Before I owned a Commodore 64, I had a Commodore VIC-20.  Like the C64 and other 80's computer and console gaming icons, it was an 8-bit computer.  But it was released in 1980, and back then just a year or two made for technological leaps and bounds in the home computing market.  Compared to the C64 it was underpowered and quickly eclipsed in popularity after the 64's launch, but while it dominated the market for a few years it was a great little computer, and the C64 owes much of its success to the very successful earlier launch of the VIC-20.  It was the first home computer to break the 1,000,000 unit sales barrier, after all.  The original C64 "breadbox" even shares its case design with the VIC, distinguished only by darker colored plastic and a "64" badge.

If you've followed my blog here for some time you'll know that I generally use the Vice emulator to enjoy C64 programs.  Well, in the same package is an "xvic" executable that kicks off the VIC-20 emulation program that works very similarly - and you can follow my emulation how-to guides because there's very little difference in how emulation between the two systems works.  From what I've seen around the web there is not as much of an organized rabid fanbase for VIC-20 games as for the C64 (the VIC-20 did not have a great sound chip, and that's at least part of the C64's enduring popularity with the remix and demo scene), but VIC-20 fandom does exist in smaller doses on sites such as Denial.

Real productivity work was difficult given the limitations of a VIC-20 without a memory expansion cartridge.  It came from the factory with only 5KB of memory, and 1.5 of that was used for system resources!  Typed characters were wide and large on a screen with far lower resolution graphics than a C64.  WYSIWYG word processing was only a dream with 22 columns for characters on a screen, but word processing was still possible with programs like SpeedScript.   

There were some applications and games, however, that worked well within the limitations of the computer.  Text adventures such as the classic "Adventureland" and others by Scott Adams were quite enjoyable in their day, and action games like Omega Race, Tooth Invaders and Pharaoh's Curse made for surprisingly fun, fast-paced gameplay.  Compared to an Atari 2600, the VIC-20 games were great and often required an element of thinking beyond "twitch" arcade gaming.

I mention the VIC-20 here because I'm going to do a few reviews and articles related to the VIC-20 over the next few weeks, and I may have a surprise or two.

I highly recommend the fantastic and rather funny 10 minute video review for the VIC-20 below:

        

A couple of months ago I held a Holiday Remixing Contest and offered a prize to the winner.  It's been a long time coming, but I'm happy to announce the winner of the contest, Glen McNamee of Middlesbrough , England!  Known on the Remix64.com boards as C64GLeN, Glen chose the original SID chiptune from the Broderbund game Spelunker to remix.  He was the only entrant this time around, so the prize goes to him for his effort on a great little tune!

You can listen to the original SID tune from the Commodore 64 game (and pick up the game files from the "Latif" link) HERE.  Click on the notes near the bottom to play the song in your browser as it sounded on the C64.

Glen's remix of the song can be enjoyed and played directly at his Sound Cloud site.  If you like it, be sure to check out his "Crappy Remixes" (haha!) blog for more like it!  C64Glen's Crappy c64 Remixes  (yes, that's the real name of the blog)

He had these tips on making remixes like the Spelunker in 15 minutes for those of you who might be new to the game and might want to take a stab at the next contest:

"Load SID2MIDI, convert SID to MIDI
Open FLstudio (or similar program), import MIDI.
Change MIDI instruments to closest match in FLstudio
Save MP3, Hey presto, an off-key 15 minute remix!"

He chose the Defender of the Crown Remake as his prize.

        

Never thought I'd make it to my tenth podcast at this site?  Well here it is, and I have more "live play / discussion" walkabouts like this planned.  Click the "play" button below to listen or download the target and save for future listening.  Don't forget to subscribe at iTunes if you haven't done so already!

For more information about Laser Squad and where to get the files to play, please see my previous article on Laser Squad here: C64 Walkabout game spotlight: Laser Squad

For tips on how to download and run a C64 Emulator, go HERE

Enjoy!

Played: 636 | Download | Duration: 00:32:32

        

As a new addition to the C64 Walkabout I'll be introducing Commodore 64 game fiction!  These are the stories that added flavor to the accompanying programs on disk or tape that might have had very little text or description of such details in the games themselves.

These can be enjoyed stand-alone, or perhaps they'll inspire you to play the games themselves.  I'll provide links to where you can find the game files at the end of each "story".

