{===================================}
          Commodore Free
         Issue 20 May 2008
       www.commodorefree.com

    Free to download magazine
  Dedicated to Commodore Computers
{===================================}

Available as Text, Html, PDF, SEQ and
Commodore 64 D64 disk image

Editor
I am not really the best person, you
should try asking someone else as my
knowledge is more limited and I
wouldnt call myself and expert on the
subject.

I contact a great number of people
about writing articles and usually
receive the standard response as
above, to be honest I can appreciate a
lot of time needs to go into writing
articles and lets be honest I am not
the best person to edit and layout
pages in a magazine, If I were to list
10 people I wouldnt put myself near or
even in the top 100 but if I didnt do
it who would?

Many people find the magazine
interesting and thats good to hear
some think its lame and poor that is
also good to here, I suggest you
create or contribute to help the
magazine obtain a higher status, If
you know something feel free to write
an article sure someone else will
write in and say you are wrong but you
and the entire reader base will have
learnt something new and thats is what
the game of life is all about, sharing
and learning or am I reading the wrong
books 

I tried asking people to design a logo
but no one would help so in the end I
had to design the thing myself I
learnt that I cant draw, but actually
I think the end result is rather good,
I would have liked a more 8-bit look
complete with jagged edges and a
better colour palette but I dont know
how to do that so we are left with
what we have, 

We also Had a Commodore scene meeting
I think the last one was over 2 years
ago! Discussions were about having a
uk commodore club more news on that
next month as developments are
happening in that area but its still
early days 


Regards
Nigel 
www.commodorefre.com

Contents

Editorial and Contents

Readers Comments

News
Information and news items

Commodore Scene get together

Tutorials
In the Beginning Part 5

TND Creating music with DMC

Extracting Text from Commodore
applications using Winvice Emulator

Reviews
C64TCP Review

WE ARE FAMILY  plus 4 dvd

Interviews
Free interview with Paul
www.commodore-plus4.co.uk 

Dany Wild DJ And remixer

Nightlord - Commodore 64 programmer
===================================
u
The Loadstar Collection
Don't Miss It! The Loadstar Collection
offers every issue of LOADSTAR in a
Windows Ready format, complete with
Windows menu & the LOADSTAR Library
database. Buy'em by the year (or
dozen) from

<http://shop.vcsweb.com/>

Just go to the LOADSTAR area, & take
a look at LOADSTAR Years Collection.
We're Going to CommVEx! Sheri & I
have booked a condo in Las Vegas for
July 26-27 for the amazing CommVEx
convention. Looking to see you there!

New Book in the Works. Somewhere in
the hinterlands of Ohio, Alan Reed is
busy editing a full-blown Programmers
Reference manual for DotBASIC Plus. We
have 91 commands to add to BASIC 2.0 -
the latest being a Text Reader with
Printer output. The entire package,
with Manual, 1581 disks, & CD-ROM
will be unveiled at CommVEx.

Tornado Special. While going through
all our stuff (and I mean all!) I
found a nifty 1581 disk called 'The
Tower for Thinkers.' Here are the
games & puzzles that really stir
that gray matter & drive you to
muttering. A bunch of fun for your C64
for just $10 (including shipping). Send
your check to

LOADSTAR
PO Box 44
Holly, CO 81047

DotBASIC Plus - the ultimate hobbyist
programming language! Only from
LOADSTAR!


LOADSTAR Issue 249 is out

Contents

L O A D S T A R   F I L E S
Diskovery.
Is it a fetish? No, it is the  power
of a new software development
environment.
The Gamer Edge by Robin Harbron Get an
inside glimpse of coding in the real
world.

F U N   W A R E
Pirates of the Dark Waters. by Richard
J. Derocher Come, mateys, & find your
way off a desert isle.
Four Doku. by Dave Moorman It's Sudoku
for those with short attention spans.
Quick. Easy Addictive!
Madmanby Alan Gardner Fresh from the
LOADSTAR Library, this is vertical
break-out with more problems.
Connect 4 by DJB Shibley A classic
board game with an evil computer
opponent.

M U S I C   W A R E
More Corky's Classics by Henry 'Corky'
Cochran  A gaggle of greats for your
entertainment.
SoundGarden by Rorschach  A collection
of compelling Euro tunes.

B r a i n   W a r e
Logic Jam by Fender Tucker A group of
classic logic problems to keep you
from thinking about your real
problems.
Puzzle Page by Barbara Schulak Another
dazzling array of cross-words &
other words to solve.

U t i l i t y   W a r e
SPREdit by Dave Moorman DB+ makes this
mouse-driven Sprite Editor a cinch to
use.
Walking by Dave Moorman A short demo
of animated sprites using DB+.
DB+ ML Protocol by Dave Moorman
Corrections in information given last
issue.
Understanding Computers  by Dave
Moorman A look & rant about Visual
Basic Express. Commodore Trick  from
the Web There are more wonders in the
C-64  than we can imagine.
Colorwash by Richard J. Derocher A
nifty special effect for your program
screens.
The Grapher 64 by Brian Crosthwaite
Plotting a course where no one has
gone before.

L O A D S T A R   E x t r a s
Star Video Poker by John Serafino A
mouse-driven Vegas game with all the
compulsion but none of the money.
Da Mutt & His Boy by Dave Moorman A
unique graphic Pick-Ur-Path story that
will have you searching for your
greatest love.

D1541 project
Although its early days I am hoping
the D1541 is as good as the DC2N
Datasette replacement using SD cards:

My next coming hardware project is
D1541 which I would also refer to as
'True 1541'. Surprisingly enough
there's no 1541 replacement that
actually satisfies my requirements, so
that I am going to fill this gap by
myself. It's going to be all but a
quick project, even if I know I will
get there. My aim is to go beyond D64
and G64 formats to support all of the
copy protected disks in

Project homepage
http://www.luigidifraia.com/c64/
 d1541/index.html

Diary page
http://www.luigidifraia.com/c64/
 d1541/diary.html

Diary to date
Hi to all. Welcome to the official
diary page for the D1541 project I'm
actually working at. Here you find the
latest development news about this
project.

Older diary pages
Older entries were moved to different
pages, grouped by month: Year 2008:

18 Apr 2008
Starting again

Evening: I started to put together the
ideas for the D1541. I am working at
the schematics for I already captured
the requirements for the 1st stage.

17 May 2008
Schematics
Morning: The 1541-II schematics I have
(of which I also got an A3 printing!)
are quite accurate & they match the
1541-II I have here for testing
purposes. It is clear to me where to
hack the hardware & how to start
dumping original protected disks.
There's quite some work I need to do
actually & it also involves creating
some PC software for dump inspection.
NEWS

AmitopiaTV
We have a PDF mag, webcasts, Disk
magazines now Video magazines
AmitopiaTV #05 10th Of May 2008 is out

I just wanted you to know that #05 of
the show is now out! It contains lot's
of fixes. So enjoy & download :)

Amitopia 10th Of May 2008:
- Amiga News Headlines
- PowerDev 2008 report + MorphOS 2 on
 EFIKA
- Blender PowerDev Xtra
- Relic Amiga Demo by Nerve Axis
- Only Amiga Song

Download issue 5 & other issues from
here http://amitopiatv.blogspot.com/
There is a streamed version & an AVI
download version of the magazine


Cynthcart 1.2.4 Now Available

Subject: Cynthcart 1.2.4 Now Available
From: Albert Yarusso
Date: Fri, May 16, 2008 7:46 pm
To: sales(at)atariage.com

[snip]

I am writing to let you know that Paul
Slocum has released a new version of
the Cynthcart software, 1.2.4. This new
version of the Cynthcart sports the
following improvements over the
previous version (1.1):

* Fixed pitch for PAL consoles
* Autodetection for PAL/NTSC
* Full-screen video mode
* Auto-paddle-on for filter paddle
* Added support for second paddle
 (pitch,  LFO depth, pulse width)
* Rearranged keyboard layout per user
 requests
* Added help screen (press RETURN)
* Added help for SID edit mode
* Added dummy SID register to edit 3
 oscillators at once
* Fixed accidental patch changes due
 to C64 keyboard hardware
* Fixed odd notes in top octave
* Filter tweak for SID Symphony

[If you are a] previous owner of a
Cynthcart, you can choose to either
purchase a new Cynthcart or upgrade
your existing Cynthcart. To learn how
you can upgrade your Cynthcart,
please goto this link:

 http://www.atariage.com/store/
 index.php?main_page=product_info&
  products_id=880

You can learn more about the Cynthcart
& purchase one here:

http://www.atariage.com/store/
 index.php?main_page=product_info&
  products_id=322

Shredz64 - PSX64 PCB checks out!

25. May 2008, 18:20 UhrShredz64Toni
First off, I want to apologize for not
updating this blog for a few weeks,
I've started a new job & things have
been hectic getting up to speed on
things. But life is starting to calm
down, & more importantly, I've
received the first PSX64 PCB, soldered
on the chips, uploaded the firmware,
& it works!

There are a few changes to make to the
board, mainly due to the pinout of
available parts (I have a large stock
of voltage regulators that are a
different pinout than how the board is
configured). I'm also going to use
rectangular headers with stress relief
connectors for the PSX & DB9 cables
so they can take more tugging (as
opposed to soldering them directly to
the board). However, these changes
aren't major & don't require another
single-board run. The next run will be
a batch of 10-30 boards, which will
then be available for purchase! I
suspect it will be about 4 weeks or
so. 
http://www.toniwestbrook.com/
 archives/76

From: DigitalTalk
To:Commodorefree

Lets start for News: The german Diskmag
DIGITAL TALK is back! in 2007 we
release only 2 issues, now we have 2008
& we are back to release the
DigitalTalk all 2 Month for the Scene..
get al look under

http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/
 viewpic.php?id=66196

or from our Homepage:

http://www.digitaltalk.de

(free download).

we are looking for good DT-Logos
(8Chars/4 Colours) Musics (from
$1000-$2000)good DT-Cover painter &
looking for official DT-spreader on
Mailswap or per Email

Contact: digitaltalk(Champ, Co-Editor)
or dejuhraChief-Editor) for more Info

Amiga Forever 2008

After more than two years of work,
Amiga Forever 2008 is being officially
released today. This new version is
the most significant upgrade ever in
the Amiga Forever series. It sets new
references in usability, while more
than tripling the featured content &
providing easy access to a universe of
free downloads.

The new player for Windows is nothing
short of revolutionary, while feeling
as familiar & easy to use as a media
player. Beyond its beautiful skin, it
uses heuristic logic to autoconfigure
downloaded games (including double
clicks on disk images), & supports
features such as saved states, disk
write undo & dual monitor setups.

On the cross-platform front, the KX
Light standalone boot environment
features a new kernel & hard disk
installation (with online updates).
The Gallery section (Plus Edition CD)
includes the full & original 1979
Tripos (Amiga OS precursor)
presentation, & new 'top secret'
Amiga-Atari documents, while tons of
new games & demoscene productions
are sure to deliver long hours of
enjoyment. For the technically-minded,
Amiga Forever 2008 also includes new
ROMs, new ADFs, new HDFs, & better
support for WHDLoad, AmiKit &
AmigaSYS.

