

You can download the new English
edition of SCACOM (issue 4) with 34
jam packed Commodore related articles.
There are also background pictures and
two exclusive SCACOM disks with the
Gold Quest 4 C64 Game as bonus.
Download the magazine now at
www.scacom.de.vu or
www.english-scacom.de.vu

Have fun reading it. Unfortunately this
will be the last regular English SCACOM
release. Thanks to all fans and people
who supported the project.


Commodor NEWS
-------------
COMMODORE FREE Readers note the
spelling of Commodor is correct in
this context this is thought to be an
historic thing when the list was
hosted on a server that conformed to
the 8 character filenames more about
this later

Sent: 08 September 2008 07:00
To: COMMODOR@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU
Subject: Commodor list to be moved to
vcsweb.com

Hello, Commodor mail list members,

Since the 1990's the Commodor mail
list has been hosted by the University
of Buffalo in New York State. The
administrator of all UB mail lists has
sent this message:

"The list hosting policies at the
University at Buffalo have changed and
we will no longer host lists that are
not affiliated with UB. This includes
the COMMODOR list."

[snip]

"...the list will be deleted on 15 SEP"

However, there is no cause for worry.
Gaelyne and Rod Gasson of Vcsweb.com
will now host the list. All current
Commodor members will be automatically
subscribed to the newly-moved list.
Postings will be made at:
COMMODOR@vcsweb.com

Here is Gaelyne's description of the
new Commodor list:

"This list is the OLDEST Commodore
8-bit computer mailing list on the
Internet. It was started in 1990's and
was intended for the discussion and
dissemination of information related
to the use of Commodore 8-bit
computers."

"The old COMMODOR list will be closed
down in SEP 2008, and so this 'new'
list is a continuation of the
original, with the exception that it
will now be used specifically to send
Commodore NEWS about events and new
products, websites, etc."

"Please note that the older archives
aren't yet available but will be in
the future."

If you were an original Commodor list
member and don't want to be a member
of the new Commodor list, please let
me know, and your name will be
unsubscribed before the host transfer
on Sept. 15. If you wish to subscribe
to a more general list which discusses
all aspects of Commodore 8-bit
computers, you are encouraged to
subscribe to the Homestead mail list,
also hosted by Gaelyne and Rod Gasson.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
owner, Commodor mail list

Subject: Re: [Homestead] Commodor list
to be moved to vcsweb.com
From: Gaelyne Gasson
Reply-To: Homestead Organization:
VCSWEBTo: Homestead
G'day Andrew,

I can only respond to the Homestead
list as I'm not on the soon to be
closed COMMODOR list. Hopefully,
someone will forward this to the
COMMODOR list for me. Yes, I think the
missing 'E' on the end of the name is
due to old DOS limitations.

The COMMODOR list is the oldest
Commodore 8-bit mailing list, but it
has been waning in recent times and is
down to about only a quarter of the
number of members of the Homestead
list -- less when names and Email
addresses of deceased members are
removed (sadly, there are several of
these). The list was a general
discussion list, with (in years past)
more technical information than the
Homestead list has.

The COMMODOR list was hosted at
Buffalo.edu as the founding person
(C.S. Bruce, if I'm not mistaken) was
a student there at the time. This
would have been in the early 1990's.
Recently Buffalo.edu has changed their
policies and will no longer host
mailing lists that aren't directly
involved with the university itself.
As the most frequent recent poster,
Robert Bernardo was asked to become
the list's moderator (the list had
been running on auto-pilot for several
years) and decide whether to continue
it or not, and find a new host for the
list.After discussions about what to do
with the list and how to go about
things, (one of the main things we
didn't want to do was duplicate what
was already available through VCSWEB,
which is the Homestead list). Also as
the membership for COMMODOR is pretty
light compared to the Homestead list,
we also didn't want to just end the
oldest Commodore mailing list in
existence. It seemed important to keep
the continuity, but perhaps rather
than have the list be for general
discussion it could possibly serve a
different purpose.

One of the things that's been
mentioned a few times over the last
few years is the possibility of having
a mailing list specifically for
Announcements and News. So this is what
the new focus of the COMMODOR list will
be. Discussions about Commodore News &
any announcements on the COMMODOR list
is encouraged so it won't be just a
'one way' News only type list.

The Homestead list will remain as
always, a general Commodore topics
list where as long as it's about our
favourite computers, it's on topic. I
have no plans to rename the Homestead
list. The name means a great deal to
me, and as the two lists serve
different purposes, there's no reason
to merge the two lists together.

Hopefully this brings everyone up to
date on the situation. Buffalo.edu
will be pulling the plug on Sept 15th,
and the migration to
COMMODOR@vcsweb.com will take place on
the 14th. The folks at Buffalo.edu
have been extremely helpful in
providing Robert with lists of members
- one for digest Emails and the other
for regular delivery. I'll be able to
re-subscribe members with their same
preference in this regard, and also
set any members 'no mail' that have
this setting.

The university has also supplied the
archives for the Commodor list, and
I'll be trying to make this available
as soon as I figure out the best way
to go about it. The archives start in
1996, but I'm fairly certain the
actual list started around 1994.

Hopefully this helps let everyone know
what's up, and gives a bit of a
history to the list and explains the
plans for the list. I also feel it's
vital to understand that the two lists
won't have the same content, so
there's no reason to merge them. Many
people have asked for a News type
list, and this seemed the appropriate
thing to do.

We do our best to support Commodore
computing, so I really hope there's
not a lot of angst about this change.
That certainly isn't the intention.

Cheers,
Gaelyne

-----Original Message-----
From: COMMODORE COMPUTERS DISCUSSION
[mailto:COMMODOR@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU]
On Behalf Of Robert Bernardo
Sent: 15 September 2008 05:55
To: COMMODOR
Subject: A final message at Commodor
at Buffalo.edu

Hello, all Commodor members, Today,
Sunday, is the last time to post final
messages here on the Commodor mailing
list at Buffalo.edu As mentioned
before, post any new messages to

commodor@vcsweb.com

I am hoping the transition will be
smooth and that the new Commodor list
will meet your needs.If you have any
news, events, and discussion of those
items, feel free to post to our new
home. Long live the Commodor mailing
list!

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
owner, Commodor mailing list


Commodore 1520 plotter printer Gears
------------------------------------
Jon "Acadiel" from the Commodore 128
Alive! forums is getting together a
pre-buy for a production of stainless
steel gears for the venerable
Commodore 1520 plotter printer. Other
than the ink pens which dry out in the
printer, the next most common cause of
printer failure is when the original
plastic drive gears break. This is
part of what he had to say:

I'm willing to coordinate a group buy,
if we get enough interest. You might
also want to advertise to the other
folks (the Atari folks and the TRS-80
folks) to drum up interest (I'm going
to advertise to the TI-99/4A folks,
because the HX1010 uses the same
gear.) Here's the cost for just the
gears (not including shipping),
rounded up to the nearest dollar,
based upon quantities:

Qty Cost
1 $335 (eek!)
5 $74 ($370 total for group buy)
25 $23 ($575 total for group buy)
50 $16 ($800 total for group buy)
100 $13 ($1300 total for group buy)

Now, I'm thinking that enough people
probably read this board and the TI
online user group to order 25 units
($23/ea). However, I want to get
pre-orders from everyone (no payments
yet!) to see if we have enough
interest. Example: If we get people to
order two (one for each side) and get
25 people, we can then get into the
$16/ea bracket.

Once we have enough interest, I can
initiate a group buy and get these
gears and ship them out (probably
small packages with delivery
confirmation), so there will be a S/H
cost (envelope, postage, and handling
to make up for any PayPal fees). If
anyone needs confirmation that I'm a
good guy, here's my e-bay feedback
(the picture is probably 10 years
old...):

http://members.ebay.com/ws/
 eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=
  jdguidry

So.....If you want to express interest
in pre-ordering gear(s), send an
e-mail to acadiel(at)guidry.org with
the Subject "Gears". I'll collect
these, and by October 15th I will see
how many people want gears.


1541 Ultimate V1.2 beta Firmware
Download
-------------
Beta versions
The following beta releases are
available for download. These are
versions that have not been fully
tested, and might need some polishing.

1541 Ultimate V1.2 beta Firmware
Download (PAL & NTSC in one package)
What has been done?

- Logic changes:
- B flag in the processor corrected, &
the V flag for ADC in decimal mode.
- Split cart base & mode, so more ROM
locations are possible for NTSC.
- Slot server corrected: disable serve
while in menu
- Memory controller corrected: removed
default flash chip enable. This solved
flashing from menu!
- Added logic to map Ethernet chip in
memory space
- Slightly modified timing to allow
Ethernet chip to meet timing
 requirements.
- Software changes:
- Added PAL/NTSC switch in menu
- Made scroller optional
- Made 1541 rom selectable
- Boot in menu option (which gave me a
headache in combination with Super
 Snapshot V5)
- Increased write protect sensor times
for better disk switch
- Improved SD-card change mechanism
- Added feature to exit menu upon pull
of SD-card, while booted in menu (just
 in case it locks up)
- Stand alone mode: mounting a disk
through IEC sets button navigation to
 that entry.
- Updated the updater! ;-)

1541 Ultimate V1.3 beta Firmware
Download (PAL/NTSC)
What has been done?

- Logic changes:
- IEC controller improved so that
address handling is now done in
 hardware
- This should fix the false reporting
of the non-existent drives
- RAMBoard support added.
- Software changes:
- Corrected the SS5 boot problem
- Configuration screen updated
- Various hardware types defined
- RAMBoard support added
- TAsm / Codenet cartrom added
- Updated the updater! ;-)

1541 Ultimate V1.5 beta Firmware
Download
What has been done?

- Logic changes:
- Floppy emulation revised, can now
support variable track lengths
- IEC controller improved to make it
more robust
- Some changes in AR/RR emulation
- Software changes:
- Added SDHC support
- Added GCR support (read only)
- Added auto disk-remount on power-up
- Partly rewritten the software IEC
controller to support
- multiple open files/channels
- SEQ, USR and REL files
- Updated the bootloader to support
SDHC as well
- Updated the updater to flash the
bootloader
- Some minor fixes

The updater will now wait about 4
seconds before it starts.

