A little more work done on the arcade machine this afternoon, a lot of Easter eggs consumed and a chill out session with footage from Revision 2013.
In particular, the old school demo competition has once again produced some amazing sequences on the early 8-bits like the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MSX and a great demo on the Ammy CPC as well as some dizzy 16-bit escapades on the Amiga and ST.
More heavy snow showers here at the moment and it’s certainly not looking very spring like out there. A quick dash out to refill the bird tables is about as much time I want to be out there this morning. It’ll be much better to stay indoors with mug O coffee and my C64 whilst I await another heating engineer.
Time for something a bit summery I think and a game which just radiates heat.
Outrun is summer, whenever I play on Mame and I think back to summer holidays spent along the coastline and the many arcades halls we used to hang around in over there . The smell of sea air mixed with fried fish, chips, hot donuts and ice creams, deep blue skies and hot bright sunshine glinting of mirror and bezel glass. Neon, chrome, the noise of a hundred arcade cabinets, the flashing lights, the awful carpets (is this the same in arcade halls around the world?), that familiar red car and the sweet sound of Magical Shower drifting over the din. The snow is melting already!
When the home conversions started to appear in 1987 I eagerly brought a copy for my C64. It wasn’t exactly arcade perfect of course but it was a damn fine conversion that was complete with two (of the original three) signature tunes playing out beautifully via C64 ‘s SID chip. Alternative, an audio tape edition of the original arcade music was also included for playback on your Walkman.
The only problem I had with the C64 version is that I didn’t have a disk drive at the time and therefore had to rely on the very slow loading tape edition. Because of this, track routes A thru to E had to be loaded as individual games. So for example, if you wanted to drive route C, you had to fast forward the tape to a certain position and load from there – none of that fancy picking of route as you drive along.
These days I’ll load the floppy edition from my SD2iEC but until recently I had no idea that there was actually two version of the same game released for the C64. One was released in the US and the other over here and the rest of Europe I guess? I happened across it whilst browsing around on CSDB and found a collection of arcade releases by Nostalgia that had been grouped together into EasyFlash cartridge images.
Compilation #3
Each title contains a number of cheats/modifications, allows high score saving to the cartridge and well as backup to disk image. Of course, having the games run from cartridge also cuts the loading time to practically seconds…perfect for Outrun.
Being in .crt format you can play these releases using a C64 emulator such as Vice, but if you want to play them on a real C64, you’ll need to get yourself an EasyFlash Cartridge.
I picked mine up from eBay a few years ago <see previous blog post <http://stiggyblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/commodore-64-easyflash-cartridge-and-jiffydos-rom/>and you can still find them pretty easily on there either assembled or, if you fancy a spot of fun, in kit form.
Immediately, you can see that the Ferrari and background is slightly difference between the US and European versions.
European version.
A nicely drawn rendition of the Ferrari although not much use of colour on the driver and girlfriend . Loving those cotton wool clouds just like the in the arcade though.
USA version.
A new car and some rougher looking clouds.
Other than that, there’s little to tell the difference between the two – The track palette have been swapped around a little and i find that the US version is slightly easier to complete (or that the stages are shorter?)…all i know is that I’m completing the US version more times that the EU version.
Brunette (EU)….
….or Blonde (US)?
And as far as I can tell, the SID tunes are the same as well although I’d probably need to run these through SIDplay to be 100% sure.
Either way, Outrun on C64 Cartridge is a bags of run especially with ultra fast loading time. There’s also a a track selection screen too.
Brr, it still looks cold out there, but in here its summer again….although the illusion helps when you’ve got a toastie warm C64 power supply next to you!
Edge magazine has posted a fantastic article about the making Dropzone and contains an interview with the games creator, Archer Maclean.
I’ve always enjoyed Dropzone on the c64. For me, it’s a tough game requiring cat like reflexes and the skill to smack that space bar in an instance for that life saving smart bomb – although as a kid I’d use my foot leaving my hands free on the joystick/button. On the Atari 800 this game rocks!