For additional information:

Amiga Forever Home Page
http://www.amigaforever.com

Screenshots
http://www.amigaforever.com/
 screenshots/

New Features
http://www.amigaforever.com/whatsnew/

Crash Course for Upgraders
http://www.amigaforever.com/
 kb/5-121.htm

The Amiga Forever team at Cloanto
would again like to thank the numerous
Amiga Friends for their long-time
support (and patience, in recent
months), & the many contributors who
made Amiga Forever possible (as listed
in the Credits section of the Amiga
Forever documentation)


Spring Expo 2008
Ft. Mitchell, KY

Across the Ohio River from Cincinnati,
OH USA

General Expo Information
C=4 is planning a super weekend for
your expo activities!

The Expo will be held on Saturday,
June 28th; from 9:00 am until we
decide to call it quits on Sunday
afternoon! We understand some of you
are early birds; some of you are night
owls. We will let the demo folks tell
us when they want to present their
demo! Over 30 hours of official C=
activity the entire weekend! With a
room the size of 2352 square feet, we
are able to have demos & shops in the
same room, nobody will miss a thing.

Even though the C=4 Expo is in
Kentucky, it is just across the river
from Cincinnati, Ohio.  The C=4 expo
will be held at the Drawbridge Inn
located at 2477 Royal Drive in Ft.
Mitchell, Kentucky. The Greater
Cincinnati Airport is a short distance
from the hotel.  Airport shuttle
service is available courtesy of the
hotel.

Demonstrations & Speakers
Commitments from guests will be posted
when they are confirmed:

Local tourist sites are also nearby:
http://www.drawbridgeinn.com/
 directions.asp

It is hoped that every C= Club can send
a representative to experience the fun
that expos create on a regular basis.
The community welcomes like-minded
hobbyists, & it is your best
opportunity to meet folks you have yet
to meet in person, or meet again
friends you have met in the past.

Spring C= Expo 2008 Reservation Info
We hope you decide to spend the entire
weekend with us & make it a great
weekend starting on Friday night with
your C= friends who decide to show up
early.

Hotel Information
The Drawbridge Inn is located off I-75
and I-71 in Ft Mitchell Kentucky. The
cost of the single rooms in the main
building is only $74 plus taxes.
Reservations will be accepted for our
group at the quoted group rate, on a
room available basis. To make
reservations for the C=4 Expo:

Name of the Event: Cincinnati
Commodore EXPO
Toll Free: (800) 354-9793
In Kentucky: (800) 352-9866
(859) 341-2800

There is an International Airport
located nearby, with shuttle service
provided by the hotel.

Expo Pricing
Door Charge: $10.00/person or
$15.00/family
Selling Tables: $15/table or $35/3
tables (The hotel charges $10 in
addition per table for power usage)
Tables are 6' in length. All sellers
and demonstrators need to set up
before 9:00 on Saturday morning, the
doors (for these only) will open at
7:00am.  Prepayment for admission &
table reservations & advance t-shirt
purchases can be made at

http://c4expo.org using Paypal.

Contact Roger Hoyer by phone, email,
or in writing.
Phone: 513-248-0025
Email: thunderbird@iglou.com
C=4 Expo
c/o 31 Potowatomie Trail
Milford, OH 45150


SCACOM Aktuell issue 6 in German is
available at www.scacom.de.vu  The
biggest SCACOM issue (46 pages) also
has 2 background images & a C64-Disk.

The English SCACOM issue 3 is available
July 2008.

www.scacom.de.vu

Cevi-aktuell
The German magazine Cevi-aktuell is
available to download from:

http://www.c64-mags.de/
 download.php?id=410

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

Readers Comments


EMAIL : = David Sudarsky
SUBJECT Commdoore Free

Thanks so much for Commodore Free!
I'm not sure why it took me so long to
locate your site, but I'll be reading
all the back issues eventually.So, you
had some legal trouble with the first
3 issues?  That brings up the curious
question of how you are able to use
the trademarked 'Commodore' name in
the title of your magazine?  Would be
interested to know.

Back in the 80s, when I was a teen, I
used to program some for Uptime, a
monthly Commodore disk magazine. They
used to pay me a few hundred $$ for
each program they used.  It was lots
of fun, and I miss those times.  Thanks
to people like you that are keeping
Commodore alive!

Best,
David Sudarsky
Longmont, Colorado, USA

--
Are you Vegetarian?  Pay us a visit at
http://www.TheVegetarianSite.com

COMMODORE FREE
Well I am using the Commodore name but
am hoping this doesnt breach copyright
or trade names as I always advertise
as Commodore free, Commodore can mean
other things like a rank in the navy
so can't really be copyrighted, all I
relay want to do is create a magazine,
also no one has hassled me about using
commodore and I have written to many
commodore companies so far I am ok


Toni Westbrook

Dear Nigel Parker,

First off, thanks for supporting the
Shredz64 project and PSX64!  It's
simply awesome there are so many
supporters out there of the Commodore
and other vintage machines.  The
initial PSX64 PCB board has arrived -
it has been tested and works great.
While there are a few fixes to make,
none are major, and a batch order of
boards will soon be ordered.  This
means the PSX64 will be ready to ship
soon!  For more information, please
check out the latest Shredz64 blog
entry:

http://www.toniwestbrook.com/
 archives/76

Thanks again!
Toni Westbrook

Synthetic Dreams
www.synthdreams.com
www.toniwestbrook.com

COMMODORE FREE
Tony the thanks is really to you
without people developing new hardware
and software the Commodore scene would
I suspect dry out, how many people
just want to use the same old hardware
and software forever!


Email: commodorefree
From: Chris Syntichakis:

Hello,
I just read the 19th issue of the CF
and I like it.
I like VERY much that you asked
Robert Bernado about the c-one. I am
one of the 'victims' that got one of
them.In fact it should be called A-one
(A= Amstrad) as the Amstrad cpc core is
almost perfect (plays games/ has sound
emulator, you even can load SYMBOS)

The issues of c-one were so much ,
they drove crazy!!!! For example
un-compatibility with a some monitors.
I am glad that now they discover a
"patch" (wire on board) that solves
the compatibility with cartridge
ports. For me, my relationship with
the c-one is a kind of "love-hate".

One another thing I would like to
comment is your question to Robert:
"Do you think someone, like Jens
Schoenfeld, should offer to bail out
CMD" I am surprised you mention Jens,
as  Jens had a lot of finance problems
with the c-one (he even sold his car),
the "resurrection" process of the
c-one is slowwwww. Jens wrote me "the
project (of c-1) is not dead", (I want
to believe this...)

Anyway, As I see you are in UK, how's
the c= community there? I m resident
in UK (Birmingham) since Sep'07 and so
far I found not one C= user there.

Regards
Chris (xc8/Bronx)


COMMODORE FREE
Chris Hello I am still waiting on the
c-one I was advised there may be a
version 2 and to wait for that, cant
remember who said that though, so I am
watching the developments.

At the time I originally had the
interview with Robert I didnt know
that Jens was in trouble, in fact your
mentioning it to me in the email was
the first I knew about it, I am sure
there is someone with enough funds to
take over the CMD product line,
although with new products coming out
it may not be worth the efforts as the
devices would need to be redesigned

As for C-one users I dont know of any
other UK user, its good that you are
uk based  maybe we should have a
meet-up sometime to talk about
Commodore News

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


In the Beginning Part 5
By Lord Ronin from Q-Link

Chapter 5, 

There is the need to present ones
thoughts in some form of preservation.
Paintings on cave walls, weird marks
in clay tablets, carved complicated
hieroglyphs in tombs, different
languages on papyrus, sheep skin and
paper. Now we have entered the age of
the Personal Computer. Where we can
put our thoughts to not only a paper
form. But an electronic form. And Save
them to disks for the future.

I Said that this was a personal trip
at the beginning. So here goes; with a
part of the real personal section.
Computers are an information and
retrieval system. That is what I was
told in 1974ce in college by the
instructor. No argument on the storage
part. But the retrieval part? Well
lets look at that for a moment. Hmm,
we have had PCs from around1977. PET,
Apple, Vic, C=64, and others. Even the
IBM PC jr. There are other PC
platforms that I am leaving out, like
Osbourne, Mattel, Atari as they are
not something I know about and their
exact entry dates are lost to me.
Others are left out because I dont
know them. OK the Spectrum is left out
because of the war between C= and
Spectrum users. TRS-80 series and the
other Radio Shack lines as I didn't
mess with them much. All of that
simply means that there were and
therefore it should be understood that
there are still a lot of PCs out there
in the world.

 30+ years of them! Here we are stuck
with two problems. Cross platform, as
the Apple pcs don't run the C=
applications etc. The second and most
horrible is backwards compatibility on
many PC platforms. I mean that what
you spent money and time upon now,
Well it doesn't work with the new
upgrade/model. Nor do you get a single
thing in compensation for your time
and money. Just the shaft from the
company. One of the stupidest things I
ever heard from a user of a non C= PC.
Regarding the ability to use older
software was, "Why would I want to
look at that old stuff?". He wasn't
being sarcastic. He just couldn't see
a reason to keep or use the older
stuff when the new things came out.
Well the old stuff must be important.
I mean it exists in the first place.
You spent money on it, and spent hours
of your life with it. Call me a
nutter, but that makes it important
for me to keep.

 OK I am not just talking about games.
I'm talking about things that you have
written. Got a story here, one that is
a real bummer. So obviously it has
nothing to do with the C= <G>. Anyway
had a guy come into my shop. He had
heard that Ideal with 
older computers. His mom had passed
on. After some time they found that
she had a safety deposit box. When it
was opened, there were several things
in it that I forget. As I remember the
one thing that brought him to me. A
disk, handwritten label that said it
was for the family. Done to the best
of my understanding on a 286 and the
Word Processor she liked at the time.
On his much newer system, well he
couldn't see a flaming thing. Could be
the lost family treasure, black sheep
history of the genealogy or her
favourite fruitcake recipe. He can't
find out. Nor could I as I don't
support that PC platform. Operating
systems change; as does the media. So
why the smeg try to save anything
today on a computer, when tomorrow you
can't see it?

 Ah, that isn't the case with the
Commodore. In fact there are emulation
disks from Commodore themselves, that
allow the 64 to act like a Vic or a
PET. Never used them I must add and I
stupidly sold my factory copies.
Getting my rant out of the way and
using that as a basis for the writing
part. Lets get to it.

 We use standard PET ascii. Other PC
platforms use ascii.  I have already
mentioned a bit on the difference.
Along with the different characters
from the keyboard. Sounds as if we
can't look at any text from the other
platforms. Not true, there are C=based
tools and utilities that will allow us
to translate their language to ours
and the reverse. OK to be truthful it
isn't 100% perfect. Some characters
just don't translate. An example is
needed at this point. On my BBS, I
write all the text in standard PET
ASCII. But that isn't to say that my
callers are all using a C=machine. So
how is it that they can see the text
that I write, in what seems normal or
native to them? I have a translator in
the BBS programme. The caller selects
what style he is using when he sets up
his account. This can be changed at
any time. This lets him read the text
at the menus, messages, file
information, majority of the games,
and of course his e-mail. The problems
are in the non text characters.  turns
into a reverse backslash in ascii.
Some of the keyboard characters do not
come across or come across as
different than originally created.
Colours in ansi are pretty much the
same. Save that every ansi terminal
programme I have seen. Just doesn't
have the colours set for the C=, and
numbers, as we have. Most of the time
they are just not presented in ansi.