This time up is Mastertronic's Black Crystal, from 1985:

BLACK CRYSTAL

Two to breach the barriers of Evil.

Four to hold them well.

Five together call the sixth.

Six the force of fire to quell.

Sings he now the hero brave.

Seven found.

Fought and won,

Seven shall vanquish,

Seven as one.

A brilliant apparition appears before you it is one of the seven great Lords of Light. He speaks:

“Before creation there existed a single sphere of energy floating in a vast timeless void. Within this sphere developed on intelligence that was alone and without purpose. It set itself a task to forge the ring of creation but in so doing it created on imbalance. The sphere split asunder and the intelligence was parted into two egos, good and evil.

Evil corrupted the ring and used it to give birth to seven angels of darkness. The Lords of Chaos. To lessen the corruption of the great ring the power of light separated into seven rings. To wield the power of the rings seven Lords of Light were born. They took the rings and with them created worlds, and on those worlds were sown the seeds of life. Evil followed creating its own bizarre life forms. On the planer of the first born, the planet Earth, the Lords of Chaos built a fortress named Ny’ Ugol. To men it was known as the Towers of Dread. Within its dark walls evil rook upon a form. It fed on hatred and fear, its shadow growing until it filled the fortress.None could withstand its power and both men and elves were enslaved.

Their task of creation completed. The Lords of Light returned to Earth and there met in battle with the Lords of Chaos. The dark Lords and their evil force were driven back into Ny’Ugol. Together, the Lords of Light removed their rings and hurled them at the fortress.An explosion followed that threw mountains asunder and created a valley that concealed the rings. The Lords of Chaos were banished beyond our universe and for a thousand years peace prevailed upon the Earth.

The valley was named Beroth by the elves. The land was gifted with the most fertile soil on Earth but the memory of Evil was etched into Elfin people’s hearts and none would settle there. Man was less sensitive and Beroth became the richest of his Kingdoms.

It was famous as a place of learning and the council of the wise met regularly in the great hall of Monmouth. Within the royal castle.In their keeping the council held five of the rings of creation The sixth ring. The ring of time, was wedged in solid rock deep within an underground labyrinth. It was found by the leader of the Shaggoths,creatures brought to earth by the Lords of Chaos to fight in the battle of the Angels. He promptly claimed it as his and declared himself King Shaggoth, and holds the labyrinth as his Kingdom to this day. The seventh ring, The Ring of Fire, was worn by Mendos' eighth King of Beroth.

Gora was twelve years of age when the Shadow returned to Beroth. He was apprentice to the Wizard Nemor, supreme councilor of the wise.Gora befriended Prince Tobias, son of Mendos and heir to the throne of Beroth Tobias desired the knowledge that Gora had been taught.

He approached the council and requested entrance to the Brother-hood of Wizards but Nemor looked into his heart and saw that it was filled with a lust for power. Rejected. Tobias turned to Gora for help.

Gora borrowed for him ancient books and manuscripts that held dark secrets which he knew nothing of. But soon Tobias tired of the weak magic that Gora could reach him and he experimented with ancient spells. One evening, as all creation slept an unnatural sleep. He conjured to himself the Fire Demon. It taught him a formula that promised power and knowledge even the wise did not understand Tobias,blinded against the dangers of meddling in the black arts, used the formula. It created for him a small crystal of concentrated evil.Tobias mode sacrifices of small animals to it and the crystal began to grow. Little time passed before the crystal was large enough to influence the Prince’s thoughts and movements Like a puppet. Under the cover of darkness, Tobias crept up to his father s bedside and thrust his dagger deep into the old King’s heart.

The crystal grew. With the crowning of Tobias evil had indirectly gained control over Beroth and the ring of fire. Soon the crystal’s influence was so widespread that it controlled most of the population of the castle.

Foreseeing the danger Nemor summoned Gora to a meeting of the council and presented him with one of the rings of creation. To each of four riders awaiting in the courtyard, Nemor gave also a ring and the instructions to ride in different directions and take the rings from this land. To Gora he bade farewell and departed with the rest of his order.

Tearfully Gora mounted his horse and fled the castle It was a day’s ride to the mountains in The south and once there Gora thought he would be safe but Nemor had not known the rings of creation call to each other and can only be separated by a small distance in the hands of men. None of the rings could leave Beroth without the others.

