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

Issue 35, November 2009

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

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

Editorial

Hello.

This month I am going to start a new
challenge it will be called
"Commodore Scene FPS or FPPS (first
person shooter, First person
perspective shooter" the idea is to
create a game in the same style of a
first person shoot-em up with ammo
and guns health points and keys to
collect, as well as switches to open
up secret rooms. Rather than call
this "Doom" which puts a lot of
programmers off, I left it as open as
I could while still creating a FPS
(first person shootout) style of
environment.

I will as time and interest permits;
be setting up a website to show the
donations and interested parties,
both programmers looking to
collaborate and users willing to
purchase the items (I wont put up
names just the numbers) although I
will put things like

Programmer seeks collaborator for
sound
Artist seeks programmer
Etc

Or use the Commodore Computer club
forum to post messages
www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk

All email addresses and contact names
given to myself , will be hidden
until both parties are prepared to
talk; then I will send the relevant
emails to people, this way I feel is
the safest.  I will also create an
entry in the
http://www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk
website forum myself to generate
interest and start off the ideas.

I really must start changing the
dates on the magazine it seems odd
the magazine comes out at the end of
the month of November and is called
the November issue really I suppose
it should be the December issue or
should it? I suppose as long as the
next issue is a numerical increment
of the last issue so 34 becomes 35 I
don't suppose it really matters about
the month. Time is catching me up and
of course now with more studies to do
it's a never ending battle of time,
Computers, Family, revision and
making some money to pay the pills.

Commodore Free managed to catch up
with Gideon Zweijtzer the creator of
the 1541 ultimate (is this the best
piece of hardware ever) to ask about
the next version and his plans for
more follow ups, and yes dear reader
its all here in this issue.

Commodore Scene's  Allan has been
working hard and it seems has made a
breakthrough with his VGA project.
Allan has managed to find a way to
connect his Commodore to more
hardware for Visual feed back (erm
that's a monitor or screen for none
technical people) Allan as you may
remember paid large sums of his own
money; to try and get a device that
would allow him and other users to
connect Commodore computers to VGA
monitors, he now has various cables
he can make read more about it in
this very magazine.

Lord Ronin finds that Computers
really rant that Evil after all and
that some are indeed very friendly,
the commodore 64 for instance when
powered on gives the warmest greeting
of READY ! and if your Computers
ready then what's to stop you GOING
and doing some work?

In this months news TRSI Misery III
C64 DTV a demo featuring a very DOOM
like environment very colourful; but
sadly only for the DTV will it be
workable on a Commodore 64 (I doubt
it) the DTV has a faster processor
and more enhanced Graphics than the
basic Commodore 64 I am not that
technical but I believe the processor
is significantly faster and the
graphics can have a mode that
displays 256 colours on screen.

OPERATIONS
For the curious and not so bothered I
am still recovering from a 7 hour
operation on my back, this was to
relive pain in my legs the nerves
(sciatica). The nerves have been
trapped and squashed flat for over 6
years. That's 6 years of pain and
misery. I finally gave in to an
operation. However the surgeon wasn't
prepared for what had happened
though; one of my discs was
completely flattened and useless, so
what started as a routine 1 hour
operation became a 7 hour
complication. The disc was removed
and various bones had to be ground
away to allow the nerves space and
help them settle down (they were
inflamed and swollen after being
crushed for so long)  the first 2
weeks after the operation saw me
walking a few paces to a mile then 2
miles, it's a slow process but
gradually I am recovering, I don't
know yet if the operation was a
success because of all he swelling;
but I do have a nice 4" scar on my
back.  I would give anyone reading
this advice

* Always lift with the knees and a
  straight back
* Never turn your waist with a heavy
  load move with the feet
* Never lean over and object to pick
  something up
* Keep objects close to the body
* If its too heavy get a friend to
  help you
* Keep your back straight when sitting
* Never sit for more than 30 minutes
  without a break

Most of this advice is now too late
for me, I have been lifting heavy
items and twisting for the past 10
years carrying printers and servers
around my work. Now when the damage
is done do I receive a "handling and
lifting course" just to rub salt into
an open wound.

THE BIRDS
The strange thing is, I used to hate
the birds singing in the morning,
especially when it was at 4am waking
me up, now I look forward to hearing
them! While hospitalised I was
looking out the window and a nurse
came by my side, she said "isn't it
horrid raining and cold day" I said
well to me it looks wonderful! and I
wish I was outside. She looked at me
as if I was mad, but I was just glad
to be there able to look outside.
Maybe it's all the medication ??????.

I was quoted something in a forum
about bad backs; here it is and if
you know what it means (as I do) I
think you will welcome its content

"The only thing that stays the same
is the fact that everything is
changing"

For this month I will leave you with
that Quote, I fully knew what he
meant; if you do then you are one of
the luck ones. And I presume you too
look forward to the birds waking you
up everyday or the rain bashing down
on the roof keeping you awake.
Now its time for me to put on my
white Geek's coat and pencils
sharpened to a point and all the same
length, get my black, blue and red
pens and look forward to getting back
to work.

To the Spectrum readers still
emailing me about the sound
comparisons, yes OK I am sorry, but
this was a memory of my childhood, I
know the spectrum can replay digital
sounds and 8 voice music and do some
software synthesis. I fully thank you
for your comments; can we draw the
line now and move on.  Lets just say
that in a Commodore Magazine I
personally prefer the SID sound.
Thanks

Nigel
www.commodorefree.com

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

NEWS

Legacy Atari Style Joystick
http://www.legacyengineer.com/

Great news!   Legacy Engineering is
fully stocked for the Holiday Season
with hundreds of brand new, ready to
ship USB Atari-Styled joystick
controllers.    Also our special
edition Atari 800 series and
Commodore 64 series controllers -
these are limited editions and are
selling out quickly.

Do you have an older original Atari
CX-40 joystick and would like a
simple, no-solder solution to
upgrading it to USB, check out our
CX-40 Retrofit kit.

Just stop by the store front and
check out the great products
available:
http://www.legacyengineer.com/store
front

Regards,
Legacy Sales Team

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

Jim Brain JiffyDOS License

From: Jim Brain
Sent: 12 November 2009 04:25
Subject: JiffyDOS Forensics

Please feel free to repost on other
forums, I'm trying to catch as many
people as possible:
As many of you are probably aware, I
acquired a license to sell JiffyDOS
earlier this year and am now ramping
up sales.

To that end, I am trying to
reconstruct the exact product
offerings that CMD offered. This
means verifying images, and
determining what original ROM images
CMD supplied with each overlay.

Thus, if anyone can use a DOS ROM
reading utility (or EPROM reader) and
can send me a copy of the both halves
of the JDOS ROM, I'm still struggling
with the following systems.

1571: I have three versions here, but
cannot determine which is correct.
  The MD5s are:
41c6cc528e9515ffd0ed9b180f8467c0,
6b4d46b28b7414d5a82cea4972894600, and
d649fa6b0108c20ce213f5496d5980a5.
What is the version number on the ROM
sticker?)

1571D:  I have a 1571D JiffyDOS ROM
here, but it looks to be a 1571DCR
(the cost reduced version).  Notes
indicate a non-CR 1571D used a normal
1571 JD ROM overlay, but I'd like to
verify that.

MSD SD1/SD2:  I am trying to
determine the version of MSD code in
the lower half of the U5 JiffyDOS for
SD2.  The MD5 is
1a2efac3b96decf83fba27bc17c5a8a7.  I
checked against my SD2-2.3 version
here, but they are different.  Also,
is the SD1 JiffyDOS the same as SD2
version?

Indus GT: I do not have an original
JDOS for this, so I need a dump to
compare.

1541C:  Again, I do not own an
original JDOS for this machine.

I understand there is a Swedish
version of JiffyDOS for the C128 and
C128D (and possibly for the C64)
[Update:  I have been sent copies of
the Swedish JiffyDOS ROMs, but I'd
still be interested in what version
of KERNAL was included as the
"original" KERNAL for these units.]

German/Finnish JiffyDOS variants?

Any help folks can provide would be
much appreciated.   In fact, if you
have an original JDOS, no matter the
type and can dump it for me (both the
original and the JD portions), that'd
be great.  Anything you can tell me
about the setup - sticker legend
(version number, etc.), machine
variant (128, 128D, 128DCR, etc.),
video standard (PAL/NTSC), and
whether it had a switch on the ROM -
is good information to share.

To clarify, I know there are bootleg
archives available, but I can't
consider them authoritative.  In
addition, the archives would not tell
me what CMD placed in the non-JD half
of the EPROM on units with switches.
I would prefer to check against
genuine copies of the overlays if at
all possible.

Jim!
Home: http://www.jbrain.com

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

1541 mark II Progress Update
http://www.1541ultimate.net/

1541U-II Progress
Hello everyone!

It is about time to release some news
about the 1541U-II. I think some of
you must be really curious about the
extra features and possibilities that
the 1541U-II give, and about the
progress on production and firmware.
To start off with the 1541U-II
features, I can tell you that it
differs from the 'standard' 1541U
Plus/Ethernet that:

the board itself is about 30% smaller
than the 1541U;
it has a MicroSD connector, instead
of a full-size SD;
it has a real-time-clock function,
for correct file time and date;
it has a larger FPGA, which enables
the implementation of more features;
it has a USB Host port, which can be
used to connect USB-sticks;
it is targeted to have a suitable
case for the device.

Some of you have written in the
forums, that the MicroSD connector is
not much of an improvement. But the
rationale behind going to MicroSD is
mainly the available space on the
board is less, and that with the
addition of a USB-A port, the average
user will use the USB-stick rather
than the SD-card. So the MicroSD-card
does not need to be removed from the
cartridge very often. However,
because at the moment that I
announced the 1541U-II, the USB port
was not yet tested, I could not
reveal this feature as I did not want
to make promises that I can't keep.
The USB turns out to be quite a bit
of work to get it to work, but I can
now announce that I managed to
implement enough of a host-controller
function to be able to talk to USB
devices and send the most basic
commands to access a mass-storage
device. I am quite close to have
implemented the 'read-block' and
'write-block' functions, which is the
interface level that the file system
module uses. In other words, I expect
to be able to access the (FAT)
file-system on the USB stick quite
soon!

How will it work for the user? My
objective is to have one 'directory'
level above the current root of the
SD-card, where you can select which
partition you want to browse. There
the USB flash drive becomes visible,
as well as the MicroSD card, if
present.

Why has the Ethernet function
disappeared? The rationale behind
this, is also space. However, another
consideration is the shitty interface
of the CS8900A chip. This chip is
slow and creates quite a challenge to
get the timing right on the C64 slot.
It works now, but there are quite
some tricks to make it work, and it
will probably only work in 95% of the
cases. Because I want the 1541U to be
a quality product, I decided that it
would be better to emulate the
CS8900A chip in the future inside the
FPGA, and transfer the data over USB,
by means of an external
USB-to-Ethernet converter. This will
not only be cheaper, but also more
reliable. However, everyone knows
that implementation of these things
take time, so I am not offering this
functionality from the start.

