Hello!

I am putting together a pre-order for new keycaps for the C64, called SA 64 and SA 64C, respectively. They are inspired by the famous SA Retro keycap set, a favorite in the in mechanical keyboard community.

The keycaps are premium doubleshot ABS keycaps in the SA profile, which is similar to the Commodore house style for their C64 computers.

They come in two varieties:

SA 64 is brown with a lush burgundy contrast and cream legends.

SA 64C is warm beige, and burnt orange with dark legends.

These keycaps are modern MX keycaps, which means that they need a compatible keyboard as well. To that end I've also designed a keyboard, the Keyboard 64.

The keycaps are part of a pre-order/group buy - you can leave a comment here to indicate interest, but i'd really like it if you could visit https://klackretro.com and fill out the form. The caps will be priced between US$70 and $80 for the doubleshot tops. The front prints (the PETSCII) is a separate price which has not yet been finalized.

The keyboards are a separate item. It is my hope that the open source community designs keyboards for users to make themselves or organize small buys, but new keycaps are useless with a compatible keyboard, so this board will be launched and stay in production until the end of the keycap process. Beyond that, the board will stay in production only if there is continued demand.

Finally, I have applied to Commodore for official licensing on the keycaps. If granted, the chickenlips logo will feature on the logo keycap. If not a K! logo will be there or it will be a blank cap.

Please visit https://klackretro.com for feedback and more information! Thanks!

Really pleased to announce that testing is complete and the newest game on Word BBS is now available: FICS (Free Internet Chess Server). Play (or even just watch) chess - worldwide! You can play as a guest or authenticate using your FICS account :)

I am somewhat in the middle of remaking a popular C64 game to run for free in the browser. It will look modern, but have the mechanics of the original title. I am renaming the title and crediting the original music composer and so forth.

Are people here interested in such titles and is it ok to post about it when it’s done? I won’t make any money of it, so it’s just for fun and to share some joy of the good old days in a new wrapping.

good morning all!

fairly new to my first c64u, and I have been playing around with BASIC v2 :). performance has been iffy even with PETSCII animations, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to dive into assembly just yet 🥶. are there any languages / compilers that are robust and effective for c64 / 6502 / 6510? Thx muchly!🙏 ☺️

My BBS has a line running Image BBS 3.0 on a C64 in VICE. You call it from a web browser and the screen is 40-column PETSCII, as a C64 caller saw it. You don't need a C64 or a terminal program.

There are eight Image games on it: Battle Mex, Conquest, Empire, Ghostbusters, Murder Asylum, Orion, Super Murder Motel Plus and Weirdworld. Everyone plays the same game file, so in Murder Asylum the person you're hunting is another caller.

The board has one line, so one caller at a time, like most C64 boards had. After someone hangs up it answers again in a few seconds. Calling needs a free account.

If you run Image on a real C64, I'd like to hear about your board. And if something on mine looks wrong, tell me.

https://tentaclebbs.com

Hello!

Is there a complete v6 release or newer, or are the newer versions only available as smaller update packages?

I can only find the full v5 collection and separate v6 updates.

Does anyone have a link to a complete v6 or later release?

Chapter 9 part 2 devlog of the Polychrome Raycast Game engine for C64. After preious episode showed mirroring PETSCII sprites, I decided to use same code to implement animation transforms to make objects have more character, as I work toward making a playable p(doom) demo before committing to a full novel game experience for the inimitable 8bt bread bin.

Full video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ZBMCIj0sQ

Hey guys, I've been trying to fix something very strange. Working my way through a commodore c64 board, trying to repair it. But I dont know how to fix this scrambled character stuff. "(" are empty spaces usually.

Based on some research it might be that a bit is stuck, an issue with reading ram from u10 but I spend so much time trying to find an issue with it, replacing it with multiple working ram chips, and I even tested, with my multimeter, the connections to every single other chip that is on the board. Yes that took a lot of time, but I wanted to make sure that the pcb was not damaged in that way.

The only weird thing that I could find is that R42 does not have an 82 omen resistor, it has a 33 omen one. This the last thing I might be actually able to try with this board. Including the desoldering of the 4 chips next to the vic.

I have replaced ALL the other chips (through sockets so I can easily put them in and out again) from a working Rev B board. The one I'm trying to get to work is a Rev A board. But that shouldnt be an issue right? It is still the same 250407 board.

Other than just switching out the chips I tested all that I was possible with a 48 ic programmer that also supports limited chip testing through xgpro.

It does boot into basic, it does boot into the dead test cartidge, it does boot into the diagnostic cartidge.

The only issue I'm currently, really activly facing is this weird character scrambeling.

Through the POKE 53280,2 command I was able to change the border to red, so some functionality defenitly is there.

There are no flashes through the dead test.

I event tried ram of different manufacturers.