 All the text files on the BBS are in
standard PET. These are the files that
the user can download and read. Right
how does this effect the non C=user?
Well they are also recreated in a
style that allows them to be read
online. Since he is using the
ascii/ansi login. He reads the
translated text on screen in a style
that makes sense to him. But if he
needs to have a print out of that
information. He can simply buffer
capture the screens. Then he can read
it on his computer off line or print
it out. This information isnt 100%
correct though. If I use the keyboard
graphics. They may not show to him on
his screen. But they can print out on
the page. Usually as some letter with
a dot over the top. We have a Carriage
Return <CR>. I understand that there
is a setting for this on other
computers imprinting. If the computer
is set up that way. He will see the CR
characters on his page. Same for when
I change colour or do reverse video in
the text. These can actually print out
the invisible screen, commands. Takes
a bit of work in understanding the
term program and the printer being
used to make it more understandable.
However it is still readable for the
information. OK and if I limit the
keyboard characters and colour stuff
as well <BG>.

 Yeah I am leading up to something.
Writing Programmes <WP> and Desk Top
Publishing <DTP>. In regards to the
backwards compatibility and to cross
platform compatibility. OK the
simplest form for the non C= machines
of today to see our work is to have
them run the actual programme. To this
end there is a series called VICE. A
programme for the windows, Mac and the
Linux platforms of today. In fact I
have an older version on my some times
used Linux system. I mention that for
those who are afraid the work that
they do in or on the C= will be lost
on the unwashed masses of lemmings.
Biased isnt I. In this way your work
can be seen on the other machines. Ill
add here that there is a thing called
a .D64, also a .D71 and a.D81. These
are image files that are used for the
emulator. Allowing the programme to be
seen and used on the non C= system.
I'll talk more on that later.

 Proving the point that your work can
be seen on the other platforms. Now
lets go to our system and the writing
tools. There are many that came out. A
series called Word Writer 1-6 comes to
my mind. I have Used 3,4,5,6 in that
series. I have a bias to the company.
Sent them money, didn't get the
product or the money back. This one
did graphics and fonts and styles and
none of it showed on the screen. Many
of my work where I raised the point
size and centred the title. Well it
ended with a horrible wrap around that
made me redo the page. After I had
printed it, since the print out was
the only way to see what it looked
like. TWS, or The Write Stuff from
Busy Bee. This one is in the top two.
Depends on who you ask what is the #1
WP and DTP for the C= system. Messed
with it a it. There is a sub programme
that can be loaded that will speak out
on the speaker the key you have
pressed. A past president of the
Meeting Through The Mail group, her
husband was losing his sight and used
that sub programme for his letters.
Has a dictionary and in some form the
ability to add graphics from the Fun
Graphics Machine programme. Honestly I
haven't worked with it in any form to
give a good reply. Only what I have
heard from users.

 I'm a GEOS fan. Graphical
Environmental Operating system. Came
out around 1983ce. Long history that
you don't need to read here. Powerful
system and it does what I want from it
for my needs. That is really what one
wants after all. OK GEOS is a love it
or hate it system. Early versions are
not as great as the new stuff. But
they are backwards compatible. OK this
is what I like about it and what I
hate. First the hate. I hate mice, and
this one uses a mouse, as well as the
joystick, tablets and light pens. I
prefer the light pen. What other
people hate is the need for at least
two drives. This is on the standard
non upgraded system. In fact the best
for that is two drives and a Ram
Expansion Unit<REU>. Can be a memory
hog at times.

 Well I like the fact that what I type
on the screen is what I see, the
WYSIWYG thing. In a text document I
can use up to 7 fonts. These can be of
different point sizes. Also I can
adjust them to be pretty much any
combination of outline, boldface,
italics, underline, subscript or super
script. All at the touch of a few
short cut keys. I see it on the screen
as I type it, great or editing and
spacing. Got the single and double
space thing. Margins, indentations,
tabs, left, right and centre
justification. Which can be adjusted
paragraph by paragraph if you desire.
OK I haven't found a WP on the linux
system that is as easy to use as Geos
and what is called GeoWrite. Now this
comes with a dictionary, and the
ability, like others to create your
own dictionary of words. Well when you
do a spell check. Yeah I know that I
should do that more often. All of the
other WP that I used, well they just
gave a list of the unknown words on
the left side of the screen. In Geos,
you have the unknown word. Listed in a
little box. Under that you have a part
of the paragraph in which it is
located. Where the word is in reverse
video. Dictionary words are on the
right hand side of the screen. A click
on the icon and you search for a
spelling close to what you have done.
Don't find it try the first three
letters from the set at the top.
Scroll down the list and see if it is
there. If its not then you can try
your own personal dictionary. Anyway
you find the correct spelling and you
click upon it. Now you can change that
one word, or all of them that are
spelled in the same way. So then what
if you are spelling in English and not
American. Say you spell the word
"tyre" and not "tire". What can you
do? Just simply click on the ADD and
you go to your dictionary. where you
can add the word and if you like the
different endings for the word. Such
as the 'ing, or 'ed or many others.
What I love the most about this spell
checker is that you can see the word,
in the context of your usage. I write
stories for my local group. Where I
write in accents and slurred speech.
Need to see if what I write is an
accent for the character, or just a
smeg up on my part. Oh yeah I faintly
remember that your personal dictionary
can hold about 80,000 words. Or my
mind is going again.

 GeoPaint comes in the Geos box as
well .This is a drawing programme and
yeah it has colour. I'm a cruddy
artist in any format or media. Making
my comments invalid on the art part.
Suffice to state that you have
circles, boxes, filled and empty. Line
drawing, free hand drawing, different
brushes, more and the ability to
install GeoWrite text. You can use
another tool in the Geos set called a
photo album. Well that is what you
create with the tool. Anyway you can
take a copy of your art work and save
to the photo album. Late  you can
ruse the art in another GeoPaint
document or use it in your GeoWrite
documents. "some restrictions apply,
but people made ways around that part.
Earlier I spoke about backwards
compatibility. I Said that Geos had
versions and was backwards compatible.
Lets go into this for a moment.
Earlier GeoWrite documents are not the
same as the later version. Such as the
Geos v1.2 isnt the same as Geos v2.1.
In regards to the GeoWrite part. Well
v2.1 of Geowrite will convert the
older text to the current format for
you. OK before I wanted to say it in
the additives part. There is a tool
called wrong is write 8.1 that will
convert to older formats. That photo
to album could hold more in the older
versions. Meaning that in the newer
one you can't use the older photo
albums. Well there is a tool about,
that will convert by breaking up the
older photo album into several newer
ones. Meaning that you don't lose your
work.

 OK the packages comes with the
GeoWrite and GeoPaint, photo tool,
dictionary, spell checking programme
several fonts, a few drivers for the
printer you may be using, basic input
device choices and more. At the time
of writing it is available for around
$25usd with manual from cmdrkey.com.
At the same place is a free DL version
in .D64 disks and in parts with
instructions for use in a step by step
manner. Set for those that are using
emulators. But the .D64 version will
work on a real C=. I know as that is
the version I use in the shop. However
it is listed as being a bit crippled
in that it is not supposed to work
with the additive disk programmes.
More on that next paragraph.

 I'm spending a lot of time on Geos.I
use it a lot myself, as one reason.
the other is that there is still a
load of stuff out there for Geos.I'll
get to that in a moment. I know of
three Geos additive sets that one
could pick up. GeoCalc, a spreadsheet
thinggy, GeoFile, sort of a data base
to my understanding. I own both of
those and have never had a need for
their use in my work. OK honestly I
dont know what they do because I dont
know a thing about using them. Last
one is GeoPublish. Not going into a
load of depth on this one. I use it
regularly, have a great tutorial for
its use, as well as the manual. No I
am not explaining it in depth because
there is way too much to explain. I
make the shop signs with it for the
"A" frame street sign, and interior
signs. Make the newsletter. Laying out
the columns, doing the header and
footer parts. Inserting  photo album
images, and flowing the text around
them. I've also used it to make
Business cards for the shop, BBS and
users group. Even made the membership
cards with the GeoPublish. You can
draw like in GeoPaint, oh there is a
way to convert GeoPaint and
GeoPublish. But that is another tool.
Suffice to say that it is very
powerful. Only that it works in
40column mode. Oh did I forget to say
that Geos comes in the option of the
64 version and the 128 80 column
version? <innocent look>Yeah I use
primarily the 80 column version. Right
there was in my collection a boxed set
that was specifically designed for
Geos to make newsletters. I barely
started it, and found GeoPublish.
Although it was for an older version
of Geos and replaced by GeoPublish.
Had a lot of nice things. Sadly it was
lost, strayed or stolen from my
collection.

 OK last paragraph on Geos. By the use
of the Geos programmers book, and
other things I am unaware of, people
made a mess of things for Geos. Input
drivers for other types of input
items. Such as other light pens, and a
different Koala tablet. I had over 60
printer drivers on my BBS for Geos.
They made games and made <we interrupt
this drivel listing for time and space
considerations>. OK I get the picture,
there is way too much to list. I will
say one thing for a tool that you can
find for Geos. There are a few
versions of a font creator. Right you
can make your own specific fonts. I at
one time had close to 300 of them on
the BBS. Now then, there are new
things for Geos. Wheels drastically
improves Geos and makes it easier to
use. That runs about $25 usd at the
time of writing at cmdrkey.com. Want
to turn your Geos system into a fax
machine? That is a can do. Want to
enter the Internet and www with your
C=? Well if you don't have a shell
account to access needing that PPP
alphabet soup stuff. Then you need
"The Wave". Oh forgot to say that this
is the way I go online, most of the
time. And yeah I use the system to
also print in postscript. So ending at
this point on the topic of Geos. I
confess to thinking it to be the best
WP and DTP for the C=. Now to
recollect all the stuff that I once
had on the Hard Drive.

 Some other things that you can do
with the C=. Handy Scanner, came out n
the early 90s I seem to recall. This
is a device that lets you scan an
image into the C=. A simple Black&
White digital hand scanner is used. An
art form not a science. As my
experience has proven. These image
scan can be converted to other
formats. I generally convert to
GeoPaint. Scanner company came out
with a few additives. I only have one
of them and not used it yet. Supposed
to help in capturing full pages in
multiple scan and aligning them up.
But the documents that I have are not
full and all in German. Eventually I
will figure it out, I am a little
optimistic I know.

 I know of and have a basic form, of
video digitalizer. No not even going
to try to spell that one right. One is
called Computer Eyes. The other is
VideoByte II. Both are designed to
take a image capture from a video
source. Computer Eyes lists them as
follows, VCR tape <VHS or Betamax >,
video camera, laser disk. That last
one should give you an idea of when we
could do video capture work. But for
the record the manual is copyrighted
1984ce. Hows that for a shock? This
one has additive disks to save the
captured image as a News Room, Print
Shop, PrintMaster and other formats.
My copies of the disks where damaged
before I got them. However I have a
tool that lets me capture the image
directly in Geos as a GeoPaint image.
Computer Eyes as controls for setting
the image capture. While VideoByte II
does, they are inset and not really
recommended for user adjustment. Now
this one has some advantages over
Computer Eyes. Mainly the ability to
add some colour right off the bat and
editing on screen. The other has the
nice fact that the image you capture
is saved as a 40 block Koala image.
Which with certain tools can be
converted to other art programme
forms. Where you can use the different
features for your editing.

