*************************************
       Commodore Free Magazine
    http://www.commodorefree.com/
*************************************

              Issue 97

      Free to download magazine
  dedicated to Commodore computers
 Available as PDF, ePUB, MOBI, HTML,
     TXT, SEQ and D64 disk image

=====================================

*************************************
              CONTENTS
*************************************





***********************
TMR Signs out 
Editorial
***********************

Editorial
It is with gracious thanks to SCOOPERD
IVE Ltd. for the support, free webhost
ing, and recovery of the regional Comm
odore Free website. The original site 
was hacked via a PHP script. According
 to my original ISP, something that wa
sn’t possible, but still did happen, a
nd they removed all the files to “clea
n up “the directories for me. However,
 Scopperdive LTD took over my account 
and not only recovered the original we
bsite but has, of this issue, updated 
the rather dated site to work better w
ith mobile devices and on smaller scre
ens. A button allows you to switch to 
legacy mode if so desired.

So after that and the countless emails
 asking me to revive the magazine, I a
m once again back. Along the way, frie
nds and family had passed and Covid ha
s had its toll on the world, though my
 fascination with Commodore machines h
asn’t wavered and I have still been bu
sy playing and working on my beloved m
achines. This issue is another mixed b
ag and I may not be sticking to a stri
ct deadline like previous issues, but 
will keep some sort of momentum going.


During all of this period I have manag
ed to retire, although I am busier tha
n ever now. Whoever said retirement wa
s easy is a total liar. When you’re re
tired everyone wants your help with so
me project. Speaking of projects, I wa
s in a band called Oscillating Electri
c Fish, but have now taken over owners
hip and advertise this within Commodor
e Free. Although not really SID or com
puter music it does takes its roots in
 Commodore by using Commodore machines
 for sound production and sequencing a
nd has a nod to the EDM world. Have a 
listen and please feel free to comment
 on this music if you feel so inclined
. 

Lets start this issue with the News se
ction and move into a feature on retro
 collection and shops that are availab
le in Morcambe area. While not exclusi
ve and thorough, it does see me lookin
g at some of the main players in this 
area.

Thanks for reading! 

Regards,Nigel
--------------------------------------
--------------

******************************
JASON KELK
Passed but always remembered 
******************************

After recovering from my illness the f
irst thing I read was that Jason Kelk 
had passed away after a long battle wi
th Covid. I was lucky to meet Jason a 
number of times and he kindly acted as
 a technical consultant for Commodore 
Free (although he didn’t want to be na
med), I presume to distance himself fr
om the general tat I manage to write e
ach issue. Or, it could be he didn’t w
ant to be face up at the bottom of som
e budgie cage after being printed out 
and read and discarded. 

Jason was truly a unique person, a fel
low Doctor Who fan who was most knowle
dgeable and a truly great programmer.

He was affectionally known as TMR he r
eferred to this as The Magic Roundabou
t. Jason left a number of great games 
for us to play. 

Still REST in peace, Jason. 

 "https://www.theguardian.
com/world/2021/jun/19/britains-longest
-known-coronavirus-patient-dies-aged-4
9"https://www.theguardian.com/world/
2021/jun/19/britains-longest-known-cor
onavirus-patient-dies-aged-49 

You can find some of his programming w
orks here:
"https://www.cosine-system
s.com/cosine/"Cosine Systems (cosine
-systems.com)

--------------------------------------
---

************************
Retro Morecambe
***********************

With spare cash in hand and the promis
e of a lovely day, I set out to Moreca
mbe to check out what Google had infor
med me were the main shops for retro g
aming in the area. So, with the excuse
 of a day out at a lovely seaside town
 I packed some cash and the dog and se
t off along the motorway. 

One of the highlights is to see the st
atute of Eric Morcombe from Morecambe 
and Wise (assuming you’re old enough t
o remember) this is situated on the se
a front and you are free to take pictu
res.

On arrival and after parking up I took
 in the sights of the lovely Midland h
otel, 
"https://midlandhotelmorec
ambe.com/"https://midlandhotelmoreca
mbe.com/

the coastline and some of the usual ro
ck shops and purveyors of classic plas
tic tat and moved my way down the fron
t to arrive at my first place of conta
ct for the day.

MEGAGAMES
This claims to be Morcombe’s oldest ga
mes shop. Although Google Street View 
doesn’t have it listed and various pas
sers buy claim they have never seen it
 before, I guess it may have moved fro
m whatever its original location was, 
but I  didn’t really delve into detail
s to find out more.
The shop is just down from the Midland
 Hotel, and nestled in-between amuseme
nt arcade style shops, was my first vi
sit. It’s a blink and you miss it shop
, very small so that 4 people would be
 enough to call it packed, but the gam
es were neatly packed from floor to ce
iling and arranged in console order. T
his was not a shop for true old-style 
retro but your NES, Famicom, and plays
tation Xbox fans would find it a welco
me stop. The games were all in really 
good condition and yes, credit cards w
ere taken. Some nice gems and a few co
llectables but for Commodore users it’
s not a shop we need to visit. Nice ne
at and very pleasant owners, chatty, a
nd deals were there to be had. My purc
hases were rounded down, so that was a
 pleasant surprise from such a small s
hop.    

Walking down the front we eventually a
rrive at 
Lees Games
"http://www.leesgamesltd.c
o.uk/"www.leesgamesltd.co.uk

280 Marine Road Central, Morecambe LA4
 5BY 01524 425404
Days of week	Open hours
Monday	Closed
Tuesday	10:30 - 17:00
Wednesday	Closed
Thursday	10:30 - 17:00
Friday		10:30 - 17:00
Saturday	10:30 - 17:00
Sunday		10:30 - 16:00

Signage wants changing as it still say
s open 7 days !

I had to visit the place on 3 separate
 occasions to be honest, as Google lis
ted them open on Monday and they haven
’t apparently been open on Monday in o
ver 20 years, and then I went back on 
Wednesday, but the owner had decided h
e would close on Wednesdays, so .. 

They only open Tuesday, Thursday, Frid
ay, Saturday, and Sunday (at this mome
nt). Maybe phone to check so you don’t
 waste time like I did. Although anoth
er store listed as all your classic re
tro needs, it’s one of those newer ret
ro users, Nes, PlayStation, Xbox etc. 
I spoke to the owner and he does get o
ffered cassette games but doesn’t seem
 to want to deal with them. A small ba
g near the door had an assortment of S
pectrum and Commodore games dumped in.
 I guess it’s one of those where you n
eed to be friends to get real classic 
retro games; I was offered to “make me
 an offer” for the bag of cassette gam
es but declined. 

The store is set out spacious and who 
knew the original PlayStation had so m
any titles! Again, as is usual all the
 consoles are catered for with separat
e areas. Some posters and collectables
 were in the shop and displayed behind
 glass cases games and seemed to be go
od condition. I purchased some with no
 real scratches but I didn’t really as
k about warranty periods. My day of ch
oice was rather busy and the owner was
 dealing with regular customers, so ag
ain, it’s who you know. But the shop i
s pleasant enough and nicely set out. 
There was a large pile of PC games fro
m various years priced from a pound ea
ch and I bought a few of these, purely
 for collection purposes.


RETRO dreams


The shop is open every day from 10am-5
.30pm (10am-3pm Sundays).
"https://www.facebook.com/
RetrodreamsUK"https://www.facebook.c
om/RetrodreamsUK 
Next was a walk down away from the sea
 front situated in what looked like an
 old bank. Nestled between charity sho
ps and the 99 pence shops was a really
 pleasant treat. Now, this is a real r
etro shop selling memorabilia, VIC 20 
games, C64 games, Spectrum, Amstrad, a
nd the usual NES Famicom Xbox and Play
Station, but the shop also does a trad
e of musical instruments and records, 
tapes and even VHS tapes. When you ent
er it has that really musty smell and 
you’re in for a real treat as a Commod
ore user. 