Gora turned and headed home but the roads to the castle had already become dangerous. Armies of Trolls patrolled the roads killing and eating unwary travelers. Gora was forced to turn east to dispose of his ring in the swamp. The fate of the other riders was never known but one thing was sure, none of the rings ever left the valley.

The ring of fire was presented to the Fire Demon by Tobias and a Temple built in his honor. A great tower was built to house the Black Crystal and through the centuries it grew in strength. Prince Tobias and his followers lost their mortal bodies but their shadows still inhabit The castle and haunt the cursed land.

After leaving Beroth, Gora moved North to the palace of the Wizard of the of the ice mountain. There he completed his Training and set upon a quest to find a weakness in the Black Crystal of evil. For five centuries he shrugged off age and wondered dark pathways seldom trod by mortal men.

Finally his travels rook him to the Citadels of Mars where engraved in runes on a diamond wall he found the tale of Creation and the War of Angels He also found that which I Tell you now and I bid you pay heed to what I say.

The rings of creation when placed in precise location around the force of evil will banish it from our universe. Gora awaits you, go now.”

Black Crystal Game File ("Latif" link after the jump)

Game Play Instructions / Manual

        

Hello again fellow Commodore 64 fans.  I figured to get into the holiday spirit I might try to add to the holiday spirit by having a little contest here and offering a gift to the winner.

Perhaps I'll even give away multiple prizes if the entries are good enough!

The rules:  Let me know in the comments here that you're going to give it a go.  Then make a remix of one of the songs (SID tracks) listed below, and upload to Remix.Kwed.Org.  The rules for uploading can be found HERE.  The remixer who gets the best rating for his/her remix in its first week (7 days) at RKO will be able to choose from one of the games listed here (they allow "gifting" of downloads, so no hassles with shipping, etc. - should be good for anyone who can provide me with an E-mail address):

The prizes (choose 1):
Defender of the Crown
Empires and Dungeons
Gold Miner Vegas

You might notice an old school C64 theme there with the games.  It's intentional! 

If you have a Mac, Westward III: Gold Rush can be substituted.

Tentatively the deadline is January 1st, 2010, but if you have a work in progress to share I may extend the deadline, depending on how many entries there are.  If there are no entries (*sniffle*) then by 1/1/10 I'll call it off. 

If you want to polish your song up a bit or are not confident in uploading to RKO yet by the deadline, then you can submit the song to...me!  And I'll judge the winner.  But ultimately I'd prefer it go up on RKO for all to enjoy.

Most of the SID tunes can be found already converted into MIDI format HERE - see my previous post SID 2 MIDI - And a little present for the holidays

To find the original SIDs, use SID Find.

The tunes (subtune 1 unless otherwise noted):

Adventure Construction Set, Subtunes 1 and/or 2.
Below the Root
Mail Order Monsters, Subtunes 1 and 2
Realm of Impossibility
Spelunker
Winter Holidays (just threw this one in for the season!)

I chose these SIDs mainly because they have not been remixed to death (or at all), and a few are from pretty well known games.

If you prefer, you can also use one of the listed SID subtunes from the following previous C64 Walkabout Podcast episodes here:



Just please make sure it's not something you've already done and submitted to RKO - only new remixes please (a "version 2" is acceptable though).

Happy Remixing!  The winner (or any entries for that matter) will be featured prominently in an upcoming podcast, given your written consent, of course.

        

I recently discovered SID2MIDI , the GUI version, up on the Remix64 forums.  It's a great little tool that takes SID songs and converts them to MIDI format.

While the SIDs of course sound better in their natural form, if one has a tune converted into MIDI format it opens up all sorts of possibilities including playback on any MIDI compatible device, making sheet music, or using as a basis for remixing.  Years ago I used some tool that shipped with a Sound Blaster to make actual sheet music from the Ultima III - Wander tune, subtune 1 that someone had composed as a MIDI -- pretty sure that was pre SID2MIDI and manually composed by an Ultima fan as it was in the early 1990's.  Now I can do that for nearly any SID that I like!

A present for a family member this year is going to be Yamaha YPT-220, a keyboard capable of MIDI playback...and I look forward to hearing some C64 tunes come out of it!

