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Commodore_Free_Issue_06_2007_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64
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t.iv horrocks
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2023-02-26
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u
Interview with HOXS-project
David Horrocks
Q Hello David, and thanks for taking
the time to answer our few questions.
Perhaps you want to introduce yourself
first?
A I am David Horrocks and I live and
work in England, Cheshire as a
Software Engineer. I currently design
and maintain data management
applications which makes Hoxs64 a very
different type of project to what I do
at the office
Q When did you start the HOXS-Project
(we may assume that the name of the
Emulator comes from the surname of the
author?) and what has been your aim?
A Yes. The name Hoxs comes from my
surname. I sometimes wonder if I
should have come up with something
more snazzy but at least the
originality presented no problems
getting a .com domain name. The Hoxs64
project starting during a period of
annual leave early in January 2001.
The initial aim was for me to
understand what made a computer like
the C64 tick. I was inspired by seeing
other emulators and I mistakenly
thought it would be a quick job to
throw together a CPU and graphics
emulation based on the programmers
reference guide.
But things were more complex as I
delved deep into the inner working and
then the project just grew and grew.
The CPU emulation being the first part
to be designed was quiet tedious.
There was no visual result for me see
how things were progressing. The
disassemble window was a necessary
item to help view the progress of the
CPU.
I remember getting the CPU to execute
the initial C64 ROM boot code but
would get stuck looking for a non
existent VIC graphics chip. That was
my cue to begin coding the VIC
emulation. It was major milestone just
to get to the point where Hoxs64 could
display the words
**** COMMODORE 64 BASIC V2 *****
as every C64 emulator author will
surely testify. A large amount of work
takes place before there is even just
one pixel dot to show for. There is no
half way house to show. C64 software
simply will not run with until you
have all of a RAM, ROM, CPU, VIC and
CIA emulation all put together in the
right way
Q Why do you think there is a need
for yet another C64 Emulator for
Windows? What can HOXS do that WinVice
or CCS64 can't?
A With good emulators like Vice and
CCS it is tough to argue the need for
a new emulator. These emulators have
features that are currently missing in
Hoxs64 such as ROM cartridge support,
mouse and tape seek interface just to
mention some. But there are a couple
of unique things about Hoxs64. Vincent
Joguin's
http://www.oldskool.org/disk2fdi/ FDI
support has recently been added. FDI
support gives Hoxs64 better
accessibility to copy protected disks.
As far as I know, Hoxs64 is the only
C64 emulator in the world to emulate
cycle based sprite collision and the
only one that can run Emu-Fuxx0r
protected
software
http://www.btinternet.com/{$fe}hoxs64/Plus
hDEmu-Fuxx0rDV2.zip
Q Is HOXS rather adressed to the
"skilled-programmer" than to the
"quick-gamer"? Because there are
several games that do not run on the
emulator - how compatible do you think
is HOXS in its present version?
A Hoxs64 is aimed at all C64 users
both programmers and gamers. I will
admit that until I revamp the debugger
then programmers are not as well
catered for as compared to the fully
featured debugger in WinVice.
I am not aware of any games that do
not run in Hoxs64. If anyone finds a
game not working then I would be happy
receive the file image for the purpose
of improving the emulation.
Occasionally a user will mail a game
that does not work. One such example
was MicroLeague Baseball which
recently got fixed. This game required
D64 custom track format support which
was subsequently added to the disk
drive emulation.
In my humble opinion the C64 side of
the emulation has reached such a high
level that no legacy software should
fail. It is still possible that there
is an inaccuracy in the C64 emulation
or 1541 disk emulation that will cause
some software to fail and I would be
happy to inspect such software.
Q What fixes/Updates for HOXS are
waiting for us in the immanent future?
A Updates for the future hope to
include a better debugger, speed
optimisation, tape seek and save. But
these features are not immanent at
present. The only thing that controls
progress is how much time I have to
spend.
QIs it planned to establish a
HOXS-port on Linux or even MacOS
Computers?
A No Linux or Mac port is planned
largely due the fact I don't have
Linux or Mac. My priorities are to
improve the emulation accuracy and
user accessibility to both gamers and
programmers.
Have a big "Thank You" for the
interview!
Regards David
Hoxs64 is a Commodore 64 direct X
emulator written by David Horrocks
with the help of documents written by
the following people.
Many thanks to: Christian Bauer for
the VIC-II 6569 info. Marko Makela for
the CPU 6510 info. Wolfgang Lorenz for
the CIA 6526 info. Ruud Baltissen for
the floppy disk controller info
...end...