As soon as you entered and looked in t
here in pride of place was a boxed Com
modore 64 gamers compendium pack, in r
eally good condition, and looking at p
rices on Ebay was marked to sell. In f
act, I was offered a deal when I asked
 if I could look the item over, but de
clined as I already have far too many 
packs in my loft space gathering dust.
 There were old game and watch items a
nd even old Philips plug-into tv units
 to play pong, the place is very pleas
ant and relaxed and has just opened a 
coffee area so you can sit and chat. E
very one that entered paused and you c
ould see, if not hear the WOW as they 
entered and felt the buzz from times g
one by. Commodore games: There were ab
out 30 games from mastertronic, to box
ed cartridge games, games for the VIC 
were about 20, some items were even on
 disk. I looked in awe at the Atari 26
00 and a massive collection of games g
athered around it, all for sale. Stock
: I was told arrives all the time and 
collectables seemed to be snapped up v
ery quickly, I even found a fellow Com
modore fan, so we chatted and lost tra
ck of time with my dog (yes it’s the f
irst shop that was dog friendly) pulli
ng me to go walkies. 

After a walk with the dog back towards
 the Midland Hotel I went into the mar
ket hall, where I was met with the usu
al clothing and shoes retailers, but j
ust down from the entrance was another
 games fest called 

Morcambe Games 
"https://morecambe-games.b
usiness.site/"https://morecambe-game
s.business.site/

Again, this is another NES and upwards
 stall, but what collectables they had
, and the prices were realy keen for s
ales, I had to bundle some items toget
her and cheekily ask for a deal. To my
 amazement I was offered a realy good 
discount, told tht if I take them now 
today they would give me a deal of a l
ifetime, so I took the items for my co
llection. Nothing here to really excit
e Commodore users, there were a few of
 the newer style Commodore mini system
s that emulate the C64 with a list of 
built-in games (maybe that’s a review 
I should do at a later date because so
meone bought me one, but that’s anothe
r story). 

If it’s collectables then this is the 
shop. They also have a sister shop in 
Fleetwood cunningly called “Fleetwood 
Games” 
 
Stall 6/7 Festival Market
Marine Road Central
Morecambe
LA4 4DW  UK
Mon:	Closed
Tue:	9:00	  	 4 : 0 0 / P M 
 W e d : 	 C l o s e d 
 / P M 
 F r i : 	 C l o s e d 
 / P M 
 / P M 
 
ually use the local shops to sell off 
anything retro. 

Indeed, while on my day out I noticed 
a number of antique and brick-a-brack 
shops, also retro clothing shops, and 
an ex-army supplies shop. I may not ha
ve covered every single games hop, but
...   

-------------------------------

*************************************
CEX (Computer Entertainment Exchange)
**************************************
************

CeX Ltd (Complete Entertainment eXchan
ge) 
"https://uk.webuy.com/"h
ttps://uk.webuy.com/

The first cex was opened in London's W
hitfield Street, near Tottenham Court 
Road in 1992.
 Now, more than 380 shops exist in the
 UK that are a mix of franchise and ce
ntrally owned, with over 230 abroad. "
CeX" name has changed from "Computer e
Xchange" into "Complete Entertainment 
eXchange",and the company lists as "Ce
X LTD” and is trading as “CeX Entertai
nment Exchange". CeX is a privately ow
ned company. 

CeX began issuing licences for franchi
sing in 2005.

So CEX is now an entertainment brand s
tocking anything new and exchanged, no
t only games and hardware related item
 but watches, mobile phones, memory ca
rds, hard disks , monitors, etc. Both 
new and user-exchanged items and games
. They also sell Blue-Ray and DVD disk
s.

The normal premise to this is that you
 would enter a CEX store with some gam
es to sell, and after they had been in
spected and tested CEX would offer you
 two prices: one for exchange or token
 and one for cash. Of course the excha
nge or trade token is more than the ca
sh price. Armed with your trade you th
en peruse the store looking for anythi
ng interesting. I recently purchased a
 second-hand PC keyboard that would li
st new as £100 but CEX had the item fo
r £20, and to be honest it looked and 
behaved like new. 

CEX offer a very generous warranty and
 items are tested at trade so that bot
h parties know if an item is working o
r not. They will not accept items wher
e a warranty seal had been broken so d
on’t think you can fudge up your old X
box and sell it on, as once opened the
y will not entertain you. 

Items are usually cleaned then priced,
 bagged if needed, and placed on displ
ay. All the franchises I have entered 
are very friendly and of course full o
f like-minded people. I have noticed t
he odd vinyl for sale (that’s a record
 if you’re not old enough to know) alt
hough they need to be of collectable n
otoriety, like maybe a rare Doctor Who
 vinyl unopened that I saw for £100. S
ome of the shops also have the odd VHS
 cassette sitting on shelves. Again, t
hey need to be collectable for the ite
m to be stocked.

The shop will advise on exchange price
s and seem very fair but normally your
 mound of DVDs you have at home will y
ield a lot less than you think, unless
 you have a special item. My fair of e
xchanges ranged from 1 penny to £4 for
 a special edition new sealed DVD so y
ou won’t get rich.

Items are priced so they are cheaper t
han most eBay finds so buying and sell
ing on eBay isn’t something you will m
ake money from. They log all serial nu
mbers so re-selling back isn’t a way t
o make cash quick either. Items are gr
aded good, fair but the games seems to
 be more hit and miss, so buyer beware
. 

I have had lots of bad luck on mail or
der items, where the items are listed 
and sold as Good and arrived missing e
ven basic things like the actual disk 
to play the game. But fear not -- they
 can be taken to any CEX for an immedi
ate exchange or refund if you are not 
happy. 

Yes, it’s a franchise so some shops ar
e better and more thorough than others
. I suggest you make yourself known to
 the manager. It’s amazing some of the
 items he put to one side for me on th
e off-chance I would return as he knew
 my likes and preferences, so that’s a
 real plus if you’re a collector.

Sadly if you are after Spectrum, Commo
dore, Dragon, and BBC items they seem 
to have none, although I am told items
 do pop up on the website, and my loca
l shop sold me a job lot of C64 tapes 
for a “sold as seen one-off price”, bu
t only because the manager knew I woul
d want them. 

I bagged a carrier bag of c64 games fo
r 10 p each which I didn’t think was a
 bad deal. 
If however you’re a Dreamcast, PS 1, 2
, 3, 4, 5, or Xbox fan then you can fi
nd some real gems. People will play th
e games then sell them, that’s your ti
me to pick up a bargain as a 50 pound 
game can now (a couple of months after
 release) be bought for 5 pounds if yo
u can wait. 

Real die hard retro fans like you and 
me aren’t really catered to but your s
tandard retro uses are. Maybe we need 
another genre that describes the 8-bit
 years like classic retro and your Pla
yStation 1 and onward fans are just re
tro, I don’t know.
 Still, you may find an obscure Blue-R
ay or DVD with watching.


--------------------------------------
----

******************
NEWS
******************

VIC 20 software releases 
I am so glad to see (after my return f
rom illness) so many Vic 20 games and 
utilities still being released. Not on
ly was the Vic 20 my first computer it
’s my favorite, when I was given the m
achine one Christmas, I just couldn’t 
believe such a machine could exist, co
lour, sound and so many games availabl
e for the machine, If your reading thi
s as another commodore user, Amiga, C6
4 whatever I advise you to get a Vic 2
0 and start to get some love from this
 machine.  Such as vibrant community e
xists and as these show some amazing p
rogrammers’ as still finding their way
s round the hardware. 

The Vixen415 synthesizer
Requirements
Platform: Commodore VIC-20 +16kb memor
y expansion
Media: Floppy disk only
Video: PAL/NTSC
Interface: Joystick + Keyboard
Software type: Software synthesizer
Written by: W E de Villiers

Vx415 is a music synthesizer for your 
Commodore VIC-20. The software says 
Most users will find that they can fig
ure out the workings of the software i
n a very short time, but for those hav
ing trouble please consult the user ma
nual which accompanies this software

"https://huffelduff.itch.i
o/the-vixen415"https://huffelduff.it
ch.io/the-vixen415

--------------------------------------
-----------------------------

Targ for the Vic 20

Author: Pedro Bermejo
Genre: Maze
Code: Assembler
Requirements: VIC-20 + 8k, Joystick

The author says
 This is my version of Exidy's Targ ga
me. Drive your car shooting to the arr
ows and avoiding crashing with them. R
equires 8k expansion and a Joystick. T
o start the game, use any key (or Joys
tick button). After a few seconds in t
he presentation screen, game will ente
r into 'Attract Mode'. Hit a key (or J
oyStick button), to go back to the pre
sentation screen.