Please, do NOT turn of the power when
flashing. However, if the updater
hangs on flashing the bootloader, for
more than let's say 2 minutes, just
turn off the C64 and please contact
me. (The bootloader should only be
updated once, even if you run the
updater multiple times. The software
should automatically enforce this, but
if it goes wrong, contact me.)
Updating the bootloader is risky and
might brick your 1541U. Unfortunately
it is necessary for the SDHC support.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 20 September
2008 13:04 )


8-Bit designs
-------------
Charles has updated his website & the
address is now:
http://www.8bitdesigns.ath.cx/

Charles asked me to reprint some
details to remind people of his
services

Welcome to 8 Bit Designs! Thank you
for stopping by; I'm eager to serve
your Commodore-related needs. I'm
Charles Gutman, and I can provide a
number of products and services to
users of C64/128 computers. If you're
looking for cables, adapters, parts,
service, or upgrades for your CBM
equipment, I can provide what you need.

This site is my new home on the Web;
it supersedes the previous 8 Bit
Designs page on Windows Live Spaces.
Here, you'll find the complete 8 Bit
Designs catalogue of products and
services, all of which are available
to the worldwide Commodore user
community.

If you have any suggestions for
products or services that are not
currently listed here, please feel
free to inform me and I'll consider
each and every suggestion; and if
feasible, I'll post them here on the
site. Also, if you have any unwanted
Commodore hardware that you would like
to trash or donate, please consider
us; we would like to pass them along
to others in the community that desire
to have them.

Please feel free to contact me with
any questions, problems, concerns, or
feedback that you may have about
anything that you see here, be it
about the site itself, or one or more
of my products. Once again, thank you
for stopping by!

PRODUCTS available

1541-II/1581 Power Supply
Power supply for 1581 and 1541-II
floppy drives. $12

BNC Splitter Cables
BNC splitter cables for those running
BNC hardware. $20

C2N16 Cassette Adapter
This allows owners of the +4/Commodore
16 tape drive to use it on VIC-20 and
C64/128 systems. $8

Commodore 64/VIC-20 Power Supplies
Power supplies for C64 and VIC-20
computers. $10

Commodore 64C
Tested, working Commodore 64C. $18

Commodore 128 Computers
Stock and upgraded C128 systems. See
the product page for details. $25/$50

Commodore 128 RGB Cables
C128 RGB cables that have become hard
to find in recent years. They give the
128 user full 80 column display on a
compatible monitor. $20

Floppy Disks (Boxed, 5 inch, 10-pack)
Unused boxed floppy disks. $4

Floppy Disks (Boxed, 3 inch, 10-pack)
Unused boxed floppy disks. $7.50

HD81 Extension Cable
The HD81 extension cable is useful
when you need an extension to the
power supply for the CMD hard drive,
or the Commodore 1581 floppy drive. $20

Joysticks
Assorted joysticks that are all tested
and guaranteed functional. $5 and up
(contact)

Koala Pad
Touch-pad/drawing tablet for
Commodores. $20

Memory Chips
Set of 8 memory chips for Commodore 64
and 128 computers. $5

Plus/4 Edge Connector
The Plus/4 edge connector is used to
connect either a VIC-20 or C64
datasette to a Plus/4 (the Plus/4
datasettes are rare!). $20

Plus/4 Joystick Adapter
The Plus/4 joystick adapter allows an
Atari or C64 joystick to be connected
to a Plus/4. $20

Quad Port Plus
The Quad Port Plus is a new product in
the 8-Bit Designs line. It is a box
that plugs into the serial port on the
computer and gives out 4 serial ports
sharing a single reset switch. $25

Serial Bus Reset Switch
The Serial Bus Reset Switch is a
simple but handy device that allows a
user to reset the I/O ports on the
computer whenever "lockup" occurs. $15


Serial Cables
Commodore serial drive/printer cables.
Custom lengths available upon request.
$10 (3 foot)
$15 (6 foot)
$20 (10 foot)

Serial Extension Cable
The serial extension cable is used to
extend the length of Commodore serial
cables. Custom lengths available upon
request.
$6 (3 foot)
$12 (6 foot)
$20 (10 foot)
$25 (15 foot)

Serial "Y" Adapter Cable
The serial "Y" adapter cable is useful
when a user uses up all the serial
ports and needs to connect a new
device. Just a splitter cable for the
serial port. $20

Star NX-10C Printer
Comes with manual and interface. $35

SuperCPU-compatible RAM
Sticks of RAM tested on a SuperCPU
with Wheels.
1MB: Free (One available)
2MB: $3.50
4MB: $5
8MB: $10
16MB: $20

S-Video Cable
S-Video cable for use on devices that
support or reqire S-Video. $5

Tandy Communicator Plus Cable
Cable for connecting your Tandy's
internal modem directly to the wall
jack for internet access. $10

Tandy Printer Cable
Ribbon cable for the Tandy brand of
printers. $10

Universal Video Module
The Universal Video Module allows the
Commodore user to make use of the
stock A/V cables that are flooding the
market these days. It also has S-Video
capabilities and an audio input for
use by someone with the software
know-how. $30

User Port Commander
The User Port Commander is a user port
interface that is backward-compatible
with the GeoCable. It has many extra
features that make it a one of a kind
device! $40

Various Commodore Chips
I have a number of CBM chips
available, for sale or trade. See the
product page for details.
See product page

WICO Joysticks
A pair of WICO Joysticks. Both are in
great working order with a fair amount
of use. $15/pair

SERVICES
1541 Device Switch Installation
Have a set of device number switches
installed in your 1541 floppy drive.
$20 plus S&H

1541/1571/C64/C128 Diagnostics
Have any problems with your Commodore
drives and/or systems diagnosed. $0
plus S&H

1541/1571/C64/C128 Repairs
Have your Commodore drives/systems
repaired.
$20 plus cost of parts and S&H

Commodore 128 Video RAM Upgrade
Have your C128 upgraded with 64KB of
video RAM usable with utilities such
as Maverick. $30 plus S&H

Commodore REU Upgrade
Have your 1700/1764 RAM Expansion Unit
upgraded to a full 512K of RAM, as in
the 1750. $25 plus S&H

ROM Chip Installation
Have any compatible ROM chip you
supply installed in the device of your
choice. $20 plus S&H

Orders are accepted via telephone,
postal mail, and email. I accept US &
international postal money orders as
payment. Send all postal
correspondence to:

8 Bit Designs
Attn: Charles Gutman
9590 Acacia Ave. #3
Fontana, CA. 92335
United States of America
I can be reached by telephone at (909)
350-9987, and by email at shifty_butch
at hotmail dot com.


HyperSID V1.1 is released:
---------------------------
http://www.hypersynth.com/hypersid.html

http://www.hypersynth.com/gallery/
 Hi/HyperSIDv1.1.png

HyperSID is a subtractive synthesizer
with all the C64 SID chip hardware
capabilities besides many new software
based features, so you can take
advantage of various controlling
features of a VSTi and also real
analogue sound with SID character.
Real time integration between software
and hardware makes HyperSID act like
the other VST instruments in your host
application.

Note:
HyperSID VSTi does not generate any
sound itself without the HW Unit.

v1.1 Additions & Fixes:
- Added Pitch-bend wheel with
adjustable range
- New Oscillator Sync option
- New Oscillator Phase Sync
- Added logarithmic and linear curve
mode for filter Cut off
- Added Key and velocity tracking for
Cut off
- Added FPB control module
- Added HW unit reset option
- Fixed transpose and cent issue when
resetting to default
- Little GUI redesign
- HyperSID now sends more descriptive
messages to host when tweaking
 parameters

Main Features:
- 3 OSC per key (Monophonic)
- 1 OSC per key (3 Voice polyphonic)
- 4 Waveforms per OSC Tri , Saw
,Noise, Pulse (combinatorial)
- OSC transpose range +36 to -36
Semitone
- OSC cent range -50 to +50 Cent
- OSC ring modulation
- 3 Amp Envelope ADSR
- Multimode analog filter 12dB/Octave
HP, LP, BP and (combinatorial)
- 1 LFO Part with sync, retrig and
invert capability
- 1 Step LFO Part with sync, retrig
and invert capability
- 2 General purpose envelope generator
with invert capability
- Individual routing for each
modulation source
- 88 Parameter for controlling overall
synthesizer (automation recordable)
- Flexible preset manager with save
and load function
- Built in 64 categorized Factory
preset.
- Clean sound without any Self
oscillating in most of the Presets
- Automatic real time synchronization
between software and hardware
- Independent MIDI out path from host
- Very low CPU usage

HW Unit (Enhanced Series):

HyperSID HW unit is a custom build
synthesizer with internal processor
and a real SID Chip! There is no
emulation here, All the sounds are
generated with a real SID chip.
HyperSID VSTi functions as a software
MIDI controller for this hardware
sound engine.