Take a look at the II Roberto’s Flickr gallery contains some great images of Commodore machines inside and out as well as many other older games consoles.
Am loving the C64 Silver Sticker set (one day, you shall be mine!)
Of all the mobile games that’s kept me occupied during downtime moments whilst on holiday it’s these three games from veteran coder Jeff Minter of Llamasoft. All three are incredibly addictive, easy to pick up and play, button bashing arcade games that are lavished with retro style graphics and sound effects and contain multiple control configurations that simply work so well.
Have all of these ingredients in a mobile game and I’d buy it, inject a healthily dose of the Minter-ism, with it’s wacky humour and pure bizarreness and it’s a sure winner.
Goat Up
A truly bizarre title that see’s you running and jumping from platform to platform grazing on the grass, getting fat and multiplying, collecting all manner of random bonus items and kissing goats. Yup, kissing goats gives you a nice scoring bonus as weird as it might seem. Welcome to Llamasoft!
Loving the references to iconic gaming sprites like the robots from Berzerk, the Amiga Boing ball, Mutant Camels and the themed levels that pay tribute to classics 8-bit games like Manic Miner and Bounty Bob and Jet Set Willy.
As you jump up from level to level, the screen scrolls down with the bottom most levels disappearing. You have to keep your goat constantly on the move and jumping up to avoid dropping of the bottom of the screen. It makes for one intense game and you’ll be back time and time again to see if you can progress a little bit further.
Caverns of Minos
This games takes inspiration from a couple of classic games such as Thrust, Scramble and Caverns of Mars and adds amongst others sheep motherships, underpants and minotaurs – yes my blog is usually prone to the odd typo but believe me, all these items are actually in the game.
Guide your craft down into the cavern to retrieve an item for you mother sheep. Along the way you can pick up hitch hiking minotaurs for bonus points and destroy fuel pods to keep your ever depleting fuel from running out. Those cavern walls can be quite tricky to navigate at the best of times and impacts will reduce your limited shields, throw in alien craft, rockets and farting SAM sites into the mix makes your journey even more precarious.
This is one tough game and at times can be a tad frustrating sometimes. Practise and mastery of the sensitive controls are the order of the day.
Gridrunner.
Jeff once stated that he wasn’t going to churn out unoriginal ports of his own early games if he couldn’t bring anything new to the game especially as folk could pretty much play the originals via emulation. Well I’ll always love the originals (especially the chunky VIC-20 version) but this new remake is one superb shooter of a game. In fact, even if you haven’t played the original Gridrunner or indeed haven’t even heard of Llamasoft, get Gridrunner, you won’t be disappointed.
Gridrunner take inspiration from Centipede where the object is the same as the arcade classic, blast away the enemy craft which snakes down from the top of the screen. Gridrunner adds two laser cannons that patrols the left and top of the screen that both fire at random or if you cross their path.
The gameplay has been tweaked, enemy objects and bullets on screen have been increased giving plenty of those ‘bullet hell’ moments us Schmup fans love. Weapon upgrades have been added too, including some ‘right back-atcha screen filling cannons’ 
I was playing Gridrunner the other day in my iCade (all three of these games support the iCade) and moved the screen from portrait to landscape mode. What a great surprise!
All three games are a worthy edition to you iOS gaming collection and if your a gamer of old, will love the vintage gaming references contained within. I would love to know how he mirrored that classic Atari speech at the beginning of Caverns of Minos…thought I was back on Gauntlet for a second there!
Here’s a great review of the equally great, c64 remake of Canabalt, written by the one and only Jaz Rignall….and for those that read it in the 80′s, it’s written in the style of a Zzap64 magazine review.
- old print makeover with Pixlromatic.
Hi Jason, I’ve a go at trying to get Activision’s Labyrinth to run under emulation on my iPad with a certain amount of success.