Screen can be centered (only from the 
presentation screen), by using the cur
sor keys.

"http://sleepingelephant.c
om/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/download/file.p
hp?id=6237"http://sleepingelephant.c
om/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/download/file.p
hp?id=6237

-------------------------------

Murderlize All Humans
Platform: Commodore VIC-20 +16kb memor
y expansion
Media: Floppy disk / Tape
Video: PAL/NTSC
Interface: Joystick
Genre: Arcade
Language: Assembler
Written by: W E de Villiers

This is what was posted with the game 

Berserk! the video arcade game was rel
eased in 1980 by Stern Electronics. It
 was one of the first arcade games to 
feature synthesized speech. This was a
t a time when memory costs were at a p
remium. 'Murdelize all humans' uses Be
rserk! as inspiration but does not att
empt to copy it.

Joystick left/right/up/down with the f
ire button to discharge the plasma gun
. Fire at levers to alter their state 
(The unlock symbol at the bottom right
 will light up on achieving the correc
t combination). Just run over the exit
 key to pick it up. As for the Lovebot
 - avoidance means life.

"https://huffelduff.itch.i
o/murderlize"https://huffelduff.itch
.io/murderlize

------------------

VICSTRIP

Post by Mike » Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:41 a
m
Name: VICSTRIP
Author: tokra (Support: Mike)
Released: April 9th, 2023 on the Revis
ion 2023 party (3rd place in the Games
 competition)
Requirements: PAL VIC-20, +24K RAM exp
ansion, Disk Drive
Description: Card Game

Blimey don’t let the kids get hold of 
this !

"https://www.tokra.de/vic/
vicstrip/vicstrip.zip"https://www.to
kra.de/vic/vicstrip/vicstrip.zip

----------------------

The eXimietas VIC-20 Chip-8 emulator
Platform: Commodore VIC-20 +16kb memor
y expansion
Media: Floppy disk only
Video: PAL/NTSC
Interface: Joystick + VIC keyboard
Software type: Emulation
Written by: W E de Villiers
Written in: Assembler

The well known Chip-8 system for the V
ic-20. The package includes over 30+ g
ames and programs. Two Chip-8 archives
 are also included.

"https://huffelduff.itch.i
o/vic20-chip-8"https://huffelduff.it
ch.io/vic20-chip-8

----------------------------

Bad Apple VIC-20 Final Expansion
Author: Javier Gonzalez
Released: July 1st, 2023, Posadas Part
y
Requirements: PAL VIC-20 + Final Expan
sion
Description: a conversion of Touhou's 
Bad Apple

Instructions:
* to play on a real VIC20 with a Final
 Expansion, use badram7.5.d81. It's a 
d81 image, place it on a SD card for a
 SD2IEC drive or burn a real 3.5" disk
 for 1581 (in this case, better use Ji
ffyDOS or the load will be slow). Test
ed on a Final Expansion Alpha.
* to play on VICE emulator, first add 
fe3badas7.5.prg as a Final Expansion c
artridge. Then attach badrom7.5.d64 as
 a 1541 disk image.
* load "badas", then run

Thanks to Mike and the forum for help 
with the Final Expansion programming

"http://sleepingelephant.c
om/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/download/file.p
hp?id=6364"http://sleepingelephant.c
om/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/download/file.p
hp?id=6364

--------------------------

Tomato Worm
Author: Javier Gonzalez
Genre: Puzzle
Code: cc65 / ca65
Interface: Keyboard
Requirements: VIC-20 and 16k RAM expan
sion, SD2IEC or disk drive CORRECTION:
 it's actually +24kB memory, not + 16k
B
Description: It's a conversion of Pico
 8 original puzzle game from Jose Guer
ra. It has 65 levels.
The last level completed is kept on di
sk. You can turn off the computer and 
resume the game in another moment.

Instructions
The worm has to eat all the tomatoes t
o go to the next level. To guide it us
e QAOP or cursor keys.
Other keys: Press x or X to reload the
 current level (typically when becomes
 unsolvable because the worm blocks it
self).

IMPORTANT: when the worm grows long it
 can take time for the movements to co
mplete from the head to the tail. Don'
t rush to press x.
Press R to restart from the first leve
l
Press e or E to exit the program
Press N to skip to the next level (but
 then the last level completed won't b
e kept in disk and if you shut down yo
u won't be able to resume the session)
.

"http://sleepingelephant.c
om/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/download/file.p
hp?id=6367"http://sleepingelephant.c
om/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/download/file.p
hp?id=6367

-------------------------

Super Monza GP 2
Author: AJ Layden
Genre: Racing
Code: ML
Requirements: VIC-20 with 32K expansio
n. Joystick
Description: Race around Monza, Monaco
, Spa and Interlagos.

"https://aj-layden.itch.io
/super-monza-gp-2"https://aj-layden.
itch.io/super-monza-gp-2

---------------------------

Midnight Crimes
Platform: Commodore VIC-20 +24kb memor
y expansion
Media: Floppy Disk / Tape
Video: PAL/NTSC
Interface: Joystick
Software type: Arcade game - FPS - Emp
ire City Clone
Written by: W E de Villiers
Language: Assembler
Release date: September 2023

It is 1933 and prohibition is about to
 end. Organized crime syndicates are f
looding the black market with their pr
oduct and it is making them exorbitant
 profits one last time. At the very sa
me moment Eliot Ness and his Untouchab
les find themselves in a battle of sur
vival in the city. You are one of thes
e untouchables and you have to get to 
the criminals before they get to you. 
So strap on both your holsters because
 you're shooting it out every night.



"https://huffelduff.itch.i
o/midnight-crimes"https://huffelduff
.itch.io/midnight-crimes

------------------------------------

*********************************
Jim butterfields diary on youtube
*********************************

The excellent 8bit-show and tell YouTu
be channel presents a look at Jim butt
erfields Diary, a standard diary for t
he commodore enthusiast from 1986, fil
led with commodore technical details a
nd also acted as a diary to record you
r daily details and meetings
From the YouTube Comments
We take a look at Jim Butterfield's Di
ary - not his personal diary, but his 
Commodore Reference Diary which was pu
blished in the UK so Commodore fans co
uld have a combination day planner and
 Commodore reference book with them at
 all times. This particular book was s
igned by Jim and contains a large coll
ection of POKEs and other notes by the
 previous owner - who through a MUPET 
side quest (a disk drive multiplexing 
system for Commodore PETs that I got f
rom Jim many years ago) and some hand-
writing analysis we determine spoiler 
was not Jim Butterfield.
Contains a brief look at the pet netwo
rking or disk sharing hardware called 
MUPET by CMD (no its s different one) 
Canadian micro distributors, it connec
ted Pet/CBM computers so a single flop
py disk, no software was needed hardwa
re connections only
Th diary signed by Jim himself (possib
ly) starts with a hex to decimal conve
rsion chart and a RANGE of commodore c
omputers, lists a brief description of
 commodore machine from the time. 

To support 8-Bit Show And Tell:
Become a patron: https://patreon.com/8
BitShowAndTell 
One-time donation: https://paypal.me/8
BitShowAndTell 
2nd channel:   / @8-bitshowandtell247 
 

Index:
0:00 Diary?
2:15 MUPET: in search of Jim Butterfie
ld's signature
4:17 A letter from Jim: yes, Jim signe
d it
6:26 Back to the diary
8:01 The Commodore Range of Computers 
& Peripherals
10:48 Important Keys, BASIC, Disk Comm
ands
13:45 Simple Techniques and Handy Loca
tions
19:23 Memory Architectures & Maps
24:30 Useful Programs, Sound, Machine 
Language, Glossary, Normal People Stuf
f
27:28 POKE collection - by Jim?
30:49 POKEs demonstrated
36:39 The rest
38:15 Conclusion and thanks!

