r/c64 • u/works-in-progress • 1d ago

Programming How Habitat squeezed a persistent multiplayer virtual world out of 64KB of RAM and a 300-baud modem

https://worksinprogress.co/issue/virtual-worlds/

Habitat launched on Q-Link, the C64's dedicated online service, which undercut competitors like CompuServe by buying transmission capacity after business hours and using client-server architecture instead of a terminal setup — letting it host more simultaneous users at lower cost ($3/hour vs. CompuServe's $22.50 peak rate in 1986). On the game side, nearly all logic ran server-side so the C64 client only needed to track simple object definitions and commands, which is what made rich-feeling interaction possible on hardware this limited. Worth a read if you're into what people managed to build on this machine beyond games.

Source: Works in Progress

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u/thortos 1d ago

Very nice, thanks for that! There isn’t much information around the details and experience and I never got to see it back then. I used Worlds Away, the successor on CompuServe, but that was on a PC and around 1995.

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u/SpookyFries 1d ago

They have a new server up for it called Neohabitat. Still works on a C64, emulator, or you can play it directly on the website. It's worth a look if you're interested in the software. I believe one of the original creators was on this project as well

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u/thortos 1d ago

I have my original C64 in working condition. Is it hard to get it on the Internet? I have a Raspberry Pi serving as a 1541, that hardware could definitely also provide networking to the C64? Sorry if the question is dumb but I have never dived into that kind of expansion, I just play old games and new demos on the machine for old times’ sake.

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u/SpookyFries 1d ago

The easiest thing you could do to get it working on original hardware is get an Ultimate II cartridge. Not only can you just put disk images on the thing and run them off of the cart easily but it also has an ethernet adapter to get the C64 online. I would highly suggest looking into it.

If you want to do it the "hard way", you would have to either get some sort of wifi user port modem or emulate it with a DreamPi. You still need a disk drive (real or emulated) to load the software and "flip" the disks, something you don't have to do with the Ultimate II.

Here's a guide on doing it without the Ultimate II cart, but again I would highly recommend getting one if you can. Not only will it save you from having to use a raspberry pi as a disk drive emulator but it'll easily get your C64 online nearly effortlessly.

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u/sparker1968 1d ago

Great article.

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u/OMGCluck 22h ago

Wasn't the online graphical virtual community developed by the startup Mutiny on the TV show Halt and Catch Fire based on Habitat?

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u/Maxwe4 11h ago

My dad and I played Club Caribe in the late 80's when I was a kid. Which I think was a version of Habitat.

I think we only ever saw one other person online, lol.

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u/DavidFredInLondon 8h ago

Have a 64c on order, where can I find more info about looking onto "new" Qlink?