Production status: All components are
on stock at the assembly company for
100 boards. Once the PCB is ready,
the assembly company will build the
boards for me. Hopefully, the case
will be done by the time that the
boards come, too. The design of the
case has been finalized, but to find
a company that can make a mould for
this, is quite another issue. I have
offers from different companies that
differ in price by a factor of 5! It
will be a huge investment for me, and
therefore I need time to select the
right company for making this special
case. Therefore, I don't expect the
cases before Christmas. :-(  For this
very reason, I have not yet opened
"payment season", because I do not
feel good when people pay and have to
wait long before I can ship. It gives
me a lot of stress.

Some time ago, I already had a
prototype made by a company that uses
a 3D printer, based on some kind of
ink-jet system. Below you can see the
result, including the new 1541U-II
board on the left. Note, that the
final case will *not* be transparent.
It will be either black or cream

I hope you will be enthusiastic about
the new developments. I would love to
hear about your thoughts and ideas,
but beware that I can't answer all
E-mails. At this moment, I only have
3 days every 2 weeks that I can use
to spend time on the 1541U project.

Regards,
Gideon
http://www.1541ultimate.net/content/in
dex.php

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

TRSI Misery III C64 DTV

A new demo for the DTV has been
released

watch it on You tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjAZtoe
U8Zo
or download it from
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?id
=83196

Interestingly about 1/2 way through
there is a DOOM style maze very
detailed and fast although not full
screen and it doesn't have any
monsters. However its also worth
listening to the music Very nice
although I think its an acquired
style, sadly I keep trying to sing
it, and if you listened to it you
would understand how difficult it is
to sing/hum/whistle

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

SEUCK Updated
http://www.seuckvault.co.uk/

Thanks to Mason of C64Heaven, we have
been able to track down some more
SEUCK titles. Mason is cataloguing
and preserving C64 games and in
particular cracked/trainers versions.
So these games come with trainers
allowing the player(s) to have
infinite lives or no collisions.
Visit the C64Heaven site for more
information, and see if you can help
him track down some of his missing
titles too. The address is:
http://www.c64heaven.com/

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

geoGlyph Released
http://www.huxter.org/geoglyph

Sean Huxter has released geoGlyph,
match-three-symbols game for GEOS (64
and 128) that runs as a Desk
Accessory in 40-column colour mode.
It is a feature-rich game, including
a timed and a No-Pressure game with a
number of options allowing you to
customize your play experience. It
will save games and high score on
quitting.

To download, go to
http://www.huxter.org/geoglyph

geoGlyph is free to distribute. The
.d64 disk image also contains other
games Sean wrote back in the late 80s
and early 90s including geoMimic,
HAZARD and geoComix.

geoGlyph is a GEOS Desk Accessory
(that runs in 40 column mode). It is
a game of pattern matching. The aim
is to form colour matches at least 3
long either horizontally or
vertically by swapping any two
adjacent Glyphs. The matched Glyphs
are removed, and gravity takes
effect, dropping Glyphs into the
spaces left open by the removed
match. After the drop, if new matches
are formed, the board cascades until
no new matches form. Then it's back
to you to find another match.

If no match is possible, (i.e.: no
Glyph swaps can produce a match) then
the game ends

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

Free SID chips with HardSID
http://www.hardsid.com/order.php

4 SID Chips for FREE!
If you always wanted a fully loaded
HardSID 4U Studio Edition with all
accessories, this is the best time to
get it:

HardSID 4U Studio Edition +
* 4 SID Chips for FREE (-60 EUR)
* Power Supply for FREE (-15 EUR)
* USB Cable for FREE (-10 EUR)
* Shipping for FREE (-15 EUR)
= 399 EUR (YOU SAVE 100 EUR!)

You can choose from these Class I.
SID configurations:
- One 6581 (the old SID) + One 6582 +
Two 8580s
or
- Four 6582s
or
- Four 8580s

The old SID (6581) is a must have for
listening the good old C64 tunes.
The 6582/8580 SIDs (the newer models)
are the best for studio usage.

* The special offer is only available
until the SID stock is exhausted!
It took years to collect the current
Class I. SID stock and it will be
sold out fast, so hurry up!

Choose your favourite SID
configuration and order your HardSID
4U Studio Edition now:

http://www.hardsid.com/order.php

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

XU1541 Available
http://www.commodore16.com/index.php/c
omponent/content/article/70-upgrades-a
-mods/335-xu1541.html

From today you now can purchase the
XU1541 adapter from the Commodore 16
shop.  The XU1541 was originally
developed by Till Harbaum and the
project was abandoned. But its now
still well alive, thanks to our
resident engineer Jurek.

This adapter is the modern version of
the parallel port X1541 cable but now
with USB capabilities. Allowing
modern PC's & laptops to use the
Commodore range of disk drives such
as the 1541 etc..It comes in two
packages both including world wide
postage, the first being with a USB
and serial cable at £34.00, and
second package without the cables at
£29.00.  Both come with a custom
built Opencbm and GUI.

So if you want to purchase one of
these amazing adapter's just head
over to our shop
http://www.commodore16.com/shop/c16_ha
rdware_1.html

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

German Scacom #14 Released
http://www.scacom-aktuell.de.vu/

Scacom #14  is released
A German Commodore PDF magazine the
following articles: News, Pattex
PowerKnete, Emulatoren für Nintendo
DS, Giana Sisters am DS, C65 - zweite
Chance, Pure CBM, Commodore Vienna
2009, Traum: Die Zukunft von
Commodore, Commodores letzter
Chipsatz, Tutorial: AROS, Commodore
C64 Games System, Commodore VC20,
Jungle Hunt,, Cover for 5,25" Disks,
Game Show, Tops und Flops

http://www.scacom-aktuell.de.vu/

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

Container - Plus/4
http://plus4world.powweb.com/software/
Container

Chronos made a conversion of the
Commodore 64 game Container for the
Commodore Plus/4. Container is a C64
entry for the Minigame Compo edition
2009. Originally coded by Charles
Grey.

Container is smart and cute action
game in just 1 Kilobyte

Title: Container
Category: Game/Action
Release Date: 2009-09-27
Language: English
Size: 16K
Machine: PAL Only
Code Type: Machine code
Distribution: Freeware
Released by: Absence And Wilds (ACW)
Converted by: T., Tamás (Chronos)
Additional code by: B., Attila (Csio)
Notes: C16/Plus4 version of Charles
Grey's entry at Minigame Compo 2009.

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

NATAMI Board Released
http://www.natami.net/index.htm

The NatAmi Project

This hardware project is dedicated to
the still innovative system
architecture of the Commodore AMIGA
computer.

The basic concept is straight: Get
the original Amiga design up-to-date.

The NatAmi approach is to rebuild the
original system
- without emulation
- without abstraction layers
- without legacy drawbacks

This means the system needs to be
built from scratch. It will not use
standard PC components when their
adaption or implementation causes
workarounds that limit performance,
functionality or usability. The
priority is to build a very simple
system design which is predictive,
easy to use and fast responding like
the Amiga was/is. The original
creators put great effort and thought
into how to keep things simple. The
NatAmi is intended to keep this
guideline as the foundation of its
system.

This concept is the project name:
Native Amiga

The NatAmi does not revive or copy an
A500/A4000. It will be a succeeding
Amiga model not done by emulation -
it is done by reconstruction.
Up-to-date and good performing
components are used to retain the
efficiency. It will rely on the
original philosophy - but remove old
limitations.

The NatAmi is an AMIGA compatible
machine, allowing you to natively run
original Commodore Amiga software

The first NatAmi board is assembled.
At least all SMD components are. The
pin-in-hole connectors will follow as
soon they are needed. The first power
on worked well. It can be switched on
and off by its power pushbutton
(lower left). All internal voltages
are at their intended level.

More about the project in this Issue
of Commodore Free

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

Project Timberwolf
http://www.amigabounty.net/?function=v
iewproject&projectid=44

Timberwolf is the project name of the
AmigaOS port of the Firefox web
browser. It's features include:
tabbed browsing, support for HTML 5,
ECMAScript 3.1, and CSS 3,
extensibility through add-ons, and a
lot more. In short, Firefox is the
most complete open source browser to
date. Timberwolf is a spare-time
project, not funded by anybody

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

SIDbrowser Update 2.6
http://sbwv.mathesoft.de/

SIDBrowser 2.6
After 3 Years of silence SIDBrowser
published in a new release.
you will be able to install it on a
mobile drives like USB-Flashram.
together with the huge HVSC
collection - all on one medium.

All needed files are included. Index
for fast search was created for
actual HVSC v51.
you will also be able to record the
SIDs to WAV and encode with LAME to
MP3.It is a work version.

Get the Installer from
http://www.sidbrowser.com/
Get work versions from
http://sbwv.mathesoft.de/

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

VGA Breakthrough
http://www.commodorescene.org.uk/

The C=VGA adaptor

TEST VERSION 1 BUTCHERED TOGETHER AT
THE MINI MEETING (I couldn't find any
solder and the connector is from a
1541 floppy drive we butchered and is
now no longer with us well on this
electronics planet R.I.P my fine 1541
you served me well)

After the Commodore Computer club
Mini meeting with Myself Shaun, Chris
and Alan, all trying to get the A22
board working. Alan decided he
couldn't give up! And after many
trials and testing he finally had a
big breakthrough. It looks as though
the Commodore Scene VGA project may
finally be finished; and by none
other than Alan himself! I must
congratulate Alan for sticking with
the project in spite of all the
setbacks Alan has spent a great deal
of his own time and money on the
project here is an email he sent to
Myself, Chris and Alan of the CCC UK.

THE MAGIC A22 BOARD FROM CHINA!
http://www.arcademvs.com/  I don't
think the site is up but search for
A22 CGA board

E-mail

From: Alan Bairstow
Subject: VGA

Hi everyone,
After quite a bit of experimenting
and ready all the stuff that you've
been sending me, I think I have can
now make the following items if
anybody needs them :

c64/c128 40 column display
1) S-video adapter from an existing
LCA lead, this is quite simple as a
simple resistor on the chroma line
will bring the colours into focus (no
blurring). I am going to adapt my
current cable to bring down the
chroma signal with a small resistor.

2) SCART lead - these are already
available, however, if there is no
resistor on the chroma line then
interference & colour bleed can be an
issue (as I showed at the recent show
with the s-video lead) so it might be
worth making these to our own
specifications.

3) SVGA adapter from an existing LCA
lead, in theory this should also be
possible but I haven't tested it yet.

c128 80 column colour display (the
B&W display is easy but not worth
having really)

1) S-video adapter (or possibly just
a cable), I am still trying to get
the output crystal clear but I have a
working test rig which looks very
nice. We still need the A22 board to
convert RGB to S-video so this will
have to be built into a box to make
it look nice.

2) SCART lead, I will be making this
lead soon and looks like it should be
fairly straight forward. This will
have to be a custom made lead but I
am hopeful that all the resistors
will fit inside the SCART casing.

3) SVGA adaptor, again it may be
feasible to create this lead using
the same method as in the SCART
adaptor but I'm not sure where all
the resistors will go :-( A fly lead
for the sound will also be need but
this is easy.

Personally I prefer the SVGA lead as
this will allow connection to any
monitor - which is what I want. The
only real problem is going to be the
variations in different monitors and
this becomes more of a problem if you
are using SCART or S-Video.