The problem I have is that there are two .d64 images at part of the game file. Each .d64 image represents side A and side B of the original floppy disk. I’m not sure if Manomio’s C64 emulator supports disk swapping so I will need to investigate this a little further…or locate/produce a .tap image.
Using Side A.d64 I’ve created a plist file and imported/resized the cover art and copied over to my iPad.
So far so good.
Trying to load the image and……hmm…file not found.
I’ve seen this before and its something to do with the first .prg file contained within the .d64 image is not named as the file in the what’s in the config file.
So, to get around this, I usually load the game manually by typing the game file name….or at least the first few letters and add the ‘*’ switch.
For example I’ve typed – LOAD “lab*” ,8,1
Then typed – RUN
Yay, it loads.
However, with no way of swapping the disk to the other image, the emulator can’t complete the load 
That’s about as far as I’ve got with it so far. Will seek guidance from the forums to see if anyone can shed any light on the problem.
I had planned on being outside and at the top of a ladder this afternoon doing a few maintenance jobs that need my attention but heavy rain had soon put a stop to that…..oh no, I thought 
So back indoors, warm and with a giant mug ‘O coffee, i’ve been trying out a collection of classic C64 multi sports games that have been converted to cartridge format.
Games included are -
California Games
Summer Games
Winter Games
Games, Winter edition
World Games
The beauty of this collection is that each event is available as a stand alone game and accessible via a handy-dandy frontend menu. It’s great for mixing up the events and creating new Olympic style competitions….Gives me an idea for the next RCM meetup!
Commodore 64 on, with EasyFlash cartridge and SD2iec adaptor connected.
The cartridge (.crt) image is copied from my PC to the SD card and then inserted into the SD2iec adaptor.
It’s then transferred over to the cartridge via Easy Prog.
One completed, boot the cartridge and hey presto.
Here’s me having a play around with it – Charlie StiGGy don’t surf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vZwKWQM0cU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I did manage to catch the frisbee though!
Sadly, the link to download the collection appears to be down so feel free to request via the comments and I’ll email you a copy.
Here’s the link anyway, just in case it comes back online.
Phew, I’m still ploughing my way through the latest issue of Retro Gamer Magazine (issue 99) and up pops this on Retro Gamer Daz’s YouTube page.
ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 30th Anniversary Bookazine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xHvTxoIJ9M&feature=youtube_gdata_player
O.k, so it just reprints of selected Speccy and C64 articles from Retro Gamer magazine issues 1-98 and although I own all of these, it’s kinda nice to have them grouped together in one volume. I’m not a huge fan of reprinted magazine anthologies (unless I don’t own the originals) but I think, as a huge fan of both systems, I’m going to pick this one up…especially at £9.99 for all this great content.
https://www.imagineshop.co.uk/bookazines/the-zx-spectrum-commodore-64-book.html
It’s hard to believe this game dates back to 1983, was produced by Commodore and yet isn’t one I’ve ever encountered before. I’d probably have missed this little gem of a game altogether if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s forms part of the game package for Manomio’s Commdore C64 emulator app for IOS devices.
Researching this game online didn’t bring up much so if anyone has any further information I’d love to hear from you…was this released in cartridge form?
The plot…well it seems a ship has sunk in a storm leaving all the crew and their pet wooley mammoth named ‘Geoff’ stranded in the Arctic. Thankfully a family of floating icebergs happens to be wandering by so all hands make a beeline for them….probably..again, i have no info about this game so i’ll just have to make it up as i go along. Besides, Geoff is as good a name as any don’t you I think?
These icebergs are a bit unstable what with all that Artic crosswind and it threatens to tip the crew over the side and into the icy sea. It’s Geoff to the rescue and you must use your mammoth weight to counterbalance the dipping iceberg long enough to keep the crew safe until the rescue ship arrives.
Go go Geoff. They’ll be saved when the ship on the right reaches the left hand side.