New features:

-Support for all SID chip revisions
(8580-6582-6581).
-Balanced audio output.
-Front panel backlight brightness can
be controlled by user-assignable MIDI
 events (MIDI-driven Visualization)
-Half-rack-space form factor fits in
Universal Rack Tray.
-Compatible with discontinued series
of HW unit.

HW unit is also available in standard
19" rack mount version.


Gideon announces Ultimate SuperCPU
----------------------------------
As club members will already know,
Gideon, creator of the 1541 Ultimate +
(http://www.1541ultimate.net/content/
 index.php)

has announced: "There are indeed plans
to create a SCPU image for the 1541U
Hardware. That means: no hardware
change, but a completely different
behaviour of the cartridge.

The FPGA content would be different of
course, offering you SCPU
functionality. So *NO* built-in 1541,
but just SCPU. [Of course the idea is
that two 1541U's should work in a
cart-expander, one as SCPU, one as
1541U.]"

I'm not sure how a cartridge extender
board would work, but then at least
he's giving it a go, and it means that
we don't need to hope for a SCPU to
come along at less than $1000USD!!!

Also, from the club's point of view,
as follows:

"I've been speaking to Gideon about
implementing a SuperCPU-compatible
device; how he does this is up to him,
and he is choosing to implement in
within the U1541+, which is fairly
sensible from his point of view. The
suggestion was made back in the
summer, and Gideon said that he wanted
to wait until the Autumn, but would
like to work with us as we had
experienced SCPU users in our ranks.

Anyway, the Commodore Computer Club
(UK) is working with Gideon and
providing him with a SuperCPU
initially, and will further provide
him with a C128 + MMU so that he may
observe how the MMU works, and how it
allows the SCPU 128 to access the
128's modes. The first thing though is
to get his implementation working in
64 mode. After he is satisfied, and we
have something that basically does the
same job, he can then look at further
improvements to the hardware.

He seemed reluctant at the idea of our
offer of funding, as our club is not
for profit. So, on that basis, we will
simply pre-order these devices for our
club shop. Some of these will be
offered to programmers on the
agreement that they actually create
something useful, be it a game or
application.

Furthermore, we will be seeking
agreement with the Ultimate New Comer
team and Protovision to bundle
authorised copies of UNC, Metal Dust
and Virtual Assembler 16 with this
device, which will make a nice bundle.
UNC is being developed to take
advantage of the SuperCPU by putting
all of the game data into RAM, meaning
no more disk swapping - It should also
be just a little bit faster.

As this device will be available
through our shop, member prices will
be 10% less than non-member prices, in
accordance with our club rules.

Yes, we are aware that a SCPU
implementation will not suit everyone
out there.

Yes, we are aware that many people are
happy with the 1541U+ in its current
state, and will not want to upgrade
that.

Yes, we know that many programmers
prefer 6502 over 65816.

And finally, we know that most C64
fans/users don't want a SuperCPU.

But we are still backing this device
because we know that many people would
like to get hold of a SuperCPU without
taking a chance on an auction.

More details will soon be available at
www.superCPU.co.uk. For now, that
domain points to the CCC (UK)
homepage."

A few updates to add: I have agreed in
principle that if this device is sold
through the club shop, we can bundle
UNC, Metal Dust and Virtual Ass 16
with the device. I hope also to speak
to Stephen Judd to include his apps in
any such bundle. Indeed, it might be
handy to have Jammon built into the
USCPU+ firmware especially if Gideon
finds a way of implementing an Action
Replay style 'freeze' function which
would allow access to the ML Monitor
for debugging purposes. Let's not get
ahead of ourselves though - first
thing is to get it working & compatible

Regards,
Shaun.
www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk


Mark Fellows takes back CMD?
----------------------------
I found this over at the excellent 128
alive forum
http://landover.no-ip.com/forums/
 index.php?topic=2358.0

From: Terry Raymond
Date: Sun, August 24, 2008 8:07 pm

[snip]

Hey good news on the home front, I
can't say too much but I have been in
contact with Mark Fellows and there is
a person that is interested in taking
over the CMD C= distribution, Mark is
aware of Maurice's bad Behaviour and
is doing something about this.

COMMODORE FREE: Well its all fingers
crossed at the moment, I may receive
my SCPU or a refund but I don't want
to hold by breath because I will quite
probably die from lack of oxygen.


Commodore LCD prototype Firmware
update
------

Date: Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:44:37 -0700
From: Mike Naberezny
Hi All,
I don't think the list allows
attachments so I've posted the
firmware from Bil Herd's Commodore LCD
prototype here for you to download:
http://mikenaberezny.com/2008/10/04/
 commodore-lcd-firmware/

I just received these images and wanted
to share them with you. Even without
disassembling, the contents are very
interesting. You can see the built-in
applications and BASIC 3.6 (U103).
BASIC 3.6 looks like it has the same
Easter egg text as 3.5. Many thanks to
Bil Herd for making these available!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


SCPU Information
----------------
The following Information has been
taken from one of the Commodore
Computer club U.K. many Forum topics
http://www.CommodoreComputerClub.co.uk

Here is some information about the
SuperCPU. I wrote this to give an idea
of the hurdles that one might come
across for those who were considering
spending half of their life savings on
one, as follows:

*You will need a heavy-duty power
supply unit. The standard C64 PSU
generally doesn't provide enough juice
to keep things stable, and tends to
burn out especially if you have a
SuperRAM card + RAM. The PSUs for the
flat C128 is okay for your 128, and
can be converted to the C64 - this
will provide ample power for your
computer + any other devices that you
are using. For C128D (Plastic casing)
users, the raised cartridge port will
cause problems, so you'll have to make
yourself some sort of support for the
cartridge, which might mean cutting
off the "wing" on the back of the case
that is below the cart port. C128D-Cr
(metal casing) users won't need to
worry about this, however, make sure
that everything is level (as in, make
sure that the computer has it's rubber
feet still, and your computer is on a
nice, flat and stable surface).

*Look for a SuperCPU 128 even if you
own a Commodore 64. These units are
better able to cope with the
differences between the UK made PAL
C64s, and German made machines and the
NTSC computers. And, if you do upgrade
to a 128 at some point in the future,
you already have a 128 SCPU to use on
it, should you want to. Though the MMU
adapter needs to be installed to use
the 128's native modes @ 20Mhz.

*You will need at least one disk drive
on your system.

*The unit runs hot especially if you
have a SuperRAM card + RAM on your
system. Take the top off it to keep
things cool and everything running
stable. Some people have added air
vents and such like to the casing.
There are also heat sinks available,
and recommended.

*If the red LED on the top of the unit
is in any way 'dull', or not shining
as brightly when in 20Mhz mode as
usual, there is probably a power
problem on your system.

*Every so often, open up the unit and
push down all of the socketed chips.
You can clean the contacts with pure
alcohol and a cotton bud.

*Commodore 128D (plastic casing
especially) users might have problems
with the internal 1571 disk drive.
This is probably due to the internal
PSU not providing enough current to
power everything. Unless you
specifically need a 1571, unhook the
power to the drive, or even remove the
drive completely. Normal, stable
operations should resume. I removed
the internal drive from my 128DCR and
cut the ATTN line as I figured that I
don't really use 5.25" disks anyway.
Cutting the ATTN line on the CR will
make the internal drive invisible -
not entirely sure how it works inside
a 128D.

*I have found the best way to switch
on my computer (my set-up consists of
C128DCR, 1581 Drive 8, RAMLink Drive
9, FD2000 Drive 10 and CMD-HD Drive 11
hooked up to the RL Parallel port) is
to switch the drives on after things
have fired up, in order from Drive 8
through to 11, the RAMLink is on
anyway, unless I've deliberately
disabled it. Doing this seems to cause
the fewest amount of problems.

*Metal Dust is a very good
shoot-em-up... in my opinion.

*Not all games benefit from running in
20Mhz mode - and some games will
either crash or not work at all.
However, you can switch the SuperCPU
out of your system by holding down the
reset lightly for a couple of seconds
whilst switching the unit off - once
the first switch on the left is set to
off, let go of the reset button. If
you can, hold down the CTRL key on
your Commodore whilst doing this.

*I've found that it's often best
setting the SuperCPUs optimisation
mode to "NONE" for most games that
benefit from the extra processing
speed, such as the Freescape games,
for instance.

*If the SuperCPU is not reading the
RAM from your SuperRAM card, try
removing the SIMM and SuperRAM card
and testing the SuperCPU by itself.
Reseat everything firmly. If there are
still problems, the best solution is
to find someone who owns a SuperCPU
and try a chip-for-chip replacement
with their units (providing that they
agree to it, of course), from each
removable chip.

*German made PAL machines tend to run
less erratically with a SuperCPU
attached than their UK-made cousins.
Not that UK-made C64/128 machines
don't work, of course, it's just that
German-made computers seem better -
with the exception to the "Aldi-64",
apparently.

*The performance of GEOS is greatly
improved - which can now be downloaded
for free (www.cmdrkey.com).