Lastly, I would like to thank
everyone (especially Chris) for all
the info you've sent me over the past
few months, I would never have got
this far without you and I've come
closer to my goal (80column > SVGA)
in the past two months than I have in
the previous 5 years ! I've learnt a
lot and some of it has been hard for
my poor little brain to comprehend
but we are nearly there.

I'll keep you posted.

All the Best, Allan

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

Vandalism News #51 Released
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?id
=82666

Onslaught & Wrath Designs have
released issue 51 of VANDALISM NEWS

Contains information on the following
LCP 2009  report and results
Maximum Overdose 8  report
St LCP 2008  report and results

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

Minimig Firmware Update
http://www.minimig.net/viewtopic.php?f
=5&t=183

I have upgrade to the new firmware
but no go!!!

1.install frimware.upg all okey
2.reset
3.copy minimig.bin to SD card
4.Reset System hangs on bootscreen !!

@Yacube have you set the Power
reduction option?
Because I have some similar trouble
before with a firmware from boing4000

---- quote ---
Now I also know what causes the
trouble before. Spartan3 fpga support
a feature called "Power Reduction". I
did set this bit and it worked for my
Minimigs board. Perhaps some other
Spartan fpga production series (maybe
tolerance issue) don't work at this
feature active.
---- end quote---

If you have, can you please leave it
out in future because of
compatibility problems?

@boing4000
Please can you make a fixed firmware
again my Minimig is so silence at the
moment

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

NATAMI
http://www.natami.net/qa.htm

The NatAmi Project

This hardware project is dedicated to
the still innovative system
architecture of the Commodore AMIGA
computer.

The basic concept is straight: Get
the original Amiga design up-to-date.

The NatAmi approach is to rebuild the
original system
- without emulation
- without abstraction layers
- without legacy drawbacks

This means the system needs to be
built from scratch. It will not use
standard PC components when their
adaption or implementation causes
workarounds which limit performance,
functionality or usability. The
priority is to build a very simple
system design which is predictive,
easy to use and fast responding like
the Amiga was/is.

The original creators put great
effort and many thoughts into how to
keep things simple. The NatAmi is
intended to keep this guideline as
the foundation of its system.

This concept is the project name:
Native Amiga

The NatAmi does not revive or copy an
A500/A4000. It will be a succeeding
Amiga model not done by emulation -
it is done by reconstruction.
Up-to-date and good performing
components are used to retain the
efficiency. It will rely on the
original philosophy - but remove old
limitations.

The NatAmi is an AMIGA compatible
machine, allowing you to natively run
original Commodore Amiga software

Natami Design Layout

In a consumer version the NatAmi is
intended to be a very affordable
Amiga successor.

An Amiga that is powerful enough to
be useful for today's typical tasks.
The major long-term intentions for
NatAmi are

- being an Amiga compatible design
- have the original AmigaOS, binary
  OS replacements and Amiga
  applications running
- enable playing new and classic
  Amiga games
- expand features to 24bit truecolor
  gfx and 16bit audio on custom chip
  register level
- implement USB, Ethernet and
  flashdisk support
- provide immediate system on/off and
  hibernation
- provide enough resources and power
  to surf the internet and watch
  online videos
- add features to be able to playback
  DivX, Xvid and DVD

We think that in this area the
AmigaOS still has some major
advantages. The original AmigaOS is
very efficient. The combination of
this very efficient OS and the usage
of the powerful SuperAGA, will result
in a very swift computer.
The Natami will not be a competitor
to a Wintel Desktop machine, nor will
it be a PlayStation 3 killer.

NatAmi Roadmap

Our road-map currently is:

MC68060 CPU board
NatAmi developer board
NatAmi retail board

The Natami dev-board has two main
purposes.
- Allowing early developers to
  develop/port software to Amiga.
- Allowing more people to verifying
  the SuperAGA chipset to be error
  free.

When the dev-boards are out we will
focus on three things:
- Designing the cost reduced Natami
  version.
- Developing our Next Generation 68K
  Core
- We will add new features to the
  SuperAGA chipset

NATAMITechnical FAQ

COMMODORE FREE
The natami team were very keen for an
interview, however they were rather
busy so for the moment I just took
the FAQ with there permission, this
answers 90% of my questions. Is it
just me or are there just too many
exciting projects, I hope this one is
successful and I would be very keen
to get my hands on one of these
machines. I love the Classic Amiga
but (now I am going to get more hate
mail) I am not to keen on where the
New Amiga is currently going!

CPU

Q. Is the Natami team still
evaluating the ColdFire CPU or don't
you expect any performance gains by
using a V5-core?

The 400 MHz ColdFire V5 is certainly
a very powerful CPU. To be able to
get the ColdFire we would need to
"bake" chips. Baking chips is not a
target that we can reach without help
as require a major investment. If we
"bake" our own chips we would of
course have the option to bake our
own 68K_CPU design. If we bake our
own "softcore" into a chip then we
could reach very high clock rates.
Our softcore would then provide
better compatibility than the
ColdFire.

The ColdFire is 68k compatible, but
to get maximum performance out of the
ColdFire for AmigaOS, some patching
of Kickstart and Workbench will be
mandatory. By going for our own
N68070 design we will save any
patching and time.

Q. Do you think you can break 1ghz
with ColdFire or 68k you are talking
about?

No, the 1 GHz barrier will not be
broken by these chips. The New 68K
chips that we are developing will be
in the range of 100-166 MHz inside
the FPGA.

Q. Which is better? A real 68060 CPU
or the new N68070?

The 68060 which runs at a max of
90-100 MHz is the only one in
production and Freescale can stop
production at any time. 68060 is
Expensive and has no memory
controller and old 3.3 voltage use.

The "Self-Made" 68K provides a lot of
advantages:
- Cost reduction
- Possible to add new faster and
  cheaper DDR memory.
- Higher clockrate of 133-166 MHz
  inside the FPGA.
- Memory latencies will be reduced.
- Powerful multimedia instructions
  could be used.
- The Natami-68070 could be made to
  be a lot more compatible with 68000
  games. Getting it to be more
  compatible to the 68060 is simple.

Q. Will Natami use a 64 bit 68070
processor?

64-Bit is no advantage for AmigaOS as
it wasn't designed for any more
memory. For integer the "golden" mix
of best performance 32bit is still
the best. It will make sense to add a
wider SIMD unit (64-128 Bit) A 64-bit
CPU will only bring one advantage:
more memory than 4GB. All structs and
pointers in AmigaOS are designed for
a 32bit CPU. A 64-Bit CPU brings many
disadvantages over a 32-Bit CPU. What
we should do is add a 64-Bit wide
databus as this will increase the
performance.

Q. Does the Natami processor need
cooling?

The 68060 runs perfectly fine passive
cooled. The new 68060 revision 6 that
the Dev-boards have, are produced in
a smaller structure; needing even
less power than the 68060 used in the
old Amiga cards. None of the Natami
chips require even a passive heatsink.

Q. Is a Memory Management Unit
planned for your new 68K chip?

No, not for the first CHIP
generation. If you want a MMU; you
can use the 68060 CPU card, There are
many good reasons not to include a
MMU: A MMU adds latency to all memory
accesses. This extra latency will
always be there, even if the MMU is
not used. A chip design can try to
hide the latency in a longer
pipeline. Without such a latency the
chip will always be faster. The
performance loss caused by the MMU
can be quite heavy. For the silicon
that a fast MMU would need, adding
something like ALTIVEC into the CPU
would be a better choice. The 68060
developer boards are capable to boot
NetBSD or Linux if they wish to do
so. The great feature that Amiga
users are so proud of, is to have HW
acceleration for everything and by
design just cannot be used under
Linux.

Q. Don't you need to create a new
architecture for ColdFire or is it
the same because the ColdFire is
compatible to the 68060?

We did some research in this area,
and we came to the conclusion; that
it's possible to build our own 68k
CPU that we could include in our
FPGA. We found out that we could
build a new 68k CPU that is even more
compatible to older 68000 Software,
than the 68040 and 68060 CPU. This
new 68k CPU is more powerful than the
68040 and 68060. The combination of
these advantages makes the Self-Made
68k CPU (N68050/070) very attractive
for us. I believe that our design
will be ideal for the next Natami
design. We will ship the Natami60
board with a 68060 CPU. Later when
our 68k FPGA CPU is finished the
Natami60 board could install it into
their FPGA with a simple firmware
upgrade.

Q. How does Natami compare to PPC
accelerators used in 'classic'
configurations?

A 100 MHz 68060 has a similar
performance as a 100 MHz PPC. Our
goal is that the Natami will be
powerful enough for DVD/Xvid/DivX
playback.

FPGA

Q. How much can be gained by
transferring the FPGA to a custom
fixed function chip ?

Oversimplified answer:
A - Medium price FPGA ~ 100-200 MHz
B - Very expensive FPGA ~ 250-500 MHz
C - Custom Chip based on little
    reworked FPGA code ~ 500 MHz
D - Custom Chip complete redesigned
    500 MHz - Several GHz

But creating custom chip (ASIC) does
cost a lot of money.
Option C costs some money but less
than a million.
Option D is too expensive for the
Amiga market.
For the best price/performance mix we
target solution (A) for now.

Q. Will the FPGA be possible to have
more 68070 or SuperAGA cores ?

AmigaOS is designed to run very good
with a 25 MHz CPU. The AmigaAGA
chipset is running at 3.5 MHz and was
16 Bit. In an effortable FPGA,
SuperAGA could be running in 100-200
MHz and in 32 Bit. SuperAGA Blitter
is thereby 100-200 times as fast as
the Amiga AGA.

The original Amiga always was a
multicore design with :
- the GFX Chip with sprite features.
- the blitter
- the copper
- the Audio DMA
- the CPU
- In addition to this Natami has 3D
  core with texture engine

AmigaOS is perfectly designed to make
use of the Amiga hardware features.
Natami with SuperAGA is the only
chipset worldwide making this again
possible.  PC GFX Card were never
used by any OS as efficiently as the
AmigaOS did with the Amiga chipset.
With SuperAGA and the N68070
softcore, the Amiga Workbench will
run on Natami many times faster than
it currently does on WinUAE using a
fast PC. A multicore CPU is not
needed.

Q. Regarding sprites - Have these
been enhanced? Size? Number? Etc...

Sprite capabilities are unchanged and
are the same as AmigaAGA. Using
sprites make still sense for a mouse
pointer. 8 Sprite channels with max
64 pixel width each and max 16
colours In today games BOBS have
replaced sprites. Bobs are images
that could be copied onto the
background image.

Bob support is as follows:
- 16 Million colours max
- Unlimited size and number
- Copy, rotate and scale
- New ColorKey bob don't need a
  Blitting-Mask

The SuperAGA blitter has the power to
blit the whole screen thousand times
per second. The SuperAGA supports
Gouraud shading, Z-Buffer,
Bilinier-Interpolation.

Q. Why is Natami not cycle exact?

Cycle exact was never needed on
Amiga. The Amiga OCS, ECA and AGA is
16bit, 3.5MHz cycle frequency.
Denise was fetch bitplane and sprite
data using 16bit.Lisa could fetch
bitplane and sprite data in a 32bit
reads.

Natami is running (worst case) 32bit
100-150MHz cycle frequency while
still maintaining software
compatibility.
There never was something like 100%
cycle exact on Amiga. Different Amiga
models used different speeds of
ROM/memory. So even an A600 was never
100% cycle exact to an A1000 or A2000.

