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GORF: The Great Oz Retro-Technology Festival

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Hey Retro Peeps, you can spend four days enjoying the company of other retro-technology enthusiasts at GORF: the Great Oz Retro-Technology Festival, at Urban Camp in Melbourne, from April 24th-28th 2019.

Modelled after the wildly-successful US KansasFest event, GORF is an ‘unconference’ that brings together 8 and 16-bit computer enthusiasts, classic console hackers and arcade collectors to celebrate a pivotal era in the development of modern electronics in a communal ‘stay and play’ environment where attendees sleep over at the venue.

Two keynotes will explore the history of the Australian MicroBee computer (with designer Owen Hill) and the local video-game development scene of the 1980s (with Doctor Melanie Swalwell), followed by presentations given by attendees (hopefully including you!) on a variety of subjects regarding a variety of computing and video-gaming platforms.

There’s also an event-long hackathon (coined the GORF-a-thon) where participants will compete to create the most intriguing retro-related project, a game competition night and a documentary screening. Meals will be provided, except Saturday night when attendees will go out on the town to visit Melbourne’s retro-gaming bars.

GORF: it’s a summer camp for retro-geeks. Go and join in!

Ticket sales close April 1st. For more information or to book visit GORF.

 

 

Reset64 Magazine 2018 Commodore 64 Game of the Year Award

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By: Kevin Tilley – Reset64 Magazine Editor

Wow, every year I seem to say the same thing but it always rings true – I’m continually stunned at both the quality and quantity of games released on the Commodore 64. Not only do the developers continue to step up their game, but the publishers continue to increase the quality of their physical products. We’re seeing more cartridge releases, more premium boxed games, and harking back to the good old days of Commodore 64 commercial releases, beautifully printed and written instruction booklets (something that seems to be sorely lacking in modern titles). Overall, the packaging is arguably better than what we got back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and the best part is, the games are stunning!

Something else wonderful happened in 2018. The first C64 commercial game (probably in decades) was released that was available worldwide at normal gaming retail outlets. The PC version of Farming Simulator 19 (Giants Software) was made available in a limited collector’s edition, which included a specially commissioned version of Farming Simulator for the C64. This was in the form of an emulator image on its own CD-ROM, with the CD jacket dressed up as a floppy disk. I know, it’s not quite the same as a standalone release, but as Cameron mentioned, the fact that it even exists is amazing. Giants Software even teamed up with Protovision to release a standalone boxed C64 edition on cartridge. The game? It was OK. Nicely done, but more a gimmick than a commercial quality C64 game.

TheC64 Mini was released by Retro Games LTD and despite a rather disappointing joystick, was an otherwise impressive and well-made piece of kit that brought C64 gaming back on the radar, with more than a hint of nostalgia included. A later firmware update made it easy to play games (including modern/contemporary titles) via a USB stick, and an even later firmware release officially added our 2017 GOTY, Galencia, to the list.

Of course, the big three; Protovision, Psytronik and RGCD continued to release a strong line up of new games, as well as Poly.Play, The Future Was 8 Bit, Pond, Megastyle, CollectorVision and an assortment of other developers releasing a slew of quality titles. On behalf of Reset, we’d once again like to congratulate the developers and publishers who continue making and publishing these stunning games! Also, a quick shout out to Freeze64, Komoda & Amiga Plus, Kilobyte Magazine, Eight Bit Magazine, Zzap! 64 Annual and the other zines and publications that have cropped up over the past few years and continue promoting the C64 and giving these games, developers and publishers some more exposure, which they truly deserve.

Congratulations to the developers of the games that made this poll, which was voted upon by a selection of Reset staffers and contributors. We all picked our top three releases for the year, wrote a bit about each choice and it went from there. If you produced a game that didn’t make the list, congratulations must be extended to you also. Producing C64 games is a difficult, time intensive and challenging task and we acknowledge and appreciate your efforts. To the publishers who put the physical editions together, thank-you and we look forward to even more in 2019. Even though there can only be one GOTY, we take our hats off to all of you.

A massive congratulations to Stuart Collier, Trevor Storey, Saul Cross and Psytronik Software for Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis, which is an amazing game and deservedly awarded as the 2018 Reset64 Game of the Year on the Commodore 64!

We hope you enjoy the article. Afterwards, go out and play these wonderful games! Please remember to support the devs for their hard work, by paying for the games if required, or sending a nice message/email for games that are free downloads.

Kevin Tilley (Editor’s Pick)

– Space Moguls (Carl-Henrik Skårstedt/Protovision)
https://www.protovision.games/shop/product_info.php?products_id=229

Protovision are becoming renowned for their quality releases and Space Moguls, by Carl-Henrik Skarstedt, does everything right. Paying homage to M.U.L.E., the game is impeccably presented with outstanding graphics and sound (with an amazing attract mode). The physical version is amazing with a lovely artwork, quality jam packed manual, glossy box and a few other bits and pieces. The game? It’s damned fun, with up to 4 players competing for wealth and resources from the alien lands. I really, really hope that we get more of this kind of thing on the Commodore 64. Great fun strategy that isn’t over-the-top difficult with super fun multiplayer. Yes!!

– Hibernated 1: This Place is Death (Stefan Vogt/Pond)
https://www.polyplay.xyz/Commodore-64_1

Hibernated hit the C64 gaming scene like a breath of fresh air, with Stefan Vogt regularly posting updates on Social Media during development to whet our appetites for his upcoming sci-fi gem. Releasing a text-only adventure is a brave thing to do in 2018 (and there have been a few less than stellar releases in the past few years) but Stefan didn’t let anyone down with his accessible, clever and witty writing and compelling story. The difficulty was spot on, with the puzzles requiring logical thinking rather than luck. Add to that a lovely loading screen from Vanja Utne as well as an up-coming physical release from Pond Software/Poly.Play which will be an absolute must. Simply brilliant.