*Jos/WiNGS demonstrate the potential
of a Commodore + SuperCPU and a bit of
extra RAM. As reported in Commodore
Free previously, the source code has
been released for people to play with.

*The Retro Replay/RR-Net adapter works
(or, at least the revision of the cart
that I have does), but you must switch
the computer on in 1Mhz mode (or reset
it in 1Mhz mode), load the software
that uses the RR-Net and then switch
to 20Mhz mode. The difference is quite
noticeable.

*New SuperCPU-specific software is
very unlikely to be developed - though
power in numbers. If you want new
SuperCPU software, vote at
www.xeo3.com.

*The world needs a cheap replacement
for the SuperCPU. The CPU64 project by
those IDE-64 people looked very
interesting, but alas nothing has been
heard for ages... hmm, maybe some news
on this soon!

*It's probably not worth buying a SCPU
just to play Metal Dust, though it is
a very good game. GEOS gets the most
out of the device.

*Even the best behaved units can
occasionally freeze and crash. Might
be something to do with the fact that
no one ever intended the Commodore 64
to run at 20Mhz, who knows? Things can
usually be reset, but otherwise,
switch off your system, reseat the
unit in the cartridge port, wait a
minute or so and then turn the
computer back on.

*If you own a RAMLink, keep the timer
jump clip installed and connected to
your RL (The SuperCPU users guide says
that you can remove it). This should
help to keep strange behaviour to a
minimum.

If anyone else has noticed anything
more, no matter how small or
insignificant, please report it on the
Commodore Computer Club (UK) forums - 
http://www.CommodoreComputerClub.co.uk

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


Interview with Jeff Daniels VIC 20
----------------------------------

COMMODORE FREE
Please introduce yourself to our
readers.

JEFF DANIELS
Hello I'm Jeff Daniels. I started
Denial, a VIC 20 enthusiast community.
The Denial newsletter began in the mid
90s and evolved into the current
Denial website.

CF. Can you tell our readers about
your website and give it a plug.

JD. Denial is arguably the best place
for any information on the Commodore
VIC 20. We have members world-wide
creating new hardware and software for
the platform. The website is a
friendly and lively community. The URL
is
http://www.sleepingelephant.com/denial/


CF. Can you tell our readers what you
consider to be unique about the VIC

JD. The Commodore VIC 20 is truly a
unique and marvellous machine. Not
only does it represent many firsts in
the computing world, it also manages
to make a great impact on the world of
gaming consoles. I think it is one of
the few machines to bridge the gap
between gaming enthusiast and computer
collectors. The history of the machine
is long and compelling, one of the
greatest background stories of the
classic console era. I won't get into
it here.

CF. Do you think that Commodore
"killed off" the VIC-20 too soon?

JD. It is difficult to answer this
question honestly. As a kid, I felt it
died much too soon, I will always
wonder what game programmers would
have achieved if the platform
continued for one or two more years.
As the gaming market crashed, the
newer generation Commodore computers
went for a different market. We all
know how well the 64 did. That doesn't
make it a better machine, but it was
obviously the right machine for the
time.

CF. What would you like to add to the
VIC to improve it further?

JD. Personally, I am very happy with
the unexpanded machine. The VIC is
very flexible as it is. Users can
easily expand to 32k memory or 80
columns. There's even a rare VIC with
a built-in screen. I'm ok with the
system as it came out of the box. If I
have to say something, I guess a
second joystick port would open up new
possibilities (please note, the VIC
can use two joysticks with the help of
additional hardware). The VIC is also
missing the colour gray. I recall
wanting to use gray in a recent
program. Not a big deal.

CF. Can you explain to our readers how
Denial started?

JD. Magazines or Zines were the rage
in the early 90s. I started Denial as
a fun project in self-publishing. The
name Denial is just the letters of my
name rearranged. I thought it was a
funny name for a newsletter dedicated
to the VIC 20.

CF. Is there still a large VIC user
base, also why in your opinion do
people still use the machine?

JD. We have just over 1000 members,
but this is only VIC users who are
comfortable communicating in English.
The VIC 20 community itself may be
much larger. The popularity of the VIC
on auction sites suggests many
collectors have yet to discover
Denial. Members of our forum are very
passionate about the machine.

CF. Do you prefer to use a real
machine or to emulate?

JD. Of course, the real machine.
Emulators have come a long way. They
are quite good now, but still not
entirely accurate. The screen ratio is
still way off. I would hate for
someone to get an impression of the
machine through emulators. The real
machine is much more charming.

CF. Can you update our readers with
what you consider the best recent
software and hardware developments for
the VIC?

JD. This has been a great year for VIC
development. In software, we have had
over seven new game releases. The
hardware side is equally impressive.
We had a impressive multicart release
in both PAL and NTSC models, and
another all-in-one mega cart coming
soon. There's plenty of information on
both in our forums.

CF. What are your thoughts on the
amazing demos that stretch the VIC
hardware so much, giving us sampled
speech and full screen graphic
effects?

JD. The European scene has really
produced some amazing demos! The
sampled speech and memory tricks are
really inspiring. I hope many of these
programmers become more active in our
community.

CF. From the main website is a link to
a Wiki. What is a wiki, and what would
our readers find there?

JD. The Wiki is still in its infancy.
It's an open information base with
many important technical & historical
details. There's so much more to be
added, but for now it is a very good
start for info.

CF. Are there any plans to resurrect
the Denial news letter?

JD. Not yet. Last year, I produced a
disk collection of games. This is
something I wanted to do when the
newsletter was active. I mailed around
thirty disks to members around the
world. If I ever send something
through the mail again, it will likely
be software.

CF. Was the newsletter free, and is
there a fee to join denial?

JD. It was free. I put $1.50 price on
the cover of the first issue, and I
mailed them out for free. Later, I
accepted donations to cover the cost
of postage. As a website, Denial
continues to accept donations. Our
members are very generous! Denial
should be around for a long time. The
aforementioned disk collection was
also free.

CF. Do you think your members were
original VIC users or are some seeing
the VIC for the 1st time?

JD. Some of our members were born long
after the VIC was discontinued. Many
are first time users, but most are
original users. We also have a few
classic gamers just now discovering
the VIC. In the 80s, most of use were
aware of other consoles but couldn't
afford to have more than one or two.

CF. What is your personal favourite of
all the games you have created for the
VIC?

JD. I was really proud of Game Theory;
it was featured in a UK magazine. The
game also received a great deal of
attention at the last Commodore
convention I attended. That would
probably be the first game I would
show someone interested in my work.
Personally, I am very interested in
Ghost. The game started off with a
simple draft called Zombie Yard. I
think "Ghost" attempted to add arcade
elements and got away from the creepy
theme I wanted. I really want to
revisit this. I think the idea has
unrealised potential.

CF. What are your favourite games in
general for the VIC?

JD. Gridrunner was my first game, and
I probably played it the most. So
that's my favourite game. Most VIC
users would agree Omega Race is an
impressive cartridge game. New games
like Frogger 07 or Return to Fort Knox
are also quite enjoyable.

CF. How did the Denial Wiki come
about? Also have you found out
anything unusual or interesting
through it?

JD. We always wanted a wiki, and the
wiki came out of necessity. On
collaborative hardware projects we
needed a single place for information.
I've learned a lot about international
variations of the VIC. We also even
filled in some product number gaps.

CF. Have you ever had the chance to
meet any of the Commodore engineers
and designers who worked on the VIC?

JD. No, not yet. I would however love
to meet them!

CF. What do you see the VIC's future
being like? A small cult following or
disappearing entirely?

JD. I see a bright future for the VIC
community. It is an admittedly small,
tight group, but everyone is really
friendly and passionate about the
machine. The VIC computer has the feel
of a game console (something between
the Astrocade and the 2600); yet, it
invites gamers to develop their own
ideas. Some of our members have even
modified popular games to add more
levels or variation in game play. In
2008 alone, we have had a new original
game released every month! This is
even more than the previous year. The
forum and our members have received a
lot of attention in magazines and the
net. With the great members we have
now, I can only see Denial growing in
the future.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


In the Beginning Chapter 10, 
\Lord Ronin from Q-Link\
-------------------------
Already we have used the print
statement to make animated graphics.
We used the poke command in the last
instalment to make a more complicated
animation. Both of those were
technically animation, but nothing
like the games you have seen or I
talked about earlier, we used only one
little character from the 256 that
exist in the computer. OK clarify
that, from the stock ones that exist.
Remember that you can create your own
characters.

Well you saw that moving those little
graphics symbols around took some
typing work. Also it took a bit of
knowledge that at present we just
don't have in our memory. By that I
mean knowing things like the value to
variables and how to structure the
lines. OK a big action game would be
pretty much impossible to create in
the way we have done. Simply put, we
won't always be limited to just a
character from the character set. You
would like a larger thing on the
screen for the game right?

That is where the idea of a sprite
comes into play <sorry for that pun>.
What then is a sprite? A small
somewhat evil creature in an AD&D
game. No wait, sorry mind was in the
wrong place. <LOL>

"A Sprite is a high-resolution
programmable object that can be made
into just about any shape  through
BASIC commands. The object can be
easily moved around the screen by
simply telling the computer the
position the sprite should be moved
to. The computer takes care of the
rest." 4th paragraph page 68 in the
user's manual.

Strange words huh man? The book goes
on to say that the sprite has "more
power than just that". Colours can be
changed. Collision detection, move in
front or behind each other, change in
size and more.