I used the tool to make several MIDI versions of some of my favorite SID tunes.  You can download the file (compressed with WinRAR) here on my account at the file sharing site Media Fire:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/01b3quoztwt/C64MIDI.rar

SID2MIDI works best when the melody is simple and does not involve a lot of oscillating or otherwise uniquely SID-ish sounds.  I've found it to be extremely accurate on most of the songs I selected, though the "walking" sound in M.U.L.E., for example is clearly missing.  As an example of a little SID-ish strangeness, I included Winter Holiday by Matthais Hartung, a tune from my last podcast, converted to MIDI.  It could be cleaned up of course, and the foundation for a good remix is stiil there.  Some other SIDs like Ben Daglish's Switchblade were nearly beyond recognition.

Check it out and convert some for yourself, or at least give the SID files I converted to MIDI a try as they'll play on any soundcard that is MIDI capable, which should be standard.

        

Welcome again to the C64 Walkabout podcast!  This time I'm making it all about the SIDs.  That is, music composed on the Commodore 64 computer in the .sid format available on the HVSC and played using an application called XM Play with the SID plugin and some added reverb.

The songs include a mix of stand alone tunes and SID tracks from games.  I tried to break up the feel between songs to add variety.  I've been listening to the HVSC quite a bit recently and the songs on this podcast are just a few I've added to my playlist. 

Press play below or click to download:

Played: 1722 | Download | Duration: 00:27:37

Tracks:

Winter Holiday - Matthias Hartung    
Crystal Cave -  Magic Disk 64/CP-Verlag
Angels for Wolfen - Alain Hertenstein (Iron Cat)
Dark Space - Ari Yliaho (Agemixer)
Super Huey - Paul Norman
Avengers - Alain Hertenstein (Iron Cat)
Kangarudy (tracks 2,3) - Albin Oswald
Temple of Apshai Trilogy (tracks 1,2) - Epyx
Time Puzzle - Ralf Kober
Karateka (1,2,13) - Francis Mechner
Dawn of Time - Siegfried Rudzynski (Crome)
Tass Times in Tonetown (track 9) - Dave Warhol & Russell Lieblich
Easy - Bekir Ogurlu (Slowhand)
Sword of Honour (track 2) - John Carehag

        

I fondly remember using EA's Adventure Construction Set to build custom character tiles within the small number of pixels allowed in each.  It forced a certain type of creativity that is no longer needed with modern PC games.  To be certain, the Commodore 64 was not the only platform that forced game creators and artists to find ways to make convincing "pixel art".  And unlike some of those, like the Atari 2600 or Intellivision, C64 based pixel art advanced by leaps and bounds over the decade plus that it thrived in the marketplace, and when it came to "demos", artists were capable of making almost photo-realistic images.

Early C64 pixel art and art for C64 games had a unique flavor, though, and I often wondered if there were some "rules" that C64 artists followed.  In the image above from Knight Games, for example, a man is holding a bow with a quiver on his hip.  An arrangement of no more than 6 simple beige dots make up his face, and strategically placed dots in his hair give it the appearance of being long and unkempt or wavy.  Note the all-white bow, a color choice based no doubt on the fact that a brown bow would not stand out or contrast well against the character.

I doubt many young people today will spend the hours I did on the original C64 in their emulators trying to make something convincing out of a grid of less than 100 pixels in height or width given a limited color template.  However, a new toy in my own home did remind me quite a bit of those days - my daughter's new Lite Brite Flat Screen.  I decided to give it a try and buy it for her despite some borderline negative reviews out there that are generally unfair to the product like "my kid leaves the pegs all over the house!"  (hey, my 4 year old knows how to keep them in the tray, people), and was pleasantly surprised. 

My own review result for the new Lite Brite product here?  My daughter loves it and it seems sturdy enough.  The use of 3 "D" batteries is a bit unusual - I prefer rechargeable AA's and Lite Brites of the past were plug-in, but it does make the Lite Brite portable and bright.  And having "D" batteries around the house is good in a storm, I guess.  Every time my daughter finishes a picture she brings it to us rather than screaming for us to come into some other part of the home to see her art.  Thumbs up on that!

Lite Brite art works on a very similar concept of pegs in place of pixels, but instead of being limited by tile size (though there is limited space) the limitation of the templates included is by the number of certain colors of pegs included with the toy.  This leads to some equally creative and interesting color choices in the templates. 

