**************************
* The TND User Tool Disk *
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     Compiled by 
    Richard Bayliss


I thought I write a little 
something about the TND 
User Tool disk. Basically 
this is a compilation of many 
public domain tools that I 
seem to have made use with 
in the past. I still even use 
those today as well. All 
programs on the disk were 
done by various members of 
various demo scene groups. 

The whole idea of creating 
this tools disk is to share it 
with everybody and also give 
you some general 
information on how those 
programs can be used. As 
well as the user tool disk, I 
have also included another 
disk with various stuff to 
support the tools, such as the 
Turbo Assembler and the 
DMC music editor.

 

The tools on this disk are all 
public domain, just like the 
compilation and you are very 
welcome to copy the disk to 
all of your friends and 
contacts.  Anyway here is 
what we have on the disk, 
and some background 
information about the 
programs.



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

Turbo Assembler V7.0+ 
(Angels version)

This wasn't really the 
version of the Turbo 
Assembler that I used to use. 
I used to use version V5.3 
which was a version given 
away to the public domain 
by Case/The Ancient 
Temple. However this is a 
programming tool for writing 
your own assembly code. 
There is already an assembly 
programming feature in 
Commodore Free as 
someone else has took the 
role, but I have included a 
.D64 with various sources I 
made to create various 
programs, like the Goldfish 
demo, 2 scroll intro demo 
and the Missile Blaster 
game.  Also to accompany 
the assembler, we have the 
Turbo Assembler commands. 
So you will know how to 
assemble, load a file etc. 
Hope it helps :o)

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


Code Suck Monitor (Padua)

Another handy old tool here. 
This program is also a 
programming tool and is also 
good for ripping code 
(Which I don't recommend) 
as well. The Code Suck 
Monitor is probably based on 
the Action Replay Machine 
code monitor. Most 
demo/game programmers on 
the C64 probably used a 
machine code monitor as 
well as an assembler. So if 
you don't own an Action 
Replay cartridge, here is a 
handy hint for you, to use 
this tool. 

Because you may wish to use 
Turbo Assembler as well as 
this M/C monitor, do not 
chose $8000 - $C000 as the 
address for the monitor or 
anywhere where code & data 
overlaps the M/C monitor, 
itself. However, if you would 
prefer to try programming 
with a M/C monitor instead 
(Which is slightly more 
difficult) then that is entirely 
up to you.

The Code Suck Monitor also 
have some instructions to 
help you get started. Simply 
chose the note. If you do 
chose the note then you'll 
have to load the Code Suck 
Monitor all over again from 
the menu. :o)


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


DMC V4.0 (Graffity)

For short, DMC stands for 
Demo Music Creator. This is 
a tool which I like to use a 
lot and it is very easy to 
handle, compared to DMC 
V5.0. To be able to get the 
hang of the DMC V4.0, I 
have included some example 
tunes in the source files disk, 
so you can get started. 
However there seem to be 
some instructions missing in 
this music editor (Unlike 
DMC V2.0, which had 
instructions in with the 
editor). Here are the 
commands:

General:
INST/DEL: Insert/Delete 
positions
Left arrow: Main menu
Up arrow: Read data from 
cursor position
@: Write data from cursor 
position  
F1: Play music from the start
F3: Pause/stop playing music
F5: Continue playing music 
(When paused)
F7: Fast Forward music 
(When playing)
Shift + F5: Record played 
notes (When in live play 
mode)
Shift + F7: Enter live play 
mode

Track Editor:
Shift + +(and value): 
Transpose up
Shift + - :(and value): 
Transpose down
Shift + Return: Enter 
sequence/notes editor

Sector/Notes editor:
CBM+D: Set duration
CBM+G: Set glide value
CBM+S: Set instrument
CBM+V: Set volume of 
channel
CBM+X: Set switch effect
= : Set end of note
œ: Place gate on current 
sound (Depends on how the 
sound is set, use œ to stop the 
sound playing in current 
sector)

Keys Q-P, 1-0: Make notes
< >: Change octave of all 
notes from cursor position.

Synthesizer:
Shift + +: Select next 
instrument 
Shift + - : Select previous 
instrument
Shift +1 - 7: Select ocatave
Keys Q-P, 1-0: Play notes
Shift + Return: Exit 
sequence/notes editor and 
return to the track editor

Instruments / waveform 
editor:
Shift + +/-: Select 
next/previous instrument.
Shift + Return: (Edit 
waveform / Exit waveform 
editor)
Spacebar: Test instrument
(Use back arrow twice to 
exit)

Filter editor:
Shift +/-: Chose filter to edit.
(Use Back arrow twice to 
exit)

 

If you need to learn to create 
instruments, etc. Check out 
the Music Scene feature on 
my web site at 
http://www.redesign.sk/tnd6
4.