Right that takes care of the two
paragraphs quoted and information and
you are more confused than I was the
first time I read the passages. Now
then before you need to take a nitro
tab, I'll try to explain all this
weird talk.

To the best of my knowledge all the 8
bit games played with sprites.
Asteroids, defender, pacman and the
like. OK maybe that isn't the correct
word to use. I'm a lamer as you
remember. Still the point is that
these games I mentioned above, at
least on the C= use sprites. That can
give you an idea of what a sprite can
become in your future work.

Yes you can change the colour of a
sprite, you can also change the size
of a sprite. Three things that I
quoted above come into my explanation
of a sprite. Moving in front or behind
and collisions. Sprite collisions are
a strange concept and term, the guy
that got me to understand it, to some
degree was watching me try to play a
flying game. Sorry don't really
remember the game, may have been
Zennon, anyway as I kept shooting the
other space ships. He would just
whisper out "Collision". When I
crashed the space ship, he would shout
out "Collision". Wanted to deck him at
times., but he did show me the
connection of what I was doing to the
sprite collision thing. I'll admit
that he also showed me a cartridge
that plugged into the C=64 and then
pointed out an option called something
like, collision killer. Yeah that is
what it did, I could smash up and not
be killed off in the game. I tell you
that I then bought that cart for my
collection.

Basically what I am saying is that you
can make a shoot 'em up game, blast at
the bad guy, your shot is a sprite,
the bad guy is a sprite and your shot
hits, and because it hits in the right
place, you make a collision with the
bad guy. Simple idea and it took me
months to understand what was being
said.

On screen it was easier to see the
idea of moving in front of something
or behind it. There is a book that I
want to get that has a demo disk of
the things that are covered in the
book. Sprites are one of them, I
remember that the book showed a car
that drove by a garage, the car came
back again and entered into the
garage. Now this garage had a simple
window in it, and you could see the
car, or part of it through the window.
That is what clicked in my mind for
putting a sprite in front of another
one, or even behind it, and making it
look good.

Some bad examples are some games that
I have played. One that comes to my
mind is an aeroplane game. Simple
sprites, with a couple of planes that
are controlled by the joystick, you
basically Blast unlimited bullets at
each other. Its a rather fun simple,
little thinking, game. Sprite
collisions here are the bullets
hitting the planes. Now it would have
been real nice if the clouds where
something you could go behind, but no
they are as hard as granite. Hit a
cloud and you don't go behind or in
front of it, you crash and burn.

Examples out of the way, here we are
only going to make some simple
sprites. There are books and programs
to create sprites. Some of the little
programs I have used make the process
simpler than what we will be doing
next. For those that have a 128. There
is a sprite maker in the 40c mode.

The book tells us that making a sprite
isn't as difficult as they or I make
it out to be. Well it is something
that you will need to do more than
once to get the full feel of making a
sprite by scratch.

We have a separate picture maker in
the C=64 for sprites. "This picture
maker handles the video display." So
says the book. Gee man that sounds so
friendly! We are told that the
computer handles the tasks of keeping
track of the characters and graphics
and the colour and of moving the
object around. Wait for it, gets
confusing real soon.

Time for that real soon part then.
There are 46 different "ON/OFF"
locations "which act like internal
memory locations, each of these
locations breaks down into a series of
8 blocks. And each block can be either
'on' or 'off'."

A lot of members just tossed the book
to the side at that point. The book
stopped being friendly and got
complicated. Before you blank out .
Take that stuff and put it off to the
side for a good amount of time. What
we are going to do is poke things into
these areas to make stuff happen. On
screen again I repeat that there are
programs that take a lot of this work
out of the task of making sprites.

Eight memory locations are used. Tell
you now that you have only 8 sprites
at a time "ACTIVE" on the screen. You
can have more waiting to be used
though.

You may want to make a grid chart here
to help you draw out your sprites. A
sprite is 24 dots wide and 21 dots (or
pixels) tall. "Sprites are displayed
in a special independent 320 dot wide
by 200 dot high area. However you can
use your sprite with any mode
high-resolution, low resolution, text,
etc." And I know that makes very
little, or no sense at this moment.

What is going to happen is that we are
going to make a balloon character, and
have it float across the screen. We
will also be adjusting that in a few
steps. The book now wants you to grab
some paper, and they say graph paper
as one of the options, we are going to
do a little bit of work.

Below is a very crudely made example
of the graph they would like you to
make. 24 columns wide by 21 rows tall.
Sorry can't do the grid stuff as
precise as I would like. Hoping that
you can see what I am trying to
create.

            SERIES SERIES SERIES
               1      2      3

            1       1       1
            2631    2631    2631
            842684218426842184268421
           +------------------------+
          1 .........#######........
          2 .......###########......
          3 ......#############.....
          4 ......#####...#####.....
          5 .....#####.###..####....
          6 .....#####.###.#####....
          7 .....#####.###..####....
          8 ......#####...#####.....
          9 ......#############.....
      R  10 ......#############.....
      O  11 ......#.#########.#.....
      W  12 .......#.#######.#......
         13 .......#..#####..#......
         14 ........#..###..#.......
         15 ........#..###..#.......
         16 .........#..#..#........
         17 .........#..#..#........
         18 ..........#####.........
         19 ..........#####.........
         20 ..........#####.........
         21 ...........###..........
            +------------------------+
                      1    1    2   2
             1   5    0    5    0   4


COLUMN


This is what we will use to create the
basic sprite drawing. Make a bit more
sense in a moment. If it will help,
add the word "data" at the end of each
row. This is a suggestion from the
book. What I can't give you here is
the actual illustration of the balloon
that's created on that grid. But I do
have the numbers to plug into the
actual programme, or I think that I do
<VBG>.

What is happening here is that you
create the drawing in the grids under
the numbers. Just fill in the grid as
it fits under the number. I'll suspect
that you will try your own design
after this bit. OK we are going to
look at this drawing, I have to use
the balloon one. You can see that
there are squares that are filled and
those that are blank. What this can be
translated to in your mind, and of
course the C=64 is that the filled
areas are "ON" and the empty or blank
areas are "OFF". Not to scare you
away, but this is the start of binary.
Filled areas are a 1 and empty areas
are a 0.

Next you have to convert the image
into something that the computer can
use. All computers work with numbers.
Meaning we now must convert this image
into numbers. Since there are three
series from 128 to 1 in the grid.
There must be three sets of some sort
of number system. But how to create
them and what do they look like?

For this I must use the illustration
from the book. Going over that one we
have nothing in the first set of
numbers. Therefore the total of that
is 0. Second set or series of numbers
has something in the boxes. Book has
the little thing I am recreating
below, as a way for you to work out
the numbers. This is for the 1st line,
second series of the book illustration

 128  64  32  16  8   4   2   1
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  0   1   1   1   1   1   1   1  
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  ^   ^   ^   ^   ^   ^   ^   ^
  0 + 64 +32 +16 +8  +4  + 2 +1 = 127

Wow that looks crazy, what is
happening in that thing?

Remember that it is the second set or
series in the grid. Three of them need
to be done for each row. But what you
are doing is simply marking on this
little work chart if there is anything
in the 128 column on row one and the
second set. Here there isn't. So a 0
is what you put underneath. Ah but in
the 64 one we do have a something in
the illustration. So in series 2 row
one under the heading of 64. You place
a 1. Once you have completed that
method of marking down, if there is or
isn't a something in the grid square.
You next go down to the area under the
up arrows I placed there in the
example.


Here is where problems happen, I have
seen it and done it myself. As you
take another look at that thing I made
above. You can see that where there is
a 0 in the boxes under the numbers.
Then on the bottom row you put a 0. If
there is a 1 in the box, then you put
down the value of that box. Repeat for
the entire series. That is why under
the 64 there is a 1 in the box, and on
the bottom line there is a 64. Some of
us have wondered why the extra step.
Well when doing this off of paper. One
can make mistakes by skipping that
last step, like I said, seen it and
done it.

OK as that bottom line shows you add
up the numbers. This becomes just one
number. In this example it becomes the
number of 127. Trying not to confuse
you here, if there was a 1 in each of
the boxes, the total would be 255. Hey
have we seen that number before?
Yuppers and we will see it over again
many more times. Just keeps popping up
a lot. <G>

So then in the example from the book,
the first series had nothing in the
first row. The second series had the
stuff we saw above. The third series
has nothing on that row. How is this
written for the program? Remember I
said a while back about writing the
word Data at the end of the row? This
is why it works nice that way, you see
the way to write it down for this part
is

DATA 0, 127, 0

Based on the example above. Nothing in
the first series, 127 is the total for
the second series and 0 is the amount
for the third series, as there was
nothing on the row in that part. In
order to further this example and
idea. Book goes into the entire second
line of the balloon illustration.

ulow is sort of what it looks like in
the book.

Series 1:
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  0   0   0   0   0   0   0   1 
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
                              ^
                              1  = 1
                                
 Series 2:
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  1   1   1   1   1   1   1   1
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  ^   ^   ^   ^   ^   ^   ^   ^
 128 +64 +32 +16 +8  +4  +2  + 1 =255

  Series 3:
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  1   1   0   0   0   0   0   0 
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
  ^    ^
 128 + 64                        =192

  For row 2, the data would be:

   DATA 1, 255, 192

Yeah I know that it looks complicated.
But by the time you have done a couple
of these lines. You get the message
that is being applied, granted that
there are 21 lines to do of three
series each. I cheat and use a
calculator. Mind isn't what it used to
be decades ago.

