C64emu new release with better SIDemu and SID player
.: Download link :.
C64emu releases
.: Another 6581 filter algo change :.
.: Bugfix :.
.: Known bugs/limitations :.
.: To-do list :.
As always, feel free to leave a comment.
Cheers,
DaemonPig
C64emu releases
.: Another 6581 filter algo change :.
- More precise 6581 cutoff curve and resonance calculations
.: Bugfix :.
- With some DIGI players, pending NMI mistakenly called the RUNSTOP/RESTORE handler while the RSID initialization process when changing subtunes with the integrated SID player
.: Known bugs/limitations :.
- Tape/disk changes and reset are not yet handled by the gameplay recorder
- Disk states currently not being saved to state files so if you save state (or close the emulator) while loading from disk, it will be corrupted (when loading from tape, it is safe to save)
- Not every sprite mode-split situation handled correctly
- Sprite collision flags not half-clock accurate (spritevssprite.prg)
- In 100Hz video mode, forced VSYNC could be 50Hz if a VIC-II frame were displayed only every two frames, but instead, emulation is currently running at double speed
- There is no full 1541 emulation yet
.: To-do list :.
- Complete the implementation of command line options for the VICE testbench
- Finetune 6581 biases to improve the filter distortion accuracy, especially when more than one oscillator routed to the filter
- Joystick customizations
- Add frameskip option to the image sequence recording
- T64 file format support
- Write debugger steps to .csv file optionally
- VIC-II PHI1 description for the debugger
- Corrent handling of 100Hz video modes in forced VSYNC mode
- Save disk/tape changes into gameplay recordings
- SID template customization from the menu
- Rewrite the sprite renderer to correctly handle sprite mode-split situations
- Implement pixel clock-based sprite collision (spritevssprite.prg)
- 1541 full emulation
- Native linux/macOS versions
As always, feel free to leave a comment.
Cheers,
DaemonPig
Saturday is a good day for testing. 😊 Mechanicus with R4AR setting.
ReplyDeleteI really must have never tried this before. Cool pinball game. I'm not very good at it yet. haha. I think the disk version I tried reprogrammed the drive, so didn't work in the emulator. So I loaded the (cracked) disk version, got to the loading screen, paused OBS, and switched to the easyflash cartridge version. Seamless switch. 😄
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdPkK33k-LA
I also captured the Trap / Space Movie Demo by Tony Crowther and Ben Daglish. Same SID Settings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaecfcd2MNg
I didn't play Mechanicus back then either, so it's a shame, but even though I recommended it (because of the title music), I didn't even know that there were different levels, so you're better than me even at games you've never played before 😁
DeleteMoreover you are such a pro C64emu user that you can even run EasyFlash cartridges by one-filers 😎🏆
And Trap also a good choice to record, thanks for that 🫡
It was pure fluke that I learned there were other tables. 😊 The Easyflash version of the game includes docs, so I thought I'd give them a quick read first. Otherwise it might have taken me a while to learn that the different F-keys did different launch-speeds, let alone that there were other levels. (It sounds like, if you get a high enough score you open up a chute to the next level.. But I never got anywhere near that.)
DeleteBefore I started toying around with games that make heavy use of the filter, I had to capture a game of Park Patrol. A beautiful wee budget game that I like to come back to from time to time. (The author could've just done side-scrolling, but there's a subtle parallax effect, and even perspective-change animations on most of the land objects.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLdlI0BCboU
(Recorded at 50% speed, which is what I also did with Mechanicus and POD.)
Any News?
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteUnfortunately, I've had to work more lately, which means I have less time to spend on developing C64emu and SIDemu.
I've made a lot of improvements to SIDemu (filter stage biases, multisampling for filter types and master volume, etc.), but before releasing a new version, I'd like to at least finish the T64 support. I know the 1541 emulation is what's needed most, but it's such a big job that I can't fit it into my schedule right now.
In any case, a new version will be available soon 🤞
Tried out Toy Bizarre in C64emu, just because it's one of my favourite platformers.