What is useful for compatibility is a
cycle exact Copper mode. And the
Natami support two Copper speed
(slow-compatibility) and
(new-fast).SuperAGA is faster than
AGA but also compatible.

Q. Does SuperAGA support 1080P
resolution?

If SuperAGA runs in the FPGA on the
Natami60 board at over 145 MHz then
this resolution is possible.
Technically 1080p is possible, but it
is not guaranteed that the Natami60
will run at this clockrate.  Graphics
cards are used in SLI mode to
increase frame rates on x86 PCs.

Q. Is it possible for 2 SuperAGA
FPGA's on the same motherboard to do
the same in an Amiga?

The Amiga architecture is build
around different DMA channels.
Everyone has its own distinct task.
The power of the Amiga originates in
the perfect matching and cooperation
of all DMA channels. A PC has only
one DMA channel in its concept. The
CPU today is a brute-force general
purpose calculation monster. It can
do everything on its own, so the GFX
memory is not really part of the
architectural system. On the Amiga it
is the central part.

You may translate your question in
Amiga terms like "is it possible to
add a second blitter DMA channel to
the system".

The original blitter is a pure 2D
unit, so the computations the blitter
can do are not that time-and so would
not be be any beneficial to add a
second blitter DMA. But technically
the answer is "yes".

Q. Where are the 16/32 bitplaned
display modes?

The native supported pixel formats
are:
BIT = Bitplanes,
COL = Colors,
MC = Memory consumption (bit) per
pixel
MOB = Memory Operations by Blitter
per pixel.


BIT  COL    MC  MOB
1    2      1   4
2    4      2   8
3    8      3   12
4    16     4   16
5    32     5   16
6    64     6   24
7    128    7   28
8    256    8   32
24   16M    24  6  (chunky-planar mix
                   mode)
8    256    8   2  (chunky mode)
16   65536  16  2  (chunky mode)
32   16M    32  2  (chunky mode)

Planer Mode:
+ Reduce colours to limit the amount
  of needed memory for a screen.
- Very slow in drawing single pixels.

Chunky Mode:
+ Operations use less memory, no mask
  needed, speed x2 in 2D
+ Well suited for 3D or 16/32 bit
  modes

SuperAGA also supports special
formats as HAM and YUV.

Q. Can you tell me something about
the SuperAGA blitter

SuperAGA blitter
- 100+ FPS with most games with
  effects
- Screen redraw x10+ per frame
- Virtually unlimited playfields in
  realtime
- Opaque, semi-transparent or
  translucent playfields / overlay
- Free bob scale, resize and rotate
- ColorKey support
- Alpha blending, translucent
  shadows, semi translucent fire or
  explosions

Q. What is better 256 colour or 256
colour planar mode?

Comparing 256 Colour chunky screen vs
256 colour planar mode:

On Planar the Blitter needs to do 32
Memory operations to update a single
pixel On Chunky the Blitter needs to
do 2 Memory operations to update s
single Pixel Both Planar and Chunky
have the same speed when doing big
memory block moves. But if you paint
row of pixels like in DOOM or Quake
chunky mode is 16 times faster.

Q. SuperAGA supports 16-bit chunky
modes, would a 16-Bit planar mode
make sense too?

Lets compare a Hicolor chunky screen
vs Hi colour planar mode:

On Planar the Blitter needs to do 64
Memory operations to update a single
pixel  On Chunky the Blitter needs to
do 2 Memory operations to update s
single pixel Both Planar and Chunky
have the same speed if big memory
blocks are moved. But if you paint a
row of pixels like in DOOM the chunky
mode is 32 times faster.

Q. What is the Natami's power
consumption ?

The SuperAGA plus new N68070 core
will in total need 2-3 watt.

Q. Can we have a Natami motherboard
with a minimum of 256 MB and two
slots ?

There are two big reasons that speak
against slots. Slots are expensive
and slots will cause issues as there
are many different memory DIM models.
DIM slots require higher testing
budget and a lot longer time.

Q. Could you please clarify Natami60
developer board?

The Natami60 developer board will
come with FPGA and a 68060 CPU card.
We are working on a new 68k CPU that
can be loaded into the FPGA. This new
68K will even be slightly more
compatible to 68000 software than the
Motorola 68060 CPU. We hope that this
new 68k CPU will also as fast or
faster as the 68060 CPU.

This FPGA-68K can be installed into
the FPGA of the Natami60 systems.
Effectively these boards will then
have two 68k CPUs if they have the
060-CPU Card installed. There might
be other parties producing other
bigger or smaller boards based on the
SuperAGA chipset as well.

Q. Will the boards for the final
users (not the Dev-boards) be
complete boards?

The consumer boards and Natami60
developer boards will include:

* Pre-installed with a legal,
  licensed copy of AmigaOS
* Amikit

AmiKit is a pre-configured AmigaOS
environment.
Amikit includes a task manager, web
browser, and many useful
applications, tools, icons and games.

Q. If we happen to buy one developer
board, how we can upgrade to a new
board so that we will have Ethernet?

The developer boards comes without
Ethernet on board, but as it has
several PCI slots, a normal PCI
Ethernet card can be added. We will
preinstall all the developer boards
will a network card.

Q. The first batch of Natami will be
developer boards means that some bugs
will occur, will a firmware upgrade
be available?

Yes. The whole idea of the developer
board is to allow debugging and
upgrading of the firmware. The
developer board is fully designed for
upgrading and testing.

Q. Would Natami include some ACPI
features like power button press
event detection, timer Wake up and
Wake up signal from a PCI or USB
device?

Natami is quick to boot and fast
system. Workbench loaded in 1.5
seconds. There is no "Booting up
delay" and no "Shutting down time".
Natami does not see much benefit of
Wake up signals.

Q. Why couldn't a flicker fixer be
added into the design?

For a real flicker-fixer you need
memory AFTER the video stream is
created. An interlaced video frame
consists of two alternating single
frames. An odd one followed by an
even one. The odd one contains only
lines 1, 3, 5, and the even ones 2,
4, 6. Because these frames are
alternating there is no point where
the displayed image is "complete".
For that you need memory to store;
for example the even frame. At the
next odd frame you can insert the
line 2 after line 1 is finished and,
before line 3 starts. Only on this
point is the picture really complete,
but this is AFTER the flicker-fixer.

When the Amiga/Natami frame generator
is in interlaced mode it starts
drawing the odd frame beginning from
line 1. At the end of the line a
modulo value of one line is added to
the position counter. So that the
next line drawn is line 3. At the end
of the display the beam position is
set to the beginning of line 2. This
is usually done by the copper.

- Games rarely used interlaced
  screens.
- Deinterlacing demos or games look
  IMHO very bad.
- Scandoubling games or demos look
  much better.
- Using interlaced screens for
  Workbench or applications makes no
  sense on Natami as you have all
  these screen available as non
  interlaced as well.

Deinterlacing applications screens is
not needed as you can simply promote
the "old-interlaced" screen to the
"new-noninterlaced" format with
software, as you did on AGA for PAL
to DoublePal screen. Therefore a
hardware interlacer is neither needed
nor useful.

Q. How will the RGB part work? Will
no standard Amiga RGB connector-plug
be added to the Natami?

The Natami distinguishes two video
categories in general. High speed and
low speed. The primary display is the
"high speed" VGA. It behaves like the
known RGB port. Its scan rate is
flexible and programmed as introduced
in ECS. For resolutions greater than
800x600 the boundaries of those
registers are gone, the registers are
still the same. All modes less than
30kHz line frequency are
automatically scan-doubled.

The "high speed" video is mapped also
as a "low speed" video signal. All
television standards are mapped 1:1
so there is no difference to the old
640x256 for PAL or 640x200 for NTSC.
All other resolutions are scaled to
fit.

This "low speed" video is available
as S/VHS PAL or NTSC and as pure RGB
with sync. The RGB port is only
available internally, there won't a
23pin SUB-D port.

Limitation: no flicker-fixer.

There is no way to enhance anything.
A complete frame has to be stored for
that. This takes memory. We already
have two memory buses in the design.
So there is only a scan doubler.

Q. Will the internal RGB port have
some kind of standard plug as well?

The RGB signals will be available
internally on a PCB connector.
Explicit documentation on IO etc.
will follow. A backplane adaptor is
needed, but really easy to build.

Q. Can I reuse my old AMIGA GFX card
in the Natami?

The SuperAGA chipset is a lot faster
than the AGA chipset every AMIGA GFX
card. SuperAGA is not only superior
in speed but also superior in
compatibility to all AMIGA GFX cards.
SuperAGA extends the original chipset
in a fully Amiga compatible way.
(Screen dragging, using Copper in old
and new modes on one screen, Genlock
support) its all possible.

Q. I see that you added great new GXF
features to the original AMIGA
chipset. Did you improve the Audio
features as will?

Audio is improved to support high
quality resolution, and high sampling
rates. Natami supports 16bit samples
and 24-Bit Audio out. SuperAGA
provides a Multitasking friendly and
DMA driven support for hundreds of
simultaneous Audio channels.

Q. Can we use normal pc cases to
house Natami?

The developer boards will have a
standard PC size motherboard. You
will be able to use standard PC case
for this.

Q. Is there to be a preferred
compiler language/environment that
can be used on the Natami that source
will get released for?

All Amiga software runs on the
Natami. This means you can use
anything for development ranging from
SEKA-ASM over StormC, to GCC. Or you
could use AMOS or the great Amiga
Oberon.

Q. Do you think there is a chance to
play new games in the future on
Natami?

We have no doubt that the powerful
SuperAGA chipset will allow people to
write very good quality games.

Q. Would games like Half-Life or
Quake be possible on Natami?

The Natami is powerful enough to run
games like Half-Life 1, Robin Hood,
Age of Empires, and Quake 1,2,3. The
Natami is not powerful enough for
games like Quake 4.

Q. How to program the Natami?

The "normal" Amiga programming books
are a very good start. The Natami is
a 100% compatible Amiga, so
everything of the "old" development
documentation is still true. We are
working on development tools that we
will ship with the Natami developer
boards. This will allow you to
compile Amiga tools out of the box.
We are working on programmer
documentation for the new SuperAGA
hardware features. This documentation
will have the same style and
(hopefully the same good quality) as
the original Commodore docs. Our
target is to have all this ready
together with the developer boards.

Q. Is the Natami faster than a
current console?

The goal of the Natami/SuperAGA
design is not to beat the PlayStation
3. The NatAmi intends to improve the
original Amiga design to be more
useful today.

Q. What operating systems will the
Natami support?

Our target for supported operating
systems are exclusively AmigaOS and
AROS. All the clever features of the
original Amiga hardware and Natami
hardware can never be properly used
by Linux.  Linux trades speed for
security. Security is most important
for a server. For a hardware platform
that provides heaps of clever
hardware acceleration, Linux will
disappoint you as it can never use
these features fully. Linux by design
can never use the blitter and
hardware features as closely
integrated into the OS as the
original AmigaOS did. MorphOS is a
nice OS. But its PPC only and closed
source.

