
Issue 24 October 2008
http://www.commodorefree.com/
Free to download magazine Dedicated to Commodore Computers
Available as Text, Html, PDF, SEQ and Commodore 64 D64 disk
image
CONTENTS
EDITOR
Readers Comments
Competition
PRESS PLAY ON TAPE competition winner
NEWS
NEWS
INFORMATION
LLAMASOFT - The Dromedary Years Part 2
Raymond Computer Store
Hypersid sound module
TUTORIALS
In the beginning part 9
INTERVIEWS
Interview with Raymond
Bryan (Raymond Computer Store)
Hypersid Development team
CLUB NEWS
Commodore Computer club Membership form
Commodore
Computer club Membership Club rules
Commodore
Computer club Membership Club F.A.Q
EDITOR
http://www.commodorefree.com
http://www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk/
I am sure I mentioned this before but as it happened again and I
think the comments made prove a point I thought I would repeat
myself.
Recently I was watching an old Doctor who series on DVD, well ok
the dvd was new but the Doctor who series was from some time ago,
for any Doctor who fans it was the pilot episode called an
unearthly child nothing unusual there, I know many Commodore fans
are also SCI-FI fans. My wife came in the room looked at the Tv and
said something like "how can you watch these old programmes", they
aren`t even in colour. I gazed up looked back at the Tv and though
"your absolutely right its in black and white The point here is a
good program is a good program, I was so engrossed I didn`t notice
the program was in black and white and this is my point, although
long winded in explanation.
I know games manufacturers have deadlines and programmers have time
limits etc but I have still to find anything that I get hooked on
as much as some of the old 8-bit games. I know some were samey and
we can all be accused of not putting in 100% as I am sure many
readers notice sometimes, Issues of Commodore Free are rushed, only
scanned quickly for errors.
So what is a good game? What makes a good program? What makes a
good piece of music? What has all this got to do with Commodore
Free magazine? Well the answer is "I don`t know" I presume if I
knew all these answers I would be a very rich man. I have had a
thought but don`t have the knowledge or contacts` here is the idea
and remember its copyrighted to me so if you make vast sums of
money, you need to send me commission
IDEA
Design a game on an 8-bit system and give the game away for free,
monitor the downloads and create a blog for comments from users,
find the best game ie the game receiving the most downloads and
comments, then license or convert the game to every and any other
platform and charge the standard fee, so convert to mobile,
playstation x-box etc. This will ensure its already a classic and a
buzz has been created for the game, as it was an 8-bit game, the
format change to mobile phone should not present any problems
(although I am not a programmer so its more of a guess) Maybe we
could recreate the hey day of programming (to my mind) when people
who were just ordionary people decided to write games and even
start there own companies, names springing to mind are Tony
Crowther and Jeff Minter
Well that`s my thoughts, I think the main element of a game is the
"gameplay" graphics sound don`t matter to me, heck how many people
have played rolpay games where its just a dice and a piece of
notepaper to record scores, yep I am guilty to that, although I
cant see it as a crime, imagination can create any image you like
any sound and it costs nothing. So where is this leading us. Well
in the words of the tv presenter this leads us neatly into the news
section of Commodore Free for no real reason other than it`s the
next page
Thanks
Nigel
Jump Back to CONTENTS
Readers Comments
From: Lorenzo Tonanni (in Italy)
Subject: Commodore Free
To: Commodore Free Magazine
Hi,
I'm a C64 & Commodore user from the 70-80's. and I've
discovered Commodore Free magazine. I found the magazine very
interesting! I live in Italy, You know surely that there are a very
large number of Commodore fans. I think it would be Wonderful to
share your magazine in other languages, like Italian for
example...Do You think is a good idea? I can offer my collaboration
in this...
Lorenzo Tonanni
Pisa, Italy
COMMODORE FREE
Lorenzo
Unfortunately I only speak English, so its impossible for me to
create another language version of the magazine. Also because I
only speak English its impossible for me to check the content; I
wouldnt know if the translation was accurate,
However I would however welcome other versions of the magazine in
different languages Spanish and German especially. I can trial an
issue if you wish, and see what feedback comes from users, what
version would you be able to produce a PDF or text issue?
Many thanks for your comments, you realise though it is a large
amount of work translating and checking magazines :-)
Best regards
Nigel
www.commodorefree.com
COMMODORE FREE
I realise that English may not be everyones preferred language of
choice but as this is the only language I can write and speak in
(sometimes with grammatical errors and spelling may not be to
everyone else`s standard) If I had a choice I would prefer someone
to proof read my editing and get Commodore Free in English to a
very high standard rather then branching out into multiple
languages. I realise that this isn`t possible without other readers
help, and that many readers do not have the time to devote to
proofreading and its commitments preferring rather just to read the
magazine, let me say though that without readers there would be no
point creating a magazine, so even readers have a valid input to
its creation.
However, as a reader you may like to send the odd link or news
item, that maybe I missed during the magazine production, or
suggest someone in the Commodore community for an interview with.
Back to the language versions,
I know for example many websites are in existence that translate
text sites into other languages (you will need to search for these
but websites like bablefish and even Google can translate text to
some extent), this was the main motivation In producing a text and
later a html version of the magazine, hoping to obtain more reader
base from international readers, who dont speak or read English, So
If you feel the commitment to translate Commodore free into other
languages than feel free to send me an issue and I will (if web
space permits) host this version of the magazine, lets try it as a
test, although I realise that it takes a large effort and time
dedication to translate technical text so I dont expect a great
number of people who will write in.
Also talking about writing in what happened to all the readers
comments, you guys nothing to say?
Thanks
Commodore Free
Jump Back to CONTENTS
NEWS
64JPX - JoyPad eXpander
for Commodore and Atari compatible systems
OVERVIEW
64JPX is a small interface designed to rejuvenate the way with
which you play your favourite games on the Commodore or Atari
system.
Whilst joysticks were all the range in the 70s and 80s,the 1990`s
saw a move towards joypad style controllers with more buttons and
ergonomic feel. 64JPY not only allows you to safely connect Sega
Genesis/MegaDrive 3 and 6 button controllers to your retro system,
it enhances game play with a number of on-the-fly selectable play
modes.
64JPX will give your favourite old games a new lease of life, and
may actually make you play better!
Note: an SNES version of 64JPX is also under development.
FEATURES
-Simple to use plug-in smart interface
-Safely connect Sega MegaDrive/Genesis 3 and 6 button joypad, and
other controllers
-Enhances game play with a number of on-the-fly selectable gaming
enhancement modes
-Works out-of-the-box with Commodore, Atari and other compatible
systems
CONNECTIVITY
-Provides diode protection to Commodore and Atari systems
-Provides signal conversion from Sega joypads (via adaptors)
Provides connection to other controllers such as PC Wheels, flight
yokes, 8-button joypads, and more...
ENHANCEMENT MODES (SEGA):
-default: A=fire, B=rapid fire1, C=rapid fire2
-racing: A=fire, B=up, C=down
-waddle: A=fire, B=waddle1, C=waddle2
-creep: A=fire, B=creep left, C=creep right
FURTHER INFO
Additional information can be found in the preliminary user manual
which can be downloaded here http://www.64hdd.com/64jpx/64jpx.pdf
64jpx Update
The PCB has gone out for manufacture. The final PCB ended up being
very similar in size to the prototype shown.
Now I need to finalise orders for the parts; the micro being the
most expensive - and so I am hoping to avoid ending up with a huge
stockpile of them!
Plans are to support a variety of versions based on feedback.
Currently on the list to offer are:
-Sega only
-Sega/PCanalog combo
-Sega/SNES/NES combo
-SNES/NES enhanced combo
I was surprised by the interest in the older NES controller since
it doesn't have many extra buttons, but due to the interest I have
decided to support the controller.
Note: SNES/NES controllers have a specialised connector. The
cheapest hack is to splice a DB9 connector into the original
controller cable. Instructions will be supplied for this, but will
require some soldering skills. eBay has SNES/NES extension cables
for sale. I have a limited number which I can also provide as
pre-made pin-adaptors on a first-come-first- served basis.
I will be working on finalising the software whilst I await the
components from suppliers. Last chance for some brainstorming if
people want extra enhancement functions!
A dual-ported version worked out to be more expensive than two
individual interfaces, so has been dropped.
Website has been updated with some extra pictures.
http://www.64hdd.com/64jpx/
Discount pricing will be given to those that pre-order by 28 Aug
2008. The early pre-order information you supply will help me
estimate and budget for the parts that need to be purchased.
The Aztec C Website
The Aztec C Website has been updated and now has its own domain: http://www.aztecmuseum.ca/
The history has been revised and since Harry Suckow (who holds the
Copyrights) has given permission for the site the conditions of use
have been revised and clarified. More updates and complete
revamping and expansion of the site are planned in the near future,
but this update and a dedicated domain was long overdue. The site
can still be accessed through the previous links as well, since
both point to the same server. Also getting theirown domains are:
http://www.appleoldies.ca/
and
http://www.c64classics.ca/
These sites are related to Aztec C in a big way and will also see
major changes and expansion in the near future.
Have Fun! Bill Buckels
PS - any of you "Philadephia Lawyers" who have made uncharitable
comments about the Aztec C site's legitimacy and my own as well in
this effort can now return to normal programming.
Programming protection manual
I found a book called "Program protection manual for the C-64
Volume I" by TN Simstad. I have two questions:
- The book mentions a floppy disk. Is anyone willing to share the
D64 of this with me?
- "Volume I" implies that there is a volume 2. Can anybody confirm
this and, even better, share a PDF of it with me?
I wish, but it's unlikely a part 2 was every written. I remember I
read about this underground pubblication around 1987 in mags when
did my first steps about game cracking and drooled at the idea of
getting a copy of this "phantom" book. :D Now I found that contains
nothing more than I have learned by myself, just had to spend years
to collect all these infos ;) On my turn I'm willing to share the
PDF of this book. was already posted here and it's hosted there: http://70.116.30.93:6809/
ppm1.pdf 37.9 MB
ppm1_36.pdf 3.63 MB
C64 Coding: IRQ Coding Tutorial
Using the Monitor feature of "Action Replay Version 6" Cartridge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-AINpOulGs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfkcmBpwaxI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIwqrVT1guU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cefYKc7ziU&feature=related
Here is a nice tutorial on how to code an IRQ (Interrupt Request)
for the Commodore 64
Here is the code copied from the Program for people without access
to YouTube, and has been documented by the creator and checked to
ensure my typing was accurate. The Creator has also added some
comments about how to use action replay and has turned into a mini
tutorial in its own right.
On the you tube video; the tutor loads a file using action replay
fast loader this is a music PRG file, action replay reports the
memory location of the file, Here is a note from the You tube IRQ
coding creator "Conrad" who describes each line of the program
"Conrad"
This is a simple tutorial, taking the reader through the creation
of a simple IRQ music player. This player will run under interrupt
outside of BASIC or of any other assembler programs, leaving your
machine free for other tasks.
Level type: Novice
In this example, we will the use ACTION REPLAY cartridge
(particularly version 4-6 or you can use the MMC Replay version) to
allow programming with a quick and dirty monitor and
dissembler.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
Make sure that the music file you use is NOT a .SID file, but a
standard .PRG file.
1.) From start-up, Go into FASTLOAD mode on the Action Replay menu
by pressing (F7).
2.) Load a music file with the start at address of $1000 (4096
decimal) making sure that the init address is $1000 and the play
address is $1003. To check this, use a decent SID player on Windows
like SidPlay2/w to check the technical information of the .sid
file.