– Aviator Arcade 2 (Arcane Productions/RGCD/Psytronik)
http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/102-aviator
https://rgcd.bigcartel.com/product/aviator-arcade-ii-commodore-64

To be honest, my number three could have been one of several games, but I finally settled on Aviator Arcade 2 because I just couldn’t resist a darn shooter, and this one happens to be particularly good! In development for what seemed like an eternity, Aviator Arcade 2 was a well-cooked beast that was certainly worth the wait. Featuring stunning graphics and sound, it doesn’t necessarily offer anything new to the vertically scrolling shmup genre, but what it does it certainly does well. A highly enjoyable game with gorgeous graphics & sound and fun, hectic gameplay. Aviator Arcade 2 is currently available on cartridge at RGCD and as a digital download at the RGCD itch.io page. A disk edition from Psytronik is also available.

Honourable Mentions:

So many great games were released this year that it was hard to come up with a top 3. At different times of the year, other games such as Yoomp! 64, MAH2.0, Shadow Switcher, Exploding Fish, Portal, Hunter’s Moon, Rocky Memphis, Dustin’, Conga 4096, Counterweight Kate, Pains ‘n’ Aches, Steel Ranger (I could go on!) could easily have made my list! Ultimately though, I think my top 3 choices are the games I enjoyed the most, and for me, enjoyment is why I play games!


source: Rob Caporetto

Rob Caporetto

– Pains ‘n’ Aches: A Knight ‘n’ Grail Adventure (Wide Pixel Games/Psytronik)

If it’s one thing about the C64 scene in 2018, was that we got some killer exploratory games alongside the arcade fare. Pains ‘n’ Aches is the follow-up to Knight ‘n’ Grail, and takes everything great from it making it more atmospheric and melancholic in the process. The platforming action is as tight as ever, the map as expansive and the results make for one great non-linear exploratory experience. It may have slipped under the radar being so early in the year, but it easily serves as a pinnacle to the Metroidvania genre on the humble C64!

– Aviator Arcade II (Arcane Productions/RGCD/Psytronik)
http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/102-aviator
https://rgcd.bigcartel.com/product/aviator-arcade-ii-commodore-64

In its post-commercial life, we’ve rarely seen any shmups push the bounds of what the C64 can do. Until Aviator Arcade II that is. The team at Arcane Productions have pushed the bounds of what is capable in 2018, with engaging action, a wide variety of power ups, and lots and lots of blasting joy. Aviator Arcade II really shows the C64 can more than hold its own against its 8-bit rivals in the realms of shmup action.

– Yoomp! 64 (Zbigniew Ross/RGCD/Psytronik)
http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/100-yoomp
https://rgcd.bigcartel.com/product/yoomp-64-commodore-64

There are plenty of games which push the bounds, then there’s Yoomp! 64. With it’s fluid action, and technical wizardry, it’s a game that no-one thought could actually be done on the C64, yet here it is. There may be some minor details lost in translation, Yoomp! 64 is challenging, tough… and unlike it’s distant, distant inspiration *cough*Bounder*cough* kind of fair. It truly makes for a great example of old arcade concepts being brought into the 21st Century!

image source: Psytronik

Anthony Stiller

– Hibernated 1: This Place is Death (Stefan Vogt/Pond)
https://www.polyplay.xyz/Commodore-64_1

I’ve always loved adventure games and Stefan Vogt’s efforts have paid off in full. Hibernated strikes a wonderful balance between brevity, puzzles, and evocative locations, making it a highly enjoyable and rewarding experience. The age of text adventures returns (finally)!

– Exploding Fish (Megastyle)

The surprise hit of 2018 for me! Chris Stanley’s Exploding Fish may seem like a slow paced collect’em up at first but it’s not long before you’re totally engrossed. A game that joyously reminds me of those quality early 80s releases for the C64. 

– Portal (Jamie Fuller/Del Seymour/Roy Widding)

A fantastic example of how to create a demake: The core elements of the original PC game, perfectly condensed. Portal is all charm, with its cute graphics (by our own designer extraordinaire, Del Seymour) and humour. Plus it has mouse controls to boot! A much appreciated release from Jamie Fuller.

Honourable Mention:

Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis. I had to include this game because I was so blown away by its aesthetics and technical achievements. To be honest all of the games in my list were neck and neck. I’m just so happy we have so many great, new games to choose from! 

image source: Psytronik

Paul Morrison

– Hunter’s Moon Remastered (Thalamus Digital Publishing)

It seems strange, in retrospect, that all my picks are remasters, conversions or ports.  After all, we’ve seen a wealth of quality original releases on the 64 this year. Still, for me, this one stood out above everything else.  If ever anyone was to lay down the perfect blueprint of how to remaster an old classic, Thalamus Digital did with Hunter’s Moon Remastered. They’ve done everything right, from expanding the game to adding loads of “quality of life” improvements to making this the best-presented C64 game ever.  A great game has become an essential game and for me, it was the best release of the year.

– Knight Lore (Rod & Emu)

I have waited over 30 years for this, and now it’s finally arrived it’s exactly as I’d hoped.  I will concede that it’s a bit fiddly to play and other, newer games might have had more going for them, but this is the realisation of a teenage dream here!  Pottering about Ultimate’s 3D castle on the C64 at speeds that match the original made me unreasonably happy, and therefore an absolute gaming highlight of my 2018.