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


All Round Re-locator (The 
Syndrom/TIA)

This is a music re-locator 
that can relocate tunes that 
have been composed in 
either an old version of the 
JCH player (JCH Player V4), 
DMC V2.0, DMC V3.0, 
DMC V4.0 or DMC V5.0. 
Tunes can be relocated from 
their current position to a 
newer position in C64 
memory. This tool was 
handy for me to relocate my 
tunes for my game projects, 
so that I could have one tune 
at $1000-$1fff and another 
from $9000-$9fff, etc. 
Depending on how many 
tunes I wanted to use for the 
games/demos.


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


Font Editor V1.3 (Faces)

This is yet another tool I 
used to use to draw my own 
character set graphics for my 
own productions. The editor 
allows you to draw character 
sets of various sizes, which 
are 1x1, 1x2, 2x1, 2x2, 2x3, 
2x4, 3x2, 4x2, and 3x3. This 
font editor also has music 
playing in the background. 

 
I need not give you any help 
on how to use this old tool, 
as the help file is already in 
this very nice tool. We hope 
you have fun drawing your 
char sets with this tool.

Sprite Editor V1.2 (Faces)
Yet another graphics 
drawing program, that allows 
you to create you own hi 
resolution or multicoloured 
sprites for your own games 
or demo productions. I often 
used this program a lot, 
because it is very easy to 
handle. You could even save 
your own sprites from one 
range to another, which helps 
me even more, to save 
separate sprites.

 

This tool also have 
instructions to help you on 
your way to making your 
own game/demo sprites, with 
its handy functions, so I need 
not give you any help for this 
tool.

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


Amica Paint V1.5 
(Oliver Stiller)

This is a painting program 
which I also used a lot to 
paint stuff. This tool consists 
of a wide range of options to 
help you draw, pixel and 
enhance your pictures, such 
as bending, rotating and 
other options, which don't 
exist in many C64 painting 
programs. You can also use 
an amiga mouse instead of a 
joystick if you needed to. 
There is a later version of 
Amica Paint available at 
http://www.lemon64.com in 
the applications section. I did 
not bother adding that 
version to the disk because 
of the other files that 
supports the utility.
 

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


Picture Splitter V2 (Plush)

This is a very handy utility to 
help you split your picture 
into three different files, or 
even swap colours. You can 
load various images on to 
this program. Those can be 
Amica Paint, Koala paint and 
a few others. Splitting a 
picture is simple. All you 
need to do is chose the 
memory locations to place 
your bitmap file, video RAM 
and screen colour RAM. 

Here is how to do this for 
intro pics :o) The way I do it 
is quite simple. I place the 
bitmap at hex $2000, the 
video RAM at $4000 and the 
colour RAM at $4400, 
especially when it comes to 
coding picture demos. 
However, if you wanted to 
turn your picture into a 
Vidcom painter picture, 
simply set bitmap at $6000, 
colour RAM at $5800 and 
screen RAM at $5c00. 

Other options in the picture 
splitter is a routine that will 
allow you to swap colours 
with a different colour, 
simply by using keys 0-9 and 
a-f and return to perform 
swap.

There are also some options 
that wall allow you to lighten 
or darken your picture to 
how you'd like it. Nice 


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


Visiomizer V6.3
(Magnus Lind)

Here, we have a handy utility 
by the author of the 
Exomizer. However this is 
probably one of the *best* 
char packers available for the 
C64. The concept is like 
many other packers, except 
that you can change load 
addresses for linking 
something to your 
intro/demo (say your own 
game or another demo part). 

The concept of this program 
is to compress single files 
that range from $0800-$ffff 
(probably lower than $0800). 
The program asks you to 
enter your filename details 
(The file that is on your disk 
which you want to pack). 
Then it asks for $01 value. I 
always use $37 as the $01 
value, so I would 
recommend that you do that 
as well with your programs. 
The packer also asks for 
Jump address? Well it may 
vary. It depends on the 
program. 

Actually let's help you out a 
bit using this packer (If you 
have an action replay 
cartridge or reset cartridge 
with m/c monitor). 
Download a SEUCK game 
from my web site. Run the 
game. Freeze/reset to M/C 
monitor and enter S "(name 
of game),8,0801,FFFF. 
When done load the 
Visiomizer and enter as 
follows:

Loadname: game
Savename: game+
$01            : 37
JMP$         :4245 
Loadback $: 0801
Leastgain: $08
Maxspce: $0c

Insert your disk for packing 
and the program will work 
with the packing process. 
Now when prompted to save 
the file, press spacebar to 
save. After save, reset C64 
and load the directory and 
you will notice that the game 
has been packed. The next 
step will be to test the 
depacker. So load game+ 
and then enter SYS2049 and 
the game will depack and 
run. If the game is fine, well 
done you done it correct. 
Else if parts of the game 
messed up. You may have 
gone wrong somewhere. 
Remember that for all 
SEUCK games, the jump 
address is $4245.


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

Sledgehammer II (Cross)

This is yet another packer, 
but this time it has a built in 
linker. The main purpose of 
using this tool is to grab all 
data and code and link it all 
into one main file. You can 
link up to 252 blocks of data, 
but the problem is that the 
load addresses must differ 
and be in order, else the 
packer will overwrite 
existing data causing the 
packed program to bomb. 
Anyway, you can even pack 
one single unpacked file. So 
yet again, let's try it out.