 Another thing that we have been doing
for over 20 years is digital voice and
voice recognition. S.A.M. is a
programme that makes the C=talk. I
have it and a poor copy of the
documentation. Apparently you can
alter the voice to say words. Of
course you have to write the lines in
a more phonetic style. I found that
English spellings over American are a
help. With this one you can add speech
to your programmes. But if programming
isnt your desire. This one will read a
text file. A version of this that I
found on a disk is called
"MuskogeeSpeaks". No programming lines
are needed. Bugger reads any SEQ text
file. Then the application would say
the words out loud.

 Magic mouth and a couple others came
to me that I passed along to others.
One of these I had working a bit. A
cart with a little mike on it. You
could store your words. Alter them, or
type in words. I had it sounding like
a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica.
Almost had it sounding like an
oriental girl. That one also was keyed
to work with those Infocom text games.
Where after a little adjustment. All
you had to do was say the word and it
would do the action. Others existed
but I haven't seen them.

 Best on the market in my opinion is
the Covox Voice Master. I have seen
three versions of this one. Most
people scored the cheaper one called
the Voice Master jr. Mine is the full
blown one. Here I can record my own
voice. Must do a little programming to
make it play back. As well as alter
the time and the pitch. Thankfully the
documents are a real help. There is a
way to have it recognise your specific
voice. Haven't played with that or
with the music part. Here you humm a
tune and it will record it. Then you
can play with the tune perfecting it
for playback as a song.

 Because the C=64 uses the same video
theme signal of a TV. Did you know
that you can video tape your game play
etc? Can't say if you can do it on a
DVD. Don't have a DVD burner. Anyway
there are many, and I only have a
couple of them, programmes to actually
make personalised screens for your
video tapes. One of them will even do
animation. Basically you create it and
save the thing to disk. Then put the
tape in, set to record and then just
run that file and record it to the
tape. Did that for me mum a few times.
Since you can record on the tape. Well
someone came up with a programme
called "Moviemaker". Got a copy messed
with it a bit only. In short you work
out through the tools in the programme
to your movie. Save the separate files
to the disk(s). Then record them file
by file onto the tape as you would do
above. Never really sat down and
created the images for it, well there
is just so much time and way too many
things for the C= to learn in my
lifetime. <BG>

 A thing came out and became very
popular for a time. This thing was
then modified for other activities.
These are called either screen or note
writers. Later they were modified to
be more of an entry intro screen to
programmes people made. We will stick
with the first part. Some of these
programmes are simple and others are
mega complex. The short end is that
you write a letter to someone. Or a
series of them These are saved to
disk. The guy you send them to, just
pops the disk in his drive. Loads them
up and reads what you have written. A
disk letter thing. OK now add music
selections, font selections, different
screen dissolves as it moves from
"page" to "page". Couple that with
colours, flashings, animations, gfx
symbols and more. Well you can see how
this moved along. I sent letters this
way to my mother. Now I have a guy
that isn't wired to the internet, who
exchanges them with me.

 Did you know that there is a free
programme that will let you look at
either Black & White or colour jpeg
son a Commodore? Right a picture
format that was invented almost 2
decades after the computer. Couple of
guys made it and passed it out to the
C= world. We also have gif viewers.
GoDot out of Germany is now a free
Down Load and at this time still
actively supported by the author. Does
a mess of things that I don't
understand. Perhaps you recognise the
term "image processor"? Well I have
seen what it will do in that part but
Not how to do it. All I have done is,
well convert art files from one C= art
format to another. Along with
converting them to different Amiga,
Mac and DOS formats. OK and converting
the other platform formats to
something I can see. Not real great
with it I admit.

 So short on space that the
programming part must be in the next
part. Jamming this fast at you. We
have carts that will let you do screen
captures of what is on the screen at
the moment you press the button.
Letting you save it as different art
forms. Where you can play with them
later. I cheat and use this to see
ways of colouring and 3D stuff. We
have a cart that will play the music
in stereo for you. A tool that will
write the music in 6 voice stereo. We
have a lot of applications that will
produce many things on the commodoe.
I've spent all this time and disk
space going over less than a
fingernail of what there is for the
C=. You can see now there is more than
most people ever thought. You can get
these programmes or many of them old
and new ones off the web. They will be
in a .D64format mostly. How to bring
them to the C= from another platform
is not the scope of this series.
However it is possible with different
tools.
=====================================

TND Creating music with DMC
http://www.redesign.sk/tnd64/
 music_scene.html

Created by Richard Bayliss
with Special thanks to Rio/Rattenrudel

PART 2

Commodore Free would like to thank
Richard Bayliss for his permission to
reprint this guide.

Many users would like to make more of
their machines, we all have various
talents and if you felt inspired to
create music on a Commodore 64 where
would you begin, in this guide you are
lead through the various options, for
creating music with versions of DMC
music editor

The Guide has been broken down in
sections the disk image that
accompanies this series is available
from here
www.redesign.sk/tnd64/
 DMC%20Music%20Editors%5BTND%5D.zip

the disk contains
DMC V2.1 (GRAFFITY), DMC V4.0
(GRAFFITY) + Docs (By Richard), DMC
V5.0, DMC V5.0+ (CREAMD/C64.SK), DMC
V5 PACKER, DMC V5.0 SCANNER and DMC
V7.0 (GRAFFITY+UNREAL)


2.2.2  Wavetable
2.2.3  Pulse / PWM

2.2.2Wavetable
By pushing SHIFT_R + RETURN, you will
switch in the Wavetable below (##, WV,
FX). The first column shows the
wavetable position. The second column
have to be filled up with Waveforms or
Commands (like Reset, Loop etc.).
Accessory parameters will be written
in the last column.


The small examples above shows some
possibilities, how you can fill up
your wavetable. You can try to add
these values simple by writing the
numbers in it at shown position, and
you can test it by pushing SPACE key.

Every 8 bit parameter in the wavetable
contains informations about the
different Waveform-,

Ringmodulation-, Sync-, KEY-Bit for
every channel:
The Low Nibble (4 bits right)
represent following parameter:

Bit 0: Key-Bit (or TEST-Bit -
activating ADSR of OSC)
Bit 1: Sync-Bit (syncronizing
fundamental frequency of 2 OSCs
(Channels))
Bit 2: Ring-Bit (activating
Ringmodulation only for Triangle-OSC
using in combination of 2 OSCs)
Bit 3: GATE-Bit (activating GATE or
not)

The High Nibble (4 bits left)
represent the waveform type:

Bit 4: Triangle-Bit (activating ADSR
for OSC)
Bit 5: Saw-Bit (activating ADSR for
OSC)
Bit 6: Pulse-Bit (activating ADSR for
OSC)
Bit 7: Noise-Bit (activating ADSR for
OSC)

So following Waveforms are possible:

You are able to combine Triangle, Saw
and Pulse waveforms:

3x: Triangle + Saw
5x: Triangle + Pulse
6x: Saw + Pulse
7x: Triangle + Saw + Pulse

Notice that the last combinations
sounds nasaly (thinner) to a 6581 SID.

While testing the examples above you
will notice that Pulse sounds (41 -
which activates Bit 0 and Bit 6) will
not be heard (if you press SPACE),
that's why we havn't defined a
Pulsewidth yet. See chapter below.

The only Waveform which can't combined
is Noise, because higher values than
8F will setup you jump position: 9x
(Ax,Bx ...) and x represents the count
of the steps back. Ax will loop x + 16
steps, Bx will loop x + 2*16 steps
further and so on, so that you are
able to jump in a huge range using
other wavetable startpoints too.

Wavetable start points can be set for
an instrument by writing a value under
## on the right side on screen (You
have to leave the wavetable first).

Notice if there is empty space in
wavetable, empty instrument in front
of another will not stored if you save
a song! Remember this and don't
confuse a hexadezimal parameter with a
decimal number.

For our first instrument we will set
the start point at ## 00 and create a
Pulse Loop:

2.2.3Pulse / PWM
Not hearing a sound doesn't mean there
isn't any playing. You will see, that
we have only to adjust the Pulsewidth
of that pulse sound, because a pulse
wave at '0' will not change amplitude.
So first we setup P parameter. P will
setup the pulsewidth between 0..F.
Value 0 means low, 8 is middle and F
is highest. First we start with P = 8.
Then we change to P = 1. Do you hear
the difference? Play around a bit with
this values.

You can add numbers for the six SPEEDS
parameter "000000" (1..F). The SPEEDS
parameter will pass through in a
chronical order. You should always
start with the first. That first speed
value will run to the right border
(max pulsewidth) in a defined speed:

A next value will run in the other
direction back until the left border
(min pulsewidth) is reached. Further
values will repeat the both directions
again. If a value is defined as 0, it
will stop on the last border. Higher
speed values gives the Pulse tone more
fat sound and more vibration, because
the speedtable runs faster.

The L parameter in front of P will
define the borders of min and max
pulsewidth for modulation. Higher
values will cut down the area to
swing. Higher values will produce a
nice vibro effect. If L = 7 it will
not change the pulsewidth anymore.

So let try this little example for
comprehension:
If a pulsewidth will setup behind
these borders and runs away from them,
the pulsewidth will repeat one
direction 16 times. I'm not sure if it
is the intention. Same happends, if L
is higher than 8. It will change to
another effect.

The second L parameter behind this
6-STEP-SPEED represents the speed fine
tuning of a PWM. A entered value will
start the PWM in very small speed
changes (it isn't necessary to setup
6-STEP-SPEED values before). It will
run the PWM in both directions
automatically. The fine-speed can be
controlled between values of 0..F. The
fine-speed value will be added up to
the values of 6-STEP-SPEED PWM.

For the whole understanding, please
take a look at the following graph:

CONTINUED NEXT MONTH

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

Extracting Text from Commodore
applications using the Winvice Emulator

One of the many things I found
frustrating was downloading a
Commodore application from the
internet and finding the text or
documentation was embedded into the
application various people tried to
help me extract the text using fairly
low level techniques. (read this as
rocket science)

I thought there must be an easy method
and there was : Vice is the Versatile
Commodore emulator, emulating a number
of Commodore machines, the software
runs under various operating systems
for example Microsoft Windows and
Linux

You can download a version from the
website free here is the link
http://www.viceteam.org/

Although I do promote using a real
machine sometimes using real machines
with emulator help makes things a
little easy, assuming you have a
format to run the emulator on.

I have only tested the following
feature with Windows version but I
have to assume that all versions
should function in the same way. As I
don't possess a Linux system I am
unable to test this part, maybe a
reader could help out and verify the
function is the same for linux, mac or
Amiga versions of the application.