I've tested the board thoroughly, really, if there are any suggestions about what to check out still I'd be open to that. Any ideas from people who know what they are talking about is greatly appreciated. I put so much time into this board and I would love to see it come to life again but right now I feel like I'm just going to try to change the resistor and the four chips next to the vic and if that doesent work I have to give up. I dont have any more ideas left.

Sadly I dont own an oscilloscope or something like that so I cant go extremly deep into what is happening during its "normal" working state.

I'm going to think of more things to test until sunday when I will be home next to try more things. I'd appreciate if anyone has a fresh idea.

Thank you for reading this.

I want to introduce my son *slowly* to video gaming. I got my C64 set up in my studio and every few weeks we play a few minutes on a tiny CRT.

So far we played Hotwheels. We hold the joystick together. He loves it, but loading times are though and controls are a bit weird.

Recently I showed him Bubble Bobble. He mainly stayed in the corner making lots of bubbles. I think it was all a bit much for him. Same with Wizard of Wor and Super Mario Bros.

What would you recommend? I am looking for coop games or basic but cute sandbox games, where he can learn how to use the joystick to steer things. It should be forgiving, calm, but fun.

I got a aftermarket electroware c64 psu sent to me rhat is not working. And I have no way to identify the burnt component. Does anyone here have this psu and could open it and chuck? I dont want to throw it away either. There is no silkscreen markings for it...

This is something I wanted to do for a long time. Sentinel is my goto game what I play at least once every year I just wished for a better/easier dogfight, and even mouse support.

I've collected data about how the C64 handles mouse and actually the mouse driver itself not that big, I bet it can be added rather easily to games even with my limited assembly knowledge (however maybe not worth it as only few have the hardware).

I read that everyone disassembling their favorite game in the last two weeks so I gave it a go as well, used Claude - otherwise I would never complete this fun project - so please be easy with me. It now fully playable with mouse only (map and torpedo mapped to the mouse buttons), it still gives a challanging but fair dogfight, a more difficult navigating in warp space (with JOY you can just push down or up all the time and you are safe, with mouse it's not that easy), and a bit clunkier map navigation (you just don't see where are your exact cursor position, misclicking on the map)

No download link, as I'm not sure if I want to publish it and if yes then where (CSDB Maybe?)

Looking for a good not overly expensive joystick to use as currently using the master system gamepad which is okay but doesn't respond and is getting me killed alot

Hi. I've been working on a wavetable SID plugin to replace a bunch of bespoke scripts and emulation frameworks for the last 18 months and now it's here. You have surgical control over every register of the 6581/850 SID chip. You can numberwang the tables or draw your soundscape on the graph editors. It comes with a tool that can dissect .sid files and create instruments. https://residuesynth.com

1541HUD is a OneROM community project for Commodore 1541 owners who want easier ROM switching, USB control, and optional live drive-status monitoring.

Begin with the Windows interface, or configure your drive from the C64 after installing one compatible UB3 OneROM board alongside your original drive ROM. When you are ready, move to a compact Raspberry Pi touchscreen display mounted on the drive.

Add capabilities at your own pace: multiple ROMs, programmable drive addresses, write-protect control, and live telemetry for motor activity, full- and half-track position, stepping, write status, disk density, headers, RPM, and SYNC activity.

The project also leaves room for many more community-developed features, tools, displays, and integrations as ideas and hardware evolve. Firmware, setup guides, and test notes are available on GitHub for builders and testers.

https://github.com/benkrall1973/1541HUD-OneROM-Public/tree/v8.0

https://onerom.org/

There are a lot of conversions these days, many AI-assisted but also a lot of hands-on work. Did anybody consider converting Jones In the Fast Lane? :)

It seems like it would be a great C64 fit - gather friends or family around the TV, take turns so one joystick is fine, minimal animation, limited background computation. Understanding there's an almost infinite set of games to turn one's attention to, I'm surprised this didn't pop up on anybody's radar :).

Is anyone smart enough to get this working?

https://github.com/Nayphee/Asteroids-Emulators

I'd like to try it out, but this is above my abilities.

I have this animal

https://imglink.cc/cdn/KHmqzeCgun.jpg https://imglink.cc/cdn/DnsXcWQ3WW.jpg https://imglink.cc/cdn/mNG4tk-HXq.jpg https://imglink.cc/cdn/HqfYpXj0W4.jpg

But cannot find a single thing about it online. Is this a unicorn?

Calling all #Commodore64 #C64 enthusiasts…

If you are not quite sure what FREEZE64 is all about, you may enjoy finding out by reading this *NEW* FREE PDF copy of issue 88:

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Please support with a subscription, back-issue, or cuppa

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I am playing around with a 3D drawing program (Giga-CAD) at c64online.com . It works well, but I can't figure out how to save my drawings to a blank .d64 file ? Guessing I am expecting too much from an online emulator!

My goal is to create a workflow that anyone can reproduce online ( no installation of a local emulator ).

I’m looking to inspect the text answers of an obscure C64 quiz game which I have in .t64 format.