– Portal (Jamie Fuller/Del Seymour/Roy Widding)

When I first heard that Portal was being converted to the C64, of all machines, I was pretty sceptical.  I didn’t see any way that it could be done. Fortunately, and as usual, I was wrong because this is a brilliant effort.  It does take a while to get used to, possibly because it’s wildly different to playing the version you’re used to. Get into it though, and it all makes sense.  Portal was a hugely ambitious project, so for it to have been pulled off this successfully is quite an achievement.

image source: Psytronik

Louie Dimovski

– Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis (Icon64/Psytronik)

A perfect example of where game design comes together all so well. Clever and fair puzzles accompanied by beautifully drawn hi-res graphics blended with multi-colour and background tune that will have you whistling well after you stop playing the game. Just when you thought you’ve seen all of the game, you discover the moonlight mode which alters the way that the game is played. The inclusion of a good and not-so-good ending is a nice touch.

– Steel Ranger (Lasse Öörni/Psytronik)

Persistence and continual refinement to the underlying game engine pays off for Lasse Öörni and his team as Steel Ranger provides a far more enjoyable experience than its inspiration predecessors (Hessian & Metal Warrior series). A great modern day 2D platform/shooter with some puzzle elements that features high production values, a vast game world, smooth scrolling and steady pacing. The game’s soundtrack is worth a special mention, it changes from one location to another and it does a great job of giving an epic vibe and further immerses you within the game. How does this game fit all on a single side floppy disk?

– Shadow Switcher (Dr. Wuro Industries)

Shadow Switcher delivers the best quality old school arcade gaming experience with a clever character switching twist that will hook you in from the very start. 40 levels of single screen platform fun that is addictive right from the beginning thanks to its clever level designs and fluid and responsive controls. The Lazy Jones inspired electro-pop soundtrack is great and fits the game perfectly.

Cameron Jackson

– Dustin’ (Graham Axten/Pond)

Submitted as part of Reset 64’s ‘Craptastic’ competition it is anything but crap. Dustin’ has a hook that balances frustration with that I can do better next time, one more go feeling. The music is excellent and suits it perfectly. Enjoyed this more than any other game this year.

– Shadow Switcher (Dr. Wuro Industries)

Great concept and graphics that give an early days feeling. The game gets pretty hectic at times and love the strategy element in positioning your shadow. Excellent physical release.

– Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis (Icon64/Psytronik)

The collector’s edition is truly a joy. Presentation is top notch with excellent graphics, sounds, puzzles and goodies. Recreates that Indy feeling.

Honourable Mention:

Exploding Fish. I enjoyed playing it. Good concept, some humour (the boat called Unsinkable II) and cover artwork I just love.

image source: Dr. Wuro Industries

Graham Axten

– Shadow Switcher (Dr. Wuro Industries)

Shadow Switcher.  As soon as I saw the early 80’s inspired graphics for this game, I knew that I would like it.  And I did!  It’s one of those games that takes me back to simpler times, but the mechanics feel very modern and keep me coming back to it.  It’s perfect for short blasts, or extended sessions.  And it has a level editor!

– Exploding Fish (Megastyle)

This game reminds me of Scuba Dive on the ZX Spectrum – which is a very good thing!  I have really enjoyed making my way through the levels and figuring out the most efficient routes to complete each screen.  The password system is very welcome, and together with the excellent music and graphics keep me playing again and again.

– Hibernated 1: This Place is Death (Stefan Vogt/Pond)
https://www.polyplay.xyz/Commodore-64_1

Hibernated.  It has been a long time since I really got into an adventure game (or even attempted one, to be honest) but the combination of sci-fi and horror tempted me in and kept me gripped throughout.  The writing is superb and really conjures up images in your mind meaning there is no need for fancy graphics or sound.  I thoroughly enjoyed the story and can’t wait to hear more about the universe of Hibernated.

Jari Karjalainen

– Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis (Icon64/Psytronik)

Probably my most often played new C64 game of the year. The Legend of Atlantis does what Joe Gunn did back 11 (!!) years ago, but with everything brought up to a completely new level. The graphics, sounds and gameplay are everything – and more – what everyone expected of an Indiana Jones game on a C64 back in 1989, which we never got back then, but better late than never, eh? Still waiting for the C64 conversion/demake of Temple of Ophuxoff, but as I have yet to complete this beast, no hurry…

– MAH v2.0 (Retream/RGCD/Protovision)

Well, MAH isn’t really a new game as such, but the v2.0 was released this year, and with that, the game finally got its physical release. The only reason I can’t call MAH the game of the year is, because it was already a masterpiece two years prior, when the first versions got out. Saimo’s unique vision and knack of getting the most of the C64 out with his wonderfully weird concepts is mesmerizing, and MAH is one of the rare modern games I will be sure to come back to every now and then.

– Shadow Switcher (Dr. Wuro Industries)

Perhaps the most unexpected gem of the year. This one got me excited like an 8-year old kid when it first came out, and a brief test of the free download made me order a physical copy of it. Shadow Switcher looks and plays like a game from 1984 – in the best possible way, but the ability to switch your controlled character is much closer to this millennium. Since it also features a level editor, there’s a good chance of Shadow Switcher becoming a cult classic, and had it been released 34 years ago, I’m absolutely certain it would be a proper classic.

image source: Poly.Play

Mat Allen

– Hunter’s Moon Remastered (Thalamus Digital Publishing)

Yes, it may be a reissued version of a thirty-year-old title, but Hunter’s Moon never got the attention it deserved back in the day, and this is no ordinary remaster. Like a hobbit, it’s tricksy and devious and will keep hold of the precious, each system introducing new features and terrible surprises lurking within that must be solved if you’ve going to make it home. A much longer journey now as over fifty levels have been added to proceedings, some of which will test your skills and patience to the maximum. Add to this the level designer, built-in trainer, foreign languages, improved off-duty mode, new music, massive intro sequence… there’s an awful lot more for your money. In conclusion, if you didn’t take to the original then you may be persuaded to try again, but if you loved it like me, then this is everything you could wish for and more.