"https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=Xk_4Cv460DA"https://www.youtu
be.com/watch?v=Xk_4Cv460DA

--------------------------------------
------------------------------------

**********************
Caste of Illusion CD32
**********************
'Forest of Illusion' : A game inspired
 by the Castle of Illusion, World of I
llusion and Mickey Mania series. Has s
ome Commodore Amiga CD32 footage! A ne
w Scorpion engine developed game by Do
mKid, which has seen multiple improvem
ents and additions to the amazing grap
hics.
The game is still in a beta state but 
as the video shows this has amazing gr
aphics, some great sound Parallax back
grounds, great animations, multiple en
emies. The game truly looks stunning w
ith some great attention to detail, li
ke if you stop moving for too long Mic
key looks at his watch 

"https://youtu.be/im2UlwzI
nTc?si=-CYbeZLWzaLTLeXc"https://yout
u.be/im2UlwzInTc?si=-CYbeZLWzaLTLeXc

"https://www.indieretronew
s.com/2023/09/forest-of-illusion-micke
y-is-still.html"https://www.indieret
ronews.com/2023/09/forest-of-illusion-
mickey-is-still.html

--------------------------------------
----------------
	
********************
Deadhead c64
********************

Gamesthatweren't recently found Deadhe
ad 
Heres what Games that wernt wrote abou
t the project
Coding: Anthony Wilder
Graphics: Wayne Billingham
Sound: N/A

Last updated: August 28, 2023 by fgask
ing

A new finding for GTW, and a neat look
ing preview of a sooped up Defender st
yle of game. Deadhead was done as a sm
all project whilst Wayne and Anthony w
ere working on another project. Wayne 
originally posted all of his disks acr
oss, which is when we found Deadhead.

The other good news is that one of the
 Amiga disks supplied actually contain
ed an Amiga version of the game (Thank
s to Adrian from aGTW for the porting!
) An entry for this can be found at ht
tps://amiga.abime.net/games/view/deadh
ead

The game was almost completed, and fea
tures a standard Defender style of gam
e, an asteroid belt sub level and a en
d of level guardian. There was also to
 be a Paradroid style level integrated
, but this seems to have been dropped 
for reasons unknown.

We did, however, recover a preview whi
ch shows an early test scroll for the 
lost level and some block graphics fro
m some Amiga disks. I’m not sure how c
omplete the game is, but it seems to g
o on for a long while. The game contai
ns no music, which we doubt was ever s
tarted.

The game seems to have been cancelled 
as the C64 started to die out… the mac
hine was not really profitable any lon
ger. It asks questions about why the A
miga version was not released… but I g
uess now it is time to try and find An
thony to find out more.

Wayne suggests that they didn’t approa
ch any publishers for the game at the 
time. He moved to Manchester, and the 
coder went to University in Swansea – 
and that was that, sadly.

It isn’t anything fantastic or ground-
breaking, but it is a nice finding wit
h some good techniques and effects use
d throughout.
 
More soon on this game we hope…

"https://www.gamesthatwere
nt.com/gtw64/deadhead/"https://www.g
amesthatwerent.com/gtw64/deadhead/

link to downloadable commodore 64 prev
iew

"https://www.gamesthatwere
nt.com/wp-"https://www.gamesthatwere
nt.com/wp-content/uploads/gtw64/d/dea
dhead/Preview_Deadhead.zip

-------------------------------------

**************************
Flying Shark Amiga game 
**************************

Flying Shark - WIP Flying Shark remake
 for the Commodore Amiga gets a graphi
cal overhaul!
The excellent website Indi retro news 
recently reported that 

They  recently found out through the E
AB forums, "https://eab.ab
ime.net/showthread.php?t=110252&page=7
"https://eab.abime.net/showthread.ph
p?t=110252&page=7 
Flying Shark;. Has recently been tease
d with a new look at the first level o
f the game with new graphics! A game w
hich is being remade by Magnus T toget
her with JMD and John Tsakiris(GFX). A
lthough the main creator does state, "
This is a test of level 1 with new gra
phics by John Tsakiris:” 
The site also says:
 “People felt the Amiga version that w
as released in 1988 by Firebird was no
t only a bad conversion of a great Arc
ade game, but many people also felt th
at it had repetitive gameplay, the por
t was lazy.” 

"https://www.indieretronew
s.com/2023/08/flying-shark-wip-flying-
shark-remake.html"https://www.indier
etronews.com/2023/08/flying-shark-wip-
flying-shark-remake.html

---------------------------

**************************************
*****
Roguecraft for the Amiga has been upda
ted!
**************************************
*****

Roguecraft is a modern turn-based Rogu
e-like focused on simplicity and fun. 
It is a dungeon crawler where each pla
y-through is a unique experience. As y
ou progress in the game you will comba
t meaner monsters and tougher challeng
es.

You only have one life, so you have to
 be careful, but if you reach the end 
there are wonderful rewards to be gath
ered!

Roguecraft is currently under developm
ent for the Commodore Amiga, with othe
r platforms to follow.

"https://badgerpunch.itch.
io/roguecraft/devlog/578557/roguecraft
-updated"https://badgerpunch.itch.io
/roguecraft/devlog/578557/roguecraft-u
pdated 

---------------------

**************************************
****************
Terrible Fire 
| Evolution of an Amiga Accelerator wi
th Stephen Leary | 
Legends in The Cave
**************************************
****************

I recently found this video while look
ing on YouTube. 

Here is the YouTube listing: 
Terrible Fire accelerators for Amiga c
omputers have become a staple of any m
odern Amigan’s diet. From A500 to CD32
, Stephen Leary has been designing the
se boards to make our lives easier for
 some years now, so I thought it was a
n ideal time to learn all about the ev
olution of his project from inception 
to the present day.

You can become an Official Cave Dwelle
r and Support The Cave
Time is the most valuable thing we hav
e.  "Official Cave Dwellers" create a 
reliable monthly income that allows me
 to give my all to this channel.  If y
ou'd like to support this, and help me
 make it the very best I can then plea
se visit:
https://www.patreon.com/RMCretro or ht
tps://ko-fi.com/rmcretro

 h e   C a v e 
 c o l l e c t i v e . c o . u k 
 
 Ï%  S u b s c r i b e 
 h e   c h a n n e l 
 . . 
 
 Ï%  E p i s o d e   L i n k s 
     
 
   /   @ t e r r i b l e f i r e     
 
   m e d i a 
 
 o 
 a g r a m . c o m / R M C r e t r o 
 
 
 s c o r d . g g / R M C r e t r o 
 
   l o t   m o r e 
 o l l e c t i v e . c o . u k / 
 
 Ï%  R M C   P o d c a s t s 
   h e r e : 
 m / c h a n n e l s / 5 0 0 1 2 5 1 
hisweekinretro

"https://youtu.be/-hxpphHB
z-k?si=JPYnbBJ_XLxmDW-Y"https://yout
u.be/-hxpphHBz-k?si=JPYnbBJ_XLxmDW-Y

-----------------------

******************************
C64 online 
"https://c64online.com/abo
ut-us/"https://c64online.com/about-u
s/
*******************************

The website says: 

To Preserve and to Serve the C64 Softw
are Library via online emulation
to Preserve and to Share – that’s the 
main goal of C64online.com, a site ded
icated to Commodore 64 games, SID musi
c, utils, applications and more. Our m
ission is to preserve as many C64 disk
, tape & prg files as we can and serve
 them in the form of online emulation 
for free on desktop computers, mobile 
phones and tablets. You only need a mo
dern browser to enjoy what Commodore 6
4 has to offer, you don’t have to down
load and install anything to access th
is legendary 8-bit game and applicatio
n library.

According to the DMCA, we publish cont
ent solely for preservation purposes a
nd do not make any software available 
for download. If you believe that any 
of our pages infringes on your copyrig
ht, please let us know by using our co
ntact form.

Future plans
C64online.com primarily focus on the C
ommodore 64 software preservation but 
we are planning to add Commodore 16 / 
Commodore Plus / 4, Commodore VIC-20, 
and also Commodore PET games and softw
are library in the near feature.

Help Us
C64 online is an independent private i
nitiative not supported and funded by 
any organization so we need your help!
 Send your ideas regarding any of our 
C64 pages.
Become a part of this preservation pro
ject by helping us to add more informa
tion to the site.