Q. Will the Natami be compatible to
the CD32 Amiga console?

The Natami is mostly compatible with
the CD32. The CD32 had a chip called
AKIKO which was used to help
converting pixels from CHUNKY to
planar. There is a simple reason why
SuperAGA does not include the AKIKO:
SuperAGA already provides real chunky
pixel format. So working with chunky
and then copying the chunky screen
through AKIKO into a planer screen to
be able to display it, isn't needed
any more. Implementing AKIKO is not a
challenge at all, its just not needed
as AKIKO dependent games are rare.

Q. I emailed you recently, why didn't
I get any answer yet?

Sorry, but we got an overwhelming
response and only have limited
resources in our team. That is why we
have to concentrate on hardware and
software work. If possible, you will
get an answer.

Q. My question is not answered here,
What shall I do?

Please visit our forum. We will
answer all your questions.
http://www.natami.net/qa.htm

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

Commodore Free talk to Gideon
Zweijtzer
Creator of the 1541 Ultimate
http://www.1541ultimate.net/

Gideon Zweijtzer took time to speak
to Commodore Free about his love of
Commodore, and the future for his
excellent 1541 Ultimate Plus upgrade.

Many of today's Commodore 64 users,
enthusiasts, fans and so-called
experts will be in their late 20s
through to their mid-30s, and
remember Commodore's mighty 8-bit
from their childhood, especially in
parts of mainland Europe where the
64K 'Bread-bid' did particularly
well. Gideon is no exception to this
rule, introducing himself as "35 and
living in the Netherlands" and
revealing a typical story by
recalling "as a child I was really
hooked to the C64 for many years,
starting at the age of 9. At the age
of 11 I got my first C64 of my own.
For some time, I used it for
everything, including writing fully
laid out documents, using PrintFox,
then the Amiga came, and I switched
over", and regardless of upgrading to
the 16-bit Miggy, it was the 64 that
started his love affair with
computing, and with the Commodore
brand.

Behind all of this is a dark secret,
"the C64 was the first... although I
also secretly played with my
brother's [Sinclair] ZX-81 before the
C64 came." Whilst you recover from
the shock of that revelation, it will
be less surprising to hear what drew
Gideon into using computers in the
first place; "I was often
programming, and I spent hours and
hours copying games, but I never
actually played any of them. Only
Giana Sisters. I was hooked to that!"
So, it was the all-round usability of
the C64, especially as he "used
PrintFox for editing and writing
reports for school. And I enjoyed the
C64 a lot, really. I believed it was
a very good machine for its time."
Now, if only I'd had Commodore's set
up 'for educational purposes' in my
school. Sadly, like most people in
the UK, if I wanted to do school work
on a computer, it'd have to be on a
BBC Micro, something that most people
didn't have at home.

As we talked, Gideon admitted that
his obsession with the Rainbow Arts
game The Great Giana Sisters,
revealing "I was so hooked on [The
Great] Giana Sisters, that I reverse
engineered the code to some extent
and wrote a level editor and created
Giana Sisters II, together with two
friends of mine", although his
version including the level editor
was never made available to anyone
else, his edited game found its way
out: "Giana Sisters II is available.
I was very surprised when I found it
on a 15000-games DVD."

Like many of us, his C64 was dormant
for many years, waiting to be
rediscovered. "My Commodore had been
pretty much 'dead' for me for many
years." It was never forgotten though
- "Professionally I got into
programmable logic, the generic term
for FPGA technology. Then, when I
wanted to do some experiments with
FPGAs for a hobby, I chose the C64 as
a platform. The first thing I did
back in 2000 was write a 6502 in
VHDL, and replaced the 6510 on a real
Commodore with mine, and debugged it
until it booted the kernal. "Then I
wanted to write a 32-bit 6502
replacement, but that project never
got finished, mostly due to the fact
no one would ever write a compiler
for it." A 32-bit 6502 replacement? I
pressed him to tell me more, and
whether or not it was inline with the
65832 I had heard about earlier in
the decade. "My project was the
65GZ032; a CPU that could execute
both 8- bit instructions as well as
32 bit instructions without switching
between modes.", so it was something
different, though would be compatible
with "the 6502" which he "used it in
a project at the university." After
abandoning his 32-bit dream, he
concentrated on a VHDL replacement
for the C64 chipset, as he explained.
"For some years, nothing happened...
at some free evenings I wrote VHDL to
replace the other C64 chips, and
demonstrated a working C64 in one
FPGA chip at my work place, using an
(expensive) FPGA development board. I
did this just for fun, actually. And
the Commodore One from Jeri Elsworth
already existed at that time."

So, how did the idea for the 1541
Ultimate come along then? "Later on,
I talked to a colleague of mine about
what I could do, since others already
developed the C64, so then the idea
came up to implement a 1541 instead.
At first, I demonstrated this using a
development board. I could load a
disk image through Ethernet from a
laptop and demonstrate the operation.
And later, the idea came to implement
this on a cartridge, and use the
C64's VIC chip to display a menu to
select disks. This is how the 1541
Ultimate came into existence." But,
it didn't stop at just implementing a
1541, as this piece of kit can mimic
many cartridges, including the 17xx
Ram Expansion Units from Commodore.
"Actually, it was more of a fun thing
again. I equipped the 1541U with 32MB
of RAM, and thought it must be
possible to implement the REU. So I
took the register description and
added it to the 1541U."

One thing on the mind of many GEOS
enthusiasts is, will he ever get
around to implementing such devices
as the RAMLink, so I pressed him on
this. "Not yet, but ever since the
sales of the 1541U took off, I am so
swamped with other things than
programming, that it is just a
limitation of my time." There is
quite a wish-list for the hardware,
as he stated, "many people have asked
me to implement many extensions, but
my time is limited." Of course, he is
only one man, and not an entire
industry, or a production line, as we
must remember! He also had his
priorities sorted when I spoke to
him, "at this moment, having a
holiday is the top of my list!! Haha!"

As we will all appreciate, he has
needed a holiday, "honestly, since I
am still working full time, the 1541U
project has been wearing me out a
lot", but you can never stop a
workaholic, "technically, when it
comes to the 1541U, I am working on a
new version of the firmware, that
will remove some of the current
limitations in the software design",
although many people have said that
the device is hardly 'limited',
Gideon seems to have something of a
perfectionist in him, as he sees a
lot of room for improvement "the
current firmware is based on a 6502
CPU. This CPU has many limitations.
It can only access 64K at a time, and
as you understand, the 1541U needs to
address more data in its memory. So
there is an extensive memory mapping
scheme in effect that enables the
1541U to do the things it can do now.
But it is a dead end, since the whole
firmware is full of memory mapping
code. In this way, it is the address
bus that has the limitations. The
idea is to use a small 32-bit CPU in
the new firmware. But this transition
involves rewriting a lot of the code!"

So, will we have a 32-bit future
then? Surely, if this can be done,
the 1541U really will be the
'Ultimate' cartridge, but he
continued, "I have put some efforts
in creating a new version of the
hardware, which is now announced on
my website. I am trying to make the
new 1541U even more versatile, and
make it more 'ultimate' than the
current one is. But I think that
after this one, I will have to start
looking for other things to do in my
life." I'm sure you will agree that,
when this time comes, we'll be left
with one superb piece of hardware
that will even appeal to the more
casual users.

What of the future for this project
though? I told him about a friend of
mine who said that he fully expected
there to still be Commodore users
beyond the year 2000, though he
wondered what people would be doing
with the old 8-bit other than playing
classic games. Many of you will know
the answer to this, as support came
along for PostScript Laser Printers,
and connectivity to modern networks.
Where did he see the Commodore 64
platform in a decades time?
Teasingly, he said "I think the new
1541U will once again add something
to the C64." So, what exactly? "The
major new addition to the 1541U-II is
a USB-host port. With the right
software support, this port can be
used to attach memory sticks, other
storage devices like hard disks, as
well as printers and other stuff. And
yes, connect a PC to share files
should be possible as well." After
salivating at these thoughts, I came
to my senses again and continue to
press him for more information.

"Well, the power usage of the [new]
cartridge itself will be somewhat
lower [than the 1541U]. But you have
to keep in mind that without the use
of a powered USB hub, the C64 will
power your external USB device, so
this is not recommended. Though I
expect it to be no problem to use a
USB memory stick. Initially, the only
USB support in the firmware will be
for mass storage devices, so that it
can be used for the fundamental 1541U
function. No HUB support at
first."Will we need a separate
Ethernet adapter then? Gideon thinks
not, at least in the medium term. "I
think, that in time, it would be
possible to emulate the CS8900A chip
in the FPGA, and use a USB to
Ethernet adapter to provide Ethernet
functionality to the 1541U-II again.
That is why the Ethernet port has
disappeared." And what about using
USB joysticks? "Yes, indeed. Although
joysticks need to be supported [in
the hardware] as well in the software
running on the C64. This is because
the 1541U cannot replace the 6526 CIA
chip inside the C64; otherwise it
would be possible."

It may seem an obvious question to
ask, but stating the bloomin' obvious
is something that I'm very good at.
1541U-II will keep the Commodore
platform interesting for the next few
years at least? "I hope it will!"
Gideon replied, further explaining
that "the 1541U-II will bridge the
Commodore platform to modern
hardware, which gives a lot of new
possibilities. And since the
Commodore platform is such an open
platform, people might want to create
new, fun applications. I wished I
could have come up with the 1541U ten
years ago" indeed, as do we all. And
so the interview came to a close with
Gideon, humble as ever, leaving
Commodore Free's readers with a
message: "The most important thing I
would like to say to the CF readers
is 'Thank you!' Thank you for so many
of you having interest in the 1541U
project, and for the trust many of
you have shown by paying in advance
and sometimes having to wait for a
long time before I can deliver the
hardware." The future is looking
bright again, and it seems that
through Gideon we have a new CMD;
giving us what we are missing,
functionality, compatibility and
performance, and at a cheaper price
than those coveted 90s upgrades.

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

Interview with Neil Reive
Editor of Retroaction magazine
http://www.retroactionmagazine.com/

Welcome to Retroaction

The new digital retro games magazine
is here.

- Reviews and previews of new games
  on retro platforms
- Features and articles on classic
  retro games
- Interviews and articles with people
  in the retrogaming scene
- Fully interactive links: website,
  emails, bookmarks, downloads, and
  other links at the click of a mouse
  button
- A logical digital PDF layout and
  design
- A global collective team of
  retrogaming enthusiasts

The magazine is released quarterly
(one issue for every season).
Retroaction forum is also up and
running with topics including
Magazine Talk (discuss the magazine
here), Retrogaming (talk about all
things retro: homebrew, old games,
retro remakes, emulators), Retro
Games News (new retro games news and
info can be discussed here), plus
there are other topics such as
Current Generation (where you can
talk about the current generation of
consoles and PCs), and Off Topic
(anything: football, life, politics,
and so on...).

Q. Please introduce yourself to our
readers. And do you use Commodore
machines?

A. My name is Neil Reive,
Editor/Designer of the digital
retrogaming ezine Retroaction. I also
edited and designed the Amstrad
Action tribute magazine that was
released in 2008. I have been
interested in retrogaming (as well as
having a big interest in retro mags)
for a good few years now. And I live
and work in South West Scotland.

Unfortunately, my C64's joystick port
failed on me some time ago, so I
can't play on the actual machine (as
such) any longer. I do still play C64
games (sadly this is ) through
emulation though.