– Steel Ranger (Lasse Öörni/Psytronik)

Comparisons to Metal Warrior and Hessian were inevitable, but Lasse Öörni once again delivered an epic exploratory tale of carnage and destruction, with a more action orientated bent to proceedings (hello Turrican!). The focus here was more on shooting than adventure, the player left to obtain key cards, upgrade weapons, and perform a lot of killing to work their way through the underground base and remove the rogue AI presence within. There are lot more secrets and less micromanagement of inventory than Hessian, which was good, but on the other hand, less puzzles and a bit less plot. It’s staggering how much can be compressed into one disk side, and Steel Ranger certainly hit the sweet spot in all areas, stairs be damned!

– Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis (Icon64/Psytronik)

There have been a few Indiana Jones-inspired games over the years, but what I loved about Legend of Atlantis was the balanced gradient of welcoming the player into the game, and slowly introducing new puzzle types and features the further you delve. None of the puzzles are too infuriating, but you certainly benefit from making a map and notes as you progress, and the internal satisfaction from nailing a particular sticking point is immense. There are a couple of niggles, no save points and the large inventory to cycle through but overall, it’s a hugely satisfying game and I wish it could have gone on longer than it did.

image source: Thalamus Digital Publishing

Stefan Vogt

– Space Moguls (Carl-Henrik Skårstedt/Protovision)
https://www.protovision.games/shop/product_info.php?products_id=229

Why is Space Moguls winning? Easy to answer. Space Moguls is a complex strategy game and fortunately NOT another platformer. I hate the genre monotony of recent releases so I’m glad I can now finally conquer the final frontier and the economy of strange alien planets turn by turn. Also the feelies in the box of the physical release are brilliant. The box generally is brilliant. 

– Exploding Fish (Megastyle)

I do like the unique concept of the game. It’s rare you see some original ideas these days. It’s quite a hard one, but it’s fun to play, and I liked the physical release a lot. The tape looks amazing.

– Portal (Jamie Fuller/Del Seymour/Roy Widding)

I was just one step away from giving Jamie Fuller’s Portal demake 2 points, because that is where it would belong in theory. The only thing that bothered me though is that I “playtested” shortly after the release and I “accidentally” played it through in roughly 30 minutes. It just has 20 linear levels and that’s it, leaving me more with a proof-of-concept impression in the end, rather than the feeling I played a full-featured game. 

Honourable Mentions:

  • I’d also need to give a shout-out to Dustin’ by Graham. It’s a brilliant game, so it was really tough for me not having that in the top 3 list. 
  • I see so many thumbs up for “Legend of Atlantis”, Vinny from Freeze64 even made it the game of the year. I appreciate the work the author put in there, it looks nice, but the concept of the game is not very original IMHO, which makes me like it but it’s not sufficient enough for me to include it in my list of top games at all. 

image source: Protovision

Roy Widding

– Aviator Arcade 2 (Arcane Productions/RGCD/Psytronik)
http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/102-aviator
https://rgcd.bigcartel.com/product/aviator-arcade-ii-commodore-64

First of all, people who knows me must think I’m crazy even mentioning this game in a game of the year ranking, as it is a Shoot’Em Up, and I don’t like Shoot’Em Ups! But I gave it a try and I was blown of my chair. I told my friends that they had to try this game, and I showed them some screenshots of this game. One of my friends replied: “Another SEUCK game??”

No this is so far from SEUCK you can get, as the game has a lot of “non-SEUCK features” like homing bullets, health bar, scrolling stops before boss fight and no sprite glitches. Music is just excellent. If there was a Game Soundtrack of the year, I would put this as my number one!! Graphics is excellent, game design is excellent and atmospheric. I just love this game, I love the arcade feeling it has. It is my most booted game so far in 2018, and that says a lot since the game was released only a few weeks before I wrote this…. three points to Mark Hindsbo, Saul Cross and Thomas Petersen.

– Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis (Icon64/Psytronik)
http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/97-atlantis

Trevor Storey is one of the best C64 game designers around, and probably the most productive one too. And with Stuart Collier and Saul Cross, they have once again shot bullseye with Rocky Memphis and the Legend Of Atlantis. Great atmosphere with good graphics and music. I love all the puzzle elements in this game, and the whole package is just tempting me back to play again and again. Two points to Trevor and his crew.

– Scuttle Butt 64 (Eweguo)

This is my humour! Karl Hornell’s game has all the toilet humour, one liner jokes and the perfect nostalgic feel you can wish for. Graphics are cartoonish and nice, music is simple but it doesn’t make the game worse, it just fits everything. And gameplay is funny, my kids laughed and I laughed and Wifey thinks we have no sense of good humour….one point to Karl Hornell.

Honourable Mentions:

2018 had so many great titles, and games like Pains’n’Aches , Steel Ranger and Sydney Hunter are all beautiful games that deserve to be mentioned here. But I have also rated the games after how much I have played them, and then the top 3 choice was easy to do…   

PS: I would also like to give a little attention to the game Tower Of Rubble 64 too. Graphics are simple, but animation is great, music is catchy and the gameplay… Gameplay is just wow!! I love small games like this! 

Merman

– Portal (Jamie Fuller/Del Seymour/Roy Widding)

Have your cake and eat it – a 2D version of the classic PC game, this retains the original’s sense of humour and is very well presented. The end sequence is spot on, with Jonathan Coulton’s Still Alive turned into a SID. The combination of mouse and keyboard controls may be unusual on the C64 but it works. It’s just a shame there are only 20 levels to beat – making the level designer accessible or a new set of levels would extend the longevity no end. 