ReplyDeleteIt's still great fun. If you're timing's on point you can get quite far. But once you reach Friday, and everything speeds up.. there might not be enough caffeine to cope with that. 😋
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDv_ppp3Xz4
Hi Nathan,
DeleteThank you for sharing another video. I'm always amazed that you consistently play the hardest games 😃
That's the beauty of C64 games—and of programming, too—that they taught us patience. I just can't imagine anyone who grew up playing these kinds of games turning into a short-tempered person 😊
I did my usual trick where I ran C64emu at 50% speed. 😊
DeleteWhich is kinda fun. Apart from having to find twice as much spare time as I'd usually have to find, it's really interesting to see how the enemy AI behaves in slow-motion. I kinda learn things I didn't know about the game before. Then it became fast on the last levels, and death came a lot quicker. 😂
Here's one that I really enjoyed doing: Platoon, which is a multi-load game. I started by loading from a .TAP tape image, then cut to the EasyFlash .CRT version for the game, so loading was quick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DMISQETXL8
But I left the SID Chip set to a later revision, so the digitised voices are too quiet. 😐 I tried it a couple of days later in the VICE emulator, entirely loaded from cassette, and happened to complete it, because I was well practiced and new the path again.. so I put that through ShaderGlass to do the CRT look and this is the result:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAayydeLU_E
I think they lose too much light in the corners of the CRT bezel. But there was so much flashing-border loading that I had to use ShaderGlass to make VICE look a little like C64emu. 😄 (Both played at 50% speed. My reactions aren't that fast.) 😉
Oh yeah, and one more that was on the list of music you were curious about: Lightforce! 😊
DeleteI wasn't ever very good at this game. I really enjoy the Rob Hubbard music, but it seemed quite simple, for a vertical shooter. I probably should've given it more of a chance, back in the day. Or maybe it was the need to constantly fire, and me not having an autofire button back then. 😄
Now that I've played it a few times, you have to be on the ball with switching your priorities between ground target and the airborne stuff flying at you. I'm probably still not great at it, but I can slow the emulator down and use the autofire and look like I know what I'm doing. (The SID was set to 6581R3 as requested.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GKbyRm1Wx8
Thanks for the new videos – you’re much more productive than I am 🤗
DeleteAnd I’m taking ages to reply, for which I apologise 🫣
By the way, I’ve uploaded another release, but once again the only change is to SIDemu (due to the last-minute rush before the board’s release), so I’m not posting it as a separate blog entry just yet, as I’d like to add a few more things first, but I don’t want to hold back on that refined SID sound until then either.
It can be found, amongst the others, in the shared drive folder.
Well, I'm not sure if playing a C64 game and recording it can be considered productive. 😊 But yeah, I've been having a lot of fun working out games that'll have something cool reflected in the bezel. 😎 Ah, cool. I'll try the new version. See how the updated SIDemu part is. (Always good to listen to a good SID from time to time.) I hope the build-up to the board's release goes well. 👍
DeleteI did also record Terra Cresta, loaded off cassette, with loading music, some pretty gameplay, and a good listen to the high-score music, and a really long listen to the title-screen music, with all those funky filter effects that Martin Galway likes to do. (I can't remember what the SID settings were.. I made sure it was the revision you specified.) 😄
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0niESubRd8
Whatever the activity, if it’s time-consuming and you can bring yourself to actually start it and make it through to the end, all with a high degree of precision (as you usually do – I’m always amazed by the comprehensive descriptions under your videos), well, believe me, that’s productivity at its best 🫡
DeleteAnd there you go, you’ve done another one. See, that’s what I’m talking about 😀
Yes, it seems you recorded it using the R3 preset, but that’s actually just changed a bit. Have a go with the new version and see how the theme tune sounds with the R3 preset. I’m curious to see if you can hear the difference 😊
Here is a SOASC= recording for reference:
http://80.203.64.118/files/soasc/hvsc/049/MP3/MUSICIANS/G/Galway_Martin/Terra_Cresta_T001.sid_MOS6581R3.mp3
Well, I -almost- got it right. Played around with different settings this time: ran my display at 50Hz to better match the PAL C64 refresh-rate. I pressed F10 when the game finished loading to turn off the simulated bezel and have a blacker title screen. But after checking my C64emu, OBS, and display settings, I forgot to check the emulated SID. It was still on R6. 😐 I'll try it again on the R3 setting soon, coz Terra Cresta is fun and I really love that Galway music. (My breadbin C64 had a quite strong SID filter, so this music sounded great.)
DeleteI was playing the C64emu_20260802_0554 version of the emulator. Full cassette load. The first game wasn't great. The second game was better: 😊
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAHz1NKpL1c
Okay, so I've done it right this time. 😊 C64emu_20260802_0554 version of the emulator, 6581R3 SID chosen, I went for 60Hz refresh this time so it'll look best on most peoples screens, recorded in OBS and played at 50% speed and sped back up with ffmpeg (video) and sox (audio), and faded-out with Audacity.
DeleteCrap, I just realised I left OBS capturing at 50Hz. Oh well. It's the audio we're mostly after, right? 😄 And I even made it to the first boss ship this time. (I must have been on good sugary-drinks as a kid, coz I know I used to be able to get to the second boss ship.) So yeah, here's the result:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBbLQZck8Ak
I thought it was silly that I'd never really played the arcade game up until this point, so here's gameplay of the arcade game in MAME. Martin Galway is really good are recreating these music pieces. All the C64 music is right on point, and somehow sounds better. The Terra Cresta arcade reminds me a bit of Xevious, another favourite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PadQWReUXo
I know you've probably got a huge list of features to add, so I'll just ask how tricky it might be to disconnect the virtual 1541 drive? Many of the Activision cassette games insisted that there be no disk-drive present when you load them — a fear of people freezing them and saving to disk maybe:
Deletehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1wT3V0gUJajEk3_W1xESUEp7RbhJr5IAV/view?usp=sharing
It's not a huge issue. If I'm going to put it on YouTube I fake it by loading the cassette until it stops at that error, then load a disk/cart version and play through from that. But lazy-me would like to avoid that editing. 😊 And Ghostbusters and Toy Bizarre both have a nice flashy-border decompression bit at the end of the tape loader that would look cool with the bezel reflections. 😎
Oh yeah, and that setting to ignore every button after button 1 on the joystick. 😉