So to test I ran Vice here is the
Commodore 64 output

Ok so we have seen this before, but
within vice is a Machine code monitor
to invoke the monitor select Alt+M or
select file then from the submenu
select Monitor

You are now in the machine code
monitor, you dont need to know
anything about machine code to extract
the text or hexadecimal notation from
an application all you need to
remember is to have the application
running start the machine code monitor
then issue the command SC and hit the
RETURN key its as painless as that

The text can be copied to the
clipboard and then pasted into NOTEPAD
or directly into a running application

Below is an example of the standard
Commodre 64 after initialisation and I
ran the Machine code monitor then SC
and copied the text into this this
document
 
   **** commodore 64 basic v2 ****

 64k ram system  38911 basic bytes
free

ready.

Here is a noter application running
with some text  about DMC music
editor, there is no fuction to have a
hard copy of the text and that would
be useful while using the application
so: start the machine code monitor
In the screen type SC and press return
you may need to expand the monitor
screen to fit all the text on


Here is the text Copied from the
Monitor and instered into this
magazine 

on this disk you should find a small
collection of the.... ..... .......
editors. you'll notice that there are
no
instructions/commands provided in the
original DMC V.... don't worry,
because
i have done this note for a purpose.
to give you the keys to help you move
on
to music making.

UNLIKEDMCVRNQ, ... .... is a better
music editor, as your sounds kind of
sound much better and versatile,
compared to DMCVRNQ. ... .... looks
similar to dmc v2.1, but the colours
scheme is different and v4 has more
features, such as .SWITCH. and ......

we hope you will find this note file
very useful and have happy composing
using DMC.

NOTER MUSIC BY BRIZZ.ASCRAEUS
Of course this assumes the programmer
has used standard text and just edited
the fonts rather than obscure
characters or sprites for text, but its
worth a try and far easier to
read a printed document rather than on
screen especially when no print option
in the application is given to the
user. 

Also if the text on screen is flashing
it makes for very difficult reading,
when trying to learn how to use an
application 

KNOW BETTER

OK so its not always successful in the
text extraction

If you have a better way of extracting
text from an application then why not
share it with other readers,

Of course machine code programmers may
be falling about laughing at using
this method or people struggling to
read test in an application, yes I am
aware of other methods but they
involve hunting memory for specific
text or locations and isnt something a
new or limited knowledge user would
want to attempt

The method would need to be easy to
perform from a beginners point of view
and the extraction would need to be
saved somehow there may be a method to
easily do this on a Commodore machine
without external help but as we arent
all Assembler coders. It needs to be
easy.

Most of these applications contained
text files that had been crunched, so
even with low levels of knowledge you
would need to uncrunch the file in
memory somehow and then display or
print the information out for the use
=====================================

C64TCP Review

Well my unit finally arrived, and to
be honest I didnt have to wait very
long from placing the order till the
unit popped through my letterbox. In
fact the total time was just a few
days after payment notification. I was
even offered a refund as Ahmet Zeki
Eymou  didnt know if he would be able
to continue production of the Hardware
and software or even have the time to
provide full support.

Size matters
The unit is quite small, around the
size of a small deck of playing cards
or if you are a smoker a standard pack
of 20 cigarettes. The unit needs a 9
volt power supply or adaptor (this has
to be purchased separately and will be
needed to sourced from you country)
the adaptor I purchased is a multi
adaptor from a well known UK
electrical supplier,  Later I found a
small adaptor with the correct
connector and power output to run the
device.

Its important to set the correct
polarity and my adaptor being multi
purpose permits the user not only to
set the voltage but also the polarity
of the connections with the pin in the
middle being + and the outer edge
being

INSTALLATION
Installation is easy double click on
the set-up and click next

the install will walk you through the
whole process with ease once installed
click close I noticed no icon was
installed for C64TCP and I had to
create my own shortcut, remember where
the files were installed!

C:\Program Files\C64TPC\bin

By default you need to drag the icon
c64tcp.exe to your desktop, I also
noticed I didnt have full access to
the bin folder where all the d64
images were installed I only had read,
If you log on as an administrator you
do have full access so you will need
to set this manually if you use a
lesser account for normal everyday use
(you should do as good practice) In
the start menu is a CTK+ folder item
clicking in there revealed an
application to change the look and
feel; you can play with this yourself
as it alters the style of the program
but doesnt seem to allow anything other
than setting defaults ok main program
then

USAGE
Connect the serial cable to the pc and
the device to the c64 and power on you
should see the device has 2 amber
lights showing no connection
We need to load a disk image into our
virtual disk

click on the serial icon it should
read connect to selected device ensure
your coms port is selected default is
com 1 on the pc this should be
labelled up com1 or com2 most modern
pcs will just have a com1 or only usb
so you need a usb to seral port
adaptor although I dont think this has
been tested!

On the Name select a d64 you want to
load Then click on the connection
button

you notice the green light goes on and
the device plugged into the c64
changes the amber lights go out and
the green light comes on the device is
ready and connected. you also see that
the preview displays what is in the
d64 file on the pc preview window
now mount the disk by clicking on the
disk button

notice the display has changed again
the target now shows the d64 image
file name

ok we are ready for the c64 side lets
look at a directory
on the c64 type load $,8 then press
return
wow whats happened the c64 output is
wrong this realy threw me for a while
lets see if I can help aout here a
little

0 "                              00 2A"
0 " BLOK   DOSYA ADI              TIP "
0 "  - - - -    - - - - - - -  - - - -"
0 " 139   I PLAY 3D S./(C)        PRG "
0    65  3D SOCCER INTRO!  PRG
460  BLOK BROS.

Ok its not what I am used to seeing on
the commodore 64 its also nothing like
the preview but the BLOK is obviously
the block size  DOSYA ADI must be
program description TIP must be the
file type BLOK BROS Must be bytes free
in the d64 image


You know if you dont mount the disk as
you get something like
0 SECILI HEDEF ICIN LISTELEME GERCEKLE
STIRILMEMISTIR.

When you display the directory (no
idea what is means probably no disk
image has been mounted)

So to the load the first file in this
example I need to type Load I PLAY 3D
S./(C),8 and press return

notice the virtual driver has changed
and shows a green on and a red loading
light, the c64 hardware shows 1 amber
light and this denotes the c64 is
loading from disk this took around 2
mins to load notice on the pc you see
a real-time progress bar
the C64 comes back with a READY prompt
you can now run the application and it
plays perfectly!
The device doesnt support turbo loads
so you need to ensure you dont have
disk images with turbo load enabled
also it doesnt seem to be fully IDE 64
compatible if you load a disk with the
ide plugged in on device 8 it will
fail after a few seconds I have loaded
disks in other virtual drives 9/10/11
fine but 8 fails so you have been
warded.

Its a very neat piece of hardware
about the size of a box of playing
cards or cigarettes and can be
supplied with serial port lead for pc
so I can complain about the price
Clicking on the file menu

permits the creation of d64 images I
have created some BASIC applications
and they save and loaded fine so
presume other applications will
behaved as well because they load
fine, on the device is a reset switch
should the application hang on the pc
or some other misfortune become on the
user flicking the switch will reset
the c64 end and even keep the disk
image loaded and mounted on the pc
side

Metal warrior is a multi load game and
that functioned without problems
obviously I dont have time to test
every application.
This is quite a nice touch

notice how you can drill down the
folders on your machine and the bar
changes at the top displaying them
here I am in the folder

C:\Documents and
Settings\Dell\Desktop\ultima gold
IV\u4gold\install\1541
I can easily move back one folder to
C:\Documents and
Settings\Dell\Desktop\ultima gold
IV\u4gold\install
By just clicking install or even back
to
C:\Documents and Settings\Dell\Desktop
By clicking desktop button I liked
this feature, although this disk image
didnt load because it uses a turbo
load

UPGRADES
Obviously I would hope the application
is further supported and turbo load
would be supported if there is any
further development but as a version 1
this is really promising if you have a
pc and want a really big disk drive to
play games then I would suggest his
device even without the support.

Further only d64 files are supported
and it would be nice to have other
formats even d81 support added
====================================

WE ARE FAMILY - The 2nd Coming

(commodore plus 4 DVD compilation)
(c) by Absence and Wilds 2008

COLOR/PAL/4:3/105
MINS/SUBTITLED/MULTIPLY AUDIO/DVD-R


You can download the new Commodore+4
DVD titled "WE ARE FAMILY - The 2nd
Coming". It contains 10 demos and 92
photos, including director's audio
commentary for demos. The commentary
is displayed as subtitles and voice
channels, the demos have English, some
have Hungarian/German/Italian
versions.

The approx. 2 hour long DVD contains
works from the following groups:

8 SHADES OF BLACK VARIOUS VARIOUS
NOTIZEN AUS DER PROVINZ TEK GERMANY
ADVENTURES IN MONO ABSENCE HUNGARY
ZENITH OF PUBERTY TEK GERMANY
OLDSCHOOL ASSASSINS HUNGARY
THALASSA FIRE ITALY
CRACKERS DEMO 4 VARIOUS VARIOUS
SHADE WILDS HUNGARY
MONOPSY 2 WILDS HUNGARY
THREEVE BAUKNECHT GERMANY

Bonus Material:

AWARD CEREMONY SCENECON
PHOTO GALLERY
WE ARE FAMILY PROMO YOU TUBE

The music for the main menu was
composed by CSABO / LOD

Free DVD
 http://plus4.emucamp.com/features/
  Commodore_Plus4_Demo_Collection_
   DVD_The_2nd_Coming

  Editor's NOTE: _ is a Left Arrow, but
   this Newsletter won't display it
    properly.

COMMODORE FREE
The dvd has been compressed with 7zip
free zip software the first thing you
need to do is to download 7 zip from:

 http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Having never used this before, I
thought this may be useful, the files
are available from Linux and Windows
so download the correct version for
your system then install the software

ok I am using the windows version so
these notes are for windows but I
presume are usable for both versions
Download the 5 individual parts from
the webpage then put them into the
same folder on your system run 7zip
and navigate to the folder within 7zip
where your downloaded files are

Right click on the first file and
select combine files, this will create
1 file from the 5 split files once
this has been down loaded you need to
decompress the file as this has been
zipped also, so select the large file
that has been created then select
extract to extract all the DVD content


Now use whatever cd copying software
you own to copy the folders don't copy
out the files copy the whole folders
of

AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS

to a DVD once finished you should be
ready to place the DVD into a player,
and sit back and watch the action.

There are some truly amazing demos on
this collection at the moment shades
seems to be my favourite, it features
digitized dancers jumping around to a
superb soundtrack all the dancing
sequences seem to be on time with the
music very nice piece of work, rather
than reviewing the disk I would
suggest you just download and create
your own version and be truly amazed

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

Commodore Free interview with Paul
 http://www.commodore-plus4.co.uk/
  index.htm

COMMODORE FREE.
Please introduce yourself to our reader

I am a 43 old who still lives in the
past - love the 80's. I am married to
a lovely lady & have a daughter who's
nearly 18, she is still single by the
way. I am a football fanatic who
follows a team since May 1981 who you
may not of heard of - Dagenham &
Redbridge, we are currently 4th of
bottom of Div 2 of the English league.
My daughter & I go to every home game &
travel away(when we can afford it)
following the Daggers.