– Space Moguls (Carl-Henrik Skårstedt/Protovision)
https://www.protovision.games/shop/product_info.php?products_id=229

Reaching back into the past has been a theme this year, and the classic strategy game MULE received an amazing tribute in the form of this new game. Presentation is outstanding, the computer AI makes a strong opponent and the multiple planets adds to the depth. The boxed edition from Protovision is very nicely put together too.

– Hunter’s Moon Remastered (Thalamus Digital Publishing)

Thalamus Digital sets off on a new mission in spectacular style. The fact that Martin Walker and Matt Gray have both been involved gives the project so much credibility, and the new Oli Frey artwork is beautiful. From the outstanding new intro (with the animation sequences looking so crisp) to the level editor, the whole package is worth every penny. And if the new stuff doesn’t appeal, the complete original 1987 version (a game I adored anyway) is in there too. Simply stunning.

 

Top 5 Placings:

– Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis (Icon64/Psytronik)

– Hunter’s Moon Remastered (Thalamus Digital Publishing)

– Space Moguls (Carl-Henrik Skårstedt/Protovision)

– Shadow Switcher (Dr. Wuro Industries)

– Hibernated 1: This Place is Death (Stefan Vogt/Pond), Exploding Fish (Megastyle), Aviator Arcade 2 (Arcane Productions/RGCD/Psytronik)

 

Unboxing a NIB IBM PC 5170 AT Built in 1988

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This is so damn mind blowing!

Who the hell keeps something unopened that they bought 30 years ago? While we pick up fragments of our blown mind off the floor, check out Clint from Lazy Game Reviews unbox and setup a brand new, factory sealed IBM PC 5170 AT that was built in 1988.


source: Lazy Game Reviews

[source story: laughingsquid]

 

 

Sam’s Journey on THEC64 Mini

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The greatest ever Commodore 64 platformer (yes, it is!), Sam’s Journey has now been tweaked to play natively on THEC64 Mini!

When C64 games publisher and our very good friends at Protovision gave us the news that they are working with Knights of Bytes to bring us a THEC64 Mini version of Sam’s Journey, we must admit, there were lots of high-fives around the office.

If you don’t know anything about Sam’s Journey, well, all you need to know is that it is an absolutely sublime platformer and one of the best games released for the C64 in the past decade.

So what’s different about this version you may ask? Well, this version permits the THEC64 Mini user to read and start the game from a USB stick, making the previous workarounds totally obsolete. THEC64 Mini version also allows the user to jump by means of the additional buttons where you previously had to use the “joystick up” move. Oh yeah, this version of Sam’s Journey also takes advantage of better loading routines (taking advantage of the latest THEC64 Mini firmware).

If you have THEC64 Mini, then this special version of Sam’s Journey is a must! The download package is available via Protovision as well as on itch.io. If you already own Sam’s Journey, then you are in luck, as this special version is available free of charge to you!

 

Making Of Reset C64 Intro

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By Andrew Burch

While immersed in Syntax 2015 and beginning work on an intro for Hokuto Force (which went on to be released as “Technic” shortly after), I was approached by a familiar face. Unkle K sat down and we had a great chat about family, the C64, my intros and naturally, the Reset magazine. During the chat, he asked if I was interested in doing an intro for Reset64. Given Reset is an Australian magazine and I loved the work they put into it, how could I refuse? Time passes too quickly these days and it would be another 9 months before I’d start to form the basis of the intro. But once started, it came together quickly over the following weeks and I was pleased to be involved in the Reset release with an intro and this write up to accompany it.

Rather than just put a bunch of things on screen, I like to focus on the design of my intros so the effects fit with the music and there is a smooth flow to the experience. Because I have so few SID contacts to help with the music, I begin most of my intros using sidplay2 and HVSC (High Voltage SID Collection) to look for existing tracks which I think I could design an intro around. Often I have an idea of how much memory I want to allocate to music, so this means I can focus on SID files of a certain size. I have a simple script that digs through the HVSC folders looking for SID files under (or between) a certain size and then copying them to a separate folder. I then create a play list from that folder in sidplay2 and explore for suitable tracks. This allows me to create a short list of music, which I will then listen to on repeat as I begin designing the flow of the intro. For this intro, I ended up settling on a track from ECO (Raik Picheta), which I had been wanting to create an intro around for quite a while. I’ve used a few of Raik’s tracks now and love what he creates.

My goal was to create the biggest (and hopefully best) Reset intro to date. I wanted the intro to be more than just a simple greets list, scroller and logo. This meant it had to have multiple parts instead of a single screen. The chosen music track suited a multi-part intro, so I was keen to flesh out something larger than the normal intro that accompanies each issue of Reset. Because this is a milestone release, the intro should celebrate the previous releases in some form and also acknowledge the Reset64 staff. A nice transition of some kind from the start screen to the intro is always a must for me and something I would incorporate into the intro. When designing the flow of the intro, I don’t necessarily know exactly how each part will appear on screen. Mainly, I focus on what each part will represent and build on that. With these few things in mind, and the music track selected, I came up with the flow to use:

  • Transition from BASIC to intro
  • Introduce Reset intro
  • Reset team credits
  • Show logo
  • Intro credits
  • Final part (continuous play)

With some design down for the intro, I now got cracking on writing the code. With every intro I’ve done, I always have multiple parts under development at the same time. I find it a good way to avoid getting stuck on a certain bit for too long and it also helps give an early idea on how well the implementation matches what I envisioned. Each part is developed within its own assembly file, which helps avoid working in large files. For some of the larger parts, I will even split them into smaller assembly files and code each sub effect first before bringing them together. For example, the final part which has a logo swing, cycling text, scroller and border sprites started life as four separate “effects” which were eventually brought together with their own transitions into a single assembly file, which then got merged into the final release file. I’ve found this method allows me to tweak and tune parts and their transitions easily before considering them complete and ready to move into the intro. It also makes it easier to sort out bugs before intro parts are merged together. An added bonus to this is it means I can quickly test each piece in both PAL and NTSC modes too. The final intro file will contain a small section at start up that detects NTSC mode (by peeking at the value in $02A6) and adjusts some variables & instructions to improve stability under that mode.