You should be able to see how to count
the series, how to present the chart
where you see what is in each of the
slots from 128 to 1. Also how to do
the math for adding and then how to
write that data line. I've seen <and
done> the math to the point where all
the separate three part series were
added up, making it the total for the
line. This doesn't work worth a smeg.
Frells your programme, like you can't
believe. Next thing is to type in the
balloon program and we will go over
the parts.

So type:
NEW
Press RETURN then enter

1 REM UP, UP, AND AWAY
5 PRINT "(CLR/HOME)"
10 V = 53248 : REM START OF DISPLAY
 CHIP
11 POKE V + 21,4 : REM ENABLE SPRITE 2
12 POKE 2042,13 : REM SPRITE 2 DATA
 FROM BLOCK 13
20 FOR N = 0 TO 62:READ Q:POKE 832+N,Q:
 NEXT
30 FOR X = 0 TO 200
40 POKE V + 4,X : REM UPDATE X
 COORDINATES
50 POKE V + 5,X : REM UPDATE Y
 COORDINATES
60 NEXT X
70 GOTO 30
200 DATA 0,127,0,1,255,192,3,255,224,
 3,231,224
210 DATA 7,217,240,7,223,240,7,217,240,
 3,231,224
220 DATA 3,255,224,3,255,224,2,255,160,
 1,127,64
230 DATA 1,62,64,0,156,128,0,156,128,0,
 73,0,0,73,0
240 DATA 0,62,0,0,62,0,0,62,0,0,28,0

Book says "if you typed everything in
correctly" That is an understatement,
I had to type it in a few times and
even now I am not certain I did it
right for you (EDITOR yep its fine).
Then you typed it in and we have more
places that things could go wrong, did
a piece on the pitfalls of type in
programs. DATA statements are one of
them that can frell you, I already
mentioned fonts elsewhere.

Taking that into consideration. If I
typed it in here right, and I did test
and run it before writing the lines
down, rare thing for me to do <BG> If
you typed it correctly from what I
did, then there is a small green hot
air balloon that goes from the upper
left of the screen towards the lower
right. Doesn't make it all the way
though so if that is what you see. You
typed it in right, at this time that
balloon won't go across the screen, to
the other side.

I'm not great enough to tell you how
all of the things and this program
work. In fact those that are clever
enough to know all of these parts,
can't seem to explain it to me easily,
so I guess that makes us both in the
same boat. What I can tell you is only
a few things. Some of that is a
constant refresher on stuff we have
done before.

Line 1 and line 5 we have done before.
A REMark and then clear the screen

Line 10, now this is a new thing for
us, The book doesn't go into a lot of
information. Not supposed to, just a
primer to wet your appetite about
sprites. Or for many of us, confuse
the smeg out of us. <G> Well v=53248
is obviously a variable. The Rem
statement says it is the start of the
display chip. I have heard that also
called the VIC chip. 53248 is the
starting memory location of the
"v"ideo chip hence the V for the
variable name. Notice how close that
number is to the 53280 and 53281 the
locations that we used for border and
screen colour changes?

The book takes us to the following
chart thing. In an attempt to explain
the "picture making locations control
the functions..." Called registers,
these locations in their chart look
like...

  Register(s)   Description

   0          X coordinate of sprite 0
   1          Y coordinate of sprite 0
   2 - 15     Paired like 0 and 1
               for sprites 1-7
  16          Most Significant Bit
               - X coordinate
  21          Sprite appear: 1 = appear
               0 = disappear
  29          Expand sprite in "X"
               Direction
  23          Expand sprite in "Y"
               Direction
  39-46       Sprite 0-7 color

If you see that 23 comes after the 29,
you are right, that is the way it is
listed in the book. I don't know if it
is a book typo or not. Some of the
above may make a little sense to you.
Most of it may not and it also may
seem so alien that you feel you will
never understand it. Many - many of my
members have felt the same thing. A
few have gone past that and made
sprites on their own. I'll tell you
truthfully that they had to have
programs and other informational
sources to complete the task. Also it
is not the scope here to explain about
sprites. Only to present the
information in a personal way from the
book you would have received when you
bought the C=64 new. This book I was
told is online in some form of an
e-text someplace.

EDITOR you can see the book online in
HTML format here
 http://www.lemon64.com/manual/
And here as a downloadable plain TEXT
file
http://project64.c64.org/hw/
  c64usg10.zip

Disclaimer again, out of the way. I
quote from the book for the next part.
"In addition to this information you
will need to know from which 64 byte
section sprites will get their data
(byte 1 is not used)."

"This data is handled by 8 locations
directly after screen memory:" There
is another chart/box that follows.

+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+---+
2040 2041 2042 2043 2044 2045 2046 2047
+---+----+----+----+----+----+----+---+
 ^    ^    ^    ^    ^    ^    ^    ^

SPRITE #
 0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7

As you can see there are 8 sprite
places in the chart above. Also I'll
point out, that this start number of
2040 is very close to the end of the
Screen Memory Map locations. Anyway
back to the book. Here they next list
the things to create and move the
sprite. [1] is to make the proper
sprite(s) appear on the screen. This
is done "by pokeing into location 21 a
1 for the bit which turns on the
sprite"

Looking back at the program. We can
see this in line 11 where it is poke
v, the 53248 location with that +21
final location.

[2] set the sprite pointer, that is
locations 2040-2047 "to where the
sprite data should be read from." We
see that number appear in line 12.
Along with a REM about it being sprite
2 and the 13th blk.

[3] is to poke the data into memory. I
take that to be all those data
statements.

[4] is using a loop to update X & Y
coordinates to move the sprite around.
Which to my lame brain looks like
lines 30-70. Last part,

[5] states that you can as options,
expand the object, change the colours
and do other functions using location
29 to expand sprite in the X direction
and location 23 in the Y direction. As
their example.

Breaking here for a moment, we will
get back to the sprite stuff, even if
we need to go to the next instalment.
<BG> READ DATA is an important part of
the program here and also in other
programs. I have seen numbers and text
used in these read data lines. There
is a menu for fantasy games at the
tavern that uses the text as the data
part. I'll leave off on that for now,
only wanted to bring the idea to
light.

At line 10 we basically fired up the
video chip for this programme with the
variable v=53248.

line 11 we poked into the v variable
that +21. Looking back at that
register and description chart above,
that says we make the sprite appear.
OK then what the frell does that ,4
mean? Took me a bit to barely
understand it. Because the next
sentence in the book says that this ,4
thing turns on sprite #2. Into
something that is called the "sprite
enable register. Remember there are 8
sprites. Got another chart to present
and I'll try to explain it in a way
that makes sense.

SPRITE ENABLE (LOCATION 21)

Decimal Values of Each Sprite Number
  128  64   32   16   8    4    2    1

Sprite Level Numbers
  7    6    5    4    3    2    1    0
+----+----+----+---+----+----+----+---+
  0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0
+----+----+----+---+----+----+----+---+
                           ^

Put a 1 For The SPRITE You Want

Looks sort of familiar to others that
I have made in this series <G>. What
does it all mean? I coded it a bit to
help. (a) is the decimal value of each
sprite number. Looks familiar to what
we did with the drawing and converting
of the sprite to DATA. (b) is simply
the sprite level number. 7 is under
the 128 as it is the highest number in
the sprites.

OK that 21 at the left of the line of
boxes. That is the 21 part of the
"v+21". Turned on the chip and that 21
says to make the sprite appear. which
of the 8 sprites? Here they chose
sprite #2. As you can see there is a 1
in that box, under the 2. While there
are 0's under the other numbers.
Confusing part for many of my members
is remembering that in this example
the 1 indicates that there is
something there, the 2 is the sprite
number, BUT 4 is the value to use.
That is why there is that =4. Meaning
that v is the variable for the chip
being turned on, 21 is the sprite
shows up thing and the 4 is the value
for the 2nd sprite. Reads as v+21,4.
Yeah it takes a few times through to
catch all of that and feel just a tad
bit comfy.

OK you are wondering if there are 8
sprites. Then how would you activate
more than one. Since this shows how to
do just one. Well, that is taken care
of later on in the book. But as that
is what is asked a lot of me at this
point in the book. There isn't much to
actually change. Put a 1 in the box
under the sprite you want to activate.
Oh yeah you just did that already.
Well lets say you want #3 sprite on as
well. Put a 1 there to indicate you
want that one on too. Now the value of
sprite #3 is 8. Got #2 on at value of
4. #3 on at value of 8. Just like you
did with the rows for the sprite
drawing to data, add up the values of
what you turned on; right that is then
12. turn two sprites on, being 2 & 3.
You write it as v+21,12. All the way
up to 255, if you are going to run all
8 sprites.

Just about out of lines here, Next
session we will continue with this
program. I suggest you save it as it
will be added to along the way. As we
add more sprites and sizes and
colours.

CONTINUED NEXT MONTH..

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



Creating a Commodore 8-bit Machine
Code programming environment for
Windows
By Paul 'Trooper'Green
----------
Windows
This document is for a Windows prog-
ramming environment, as I know nothing
about Linux or Mac environments I would
urge readers to send in setups for
these machines to address the balance.