3.) When the file is loaded with the Action Replay fast-loader, it
will display the end address of the file, you need to keep a note
of this address for use later in this tutorial.
4.) Open up the monitor by typing the command "MON" and then press
return. On the first line within monitor mode, type "A $0F00" and
press return, this will start assembling at the memory location
$0F00
5.) Enter the following code (excluding the comments)
SEI ; Set the interrupt flag, disabling interrupts
; needs to be done or the cpu will crash during
; execution of an IRQ set-up
LDA#$37 ; For this example tutorial, make sure the
STA$01 ; Kernal is enabled by configuring the mem config register.
LDA#$00 ; Initialise music by loading A with zero (song
JSR$1000 ; number for most players) and call the address.
LDA#$01 ; Set raster IRQ compare flags, needed during
STA$D01A ; and IRQ execution.
STA$D019 ;
LDA#$7F ; Set CIA register bits to check for IRQ
STA$DC0D ; interrupt during each frame.
LDA$DC0D ; Latch $DC0D register.
LDA#$0F ; Set the IRQ vector addresses with the address
STA$0315 ; of the interrupt execution program. This example is
LDA#$30 ; memory location $0F30. $0315 stores the most
STA$0314 ; significant byte, where $0314 stores the least.
LDA#$68 ; Set target interrupt raster line. This will
STA$D012 ; be the raster position when an interrupt is detected.
LDA#$1B ; Set gfx mode to text view and MSB of raster to
STA$D011 ; zero.
CLI ; Clear Interrupts
RTS ; Return from Subroutine (back to point of caller)
LDA$D012 ; Check the raster line is equal or over the
CMP$D012 ; target raster line before continuing, BNE$0F33
; branching back if not equal. "$0F33"
; represents the jump address.
DEC$D020 ; Decrease border colour by 1
JSR$1003 ; Call music play address to play music each frame.
INC$D020 ; Increment border colour this will show a change
; in the border colour and show how many
; raster lines are used in the music player
LDA#$01 ; Reset Raster irq flag to run another raster
STA$D019 ; IRQ check at the frame.
JMP$EA31 ; Jump to Kernal routine that loads registers to
; original states and returns from interrupt.
5.) To get the start address of this program in decimal, type "N
$0F00" to take note of the decimal output, which in this case is
3840.
6.) To save this assembler program, type the following:
.S "IRQ MUSIC PLAYER",8,$0F00,$???? (where "$????" equals
the end address of the music you loaded previously. The program
will then be saved to disk.)
7.) Exit the monitor by typing "X" to return to basic.
8.) Type "SYS 3840" to start the assembly program we have entered.
To stop the IRQ from running, hold "RUN/STOP" and press
"RESTORE".
Spectrum VIC20 Emulator
http://simonowen.com/spectrum/vic20emu/
Features
- Full 65C02 emulation
- Base memory + 3K RAM expansion
- High resolution graphics mode
- Approximate colour mapping to VIC palette
- 4 channel sound (bass/alto/soprano/noise)
- Mapped keyboard and Kempston joystick input
The emulator runs at 1/10th the speed of a real Vic 20 and is
actually a port of the SAM Coupé emulator available from
here http://simonowen.com/sam/vic20emu/
SAM Coupé version Vic 20 Emulator
Features
Full 65C02 emulation
Base memory + 3K RAM expansion
High resolution graphics mode
16 colour VIC palette
4 channel sound (bass/alto/soprano/noise)
Full keyboard and joystick input
Running speed is around 1/7the the speed of a real machine
CCS64 V3.6
http://www.computerbrains.com/ccs64/
CCS64 V3.6 has been released and can be downloaded from here http://www.computerbrains.com/ccs64/
The following bug-fixes/enhancements have been made:
- FIX: To fix an array over-flow error in the re-implemented
collision-detection routine, which meant that collisions at the
right-hand side of the emulated screen were not being detected
properly.
- FIX: To re-implement the DirectX drawing routines, using
off-screen graphical buffering, due to some graphics drivers being
poorly-implemented, causing low frame rates to be observed.
- FIX: Corrected the C64 character display of the D64 image file
title.
- FIX: Corrected some minor T64 image filename display issues.
- ADD: Experimental automatic detection of joystick ports in use.
(So the user can use the cursor keys for Joysticks in Port 1 and/or
Port 2 and still use the cursor keys normally in BASIC. Joystick
inputs are only triggered when the C64 program actively checks for
it. Works OK for most games.)
- ADD: To make the Graphics Filter option "Scale" work with higher
screen resolutions.
Cloanto Releases Amiga Forever 2008 "RP2"
Announces C64 Forever
Cloanto released this week Amiga Forever 2008 "RP2", the latest
version of the award-winning Amiga preservation, emulation and
support suite for Windows and other platforms, and a first batch of
10 games in the new RP2 format. Both the RP2 update and the new
games are a free download for current users.
Amiga Forever 2008, the most significant release in the Amiga
Forever series, already set new references in usability while more
than tripling the featured content and providing easy access to a
universe of free downloads. The "RP2" update (from RetroPlatform
Player, the technology used by Amiga Forever) adds support for the
new RP2 file format and content delivery, recognition and
configuration framework.
RP2 is a simple and standards-compliant wrapper format, essentially
a ZIP archive containing one or more disk image files and an XML
manifest. Full information is being shared with download sites and
other partners. Does the emulation world really need a new format?
Well, RP2 does not aim to replace the existing disk image files:
there will always be ADFs, etc. Cloanto's project involving
automatic identification of disk images and automatic configuration
of the emulation system also remains ongoing, and will soon flow
into RP2. The new format aims to solve another aspect, i.e. how to
easily download, organize and play sets of multiple disks, and
treat each game as a single file, just as users do with MP3s.
Today, ZIP archives can be downloaded from games sites, but they
still won't play automatically. ADFs might do that (with Amiga
Forever they already do), but this wouldn't work with games that
need more than one disk image. That's where RP2 aims to deliver,
making playback of an .rp2 Amiga game file as simple as playing an
.mp3 music file: one file, one game, nothing else to remember or
configure. And users will be free to rename or reorganize the
files, while existing investment in Amiga disk images will be
preserved by means of automated conversion options.
Amiga Forever is still far from perfect, and we know that. Thanks
to the precious support of our customers, we keep working on other
fronts, which include:
- Merge the current heuristic configuration logic with the
autoconfiguration library
- Make it possible to create, edit and share configurations
- Make it easier to add or remove content from the player lists
(Games, Demos, etc.)
- Improve online search
- New partnerships
The RetroPlatform player and content framework were designed from
the beginning to be modular and platform-neutral. The Amiga alone,
while full of memories and passion, remains a risky "niche" for a
software house. In order to achieve better stability and growth
potential for the project as a whole, we decided to support a
second platform which we all love and know well from our past. This
means that Amiga Forever will soon get a little 8-bit brother (or
sister), to be named C64 Forever. More information will be released
soon at http://www.c64forever.com
Your Amiga Forever Team
LINKS
Amiga Forever Home Page
http://www.amigaforever.com
Screenshots
http://www.amigaforever.com/screenshots/
Premium Edition Box Shots
http://www.amigaforever.com/tour/af_box_premium.html
New Features
http://www.amigaforever.com/whatsnew/
Quick Tips for Upgraders
http://www.amigaforever.com/kb/5-121.html
RP2 Format Information and First 10 Sample Games
http://www.amigaforever.com/kb/5-122.html
Adding or Removing Content
http://www.amigaforever.com/kb/5-123.html
Amiga Forever Cataloging Effort Reaches 10K Milestone
http://www.amigaforever.com/news-events/20071214cataloging.html
8 Bit Weapon`s Commodore 64 Remix album "Confidential
2.0"
5 years in the making, 8 Bit Weapon`s Commodore 64 Remix album
"Confidential 2.0" is now available with 5 bonus songs and all
tracks completely Remastered! The album is available as a digital
album in FLAC and MP3 (note the "whole album" download), but 64
limited edition signed and numbered copies in a 5.25" disk sleeve
are available too.
Track Listing:
Times of Lore Intro (Remix)
Neuromancer Ending (Warhol Edit)
M.U.L.E. (Bitblaster Mix)
Inspector Gadget (GOGO Mix)*
Crazy Comets (Orbital Decay Mix)
Chimera (Miles Mix)
Spy vs Spy II (Drunk n` Basement Mix)
Bards Tale II - Sanctuary Score (Ybarras Mystic Mix)
Defender of the Crown (Royalty Remix)
Movie Monsters Game (Disco Terror Mix)
I.G.U.S.T.R.A.*
Commodore C64 (Bit Blitz Mix)
Boulder Dash (Dubby Dirt Mix)*
Acidgroove (Orchestral Mix)
Arkanoid (Bonham Beat Mix)*
Mars Saga (MrJetlands Slow Jam Mix)
Defender of the Crown (On the Romance Tip) *
Times of Lore Title (Epic Hendrix Mix)
* Previously Unreleased
Get your copy here: http://www.c64audio.com
IDE64 Information
On Sat, Aug 30, 2008 at 4:33 AM, Ferenc Veres wrote: on the IDE
mailing list
Although it has not been announced on this list yet!
Josef Soucek attended the Hungarian 8bit meeting (Arok Party) last
weekend, he and Soci presented the new IDE64 V4.1 card and sold a
small amount on the party. The IDE64 has a Clock Port, where you
can connect an MP3 player and an Ethernet card from the Retro
Replay cartridge, which has the same clock port.
The IDE64 has a USB connector and ideserv already supports pclink
transfer over this Usb connection. the Ide64 has 128kb Flash
memory. Soci said, he will start using this feature when he has
more time for developing the IDE DOS. I am not sure what will
happen to 64KB Flash owners, I hope there will be some support. (I
asked after the presentation, but the answer was uncertain.) It's
Version 4.1 anyway, not V4. That version number was skipped.:-)
We need to ask Josef about who will sell the device and when, But I
did see the card in action and it worked at the officially
presentation of the Arok. party:-)
http://www.ide64.org/ide64v41.html
Regards,Lion
IDE64 V4.1
Four years after the IDE64 V3.4 was release, the IDE64 Project
staff comes up with a new IDE64 device.
IDE64 V4.1 is the long awaited successor to the IDE64 V3.4 built
using present-day technology.
The new IDE64 can be used with the variety of up-to-date or archaic
devices, this makes the IDE64 V4.1 the most versatile peripheral
device for Commodore 64. The device supports Hard Disks, CDROMs,
DVDs, ZiP drive, LS-120, CompactFlash (CF) and more. Contrary to
the successor that supported only 2 devices, the IDE64 can serve
three devices in the same time. When used with CF, IDE64 doesn't
need any additional power supply, CF has a low power consumption
(including IDE64 approx. 140mA). And Of course the IDE64 can be
used with standard ATA hard disk drives or CD/DVD ROMs together
with a CF or without CF option.
Short information about IDE64 history and presen
First IDE64 controller V1.1 this was publicly available in December
1997, but development process goes back to 1994 when the first
experiments began. Until now there have been four major updates.
Together with the hardware, operating system and utilities
contained in the cards the 'firmware' has been continually
developed. Firmware updates are released freely and users are able
to update the card and take the benefits of new features and bug
fixes. Beside the IDE64 native and DOS file system support the
IDE64 contains a freezer function and a Machine Code Monitor and
the stunning File Manager application.