The assembly files won’t run themselves though and need to be compiled. My choice in compiler is win2c64 which was written by Aart Bik. There are more flexible cross assemblers around, but I found Aart’s to be very easy to use and haven’t had a reason to switch. For code writing I use Sublime Text 2 and a custom syntax colouring scheme I wrote (which I could not live without!). I make use of several common C64 cross development tools like Timanthes, CharPad, SpritePad, Sidplay2 and of course VICE.

Another tool I make use of is Beyond Compare 4, which is great not only for comparing source code changes, but also comparing images. I used this in the Reset intro where I had run the logo data through some conversion routines and wanted to make sure that the before and after output was the same. So before and after screen shots were taken from VICE and fed into Beyond Compare, which can then highlight pixels (bottom panel) where my conversion had faults.

A final piece of software I make frequent use of is Fraps. This tool allows me to capture the intro running in VICE to a video file for playback. This is extremely handy when graphical glitches occur on screen and you can then go back and watch them frame by frame to help diagnose the cause. This was used a few times on the Reset 10 intro where the transition code between parts had some conflict, which resulted in brief graphical glitch flashes and some cases where rasters were flickering. I often find the cause is usually raster interrupts fighting or a timing issue.

Along with the software mentioned, I also have a library of Lua scripts I have developed over the course of my C64 projects which are used to export and transform data into a state ready to be used in one of my assembly files. This includes things like data exporters for sprites, fonts, music, logos and scroller message formatting. There are some days where I spend more time tweaking and improving my tools than I do coding intro parts, simply because of the benefit they offer to the current and future projects. My choice in Lua is simply because, at the time I got back into C64 coding, I was working in the games industry on PS3 & X360 games and used Lua daily. So I found it quick and easy to get my early script library together. I’ve not yet had a reason to switch to something stronger.

I always like to see a transition in an intro from the start screen as I think it’s a nice presentation touch and starts the intro off nicely. For this intro I settled on fading each line of the screen to black (in a pattern), while leaving a nice bright RESET tag in the lower right corner. I use a colour table to ensure that the fade to black looks reasonable no matter what the colour ram, background and border colours are at the time the intro is run. It does however make an assumption the colour RAM is consistent across the screen. You’ll note that the border colour for each 8 pixel high character line also fades out with it, which requires raster interrupts all the way down the screen. It’s actually the same interrupt repeating all the way down, with each row containing its own indexes into the colour table. It’s a simple transition, but gets the intro off to a nice start and something I felt lacking in previous Reset intros.

With the transition done and the intro now starting, I wanted to include something that acted as an “intro to the release”. Reaching issue 10 is a nice milestone for Reset and something for Unkle K and the team to be proud of. I thought it might be good to look back at the previous releases, to see the important dates in their journey so far and then acknowledge their latest release date as part of that. There’s nothing too tricky in terms of code in this part, although originally the dates were not animated using the hardware scroll register. I added the animation to give the screen a little more life as each date fades in and out.

I wanted to dedicate a part of the intro to the team behind Reset who put it together for us to enjoy. It can be thought of as a shout out to the guys who “power” Reset64. This part went through a few design changes before the final was settled on. Originally it started a lot darker, with the scrolling text lit up using white and greys. The colour cycling was also intended to be more of a light source, circling around the text. The names were always going to glow in colour and it was hoped the darker background would put strong emphasis on the name. But the lack of colour felt dull and the “lighting” effect not as good as I imagined it would be. The light source was changed to cycling the colour RAM and brighter colours added. The scrolling “RESET64” text is achieved by rolling character data left and right, which is more efficient than using the hardware scroll and actually scrolling 12 lines of screen data. It leaves plenty of cycles free to scroll the colour ram instead. The top and bottom borders are also open, with sprites waving within. This is actually a really easy trick to perform, and requires you to switch the screen mode to 24 row mode just before the bottom border begins to render. This tricks the VIC into thinking the border is already being rendered, so it doesn’t bother starting it at raster line 250. You simply need to restore it to 25 rows somewhere in the next screen update (I usually do this as part of the frame set up in the top border).

The intro was really starting to come along at this point and I was in need of a logo. Unkle K put me in contact with Shine. This was excellent as I had been looking forward to working with him for a while. Because I wanted to swing the logo (along with bouncing it with Flexible Line Distance), I was keen for a 3 colour logo that could be converted to a character set. Keeping it at 3 colours means the colour RAM does not to be updated during the swing effect. This allows me to spend time doing other things on screen. However, this then places an annoying limit on any artist, but Shine did well to put together a logo (40×8 characters).

The logo arrived in the form of a bitmap, which I then wrote a conversion script for that converted it into unique character data and also a display matrix that could be used to render the characters to screen. This resulted in a set of 194 unique characters for the logo. Part of the conversion process was to also standardise the use of the character colour and the two multi colours. Because the logo started as a bitmap, the multi colours and character colours were not uniform across the logo. An inspection (and adjustment) of the bits for each character byte was done as part of the conversion to ensure the colours were standardised. Beyond Compare was very useful here to verify the output against the original and would highlight where bits had not been converted properly.