DOWNLOAD
First you will need to download all
these files, & save them on your
machine. When you choose to save them
save them to your C:\ Drive, the root
of your hard disk (you can always move
the downloads later) mainly because
they are easier to find, work with &
we will all have the files in the same
place so we both know where to find
them.

C64asmv
First you will need c64asmv1.1a this
is a windows dos program, the program
converts the .txt files (or .src or
.asm) files into a .prg (or .p00) or
the actual executable files so;
download the application from
http://tothb.ehc.hu/software/
 index.html#c64asm

& save it your machine.

Emulator
You'll also need an emulator (as
getting things on a real C64 is a bit
hard, although it can be done but for
this example we will use emulation) I
use WinVice (but there are other
emulators such as CCS & HOX) for
this document we will assume you are
going to use Winvice. First download
the  application from
http://www.viceteam.org/#download

& choose the link that says.. Binary
for MS-Windows 32bit
 (Pentium-optimized):
WinVICE-2.0.zip.

EDITOR
The you need an editor, you could use
notepad.exe from windows, but there is
a free text editor (as you don't want
the files being saved with any
unnecessary characters, notepad has
been known to add strange characters'
to plain text files) called Crimson
Editor. You can download the latest
version from their website
http://www.crimsoneditor.com/

(look under the contents bar, there is
a download (2nd down), from there, you
want to get the Crimson Editor 3.70
Release (Sep. 22, 2004, 1224KB)
from either of the links then save the
executable to your hard disk.

Ok, as was previously stated, we'll
assume you have saved the files to
"C:\" for everything as it makes life
easier to follow.

The c64asm1a.zip file you've downloaded
I want you to unpack/un-archarchive
this file so you end up with a folder
in your C:\ Drive that is called
c64asm1a & contains all the files from
the within the .zip file.

Then double click & install the
Crimson Editor, you will receive an
'error message' on the first running
the application, but it explains that
when you do run it...when that has
run, just close it for now...

The WinVICE-2.0.zip you've downloaded
you need to unpack/unarcharchive so
you end up with a folder in your C:\
Drive which is called WinVICE-2.0 &
contains all the files from the .zip
file (you will notice within that
folder, depending on how you choose to
unpack It, you might have a WinVICE-2.0
folder in there too, now this is your
call, I go into that folder, & move
everything inside that to the one
above, just seems to be a bit tidier)

Right, when you have got Winvice
installed/unpacked you can then run
the application. It doesn't create a
shortcut as there is no install, but
you will find a file called x64.exe,
located within the Winvice folder,
that is the application to double-
click to get the emulator running.
Once the Emulator is running standard
PRG & d64 files, will work with
using windows drag & drop, but you
won't be able to play them as you
haven't got a joystick plugged in
(technically). Go to it's settings &
change anything you need to do, the
main one is SettingsJoystick Settings,
and you can setup a key map or choose
a preset (or if you have one, use your
own joystick in the machine)...

Also for your ease, is to create a
folder in the root of C:\ called
"Source"... then if you look at the
picture you will see my setup & how
I have my area laid out for ease.

New we need to get Crismon editor to
Communicate with C64ASM, the thing to
remember is C64asm is a DOS program,
so any files need to be 8 chars & an
extension, for example you could call
something source1.src, then any
changes could become source2.src, etc,
etc.

Ok, first we need the Crimson Spec
Files.zip download this file from here
http://www.slor.net/a8/6502spec.zip
and save it to you desktop (if you
wish to keep hold of this file in-case
you do a re-install then save it
elsewhere like on the root of your c:\
drive) & when you have saved the
file you need to unzip it & you'll
end up with two files called.

6502.key
6502.spc

these are just pure text files, but
with the extension so crimson will
understand them as configuration or
syntax files.

OK, so where do these files go? If
you've installed Crimson into it's
default location then you will find a
folder called "C:\Program
Files\Crimson Editor" within that
folder there is a folder called 'spec'
copy & paste (or cut & paste, it's
your call) the two files into that
folder....Then you can close that
folder & open up Crimson Editor.
Then it is time to set up Crimson.

In the menus, go to 'Tools' & the
Conf. User Tools

this will open up the preferences

Click on Syntax Type (as shown in the
example), then scroll down to the
first 'Empty' location & click on
it.

Now within the Description type C64
(or whatever you want, but what you
type there, displays on the menu so
something descriptive would be more of
an advantage) then click on the Browse
(the 3 dots) to the right of Lang
Spec, this will open a file browser.
Now we need to look for the 6502.spc
file, click on it & press the open
button, then below is the keywords, do
the same again, but this time you are
looking for the 6502.key & press on
the open button you should end up like
this

DescriptionC64
Lang Spec6502.spc
Keywords6502.key

Now, if you click on the C64 in the
Syntax Type box, which is now there
because you typed it into the
'Description', it will highlight, &
you can now click the up arrow &
move the 'c64' to the top, as it will
be quicker in the menu selection
because it will appear as the first
item in the menu list.

Then you can click Ok, now when you go
back to the menus, you'll see a C64
choice under, Document - Syntax Type,
you then click on C64 (the only thing
I don't personally like about Crimson,
it that the application doesn't
remember what you've clicked on, if
you close it down)

Now if you type any text or syntax
that pertains to the C64, it will
change colour. If for some reason the
text doesn't change colour you've
probably just opened Crimson, & the
editor has forgotten you like the C64
syntax, reslect the c64 from the
syntax list.

So that bit sorts out the Syntax Text.

The next part we will get crimson
editor to communicate with C64asm.

Open up Crimson Editor, & in the
menus go to 'Tools' & the Conf. User
Tools. This will open up the
preferences. The default when the box
opens is 'User Tools' this is ok, as
this is what we want to change..

Click on the first "-Empty-" so it is
highlighted. And then in "Menu Text"
you can type 'Compile with C64Asm'.
Then in the 'Command' box you will
click the three dots & you will be
pointing it to the C64ASM.EXE file,
(where ever you chose to save it &
unzip it.)

Just to the right of 'Argument' there
is an arrow, click this, & choose
'File Name' & then below that, there
is an 'Initial Dir.' You want to click
the arrow to the right of that &
choose 'File Directory'

Below all that, you will have some
tick boxes, Untick the 'Close on exit'
other wise if there is an error during
the compile you won't be able to see
it as the CMD window will close too
quickly.

The 'Save before execute' is your
choice, I have it turned on, as I want
the program to save the file before it
sends it to C64asm, or you'll have to
manually save & then compile your
file.

Also, Hot Key is your Choice! I've got
mine setup up, so I just press CTRL +
ALT + Z, this saves me going into the
menus.

So to set this up, first click on the
box to the right of the wording 'Hot
Key' & actually press the keys you
want for the shortcut.

So, apart from the Location of your
C64ASM which will display a real
directory path in yours, it should
look pretty much like you see in
picture

Then click ok.....

Ok, in theory that has now set up
Crimson to talk to C64ASM. One point
I'll tell you now, with C64ASM being
DOS it doesn't like being stored in a
folder that has spaces in the name or
in the folder before, etc. So it is
best staying in the ROOT of a Hard
Drive normally drive c:\.

So, we should try to do a test compile
ensuring everything is working ok.

Right then you should have a blank
Crimson Editor (if not choose
File/New, so you end up with a Text1.
Then type at the top (or copy &
paste from this document)

* = $2000 <--- copy or type into
Crimson

;^^^- help on this command i.e. * = is
in the C64ASM help file, basically it
means your telling the compiler where
you want the following code to compile
too, $2000 is 8192, so on the C64
you'd type SYS8192 You don't have to
type this into Crimson though this
would be used to RUN the program from
BASIC
Next type the following lines

lda #$00
sta $d020
rts

Right at the moment the source is
called 'Text1' & should have a red
dot by it to say it isn't saved, so
right click on the 'Text1' & choose
'Save As' & save it in the folder
for your source that you created
previously. Call the filename test.src
for now. (again you can call it what
you want, but 8 chars & an extension
is all you can go up to.)

Now the Dot will go green, to say it
has saved. Now either hit the menu
options (under tools) , or if you set
up a shortcut key command press it,
but you want to be trying to compile
the program you've just done. You
should get a Command Box pop up, with
something that looks like...

C64ASM v1.1a - C64 (6510) Assembler
Copyright (c) 1993-2001 by Balint Toth

Assembling TEST.SRC
TEST.PRG created from $2000 to $2005
Press any key to exit

you can now press any key, or hit the
x to close that command prompt, if you
look in your source folder  a file
called TEST.PRG will have been
created. (Now technically without
setting up crimson to auto execute
into WinVice, you can just open up
Winvice & drag & drop the .prg
into Winvice using windows drag &
drop, but & there is always a but,
why? I hear you cry, well try it &
see what happens....

All you will get is...


**** COMMODORE 64 BASIC V2 ****

64K RAM SYSTEM 38911 BASIC BYTES FREE

READY.
LOAD"TEST.PRG",8,1:

SEARCHING FOR TEST.PRG
LOADING
READY.
RUN

READY.


Technically it HAS worked, but the
machine as you will remember uses the
RUN to tell it what to do, & we
didn't tell it in the source. Just
type (in WinVice) SYS8192 & press
return, & if you have done
everything right, you should see the
border turn black. If you do see that,
then congratulations you have
successfully typed up & compiled a
C64 program in Machine Code & got it
to run on the C64.