First of all download a 
SEUCK game from the TND 
web site. This time we will 
save it in two separate files 
:o)). Load the game and 
enter the M/C monitor and 
then do as follows for the 
first file. S 
"GAME1",8,0801,A000 then 
for the second file S 
"GAME2",8,A000,FFFF. 
Load up Sledgehammer II 
from the menu and exit the 
intro with spacebar and then 
insert the disk which you 
saved both SEUCK game 
files from.

Enter the depack text option 
and clear the screen then 
select depack effect as 
nothing (No depack text and 
effect is more helpful for 
slightly bigger compression 
for when it comes to using a 
cruncher.) Now enter the 
Sledgehammer.

Insert the disk with the two 
game files and press 
spacebar to start. Now 
highlight both files and press 
return. You will then see a 1 
or 2 appear (These are the 
files that have been selected 
and will load in that kind of 
order). Once done, use 
Spacebar to enter the 
Sledgehammer II packer and 
fill in the following:

SAVENAME: GAME+
JMP TO       : $4245 
$01 VALUE: $37

When done, the loading and 
packing commences. Once 
packed, press spacebar to 
save the packed file to disk. 
The file will then save. Reset 
the C64, load and run the 
packed file. You will get a 
black screen and will have to 
wait a short while for the 
depack to finish, then your 
game should come on.

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


Super Zipper V8 (Oneway)

This is probably a modified 
version of the 4-Code Zipper 
classic packer. Unlike 
Sledgehammer II and 
Visomizer. This tool is a 
simple char packer that is 
compatible with different 
hardware/software fast 
loaders. Entering information 
for packing of data is purely 
the same as with 
Sledgehammer II and 
Visiomizer, but it does not 
pack as good as Visiomizer, 
although still usable. 


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

The Cruncher AB V3.0 
(Oneway)

Here is something to 
accompany the Visiomizer 
packer. A damn good 
cruncher. You can chose a 
type of flashy border (for 
depack effect) if you wanted 
to, but it is not mandatory. In 
fact, you're better off 
without an effect if you don't 
want it. Anyway instructions 
about the effect to chose is 
simple. Spacebar will test the 
effect. 

You also have a choice of 
three different crunching 
methods which are simply 
the following:

1. 202 Block fast crunch 
(Extra RAM)
2. 111 Block fast crunch 
3. 202 Block slow crunch

If you chose option 1 on this 
cruncher, you will need to 
have 256K RAM installed on 
to your C64. In the past, to 
increase RAM for home 
microcomputers there used 
to be cartridges known as 
RAM Expansion Packs. 
You'll get a fast 2-pass 
crunch which will take a 
maximum time limit between 
10-15 minutes (Depending 
on how much memory is to 
be crunched down to size).

If you chose option 2 for this 
cruncher. You wont need to 
have 256K extra RAM. You 
can use BASIC kernal load 
or any other 
hardware/software fast load. 
However your program size 
is limited to 111 blocks. Any 
higher and the cruncher will 
crash.

If you chose option 3 for this 
cruncher. You wont need to 
have 256K extra RAM. You 
will need to have a lot of 
patience. Why is this? Well 
it is because (depending on 
your program size) the 
crunching time may take up 
to 2-3 hours, which means 
you need to sit back and 
relax or go to sleep for the 
time limit :o). The cruncher 
uses its own software loader.
Anyway. Say you packed a 
program using the 
Visiomizer, and want to 
crunch your program even 
further to get a smaller 
amount of memory. Use 
$0801 as the jump address. It 
wont fail if you get it right.

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


Exploding Faces Cruncher 
(Epic)

This is a version of the 
Exploding Cruncher, 
originally created by faces. 
However this version has 
high speed loader, and faster 
compression. Unlike the 
Cruncher AB, this program 
allows you to compress your 
programs in a one-pass 
mode. 

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

Dir Master V8.4 (Hitmen)

This is a perfect C64 tool if 
you want to enhance and 
manage your own directories 
on disk. For example you 
can edit tracks/sectors, load 
addresses and even disguise 
some of your programs 
inside the directory. With Dir 
Master V8.4 you can create 
your own directory stamps, 
to give the directory art. Be 
very careful if you do this 
because if you do, loading a 
directory from disk for 
listing will take a longer 
time. It depends on the size 
of your directory. There's a 
help file to get you started 
with this handy tool. All you 
need to do is use '*' to enter 
the help screen.

Well those are all the tools 
on this disk. We hope you 
will find those to be really 
handy. But before I go, I 
want to help you out a bit on 
finding out how to convert 
an SYS address to a hex 
address for usage on a 
packer+cruncher.

In a M/C monitor i.e. Action 
Replay cartridge, use the 
following.

To find the following SYS 
addresses displayed in 
BASIC into hexadecimal:

2049:
N 2049

2061:
N 2061
Result = $080D

20480:
N 20480
Result = $5000

49152:
N 49152

That's it. You may find 
various useful information 
about C64 machine code 
from http://project64.c64.org