The current IDE64-DOS V.90 is very mature, completely reworked from
scratch and offers many new features including support of
partitions, relative files, large capacity media and together with
the redesigned IDE64 architecture offers incredible speed, as an a
example this enables users to stream hi-resolution video at the 25
fps! See 'Rush' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knZyPXcelYM
created by Singular Crew for Console/Real Wild compo at Breakpoint
2008.
The IDE64 is compatible with alternative operating systems, GEOS
and WiNGS the same as hardware SuperCPU and RAMLink. For real-time
data interchanging between C64 (IDE64) and PC, IDE64 offers
built-in USB 1.1 / USB 2.0 PC-Link system. Additional peripherals
can be connected to IDE64 using the IDE64 proprietary ShortBUS or
'Amiga Clock Port'. DUART - industrial designed dual port RS-232
card and 10Mbit Ethernet card ETH64 (Contiki drivers are available)
and much more.
More info on the IDE64 page soon.
http://www.ide64.org/
Jump Back to CONTENTS
Raymond Computer
Store
http://www.raymondcomputer.com
The Store
Raymond Computer began in the mid 1980s as Jack's Computer Shack in
Spring Lake Park, MN. After several years of operation there the
store was moved to a location on Johnson St. in N.E. Minneapolis,
MN. In the early 1990s the store was moved to its first location at
898 Raymond Ave. in St. Paul, MN. Not long after the move Jack
Turner, the original owner, sold the store to Ray Bryan, the
current owner. In 1995 the opportunity arose to move to the store's
current location at 795 Raymond Avenue.
During its entire existence the store has supported Commodore and
Amiga computers and continues to do so today. In the process of
doing business today we have expanded into service of both DOS
based PCs and the Macintosh computers. We also will do training in
computer skills in both a one-on-one and group settings.
Our Staff
Ray Bryan, Owner
Ray collected most of his electronics training from the U.S. Navy,
but admits to periods of destructive experimentation on various old
electronic items that came his way during his early youth. Guess
you could call it the hands-on part of his training. Ray has been a
long time Commodore user from the mid 1980s on. Ray gained a huge
part of his practical Commodore experience through creating several
computer installation art pieces culminating in one interactive,
inter-media installation art piece he created
_The_Dao_and_Zen_of_Metal_Art_and_Computer_Music_ shown at Wilensky
Arts in 1991. Ray is a past Vice President of the Minnesota
Commodore Users Association (MCUA) and is currently a member of the
Twin Cities A.M.I.G.A. User Group.
Jack Sheldon, Service
Jack has been involved in electronics for almost 50 years. Jack
worked for over twenty years at Control Data as a test tech and in
manufacturing. In his early years he worked in both commercial
television and broadcast radio, helping build KNXR FM Stereo in
Rochester, MN. Currently Jack works for the St.Paul Public Schools
as a computer technician as well as the Service Department at
Raymond Computer. Jack is a past co-chair of the Twin Cities
Osborne Computer Group (TCOG). First licensed in the mid 1950s as
K0PSI, Jack now holds the call KB0QIK and enjoys poking around on
both 2 meters and 70cm. You can often find him on the 3M 2 meter
repeater.
Others, Who Support Us
We Must take a minute to thank both of our families who have made
it possible for us to keep Raymond Computer moving forward. They
also have served when drafted for that special project when we have
needed them. We also need to thank the many members of our Raymond
Computer extended family who have given of their time and
experience when we have needed them. Without you all we would not
be here!
RAYMOND COMPUTER
Raymond Commodore Amiga
795 Raymond Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55114
(651) 642 9890 voice
(651) 642 9891 fax
Raymond Computer is a full service computer store specializing in
sales and service of both the Commodore and Amiga computers.
Raymond Computer store also provide software that is new, used, and
consignment for the Commodore and Amiga computers. We can also
special order items that might not have in stock. Special orders
generally take 5-8 days provided our supplier has the item(s) you
want in there stock.
How To Find Us...
The Easiest Way -
If you know where the original KEY's Restaurant on Raymond Ave. is
located we are 8 or 9 doors north of them. If not, then read on
below to find your way to the store.
If You're Coming From The North -
Take I35W South to where it joins with Hwy 36 and Hwy 280. Take Hwy
280 South looking for the exit for Territorial Road and University
Ave. Take this exit; when you reach the top of the ramp you will be
at Territorial Road at the West end of the bridge over Hwy 280.
Take a left on to Territorial Road and drive East 2 blocks to the
stoplight. This is Raymond Ave. crossing at right angles to you.
Turn right. We are the third door from the corner at 795 Raymond
Ave.. There is parking behind our building reached by a driveway
along the South side of our building. Park along the fence.
If You're Coming From The East -
Take I94 West as though you were heading for Minneapolis. After you
pass under Snelling Ave. start watching for the Cretin-Vandalia
exit. Take the Cretin-Vandalia exit and at the stop at the top of
the ramp turn right and go North to University Ave. Turn left on
University and drive West to Raymond Ave. There is a First Bank on
the corner of Raymond. Turn right on Raymond Ave. and drive North
toward the first stoplight. We are 3 doors South of the light on
your left at 795 Raymond. There is parking behind our building
reached by a driveway along the South side of our building. Park
along the fence.
If You Are Coming From The South -
There are two ways to reach us from the South. If you are coming
from the South up I35E come North to I94 and get on I94 headed West
then follow the directions for coming from the East.
If you are coming from the South up I35W come North to I94 and get
on I94 headed West then follow the directions for coming from the
West.
If You Are Coming From The West -
Get to I94 and head East. You'll come past the U of M exits and
cross the Mississippi River and the next exit is for HWY 280 and
you want to take it. BTW - It exits from the left lane so you want
to be sure to move over. So, take the Hwy 280 exit and watch for
the exit for University Ave. and Territorial Rd. Take this exit.
You'll come to the first stoplight which is Franklin Ave. Straight
ahead one block North is a second light which is University Ave. Go
straight North through both lights and you will come to a stop
sign. This is Territorial Road. Turn right and go to the first
stoplight. This is Raymond Ave. Turn right, we are 3 doors South of
the light at 795 Raymond Ave. There is parking behind our building
reached by a driveway along the South side of our building. Park
along the fence.
We accept payment by Visa, Master Card, Discover, BidPay or PayPAL.
If you see something on this site that you want to buy please
contact us before you go to PayPal (phone, fax or email raycomp@visi.com
Store Hours:
Sun. - Closed
Mon. - Closed
Tue. - 12 Noon to 6:00pm
Wed. - 12 Noon to 8:00pm
Thu. - 12 Noon to 6:00pm
Fri. - 12 Noon to 8:00pm
Sat. - 12 Noon to 6:00pm
NOTE: All times are CST or CDT
Jump Back to CONTENTS
Interview with
Raymond Bryan
Owner of Raymond computer store
http://www.raymondcomputer.com
Commodore free
Please introduce yourself to our Readers
Ray Bryan
Ray Bryan of Raymond Commodore Amiga formerly 795 Raymond Ave now
at (as of 1 September 2008) 2402 University Avenue, Suite #405;
Saint Paul, MN 55114 http://www.raymondcomputer.com
CF. Can you explain some of the services you sell for
Commodore users?
RB. I have Commodore (and Amiga) software and hardware for
sale (some of it hard to find items - a lot of the common items as
well); I have been servicing old Commodore (and Amiga) hardware for
15 years since buying the store from Jack Turner of Jack's Computer
Shack.
CF. What machines do you support and do you support machines
other than Commodore?
RB. I have a number of PET machines but I do not do much
fixing of these. I have and can service Vic 20s, C64s, SX64s, C64c,
Plus/4 and C128/C128D. I also have a few C16s and a stash of chips
for the C16 & Plus/4. I still have many of the chips for the
C64 (no SIDs and no PAL chips that I know of) and chips some for
the C128.
CF. This is a store our reader could walk into and purchase
items as well as over the internet?
RB. .It has been a store-front store up to now but economic
down times have necessitated moving into a warehouse space where I
am trying to decide if it is viable to still maintain support for
walk-ins. I guess responses from Commodore users will be the
deciding factor. I have listings of many (not all) of the items in
store inventory on the web page http://www.raymondcomputer.com
CF. Are the items new second-hand or a mixture of the
two?
RB. . There are still some new items of software and a few
of hardware but naturally many more items are second-hand.
CF. Do you make a living out of this company or do you run
the service as a part time job?
RB. The store is my only source of income but the profit
centre for the past several years is in service work especially
out-call services on site and for the evil-machines; sometimes I
get to fix Unix or Macs in the site-calls however much of the work
is printers (laser, thermal, transfer, colour, all-in-one, faxes
and inkjet only in plotters) and I am as a last resort call for a
number of businesses with older impact/line printers - a speciality
picked up from the Commodore and compatible 3rd party impact
printers.
CF. Can you give our reader a brief history of the store,
how you started what motivated you etc?
RB. Mr. Jack Turner started the store (part-time) in a part
of the Commodore repair business of Frank Gerard in Spring Lake
Park, MN in about 1986. I met Mr. Turner shortly after that while
trying to use my Commodore 128 in computer controlled installation
art sculptures. In March 1993, Mr. Turner was ready to leave the
business and I was ready for a new challenge. So we came to terms
agreeable to both parties and Jack's Computer Shack then at 898
Raymond became Raymond Commodore Amiga. In 1995, I moved the store
to 795 Raymond Ave a larger space that gave more room to work on
computers, but a lot more space to display Commodore/Amiga software
and hardware.
CF. Where are you located, and could users from other
counties contact you about repairs or purchases of hardware and
software?
RB. The store is in St. Paul, Minnesota about 2 miles south
of half way from the equator to the North Pole and about a mile
north of the river that divides the continent of North America into
East and West. The bit of Minneapolis that is north of the
Mississippi River is only a half mile to the west of the shop. I am
often in contact with Commodore users from other parts of the
world. I cannot do much to help that one guy who keeps trying to do
things to his Commodores/Pets at the South Pole (winter there lasts
'til nearly January and he is cut off all winter). But I do what I
can to meet the needs of the Commodore users in OZ, Canada and
Europe. I have not heard from any one needing Commodore help in
Africa, Central or South America for some years now.
CF. If a reader had items for sale would you be interested
in purchasing them for resale?
RB. I don't know what to say to that at this economic
moment.
CF. How has the market changed over the years?
RB. When I first got my shop the Commodore market was lively
and sales were the largest share of the business with Commodore
repairs coming next. It seemed millions of people were getting
their first experience with computers by using Commodores. Now,
there are dedicated Commodore users who have stuck with (and pushed
the envelope of) these machines and joining those are collectors
and people who grew up with a Commodore but now make their living
in the evil-machines-land, yet want to relax by returning to the
first love for playing games or writing 8 bit code just for
fun.
CF. So Is there still a big demand for Commodore items?
RB. If there were a big demand for Commodore items my shop
would not be the only one between Michigan and Salt Lake City.
CF. Has Auction sites like EBay taken business from you, or
do you feel these have added to your business survival?
RB. I do not know. I did a lot of eBay as a survival
technique from the late '90s to early '00s but eBay just plain
smurfs and hardly anyone has yet picked up on Amibay since it
started last fall.
CF. Do you have an EBay or similar auction site account?
RB. I have an eBay account but have not held any auctions
for about 4 years now. As I said I have things on my own web site
and am moving toward offering items on Amibay.