----------------------
**************************************
*******************
Commodore PET plays YouTube videos wit
h Raspberry Pi Zero
**************************************
*******************

This project is totally in keeping wit
h the spirit of things around here. Th
orbjörn Jemander did what any self-res
pecting tinkerer should do after secur
ing a prized piece of retro tech: hack
 it with a Raspberry Pi to make it do 
something elaborately pointless. The C
ommodore PET was released in 1977, and
 this one came back from the dead to f
ulfill the important task of playing v
ideos from YouTube, a platform launche
d in 2005.


Make sure you watch this excellent det
ailed description of how the maker pul
led this off.
What could be a better use of your tim
e than watching fail videos from 2018?
 Watching them jerking around on a wib
bly green and black screen, that’s wha
t.

"https://www.raspberrypi.c
om/news/commodore-pet-plays-youtube-vi
deos-with-raspberry-pi-zero/"https:/
/www.raspberrypi.com/news/commodore-pe
t-plays-youtube-videos-with-raspberry-
pi-zero/


--------------------------------------
---------

*********************
MINI BOX
*********************

While this isn’t really Commodore news
, I did find this website while storin
g some of my non-Commodore game collec
tions, I wanted to protect the boxes f
rom damage whilst still using the cart
ridges or disks. So when I found this 
site where you can download a MINI ver
sion of the box or game cartridge, not
 only were my storage needs met but al
so my way of preserving or protecting 
boxes. It’s also great if you don’t ow
n the original packing, maybe just a c
ard or cartridge, not free or cheap, b
ut if you’re a collector... 


Original box at bottom and mini box ve
rsion onto just bigger than the cartri
dge 

"https://miniboxgaming.com
/"https://miniboxgaming.com/

--------------------------------------
---

*************************
SID VST SOFTWARE
*************************

"https://www.rhythmicrobot
.com/product/c64"https://www.rhythmi
crobot.com/product/c64 
Above free SID chip emulation kontact 
instrument 

The website says: “This library is dif
ferent from our usual products in that
 it’s a collaboration. All our other i
nstruments are sampled right here in t
he lab, by us; but we made an exceptio
n in this case because it’s fun to joi
n forces in a freeware competition!”

The kontact player is basically a prog
ram wrapper that allows the playback o
f sampled sounds. You can customize th
e front end. Added various other featu
res such as effects (reverb, Delay etc
) and also ADSR or the Attack, Decay, 
Sustain, and Release of the sample, (t
he Commodore 64 manual has a section a
ll about ADSR, so no point repeating i
t again here) we have here the added a
bility to change various characteristi
cs of the sample played back, so the s
ounds are from real Commodore 64 machi
nes. 

There are 30 patches in the library, a
nd these have all been sampled from th
ree different iterations of the Commod
ore 64 home computer. The sound is ver
y SID-like and of course, being free a
dds another plus to its sound.

Of course, other emulation or sample p
layers are available but I haven’t see
n a true code emulation of the Commodo
re SID chip as a virtual instrument (n
ot to say one doesn’t exist, but...) 

SID BOXES or C64 machines changed to b
e musical instruments 

"https://www.instructables
.com/The-Commodore-64-Synthesiser-Buil
d-Aka-Cyanodore-6/?utm_source=newslett
er&utm_medium=email"https://www.inst
ructables.com/The-Commodore-64-Synthes
iser-Build-Aka-Cyanodore-6/?utm_source
=newsletter&utm_medium=email HYPER
LINK "https://gavinlyons.photography/c
yanotype-commodore-64-midi-synthesiser
/"https://gavinlyons.photography/cya
notype-commodore-64-midi-synthesiser/
"https://www.instructabl
es.com/Commodore-64-MOS6581-SID-Based-
Synth-Sequencer/"https://www.instruc
tables.com/Commodore-64-MOS6581-SID-Ba
sed-Synth-Sequencer/
---------------------------------

***********************
VIC 20 Games 
***********************
I am going to close out the issue by l
ooking at some games from this website
 

"https://huffelduff.itch.i
o/"https://huffelduff.itch.io/

*******************************
Midnight Crimes - Vic20 +24k
*******************************

It is 1933 and prohibition is about to
 
end. Organized crime syndicates are fl
ooding the black market with their pro
duct and it is making them exorbitant 
profits one last time. At the very sam
e moment Eliot Ness and his Untouchabl
es find themselves in a battle of surv
ival in the city. You are one of these
 untouchables and you have to get to t
he criminals before they get to you. S
o strap on both your holsters because 
you're shooting it out every night.

Requirements, loading and running the 
game:

A Commodore VIC with 24k RAM expansion
 minimum
A joystick plugged into the joystick p
ort

A good dose of courage and fortitude t
o take on organized crime
Disk: load "*",8,1 press return. Then 
type: run and press return
Tape: load "*",1,1 press return. Then 
type: run and press return
Greetings Huffelduff (User handle on t
he VIC-20 Denial forum)

This is a pay-what-it’s-worth honesty 
system, and yes, I did pay to play and
 review!

So, you have to kill the enemies that 
are coloured blue; they appear in the 
windows of some building, you have a s
ite to help you and move around this s
ite. Once on a baddie you press fire t
o kill, the download comes with 3 file
s a T64 a D64 and the PRG. I would say
 the memory requirements seem a little
 high but the quality of the game is g
reat, on the main screen you see the t
itle screen with MIDNIGHT CRIMES, this
 is a neon sign and you hear the neon 
fuzz as faulty signs do and the letter
s light up white then fade out back to
 blue simulating faulty neon to great 
effect, the sound effect relay works w
ell on this  


You have around 8 seconds to kill the 
enemy, if you fil (??) they will kill 
you, only one seems to appear at a tim
e and running out of bullets requires 
a reload. You can fire the heart shape
 (coloured white) to enable your shiel
d but it lasts only seconds so beware.
 The game is really fast. Some great d
etails 

SCORE 
Graphics	7/10    some realy nie touche
s
Sound		8/10 the neon and music are gre
at 
Gamepay	7/10 its fast 
Overall		7/10 

Really worth the price (whatever you p
ay)

Bonus game (included with the download
)
Title: Flappy Toasters
Platform: Commodore Unexpanded VIC-20
Video: PAL/NTSC
Interface: Joystick
 Software type: Flappy birds clone
Written by: W E de Villiers

The Story: 
Ah another version of flappy birds...b
ut now its a Microsoft flying toaster 
instead. Press the joystick fire butto
n to flap. Avoid the obstacles. That's
 it. Version 1 and 2 of this software 
has a small extra feature. If you fly 
low enough one gets a score bonus.

Footnotes:
The motivation for this software was a
 desire to experiment with different g
raphics and scrolling styles.

Four versions of this software exist:
01 vflappyt-unxp.prg - 1-bit scroller 
using hires graphics.
02 v-fpegassi-unxp.prg - 1-bit scrolle
r using hires graphics. The big differ
ence is that instead of a toaster now 
it’s Pegassus.
03 vfpc-petscii-unxp.prg - 2-bit scrol
ler using PETSCII graphics. Also testi
ng a parralax scrolling effect.
04 vft-multiclr-unxp.prg - 2-bit scrol
ler using multicolor graphics. Also te
sting a parallax scrolling effect

So you know the score: 
Press the fire button to keep the flyi
ng toaster in the air. You must pass t
hrough the openings or gaps in the wal
ls, touching the walls, floor or ceili
ng results in your toaster’s death. I 
liked the idea of the different graphi
cs modes (separate versions to load) i
f you liked Flappy Bird then this will
 be a tick on your wish list. To be ho
nest, I am rubbish at this game type b
ut it does get your heart rate pumping
, he screen scrolls from right to left
 in a constant flow

Scores
Graphics	5/10 some nice modes experime
nted with
Sound		5/10 does its job
Game play	5/10 well its just pressing 
the fire button at the right time 
Overall		5.5/10 its an extra but a goo
d game in its own right 

Ahhh... my toaster has just flown out 
of the window 

Both games have instruction files, his
tory, and front and back cassette cove
r art, and it’s nicely drawn as well, 
so that’s another bonus. 