…and if you didn’t have enough troubles, there’s a pesky giant bird (possibly called Gordon) who’s in the area looking for a tasty man sized snack and will carry carry off a crew member (with fries) unless you scare it away.
Arctic Shipwreck is such a simple and fun game that plays very well of the C64 and transfers well to mobile gaming. If only there was a touchscreen or tilt based remake available….unless there already is and i’m missing it?
If you have a compatible web browser, you can also play Artic Shipwreck online at -
http://c64s.com/game/132/arctic_shipwreck/
Yay, the crew is safe, three cheers for Geoff!
Since removing the soldered kernel chip on my Commodore 64c I’ve been attempting, and sadly failing, to remove the residue solder from the chip holes on the PCB which has stopped me from fitting a new IC socket and JiffyDOS rom.
I have JiffyDOS installed in my other breadbin C64 and coupled with the sd2iec interface makes for a fantastic high speed, high capacity storage device. However, i find that the model ‘C’ is a much nicer keyboard to type on during prolonged sessions compared to the original c64 and so with a replacement kernel chip supplied by my friend Jon, it’s an upgrade I’ve been itching to see completed.
Ideally I need to get a better iron and thanks to a visit from Jon and his wonderful gifts I now have an adjustable iron and desolder station. Can’t thank you enough!
Watching a pro at work in my makeshift workshop-kitchen Jon had the old solder removed, IC in and kernel chip prepped.
I also had a JiffyDOS rom for my VC-20 to install but went for the easy option with another VC that has a socketed chip. Here’s both of my VC’s side by side. One socketed, the other soldered.
Jon’s super-duper 28-26 pin adaptor and kernel switch.
Here me giving it a quick test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm-JuM4k36E&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Just got my Plus/4 to do next..it’s socketed but think I’ll have a go myself.
Thanks again Jon!
If, like myself, you’ve been playing around with the C64 SID chip emulation on the VIC-20 (see previous post), you might be interested to read this interview with it’s author Alexi Eeben reprinted way way way back in Commodore Free magazine #4.
It explains in detail how the emulation works and is a very interesting read as is the rest of this long running fanzine.
Here’s the link –
http://www.commodorefree.com/magazine/vol1/commodore_free_issue_4.pdf
Here’s a rather interesting project I was reading about on the Denial Vic-20 forums. It’s a Commodore 64 SID convertor written for the VIC-20 which uses Aleksi Eeben’s SID emulator. It’s still a WIP, but the author, Kananga, has release a selection of converted C64 SID files for playback on a VIC-20!
You can run them under emulator with VICE64 but I was keen to run them on an actual VIC so I copied the files to my SD2IEC and let my VIC/VC-20 sing just like it’s big brother c64.
You can read all about it download the sample files here – http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5586
…and here’s a quick video of me messing around with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dMM4MqGuqU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Can’t wait for the finished thing, would be great to get Crazy Comets playing on a VIC.
Well tonight, I thought, I’ve got a bit of free time to install the first of two JiffyDOS roms for my Commodore 64′s. The first, would be installed in my beloved ‘breadbin’ c64 which requires a special 28-24 pin adaptor which I received yesterday from Jon – see post http://stiggyblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/dual-booting-jiffydos-for-classic-c64/ )
Now this particular computer is very dear to me as it’s my very first C64 that I’ve owned since the early eighties and has provided countless hours of fun over the past 30 odd years. As you can image, i was a little nervous working on it and not wanting to stuff this one up.
After work I dropped by my local Maplins store and picked up a couple of two-way toggle switches for each C64. With these attached to the new rom chip, I’ll be able to flip between original and JiffyDOS kernels.
Lid off, keyboard and power LED header disconnected….kettle on.
I found this rather handy JiffyDOS manual (.pdf) and had it to hand loaded in iBooks on my iPad. Tablets are great!