Q. Can you introduce the rest of the
"team", what each person does, and if
they have any "special powers"!

A. My Deputy Editor is Gnome (who has
a very popular gaming blog at
http://www.gnomeslair.com ) and was
the first recruit for Retroaction
magazine. Gnome is a great writer who
contributes with articles,
interviews, helps out with the
planning of each issue (content
wise), proof reading and promoting.
Unfortunately, Gnome is currently
away on mandatory military service in
his native land of Greece, so his
spare time is limited, if not zero,
for the time being.

I was very pleased to get a Sub
Editor on board from issue 3 onwards.
Alan Leffingwell sorts out our dodgy
spelling, grammar and punctuation. He
collaborates with myself on the copy
editing of all articles and reviews.
He is currently living and working in
South Korea, although he originally
came from the United States.

Our regular writers are Duncan Rule
(who I headhunted from various DOS
forums, as I wanted someone with good
knowledge of DOS), Mark Hall (someone
I contacted after a suggestion from
my AA tribute cohort, Ali Halabi),
Duffman (an old school friend of mine
that I coaxed into doing some
homebrew reviews), Matty
((http://mattyongames.wordpress.com )
also helps out with the homebrew
reviews, mainly involving his beloved
Spectrum), Ack (joined us for issue
two, following discussions about the
lack of 32/64-bit coverage in issue
one) and CaptainD
(http://captaind-pc-gaming.blogspot.co
m/ )joined the team from issue 3 and
has contributed articles on Amiga and
Atari ST). We also have various
writers that pop in every now and
then to help out with the odd article.

Q. How did Retro action start, and
what prompted the magazine's
production?

A. Retroaction came about because
there were so many great ideas that I
had during the production of the
Amstrad Action tribute magazine. They
just wouldn't have looked right, or
have got the full potential out of
them, if they were published in a
one-off tribute magazine. Hence,
Retroaction was born. The name is
basically a take on the Retro Action
section in the AA tribute magazine,
which in turn, is a take on the
Amstrad Action name. I joined the two
words together after I discovered
that Retroaction means something that
happens because of past events or, as
in my forum signature at the moment,
"actions influenced by the past", and
I couldn't describe our magazine any
more perfectly than that.

Q. How is the magazine delivered?

A. The magazine is available to
download (for free) from
http://www.retroactionmagazine.com/ .
The main download is the PDF file,
while the ZIP archive is basically
the same file, but the archived
filename has no underscores in the
spaces. There is also an option to
view the magazine online with the
ISSUU (on-line PDF website) link.
This is something I added after
completing issue one, and it looks
pretty good online, although it is
best to download and view the PDF if
you want the full use of the
magazine's interactive features
(bookmarks, anchor links, etc.).

Q. How do users know an issue is
ready to download?

A. There is an email subscription
service where readers can sign up to
get notified of any new issues. Other
options include subscribing to the
website's RSS feed - new issues are
announced through our news section.
The forum also has a thread on each
issue's production progress. We also
post announcements in a select few
websites of the issue's release. And
of course, staff members and readers
post their own blogs, news, reviews,
forum posts, etc.

Q. You cover all retro machines in
the magazine, but could you explain
the term "retro" and what you think
makes a machine "retro"? For example,
would you class an IBM 286/386 or 486
as retro machines? Would the Sony
PlayStation 1 and 2 fall under the
term "retro", and what about the
classic Amigas?

A. "What is retro?" This question has
always been the subject of discussion
amongst retrogamers the world over.
It is a grey area that I've tried to
avoid discussing. At Retroaction,
we've got an unwritten rule that goes
something like "is it over ten years
old and not supported by the
manufacturer anymore?" We also had a
discussion on our forums where the
question "What is PC retro?" was
posted. We tended to focus on the
PC's operating system rather than the
hardware, but I would say that the
286, 386, 486, and Pentium I and II
are retro. While there were opinions
going back and forth, we kind of
agreed that Windows 95/98 are retro
platforms as DOS is inherent within
the system. Going with the "ten year"
and "unsupported" guidelines, I would
have to say that the original
PlayStation is now retro, as is the
Dreamcast (which celebrates its tenth
birthday), but the PS2 is not. I
would also think of the classic Amiga
computers as retro.

Q. Some people would object to the
term "retro" classing only 8-bit
machine as "true retro". I know these
debates get quite hot and steamy, but
would you like to comment on this?

A. It's a shame that some people get
so hot and bothered over this
subject. To me, retrogaming covers a
vast period of time, from the 70s to
the 90s. While everyone is entitled
to their own opinion (although this
is probably biased to the time when
they grew up), they are really
missing out on some fantastic retro
machines and games.

Q. Do you have a favourite machine,
and why?

A. No, I don't really have a
favourite machine, as I tend to focus
on the games rather than the
platforms. I do have a fondness for
the Amstrad CPC as it was my first
computer. Respect is due to the PCs
that I have had, which provided
access to emulators and the
production of Retroaction.

Q. Do you have a "retro" game that
always gives you the WOW factor? For
myself I still look at Elite and get
that WOW factor, even now.

A. I'm always amazed at the
playability that Laser Squad can give
after all these years. Such depth in
a game that looks very simplistic. A
great example of gameplay over
graphics.

Q. Retro is becoming quite a big
business; machines are selling for
larger and larger amounts as time
goes on. Has this spoiled some of the
fun?

A. Yes, it probably does spoil things
a little, although rising prices for
ageing product is inevitable,
especially as they become more rare.

Q. Do you think Emulation has helped
raise the profile of "retro" machines
or do you think the Emulators
detracted from the machine in some
way?

A. Emulation has been (and still is)
very important to the retrogaming
scene. Without BlueMSX, I would not
have been introduced to the MSX.
Also, many homebrew coders use
emulators to produce their games.
Eventually, the actual machines will
disappear through failure or
clearouts and emulation will become
the only way to play games that were
designed for these machines.

Q. Running the machine under
emulation can't compete with running
the machine in the flesh can it?

A. You're right, that's one thing
that emulation can't recreate (at
least, not at the moment): the
feeling of physically using the
actual machine.

Q. Do you follow new developments in
machines like the MINIMIG and the
1541 Ultimate and Uiec projects?

A. I have noticed the Minimig and was
very impressed. The 1541 Ultimate and
Uiec also look like great projects.
It's great to see people keeping the
old machines alive with projects like
these.

Q. OK, can I put you on the line
which machine is best, or if that
makes you feel uneasy can you give me
a top 10 of machines you prefer and
why?

A. PC is a must for me, mainly for
its emulation capabilities, DOS
access and Windows games. The Amstrad
CPC and C64 are two 8-bit computers
that I have great affection for, as I
owned both machines in the past. They
are also capable of producing some
fine games, still. Out of the 16-bit
computers, I preferred the Amiga for
games such as Speedball 2 and
Sensible World of Soccer. The Sega
Mega Drive was the only console I
ever had, and some fine games were
released for it.

Q. Do you think a lot of machines
have failed that were technically
superior, but lacked software, and
are there any so called "failed"
machine that has a large following?

A. Oh yes, there have been many
machines that have failed, despite
being superior to their peers (the
3DO, Jaguar and Neo Geo spring to
mind). There are also machines like
the MSX that failed in the UK and USA
but had a large following in other
parts of the world (Netherlands,
Brazil, etc.). Lack of software is a
major factor in a machine's failure,
but there's also marketing,
popularity, pricing and brand loyalty
to consider.

Q. Where do you see your team and
magazine being in 5 years time? For
example, could you see the magazine
being commercially printed and sold
through retail distribution?

A. Hopefully, we will still be around
in five years time. There are no
plans to release a printed version
and I don't see it ever being
commercially available. When I dreamt
up Retroaction, it was designed to
take advantage of the interactivity
of PDF (bookmarks, anchors and
hyperlinks). Retroaction would
require a complete redesign to fit
into a print format and would not be
the same magazine.

Q. I know I struggle for articles and
text, so if a reader wanted to help
Retroaction, could they send
something to you for inclusion in the
magazine?

A. Yes, I'm always willing to listen
to any offers of help, especially
regarding homebrew reviews, as
Duffman will suffer burn out if he
continues at this rate. No Duffman,
no Retroaction. Also posting news in
our forum of new homebrew games is
welcome as we can sometimes miss a
game's release.

Q. Are you Commodore Free Readers?

A. Yes, I download each issue and
have a great read through the
articles and interviews (I enjoyed
the recent coverage of C64 Forever).
Gnome also reads CF when he can get
the chance. We also post news of new
issue releases in our forum and news
section.

Q. Do you have any other comments you
would like to add?

A. I would like to thank the whole
Retroaction team for their work this
past year. Thanks guys. Plus kudos to
everyone who helps keep the retro
scene alive by coding homebrew games,
producing ezines (like Commodore
Free), hosting retro websites, etc.
Also, thanks to everyone who has
responded to Retroaction. It's been
nice to see the scene's response to
each issue, even if it isn't always
complementary. I just love doing the
mag and if people like reading it
then that's an extra bonus.

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

Commodore Free 3D FPS Maze Shooter
http://www.commodorefree.com/

I know that many programmers have
shied away from making Doom on the 64
as the finished result would need to
loose so many elements that the game
(DOOM) would be unrecognisable. So
this project is to create a 3D style
game, Loosely based on the Doom
style, people call this First Person
Shootem up (FPS) Or First Person
Perspective Shoot em up (FPPS)

In these types of games you run
around corridors clicking switches
and collecting keys and killing
aliens or Bad guys, collecting ammo
and health points and upgrades to
your hardware i.e. updated guns or
grenades. The First person
perspective would be the preferred
method Hence the FPS title. And would
need to include level editor add on,
(doom had WAD files with character
data and music this would also be
welcome addition for add on packs
etc..)

If people want to donate to the
project as a prize money find then
ensure you say that the money donated
is for the 3d maze FPS. The game
would be released by the Commodore
Computer club with full graphics
artwork and in different formats, eg.
disk. ad card, digital download

So. would you be interested in
purchasing such a game and how much
would you be prepared to pay £12 ? +
postage, of course this is all
theoretical at the moment as we have
no game and no full idea if anyone is
interested in programming it, our
purchasing it, please mark emails on
the subject to
commodorefree@commodorefree.com
title Commodore Free 3D FPS I will
updating my web pages from the main
Commodore Free page about the project
when interest is sufficient.

The programmer will receive a set
amount per sold item of the game (yet
to be decided and it would depend on
media and art work costs) of course
if more people are interested then it
may mean more money for the
programmer to entice them to the
challenge, as well as the set amount
per game sold any money in the
"donations pot" would be prize money
to the programmer. You know it can be
done. I know it can be done it just
need someone with the skills to
create such a game,

DO NOT CONFUSE this with the
http://www.Commodorescene.org.uk/
project to create Doom64 this is a
different project and I believe
Commodore Scenes project is now
closed. The Commodore Free project is
to create a FPS (first person Shootem
up) in the Doom style.

You can use whatever add-ons you feel
are needed for example

The Cmd scpu
the 1541 ultimate
Cmd Ramlink /Hard disk
Uiec Devices

Thanks
Nigel http://www.commodorefree.com/

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

Evil Computers
Lord Ronin

I rant on the glory and wonder of the
Commodore PC in my writings, irc and
in real life. As it is the system
that took a computer phobic to a
fanatical C= user But what did it
have to overcome? I don't just mean
me, personally, but for my
generation. Making the question of
what was wrong with computers and my
generation?