Q. What is your fascination with
Commodore machines

My 1st computer was a C16 & I was
hooked on computing from that day. I
had to borrow the money to pay for it.
I started typing in the little
programs & then bought a games book
trying to enhance my basic skills. I
wrote 2 games in 1985 & 86. At the
time I just could'nt get enough of
this little machine. I was always
looking for games which appealed to me
in shops & markets etc. Due to a
lack of money I was forced to sell it
to my father in late 1986 & was not
re-united with Commodore until I got
my 1st Amiga in 1988. I had an Amstrad
6128 & a MSX in between.

Q. Can you tell our reader what
Machines you own?

Commodore & Non Commodore. At the
moment I have 5 fully working Plus 4'
and 2 fully working C16's. 3 Plus 4's
and the 2 C16's are complete in boxes.
I also have a non working C16 & non
working plus4's which will be up &
running later this year as these just
just need a CPU & other minor little
details to sort them out.

Q. You are writing a new C16 game can
you tell our reader about the game

I used to play Football Director II in
the 80's on my Amstrad & got hooked
on this. I used to come home from work
and start playing on a Friday night
and would still be playing at 10.00
o'clock the next morning with my wife
having fallen a sleep on the sofa. I
always thought I could do better than
this game & set about writing my
own. 1st on the Amstrad & then on
the Amiga. I was always making changes
to the game & improving things as my
brother would play test it for me.
Anyway then come along kick off,
championship manager etc & I found I
was playing games every waking hour
and my programs would get laid to
rest. Every now & again I would
start programming a new version
improving on the game & the gameplay
etc & so I never got one finished. I
also found to time to produce a
daughter in this time. Last year I had
a GP2X which was designed for
emulators so I thought a football
management game would fun to play on
this (plus 4 emulated) if it was
designed write so I set about writing
for this machine in mind. What I mean
is the game that I am writing for the
Plus 4 will play easily on this as I
am trying to make all game choices are
cursor & return key controlled on
the plus 4 with the joy pad & fire
button on the GP2X. Got to mention
also I have dabbled with other game
formats as well. I still have a copy
somewhere of knightlore which I
started to re-write & completed 70%
- 80% of it. It was good it had every
room & you could find the items &
enemies etc . I should have finished
this one but it was for the PC only
and I lost interest.

Q. How far through the football game
design are you

Its probably about 30% now although
the team data will have to be updated
before its finished as there would
have been promotions & relegations
in that time. I do try to do a little
bit every other day.

Q. Can our reader be of assistance in
the completion of the game

I am always open to suggestions &
have always thought its to hard to do
a game on your own. So if anyone has
any ideas please contact me through my
website.

Q. Do you plan to create further games
for the c16 & plus 4

I have nothing in mind at the moment
as I have started decorating & the
wife wants me to do the whole house,
Hmm. Although saying that it gives you
time to think so who knows.

Q. Does the football game work on the
C16 only or will the game run on the
Plus 4

The game will only work on the Plus 4
or a C16 with memory expansion. For
those with an un-expanded C16 you can
purchase memory upgrades from
www.CommodoreC16.com
There thats a bit of business their
way.

Q. There is an awful lot of confusion
about the C16 & plus 4 are they
compatible games wise

Most games will work on either
machine. Unless its stated Plus 4
only. There are only a few C16 games
that will not work on the Plus 4 due
to the fact of where specific graphic
data is stored in memory etc.

Q. What is the main difference between
the machines?

The C16 is a cut down Plus 4. It only
has a quarter of the total memory of
the Plus 4 which leads to 12k
available to the user where as the
plus 4 you get a whole 60K. Also the
Plus 4 has the extra rom packages,
Spreadsheet etc. The C16 has the
breadbin design like the C64 & Vic
20 which a lot of people prefer,
myself personally I love the Plus 4
design as its very stylish &
comfortable to use.

Q.
 http://www.commodore-plus4.co.uk/
  index.htm
You run the website for Commodore 16 &
plus 4 machines what do you hope to
accomplish from the website.

I just want people to have the
information about the machines & may
somehow be able to relate to it. I
know there is other sites out there
but as we know websites come & go so
the more information out there the
better. Also I just want to feel that
I have done my bit in trying to keep
the memory of this machine alive.

Q. The website also hosts a number of
games for the machines with screen
shots how many hours did this take to
create, were all the screen shots from
emulators.

Right 1st of to get this site up &
running I used the actual emulated
screen shots from the Plus 4 World
site which where supplied as far as I
know from a guy called Luca. I have
started to replace them with my own
shots but its very time consuming. I
informed him with what I had done. I
do try to give something back when I
can as I had a few cover scans which
they did not have so it's sort of
swaps. The site took me quite a while
to create as per normal I was doing
bits here & there.

Q. Is there a favoured Commodore 16 /
Plus 4 emulator

Personally I prefer Yape but others
like Vice so I think its just down to
the User preference.

Q. Do you think Emulation of older
machine is important

Emulation is very under-estimated &
very important. People who use an
emulator start thinking I used to play
this & I had that one etc & then a
few of them like me will try to
acquire the original machine which
keeps the vintage era going.

Q. What do you prefer emulation or
real hardware & why

I use the plus 4 emulator all the time
but you cannot beat using the real
hardware. I have converted my loft
into a small room & every other day
I go up there a get out one of my Plus
4's to play & test games. It just
gives me a right buzz sitting there
using one of these.

Q. Can our readers help with the
website maybe sending some missing
information? what information do you
need .

I would like people to contact me,
telling me about their time using
their commodore, if they still have
one, all the sort of information that
is nostalgic & maybe a small pic &
some brief information about
themselves. I would then add some new
pages on the site with there pics &
information on it, a sort of C16 Plus4
community.

Q. One unique feature about the c16 /
Plus 4 range is the TED can you
explain what TED is

The TED is the heart of the 264
series. It's responsible for video,
sound, DRAM refresh & cursor. The
difference between the numbers
(7360/8360) is that they were
manufactured with different
technologies. The 7360 is manufactured
with HMOS-1 (251535-01) & the 8360
is manufactured with HMOS-2
(251535-02). Most people will find an
8360 in their machine if they ever
open it up. From what I understand
there were 3 revisions of this chip.
The Ted chip is not very reliable,
although I have only come across a
couple of machines where the Chip has
failed. I seem to get more machines
that pass through my hands that have a
faulty main CPU(8501).

Q. Commodore 16 Commodore plus 4 is
there a name we can refer to these
machines as, Also didnt Commodore
release the 16/ plus 4 in Europe under
another name, do you know the reason
for the name change, & were they
essentially the same machines just re-
branded

The C16 release in parts of Europe was
also known as a C116. This had a
completely different look. It wasnt
very reliable & looked more like a
Sinclair. The Plus/4 was originally
named the Commodore 264 during
prototype stage, & extant units
bearing the 264 nameplate (some with
and some without the integrated
software) have been reported by
hardware collectors. An unreleased
Plus/4 family prototype, the Commodore
V364, included Voice Synthesis
hardware & software. In Denmark the
Plus/4 was used in a bundled product
from the then-national tele company
(now TDC A/S) to help hearing impaired
communicate over telephone lines

Q. Many readers use E-bay or similar
if our reader is looking out for a
Commodore machine what buying tips can
you give

Ah Ebay love or hate it. I source a
lot of my items from Ebay. It can be
hard as if you are a collector once
you get passed about a 100 games you
have to start buying bigger bundles
just to pick up a couple of software
titles you dont have. Some good tips
are as follows. When you do a search
always type in the following Commodore
C16 , Commodore 16 Commodore Plus &
do a search on each one. Also make
sure the search is in all categories
as people don't always list in the
right place. Also try replacing
Commodore with Commodore as this is
quite a common spelling mistake. And
last of all try a search doing a
search on people who live not to far
from you as you can save a lot of
money this way. I have picked up items
which are listed as Pickup only &
superb prices.

Q. Do you think in years to come the
machines will attract a premium price
like antiques fine art or paintings .

I would love to think so as that would
mean I am sitting on a possible gold
mine for the future. But there were
about 400'000 of these made so I doubt
they would make anyone rich but who
knows. The ZX80 now attracts a few
hindered pounds so another 25 years or
so & I what I have now my subsidise
my pension.

Q. Do you think Commodore were right
to release the C16 & plus 4 at the
time they did without the proper
software backing .

Everything about the C16 Plus 4
release was wrong. It wasnt just about
the software, there was various
hardware problems, lack of
compatibility, poor marketing & top
of that you had the Speccy & C64
going so strong. Still because of this
the Plus 4 & C16 are now more of a
collectors item than the Common C64's
etc.

Q. Do you have any final Comment to
our readers?

If you have an interest share it.
People love information & would be
lost with it. Don't throw things away.
One mans junk is another's treasure.
EBay it. You would be surprised what
people buy. And remember please send
me what information you have & would
also like to share with others.

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

Interview with Nightlord Commodore 64
programmer

COMMODORE FREE:  Please introduce
yourself to our readers

NIGHTLORD: My name is Bilgem Cakir &
I am more widely known as Nightlord/
Glance. I am a coder mostly and I
occasionally do graphics & music. I
also write for various publications
from time to time.

CF: Should we call you Nightlord?,
where did the handle come from?
 
NL: Yep you can call me Nightlord or
Bilgem whichever you like. The handle
comes from my teenage years where I
was trying to come up with a handle
that had to do with night & darkness
(since I mostly coded at nights) &
with a powerful title (possibly
because of low self esteem :) )

CF: You were a coder with Glance &
Civitas can you tell our reader about
these groups?

NL: Glance is a relatively new group
that released its debut demo called
Living in 2005.

 I think it is one of the few (few
meaning maybe 10) active groups in the
C64 demo scene that has a potential to
do some serious technical demos.
Unfortunately we have somewhat
disappointed ourselves & our friends &
in the scene by not releasing our 2nd
demo, but hopefully we will do that
soon enough. It is a group made of
sceners that had been active in other
groups before. My fellow group mates
are Arcane (gfx), Datura (gfx), Endo
(code), Hydrogen (gfx, msx) & Skate
(code). There is also a surprise
addition to our team recently but we
have decided to not announce it
officially until we release our demo
in which he takes part (ahhh the games
we play :) ). So I will not tell who
he is but I send my greetings to him
as well.

Civitas is a group that I used to be
active in during 2003 - 2005 (I
released three demos & a few diskmag
articles). Unfortunately in the recent
years I failed to keep in touch with
them. I do not know what they are
doing nowadays or their most recent
member status. But greetings to my
good friend Zeitgeist over there

CF: What is your first experience with
Commodore machines

NL: Hmm I know this part tends to be
boring in the interviews & I know you
have to ask it anyway :) So let me keep
it short by saying, I got my C64 back
in 89. The first game I played was
Commando. After about a week I started
coding BASIC.

CF: Are you still an active Coder,
what has been your most recent work?

NL: I would like to call my self an
active coder yes :) Even though in the
demo scene I do not consider someone
active unless they have released
something in the last 2 years & the
very fact that you are asking this
question makes it harder for me to
call myself active :) My most recent
"released" work is the Living demo by
Glance (2005). In the meantime I was
a part of the demo review diskmag
called "Nordic Scene Review" but that
is not the same thing as coding. My
most recent "close to being released"
work is the C=++ or cepp compiler
project. I hope to release it at the
CommVex 2008. Other than that there
are off course many unfinished
progects or ideas (and even a few
games) in my hard drives waiting to be
released. Just like most of the other
coders out there.

