C64 Full Size Any one?

MSVforever

Hi Folks,

Has anyone pre-ordered the C64 maxi with working full size keyboard yet?

It seems you can only pre-order it via amazon uk and gamestop Ireland...

I'm not sure if it's worth shelling out €120 or better get the C64 mini for €40 (only heard bad stories about the joystick).....

Tom Mann Centuria

You could almost get the real thing, including an sd card loading deelie for that price. That'd be my preference.

TinCool

I'm seriously considering the full size as the joystick is supposed to be miles better. I'll wait a bit until I see user feedback though.

eddhorse

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

You could almost get the real thing, including an sd card loading deelie for that price. That'd be my preference.

Agreed 100%

Orebro

I was considering one, until I saw this:

https://twitter.com/JudgeDrokk/status/1204095773643812864?s=20

:eek:

McDermotX

To be fair, the whole point of the full size model is for the functioning keyboard, plus the extra USBs (and I suppose the improved* joystick thrown in). I wouldn't expect it to get hugely different from the mini.

* though just because its apparently microswitched, doesn't mean it's any good. The original model is truly one of the worst controllers in gaming history.

Real, with a modern loader, is probably still the better option, as long as you have a way of outputting video at decent quality, which is obviously where these models come in handy via HDMI.
Or better yet, something like the Ultimate 64, but that's a significant investment in both time and money.

CiDeRmAn

In fairness, I don't think this should come as a surprise to anyone.
And I don't think it should disappoint, that they can mount a fully featured C64 on such a compact PCB.

TinCool

Aside from the aesthetics of having the retro brown bread bin, I think I'll just re-image a C64 specific retropie image on my 3B. I'm sure I could pick up a mini C64 type case just for fun and save myself a few quid.

The Nal

Would advise anyone thinking of investing to first download the emulator and give it an hour. Good to dip into but the novelty wears off fairly quickly.

TinCool

I fire up Vice every now and then and play through Impossible Mission and a few other favourites a couple of times a year. What I really miss though is my command joystick which I still have.


I've also found an adapter for the old serial connection to USB here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mayflash-Drive-Genesis-Controller-Adapter/dp/B00QRZ1HVS


I'm going to sort out a C64 Pi image tonight and order the adapter this evening.

TinCool

So set up my Pi 3B with a C64 image called Combian64. It's f**ing A!. Plug in the Pi and within 5 seconds you've got the C64 command prompt running VICE. It's great. Had a blast on impossible mission. My 7 year old son had a go and asked me when he could play it again? I'll have to teach him the ways of the force.





Ordered that serial to USB converter I mentioned previously and a cool NES replica Pi case. I'll give the Command joystick a good clean. Does anyone know of some kind of metallic paint I could paint the joystick shaft with as it's a bit rusty with years of palm sweat. I'll send a pic once it's all sorted properly.

TinCool

So I had problems with configuring my old DB9 joystick with Combian64 with the adapter I got. Directions worked fine, but it refused to accept the fire button, which was a PITA as I was so close to getting it working. I then tried a build of retropi which worked fine, but it takes ages to boot up with retropi. I was feeling deflated. I just wanted a workable solution which booted directly to the C64 command prompt. However...

I found another C64 emulator based on vice called BMC64. More info here https://accentual.com/bmc64/. This is unbelievably good. Miles better than Combian64. Whatever it does, it has direct access to the Pi hardware and has true refresh 50hz PAL refresh rates.

With the Pi in a nice retroflag NES case, push the power button and within 2-3 seconds you have a C64 command prompt. WOW! It has it's own internal menu system where you can attach disks and run d64s etc and after a bit of tinkering, I'm happily using my old Wico joystick!! It also has the usual save state functionality, turbo mode to load games quicker, lots of tinkering with the video output. It even can simulate the sounds of a 1541 drive when you're loading disks which is a nice touch.

Another great thing about BMC64, you FAT32 format your SD card and can then you can administer the files on windows, and just throw the SD card in to your Pi and off you go.

This exceeded my expectations of what I could accomplish with a Pi emulating a C64. And, aside from not having a proper looking C64, this is definitely better than the TheC64 for the price of a pi and a few other bits.

If any of you have a thing for C64, I highly recommend BMC64. The only caveat is you have to hunt for a few old C64 BIOS files, but I have all those if anyone needs them.

The Nal

Found my original C64 in the folks attic over the weekend. Will give it a run out over XMas.