--------------------------------------
-----

*************************************
The eXimietas VIC-20 Chip-8 emulator
*************************************

The VIC-20 +16k Chip-8 emulator
Title: The eXimietas VIC-20 Chip-8 emu
lator
Platform: Commodore VIC-20 +16kb memor
y expansion
Media: Floppy disk only
Video: PAL/NTSC
Interface: Joystick + VIC keyboard
Software type: Emulation
Version: 1.11

In the late 1970s when Commodore PET a
nd was still new and Atari released th
eir first gaming console, a virtual ma
chine dedicated to game programming wa
s created by Joseph Weisbecker to supp
ort the line of personal computers mad
e by the RCA company. This system was 
dubbed the Chip-8 and today many versi
ons of it exist on many different hard
ware platforms. Now, there is also a C
hip-8 for the VIC-20 personal computer
, and here  it is.

Two additional documents are bundled w
ith this package:

1. zz Manual - The VIC-20 Chip-8 emula
tor.pdf
2. zz Readme - Chip8-Game disk.pdf

For loading and running the emulator a
nd games, see the Manual.
Two floppy disk images are bundled wit
h this package:

1. 01 Chip8 - Program disk.d64 (It con
tains the VIC-20 Chip-8 emulator)
2. 02 Chip8 - Game disk.d64 (A collect
ion of Chip-8 software) 

The original archives that the Chip-8 
software is sourced from is also attac
hed to this package.

Greetings Huffelduff (User handle on t
he VIC-20 Denial forum)

With the download is a PDF that goes i
nto details about the Chip 8 and its h
istory, so that’s worth a read on its 
own. Inside the Zip file there is also
 an instruction manual and front and b
ack tape covers. The manual lists the 
games in the pack. 


I think the first paragraph of the man
ual describes the completion really we
ll: 

Below is the list of games that come w
ith the eXimietas Vic-20 Chip-8 emulat
or v1.1. The program compilation comes
 on a separate disk [02 Chip8 - Game d
isk.d64]. So why was the decision made
 to ship a collection of games with th
e emulator when Chip-8 collections exi
st independently and can be obtained b
y a user when they want or need them? 


1. The Internet is very impermanent wh
en it comes to smaller projects. Proje
ct owners may decide to close down the
ir websites/project pages due to press
ures such as financial, health, lack o
f time and so on. So a curated collect
ion may be here today and gone tomorro
w. To mitigate this low but tangible r
isk some Chip-8 software has been incl
uded with this emulator for demonstrat
ion purposes. 

2. This emulator is primarily a Vic-20
 project which means that it's going t
o find its way into Vic-20 software co
llections. As interest in 8-bit platfo
rms ebb and flow this software may lan
guish for long periods of time without
 much attention. So the intent is to d
emonstrate the Vic's Chip-8 capabiliti
es straight out of the box without nee
ding to download or to obtain other so
ftware. 

3. To demonstrate the variable cosmeti
c configurations that could be achieve
d by using the Vic Chip-8. Also some m
inor modification of program files are
 required for them to be used on this 
emulator [A two byte header needs to b
e added]. So by giving a program disk 
with examples it can be shown that the
 emulator works and is useful from the
 start. 4. To immediately generate int
erest in Chip-8 software within the Vi
c-20 community


Title: Brix Year of release: 1990 Prog
rammed by: Andreas Gustafsson Game Des
cription: Breakout clone VIC-2 emulato
r notes: The game had to be slowed dow
n speedwise through the CPU delay sett
ing. Controls on the VIC-20: Joystick 
left/right + F1 to restart the game 

Brix-Pro. 
Tapeworm 
Cave 
Tetris 
Blitz 
Blinky 
VBrix. 
Flight Runner 
Chipquarium 
IBM logo 
Particle 
Kaleidoscope. 
Outlaw 
Slippery slope 
1D cellular automata 
Trip8 
Zero Demo 
Merlin 
Pong 
Pong2 
Syzygy 
UFO 
Wipe off
Pet
Octojam 
Submarine
Worm V4 
Astro Dodge 
Rocket
Rocket Launch 

So this is an emulator. As such it doe
s the job its intended to do, has some
 nice graphics effects. I cant really 
score it, although all the programs I 
tried worked as expected 

------------------------

*****************************
MURDERISE ALL HUMANS
*****************************

Title: Murderlize All Humans
Platform: Commodore VIC-20 +16kb memor
y expansion
Media: Floppy disk / Tape
Video: PAL/NTSC
Interface: Joystick
Genre: Arcade
Language: Assembler
Written by: W E de Villiers

This game rightly or wrongly reminds m
e of Bezerk one of my all-time favouri
te VIC games, I used to love the arcad
e version as well, anyway I am going o
f track here. 

Loading up and the title screen is gre
at I love the animation on this and th
e odd characters looking like a cross 
between the matrix and binary code. Th
e game itself need s joystick and you 
can move and fire, your shoved into a 
screen with lovely scrolling backgroun
d and the sampled sounds of “Kill all 
humans” and “Ha Ha Ha” upon your death
 just work so well. In fact, the sound
 effects through the game are superb.

So you’re pushed into the screen and h
ave to kill the robots before they get
 you, you collect a key and must escap
e to the next level before the boss ro
bot comes to kill you. All sounds good
, I did however find that I couldn’t m
ove and shoot diagonally, and also cou
ldn’t shoot up and down. I presume thi
s is via design as I tried 3 joysticks
 and it was the same, I suppose it add
s to the frustration of the gameplay, 
but ... Anyway, kill the robots, colle
ct the key, and head for the exit.

The animation of the little man is so 
good being shoved on screen, running a
round, and then grabbed off screen whe
n you go to the exit. The game is simp
le enough to pick up and has that frus
trating “one more go” to it. There are
 some documentation and posters with t
he download that all adds to the game.
 The download contains various documen
tation, dossiers, and notes, and has D
64 T64 and PRG disk, tape, and program
 file 

Notes from the author:
Berserk! the video arcade game was rel
eased in 1980 by Stern Electronics. It
 was one of the first arcade games to 
feature synthesized speech. This was a
t a time when memory costs were at a p
remium. 'Murdelize all humans' uses Be
rserk! as inspiration but does not att
empt to copy it. I only used a couple 
of samples, instead of a whole menager
ie which was featured in the original,
 and for those samples I used the SAM 
speech synthesizer. I want to use this
 game as a framework for a later proje
ct and I would like to add many more g
ame mechanics and a ton of new levels.
 Lastly I do not quite understand why 
I constructed such an elaborate backst
ory for this game but it seemed to be 
the right thing to do at the time.

Sound		9/10 Sampled sounds and good ef
fects 
Graphics	8.5/10 Great animation and ti
tle screen
Gameplay 	8/10 Can you put it down? 
Overall		8.5/10 Really good 
----------------

********************
VIC Strip Poker
********************

Name: VICSTRIP
Author: tokra (Support: Mike)
Released: April 9th, 2023 on the Revis
ion 2023 party (3rd place in the Games
 competition)
Requirements: PAL VIC-20, +24K RAM exp
ansion, Disk Drive
Description: Card Game

Starting up and a warning to the faint
-hearted! 
We get to choose between a few lady pl
ayers or the VIC itself.

And I have fuzzed out the naughty bits
. After all, we don’t know who is read
ing and this is a family magazine, so…
..
Sadly the VIC doesn’t uncover itself b
it goes from boxed to unboxed, then da
tasette to joystick, so for anyone wit
h that sort of urge -- you’re sadly go
ing to be disappointed. 

The game itself (I presume) follows th
e poker rules, although I had to keep 
checking online as I am not a poker pl
ayer, but with the online help I was a
ble to win a few hands. The game has, 
as you will realise, fully digitized s
creens and a nice layout for the cards
 and input handling from the user. I d
id find the game laggy, the game says 
it’s based on a BASIC version of strip
 poker and that may account for the sp
eed. But, nice music intro and some am
using coming-soon screens (if you pres
s “C” on the main page). I would love 
to see Mario Cart but as it’s not Apri
l I think I may have some time to wait
. 