CF. What is your most technical
achievement with the C64?

NL: Hmm I think I really do not have
anything big enough to call a big
technical achievement, but I guess I
have three smaller technical
achievements that I feel good about.
One of them is the "moving light
source vector" part in Mist/Civitas
(2004). I have not seen that effect in
any other demo in C64 so I think it is
an unpopular world first :) (not that
it is too hard to do or anything). The
second one is the "doom" part in
Living/Glance (2005) a coder I respect
a lot (Oswald/Resource) called it "the
best doom effect" in a comment &
that is an achievement for me. The
third one is "3d dot torus" in
Living/Glance which happens to be the
world record in real time 3d dots
effects which another one of my
favourite coders (HCL/Booze Design)
said he jumped when he saw (Again a
big moment for me to read him saying
that).

I know these "achievements" sound good
when you read them in text but believe
me they are not that good. Each one of
these effects could be produced much
better/cleaner/faster.

I also have a managerial achievement
:) In 2005 I decided to go to Floppy
party in Sweden & had 10 days to
make a demo. I had a very very careful
planning & implementation & was able to
complete the demo single handedly just
about 2 hrs before the deadline :) It
turned out to be an OK demo too. Even
though it is not a huge success I never
ever matched the efficiency level I had
at that project in any other project.

CF. Do you code for any other
machines, Commodore or non commodore?

NL: Well, at work in past I coded for
a zillion different embedded cores for
different consumer products (mostly
digital TV receivers in UK). I also
coded for PC games professionally &
nowadays I code in the Windows empire
(I duck here from incoming rotten
tomatoes from Commodore fans :) )

CF. What exactly is C= ++ is this a
Commodore extension of the C++
programming language?
 
NL: Well C=++ (you can read it as
Commodore plus plus) is two things. A
language & a compiler for it. The
Language part is a carefully selected
subset of the C++ language with a few
minor Commodore specific extensions.
It is somewhat hard to explain the
language to people who do not know the
C++ language. In short, it is a
language that has the same syntax as
C++ but supports less features. I
tried to select the subset so that it
covers the most used aspects of the
language (like classes with
constructors, destructors, public &
private methods & attributes, &
new/delete) & left out the parts
that would be slow or memory
inefficient to implement on C-64 (like
templates & inheritence are left out).

The notes inside the parentheses in
the previous sentence are intended for
those who know at least a little about
object oriented languages (C++, java,
C#). The main goal of the language is
to enable programmers to write logic
intensive object oriented parts of
their code in C++ while using assembly
to optimize the most performance
critical parts. The language is
designed to be easily integrated with
assembly. You can call C++ code from
you assembly & call assembly
routines from your C++ code easily.

CF. How does C++ Differ from the C
programming language?

NL; C++ was originally designed to add
Object Orientation related features on
top of C language & was aiming to be
still pretty fast by being close to
hardware. It mostly managed to achieve
this aim & is the language of choice
in most of the PC software that is
required to be fast (like games for
example). Today it is mostly considered
to be a pretty low-level (meaning close
to hardware) language compared to the
.NET languages or Java. Unfortunately
it still is a pretty high-level
language for 6502 CPU. That's why I had
to cut some of its features while
defining C=++.

CF. Why was there a need for a C=
version of C++ language

NL: I ran into the need while trying
to make a strategy game for Commodore
about 3 years ago. For any serious
piece of software in C64 for many
years, almost only choice was the
assembly language. For most things
anything else will be too slow. But
even though assembler is suitable for
efficient graphic algorithms or cycle
exact raster code, it is not suitable
for code that has complex logic &
objects with complex dynamic
lifetimes. This happens for example in
a strategy game where you create many
buildings & units that live, do stuff
for sometime & die. It is hell to try
to manage that in assembly. These kinds
of stuff are more suitable for higher
level Object Oriented languages.

In recent years there have been
attempts at making higher level (but
not Object Oriented) languages. There
is the cc65 C compiler, & Slang
language for instance. I have not used
cc65 but it is used in some serious
projects so it must be good. I have
not used Slang either mostly because
it does not seem to have the OO
properties I required. Plus I had been
looking for an opportunity to try my
hands on making a compiler for some
time. When all these conditions came
together I decided to make my own OO
C++ compiler.

CF. Does the language run natively on
a C64 or does it run on other hardware
to produce Commodore Code?

NL It runs on Windows or Linux PCs.
Your source files are all on a PC &
you compile them with cepp (The C=++
compiler) that gives out C64 assembly
files (still on PC). Then you assemble
them with Acme cross-assembler by
Marco Baye. Then you get a c64 binary
.prg file which you can run on a real
C64. So this tool is designed to be
used in cross development scenarios.

u

Interview with Nightlord Commodore 64
programmer

 CONTINUED FROM PART 1

CF. Can C=++ make use of external
commodore hardware for example the SCPU
or CMD Ram link?

NL: Well the compiler generates 6502
code. I have no idea how RamLink
works. The resulting code will of
course run on a SCPU but won't be able
to use the extended SCPU commands.

CF. Would you consider extending the
language to support further hardware? 

NL: If you mean support for SCPU as in
the "compiled programs can use SCPU
features or its bigger address space",
it might be possible to do relatively
easily. Although I must say I do not
see a huge demand from the thousands
of SCPU developers out there.

 If you mean supporting other CPUs like
Z80 or 68000, it is not as easy. I do
not consider doing it.

 Finally if you mean supporting the
compiler itself to run on a Commodore
machine, than I can confidently answer
"no". Parsing C++ code and generating
binaries on Commodore is something I
will not try to do.

CF. is the C= ++ source code available
for download? if so where? if not,
will it be available?

NL: Yes it is under GNU GPL license.
It will be available in the official
Cepp site

www.cepp.nightnetwork.org

The site will open by the end of July
at CommVex 2008.

CF. Will the Code  be  open source and
therefore free to modify?

NL: Yes. The code will be released
Inline with GNU GPL license agreement.

CF. You have produced a Tetris clone
with C= ++ will this Tetris clone be
released as a standalone application?

NL: The Tetris clone (creatively named
Cepptris) is a proof of concept that
the compiler works. I will probably
put it somewhere in the web site as
well as CSDB but it should not be
considered a game really. It is an
example for other people to look at.
Especially an example of how C=++ code
and asm code are used together.

CF. Taking the Tetris clone you
created in C=++ how long did this take
to create in C=++ and how long would
the same version take using Assembler?

NL: Hmm it is hard to answer exactly
but I think it took about 5-6 hours to
write Cepptris including the C=++ and
assembler parts. Since it has no
graphics or sound it was a very short
project. Had I written it in assembler
I guess it would take somewhere in
12-14 hours for me. But keep in mind
these numbers and ratios apply to me.
Someone else might be more fluent in
assembler and less comfortable with
C=++ and actually take longer to write
with C=++. It also depends on the
unique types of problems in the
particular game. Tetris does not
really have some of the problems that
really inspired me to make the
compiler in the first place. A real
time strategy game has those problems
but is too big a project to choose as
a quick proof of concept project for
my compiler.

CF. You mentioned in a demo at
Mossycon that you would think C=++
would be used for the logic code in a
game and  assembler for the speed
intensive part so you would use C=++
to build the artificial intelligence
is this still how you see the language
being used?

NL: Yes the main areas I see for the
language usage are AI, logic and
dynamic memory management areas. It
might potentially be useful in various
utilities or non-game applications if
some UI widget libraries get
developed. I hope this will happen as
it is easy to write a widget library
or a graphic library and provide a C++
interface to it. In other words it is
easy to write some assembly code and
make it look like C++ classes to your
C=++ code.

So people could write a UI framework
that has forms and buttons and edit
boxes etc. and others could than
quickly code utilities or even
diskmags using those framework
libraries. So in a wonderful world
this could increase the reusability of
code in the Commodore world & improve
the efficiency & collaboration of
programmers. In the real world this
might be me hugging a tree. Another
area I can see the language being used
is some certain demo effects where
there are particle systems or the like

CF. What sort of programmer are you,
for example have you purely created
demos?

NL: In the Commodore world, I have
only released demos until now. So I am
a demo coder yes. I have unfinished
game projects in the queue too. I have
done a few graphics and music releases
as well. I guess I am OK as a musician
and showing some minimal promise as a
graphical artist as well because
people do not go and puke after being
exposed to my work.

CF. Do you have a favourite Demo or
application?
  
NL: I have many favourite demos: Tower
Power/Camelot, Soiled Legacy/Resource,
Krestology/Crest, Dawnfall/Oxyron,
Mathematica/Reflex, 100000 Light Years
from Earth/Fairlight, Boogie
Factor/Fairlight, Throckmorton
Device/Triad and Living/Glance are a
few that I recall right now.

CF. What Commodore Demo or
applications have you seen and thought
WOW how is this done?

NL: Again many... But I think the
loudest I shouted and jumped from my
seat ever was during the round vector
object part in the demo Tower
Power/Camelot back in 94. Another
recent one was during Artefects/Plush
in the landscape part.

CF. Do you feel its acceptable to
dissemble other code to learn how
techniques were used?

NL: In the C64 I think it is (I am not
sure but I think it might be illegal
for some PC programs to disassemble
them). For C64 it is quite a good
learning method. But how effective/
possible it is really depends on the
type of code you are looking at. For
instance many raster effects in demos
are easy to look & learn from since
they always use the same registers in
various ways. You can actually figure
out what is happening there pretty
easily. On the other hand it is not so
easy to learn from a math based effect
(like vectors or doom effects) since
they are heavily optimized by the use
of tables. So all you see is "ah here
the coder reads some value from this
table then adds it to another value
from another table", as long as you do
not know what calculations are turned
into tables you do not understand much
from that code. Off course it is a
skill that some are better at than
others. I am not very good at figuring
out other people's code.

Also from the ethics point of view it
never hurts to publicly announce it in
your own demo, if you have studied
someone else's code. It is one of
those small signs of respect you
occasionally exchange among coders. A
small nod if you will :)

CF. Why has the C64 survived for so
long?

NL: Because of us... All of us. Those
who still create software/hardware
for it, those who still use it daily
to take care of their stuff or for
fun, and those who write, read and
discuss about it. And I think for
every kind of person on the Commodore
scape the newer technologies have not
completely replaced the fun or
challenges we enjoy. For instance C64
coders still enjoy the cycle counting
challenge that you do not get to see
in new platforms. The users still
enjoy the personality & psychological
tie they have with the machines that
they never feel with the newer machines
etc.

CF. Do you think there is an area that
the C64 has not be utilised to its
fullest in, be it graphics, music,
coding etc.?

NL: Graphics & Music are fully open
ended. There can be a zillion more
music pieces made and there can still
come a piece (most likely form Drax or
Laxity :) )that will make you go
"Wow". Same with the graphics. I can
not really answer for coding. I have
been an active demo coder only in the
last few years & I do feel challenged
& close to the limits of this machines
power but it might very well be my own
incompetency. You should really ask
someone who has been breaking world
records for decades. Someone like
Crest/Crossbow. He might tell you
whether he feels there is less space
left to utilize compared to 15 years
ago. Whether he feels if this is a
moving target or not.