The question is answered in the title
to this piece.

OK I am a baby boomer, somewhere
around 60 years of age. Well
physically if not mentally. So lets
take the TARDIS and jump back to the
late 50s, and into the 60s I think I
can remember the 60s. Sort of all in
a purple haze to me.

Computers and Robots which were the
same thing back in that time, were
vile evil creations of ancient races
or mad scientists or alien invaders.
Trying to destroy mankind and or the
Earth. Well that is what we were told
as kids in that time. Tossed at us in
the Saturday night monster movies You
know those 2nd features at the drive
in, (does that show my age?) Given to
us for entertainment. even Gort in
the Day the Earth Stood Still, is a
computer Robot, and could destroy the
world. And that movie was tame
compared to the others we saw in that
time. Comic books, (and I read a lot
of them at that time). Computers
controlled people and robots. All of
them seemed to be the enemy. T.V.
shows gave us mixed messages. Some
robots and computers where friends,
and more intelligent than the
characters, self sacrificing servant
(the slave) of man.

My mind remembers that those shows
were pretty lame even for my age.
Take Star Trek, how many good
computer - robotic systems existed?
Even the one on the Enterprise gave
them problems at times. Though I have
not seen it for over 40 years. I
remember in the Avengers, that there
was a mad computer thing. Then in my
favourite show the Prisoner in the
episode 'The General". The computer
is programming the members of the
Village. Another one had a mind
transfer story, with of course was
completed with the aid of a computer.
Then at the end of that series. #1
sees them using the computers to set
off the missile.

Of course there are also the novels.
I still have many of them with the
(get ready for this one!) 35 cent
cover price! Paper back books in the
Sci-fi field. Good ones and ones that
make my work look like Pulitzer prize
winning material. One I remember was
computers running star ships to
conquer the universe. Or was that a
collection of books using that very
same theme? This went into the 80s as
well. Can't remember the series or
the author. But I remember the
computers going after "bad life" in
several books in the series by the
author. Even today, in the prequels
to the Dune series, there are the
computers as bad guys (Butlerian
Jihad for Dune fans)

I love the Geny and Sylvia Anderson
shows. FireBall XL5, Stingray,
Thunderbirds, Joe 90, U.F.O.. and
Gerry's show TerraHawks. Those are
the ones that after, more years than
I want to count. I have collected on
DVD. Few more that I want to find as
well. But for this piece of text. Oh
yeah there are stories about bad
computers Even for a kids show.
Another one of that time that I like,
though to be honest never saw the
show just the movie, till 1982. But
have rented all that I could find and
am buying them up now on DVD. "Dr.
Who," and for those that know me I am
not the William Hartnell Doctor.
Though about as cranky and goruchy
(LOL). And yeah computers are also
the bad thing. One episode in
particular sticks out in my mind.
Keys of Time series, where the enemy
planet is run by the computer.

OK you are getting the idea that my
generation. Based on the media to
which we were exposed. Have an image
of computers that is a bit off. Not
only that they are evil things But
that they are impersonal and are
stripping the user of all
personality. Take the stereotype
image of a computer user in the 60s
and early 70s. Short haired, thick
glasses, held together with tape.
White button down shirt with plastic
pocket protector. Stuffed with pens
and diddle sticks. Absolutely no
personal life outside of dealing with
the computer. Ah for the record. I
don't look like that at all. (EDITOR
hmmmmmmmm I do! and come to think of
it I have no life outside computers,
wouldn't it be cool to live in a
house shaped like a Commodore 64 !
Sorry go on ..)

More like something that crawled out
of the jungle from the war, and or a
crazed biker. Blow that stereotype.
But then today EC all break that
image.

Well there is a lot of input to my
generation. So far I have related the
media input and social input to our
impressionable minds. Remember also
that in the 60s we were a bit
rebellious against the established
order of the establishment. Oh wait I
still am. So computers where looked
upon as impersonal things that also
would take jobs away from people.

But there is another input that made
computers evil for us. This one I
witnessed. My Dad got in the gas
biII. Can't remember the amount, but
it was way over the monthly income.
He hit the roof, well he hit the
walls. Went from English to German. I
knew that meant he was ticked off,
and then into Yiddish. OK that meant
it was time to head to the bunker.
Dad was livid. He went to the phone
and well. I can't repeat what he
said. As this is not a restricted
publication. Oh he was hot on the
phone. Didn't help when they told him
that computers don't make mistakes.
Now it isn't that the amount on the
bill was wrong, though it was! Ah you
see, we had propane. We were many
miles from the gas line. I mean, we
didn't have natural gas in the house.
But they said we did and that we owed
that gigantic amount of money.

Years later when I was in college. I
learned some key punching in Fortran
for my electronics degree. There I
learned how a misread line by the key
punch operator could smeg everything
up. OK and how to make those cards
disintegrate in the machines. Dad
eventually won the bill problem. When
the meter reader came out to the
house. Not being able to find a gas
meter, let alone a gas main within 10
miles of the house. This happened to
many people with utility bills, as
well as bank statements. I still
remember the "Please do not fold
spindle or mutilate" messages on the
bills. As they where the punch cards.

That class I had to take, is where I
heard more of the honour stories of
computers and people in the 60s.
Fingers being smashed or cut off in
the machines. In fact I remember the
room with the actual computer. Ran on
magnetic tape reels. Was a super
clean room. Hat. coat, booties, and I
had to have a mask because of my
beard. Went in there just once. Swear
it took most of the class time to put
on and then remove all that stuff.

So take all of that, and you can get
the idea why members of my generation
were computer phobic at my level, and
just not that interested at the lower
level. But what could turn us around?
Ah. kids man, kids. When the C=64
come out. I was on my 3rd marriage.
My kids by my first wife were 6 and
11. And not living with me. So it
puts me out of the field. However in
talks with others of my generation, I
gained the information. Computers
didn't have the same feeling for the
kids of our generation, that they had
for us. They really hadn't entered
the work place in any real force. OK
I had them where I worked, because I
was the Chief Tech for a local Radio
Shack store, and dealt with the
TRS-80 4k units. Which I sold to
parents for their kids. I think the
cost was like $400 or $600 for them.
Really can't remember that one.

OK many of you know that I am into
Role Playing Games. For over 30
years. Well not all of these games
are sword and sorcery. I enjoy the
Sci-Fi ones, and the Espionage ones.
But my feelings towards computers
became a road block. In fact I took
my favourite game Top Secret, the
first espionage game. Putting it in
1971. Besides being a familiar time
frame for me. But it also meant not
having to deal with computers. But in
games like Traveller, well there are
computers. I could have the dice
rolls for the players to do things
with for and to the computers. But
couldn't story tell that part of the
story for the game. Made the game go
flat when there was anything dealing
with computers. One gamer at the time
had a Franklin computer. He tried to
get me to do something with it. and I
bloody well near had a panic attack.

My mum had been trying to get me into
the computer thing. Saying that I was
a writer and needed the computer for
that sort of work. Well it took  a
late Hannukha present, and her having
a quintuple bypass for me to go visit
her and pick up the system. Scared to
death of thing. All the way on the
400 mile drive, then worse when it
was sitting on the coffee table, and
two of the commune members hooked it
up for a test. More scared to do
anything with it. like I would
destroy something. Well I did later
and more than once with disks. But
that is another tale.

Eventually I went over the 64 guide.
Can't remember how long it took. But
it was over a day and I did it in one
sitting. Not a thing I would suggest
to anyone. What is the most important
about this book is that it was made
for me. Not for the kids of the early
80s. But for me the non computer
liker of some level. That book takes
you from putting the system together
into making Michael row the boat
ashore, as a musical piece. I never
did that part to this day. What I did
do is change in that one session from
the computer phobic, to tolerating
and then wanting more. Now today a
Commodore fanatic. Sure I can say it
is because of the greatness of the
Commodore system. But no that isn't
the truth of how I changed. Only why
I still use the Commodore PC. That
book is what created the change.

Now it may be only my own mind that
feels this way. But it is my theory
that the users guide was made for the
father to read, and not the kids. I
have this image in my mind. Where Dad
has been badgered like only kids can
do to a parent. Finally buying the
64. Taking it home, hooking it up on
a coffee table to the T.V. Just to
make the kids happy. Then to
understand the thing. So he could
tell the kids what to do and not to
do. he went over the manual. I have
that feeling because of the way the
manual reads to me. Writing style and
the presentation of the contents.
Maybe it is just me, or it was
intentional by CBM or it is just an
accident that it happened that way.
But for me that manual was what
turned me from scared to death to
fanatical devotee.

Now I also use a Linux. Know many
people that use other PC platforms.
They don't have the relationship that
I have to this Commodore. That is to
their other computer platforms. I see
them or hear about them, going online
to do e-mail, play games, watch TV.
get the news, listen to a radio
station, and all of those other
things. I have even heard about a
parent using an instant messaging
thing to let the rest of the family
know it was dinner time. Having like
4 computers set up for the entire
family. Thinking about that and how
we were media blasted about computers
controlling us. Well I guess for non
C= users that tag line I saw long ago
is true. "The Computer Wars are over.
The Computers won!" We programme the
C=. the other platforms seem to
programme us. Guess for many what we
feared as kids has become a reality.
We are the servants of the computers,
they have taken over. Except for us
C= users. Oh wait a moment. I spend 5
or more hours a day working on
writing stuff with my Commodore.
Guess I was taken over as well, but
at least by the friendly PC (VBG)

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

geoGlyph now available
Bruce Thomas

I've never met fellow Canadian Sean
Huxter in person but I have a
Love/Hate relationship with the man's
work.

I Love the fact that he has written
some great software for GEOS.

I Hate the fact that his games are so
good they take up a lot of my time.

I first learned about Sean through
ggeoWorld Magazine back in 1988 when
he won a Berkeley SoftWorks GEOS
competition for his Comic Book 'The
Runner'
(http://www.huxter.org/c64/geos/runner
.htm ).

Over the years Sean also contributed
to the GEOS gaming experience with a
number of games including "Hazard!"
which, according to my "enGEOyable
Entertainment" feature article
(http://members.shaw.ca/cue64/cwgames.
html) in Commodore World #20
(http://cmdrkey.com/cbm/cworld/back/is
sue20.html ) in 1997, was the only
game that was automatically loaded
into my RAM Expander when I booted
GEOS.

Sean and I have corresponded a number
of times about a variety of GEOS
topics and I even provided him with
missing copies of his Runner Comic
several years ago when he couldn't
locate his originals. He has moved on
to other programming pursuits since
the 80's but his announcement earlier
this year that he was programming a
new game for GEOS indicated he still
has a soft spot for the old C-64.

I was very excited to hear about
Sean's new game. Not only did he
announce the game, he told everyone
they could follow along with his
Developer's Diary
(http://www.huxter.org/c64/geos/geogly
ph/dev.htm ) as he created this new
masterpiece. For anyone wanting to
learn, or improve, their GEOS
programming I highly recommend
reading Sean's Diary as a means to
discover the work that goes into the
design and creation of what appears
to be a small, simple, program.

When the time came for testing the
game I quickly put my name forward to
Sean as a Beta Tester.