CF. What items you can repair, could you provide some common
examples for our readers to get an idea of price
RB. Let me say it this way, I cannot repair switch mode
power supplies (C128d, Amiga) and there have been some other
hardware problems from time to time that have defeated my efforts
to fix (some C128d and Amiga 4000 motherboard/accelerator
troubles). I am not adept at or knowledgeable about PET or KIM
repairs but have fixed almost every other US Commodore hardware
that has come along after the Vic20 excluding the MS-DOS ones. I do
give my best effort on every repair. A lot of times now, I have to
give the Commodores a lower priority because the evil-machine types
are so demanding and those machines are so _totally_ fouled-up. As
an aside, I did fix an electric violin yesterday with no schematic
to guide the trouble shooting or repair, analogue repairs like that
hark back to my days fixing radar and radios in the navy
'65-'69.
CF. Were you a Commodore credited repair centre?
RB. Yes, until the 1994 bankruptcy (and I learned a lot from
the repair centre guru Mr. Frank Gerard). I have accumulated many
of the repair manuals and related technology from some other
authorized repair facilities around this area as they shifted their
focus of or dissolved their businesses.
CF. I have seen some pictures of the store on the internet I
guess doing an inventory of stock would be a long process, how do
you keep a record of all the items?
RB. I do not have time to try to keep an inventory. When one
was done (and that was not even complete) it was largely by willing
teenagers who just wanted to be a part of the whole Commodore
milieu. Mr. Turner keeps threatening to come back as a volunteer to
take inventory of all the hardware and software I have in the
storage areas but I think he is not really thinking about this
realistically since there is so much more inventory than he knows
about.
CF. Do you sell the Amiga One, and if so how big a demand
are you seeing?
RB. I did when I could get them. Bill McEwen said last fall
that he was trying to make some more. But, I did not have a big
demand for them here, I sold a half dozen but have had only a small
number of requests since those sold out.
CF. Do you see a big uptake of Amiga OS 4
RB. No, not here.
CF. Would you like to Comment on the current state of "the
Amiga"
RB. I think "quiet" is the national motto for the State of
Amiga.
CF. Do you think "Jeri Ellsworth" promoted the Commodore
brand and was this promotion short lived
RB. Well, there was quite a buzz over the C1 but I do not
think the sales of those machines was very large, however the
Commodore DTV took off for short time.
CF. Did you see a big uptake of the Commodore 64 DTV
hardware then?
RB. I only had about 20 to sell but soon sold out.
CF. How long do you think the store can survive?
RB. Only so long as demand for the products and services
continue.
CF. Do you have any other comments you would like to add or
to further promote your services?
RB. I would like to train some others how to repair these
devices before the knowledge becomes lost. I mean real "hands on"
not just theoretical knowledge that gets posted to some
/pub/commodore site on the 'net. De-soldering takes practice and
really well done soldering technique is an art-craft but
troubleshooting is a state of consciousness, a mental practice
acquired/achieved like following the lama.
--Ray Bryan
+------------------------------------------------------------+
|Raymond C. Bryan 651-642-9890 vox |The battle is sometimes|
|Raymond Computer 651-642-9891 fax |to the small for |
|2402 Univsity Ave -email: raycomp |the bigger they are |
|St Paul MN 55114 _at_visi_dot_com |the harder they fall. |
|USA Amiga - Commodore |James Thurber |
+------------------------------------------------------------+
http://www.raymondcomputer.com
Jump Back to CONTENTS
In the Beginning
9
Lord Ronin from Q-Link
Back again and into those pesky pokes and peeks. We did do some of
that already, when we typed poke53280,x where x is a number between
0-15, this command Changed the colour of the screen border. That is
a poke, and one of the first ones you learn. Now I know that it
looks like there are at the least 53,280 poke places when you look
at the number. Besides what does each one of them do exactly? Well
those are two questions that I as a beginner have asked, and not
yet found the book(s) to answer them.
Keeping that in mind, let`s not let the lack of information dampen
our spirits. Take it as there is a lot one can learn about the C=.
Our next programme may bum you out when you run it, I know it did
that to me the first few times I entered it. I will explain the
what and why afterwards just type in this program as shown.
new
10 forba=0to15
20 forbo=0to15
30 poke53280,ba
40 poke53281,bo
50 forx=1to2000:nextx
60 nextbo:nextba
Run this and you will have the screen and border change colour,
you may think you entered the programme listing incorrectly, the
screen changes colour. But what about the border colour as it Seems
to stay the same. That is what many of the members of the user
group thought over the years. To tell the truth so did I for a
time, that is until I tried to tear apart the programme and find
out what was happening. To save you the frustration it is in line
60, you need to read that line a few times remembering how the next
command works in a for next loop. Have you seen it yet?
Well I didn't for a time. What happens here is that the for that
comes first that is the one for the BA variable, will do its thing
starting at line 10. OK got that part. Now see line 60 here BA is
going to do its thing until the set amount, then go back in 10 with
the 0 to15 part. Right the screen changes 16 times before the
border will change or the other way round, depending what you put
in first. I did it both ways. In line 10 and in line 60. Mess with
the placement of the BA and BO variable and you will see what I
mean.
I think We have played enough with the FOR NEXT loop to catch most
of the lines in some form. Line 50 is the delay. Right I know your
question now. "2000 what?" for the delay. Can't tell you for rock
certain, but I have been told by most people that it is a "jiffy";
No that isn't a silly term. Actually it is a unit of measurement
for time, here a jiffy is 1/60th of a second. PAL users have a
different one or so I have been told. Simple electronics here.
Current/Voltage what ever term works best for you. Changes from a +
to a - (seen on an oscciloscope) 60 times a second. This is called
the line frequency and is used a lot in crystals in circuits, for
timing and other things I have long forgotten. OK that is more than
enough on that part. Just want you to see the relationship there
with the jiffy being 1/60th of a second. Unless what I was told was
wrong.
With a little experimenting you can shorten those lines down and
make the programme run faster. You can also fix it to have the
border and the screen flash at about the same time. Probably you
can guess that to make it run faster, all you need to do is change
that delay in line 50. Now how to make both border and screen flash
at the same time? Not gonna tell ya (EG) But I'll give you some
hints. Make just one FOR variable for the value 0 to 15. Put the
two poke codes on the same line with the : symbol between them and
use the same variable. I'll let you play around with this and see
what you can make.
All Right! Been bugged enough to drop back a session and tell you
how to find those 8 other colours for that colour bar. Simply use
the command PRINTASC("X"). X here will be you typing in the C= key
and one of the number keys. Press return and it will tell you the
code number. That is what you use for the rest of the lines in that
colour bar programme. User Group members and Girl Friends can be
such a pain in the Tucus. (g)
Back to that programme. Add the following line.
25 ?chr$(147);"border =";peek(53280)and15, "background =
";peek(53281)and15
Fits on about 1.8 lines of your screen, shorter if you use more
shortcut codes. What happens here is the screen clears and at the
top will be the words "border and background". Then after the =
symbol, you will see the colour number from 0 to 15 for each one
(border or screen). Tip, if you play with this programme and have
short end it up a bit. Make certain to have this programme line
happen after the poke codes. If not you stand a chance of being one
number off, this happened to the students and to me in the process
of our learning.
Now we enter a new bit and this one is more complicated.
Personally I think its made to have you ask more questions than it
gives, while trying to make you more interested in programming.
This trick may have worked in the 80s. These days, the lack of in
depth information, has turned some people off. Being frustrated
with no more information. You may see what I mean at this
point.
Screen Graphics, doesn't mean what you may expect it to mean, at
least at this level. Remember this is from the users book that came
with the C=64, short and allegedly simple, only three short
paragrapHS. The book talks about how we have placed
characters on the screen using the PRINT command, all printing has
been sequential. The book speaks about moving to a specific spot on
the screen using print and cursor commands. We haven't done that
much. Oh we did do that one to make the bouncing ball go down a
certain number of lines. Most people at the beginning level of
programming, like me, use cursor commands to move to a specific
point on the screen. I have copied type in books that do the same
thing.
What that would look like in a type in book would be something on
the lines of PRINT"(cursor down 10)"; "(cursor right 5)". Taking
the starting point of what you are doing down 10 rows and over 5
columns. What you type in the computer would be 10 times pressing
the cursor down key. Getting the symbol on the screen each time.
Then 5 presses of the right cursor key, also getting the right
symbol on screen. Right there we have 15 key strokes on a
programming line. There has got to be a better way? I mean this is
long and takes up programming space. The book says just about the
same thing.
All is not lost; there are locations in the computer memory to
control locations where to place text on screen. Just as there is
for colour work.
There are 1000 areas on the screen, A screen is 40 columns across
by 25 rows down. I can't make the little grid map here for you in
text but suffice to say that it is 40 wide and 25 tall; making 1000
squares in total on the grid. Graph paper and lining this out may
be of a help to you as a visual aid. OK here is something that you
may be shocked about. Each one of these 1000 locations can hold a
number, a number between the value of 0 and 255. Yeah that means
you have a choice of 256 numbers for each of the 1000 grid areas on
the screen, it all becomes a bit mind boggling at this point.
(g)
The way to place things on screen at this at this stage is with
the good old POKE command. Putting the number for what ever you
decided upon, onto a specific area of the screen.
However we have to now deal with some new numbers. These numbers
are the Screen Memory Map. Being the locations on the screen to
poke things into and therefore onto the screen. Top left corner.
Being row 0 and column 0 is location 1024, the bottom row last
column, Or the bottom right end of the screen is location 2023. Now
you can use the grid map and mark out the rows. Ah row 0 is 1024
row 24 (the last row, or 25 if you counted starting with 1 instead
of 0) Starts out at 1984. Column 0 is the top left. Top right is
column 39. For those that want to make their own grid chart. I did
this because the one in the book is too small for my ancient eyes.
(g)
Well of course you can count the grid squares and find the right
screen memory location, or you could be lazy and use a simple
formula. I'm lazy these days.
POINT =1024 + X + 40*Y
Freaky right? OK it was for me the first several times that I went
through this part of the book. Didn't have anyone to talk me
through the entire book.
Tearing this apart from the beginning. POINT simply means the
location on the screen for what you are putting there, (gotta work
on the grammar). End result is going to be a number between the
1024 start and the 2023 end, block of numbers. Being the place to
insert, what ever it is you are inserting. Yeah that was worded
better. (g)
1024 is the start number, being the one that is at the top left of
the grid. Makes that the base number to add the rest of the stuff
to for the location.
X is the column, lets use the one from the book, they give 20 for
the column.
Y is the row, and from the book that is 12.
Formula would then read...
POINT = 1024 + 20 + 40*12
OK the book doesn't do that stage and that did throw off several
of my members over the years. Putting it in here to keep things
linear. This would then read...
POINT = 1024 +20 + 480
Finally POINT = 1524, that is the point on the screen at the
junction of column 20 and row 12. As listed for the Screen Memory
Map.
Catch your breath after that bit, we have some more to do, and it
isn't in my opinion giving enough time to go trough the above.
Next thing the book wants you to do is type in ...
poke 1524,81
poke 55796,1
Got the idea that poke is putting something into the computer
memory location. From that previous formula You can see that the
1524 is the answer to that formula above with the column of 20 and
the row of 12. Guess you have seen enough of the previous sections
to see that the 81 thing is what is going into that 1524 area.
55796 is a new thing that is sprung on you. Sure you know that the
1 thing is what is going in that area. What is 55796? Out of the
range of the Screen Memory Map so can't be a location, in that
range.
Saying that you haven't typed that stuff in as of yet. So you
aren't aware of what the screen does, when this is completed. I
want to point out that from the colour work we have done for the
screen and the background poke codes. That you might see the number
above as being close to the poke codes for the colour location of
the border and screen.