Although the logo would be bouncing and swinging across the screen, it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to give the logo a little more life and decided to add some animation to it. Getting another colour on the logo might be good too, so I added sprites that flash across the letters and Shines tag. I also decided to animate the stars that appear in the top left and right of the logo.

Next I thought about how I could introduce the logo onto the screen. When it appears in the final part of the intro, the logo will swing across onto screen – so that one is easy. But I want to introduce the logo earlier, right after the Reset team credits have been shown. There is a perfect part of the music where this can happen and from the first time I heard the track, I had a mental picture of a logo vertically scrolling up. I settled on using a small “trick” of the VIC hardware, which stops rendering colour and simply renders black if you have both multi-colour and extended colour modes enabled at the same time. Putting this together with a Flexible Line Distance effect, I could make the logo begin to appear from half way down the screen. This was then finished off by rendering a line which the logo could appear from, bounce on and then disappear behind again. You’ll notice in the final intro that the word “MAGAZINE” appears in the bottom half of the screen in a wave pattern. These are sprites and are not affected by the multi-colour + extended colour “trick”.

This trick was used again for the intro credits part, but this time it also hides sprites by having their colour set to black. This way the role and credit can appear from the line in different directions. One is hidden by multi-colour + extended colour being enabled and the other is simply sprite colour changing at a certain raster line. To make the sprites appear, their y position is simply updated. The text appears by again using FLD (Flexible Line Distance) to push the character data down.

With all these parts getting to their completed state, I was able to begin creating the “final” assembly file. This is where all the parts get merged together for the final release of the intro, which means I now need to think seriously about memory layout. For this sort of intro, memory size isn’t an issue – I’m not going to run out. But I’m forever conscious about what memory I’m using and where it makes sense to compress or optimise things. The code will start at $0810 and I’ll have exomizer prefix it with an auto run block on the final build. I’ll be using memory around $0b00 to $0fff for sprite data and some table data. Music will live at $1000 and the logo character set at $2800. The main 1×1 font will live at $3000 and is made up of 64 characters. The larger 1×2 font will live at $3200, followed by animated characters used in various parts. I know I’ll need to allocate a little more space for sprites based on my estimates, so will set aside some memory here for those too. I want all graphics data sitting before $4000 so I don’t have to think about bank swapping. I built in some buffers to each of the key areas to allow for change right up to the last minute. In the end those buffers will either compress right down using Exomizer, or I’ll juggle some data tables around to fill them. The rest is free for code and data tables. With that decided I create a new assembly file with the above memory mapped out, ready to start merging parts together.

Merging everything and their transitions together can be tedious work. It can also be rewarding as you see the intro finally coming together in its final form, but it can be slow going as you realise the transitions you’ve created don’t gel well with the previous part, which then requires some juggling. Or new bugs get introduced, which can be “fun” to hunt down. I’m also more mindful at this stage of memory alignment with certain code blocks and where some bits best fit together. As I bring each piece together I test both PAL and NTSC modes. This way I can see early on where there is flicker (usually in NTSC mode) and do my best to get both running well so by the time the intro is completely together there are minimal changes required to have it run under either mode.

At this stage the intro was really flying along, but I still need to code up the final part. The final part will remain on the screen until the system is rebooted. This screen will contain a few different effects, all happening at once. It’s probably one of the trickiest parts to get complete as you not only need to get each effect running, but they have to run side by side with everything else going on screen and everything needs to transition in smoothly. I manage this with some raster interrupt juggling as each effect transitions on screen until finally it just loops forever.

When designing this part, I knew it had to have the logo and it would swing and bounce (using FLD and the hardware scroll register). This would take up the first 10 rows of screen display. When using FLD to bounce the top section of the screen, you need a second FLD effect further down to balance it out. As the top FLD increases in height, the lower FLD decreases. That way the lower section of the screen remains stable all through the bounce.

In the bottom section of the screen I wanted to put the scroller and settled on a 4×4 scroller. Instead of taking up more memory with a new 4×4 font, I wanted to dynamically create a 4×4 version of the 1×1 font already in use. Creating a scroller like this isn’t too difficult (I’ve created a tutorial on my site www.0xc64.com for those that are interested). It requires 16 characters, which make up every combination of 2×2 pixel data. Then using a bit mask and some shifting as each 2×2 bit block is processed, the scroller code creates an index into those characters to build the required 4×4 version.

That left the middle of the screen empty to do something with. I thought it might be nice to show off what features would be appearing in the release. Originally this was just a blue background with colour cycling over the text. It felt too dull and as always I wanted to put more on screen. I ended up with a parallax starfield, which was split in the middle of the screen. This had stars rolling left on one side and right on the other, keeping the flow of the colour cycling on the text. Because the new issue would contain many features, I rotate through new features every so often. With the old feature being hidden with blue colour. The update code detects this and then begins to render the next feature while the colour ram and background colours match. This way the next feature smoothly transitions on to screen.

As a final touch for this part, I opened the top and bottom borders again and added some sprites with a subtle wave to give them some life. Once all the pieces of the final part were brought together (with their transitions), it was added to the final release file.

Quite often as parts evolve, I have to juggle where updates and transitions occur, as adding more things to the screen takes up more raster time. I use a simple method of changing the border colour using an inc and dec on $d020 to see roughly how many scan lines certain update / render routines are taking up. In the screen shot below for example, the final part has several interrupts performing update and rendering for various things going on in the frame. The big gap at the top is reserved for the music, frame prep and top border sprite set up. As you see down the screen, the border changes colours at certain spots, showing the rough start and end raster lines for different routines. Often these will increase and decrease depending on what code is executed in the update. Where I have routines that execute on alternating frames, I can combine these into 1 block to try and get more effects into each screen.

