[Note that v1.1b of C64S allows multi-disk games without hassle. I
include this since some people may not like the time limit in the
shareware version of C64S 1.1b/c. -tsr]
J. Kevin Wells - nstn1297@fox.nstn.ca writes:
There is a method of playing multi-disk-image games with C64S 1.0C shareware.
The method is a bit cumbersome and works best with games that involve infrequent disk changes.
1. Copy the first disk-image file as TESTDISK.D64.
2. Start C64S.
3. Load and play the game until you are prompted for a new disk.
4. Press F9 to bring up the utility options. Press Alt-T to enter
the tape-image section and press enter on TESTTAPE.T64.
5. Press F to select the Freeze option and type in a file name. Your
game will be saved to the tape drive. If the tape drive is full,
delete a file you do not need.
6. Press ESC to exit to the C64 emulator.
7. Press CTRL-BREAK to quit C64S and exit to DOS.
8. If the game has altered the disk-image in any way (saved your
game to the disk, for example), copy TESTDISK.D64 back to its
original file name from step 1.
9. Copy the requested disk-image file (usually Disk 2) to
TESTDISK.D64
10. Start C64S again.
11. Press F9. Press Alt-T to enter the tape-image section and press
enter on TESTTAPE.T64.
12. Select the file you froze in step 5. Press ESC to exit to the
emulator.
13. Press Shift-TAB to load and run the frozen program. The game
should be at the point where it is requesting the disk change.
Follow the program's instruction for signaling that you've
changed the disk.
14. When prompted for another disk, repeat the process at Step 4.
One thing to keep in mind is that the Frozen program is kept on the
tape drive until you delete it. You might want to delete the frozen
file when you're finished playing the game, or between disk swaps.
Remember that you can use this frozen file to restore your game at
the point it was frozen again and again. The Freeze option is a very
powerful feature, similar to the Snapshot cartridge on the original
C64. You can use it to save virtually any program at any point -
even games that don't have a save function.
I haven't tested this method of using multiple disks with every game
out there, but the ones I did try seemed to work. Try the method out
with a particular game, if possible, before getting into any heavy
gaming sessions.
[note, again, that none of this stuff needs to be done with
C64S 1.1b, since it allows multi-disk games without hassle. The
information is included just in case you find the ten-minute timer
on C64S 1.1b annoying.]
-------------------------
3. Using VIC-EMU.
Question:
Hi, I'm currently trying to use Peiter van Leuven's VIC-EMU to run some VIC-20 software on my AMIGA. I have some VIC files on Amiga Formatted floppy's as well, but the documentation doesn't say how to run it with the emulator! It does suggest that you have to use memory addresses, but how do us non-programmers know what memory addresses to use for a binary file or a BASIC file? I've had no success. The command structure is like this;
vic-00 $???? filename
What is the proper address for ???? in order to get a program to run?
-------
Answer 1:
Well, you might be asking about at what position Basic starts on the VIC. On an unexpanded machine, it starts at $1000 (and load file at $1001). On a +3k machine (as the emulator default), it starts at $0400 ($0401) On a +8k machine and more, Basic starts at $1200. (load at $1201)
Binary files normally load with LOAD "name",device,1 and you have to find out where to load it yourself. (I know there's a method by looking at the first bytes of the file, but I don't know how).
BTW: The version of VIC-EMU doesn't seem to load files inside the emulator very well (e.g the load-command hangs, and there's no RESTORE key).
-------
Answer 2:
Well, Pieter sent me a message letting me know how to load a BASIC or disk image file into the VIC-EMU. There is a way to find out what position a file starts at, you look at the first four bytes of the file and then switch them around, or something to that effect. Once you have done that you use that number as the memory address:
vic-20 $1000 filename
Then from the VIC emulator screen you type LOAD "filename",8 and it will load it. However, my problem is that from the CLI command, I'm not clear on what filename I'm supposed to include! The filename for the program I want to load or what? The emulator won't activate unless you include a filename in the CLI command, but putting the filename for the disk-image file you want doesn't seem to do anything, you still have to load it the old fashioned way (LOAD "",8) to get it to show up. I guess my question is; how do I just make the emulator activate (i.e. just like a vic after power up) without having it run a program, etc
----------------------
4. Getting certain games to work.
a. Racing Destruction Set
Oh, I bet I know what your Racing Destruction Set problem is. It's the one that the game tells you to flip to side two, but it never tells you to flip to side one. It's understood that you flip back to side one at every significant pause in disk acess. In particular, if you modify a car, then flip the disk back to side one before you leave the car modification menu. After loading a track from side two, when you want to return to the menu, flip back to side one BEFORE telling it to go back, because it will hapilly try and load the menu from side two and crash.
From: Chuck Cochems (zaphod@camelot.bradley.edu)
b. Mail Order Monsters
This is a hint that works wonders on the 64 version of the game:
Copy your original disk (obviously not necessary for the emulators) and change the disk name and ID (with a disk editor or utility program) to "ownerdisk,ea" This makes your master disk an owner disk (there's 100 blocks free on the original, each owner takes 1 block of Commie disk space, so you'll probably not have to worry about running out of disk space.)