That isn't correct, but it is close. The next section of the book
is on the COLOUR MEMORY MAP. They just have you type the above in
to place a ball. Which is the 81 code and is also the shifted Q.
Why they have you type the stuff in, will have the ball show up in
close to the centre of the screen. The next poke will turn that to
a white ball. If that didn't happen check your type work, see if
you are in the upper case, if the symbol isn't right. If the colour
didn't change, first thing is to check is if you typed everything
right. Yeah I say that a lot and am guilty of that in my typing in
of programmes, and more times than I want to admit. But if it is
correct and the ball didn't change to white, don't fret, where you
in white text colour in the first place? I mean was that the last
colour that you were using on the screen? Sounds silly, but it has
happened in the group.
Change that 1 to a 2 in the poke that did the colour. Right the
55796,1 becomes a 55796,2. now the ball changes to red. Play around
a bit with the colours and with the symbols. Try different numbers.
Changing that ,81 to what ever you like from 0-255. Some will work
as one of the symbols. 32 and 96 are the space command. Right the
one for the spacebar. Oh yeah feel free, all you sci-fi fansto make
the jokes about the space BAR. [VBG]
Tip for you here, you will see that after 127. Things start
showing up in reverse video. If you know the code for a symbol,
just add 128 to that code number and it will be in reverse
video.
Two areas are used in the computer memory. For creating the symbol
and the colour on the screen. Meaning that a block of memory from
1024 to 2023 is for the screen. Colour is from 55296 to 56295.
Yuppers another block of memory for the colour that appears on the
screen.
In the above poke stuff to place the ball on the screen and to
change the balls colour. Two poke codes where used. One to place
the ball and the other to place the colour for the ball in the
right place.
Saying that in a couple of ways. You can guess that there is
probably another 1000 square grid map. Right, there is and the top
left part starts at 55296, and at the bottom right ends at 56295.
Before I go farther, it should be stated that these areas, the
blocks of numbers can be called memory locations. There are books
that have what is called the memory maps in them, where you can see
more about the locations, including some ideas of what is in there
and what can be done with those areas. This is something that I am
not skilled in, or understand. I know that it is important in Basic
and it is important in the Machine Language Machine Language form
of programming. We aren't going there in this series. Just wanted
to give you a heads up on this, as you may be interested in going
farther in programming than Basic and this little personal look at
the users manual.
Feel free to make a grid for the Colour Memory Map. Same as what
we talked about for the Screen one. Numbers on the left hand side
of the map. Going down the rows, starts at row 0 and ending at row
24. Goes like this, start is 55296 for row 0 column 0. Row 24
column 0 is 56256. Row 0 column 39 is 55335. Spending some time
with these coordinates. You can make the grid map. Naturally there
is the lazy way to figure out where you want to put the colour on
the screen. Yeah I am still lazy.
COLOUR POINT = 55296 + X +40*Y
Sure looks familiar doesn't it? (g) the only change is that of the
starting point number. Matching the top left corner of the colour
memory map grid. So yeah if you retro fit that above poke thing to
put the colour into column 20 and row 12 it would look like...
COLOUR POINT = 55296 + 20 + 40*12
COLOUR POINT = 55296 + 20 + 480
COLOUR POINT = 55796
Poke that in and add the colour of 0-15 spectrum and you have
coloured the character you put at that memory location. Might seem
that this is a bit of work. At this point it is for us. Gets better
with time and other things. OK I doubt that with some tools you can
use for making programmes. Well you may not be doing this form of
math out all the time if at all. Just see how much hands on control
of things you have with your ideas for your programmes!
So then let us clear the screen and prepare for typing in another
programme. I'm modifying this one for us. Just a little colour
change from what the book says. Personal taste here and you should
feel free to alter the colours to it what looks the best to you. We
will be putting in a symbol here as well, for screen display, again
feel free to alter that to something else.
new
10 ?"(shift clear/home)"
20 pO53280,0:pO53281,0
30 x=1:y=1
40 dx=1:dy=1
50 pO1024+x+40*y,81
60 fort=1to10:next
70 pO1024+x+40*y,32
80 x=x+dx
90 ifx<=0orx>=39thendx=-dx
100 y=y+dy
110 ify<=0ory>=24thendy=-dy
120 goto50
Done most of this already in different forms, still let us go over
the lines. If you haven't run this programme yet, this is another
bouncing ball programme. This one though is different; this version
bounces the ball all over the screen, being redirected as the ball
hits the border. Sort of like a pool ball. Which causes me to
remember that there are pool games and pinball games for the C=.
This little thing you typed in is a far cry from that level of
programming. Still though it is the same sort of principal and
shows you some animation.
Line 10 is easy to understand. In fact the book wants you to type
it in that way. I didn't alter that line from the chr$(147). They
didn't use that command in this one.
Line 20 is also easy to understand after what we have done.
Changes the screen and border colour. OK I did the short hand code
for the poke command. Also I changed the colours to make the screen
and the border black. Book colours are 7 for the border and 13 for
the screen. Light green screen and a yellow border.
Line 30 is a variable set up. Set here to keep track of the row
and column position of the ball.
Line 40. DX & DY are variables; they are also the horizontal
and vertical directions of the balls movements. Hey don't worry if
that doesn't sink into your mind at this time, it doesn`t for me
either. Exactly how that works, point for point is magic to me.
Line 50 is recently familiar. Note that it is the poke code and
formula to put the ball character onto the screen. A few things to
see here. See that ,81 part at the far end of the line. Remembering
that previous thing about putting the ball on the screen? That was
the ,81 remember? Note though that the formula is the same frelling
thing as this programme line, meaning that you don't have to figure
out the numbers for the screen placement, this line does that for
you. Using the existing variables for X and Y. But see that the
1024 is at the start as its in the formula. Well when you run this
programme. You will see that the ball starts out at the top left of
the screen. Goes to the bottom right and bounces around the
screen.
At line 60 there is the for next loop, producing a short time
delay. Here is something to notice. Remember that 2000 we had in
the screen and border change? Here it is a delay of 10. Obviously a
much shorter delay. Here is a lesson not discussed in the book.
Setting the delay for your programme. Can't really help you on this
part. I can Only say that you may need to adjust the time delay to
fit yourself and other people. If you find this 1 to10 one a bit
too flickery of the image of the ball. Try adding to the number or
shortening it to a smaller value.
Looking at Line 70 we see the same smegging screen point formula.
Again it is doing all the work for you in the placement of the ball
on the screen. Except you see that ,32 at the end. Above I stated
in the part where you where playing with the numbers for different
symbols. Said there that this 32 was one of the two numbers for the
space. So then what is happening here is that the formula isn't
putting the ball on the screen. In fact it is doing the opposite.
Erasing the ball from the screen. REM this line and see what the
programme does (VBG).
Next is Line 80 and this line is adding a direction factor to the
X (vertical). Taking us to line 90. You can see that this is an IF
THEN statement. By a simple look the numbers are 0 and 39 in this
line. Hmm that happens to be the designation numbers of the 40
columns or the X factor in this programme. As you see if X is less
than or equal to 0, the left hand side of the screen. Or it is
greater than or equal to 39, the right hand side of the screen.
That value of DX suddenly becomes negative with the value of -DX.
Or better said, that makes the ball bounce off of the sides of the
screen.
Next line is line100 and that looks a bit like line 80. Hey line
110 looks a bit like line 90. Save for the fact that this is the Y
part. Or the top and bottom of the screen. Making the ball bounce.
You can bugger this up a bit by altering the DX and the DY. Tell
you that one member made a mistype and that made the ball just go
back and forth on the 0 row.
Well that looks real nice, and it is an amazing thing to do when
you type it in the first time. Remember that you did this yourself.
This is your creation. Alter it a bit with a symbol of your choice.
Personally I used the "\" symbol for the ball.
Not finished with this one yet. Here are some lines to add to the
programme.
21 forL=1to10
25 pO1024+int(rnd(1)*1000),166
27 nextL
85 ifpeek(1024+x+40*y)=166thendx=-dx
100ifpeek(1024+x+40*y)=166thendy=-dy
This does a what? Some of it looks familiar; some of it looks real
familiar.
First new is a stock for part of a for next loop. Here I
intentionally used the upper case L as one of the problems in
typing things in from a book is the confusion of a 1 and a l. Ok
and 0 vs. O as well. Type face or more commonly they are called
fonts. Are confusing in the books. As it just don't look like what
is on the screen in the C= font.
Saying that we see that there is only 10 things. We see also that
the NEXT part of this loop is in line 27. So then what ever happens
in that line 25 is done 10 times. As we know it is going to loop
between these lines till all 10 things are done.
Line 25 sort of looks like the thing that puts the symbol on the
screen. At least it starts out that way. But we are then tossed
into a different form of a random number generator and there are
1000 things? This is what is happening on this line. Each time it
is run, and that is 10 times from the for-next loop. One location
out of the 1000 possible locations is going to be generated and is
going to be added to the base number of 1024. Meaning that this is
a line to create something on the screen at purely random
locations. At the end of the line is that ,166 code. That is the
symbol. Ok this means that the programme will go 10 times through
this for next loop. Generating a screen location and putting in
that location the symbol for 166. IIRC that is the reverse video
& symbol. I change it each time I play with the programme.
Looks better if it is the reverse video. Remember about adding 128
to the code number to get the reverse video of the character.
On the screen will be these 10 symbols. OK so that is nice and
what will that mean? Take a look at line 85 and then at line 105.
Look a bit familiar from a couple of lines in this programme
already? Right, the difference is the 166 code number. If this line
works like the ones for the four sides of the screen, then this
must look for that code numbered symbol on the screen as well, and
it will do the same thing. As you see by the fact the variable
becomes a negative number. Run it and you have 10 obstacles on the
screen, that will make the ball bounce off of the sides of the
screen and off of these symbols. Play around with the symbols and
the number of obstacles to see what you can create. Don't worry
about the colour at this time. If you think you can figure out how
to make the colour of the ball different from the obstacles then
feel free to give it a shot. Not really needed at this time. Good
experimentation though.
Next we move into sprites and a lot of difficulty in trying to
paint a word picture of what is going on.
The reason for that statement is simply that there are some graph
charts in the book. These charts are drawn in a way that I am not
at the least bit certain I can recreate them in my word writing
programme. I'll give it my best shot. Hopefully I can illustrate
with words, what I can't illustrate with the graphics.
Good news for you is that there isn't enough space in this
instalment to go into the details of sprites. We will pick it up in
the next session.
Jump Back to CONTENTS
LLAMASOFT - The Dromedary Years
(Part Two) Article By Michael Bevan
In 1980 the then 18 year old Jeff Minter was still in unknown
quantity in the fledgling world of home computer gaming. Within ten
years Minter had founded his own company 'Llamasoft', unleashed a
catalogue of over twenty classic 8-bit games and the term
'Minter-esque' had entered gaming lexicon to describe his highly
individual, uniquely psychedelic and indeed exceptionally hairy
style of game design.
We take up our story a short while after Jeff has submitted a
small computer program called Gridrunner to American software
publisher HES. What happened next could never have occurred to him
in his wildest imagination...
'A week or so later the phone rings at 4AM and I shamble out of bed
to answer the call. I was a little upset, as I'm the kind of beast
who likes to leap out of bed at the crack of noon. On the other
end, a little blurred by satellite delay, an American voice ranted
about some game that they've been playing for eight hours solid.