At this point, the intro was ready. The scroller text and feature text are placed right at the end of the intro, which makes them easy to update. I always put these sorts of things at the end since they are variable in length and I don’t want to have to shuffle code or data around if their length exceeds what I had allowed for.

Working on the intro for Reset was a great experience. It came out better than I had planned and certainly hope everyone can enjoy it. Congratulations to Reset for reaching 10 releases and let’s hope there are many more to come.
One part that you’ll never see in the intro is this one. Originally it was going to form the basis of the final continuous play part of the intro. A parallax star field, with a huge vertical logo on the right. It was intended the logo be made of multi-colour sprites, which could be moved around separate to the starfield. Text would be displayed on the right, acting as the scroller. It was ditched as I wanted to do far more on the screen and felt limited by the design. The white lines at the bottom is the raster time the star field animation is taking up.

Pre-order the latest issue of RESET C64 right now from Binary Zone!

 

Neohabitat Reawakens Lucasfilm’s First MMORPG

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It seems that we may have been living under a rock all this time! We are the first to admit that we aren’t massive fans of adventure or RPG style games, but when the C64 is involved, we always sit up and take note!

Now cast your mind back to 1986 when Lucasfilm Games (LucasArts) began previewing their new online game Habitat (developed a year earlier) in magazines of the time. If you are lucky enough to remember, you’d recall that the game looked bloody amazing, a cross between an adventure game and something akin to an online chat room. If your recollections are a bit fuzzy, then think of a multiplayer SCUMM game before Lucasfilm were anywhere near releasing Maniac Mansion! Then, the game went into a closed beta and didn’t see the light of day till 1988, when it was scaled back as Club Caribe. Ah, you would be forgiven in thinking that the game was lost to the sands of time. But wait, there is a new ending to this story.

Before we get swept away by the nostalgic tide, let us give you the good news – Neohabitat have reawakened the original Lucasfilm Habitat server, which is now available for anyone and everyone to play online – for free! How awesome is that! It will feel familiar to those accustomed to the SCUMM-like interface, complete with cross hairs with a modern twist, which ain’t a bad thing at all.

Who would have thought that we’d be playing an MMORPG in 2017 that was made over three decades ago! It is indeed a great time to be a retro gamer!

source: Bobby Blackwolf on YouTube

Concept art for the box cover of Lucasfilm’s Habitat game. Source: Wikipedia

 

Atari ST: Accidental Musical Workhorse

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Atari STIt became the music sequencing tool of choice for countless musicians, almost completely by chance. The Atari ST, Atari’s 16-bit successor to their long running 8-bit computer range, was launched almost 32 years ago, and Dr. Steve “Heartbleed” Bagley shows us his own extensive collection!


source: Computerphile on YouTube

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msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

 

 

MAX: The Forgotten Commodore Computer

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commodoremax_headerWe take a closer look at the long forgotten Commodore computer, the MAX MACHINE. Step back in time and take a look at this pretty little thing in the below pics!

Before you do go wandering down below to check out the MAX, let’s just pause and reflect on this Japanese made Commodore computer that never really got any market traction. The Commodore MAX Machine (aka: Ultimax in the US and VC-10 in Germany) was a home micro computer designed and sold by Commodore International in Japan at the beginning of 1982. It was the C64’s predecessor, and hence it was swiftly discontinued when the Commodore 64 went gangbusters! Due to it’s low production run, it is now considered a rarity.

The MAX did share the same CPU (MOS 6510) and SID (sound) chip as the C64, but that is where the similarities stop. With only 2KB of RAM, the MAX Machine was severly handicapped when compared to it’s bigger and more successful brother. One saving grace of the MAX was its ROM cartridges – they worked on the C64, and it also paved the way to the ‘freezer’ carts (like the Action Replay) due to the MAX compatibility mode that was built into the C64.

For those technically minded, here are the specs to whet your MAX appetite:

Operating system: MAX BASIC (Cartridge), 2047 bytes to program in, LOAD/SAVE support
CPU: MOS Technology 6510 @ 1.02 MHz
Memory: 2.0 KB, 0.5 KB color RAM
Graphics: VIC-II 6566 (320 x 200, 16 colors, sprites, PETSCII keyset)
Sound: 3 / 4 channel 6581 “SID” chip
Ports: expansion port (cartridge), RF/TV port, audio port, cassette port, 2 joystick ports

The MAX♦Machine bundle!

Nothing too exciting on this side of the box!

The back of the box reveals something out of this world!

Not to be outdone, the sides are look lovely!

Not sure about those keys, but it’s still beautiful

Taking closer look at the membrane keyboard…

The MAX does have a few interfaces to insert bits into them!

Not matter which way you look at it, the MAX Machine has gorgeous curves

Aha, so the model reveals itself, it’s the MAX-04!

Even the MAX requires power! Oh, and it’s all RF baby!

No gaming computer is complete without a killer game! 

Hook us up to the MAX!
image source: eBay


Awww – A Tiny Commodore PET

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pet-2 Follow this Adafruit tutorial and you can have your very own 3D printed mini replica of the iconic Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) computer.

pet-1


Video source: Adafruit Industries on YouTube

Source: Adafruit via Laughing Squid

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

 

 

Reset Podcast Episode 01: The Hewson Episode

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reset_podcast_eps1_hdrIf you have ever wondered what shenanigans go on behind the scenes in creating a retro computing magazine, then you are in luck! For those of you in the know, the Reset magazine crew got together for the inaugural podcast of the same name to chat about the making of Reset issue (it was the Hewson Consultants theme issue).

If you weren’t in the know, now you know! Listen in and make sure you grab the issue for free over here!


source: Reset on Soundcloud