I think I want to make a Commodore 64 game.

[Ziggy]

The Commodore 64 has interested me for a while now. Recently I've been reading up on it more and thinking about purchasing one. While reading about them, I came to realize that not only did they try to make creating your own programs easy, they straight up encouraged it. The manuals that came with the C64 actually teach you a little bit how to program, and instruct you how to write a little Celsius/Fahrenheit converter programmer (among other things).

This interested me very much. I've always wanted to learn more about programming, and BASIC (the language that the C64 uses) seems really simple to use as far as computer languages go. From the few things I've read/watched so far, it seems easy to understand and learn. I know there's more relevant languages, but this seems like the best starting point for learning how to program. It helps that there's a sites and forums dedicated to the C64, so I should have good resources and be able to find help if I get stuck. Also, retro gaming on a Commodore 64.

So I'd love to make a platformer, but after thinking about it, I think I should start with something more simple. A platformer sprite needs to have multiple frames of animations (left/right facing, walk/jump) and everything else that comes with a platformer. So I was thinking, a scrolling shooter should be easier with one static sprite that can freely move in any direction.

So when I got to thinking, I came up with the premise for a game that makes me laugh. I thought I'd share.

Edit: I'm gonna keep my game idea secret until I have something built at least.

Of course, I realize it will be some time before I'm able to build such a game. But having these ideas motivate me to learn how to do it. To start with, I'd be happy to just build a sprite and be able to move it around the screen with a joystick. Then hopefully, little by little, I can learn how to implement things one at a time.


Any one here ever program on/for the Commodore 64? Tips? Links? We don't have a lot of C64 talk on the forums, do we?

[CRTGAMER]

Neat game ideas!

I have typed in numerous programs off Compute and Compute Gazette back in the day, got an idea how each line number worked. Any game in pure basic can have the graphics and sprites, but game play will be very very slow. There are machine language routines that can be added for the joy stick read and sprite movement, but you have to know machine code which looked intense to learn.

Suggest looking online for basic programs to type in to get an idea of the structure. The IF, FOR and GOTO commands.

[Ziggy]

Suggest looking online for basic programs to type in to get an idea of the structure. The IF, FOR and GOTO commands.

Exactly what I've been doing. I've found a couple of manuals/books that have been posted online, so I was reading through those a little. I'm currently bidding on a few books. And there's also a couple of YouTube videos that give you a basic idea (like one that created a sprite and programmed simple movement, typing the entire code out in front of your eyes). So I'm already getting familiar with the commands.

I was thinking, instead of jumping straight into trying to build a game, I might start with some more simple programs. There's a bunch you can find, like the C/F converter I mentioned. I was thinking about trying to build a resistor band reader. You input each color band and then the program tells you what value the resistor is. Or maybe a voltage divider calculator, where you type in the input voltage and values of two resistors and the program tells you the output voltage.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Ha! My wife and I were just talking about the C64 homebrew scene last night.

There are plenty of resources out there, as you seem to know, and you seem to have the skillz. Go for it!

[Luke]

Do, or do not. There is no think.

[BoneSnapDeez]

btw Ziggy,

You say you don't own a C64 yet. Are you familiar with the system at all? Play any number of games for it yet? I can give some basic details.

[Exhuminator]

There is a market for modern created C64 games. In 2012 I actually bought a brand new C64 game as a matter of fact. The game in question being Soulless: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/soulless/soulless.htm

I say go for it man. People are still making new games for all kinds of "obsolete" platforms, and are certainly making money in doing so. Or just do it for fun!

[Ziggy]

I'm a ways off from being able to make a game that people would be willing to spend money on.

But yeah, it's nice that the C64 scene is alive. I especially love the options available to replace the tape and disk drives, that's always great.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm a ways off from being able to make a game that people would be willing to spend money on.

Don't be too hard on yourself.

Remember, Commodore themselves published games like this...

And people bought them.

[Ziggy]

So I've been slowly working on learning the C64. No, this wasn't an "idea of the week" that I forgot about already. I'm just going slow. I've been collecting books and links. I've been using the emulator VICE to write small bullshit programs. I'm just playing around with various commands and changing colors around, crap like that. I'm just trying to familiarize myself with BASIC, and get all the commonly used commands and memory locations memorized.

I found an awesome program called CBM .prg Studio. It lets you write in BASIC or machine code and will compile it to a .prg for you to run in an emulator or on real hardware. It also includes a sprite and character editor and other fun stuff. It's definitely the best thing I've found so far for helping with C64 programming.

After I'm done messing around with simple bullshit, I plan to make a text adventure game. A text adventure will be really easy to program for (I can do the entire thing in BASIC) and it'll be a good way to practice more. After that, then I'll try and move onto creating my original game idea. BTW, I edited my game idea out of the first post. I like it so much, I don't want any one to steal it!

I'm not gonna bother posting nonsense in this thread, so expect it to get bumped way down and forgot about for a while. After I'm done with my text adventure, if I'm not totally embarrassed of it, I'll share it here.

edit: I wrote my first program with a function that's actually useful! It's a resistor voltage divider calculator. You type in the input voltage and the values for resistor 1 and 2 and it'll calculate the output voltage for you. When I get home from work, I plan to expand the program so you can type in the input voltage, desired output voltage, and resistor 1 and the program will calculate the value for resistor 2. Currently you can only input volts (not mV, etc) and ohms (not kohm, etc) but I might try and implement more. I know it's not the most complicated program in the world, but I'm proud of it nonetheless.