Commodore News

Freshly fished out of the net...

Here you will find all the latest Commodore news - mostly related to C64 - Amiga - C128 - Plus/4 - VIC-20 - PET. This ticker contains news about new game and hardware releases, latest video and podcast uploads, trivia and product information. All freshly fished from the web. RSS feed available!

News filter:
All C64 Amiga C128 Plus/4 VIC-20 PET

08.12.2020 - Video shows more progress on 'Briley Witch Chronicles'
The C64 RPG 'Briley Witch Chronicles' from Sarah Jane Avory (Neutron, Santron, Zeta Wing and the soon to be released Soul Force) is progressing steadily. Sarah just recently uploaded the newest WIP video.

06.12.2020 - Firmware V1.37 for 'Ultimate 64' and 'Ultimate 64' Elite available
Version 1.37 has again some significant changes and improvements over 1.34 / 3.8. The following bullet list gives an overview of the features and fixes. Below the items, a short explanation is added: - exFAT support - Cartridge Port compatibility improvements - Hyperspeed file system access through UCI - Extended CBM file system support (D71, D81 and DNP) - Full REL file support from SoftwareIEC - REL file copy between file systems, including FAT with preservation of record length property. - Consistent filename convention for storing CBM files on FAT with proper conversions. - Free block count added to IEC directory listing. - F5 menu restructuring - Configuration menu key mapping made more consistent with file browser - RAM Disk addition - ACIA (6551 emulation) improvements - Added fast serial / burst mode wire patches in U64 (optional connections between CIA and SRQ / DATA line.) - Addition of additional analog video modes: PAL60 and NTSC50. - Slightly improved key mapping for USB keyboards. - Fixed double keypress in non-overlay menu, when using USB keyboard. - Implemented key repeat for USB keyboards. - Many, many bugfixes

05.12.2020 - Can we fix bad chips ... in the oven? - new video from 'Adrian's Digital Basement'
Adrian was given some information about a very unusual way to possibly fix bad chips. Let's try some experiments and see if this actually works to revive some bad Commodore/MOS chips.

05.12.2020 - How to write a song - from silence to symphony! My easy random notes technique - new video from 'Retro Recipes'
Watch 'Perifractic' write a (retro) song based on random notes submitted by Patreons & see how YOU can go from nothing to a finished instrumental retro 80s chiptune styled or otherwise. With the help of the Commodore 64 SID chip of course!

05.12.2020 - 'Lotek64 #61' released
Lotek64 is a free .pdf magazine in german language for older game consoles and home computers. Due to its widespread use, the Commodore 64 forms a "natural" focus of reporting, but no systems are excluded. Articles (besides others): Computer love: mac of tugcs: My life with the Commodore 64 - BeamRacer: A Copper for the C64 - Interview with Andy aka Shine: PETSCII-pixel art - Austrian advertising games of the 90s: railways, banks, armed forces - Unboxing-Party: Super Mario Lego - Books on British software houses: Ocean and U.S. GoldSoftware history

04.12.2020 - Exploring Marz: C-64 6510 Assembly Minigame Code Walkthrough - new Video from '8-Bit Show And Tell'
In 2003 Robin from '8-Bit Show And Tell' made a little 1024 byte Commodore 64 game called "Marz" for the Minigame Competition, which was an annual online 8-bit programming competition. He has found the source code to it and takes a look through it!

03.12.2020 - 'Sub Med' - new VIC-20 game released
'Sub Med' is a submarine game, where you have to deliver medical supplies. Story: "Avast! Our undersea base is in danger. Navigate your sub, pick up a med pack from the lighthouse, deliver it to the base. Avoid sea life, and watch your oxygen level!"

03.12.2020 - Amiga game 'Sqrxz 4' available as Boxed Version
APC&TCP is proud to announce that after Trap Runner and Fred's Journey, Sqrxz 4 is now also available as a boxed edition. As usual with Retroguru, the game was published in a DVD case with floppy disk, booklet and A3 poster. For a review of the game, read the article of Amiga Future #121, which you can download as .pdf here.

02.12.2020 - C64 cRPG called 'Meonlawel' in development
Video shows testing of 'Meonlawel', a beautiful computer role-playing adventure game, with vampyres in the leading role. It's currently in development. The main engine is being rewritten from Basic to assembler. A number of new features have been added thanks to the majestic power of assembler. This project will take a lot of time – it's one of those long-term, immortal projects, you know. Learn more here.

02.12.2020 - C64 MMORPG in development
Massively Miniature Offline Role Playing Game for the Commodore 64. Think a one-screen, four-player, procedurally generated map, Ultima-meets-Archon kind of thing… with a timer.

01.12.2020 - Scene World Podcast Episode #100 - Mike Clarke's inSIDious
"Thank you for purchasing inSIDious, the best SID emulation available for your DAW, and welcome to the wonderful world of the MOS Sound Interface Device," is how the manual refers to Mike Clarke's SID emulation plugin that no longer requires a costly full version of Reaktor to use! How does a veteran composer, largely known for his awesome music on the Amiga, produce SID emulation that offers the unique sounds of famous composers like Chris Huelsbeck, Martin Galway and many more? AJ, Joerg, and our musical hero Martin sit together with Mike to learn more about the magical world of SID emulation and why this attempt makes it so outstanding! (Interview begins at 12:46)

01.12.2020 - Making a C64/C65 compatible computer - DevKits are appearing around the world!
It has been a sheer delight the past few days, as people have begun receiving and assembling their MEGA65 DevKits, and even started to create things using them! In case you missed the action, there are now several first impressions / assembly videos up on youtube... [read on]

01.12.2020 - C64 graphic tool 'Pixel Polizei 2020' released
'Pixel Polizei' is a tool for the retro/scene/retroscene artist. It lets you automatically check whether an image conforms to the color limits of a particular oldschool platform and save the result in certain native formats. The underlying idea is that you can use whatever paint program you happen to prefer for creating the images and observe – almost real-time – if you’ve made a mistake somewhere. One more fundamental bit is that the tool is multiplatform unlike many others. 'Pixel Polizei' is not a paint program or a generic image format converter, even though the aim is to implement at least the most typical file types for the supported platforms. Neither is it meant to be used as a converter for random family photos. You can use it for that purpose too, but the end results won’t be as good as with dedicated tools. For converting various old formats to modern images check out the Recoil project.

01.12.2020 - 'Snowdown' - new C64 game released
'Snowdown' is a 1 or 2-player Christmas themed action shooter for the Commodore 64, released in 2020. It's an Xmas version of our newly released game 'Showdown'. The game is inspired by a host of older titles with the same theme, going all the way back to Gun Fight from 1975. The game is available for bargain as digital version (download).

01.12.2020 - 'Doc Xmas' - new C64 game released
This platformer game is a special Christmas release of the award winning 'Doc Cosmos' contains some graphical updates to make Doc more seasonal along with 5 additional puzzling screens that cannot be found in the original game and some minor bug fixes. The game is available for bargain as digital version (download).