I have about 9 owners on a copy of the disk, and we have a lot of fun with this game. Just keep hitting RETURN when it wants a disk. Enjoy.
From: Michael Miller (mmiller3@gac.edu)
c. Bruce Lee
Actually, I have yet to find a version of this game which doesn't crash on a real C64 (NTSC or PAL). So, my advice is to reset and try again if the game crashes on you.
4. Converting between different file formats.
Q: How can I convert the ZipCode files (1!..,2!..etc.) found on various ftp-sites to a format usable by the emulators?
A: Grab the file zip2d64.arj on any of the emulator ftp-sites. The syntax for conversion is:
zip2d64 zip.gam zipgame.d64
to convert the files 1!zip.gam
2!zip.gam
3!zip.gam
4!zip.gam
to the file zipgame.d64.
Alternatively, several C64 transfer utilities (64Copy and Star
Commander) have built-in utils for ZipCode conversion.
Q: OK, but what about Lynx files (*.lnx)?
A: On the emulator ftp-sites there is also a DOS executable that
extracts files from a Lynx archive. Alternatively, you can
down-load the C64 utility "Omega-Q" from the /utils directory at
frodo etc. Put the .lnx file into a .d64 file, run Omega-Q and
unlynx the files directly to a .d64 quickly and easily.
The C64 transfer utilities 64Copy and Star Commander also are
able to convert Lynx files to a usable format.
4. A list of ftp sites where emulation programs can be obtained.
Some of the emulation programs are duplicated at other sites. I have not listed every site that has a certain emulator, although I may have listed more than one site that has that emulator.
If you would like to more about other cbm ftp sites then read the ftp list which is posted to comp.sys.cbm regularly by Howard Herman
(72560.3467@CompuServe.COM).
Any site maintainer who wishes their site listed here only needs to send me mail advising me of that fact!
Format for listing:
Site.Name /Directory
MACHINE - program name
4.0.1 Site Maintainers.
If you have any questions about specific emulator sites, then please contact the person named below.
If you are searching for games, then I would recommend two places: arnold.hiof.no, and utopia.hacktic.nl. The files in the latter site are in the original C64 format, and will require some conversion to use in an emulator.
The site rush.uwaterloo.ca is down permanently due to excess load on the FTP machine.
nic.funet.fi /pub/amiga/audio/misc/sid-tunes
AMIGA - C64MusicShow-1.lha (for use with PlaySID/sidplay)
C64MusicShow-2.lha
Addition.lha
ftp.cnam.fr /pub2/Amiga/mods/PlaySid
AMIGA - C64MusicShow-1.lha (for use with PlaySID/sidplay)
C64MusicShow-2.lha
Addition.lha
ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de /pub/amiga/audio/mods-c64
AMIGA - C64Sounds.lha (for use with PlaySid/sidplay)
As there are several emulators for different platforms, they all cannot be made directly usable by other emulators, unless the author has provided that facility. Utilities to convert back into CBM binary generally exist fortunately.
5.1 C64 Emulators standard files - overview.
This section shows the "normal" files used by each emulator.
Program File type Identification Contents
(name or method)
c64.zip (PC) disk image VC1541.000 683 pcs 256-byte sectors
tape image - not used
C64S (PC) basic rom {SHIFT--} contains binary data for:
kernel rom {SHIFT--}- romcode.c64 VC1541 (16384 bytes), chargen
chargen rom {SHIFT--} (4096),basic (8192) and kernel
disk drive rom{SHIFT--} (8192) = total 36864 bytes
program - not used
disk image 09c *.d64 683 pcs 256-byte sectors
09a,b testdisk.d64
tape image *.t64 ?
Note: the kernel part is modified.
c64sally.zip basic rom A000BFFF.64F 8194 bytes of binary data (1)
(PC) kernel rom D000DFFF.64P 8194 bytes of binary data (1)
chargen rom E000FFFF.64P 4098 bytes of binary data (1)
disk drive rom - not used
program *.64P C64 program with load address
also SEQ files via *.64S
disk image - not used
tape image - not used
pc64*.zip basic rom *.64B 8192 bytes of binary data
(PC) kernel rom *.64K 8192 bytes of binary data
chargen rom *.64C 4096 bytes of binary data
module at $8000 *.64M 8192 or 16384 bytes of binary
data (8K at $A000 = *.64B)
disk drive rom VC1541.64D 16384 bytes of binary data
program *.P00 C64 program with load address
preceded by 24 byte header.
SEQ data file *.S00 same as *.P00 with different
USR data file *.U00 {CBM--} extensions. The 00 can be
DEL data file *.D00 {CBM--} any numbers if the 16-to-8
REL data file *.R00 {CBM--} mapping leads to duplicates.
disk image *.D64 683 pcs 256-byte sectors, plus
optionally 683 bytes error info
tape image - not used
c64.lzh (ST) basic rom c64/ basic 8192 bytes of binary data
kernel rom c64/ kernal 8192 bytes of binary data
chargen rom c64/ font 4096 bytes of binary data
disk drive rom - not used
program - C64 program with load address
disk image - not used
tape image - not used
x64 (UNIX) basic rom basic 8192 bytes of binary data (2)
