C64emu new release (quick fix)
This version just a quick fix based on Nathan's feedback, regarding disabling device 8 may fix compatibility issues with some tape loaders. I know I have a lot of shortcomings and requests on my to-do list, but unfortunately, that's all I had time for right now 🫣
.: Download link :.
C64emu releases
.: SIDemu improvements :.
- 6581 filter finetuning (as always, so I probably don't even need to mention this 🙂)
.: Minor changes :.
- You can now disable device 8 if some tape or cartridge doesn't like it (EMULATION MENU > DEVICE MENU > DEVICE 8)
.: "New" features :.
- Virtual CRT monitor housing (PREFERENCES > VIDEO SETTINGS > SHOW CRT MONITOR HOUSING - In fact, it doesn't a new feature, it just wasn't listed in the menu and the config file, because I wasn't satisfied with it, but this time I chose a slightly darker shade, so it's not quite as shocking than before. You may like it or not, but it can be disabled.)
.: 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
- Joystick customizations
- Add frameskip option to the image sequence recording
- 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
Ooooh! Cool! Sorry, I was a bit slow to notice this update — wrapping up my current employment this week, which is lots of tidy-up I can't be assed doing. 😊 I'll try the tape-load thing on Toy Bizarre and Ghostbusters, coz they've got some really cool border-flash de-crunch routines. 👍
ReplyDeleteDid I ever post the video I did of Enigma Force? That artist has a habit of using *all* the colours, and they've got quite a cool style to their pixel-work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DMISQETXL8
I also did almost six hours of play in Tau Ceti. 😮 I'm afraid I had to play it in the VICE emulator because I'd already made a key-map to bind twelve keyboard commands to my joystick. But I took the C64emu colour palette from some exported .png images and put the C64emu colour palette in VICE for this one. 😎 I think it looks a lot better than VICE's kinda muted colours it uses by default. (The output was put through ShaderGlass too, as there are some scrolling messages in the bottom-border that shine nicely on the bezel.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5HdRg7las
First reaction: Starting up with a SID tune and the full CRT monitor housing! Nice. 😄👍
DeleteOkay, full cassette load and game of Ghostbusters! This was the one game cassette that came home with our brand new C64. (Traded-in our VIC-20 for it. We really should have kept the VIC.) 😄
DeleteThis is how it loads successfully, with the new "disable 1541" option activated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TOycapvmDU
Love the loading-stripes of Activision's turbo loader, which then switches to a beautiful stripey decompression stage before the game launches.
On the other hand, if you forget to disable the 1541 disk drive, it just crashes, rather than starting the decompression, as shown here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jER_WByw-o
(I think this was just me forgetting to disable the 1541 drive, after setting joystick 1, adding the tape-image, setting OBS to record, etc.) 😄 But yeah, a bit of a simple attempt maybe to stop people freezing the game and saving it to disk? Which was easily bypassed: just turn on the 1541 *after* you've frozen the game with an Action Replay/ Expert/etc and save it then. 😎
Another Activision full cassette load done. This time it's Toy Bizarre, one of my favourite platform games. I played the heck out of it when I was a kid. Check out the pretty flashing-border decompression at 7:55 and 14:12. 😊
DeleteI realised only recently that if you play it on an NTSC C64, the changing colours of the "toy bizarre" title actually scroll smoothly down the screen. So I set C64emu to be an NTSC machine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC8gBYhf8O0
Once again, the first time I recorded it, I forgot to disable the 1541 disk drive. So I've captured how it crashes/freezes at the end of the cassette load if a peripheral is detected. Not so visually interesting this time, just a blue screen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ofsel5_Vw
On a previous version of C64 emu I captured the Nostalgia-crack disk version of the game with C64emu set to PAL, which I think is a better speed to play it. It was a very good play of the game — I think I got further than I ever did before (emulator at 50% speed) 😉, but you can see how the "toy bizarre" title text is a little more flickery on a 50Hz C64:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDv_ppp3Xz4
I did also play it on the VICE emulator some years ago. Sometimes it's nice to see crisp, sharp pixels. But I'm not a fan of VICE's kinda dull colours. I think I'll continue to run my copy with the C64emu palette in it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKcrJ2ZiAC8
Another cassette loader. No cool raster border lines this time, just a slow flashing border. But the colours reflect well in the simulated bezel. 😎 This one is Mission AD. A bit fast for my old reflexes, so I played it at 50% speed and sped it up later. It still does nice frame interpolation, despite me dropping half the frames. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfbG_3EaqfM
Delete