CF. Finally Doom on the C64, is it
feasible & would it be worth the
effort?

NL: Oh it is definitely feasible. At
least I know I can do it using my
already existing doom engine (well
doom engine means the graphics engine
here, not the game engine). I think it
is worth the effort too. In fact I
intend to do it sometime. But I must
add that I would do a doom style game
not the exact same "doom" as it would
not be so much fun to me. I would
rather design the levels the enemies
and the overall game scenario uniquely
instead of copying from Doom.

COMMODORE FREE
Pictures taken from Mossycon was
recorded by Robert and available for
purchase on 2 DVD-R in NTSC format,
The pictures in this review were
extracted from the video, you can
contact Robert at:

http://videocam.net.au/fcug/

===================================
Commodore Scene
Meeting report

Robert Bernardo was again making his
trips around the world visiting
computer shows & clubs in a variety
of locations after careful planning
and itinerary slots being available
Commodore Scene managed to get
together & accommodate a meeting
with Robert

Robert & Shaun Bebbington made their
way from Birmingham Alan Bairstow of
www.commodorescene.org.uk & I met them
at Preston railway station; the train
arrived on time, in reality a couple of
minutes late but this was more or less
on time. So Alan & I loaded bags into
both our cars & set off on a 30 minute
drive to my house.

Once at my house we all unloaded &
proceeded to the very un-posh &
rather cramped computer room little
more than a loft conversion but just
big enough for us to collectively
squeeze ourselves into

Robert told a shocked Alan about his
recent heart scare problem & how
even in hospital he was trying to
convert past commodore users who were
doctors & nurses into joining in
with a nearby Commodore club event.
Robert confirmed he had to take care
but was fit & well, Alan had not
heard the news, & stressed Robert
should take care, we suggested slowing
down & Alan said that men just carry
on not listening to our bodies.

I followed this up with my slipped &
bulging disks problem the lower 3
disks in my spine had slipped &
bulging pressing on nerves causing
severe pain I waited 2 years then went
to seek medical care, Alan laughed &
said its a man thing we expect the
pain to just go, & put off doctors,
I was on morphine for the pain but now
have recovered enough to use just
strong pain killers as & when
needed, in fact the whole meeting I
managed without taking any of them.

AMIGA STICKER

Robert gave us all a self adhesive
badge with Amiga logo on & proceeded
to show us about 10 DVDs with Scanned
magazines unfortunately the text was
all in German & none of us can read
German but the pictures of course were
international.


Behr-Bonz VIC-20
Robert said he had something rather
special in his bag & Shaun & I could
test it. Robert produced the Behr-Bonz
VIC-20 Multicart not just any version
but the PAL version, beta testers are
still needed as the games have only
been tested in an emulator & not on a
real machine Robert pointed out. Robert
therefore looked rather disappointed
when I started my 1st demo

I tried demonstrating the Behr-Bonz
VIC-20 Multicart 127 cartridge games
for the vic 20 all on 1 cartridge yes
Robert I already had one. Robert rather
deflated handed the device to Shaun
and suggested he try testing it on a
spare machine he had back in
Birmingham, Shaun agreed to test the
device when he had time.

The demo went rather badly although my
VIC did manage to boot to the menu, I
seemed to have a power problem & the
machine lost power & display so I was
unable to test further, Shaun lent me
another Vic to test out the device but
we were unable to find a power supply
for this VIC 20, so the demo was put
aside for another time, as we had other
items to look at.

1541 ULTIMATE

I produced a 1541 ultimate device but
said that my C64 wouldn't power up with
the device due to the amount of power
required, we did see the device load &
look inside some disk images, although
after initialising one of the freezer
functions the C64 refused to power up
due to the drain of the PSU, again this
device was put aside for further demo
when a suitable PSU was found for the
C64, Alan said he may be able to make a
flat C128 psu power my C64 & would
produce one for the next meeting

We all chatted about the various clubs
world wide & wondered why a U.K.
Commodore club hadn't been created,
going by our clubs recent get together
about 1 every 2 years we suggested that
we meet more often & form a proper
treasury, have a meeting place & try to
make the meetings on weekends rather
than midweek as 2 members were unable
to attend due to work commitments. Then
we reflected that it was no wonder the
U.K. didn't have a regular meeting as
the 5 of us couldnt even make the
commitment we all suggested this must
change & soon.  Shaun suggested some
ways of club fund raising & a meeting
place was also suggested.

C64TCP

Next for demo was c64tcp, Alan said he
had commitments he needed to attend
but promised he would contact us all
again & not wait 2 years, Alan was
also keen on a club & proper treasury,
at this point we said our goodbyes &
Alan left in his car.

C64tcp demo actually worked & I
showed the remaining members now me,
Shaun & Robert how the device
connected & loaded applications from
a PC (see full review in this issue
for more details of the device) Robert
was keen to video the device in action
& asked questions about its function, I
pointed out development had stopped,
but the device as is had potential even
if it wasnt a 1541 emulator & couldnt
handle turbo loading games.

DC2N

Next came the DC2N Robert had not seen
this device & so questioned why users
would still want to load TAP files in
real time one a Commodore machine, I
pointed out that it was in fact
real-time with no speedup of the tape
dumps & also said that most games
featured turbo loading also it helps
preserve games that would soon fail to
load from real tapes, also from a
nostalgic point of view I still use
tapes & am a great promoter of this
device that seems to work without
problems, is easy to use (although it
doesn't come supplied with Document-
ation, I will change this & produce a
guide to download from
www.commodorefree.com website when I
have time)

The DC2N as pointed out allows users
to copy commodore cassette games to a
digital format TAP files & play them
on the device as if they were real
cassettes, thus the user experiences
loading the Tap files in real time so
a cassette that took 20 mins to load
would take 20 mins to load. Shaun was
quick to point out that there would be
no tape errors on heads that needed re-
aligning or cleaning as the files were
in a digital format, it was agreed the
items was useful for preservation of
Commodore tapes & the designer had
tested the device on the PET & VIC.

We watched a few videos that Robert
had taken on his travels & an
interview with the 1541 Ultimate
creator Guidion, Shaun suggested the
device may be used as a SCpu
replacement as internally the device
ran at something like 16mhz the
interview with guideon also suggested
this may be possible. We saw a
prototype of the next version with an
Ethernet port & some other hardware
and software fixes that the designer
had implemented into the device.

I told Robert & Shaun I was still
looking for some sort of video titler
or presentation software to show text
on screen in a sort of cut down
PowerPoint style presentation we
googled for various items & in the
end it was suggested maybe a noter
style application could be used, Shaun
pointed out & downloaded a couple
that looked promising I said I would
test them & try them out, & maybe
video myself giving the presentation
to a shocked audience when they
realise the presentation is in fact
coming from an C64 & not a PC or Apple
MAC

Robert then asked about the Sound
buggy hardware device he saw in the
room & said he had never seen one of
these devices he asked about its
function, I promised to do a review
for Commodore Free magazine & upload
some of the demo music files as wavs
so we could all enjoy them, basically
the device is an FM sound module thats
controlled by the C64, Robert took out
his camera & made a video of the device
& box, but we didn't have time to load
the software & do any testing.

I asked about the state of GeoPublish
version 1.1 Robert said he didnt have
a copy it was pointed out by Shaun
that maybe Maurice didnt like its
release as there was no copy protection
on the update & thus anyone could use
the software without owning a legal
copy it seems the software may not see
the light of day, Robert said the
creator was putting a manual & proper
box together the last he heard from the
creator was over 2 years ago

We moved out into the garden as the
room became to hot for usage in the
British sunshine, we tried to contact
Maurice Randell on his home number but
just got the answer machine, Robert
suggested we phone Jeri Ellsworth but
again we just got through to an answer
machine.

Shaun did manage to contact Chris
Snowden of www.commodore16.com fame,
he was sorry he couldent attend the
meeting but was working & also had
commitments on the day. He asked if we
could try again for a weekend rather
than a midweek meeting, we all nodded
as Shaun spoke his words out loud as
we couldnt hear the phone.

All to soon Robert & Shaun had to
leave, I packed their belongings into
my car & took them back to the train
station, dropping them off. We all
confirmed that over 2 years is far to
long a time to wait to talk to each
other & we should do more to promote
Commodore machines, again a U.K. club
was mentioned, Shaun promised to keep
more in touch & even share some
programming knowledge. I watched them
walk into the station & disappear from
view, I then started the car ready for
my 30 minute drive back home reflecting
that although some of the demos didnt
work & we never had the time to look at
wheels on my setup, or even look how
the MMU unit could be removed from a
dead C128D (that was soldered on the
mother board) & inserted into a working
model, on the whole it was successful

Would we follow the promise of a U.k.
Group, only time & family commitments
would tell, arriving home I emailed all
involved thanking them & saying we need
to keep momentum & push the new U.K.
club into existence.
 

General shot of C128D setup. This was a
picture after the event I don't drink
coke so the cans were left by the
members, I need to point this out as a
certain person reading will question me
about the cans, its a sort of a
personal/private joke

Anyone else interested in a U.K.
Commodore club & meeting on a regular
basis? Why not drop me an email & tell
me where in the U.K. you are.

THE END ..

======
AMENDMENT PLEASE READ
Hi Nigel, I read in Commodore Free that
I suggested that the 1541 Ultimate Plus
would be a good SuperCPU replacement. I
never actually said this; what I
suggested was that with a battery
back-up function (which I think is
intended on a future revision), the
device could be a RAMLink replacement
at some point in the future. In
emulation, someone has already hacked
Wheels to recognise a 17xx Ram
Expansion Unit up to 8 megabytes, and
theoretically up to 16Mb. Okay, so this
hasn't been done in the real world as
far as I know, but the 1541U+ as far as
I can gather basically has the same
function as a 1750 REU (for instance),
but up to 16Mb. A RAMLink is 16Mb, so
all that is needed is either a power
source to keep the RAM in a solid
state, and some sort of DOS interface
to read the contents of the RAM (you'll
note that the RAMLink can do this
already as you can plug a 1750 REU or
clone into the RAMPort, which can be
either 'normal' access via JiffyDOS, or
'direct' access as it was intended to
be used, which is only possible because
the memory is kept constant as long as
it remains plugged into the RAMPort and
the RAMLink isn't unplugged). Even
without accessing the RAM like a drive,
you can 'skip RAMDisk formatting' on
Wheels, and have a RAM disk on your
desktop. This keeps the memory on even
after a soft reset, but obviously
switching the computer off will clear
it. So, keeping power to the 1541U+
even after switching off the computer
should also keep the memory intact
meaning that you can have all of your
GEOS apps in RAM for super-fast access.
The 1541U+ is going to be some kick-ass
device, that is for sure! As for a
SuperCPU clone... well, who knows what
the future will hold ;-) Sorry for the
rant! Regards, Shaun.

COMMODORE FREE = Shaun I am sorry I
have misquoted you please accept my
Apologies ok we are all human
====

END...............