If you miss C64 style pixel art, you might pick up the ~10 dollar Lite Brite Flat Screen for a kid you know this Christmas.  Perhaps you can even do a little C64 logo, a Bruce Lee, or a Giana Sister with it for kicks.  If you want to get serious and use a lot of one color to achieve a more authentic C64 pixel art look, though, you'll need to break out of the limitations of what comes with the Lite Brite kit and spring for an extra peg and template kit like the inexpensive Transformers Picture Refill + Bonus Pegs - though even then there are complaints that there aren't enough of one color.  My daughter will often substitute one color for another, though - like the green for yellow - leave it to a 4-year old to figure it out!

        

It is probably safe to assume that those who never owned a Commodore 64 look back on it as either a game machine, a music maker, a crude programming tool, or some mixture of those things.  The C64 had its share of productivity, business and art tools, however, and one major platform for more "serious" C64 owners was GEOS, the Graphic Environment Operating System from Berkeley Softworks, released in 1986.


Prior to GEOS there was a Commodore cartridge called "Magic Desk" that was a rather crude but serviceable attempt at an all-around productivity suite GUI that resembled a real office with a desk, typewriter, filing cabinets and more.  Prior to owning GEOS, I used Magic Desk for typing documents, but it was hardly the sort of snappy text entry we take for granted today.

Instead of the almost comical design of Commodore's Magic Desk, GEOS looked very much like the desktop GUI of a Macintosh, and was designed as a modern OS to be a platform for running many applications, not a limited handful.

The redesigned C64c was often bundled with GEOS, making it a viable, if much cheaper, alternative to computers like the Macintosh.

While the Commodore 1351 mouse was supported by GEOS, I suspect many C64 owners used their joysticks instead, as I did.

GEOS was a fantastic achievement when one considers the limitations of the hardware, but it was not without its flaws.  The slow processor speed and load times made long term survivability of the platform an issue.  The C128 also had a version of GEOS that should have been snappier, perhaps a key reason for owning a C128 back in the day as C128 specific games were few compared to the thousands made for the C64.

I fondly recall perhaps the best feature of GEOS, which was the WYSIWYG word processor "geoWrite".  Up until geoWrite, typing on the C64 and producing decently formatted rows of readable text was a chore.  I was a bit shocked when years later I found an expensive Fujitsu FM-Towns word processor ("Word Star"?) that was actually not WYSIWYG!

I also recall one of my teachers marking my documents full of red text because the printer I used with my C64 was a dot matrix type that did not have descending lines in "y" characters --- the educator docked me points for the way the printer displayed characters!  So much for being on the cutting edge of home computer use, apparently I was supposed to use a typewriter, or perhaps an expensive Apple printer that GEOS actually did support.

Several versions of GEOS were released over more than 10 years, each improving on the last in what would be considered major ways today (adding essential driver support for popular devices, color, resizable windows, etc.).

GEOS is not lost and forgotten and can be downloaded and even bought today.  It is likely that the GEOS users of today beyond those who just "like it" include people who made extensive use of it in the past and still have many documents and CG "paintings" in a GEOS readable format.  It is also possible to use emulation to speed up GEOS so it overcomes the limitations of the old hardware.

One more novel use of GEOS is on the Nintendo DS.  Watch the video below and I think you'll agree that GEOS may have found its niche (and a reason to survive) on handheld devices like this.

To read more about GEOS, check out the GEOS FAQ.

To download GEOS and try it out, go HERE.

        

This is it, the conclusion of my much-downloaded audio book-style podcast here at the 'Walkabout.  If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment below, and I may do more in the future, perhaps with the permission of other remixers in the C64 community to add background music.

This time in addition to C64Audio.com music tracks from the last two parts, Andreas "Amok" Janke has given permission to use some of his excellent remixes as background music in this podcast.  I've used his tracks Spellbound (two remixes) and Star Paws.  You can download them here at Remix.Kwed.Org (Amok).  Also check out Amok's World of Sound HERE.

The spoken word on the track is from the story "The Burrowing of Fort Nadus".  If there are parts you have difficulty hearing, or if you want to learn more about the World of Hadanus, go HERE.

Again, thanks to Chris Abbott for allowing the use of music tracks from C64Audio.com, from album Back in Time 2 as a "soundtrack" for the spoken track. 

To listen to part 3 (the conclusion) of the audio, click the "play" icon below:

Played: 4919 | Download | Duration: 00:26:38

Content copyright © 2009 by W. Robinson Mason III / Background music tracks are Copyright of C64Audio.com and property of Andreas "Amok" Janke.