With the correct ROM chip identified for removal, I carefully (yep sweating a lot now) removed it with an IC removal tool. Surprisingly, it popped out without too much of a fight.
Next I dremelled out a small hole in the side of the c64 case to house the new toggle switch and also soldered the JiffyDOS fly leads to said toggle switch.
Lining up the JiffyDOS rom chip pins over the IC socket, checking Jon’s notes to see which way around it went and popped it into place.
I’ve left the fly leads loose inside the c64 case for the time being, and if all is o.k will wrap these into a neat line later on.
Everything put back together and ready for testing, and the original rom chip wrapped up in my spares box.
I won’t say how long I had my finger poised over the c64 on button
Woo hoo, all is working and testing shows everything is good…I hope?
I was playing Flimbo’s Quest via my SD2IEC yesterday evening so i thought I’d try it again with JiffyDOS installed. Whoa, it’s quick. I’m guessing here, but I’d estimate approx 300 – 400% quicker to load.
So that’s my older breadbin C64 completed, next is my late model C64c. This has the rom chip soldered directly onto the pcb board so removal isn’t as easy this time around. I’ve already had one attempt at desoldering it, but so far no luck. I’ll keep trying and as a last resort will cut away the chip and desoldering the remaining chip legs.
Huge thanks once again to you Jon.
##edit – thanks to my friend on Facebook for pointing out that something appeared to wrong. If you look back at the picture above the amount of free bytes is wrong, it’s missing about 25k. Strangely enough, it rectified itself and is back to the expected 38911 free bytes.
Weird!
When I got back home from work not one, not even two…but three parcels had arrived for me. Christmas has arrived early as each little package contained a new toy to spruce up my rediscovered Commodore 64 (well two and the other for my other c64).
Here they are -
From all the way from the US, we have a homemade EasyFlash cartridge.
A new composite A/V cable.
…and from my good friend and fellow RCM-er Jon(http://www.jammarcade.net/) a JiffyDOS rom complete with dual boot toggle switch. I Hope you’re enjoying the sunshine on holiday Jon, you’re not missing much weather wise back here!
The new A/V cable provides a huge difference in picture quality than the standard RF cable and on my desktop LCD TV it looks fantastic. This cable is also compatible with the my other Commodore computers too.
I’ve been looking forward to getting hold of an EasyFlash cartridge since the release of the new Prince of Persia release just a few weeks ago because so far, this is the only device that allows it to be played on a real C64.
The EasyFlash cartridge is a flash storage cartridge for the C64. With this cartridge I can store multiple C64 cartridge games, tools and utilities and have them load almost within an instance. It also supports .prg files as well so even non cartridge based games can be installed too and with 1mb of flash storage there’s plenty of room for quite a few files.
I’ve since, swapped out the Australian slim style casing that has housed my C64 for many years and have now restored it to it’s former glory with a classic original ‘bread bin’ case. Much, much better in my opinion.
I’ll be taking a closer look inside the EasyFlash cart and posting how it all works in another post, but here’s a few pictures taken during this initial test.
Well, at least after all these years the cartridge port still functions!
Writing the cartridge game file using Easy Prog running on the c64 loaded via my SD2IEC.
Easy Prog
Once completed, switch on the cartridge and hit the built in reset switch – which is also rather handy as it can be used as a regular reset switch.
Yay!
I may be some time….60 minutes to be exact
Moving on to the JiffyDOS Rom, once this is installed, it will dramatically increase disk loading times when using my SD2IEC (including file transfer to the Easyflash cart) and Jon has kindly installed a toggle switch so that I can turn off this feature when loading software from tape. This particular chip is for my other (model C) C64 and look forward to seeing Jon’s custom made JiffyDOS adaptor for my original C64 in the near future.
I’m aiming to have the ROM installed this weekend….that’s once I’ve put my C64c back together again (currently in the process of cleaning/RetroBriting).
I’ll be back with more on these new toys (and hopefully better daytime photos) over the next few days.