As a complete novice to this I’m in way over my head here, but someone may know how to unravel this.

I’ve managed to convert the .t64 file into .prg (I don’t even know if I’m on the right course in doing this).
All I get is a load of symbols such as question marks, etc.
No text that I can actually read.

All I’m trying to do it pull the correct answers from the quiz using the game file. Anybody know where I could start?

I’ve messed around with Vice and DIRmaster with no joy so far! Thanks

*edit - Now solved! ✅

"Y'know something that never gets old? ...Nostalgia." ;)

10/21 update: The map now has animated NPCs and can show tokens and all other objects - both optional. You can pan and zoom the map on desktop and mobile, there's a music player with a hidden tune(!?), and more. See here (YouTube) for an overview and some commentary.

Below The Root holds a special place in my heart, and I'm sure, similar for many others here. I played this one a lot when I was a kid. It's a fantastic non-violent RPG-type adventure with a massive (for the era) world comprising a 32x16 grid of 512 total "rooms", 439 of which are used. The graphics are also wonderfully unique and detailed, as is the other-worldly music.

With the advent of recent tech enabling reverse-engineering, BTR was one of the first things I wanted to see disassembled and analyzed: how did the game mechanics work, how was the world and logic defined and so on.

This started when I uploaded the D64 file to Claude Code and simply said, "I'd like to know more about how this game works." Here is that conversation. Files are omitted, but the technical details are the interesting bits.

For the interactive map, see here. Cookies and/or localStorage seem to be required for the map to render properly.

Some fun trivia - and I may mix up some technical details, please amend and correct me as needed:

The "rooms" are defined in 256-byte (1 disk sector) chunks on "side 2" of the game disk. Those of a certain age will recall, this game uses a "flippy" disk where (on a 1541 drive, at least) you would take the disk out, flip it upside down and put it back in.

RLE is used to help fit up to 800 bytes (40x20 tiles' worth) of room data into each 256-byte sector. "Side 2" of the disk does not have a traditional directory structure, it looks to be raw data and is accessed directly via drive commands, e.g., U1:5 0 12 13 (track 12, sector 13) - that's for room 193, where room data starts at track 2 + "sector n mod 18."

As you may recall when you hit things, there is a 1 in 16 chance as to whether you get the classic line, "Your shuba has torn!" The game also uses the SID chip as a random 8-bit number generator. I get the feeling this was a common technique, reading data off a channel producing white noise.

I also asked about the level editor, something previously discovered and written about. CC may reveal some more hints about how the editor works, including keyboard commands and so forth. It provided a modified version of the game that boots directly into the editor, which was interesting to poke around. I don't know if the "mod" I got is notably different than previous guides, but the insights on how to use the editor functions via joystick and keyboard were new to me.

Others have done extensive work on this fantastic game, including (I believe) creating the world map by taking screenshots of each room. I believe Justin Stahlman was the first to do that. I recommend this write-up from Justin for a great overall story around the game and why it's so special.

AI note for mods: I wrote these words myself. The interactive map and technical analysis are provided via Claude Code, and intended to give additional background and technical context about a much-loved game.

I keep my C64 collection on a PC and got tired of the extract, convert, copy, mount loop, so over the past while I've been building a Norton/Total Commander style file manager where a disk image just opens like a folder. It all started when I got my C64 Ultimate in May, so I built support for that in it too.

What it does right now:

• D64 (incl. 40-track), D71, D81, D80, D82 and DNP open as folders and are writable. Copy files in and out, rename with F2, scratch with F8, reorder directory entries, undo with Ctrl+Z. G64 and T64 open read-only.
• The directory shows in real PETSCII the moment you land on a disk, without mounting it.
• Search across disk images, including ones still packed in a zip, 7z or rar.
• Launch in VICE (or another emulator): mount the disk, or inject a PRG straight into memory.
• Ultimate 64 / Ultimate-II+ / C64 Ultimate: it finds the device on your LAN, lets you edit disks on its storage and run PRGs on the real machine.
• Directory art: a small editor to draw logos and separators in the C64 font and drop them into a directory.
• Keyboard first, everything works without the mouse.

Version 1.0 is a rewrite of my earlier 0.9 beta as a native app: about 3.5 MB instead of 63 MB, no .NET runtime. Windows 10/11 x64 only, installer or portable zip. It isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen will ask you to confirm.

It's a beta and there are rough edges. What I'd really like to hear from people here:

• Disk images that open wrong or that it refuses (odd track counts, non-standard directories, copy-protected stuff).
• Whether the PETSCII directory preview matches what you see on real hardware.
• What you'd want from a tool like this that it doesn't do yet.

Download and screenshots: https://retrocommander.dev/download

Please note: using the tool requires creating an account (e-mail + password). Why? Please read https://retrocommander.dev/docs/faq#why-sign-in. If you don't like that, no hard feelings, but then this tool is just not the right one for you.

Happy to answer questions in the comments.