Dr Bob

For amyone like me who had a problem with the joystick snapping , there's a nice fix that pretty much is just drilling out the shaft (oh er missus) and replacing the tinchy screw with a 3-4 inch one. Its worth doing as a preventative measure , but if you've already broken it , it'll hold both parts together.
https://youtu.be/Zrv_Kc4SRxI

Also theres a nice mod to add a db9 (9 pin) socket to let you connect in an original Atari/Commodore Joystick , which is worth doing.
https://youtu.be/38j8SSikZkI

Dr Bob

Also looks like there'll be a nice(easy) mod to add games to the carousel in the next few days
https://www.reddit.com/r/c64/comments/ekmbzw/adding_games_to_carousel_coming_to_thec64_and_mini/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Stuxnet

I backed the C64 on Kickstarter I think it was years ago, like literally feels like years and years ago. The mini arrived couple of years ago, Ive never even opened it, then the full size one arrived out of the blue about 3 weeks ago. Totally forgot about it...mental haha

The Nal

What are peoples favourite C64 games then?

Ill open with a few

Creatures
Rainbow Islands
Turrican 2
Summer Games
California Games
Stunt Car Racer
Emlyn Hughes Soccer
Bruce Lee
IK+
Last Ninja 2

TinCool

Most of my favourites are from the first 2-3 years of the C64.

• Impossible Mission - by far my favourite game. Still regularly play this.
• Beach Head I
• Raid Over Moscow
• Spy vs Spy
• Leadboard
• Bruce Lee
• Ghostbusters
• Staff of Karnath
• Entombed
• Pitstop II

The Nal

Looking back now, its really incredible what they achieved with 64k.

TinCool

Absolutely! One of the guys in the software house I work at here in the UK (I moved over years ago), used to code games for the C64. He did Airwolf, Kokatoni Wilf and the C64 conversion of Paperboy. He was in his late teens at the time. Mad stuff.

mondeo

TinCool wrote: »

Absolutely! One of the guys in the software house I work at here in the UK (I moved over years ago), used to code games for the C64. He did Airwolf, Kokatoni Wilf and the C64 conversion of Paperboy. He was in his late teens at the time. Mad stuff.

Those were the days of the bedroom coders. I had a friend who coded ZX Spectrum games, he assisted in existing projects in the early 90's before the Spectrum went off the market. It was something to do with Mastertronic re releases of older games, they had several games in one pack sort of thing and various titles had some coding changes done before re release. This was how he explained it to me, I'm not fully sure how it worked exactly.

ShawnRaven

mondeo wrote: »

Those were the days of the bedroom coders. I had a friend who coded ZX Spectrum games, he assisted in existing projects in the early 90's before the Spectrum went off the market. It was something to do with Mastertronic re releases of older games, they had several games in one pack sort of thing and various titles had some coding changes done before re release. This was how he explained it to me, I'm not fully sure how it worked exactly.

I might be able to shed some light on this.
The ULA (amongst other IC's) changed a lot on the Spectrum once Amstrad bought them out in 86. So from the Spectrum +2 onwards, there were some compatibility issues with some older titles. So some of the code was re-written and away we go. Simple, right?

Wrong!
Because then the +2a/b (aka the black +2) and the +3 came out, and the arrangement of the RAM was changed and the ULA changed again! This caused even more incompatibilities. So a lot of games were re-released for compilations or budget with the fixes applied.

Mastertronic also reissued Virgin's full price titles in the early 90s, like Silkworm, Shinobi etc that may or may not have required fixes for the newer hardware changes.

mondeo

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I might be able to shed some light on this.
The ULA (amongst other IC's) changed a lot on the Spectrum once Amstrad bought them out in 86. So from the Spectrum +2 onwards, there were some compatibility issues with some older titles. So some of the code was re-written and away we go. Simple, right?

Wrong!
Because then the +2a/b (aka the black +2) and the +3 came out, and the arrangement of the RAM was changed and the ULA changed again! This caused even more incompatibilities. So a lot of games were re-released for compilations or budget with the fixes applied.

Mastertronic also reissued Virgin's full price titles in the early 90s, like Silkworm, Shinobi etc that may or may not have required fixes for the newer hardware changes.

Well that makes perfect sense then. This must be exactly the reason he was coding existing titles for end of life Spectrum models. I had a +2 as a kid and later a +2A which I found some of my games would not run on the A model. I remember as well Virgin Megastores where we bought the +2A back in probably 1990 telling us some games would not run properly or at all, and to look for games specifically for +2A/B compatibility.

My dad wanted the newer Spectrum +2A because it had a monitor output as far as I remember and it some other port on the back specifically for a centronics printer. Our older grey colour +2 needed an multiface plugin in order to run a printer. The price of the multiface was expensive so he just bought a brand new +2A instead for not alot extra. Made sense I guess.