Decent graphics, some music, but not m
uch in the game apart from some spot e
ffects 

Graphics	7/10 Nice digitized and asci 
cards
Sound		5/10 Title tune spot effects
Gameplay	5/10 It’s sluggish
Overall		5.5 / 10 It does what it set 
out to do 

Acknowledgements:

Draw Poker based on Poker
by A. Christopher Hall from the book: 
101 BASIC Computer Games from 1973.
Suzi and Melissa graphics based on Ami
ga-version of Strip Poker II from Artw
orx.
Music partly based on Strip Poker by A
rtworx on C64.

--------------------

****************************
Super Monza GP 2 Vic 
****************************

Name: Super Monza GP 2
Author: AJ Layden
Genre: Racing
Code: ML
Requirements: VIC-20 with 32K expansio
n. Joystick
Description: Race around Monza, Monaco
, Spa and Interlagos.

Nice animation on the title screen but
 no sound or music, I found that a lit
tle disappointing 

Anyway, after being shown the controls
 and selecting a course, you wait for 
the lights and you’re off. It’s an int
eresting animation system used in the 
game. Okay, the perspective isn’t true
 (the distance stays in the distance a
nd moves left and right). However, ite
ms and check markers in the road do sc
roll towards you, as obviously do the 
cars. The wheels turn with just enough
 white spots to give an impression of 
the tyres moving and the steering love
s when you turn. 

~ The in-game sound is the usual car n
oise and skids from other cars and bli
ps for passing over various stages and
 the finish line. 

Graphics	7/10 Interesting design
Sound		5/10 Would have liked more
Gameplay	7/10 It’s addictive
Overall		7/10 I think at deserves at l
east this 

------------------

************************
AMOK VIC 20 
************************

I’m going to finish off with a look ba
ck at a Bezerk clone for the VIC calle
d “Amok”. I haven’t played for some ti
me and wondered if the charm was still
 in the game. 

Booting up, we have the option to chan
ge levels and then to start .

One thing that still looks cool is the
 way these robots move around the scre
en its like one of those Chinese theat
res where they have paper cutouts on a
 stick and move them showing a silhoue
tte on screen. The robots just glide t
oo smoothly around the screen, and if 
we dare to call it in-game AI, really 
gets you as you try to guess which way
 the robots move, only to find they ha
ve honed in on you and have you surrou
nded. The game stands up today as well
 as it did when I first purchased the 
cassette version all those years back.
 Although the title screen is a little
 underwhelming and the in-game sound i
s just blips (no samples here), the gr
aphics just look so good, the game pla
y is so exciting, and the AI is just g
ood enough to fool you into a false se
nse of security as to where you’re goi
ng to move. 

If you haven’t seen or played this gam
e: You have various rooms full of kill
er robots. Your mission is to clear th
e room by killing the robots and move 
to the next room. Robots have various 
powers depending on their colour and c
an be so clever in their AI strategy (
or random movements) that you don’t kn
ow which way to turn -- you can run in
 any direction and fire in the directi
on you are running.

Okay, there are some glitches in the a
nimation but not many. The smoothness 
of the movements and the main characte
r’s movement is slick. Sometimes you w
ould be forgiven in thinking this was 
a newer machine that you are playing o
n.  

I don’t like saying it’s a classic but
 its definitely a must have VIC game 

Gameplay	9/10 As good today as it was 
then
Graphics	8/10 Great animation 
Sound		5/10 Beep
Overall		8/10 Super Amok?

How did I not know this? There was an 
updated version called Super Amok: see
 it being played here. But, to be hone
st, it doesn’t actually look as good a
s the first version. The graphics and 
sound have been revamped, but it feels
 sluggish and I don’t think the graphi
cs work as well as the original versio
n. 

"https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=H1XHzNn7aQs"https://www.youtu
be.com/watch?v=H1XHzNn7aQs

Should you feel inclined you can read 
more about the release here: 

"https://www.vic-20.it/sup
er-amok/"https://www.vic-20.it/super
-amok/

Want to know some Berzerk / Amok histo
ry well its here: 

"https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Berzerk_(video_game)"https://en
.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berzerk_%28video_g
ame%29

To me it feels like a different game (
very different). Of course I am lookin
g at this with rose-tinted glasses and
 … However, we have scrolling rooms (a
s you exit) and the robots actually wa
lk around, but the sluggishness of the
 game makes it feel different to the f
asted paced earlier version Amok. Stil
l, I am going to keep an eye out for t
he cartridge. It’s a nice game but is 
let down by the pace.  But… it does ha
ve a title screen !




-----------

*********************************
BEZERK 2010 
*********************************

Robert Hurst 8k expansion and Joystick


Okay, so I couldn’t just end there. Yo
u’re all screaming BEZERK from Robert 
Hurst. 
This 2010 Berzerk MMX is thought by ma
ny to be the greatest version of the g
ame on the VIC 20 

"https://sleepingelephant.
com/~sleeping/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/view
topic.php?t=8500"https://sleepingele
phant.com/~sleeping/ipw-web/bulletin/b
b/viewtopic.php?t=8500

Game download
"https://sleepingelephant.
com/~sleeping/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/down
load/file.php?id=1419&sid=1f04c94a1145
7080fcc667372aa3e74e"https://sleepin
gelephant.com/~sleeping/ipw-web/bullet
in/bb/download/file.php?id=1419&sid=1f
04c94a11457080fcc667372aa3e74e

This is a remake of Amok/Berzerk 

You can’t deny this is a slick product
ion. We have a great opening screen, a
nd the gameplay is more representative
 of the arcade game than a stylised ve
rsion like Amok 

And yes, it does feature sampled sound
s, and the missing attacking creature 
that comes for you if you stay in the 
room too long..

Although it’s removed from the Amok re
lease of the game it does feature some
 really good animation and sound effec
ts, taking you back to those sweaty ar
cade shops where you would gladly feed
 a machine with your money, just to tr
y and get on the high-score screen.

It feels a little sluggish compared to
 the version of Amok on the vIC I grew
 up with, but the extras make up for t
his. Animation is as slick as you’re g
oing to get, but it feels a very diffi
cult game, not where you don’t want to
 play, but you have to act fast on eac
h screen. As you move between screens 
the screen scrolls in the direction yo
u exit, very slick. But I needed an 8k
 video expansion to play the game, All
 that sampled sounds and title screen 
(I presume) ate up the VIC’s memory.

Graphics	9/10 Slick
Sound		9/10 Samples and blips
Gampleay	9/10 It’s faster-paced 
than Amok
Overall		9/10 Doest get better? 


I reviewed Bezerk for the C64 and also
 the VIC 20 Amok version here. I also 
gave Amok an 8/10, but it is interesti
ng how my review changed but the final
 score was the same 

"https://www.commodorefree
.com/legacy/magazine/vol7/issue72.html
" \l "ARTICLE4"https://www.commodore
free.com/legacy/magazine/vol7/issue72.
html#ARTICLE4