This is the bit where we will get
Crismon to Comminucate with WinVice

Ok then, Open up Crimson Editor. And
In the menu, go to 'Tools' & then
Conf.User Tools. This will open up the
preferences. The default when the box
opens is 'User Tools' this is ok, as
this is what we want to change....

Click on the next "-Empty-" so that it
is highlighted, & in "Menu Text" you
can type 'Execute with WinVice' Then
in the 'Command' box you will click
the three dots & you will be
pointing it to the X64.exe file,
where-ever you chose to save it &
unzip it.

Now to the right of 'Argument' there
is an arrow, click it, & choose
'File Title' & then move back into
the box, & add ".PRG" at the end.
Then below that item, there is an
'Initial Dir.' you want to click the
arrow to the right of that & choose
'File Directory'. Below all that, you
will have some tick boxes, tick the
'Close on exit'

The 'Save before execute' is your
choice, I have it turned on, as I want
the program to save the file before it
sends the file to C64asm, or you'll
have to manually save & then compile
your file.

Also, Hot Key again is your Choice,
I've got mine setup up, so I press
CTRL + ALT + X, saves me going into
the menus. To set up the hotkey, click
on the box to the right of the wording
'Hot Key' & actually press the keys
you want to use for the shortcut.

So, apart from the Location of your
WinVice which will display a real
directory path in yours, it should
look pretty much like you see here

Then click ok

Then you need to try to the compile
and then run, so load the source code
we used back up, try compiling again,
and if you get no errors, then choose
"Execute in WinVice" & see what
happens..

Don't forget you'll need to type
SYS8192 again, you now have a Windows
Compiling environment for your
Assemble applications.

==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-


The Sceptre of Baghdad
(C)2008 Psytronik Software
--------------------------

Programming: Jon Wells
Graphics:Jon Wells
Music:Paul (Feekzoid) Hannay

Reviewed by Richard Bayliss

The tales of the 1001 knights and Ali
Baba meets Dizzy in this arcade action
adventure by Jon Wells. You are the
Caliph who wakes up one morning to
find everything around him is so big.
Is he dreaming or is it for real?
Unfortunately for the Caliph he was
cast under the spell by an evil
sorcerer who was very jealous and
wants to be the new Caliph himself.
Not only is the Caliph small and cast
under an evil spell, but he needs to
find a way to bring him back to normal
size and try to stop the evil
sorcerer, Which of course will not be
an easy job. Thankfully the Caliph has
a friend to try and help him find a
way around and to try and bring things
back to normal. Who is that? It's the
genie in the magic lamp. So the Caliph
rubs the lamp but sadly the genie
speaks "I'm not at home". After
several rubs, the genie gives up and
gets the Caliph started and booms out
that to break the evil sorcerer's
spell; he needs to find the sacred
sceptre of Baghdad.

In the game you start in the lounge,
where lies the Genie in the lamp, and
the game idea is generally to find the
sacred sceptre. This sounds straight
forward, but to be honest it is not
all that straight forward. You cannot
find the sceptre straight away, you
need to enter all the rooms inside and
outside the magic palace gathering
items to try and solve various
puzzles. For example how can you rub
the lamp, how can you enter the water,
how can you avoid turning into stone
when you come so close to the Medusa.
What things do I need to do to get on
to the next stage, If you solve any
puzzles you will gain access to new
rooms, which may or may not have some
more puzzles for you to solve.

As well as the various puzzles to you
need to solve, you can rub the magic
lamp, where the genie lives and he
will give you some very useful clues.
Or then again he could be a bit
stubborn and say that he is not
available. Several rubs of the lamp
usually will give out clues, no
wishes. There are also various hazards
which you have to watch out for in the
game. The main hazards are the demons,
but you can attack the demons while
they are moving around the rooms by
using the fire button. If you touch a
demon, a bit of energy will be lost.
Once all your energy has gone, the
game is over.

Not only are there deadly demons
lurking around the palace (probably
sent in by the evil sorcerer) but you
also have various obstacles to avoid
by collecting the right item to help
you progress further. For example, if
you walk in water, on a very hot sandy
ground or walk across fire without the
correct item in your possession, you
will lose energy quicker than the
demons sapping you. Also there are
some obstacles that are dangerous if
you walk into those, like as mentioned
before, the Medusa. And funnily
enough, you can get killed by a
harmless looking goldfish. (Well, it
does look harmless, unless it packs a
bite.)

This game is kind of like Dizzy,
especially when you have various
puzzles to solve to try and progress
further, but this game has no egg
characters involved - thankfully
because I have run out of egg gags :).
Anyway, the concept of the game is
very simple. There are plenty of rooms
for you to explore which makes things
wonderfully enjoyable, and some
puzzles are tricky others easy (Unless
you keep playing the game to progress
further that is). If the player finds
the sceptre, then they will be awarded
a password for the final part of the
game (The ending), which I won't give
away because that's wrong. The game is
fun for all the family. The game plays
smoothly well.

On the graphics front this game looks
very stylish. Practically every screen
must have been painted in a art
program because the graphics are
probably all C64 hires/multicoloured
bitmap graphics. The detail for the
graphics is magnificent and very
colourful. The sprites are very nice
looking as well. There has been a lot
of attention to graphical detail with
this game which was worth the effort.
The loading picture is artistic as
well.

As for sounds in the game. The sound
effects are pretty original, because I
never heard nice filtered sound
effects like this in a game. This game
does not only have sound effects, but
it has an excellent sound track to the
title. Feekzoid's music stands out
really well with this game, the intro
and end sequence. The music is very
atmospheric all the way through the
game. The in game tune is over 9
minutes long and you are sure to
really enjoy it as I did.

The tape version of this game is split
into 3 different parts. The first part
used is the intro part. You are first
presented with a nice picture, and
then the intro comes on. The intro is
just a 2x2 char up-scroll, with a
longish story line. There is also
music playing in the background, which
makes things more atmospheric. Then
the picture comes on again and loads
in the game (While the loading music
is playing in the background). Then
the last part has to be loaded in
separately, where loading music will
play again, which is good.

Overall the production is worth its
price of 3.99 on a real Commodore C64.
Not only do you get hours of
excitement and many puzzles to solve,
you also get a proper C64 tape with
professional artwork on the tape inlay
in full colour and a very professional
tape loader. I was very impressed with
the production and would love to see a
sequel to the original game.

The Sceptre of Baghdad available from:
 http://www.binaryzone.org/psytronik

--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==---

Questions about Commodore Computer
club U.K.

Robert Bernardo: What is the mailing
address?

Commodore Computer Club (UK): As in
email? You may contact either:
contact@CommodoreComputerClub.co.uk
<Shaun Bebbington>, or:
shop@CommodoreComputerClub.co.uk
<Nigel Parker> - Nigel Parker (the
club treasurer) has a snail-mail
address, which may be obtained by
contacting him first.

RB: What is the website?

CCC (UK): The website is still under
construction, and can be accessed by
pointing your web-browsing software to
either:
http://www.CommodoreComputerClub.co.uk
or: http://www.SuperCPU.co.uk.

RB: Who is your official contact
person?

CCC (UK): I'm [Shaun Bebbington]
listed as the club secretary, Nigel is
the treasurer and Allan Bairstow is
listed as the club chair person,
however real life means that things
are taking a little longer than we had
hoped.

RB: Who are your officers?

CCC (UK): As above.

RB: How often do you meet?

CCC (UK): Club rules state that we
must meet at least once a year. We
will also be attending events, such as:
http://www.byte-back.info

which will be held in March 2009.

RB: Is there a newsletter?

CCC (UK): At the moment, all news is
delivered via private members areas of
the club forums, and through our own
(again private) Google group.
Commodore Free is being phased in as
the club newsletter, and will soon be
released to members first and everyone
else second.

RB: What are the membership fees?

CCC (UK): Membership fees start from \3
for six months, and up to \30 for life
membership. Most people prefer the
latter option, as they want to be
involved long term.

RB: What support do you have for the
members?

CCC (UK): We can provide spares [when
'in stock'] such as chip or keyboard
replacements and so forth, as well as
easy fixes and maintenance - these
will usually be free to members, but
always charged for non-members. We
would like to organise workshops, such
as using GEOS or Wheels, or using
Slang, or even just general 6502
coding. Club members will get first
refusal on anything that is in our
club shop (still to be set up), and
any items listed will be cheaper to
members than non-members. For
instance, the shop will soon be
acquiring some 1541 disk drives; these
will be 10% cheaper to members.

RB: What are the other advantages of
your club?

CCC (UK): One practical example is
when Conrad had a dodgy 1541 MK-II
drive, so he brought it along with
him. It was a simple head alignment
problem, so we fixed it, there and
then. It would have been pointless to
send him a D64 image or the alignment
software on disk because how would he
have loaded it in the first place? So,
we're pooling resources, not just in
terms of money, but also knowledge.
The main point is that we want to keep
our Commodore computers useful for as
long as possible, but we recognise
that for the typical nostalgia hunter,
who would typically emulate a
Commodore, joining a forum like
Lemon64 [for gaming], or subscribing
to comp.sys.cbm would probably ideal
for them. The latter is a better
example as we don't just support the
C64, nor are we just interested in
gaming, but we aim to support all
Commodore 8-bits, as well as the DTV.

Regards,

Shaun Bebbington,
Club secretary,
Commodore Computer Club (UK).


          COMMODORE FREE.
          ....THE END....
         =================