I found a few issues and reported
back to Sean. He soon sent out a new
version after squashing the bugs that
the Beta Test crew had found. No
errors were reported in the second
version so he put together his final
release version, added a bit more
sound, and announced a special
feature I'll mention in a bit.

The Desk Accessory (D.A.) runs as
designed on GEOS 64 or 128. I mostly
use Wheels on both my systems but
that isn't a problem as the game runs
fine under Wheels. If you have a CMD
SuperCPU (or most any other
Accelerator I would guess) you need
to switch to 1 Mhz mode to be able to
enjoy the animations and sound in the
game. Also, since it uses colour it
only runs in 40 column mode under
GEOS/Wheels 128 - this means you
can't play it from geoWrite 128 or
other 80 column programs.

As with all of Sean's software and
art for the Commodore you are able to
download geoGlyph from his web site
at:
http://www.huxter.org/c64/c64.htm

You can go directly to the geoGlyph
page at:
http://www.huxter.org/geoglyph

On the geoGlyph page you will find a
link to download the D64 image and
also instructions for the game. Since
geoGlyph is a D.A. there is no room
to include instructions in the file
but gameplay is fairly
straightforward after you read the
web page.

So, what is the special feature that
Sean announced? Well, it takes a bit
of effort on your part.

Sean has gone down a similar road
before. With geoComix he created a
program that users could use as a
framework for their own graphic
stories. To the best of my knowledge
nobody else ever made their own
geoComix version. Sean is going to
help this time.

If you design your own glyphs and
send the geoPaint file to Sean he
will create your very own
personalized version of geoGlyph and
send it back to you. Your own GEOS
game for a little effort and $20.
Read all about this at:
http://www.huxter.org/c64/geos/geoglyp
h/geoglyph-custom.htm

This offer to create a custom version
will not be around forever so act
fast if you are interested. I've
already sent my custom glyphs (based
on GEOS program icons) to Sean and
expect to be playing my own game soon.

While I am waiting for that to arrive
I'll happily go back to playing the
released version of geoGlyph, along
with Hazard!, SuperMind, and
geoMimic. And Hate how much time I'm
wasting. :)

enGEOy!

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

COMMODORE COMPUTER CLUB UK. MEMBERSHIP
http://commodorecomputerclub.co.uk/mem
bership.php

My personal details

Name
______________________________________

Address
______________________________________

Postcode __________________________

Email address
______________________________________

Forum name (if registered)
________________________________

I wish to be a member for
[_] 6 months* - £3
[_] 1 year* - £5
[_] Life member - £30

* Membership fees for 6 months or 1
year will be back-dated to the
beginning of the month that the
membership application has been made
and relevant fee has been cleared
into our account. This can be paid
either by personal cheque, postal
order or PayPal. Membership fees are
currently £3 for six months, £5 per
year or £30 for life membership.

Please tick your interests from the
following
[_] Gaming
[_] Tech/scene demos
[_] GEOS  JOS/WINGS
[_] BASIC programming  Machine
    language
[_] Collecting  Archiving/preservation
[_] Other applications
Specify other application
______________________________________

Please tick if you use any of the
following peripherals
[_] Datasette
[_] 1541 compatible drive
[_] 1581 compatible drive
[_] CMD FD2000/4000
[_] CMD HD or RAMLink
[_] 1351 mouse/compatible
[_] Commodore REU  Other RAM expansion
[_] SuperCPU 64/128  Other accelerator
[_] MMC/Retro Replay
[_] SwiftLINK/Turbo232
[_] RR-Net or FB-Net  Other
    networking device
[_] 1541Ultimate/+
[_] Action Replay
[_] Expert Cartridge
[_] Other cartridge upgrade
[_] JiffyDOS  Other speed loader
[_] Commodore VDU  Other hardware
Hardware not above
______________________________________

Please tick which computers you own
[_] CBM/PET 40 columns
[_] CBM/PET 80 columns
[_] VIC 20
[_] C64/64c
[_] C64GS  SX-64
[_] C16/116  Plus/4
[_] C128/C128D  C64DTV
[_] Other Commodore 8-bit
[_] Other Commodore 16-bit
Specify other computer
______________________________________

[_] I declare that I, the named
applicant above, have read and
understood the CCC (UK) rules and
regulations, and agree to abide by
them fully and co-operatively. I
understand that I am joining this
club on a personal level, and not as
a representative of any group,
developer, publisher or vendor that I
belong to.

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

COMMODORE COMPUTER CLUB (UK) RULES
AND REGULATIONS
http://commodorecomputerclub.co.uk/vie
w.php?art=ccc_rules&loc=documents

These rules were agreed on Saturday
26th July 2008 at our first meeting
held at Blackburn, Lancashire. They
cover all rules of the running of the
Commodore Computer Club (UK), herein
referred to as 'the club', and also
regarding complaints made to the
club, and membership of the club.
(1) Membership subscriptions, raising
funds and re-selling items.
(a) All members will pay a membership
fee as follows: £3 for six months, £5
per year and life membership at £30.
This fee will entitle the holder to
free entry to the meetings, and
special limited areas of the website,
such as private forums and exclusive
downloads, should we get anything
exclusive to download. Membership
will always be back-dated to the
start of the month in which the
member took out the subscription, so
that everyone joining in the month of
April for one year will see their
membership expire on the 31st of
March the following year.
(b) We should have a 'Commodore
Computer Club Shop', which will stock
all of the latest hardware mods and
sods for Commodore computers where
possible. To stop the 'Maurice
Randall' effect, in which the club
will have to repay people for not
receiving their goods because they
haven't been delivered but have been
paid for, items will only be on sale
if they are in stock.
(c) There will be two prices, one for
members (cost of item + postage and
packing + 10%), and one for none
members (cost + postage and packing +
20%).
(d) Any members that do work for the
club, organising events, donating
items for auction, coding, or are
otherwise active, with exception to
posting on forums and turning up to
meetings, will be considered for free
membership and/or lifetime membership
on merit based only on work they have
done for the club. In certain
instances, will include what they
have contributed overall to Commodore
computing or gaming during their
life-time, should any 'Commodore
legends' show sufficient interest to
join the club.
(2) Events, software and other
developments.
(a) Any money that is raised by the
club should be used primarily for
setting up events, or bolting onto
other events as appropriate This is
to go towards, or cover costs of van
hire, hotels, and food and drink, so
the person or people who are willing
to travelling to these events, man
stalls and generally promote the club
and its work are not be out of pocket
as far as possible.
(b) Profits made from items sold at
events should contribute to cover the
costs of attending, or hosting,
and/or expenses accrued during the
event. This will not include monies
raised from membership subscriptions
paid for during the event.
(c) The club should also seek to
raise money for the purpose of
developing hardware and/or software
that will benefit Commodore users in
the UK and world-wide, and such items
could therefore be sold through the
club Shop.
(d) Payments to developers who are
commissioned to work on behalf of the
club should not be made in advanced
or up front unless otherwise agreed
by the treasurer and chair-person,
and any other two members. This
should be openly discussed with all
members either in private members
areas of the site, or at an organised
meeting as appropriate.
(e) Hardware that is commissioned on
behalf of the club which reaches
production should be sold at a small
profit, and monies raised to put back
into the clubs funds.
(f) If it is agreed that the club
should commission entertainment
software, the productions should be
available to download for free from
the site for members only. Real-media
versions should also be sold through
the shop with non-members able to buy
copies, though at a higher price than
members.
(g) Any software commissioned by the
club will either be purchased
outright, paying the programmer an
agreed fee on completion, or paying a
lesser fee and splitting the profits
at an agreed rate. This should be
discussed on a case-by-case basis.
The chair-person and treasurer, and
two other members, must agree which
method should be implemented.
(3) Meetings and monies.
(a) The club should hold an annual
general meeting in which members have
a say in its running, and are able to
make suggestions and table official
club business for the year ahead.
Membership subscriptions should be
reviewed at the annual general
meeting, and any price increases must
be agreed by the chair-person,
treasurer and at least two other
members.
(b) There should be an annual audit
of the clubs finances, with a
news-letter at least every three
months. The audit should be published
before the annual general meeting,
and this and the news-letter should
be available to current members
online in the private member areas.
Former members may request this
information, which will be granted on
a case-by-case basis.
(c) Members will be able to attend
any events that organised and run by
the club for free when ever possible,
whilst non-members will pay a small
signing in fee of at least £2.50.
With agreement with other event
organisers, and at events that the
club is attending in an official
capacity, we will work towards
getting members a discounted entry
fee.
(d) All monies raised will go back
into club funds.
(4) End of line.
(a) If it is apparent that the club
is not running within its means to
the extent that it is likely to fold,
or that legal action against it will
lead to the club being dissolved, all
club assets should be sold or
auctioned off, the monies raised
pooled and members will be refunded
their current subscriptions based on
the length of time they have been
members. The longest-serving paying
members will be refunded first as
appropriate, either partially or
fully depending on the financial
circumstances at the time. The newer
members will be dealt with last.
(b) Personal donations to the club's
funds can never be fully refunded,
and are not guaranteed to be paid
back at all depending on the
circumstances.
Club complaints procedure:
Phase 1: Where a complaint is made
against the club, or one of the club
members, there should initially be a
private apology between the club or
individual and the plaintiff. This
apology should be for 'any undue harm
or upset caused', and will not amount
to an admission of guilt or a
retraction in any way. The club will
not be able to force any of its
members to make this initial apology
except in the instance that the
individual has clearly and admittedly
worked on the clubs behalf in the
matter specifically relating to the
complaint that has been lodged.
Phase 2: The matter should then be
investigated to establish the facts.
If it is deemed that an individual
club member has not been acting on
the clubs behalf with regards to the
specifics of the complaint, then this
becomes a personal matter between the
two parties. The club should
therefore stop any further
investigations or involvement in the
matter.
Phase 3: If the complaint lacks any
real evidence, or it is felt that the
findings are not conclusive, then the
matter should be closed. Neither the
club, nor any of its members, should
therefore discuss the matter
publicly. All findings should be
reported to the plaintiff, and the
matter should be considered closed
from the club's point of view.
Phase 4: Where a complaint is upheld,
a public apology and/or retraction
should be published through the
official website, and in the
newsletter. The club should also give
the plaintiff the opportunity to give
his or her point of view through the
website and/or newsletter as
appropriate In this instance, the
case will be considered closed from
the club's point of view unless the
plaintiff wants to take the matter
further through due legal process.
Emergency phase: If at any point
during this process the plaintiff
feels aggrieved to the extent that he
or she instructs a solicitor to take
the matter up against the club or
club members who have clearly being
acting on behalf of the club in this
instance, the club should then
consider its legal position on the
matter, and a meeting should be set
up with the principle members of the
club within two weeks of receiving
legal notice to discuss the matter,
and what to do next. Obviously, one
would hope that any complaint would
ever get to this stage.
Membership:
People who join the club will have a
personal membership to it. They may
not join the club as a company,
publisher or software distributor or
hardware vendor.
Newsletter and reviews:
The Commodore Computer Club (UK) is
an independent user group which will
review and stock all appropriate
wares. We will do so on merit only,
and invite all members to have their
say about any literature published
through the newsletter or any reviews
written on behalf of the club. We
will invite hardware and software
vendors and publishers to have their
say on reviews written, and we will
publish their comments through the
newsletter.

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