The voice informed me that I should expect significant monetary
input. Bemused, I made a few notes on the pad by the phone and
returned to bed. Waking later, at a time closer to my usual
emergence, I made myself a really strong cup of tea and remembered
some weird dream, something about a game... went to the phone,
found the note, and was intrigued'.
Grid Runner peaked at number one in the US software charts, much to
Minter's surprise, earning Llamasoft not only its first US
bona-fide smash hit but a significant financial boost. Exhausted by
two years of constant coding, Minter decided to take a well-earned
holiday to Peru to be with the llamas. On returning to the UK
Minter would release several more Vic 20 games including Traxx (a
Painter clone) and Metagalactic Llamas Battle At The Edge of Time
(an attempt to release a game with the silliest title he could
think of and the first to feature his company's namesake creature).
He followed up Grid Runner with a new sequel, Matrix, which was
also well received in the US, before moving on to code for
Commodore's new flagship machine the C64, his own machine a gift
from HES prior to Grid Runner's huge success. After converting
Attack of the Mutant Camels and Matrix to the C64, and creating the
Tempest-esque Laser Zone, Minter started work on what would become
one of his most famous games, if only in Europe.
'I was feeling well guilty about the fact that the camels got shot
up in AMC, as camels are in fact lovely beasties, so I wanted to
make a game where they rose up against their evil ZZyaxxian masters
and fought back. At the time, people were freaking out about the
fact that Manic Miner had 20 levels, which seemed like a huge
amount back then - so I decided to one up Manic Miner and put 42
levels into this game. I could have put more but 42 seemed like a
decent number of levels, especially as 42 is the answer to life,
the universe and everything.'
Revenge of the Mutant Camels was one of Llamasoft's weirdest, most
psychedelic games to date, and the first to really make use of the
C64's advanced capabilities such as raster-interrupt techniques to
produce ultra-smooth scrolling backgrounds and full multi-channel
sound emulation through SID. It was a hugely well received game in
its native UK, receiving rave reviews from many computing
magazines, including a prestigious Game of the Month accolade from
Personal Computer Games magazine. RMC also marked the point when
Minter's games finally fully developed the distinctive and surreal
Llamasoft iconography, containing a whole bestiary of sheep, goats,
llamas and camels, along with the likes of flying CND symbols,
telephone boxes, Rizla packets and Battlestar Galactica reject
base-stars.
However HES, whose partnership with Llamasoft had proved so
fruitful with Grid Runner and Matrix, did not like the game, and
refused to distribute it in the US, forcing Minter to develop
solely for the UK and European markets, the only one where his
games were still attracting positive press attention and where he
was gradually starting to accumulate a cult following. Llamasoft's
next title, the highly entertaining comedy 'mow'-emup Hovver Bovver
was co-designed by one of Minter's biggest fans.. his father.
Inspired by the 'Painter' concept he'd already explored in Traxx,
it was an unexpected but very welcome addition to the Llamasoft
canon. Minter then returned spectacularly to the shoot'em up genre
with a release that was arguably his best piece of game design to
date.
Sheep In Space was a horizontally-scrolling shooter following in
the Defender tradition that featured as its unlikely hero an
Interstellar Space Sheep. The player piloted their extremely agile
ovine between two opposing planet surfaces, aiming to prevent
enemies from building up charge on a Planet Buster gun, which would
if activated destroy the planet and expunge the fleecy flier into
the depths of space. As well as having to contend with this
potentially catastrophic outcome the gamer needed to keep their
sheep well fed in order that it did not explode due to hunger. The
game mechanics and control system of Sheep in Space were
beautifully contrived, with excellent gravitational and inertial
effects as the player raced frantically against the clock and their
own hunger to destroy enemy 'charge-carriers' aiming to prime the
planet for destruction.
Minter's next game, Ancipital (known to fans as simply Cippy - a
character first appearing in Sheep in Space) was yet another highly
ambitious and original design. Similar in concept to Ultimate's
Attic Attac the player battled through a grid of one hundred levels
(or rooms) in order to reach the final chamber. Cippy retained its
predecessor's gravitational anomalies with players only being able
to walk on floors, ceilings and walls through use of a totally
unprecedented control system, and once mastered was a wonderfully
surreal and enjoyable gaming experience. Ancipital deservedly
earned Llamasoft their second and final PCG Game of the Month Award
and is seen by many as a spiritual 8-bit predecessor to the classic
Llamatron. Unfortunately sales figures for the game were not as
good as expected due to distribution issues which meant the game
was far harder to find in high-street stores than RMC had been.
Llamasoft's final four C64 releases mark a period of wild
experimentation as Minter pursued increasingly offbeat design
directions, a move that was to baffle certain members of the gaming
community who had begun having difficulty grasping the sometimes
over-ambitious concepts in his games. Infamously, one of the most
well documented cases of a Llamasoft game causing such all-round
bewilderment was with the release of Mama Llama. A sort of
semi-sequel to Revenge, this game had an unusual control mode where
the player did not actually control the onscreen Llama character
and her family, merely attempting to defend them by shooting
enemies with an on-screen floating drone. It introduced a
non-sequential level structure where players could choose their own
path through the game. A difficult game to master, it's low level
of immediate playability compared to other Llamasoft titles and
it's subsequent poor review score (59%) in the debut issue of Zzap!
64 led to a very public and long-running stand-off between the
famous C64 magazine and Minter himself, during which he allegedly
visited the offices and ceremoniously burnt a copy of the Zzap!
review with staff writer Gary Penn's own cigarette lighter.
Batalyx, a strange but enjoyable collection of mini-games, and
Iridis Alpha, an odd and extremely experimental scrolling shooter
played across two screens simultaneously scrolling in opposite
directions, restored the rift somewhat, receiving 'Sizzler' awards
in subsequent issues of ZZap! 64, but the games market and public
tastes were changing, and for the remainder of the 8-bit era
Llamasoft never really recaptured the popularity that they had
around the release of Revenge of the Mutant Camels.
'The videogame business was changing around this time away from
something I could actively participate in' says Minter regretfully.
Although continuing to experiment with projects such as the
'Lightsynth' Psychedelia, and releasing the compilation Yak's
Progress, featuring the best of his more popular Commodore 64 work,
Llamasoft was finding it increasingly hard to find distributors and
by the time Ariolasoft, who had marketed Iridis and Batalyx but had
received limited financial success with them pulled the plug on
releasing Revenge of the Mutant Camels 2, Minter made the decision
to give the title away free on a Zzap! cover tape such was his
desire that fans might get actually get to play it.
Minter would dabble with the 16 bit Amiga and Atari ST over the
next few years but, unable to find a publisher for any new titles,
was forced to look for employment elsewhere. This would include a
seven month stint at Konix developing Attack of the Mutant Camels
'89 for the company's later discontinued console, and a two month
game design role for Atari for another console which failed to get
off the ground, the Atari Panther. Disillusioned, Minter returned
to what he did best, namely making games he wanted to play himself.
The resulting ST title, Llamatron, a brilliant Robotron clone, was
released as shareware, an at the time untested method of sale for
Llamasoft. Unsure what to expect, Minter was extremely touched to
find himself inundated with payments from loyal games fans who
enjoyed the game and wanted to pay him for it. Encouraged by this
response Minter continued releasing shareware titles on the
Llamasoft label while producing what is his post 8-bit master-work,
Tempest 2000 for Atari's Jaguar console. In following Tempest with
Defender 2000, again for Atari, it had all come full circle for the
hairy one after writing the Vic20 program that would become Andes
Attack, and which had led to Llamasoft's first, albeit small
success back in 1982.
Jeff Minter has recently completed work on the phenomenal Space
Giraffe for the XBox 360's Arcade Live which he has released like
all his titles since Llamatron, on the Llamasoft label for a small
'shareware' style fee. I wish him the very best of luck.
Sources: 'The History of LLamasoft' http://www.llamasoft.co.uk Google
Tech Talk - 19.03.07
COMMODORE FREE
thanks to Michael Bevan and RGCD for permitting the reprint of
this article http://rgcd.co.uk/
Jump Back to CONTENTS
Hypersid
http://www.hypersynth.com/hypersid.html
Product Overview :
HyperSID is a subtractive synthesizer with all the C64 SID chip
hardware capabilities besides many new software based features So
you can take advantage of various Controlling features of a VSTi
and also real analogue sound with SID character .
Real time integration between software and hardware makes HyperSID
act like the other VST instruments in your host application.
HyperSID is Donationware ! For supporting future developments:
Features :
- 3 OSC per key (Monophonic)
- 1 OSC per key (3 Voice polyphonic)
- 4 Waveforms per OSC Tri , Saw ,Noise, Pulse (combinatorial)
- OSC transpose range +36 to -36 Semitone
- OSC cent range -50 to +50 Cent
- OSC ring modulation
- 3 Amp Envelope ADSR
- Multimode analogue filter 12dB/Octave HP , LP , BP and
(combinatorial)
- 1 LFO Part with sync , retrig and invert capability
- 1 Step LFO Part with sync , retrig and invert capability
- 2 General purpose envelope generator with invert capability
- Individual routing for each modulation source
- 88 Parameter for controlling overall synthesizer (automation
recordable)
- Flexible preset manager with save and load function
- Built in 64 categorized Factory preset .
- Clean sound without any Self oscillating in most of the
Presets
- Automatic real time synchronization between software and
hardware
- Independent MIDI out path from host
- Very low CPU usage
Hardware Unit :
HyperSID HW unit is a custom build synthesizer with internal
processor and a real SID Chip! There is no emulation here, All the
sounds are generated with a real SID chip. HyperSID VSTi acts like
a software MIDI controller for this hardware sound engine.
SID can not mute itself! It`s a kind of bug in the envelope part
which can not force Oscillators to be muted completely after you
release a key. This bug has been a part of SID character but many
people still hate it and after 26 years it is fixed in HyperSID HW
Unit!
Jump Back to CONTENTS
Interview with
Hypersynth Team
http://www.hypersynth.com/hypersid.html
COMMODORE FREE.
Please introduce yourselves to our readers
HYPERSID TEAM
My name is Iman Jalayerian the founder of Hypersynth. I`m an
electronic engineer and also a musician. C64 was my first computer
and actually I learned programming with this machine many years
ago. It`s been about 7 years ago that I started to design
microprocessor based circuits and professional audio gear.
CF. Why the Commodore SID chip, what makes the chip so
special, they all sound different are all susceptible to changes in
temperature and give out lots of noise so why re-create these
features?
HS. SID accent is characterized by the special analogue
design of its filter part. Generally all analogue circuits drift in
high temperature and produce instability, which is in reasonable
amounts not considered as a malfunction, but in music application,
it would add a special character to the sound, which cannot be
produced or emulated with digital algorithms. However, if this
phenomenon (drift) affects the VCO part greatly causing the sound
pitch to detune too much, we can speak of a negative and
undesirable effect. Since SID VCOs are operating digitally, these
are not affected by this analogue drift effect. Although there is a
noticeable amount of noise at the SID output stage, these can be
easily gated out by most soft or hardware based noise gates and
equalizers.
CF. Can you tell our readers a little history about
Hypersynth
HS. I started the company when I designed a MIDI controller
(MD-8) for my home studio and decided to make it commercial, but
due to the saturation of the market of MIDI controllers, we didn`t
release MD-8. We wanted to come up with something unique and
useful. At this point the Idea of HyperSID was born and Hypersynth
became more official along its development line. Gradually we
scaled up our members and gathered a well qualified team to
maintain HyperSID and also to design new products.