-----------

************************
Soundpaint
************************
"https://soundpaint.com/"

https://soundpaint.com/

Commodore 64 UHD
Follow this link to hear some examples
 
"https://soundpaint.com/pr
oducts/c64?variant=41144567890091"ht
tps://soundpaint.com/products/c64?vari
ant=41144567890091
SAMPLE TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED BY ARTISTS 
FOR ARTISTS
Soundpaint™ 2.5 is a free and advanced
 music technology designed to offer th
e highest degree of fidelity and reali
sm possible for digital music instrume
nts.
Soundpaint™ uses a proprietary audio f
ormat (Real-Time Samples™) which rende
r instruments in real-time. All instru
ments can have 127 discrete dynamic ve
locity layers.
Soundpaint features our new H.A.L II (
Hyper Acoustic Legato) Technology, whi
ch offers limitless polyphonic legato 
with a degree of playability never hea
rd before.
Soundpaint supports up to 8 Instrument
 Parts and Advanced Keyswitching. It c
omes with new Rack Modules and Keyboar
d labels.
It is fluid and effortless. Like water
.
So not only is the core playback softw
are free, but you can import your own 
samples and the software has a few fre
e instruments to get you started on yo
ur creative journey. 
At this time of writing there are a nu
mber of retro add-ons to the system. 
Oh! Before I get too involved, what is
 Soundpaint?
Soundpaint is a sample replay system w
ith various filter and the usual ADSR 
functionality. It is available as a fr
ee-standing application for Mac and PC
 users but its real versatility is whe
n used as a VST or Virtual Synthesis T
echnology instrument via your DAW or D
igital Audio Workstation, you go to yo
ur DAW then add an instrument and sele
ct SOUNDPAINT
  COMMODORE C64 UDS
The 1982 4-Bit Wonder.
ZX SPECTRUM UDS
1-Bit Full Spectrum Chiptune
GAMEBOI UDS
8-Bit Blast From The Past
STARTING $20
The Commodore UDS or ultra-digitized s
amples are higher quality samples, hen
ce the UDS, but of course cost more in
 their case. $40 worked out at £35 her
e in the UK, once added to my cart and
 then extracted every inch of computin
g power of my brain to fill out the Ca
ptcha (click the bus) I was into my ca
rt. Paying via PayPal on the website i
s easy, you can of course purchase thr
ough and via the website is the soundp
aint application itself, but if like m
e you only have a mobile to-hand then 
painless enough. PayPal confirmed I wa
s still human and it really was me by 
sending me a code on my mobile. Now, w
hen you’re ready just run the applicat
ion. Once logged in you are told you h
ave an update and it flags your attent
ion to the top left.
Oay, so update now installed. You need
 to close the application for the inst
all to update the software. That’s why
 I usually check the application rathe
r than in my DAW , but that could just
 be me -- I don’t want any Fan and Dir
t to be aligned when I start composing
.
Now the software has seen my purchase 
and flagged this
Click on the tick and the sounds will 
be downloaded. You are given a rough e
stimate as to how long this will take:
 
and you’re notified of their file size
: 48 GB! Wow, that’s some samples. 
Then, once the files are unpacked: 
Soundpaint Information:
The Commodore 64 is a highly unique ma
chine and we had to cover every possib
le angle of sampling. Including a mass
ive assortment of classic SID Arp soun
ds with extensive round-robin, Basses,
 Leads, Oscillators from each Chipset,
 Pads and Plucked sounds.
In addition to Ultra Deep-Sampling the
 raw state of the unit - we also did a
dditional recordings using a massive a
mount of analog gear, including Roland
 501 Tape Machine, Strymon and Meris P
edals, GameChanger Audio Distortion, E
lektron Devices, Bricasti, NEVE, ToneB
easts and several other devices to hea
t the signal.
UDS and Standard editions contains ide
ntical programs and parts. $20
UDS (Ultra Deep-Sampled) features all 
the natural variations that occur when
 you retrigger the same key. Designed 
for professionals. $40
I would have preferred real Commodore 
machines than boxes with SID chips as 
I still feel the other circuitry adds 
something to the SID sound, am I right
? Or, do I just imagine that the other
 circuitry affects the SID chip? 
Anyway, purist aside -- at least it’s 
a real SID chip that used (well, it mi
ght be).
I am a great fan of this software. I t
hink the ease of use and flexibility i
s great, especially as the core engine
 is free, and if you want to use your 
own samples you need pay nothing! 
They have some great tutorials on YouT
ube and if you sign up for the newslet
ter, they have the usual hints and tip
s, plus signing up gives a 15% discoun
t on your first order, so its a bit of
 a no-brainer. 
Once downloaded you can start the appl
ication or the virtual instrument and 
your C64 will be under Chiptunes here 
it’s “Chipunes – c64 UDS”

From this submenu are the list of pres
ets: 
The menu at the top allows the user to
 add up to 4 presets to combine them i
nto a super preset, and while the soft
ware adds things like distortion, reve
rb, and equalization, it’s really down
 to the quality of the sounds.
The samples are crystal-clear and ther
e is my problem!  My real C64 machines
 don’t have crystal-clear output and h
ave some noise, so although the Commod
ore is ultra-sampled I presume some cl
eaning of the samples has been perform
ed. 
But this is more an effect of a real C
64. If you wanted the real C64 sound t
hen I would go for using the real mach
ine and sampling it yourself, but the 
cutsomisation and the fact the core is
 free make this a compelling piece of 
software. I also own some of the sampl
ed drum machines; they also sound too 
pristine in my opinion, but you could 
always add distortion.
Sounds		7/10 (sounds a bit too 
clinica
l)
Presentation	10/10 (softwaresgreat)
 
Value		9/10 The sid sound set
 is a bar
gin and the software cors is free so 

 Ok, I want something a little less ex
pensive but still sounding SID-like.
--------------------------------------
----------------
**************************************
**********************
BPB 64 is a freeware virtual instrumen
t by Bedroom Producers Blog. 
**************************************
***********************
It uses multi-samples to recreate the 
sound of the Commodore 64 home compute
r.
BPB 64 includes 30 presets, covering b
ass sounds, pads, leads, and the inevi
table fast-paced arpeggios that make t
he SID chip so legendary. All sounds w
ere captured raw, directly from the SI
D chip, so you're getting the same inf
amous grit and lo-fi crunch that you'd
 get if you hooked up a C64 directly t
o your audio interface.
BPB 64 includes 37 multi-sampled patch
es, covering bass sounds, pads, leads,
 and the inevitable fast-paced arpeggi
os that make the SID chip so legendary
. All sounds were captured raw, direct
ly from the SID chip, so you’re gettin
g the same infamous grit and lo-fi cru
nch that you’d get if you hooked up a 
C64 directly to your audio interface. 

More info: "https://bedroo
mproducersblog.com/2022/12/21/bpb-64/"
https://bedroomproducersblog.com/202
2/12/21/bpb-64/
OR
BPB Commodore 64 Synthesizer Sessions 
DELUXE (FREE Sample Pack) 
BY TOMISLAV ZLATIC // UPDATED ON NOVEM
BER 26, 2020BPB SAMPLES
Commodore 64 Synthesizer Sessions DELU
XE It comes with 30 multi-sampled inst
ruments that were recorded directly fr
om three different versions of the Com
modore 64 home computer.
Kontakt interface with on-screen contr
ols. 
In order to make the library accessibl
e to virtually everyone, I’ve included
 SFZ and Zampler patches for all 30 in
struments. All patches (including the 
Kontakt ones) are designed to alter th
e original sounds as little as possibl
e so that the original character of th
e SID chip is preserved as much as pos
sible.	  ^Jfrom scratch using the fantastic 
MSSIAH 
cartridge and recorded directly to my 
M-Audio Delta 1010LT audio interface. 
There’s no EQ or noise reduction here, 
so everything you hear in the pack is 
100% genuine SID chip output.DDownload
"https://bedroomproducersb
log.sellfy.store/p/commodore-64-synthe
sizer-sessions-deluxe/"https://bedro
omproducersblog.sellfy.store/p/commodo
re-64-synthesizer-sessions-deluxe/
 64 Synthesizer Sessions DELUXE (203 M
B download size, ZIP archive, contains
 30 multi-sampled instruments for Kont
akt, Zampler, WAV)
While this isn’t an extensive list you
 are free to Google the rest. But, the
se I have tried and find them the most
 SID-like in sound output. 

**************************************
*******
Why did some old computer use tape for
 storage 
**************************************
*********
Well if you got this website you can f
ind out more 
Basically tape was cheap and easily av
ailable, the programme was stored as a
n audio file (if you have ever played 
a tape in a Walkman you will know the 
screeching sounds)

Its downside was that tape was and sti
ll is slow, but … I still love the ant
icipation waiting for a game to load f
rom tape, especially if it has a loadi
ng screen and music, and the wait is m
ade so much more bearable when the scr
een starts to fill out and is eventual
ly drawn and the music Is playing away
. 

"https://www.howtogeek.com
/why-did-some-old-computers-use-casset
te-tapes-for-storage/"https://www.ho
wtogeek.com/why-did-some-old-computers
-use-cassette-tapes-for-storage/


"https://www.howtogeek.com
/why-did-some-old-computers-use-casset
te-tapes-for-storage/"https://www.ho
wtogeek.com/why-did-some-old-computers
-use-cassette-tapes-for-storage

----eof------