CF. How long did the whole thing take to design, build and
test?
HS. It took about 8 months to design and debug the whole
HyperSID project. To achieve the maximum flexibility we had to
design hardware, firmware and software (VSTi) all at the same time!
CF. So there is a VST frontend called HyperSID and a
hardware implementation is controlled by the VST instrument, the
software does nothing on its own just control the Hardware
unit?
HS. Yes, the Software itself does not generate any sound
because our goal was not an emulation of SID chip.
CF. So the Hardware must be used in combination with the
software?
HS. Yes, both are required; maybe in the future versions the
hardware itself will be able to store the presets, but in the
current version the hardware and software must be used
together.
CF. what hardware / software requirements are needed to run
the software, and does the software run on any other system?
HS.
Minimum system requirements:
Processor: Pentium III/AMD with SSE support
Processor speed: 1.2 GHz
RAM (Cache): 256 MB RAM
Sound Card: Standard with MIDI port or any other MIDI
interface.
Operating system: Windows 2000, XP or Vista
Host application: Cubase VST 3.7 or higher or other VST 2.0
compatible host software (FL-Studio,Sonar).
CF. Have you seen the prophet64 hardware device, and did you
purchase one?
HS. Yeah, I`ve heard about it but sadly I didn`t get the
chance to purchase one.
CF. But you have given away the schematics to design the
hardware and the VST instrument is free, hey guys you won`t make
much money doing this!
HS. Our intension was not to sell this project; it was meant
to be a "DIY" project for the electronic hobbyists. But amazingly
we received a lot of requests from musicians who were desperate to
get their hands on HyperSID without going through the difficulty of
constructing one, so we decided to design a limited numbers of
ready to use HyperSID synths, these units can be purchased from the
website.
CF. How many SID chips can be installed in the hardware
unit?
HS. Only one SID can be installed. As the SID production
line is now discontinued we must save our stock for future so it is
a great risk to increase the polyphony. Although Mini-Moog and
Arp2600 (some of the most powerful analogue synthesizers) are
monophonic!
CF. Can more than one Hardware unit be controlled at any one
time?
HS. Yes, you can open more than one instance of Software and
there is an option to select the MIDI output device on the GUI, so
every instance of VSTi can control a specific HyperSID HW unit but
you need to have a MIDI interface with multiple MIDI output
ports.
CF. Why not just create an interface to directly connect a
C64 to a PC and control it directly so our readers doesn`t have to
remove the SID from his or her machine?
HS. Our objective with HyperSID was to have the maximum
stability using the SID chip and to minimize the latency as much as
possible. This would require direct control over the hardware hence
creating the circuit. By the way, HyperSID product is shipped with
a SID chip, so users won`t have to look for one or own a C64!
CF. Has anyone from the Commodore community contacted you
and what were there comments?
HS. Unfortunately, we were not lucky at this point in time,
but the project it relatively new so we are hoping for some
positive comments .
CF. What further plans do you have for the Hypersynth?
HS. Beside HyperSID, Several new products are being
developed. Indeed I can see a brilliant future for our company. The
most significant product currently being developed is a synthesizer
which is inspired from the SID chips internal architecture and
perhaps it could become an improved version of SID with more
polyphony and many new capabilities. So we have a lot of hard work
at our hands.
CF. Do you know of any professional musicians use the
HyperSID?
HS. Commonly professional musicians use lot of vintage
synthesizers, this also applies to most of our customers. I would
like to mention Mr. Frank Neumann, a musician with outstanding
activities in C64 scene for several years. It was Frank who
influenced us to build the rack mounted version of HyperSID HW unit
and giving us hope and courage to develop this project. On the
other side we have received offers from well-known sound designers
for building preset bank for HyperSID with their signature. We hope
to release these preset banks in the near future.
CF. How was the VST software interface created?
HS. HyperSID VSTi was created by Synthmaker, which is a
powerful platform for the modular development of software
synthesizers. Several people were involved in the software
interface, MIDI engine programming and GUI design, the project
programming leader was Mr. Aram Azhari who is our most vital and
respectable company member. Every parameter on the SID chip was
implemented in VST interface and a custom built protocol was
designed in order to communicate between VSTi and a dedicated
hardware (HyperSID HW unit) via MIDI port.
CF. Why use both hardware and software why not just create a
VST instrument modelling the SID chip so no hardware is needed?
HS. The point is there are many differences between analogue
synthesizers and the emulated ones. There are several software
based SID synthesizers but only your ears can judge between the
two. The best thing about digitally emulated synthesizers is
accuracy and at the same time their weakest point. The fact that
digital is accurate makes it all look the same and sound the same.
But the analogue synths sound more unique because of their special
analogue chips characteristics.
CF. If our user wanted to order the HyperSID what is the
current price with shipping, and these can be ordered directly from
the website?
HS. Current price for HW unit is 349$ (shipping included)
and it can be ordered from our website at http://www.hypersynth.com/hypersid.html
CF. Has the HyperSID been reviewed in any professionally
produced music or computer magazines?
HS. Yes, you can read some lines in Sound & Recording
magazine. Issue 7/2008, Article "Love The Machines".
CF. Do you still use Commodore machines, and do you still
follow the Commodore scene?
HS. Unfortunately not, Focusing on the current projects at
our company keeps us very busy, but if we get a chance we would
love to do that.
CF. Do you think any other Computer hardware could be
utilized this way?
HS. I don`t think so, because without doubt SID is the most
powerful synthesizer chip which was used as a sound interface for
home computers. The main advantage is the mixed-mode architecture
(Analogue-Digital) of the SID chip core which is mostly Digital in
other chips.
CF. Finally would you like to add any of your own comments?
HS. It is a great honour for us to become a part of SID
history in Commodore free magazine, at the end we just want to
thank Bob Yannes and his team the original designer of SID chip who
never thought his invention would become so popular in the world of
electronic music production.
Jump Back to CONTENTS
PRESS PLAY ON TAPE
COMPETITION WINNER
http://www.pressplayontape.com/
Commodore Free
Finally I had 3 entries to the competition so the CD`s were mailed
out, I have confirmation that the Cd`s have been received by these
readers so well done. I picked the best entry and have reprinted it
for your reading delights, the other two winners would rather not
be named but James has agreed to the printing of his name and the
article. Thanks two the 3 entrants for there efforts.
Why I like SID music,
by James Bray.
This may be just a personal thing, but to me SID music is better in
many ways than some commercial music being produced today, or even
back in the day! Commodore Free has already mentioned about hooking
up your Commodore to an amplifier and recording SID tunes directly,
and I know various people have created MP3s of SIDs, which is
brilliant.
Recording SID to tape is something I have done since the heady
1980s. I would Record my favourite sounds from games and demos onto
audio cassettes and listen to them in my dad's car or on my Sony
walkman (do you remember tapes? we used to use them to save
applications on, how times have changed). Now in a digital age the
music is saved electronically in MP3 format or similar and then
copied onto my music player of choice and carried around with me
wherever I roam.
The SID sound is, and I'm sure that you would agree with me when I
say, unmistakable and completely unique. Okay, sometimes it has a
little interference and not all units seemed to produce the same
quality of tone, probably due to Commodore's various production
methods over the years. I do however think that is what makes the
sound unique and personal to you. For example, you and you alone
will remember how a game sounded, and if it was good to your ear,
then hey who cares if there was interference or even sounds
slightly different on your friends machine, eh?!?
SID music was special because of the limitations imposed on the
composer, the amount of processor time or Raster time the composer
took could cause real problems with the other game developers
involved. So, the musician had to put careful thought into every
note every slide every arpeggio had t be clinically tested and
checked to see if it took too much away from the programmer. Then
there is a limitation about the number of sounds that could be
played together the SID has 3 voices and 1 digital replay device so
3 voices could be used to produce a full orchestra or group, not an
easy task but with careful manipulation of the sounds filters and
ring modulation some composers made 3 voices sound like 6 or more.
Furthermore today remixes have looked at the old SID tunes and
recreated them using modern computers and synthesisers even on real
instruments drums, keyboards, bass guitar and so on. The superb
Press Play On Tape are special because they have added words to the
music in some cases. This music stands on its own because there is
a definite tune, there is a melody that can and in my case is
hummed and running round my head, weaving through the brain
connections, sending love to every brain cortex.
Rather than pick out a handful of composers or tunes I would rather
tip my hat off to all composers and every tune, even the truly
awful still have a special meaning to me, a bleeping one-voice
happy Christmas is still a crafted tune and one just hopes the
composer went on to produce better works. Hey, I remember when even
commercial games were written in BASIC!
One thing composers quickly learnt was that a tune is everything.
Without it, there was little else left for the overall song, so
this is why you lie in bed humming thing on a spring or the theme
to some shoot-em-up game. Some composers work was so good the game
sold because they wrote the music, remember crazy comets awful game
but playable because you wanted to listen to the tune, I have
purchased many games as other did in the time just to listen to the
stunning music, then record it 20 times to a C120 tape and carry it
around on my Sony walkman
May be its age or just lack of talent but how many can remember a
tune in the charts, this is where SID tunes win because of the
melody and harmonies the composers used, SID is indeed very
memorable for people of my generation. True classics in every way,
and should be recognised as such by the wider musical world.
Regards
James Bray.
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Membership forms for the Commodore Computer Club (UK)
(CCC(UK))
http://www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk/
Please sign me up for a membership to the CCC (UK) - I wish to be a
member for:
[ ] 6 months* at 3GBP
[ ] 1 year* at 5GBP
[ ] life member at 30GBP
My personal details:
**Name:
**Address:
**Postal code:
Country (if outside of the United Kingdom)**:
**Date of application:
[FOR INTERNAL USE: Date membership fee received: ]
Email address:
Please tick the box below once you have read and understood the
club's rules and regulations:
**[ ] I declare that I, the named applicant above, have read and
understood the CCC (UK) rules and regulations, and agree to abide
by them fully and co-operatively. I understand that I am joining
this club on a personal level, and not as a representative of any
group, developer or vendor that I belong to.
Please tick which computers you own:
[ ] CBM/PET 40 columns
[ ] CBM/PET 80 columns
[ ] VIC/VC 20
[ ] C64/64c
[ ] C64GS
[ ] SX-64
[ ] C16/116
[ ] Plus/4
[ ] C128/128D
[ ] C64DTV
[ ] Other Commodore 8-bit
[ ] Other Commodore 16-bit
If you have ticked 'Other Commodore 8-bit' or 'Other Commodore
16-bit', please list these machines below:
Please tick from the list below your interests from the following:
[ ] Gaming
[ ] BASIC programming
[ ] Machine language coding
[ ] GEOS
[ ] JOS/WiNGs
[ ] Tech/scene demos
[ ] Collecting
[ ] Archiving/preservation
[ ] Other applications
If you have ticked 'Other applications', please give details below:
Please tick if you use any of the following peripherals below:
[ ] Datasette
[ ] 1541 compatible disk drive
[ ] 1581 compatible disk drive
[ ] FD2000/4000
[ ] CMD HD or RAMLink
[ ] 1351 mouse or compatible
[ ] Commodore REU
[ ] Other RAM expansion
[ ] SuperCPU 64/128
[ ] Other accelerator
[ ] MMC/Retro Replay
[ ] SwiftLINK/Turbo232
[ ] RR-Net or FB-Net
[ ] Other networking device
[ ] 1541Ultimate/+
[ ] Action Replay
[ ] Trilogic Expert Cartridge
[ ] Other cartridge upgrade
[ ] Other speed loader
[ ] Commodore VDU
[ ] Other hardware
Please list any items not mentioned above which you have
(especially for other Commodore 8-bit machines):
Thank-you for taking the time to fill in this membership form. Your
membership will be processed on receipt of the relevant membership
fee as stated.
* Membership fees for 6 months or 1 year will be back-dated to the
beginning of the month that the membership application has been
made and relevant fee has been cleared into our account. This can
be paid either by personal cheque, postal order or PayPal.
Membership fees are currently 3GBP for six months, 5GBP per year or
30GBP for life membership.
** It is essential that you fill these details, otherwise your
membership will not be processed
Jump Back to CONTENTS
Commodore Computer Club (UK) (CCC(UK))
http://www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk/
Club rules:
(1) Membership subscriptions, raising funds and re-selling items.
(a) All members will pay a membership fee as follows: £3 for
six months, 5GBP per year and life membership at £30. This
fee will entitle the holder to free entry to the meetings, and
special limited areas of the website, such as private forums and
exclusive downloads, should we get anything exclusive to download.
Membership will always be back-dated to the start of the month in
which the member took out the subscription, so that everyone
joining in the month of April for one year will see their
membership expire on the 31st of March the following year.
(b) We should have a 'Commodore Computer Club Shop', which will
stock all of the latest hardware mods and sods for Commodore
computers. To stop the 'Maurice Randall' effect, in which the club
will have to repay people for not receiving their goods because
they haven't been delivered but have been paid for, items will only
be on sale if they are in stock.
(c) There will be two prices, one for members (cost of item +
postage and packing + 10%), and one for none members (cost +
postage and packing + 20%).
(d) Any members that do work for the club, organising events,
donating items for auction, coding, or are otherwise active, with
exception to posting on forums and turning up to meetings, will be
considered for free membership and/or lifetime membership on merit
based only on work they have done for the club. In certain
instances, will include what they have contributed overall to
Commodore computing or gaming during their life-time, should any
'Commodore legends' show sufficient interest to join the club.
(2) Events, software and other developments.
(a) Any money that is raised by the club should be used primarily
for setting up events, or bolting onto other events as appropriate.
This is to go towards, or cover costs with van hire, hotels, food
and drink, so the person or people who are willing to travelling to
these events, man stalls and generally promote the club and its
work are not be out of pocket as far as possible.
(b) Profits made from items sold at events should contribute to
cover the costs of attending, or hosting, and/or expenses accrued
during the event. This will not include monies raised from
membership subscriptions paid for during the event.
(c) The club should seek to raise money for the purpose of
developing hardware and/or software that will benefit Commodore
users in the UK and world-wide, and that could therefore be sold
through the club Shop.
(d) Payments to developers who are commissioned to work on behalf
of the club should not be made in advanced or up front unless
otherwise agreed by the treasurer and chair-person, and any other
two members. This should be openly discussed with all members
either in private members areas of the site, or at an organised
meeting as appropriate.
(e) Hardware that is commissioned on behalf of the club which
reaches production should be sold at a small profit, and monies
raised to put back into the clubs funds.
(f) If it is agreed that the club should commission entertainment
software, the productions should be available to download for free
from the site for members only. Real-media versions should also be
sold through the shop with non-members able to buy copies, though
at a higher price than members.
(g) Any software commissioned by the club will either be purchased
outright, paying the programmer an agreed fee on completion, or
paying a lesser fee and splitting the profits at an agreed rate.
This should be discussed on a case-by-case basis. The chair-person
and treasurer, and two other members, must agree which method
should be implemented.
(3) Meetings and monies
(a) The club should hold an annual general meeting in which members
have a say in its running, and are able to make suggestions and
table official club business for the year ahead. Membership
subscriptions should be reviewed at the annual general meeting, and
any price increases must be agreed by the chair-person, treasurer
and at least two other members.
(b) There should be an annual audit of the clubs finances, with a
news-letter at least every three months. The audit should be
published before the annual general meeting, and this and the
news-letter should be available to current members online in the
private member areas. Former members may request this information,
which will be granted on a case-by-case basis.
(c) Members will be able to attend any events that organised and
run by the club for free when ever possible, whilst non-members
will pay a small signing in fee of at least £2.50. With
agreement with other event organisers, and at events that the club
is attending in an official capacity, we will work towards getting
members a discounted entry fee.
(d) All monies raised will go back into club funds.
(4) End of line
(a) If it is apparent that the club is not running within its means
to the extent that it is likely to fold, or that legal action
against it will lead to the club being dissolved, all club assets
should be sold or auctioned off, and members will be refunded their
current subscriptions based on the length of time they have been
members. The longest-serving paying members will be refunded first
as appropriate, either patricianly or fully depending on the
financial circumstances at the time. The newer members, who will be
dealt with last.
(b) Personal donations to the club's funds can never be fully
refunded.
Club complaints procedure:
Phase 1: Where a complaint is made against the club, or one of the
club members, there should initially be a private apology between
the club or individual and the plaintiff. This apology should be
for 'any undue harm or upset caused', and will not amount to an
admission of guilt or a retraction in any way. The club will not be
able to force any of its members to make this initial apology
except in the instance that the individual has clearly and
admittedly worked on the clubs behalf in the matter specifically
relating to the complaint that has been lodged.
Phase 2: The matter should then be investigated to establish the
facts. If it is deemed that an individual club member has not been
acting on the clubs behalf with regards to the specifics of the
complaint, then this becomes a personal matter between the two
parties. The club should therefore stop any further investigations
or involvement in the matter.
Phase 3: If the complaint lacks any real evidence, or it is felt
that the findings are not conclusive, then the matter should be
closed. Neither the club, nor any of its members, should therefore
discuss the matter publically. All findings should be reported to
the plaintiff, and the matter should be considered closed from the
club's point of view.
Phase 4: Where a complaint is upheld, a public apology and/or
retraction should be published through the official website, and in
the newsletter. The club should also give the plaintiff the
opportunity to give his or her point of view through the website
and/or newsletter as appropriate. In this instance, the case will
be considered closed from the club's point of view unless the
plaintiff wants to take the matter further through due legal
process.
Emergency phase: If at any point during this process the plaintiff
feels aggrieved to the extent that he or she instructs a solicitor
to take the matter up against the club or club members who have
clearly being acting on behalf of the club in this instance, the
club should then consider its legal position on the matter, and a
meeting should be set up with the principle members of the club
within two weeks of receiving legal notice to discuss the matter,
and what to do next. Obviously, one would hope that any complaint
would ever get to this stage.
Jump Back to CONTENTS
Commodore Computer club FAQ
http://www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk/
So what is the Commodore Computer Club (UK) then?
It's a UK-based user group supporting all classic 8-bit Commodore
computers, and the C64DTV, excluding the rare Commodore machines
which are more collectible, such as the P500.
As a user group, our primary interest is in keeping these aging
machines useful for as long as possible, by supporting hardware and
software developments across all machines.
Does it cost to join?
Yes. subscription fees start from 3GBP for six months membership,
5GBP for a year and 30GBP for life membership.
What will I get for my money?
The club is run by its members. An annual audit of club funds will
take place, as well as an AGM at which all members will be able to
have their say about the running of the club, and make suggestions
for its direction, or future projects that the club should take an
interest in. On the whole, it is one member, one vote, except if
stipulated in the club rules.
What will my money be used for?
The club will use its funds to set up shows and meets across the
UK, and commission hardware and software as appropriate to its
membership. For instance, we are currently looking at creating a
good quality VGA adapter that will adequately handle the various
video signals created by Commodore 8-bit machines: composite,
Luma/Chroma and RGBI. Once found, these units will be made up and
sold through our club shop. Whilst anyone may purchase these, these
is a surcharge added to the price for non-members.
So, non-members will get all the benefits of membership by only
paying a small surcharge?
Not always. We're setting up a private members area to the club
website, and certain items will not be available to non-members, as
agreed by the club: the newsletter, for instance, will be members
only. All club-organised events will be free to members, and
non-members will have to pay a signing in fee of £2.50. In
the instances in which the club is bolting onto another event
organised by someone else, we will work with the event manager so
that our members will get a discount on the ticket price for the
day or weekend as appropiate.
What's the difference between a CCC (UK) event, and me organising
to meet some Commodore users in my local pub?
If you think that you can arrange to meet other enthusiasts locally
to you without the club, then that's great! But generally speaking,
it's difficult to organise even the most informal meetings and even
with the lure of beer. Our club events will have the benefit from
being organised with a purpose. Not only will you get the chance to
meet other enthusiasts, but also you can thrash out hardware
problems by bringing along your misbehaving piece of kit, or learn
new skills through our workshops. Also, we have many spares in our
arsenal, so if you have a flaky SID chip that needs replacing, or
you need your drive head realligning, then bring it along and we'll
see if we can help you! And whilst non-members will have to pay a
signing in fee, they'll also have to pay for any fixes. As a
member, you'll usually receive any easy fixes for free.
Do you support Amiga?
At the moment, we are only able to support Commodore 8-bits because
we don't have members who have enough knowledge about Amiga range
to adequately support that platform.
So, how long have you been going?
Not long. We started talking about a user group at the end of June
2008, held our first meeting on the 26th and 27th of July 2008, and
started taking formal membership on the 1st August 2008. There are
still some things that are under construction, but we're getting
there.
What sort of users are you attracting?
At the time of writing, we have a rough 50/50 split between the
so-called "Power users" and the average Commodore user. The word
user is an important one: whilst we can offer help and advice for
emulator fans, that's not the principle aim of the club.
What work have you been doing behind the scenes then?
We have agreement in principle with Cronosoft http://www.cronosoft.co.uk and
Psytronik Software http://www.binaryzone.org/psy.php
to resell their Commodore games on disk (3.5" and 5.25") as
Cronosoft aren't very good at advertising that you can buy their
games on disk, and Psytronik software don't currently do disks.
We have also spoken to several individuals about manufacturing a
SuperCPU-like accelerator for the C64/128 (one is looking likely to
take on this challenge), and there is a distant possibility of a
game released for the Commodore +4 and C64/GS on cartridge.
Why aren't you just supporting the existing projects out there that
are free?
Whilst the club will always support any projects or publishers who
largely work for free, there are still some gaps that need filling,
and because of real life or other commitments, these projects have
a tendancy to stall every-so-often.
You said that you have a shop?
Yes. If you remember Commodore Scene's importing service, this will
work in pretty much the same way. And whilst CMD hardware might no
longer be available, there are other hardware projects that are.
We have several benefits too: becuase we'll have some resources to
play with, we could buy in several items at a time, meaning that we
could save on shipping costs and pass that saving on to our
members.
There is also the issue of documentation, certainly with hardware
projects out there. The manuals are often extremely lacking, or the
English translation isn't clear enough. As a club, we can provide
further documentation to hardware items sold through our shop, and
hold workshops for people who are still having trouble.
Are you trying to be another website like Lemon64?
Absolutely not. There are lots of good websites for gamers, but if
you're a GEOS user, for instance, where do you go for advice?
Whilst we will happily report on and review any new software, we're
not necessarily all about nostalgia, and have the added dimension
of good programming and technical advice too. Plus, we're happy to
support all Commodore 8-bits, rather than going to Sleeping
Elephant for the VIC, EmuCamp for C16/+4, Lemon64 for the 64 and
other sites for the 128 and PET, we want everything in one place if
we can!
Jump Back to CONTENTS
http://www.commodorefree.com/
http://www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk/