Commodore Free 37/Commodore_Free_Issue_37_2010_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64/iv mathfigure

Text File | 2023-02-26 | 16KB | 541 lines

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     INTERVIEW WITH "MATHFIGURE"
 Creator of the Commodore 64 hacking
             tool ICU64
*************************************

Q. Please introduce yourself to our
readers.

Hello, I'm Mathfigure, the creator
of the Commodore 64 hacking tool
ICU64. I am a Physicist from Greece,
and was born in 1976.

Q. How did you first start with
computers and what are your earliest
memories?

As far as I remember myself my
favourite "toy" was the hammer (the
absolute disassembly tool). I always
want to see inside the devices, to
see how they work; but soon this
interest proved too expensive (even
later, when I discover the
screwdriver!) So I changed my hobby
and started to become an athlete.

I first heard about computers in
1986. I asked my big brother what it
(a computer) is; and he told me
about a machine that looks like TV
but also has a typewriter attached,
via which you could give commands
for what you wanted to see on the
screen. I was fascinated by this
idea: a machine that I could order!
So in January 1988, after begging
our parents daily for about 18
months (I think this is a record!),
the first computer arrived at my
home: a Commodore 128D. Since then I
stuck with computers.

I started to play with commands for
graphics and thus I slowly started
to program. I familiarized myself
with the Cartesian Coordinates and
some other aspects of Analytic
Geometry before I learnt anything
about Algebra and Geometry. In
parallel there was also a Commodore
64, embedded to the C128, capable to
running thousands of games! And I
always wanted to beat a game within
two ways: to finish it and to hack
it. I have made innumerable resets
between the C64 mode and the C128
mode trying to hack some games with
the embedded debugger of the C128.
Briefly, the C128 gave me a
scientific view of the computer that
led me finally to university, but
the C64 was the machine that I
always wanted to hack and that led
me to the ICU64 project.

Q. For the people who haven't see it
or heard of it can you tell our
readers about ICU64 for FRODO, what
are the main functions you can do
with the software?

The project tries to manipulate the
C64 as a whole (hardware and
software) using the full power of
the PC. The ICU64 is aimed to be a
comprehensive tool for the most
demanding user of the C64:the
hacker. Its aim is to provide
real-time visualizations for every
internal component of the C64, as
well as other combined
visualizations that would make
clearer the operation of the
hardware and the intention of its
software.

To achieve this, the software runs
in conjunction with a modified
version of the C64 emulator FRODO
that I call Frodo Redpill. The Frodo
Redpill provides access from outside
to almost every bit and every event
that exists and occurs inside the
C64 virtual machine. Currently, the
main feature of the ICU64 is a handy
view of the address space as a
bitmap which shows the contents of
the memory and every access that is
performed by the CPU and the VIC-II.
When a byte is accessed, a
corresponding pixel is colorized:
red if written, green if read and
blue if executed (as you can imagine
combinations occur fast and often).
You can zoom out to see the whole
memory and easily distinguish data
and code, or zoom in down to the
details where you can see the values
of the individual bytes as
hexadecimal numbers, or zoom further
to see the addresses of the bytes
and the machine language mnemonics,
or even further to see the address
of the code which accessed last that
particular byte. Also, you can edit
the values of the bytes at any time.
All these functions are in real-time
while the C64 is running any
software you like. This "memory
view" is highly dynamic and
interactive, so it may sound
complex, but is really easy and
intuitive to use.

Q. So you can see every memory
access colour coded in the emulator
of the Commodore 64 and change the
bytes manually, what other features
does the software have?

There is a "graphics view" where the
contents of the RAM are decoded in 4
main ways that the video chip
(VIC-II) supports: sprites, bitmaps,
charsets and text screens. This view
is also editable. For example, you
can draw on the screen and change
the stage of a game on the fly,
giving an immediate way for cheats.
Other features are: the "display
window" that emulates the C64
display and shows the VIC state for
each raster line; a simple
visualization of the SID state; a
CPU instruction logger which tracks
the executed instructions only once,
so you can locate event handlers;
and a "raster view" which is
cycle-exact and visualizes the
activity of the VIC. At any time,
there is also the possibility to
pause the virtual machine and trace
it step-by-step, where the "step"
may be: a frame, a raster line, a
cycle, or a CPU instruction. Most of
these features have lame
implementation or they have only few
functions but they will improve with
time.

Q. How long did this software take
to program?

Well, I don't count the hours.
Usually I work on the project for a
couple of weeks then test it for
some days with several games and
demos, and then I work again after
several months. In the middle time I
work on other projects (unrelated to
C64).  My first attempt to start the
project was in 2000 but it was
hopeless. In Nov 2006, and after
working for 10 days, I had a stable
version for the VICE and the CCS64
emulators, with the memory view
(only the RAM), the graphics view
(only the sprites), and the display
window. The RAM view was a 256x256
gray scale bitmap and there was a
red highlight for every byte when
its value changed. No zoom and no
memory accesses, nevertheless it was
amazing, so I spend a lot of time
watching many games and demos under
this view. Realizing the potential,
I start to prepare the Frodo
version. Next year, several features
were added (only for Frodo), and in
Dec 2007 the program took form, in
May 2009, it was shown to the public
as a preview. During the summer some
features were removed (as they were
though too lame) and some others
were added, before the first public
release on Sep 2009.

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

Many, and really I don't know what
to add first:

* visualization of the CPU, VIC-II,
  SID, CIA1 and CIA2;
* unification of the memory view and
  the graphics view in a handy matrix
  editor;
* breakpoints;
* labels;
* auto memory map;
* several different color schemes of
  the memory;
* customizable display;
* more featured "raster view";
* more flexible instruction logger;
* snapshot manager;
* parallel executions on the same
  emulator;
* parallel synchronization of
  multiple emulators.

Be aware that some of these are just
ideas, others are closer to
implementation, and toward time
other ideas may appear. Off course
all these need a lot of time and
with my rate so far I don't know how
long will they take.

Q. So who would best utilize this
software and who did you think about
when designing the software?

Initially it was created for
personal use only, but after the
public demo and its acceptance, I
decided to spread it as far as
possible. The target user is the C64
hacker and my effort is to make his
life easier. And since the hacker is
the user who wants the most,
everybody else should be pleased too
(i.e. developers, self-learners,
gamers). I would be happy if this
tool could be utilized as a
"gamer-to-hacker converter" since a
gamer sees only the tip of the
iceberg when playing a game and
ignores how the game works (the big
part). On the other hand, this
software is not for engineers as it
visualizes only the logical
operation of the computer.

Q. Do you have a Blog or Twitter
page people can follow?

I have a blog
(http://icu64.blogspot.com ) where I
post anything new that is related to
the project (not much so far) the
blog contains links to download the
files needed to run the software.
I'm also on YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com/mathfigure)
where I have upload some previews
of the software in action.

Q. How is the software beta tested
for errors?

I test the software myself looking
for major bugs. Minor bugs may be
fixed even after the release. If the
same bug remains from one release to
another, then it should be reported
from the users, because probably I
haven't noticed it.

Q. What software did you use to
produce the software?

I use the C# of Microsoft Visual
Studio where ICU64 is written and
the C++ where Frodo Redpill is
written. Also, I use the Wolfram
Mathematica to test new features, or
to do more advanced operations,
during reverse engineering of a
game, for example.

Q. What do you need to run the
software and is the software
publicly available?

The software it is free available
from my blog. The requirements are:
a PC that runs Windows XP or better,
equipment with a mouse that has a
handy wheel for easy pan & zoom. In
the case of Windows XP, the
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or
better must also be installed. There
are two version of ICU64: the Frodo
version which needs the Frodo v4.1
emulator, and the VICE version (with
limited features) which needs the
WinVICE v2.1 emulator.

Q. Why implement this for Frodo
first rather than any other emulator

Building a prototype you want to
concentrate more on what to do and
not on how to do it. So you want
anything around your project to be
helpful and not a barrier. It was
between Frodo and VICE. Frodo has
elegant source code, and comes with
an excellent article about the
VIC-II from the creator of Frodo,
Christian Bauer. Between the article
and the emulator one could see a
one-on-one map of "what" and "how".
Thus the VIC article serves as a
very good documentation for the
source code making it even easier to
understand. Though the VICE emulator
was superior, its source code wasn't
easy to read and sooner or later
would stop my project. Actually I
started to work with VICE but soon
return to Frodo.

Q. If our readers have suggestions
to add extra features would you be
open to their ideas?

Any idea is welcome (preferably
ideas about unifications,
generalizations, or extensions).

Q. Would you release the source code
as freeware or similar?

I would like to, but first I must
get it well formed and perfected
because currently the code is a mess.

Q. Do you have any other Commodore
related projects you would be
prepared to tell our readers about?

ICU64 is meant to be an all-in-one
project, at least for me and
anything I develop around C64. I
can't imagine a tool for the C64
that couldn't embed with ICU64. One
of the major goals of this project
is to give to the user the full
control over the machine which
means, by definition, that he
shouldn't need any other tool (off
course it's still far from this).

Q. For a system considered DEAD, why
do you think there is so much
interest in the Commodore 64 and for
that matter "RETRO" computing in
general?

Nostalgia is the major reason why
most users use a retro system
periodically.  Yet, the hackers have
another reason as well: they are
trying to get the maximum from the
minimum (a hacker's principle). The
C64 demo scene is full of creative
hackers who still squeeze the C64
trying to extract the whole
potential of this machine, and
surprising they still continue to
impress us. The best demo I have
seen (Edge of Disgrace) is released
in 2008! So, the C64 is actually
LIVE. And there are a lot of people
that try with their way to keep it
like this (the fate of C64 is on the
hands of its users).

On the other hand, compare the C64
with the PC. Which is more "pretty"?
The components of the C64 are chosen
carefully to provide the maximum
potential with the minimum cost.
Have you opened a PC to see how much
unnecessary complexity and
redundancy exists there? So, the
MODERN machine is "ugly" and this is
another reason why the hobbyists who
want to study a computer as a
machine would prefer a "pretty"
RETRO one. Note also that the
emulation combines the RETRO with
the MODERN, and my project moves
toward this direction.

Q. Do you think emulation will ever
become so perfect we don't need to
keep preserving the "REAL" machines
anymore?

Absolutely! It is known that a
computer can simulate the operation
of another computer. The fact that
the current emulators have some
weakness is due to the lack of
detailed specifications and the need
to be hosted on powerful and
flexible real machines. Besides, a
"real machine" is an implementation
of a design which describes an
"ideal machine". And a "virtual
machine" is just another
implementation of the same design.
Which implementation could be closer
to the "ideal"? On the other hand,
if it so important for someone to
touch the thing, I believe that in
few years it will be possible to
"print" the parts and assemble a
real C64, at home!

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

I want to thank all the guys who
with their comments helped me to
stay concentrated on the program
during the last summer, so it can
now be made available to all. I hope
that the program will serve as a
good gym for the mind for anyone
trying to figure out how computer
software actually works. Also, I
hope that this project will inspire
more developers to create similar
tools, since there is a big
unexploited potential here.

Q. Thanks for working on such a
great piece of software.

I'm happy that you like it.

Q. For anyone curious or in need of
a demo look at these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=1TdaoOluq0A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=tjcvR5McmSg
I think when our readers see what
the software can do it won't leave
many without that WOW factor this is
the greatest thing I have seen in a
long time, I couldn't begin to think
how you wrote such piece of code
have you had any negative comments?

Indeed, there is lots of "WOW" under
the demo video, wherever posted.
However, there are some negative
comments about the background music
(as a kind of noise) and the song
(because it is a little aggressive).
Yet, this is the music on the ending
titles of "The Matrix", and due to
the obvious parallelism between the
program and the movie, this was the
only choice that I had (besides that
I like it!).

Q. I see you have quoted something
about "everything is numbers". I
guess most things can be explained
with mathematics, the way trees
form, flowers, snow etc can
EVERYTHING be expressed as a number
or formula?

OUR mathematics is applicable
everywhere human logic exists and in
the cases where the human logic is
vanished or banished (e.g. love)
then we can't do anything about.
However, this question touches the
philosophy of science so prepare for
a dive.

First, the "everything is numbers"
was a philosophical thesis of
Pythagoreans (over 2500 years ago).
In the virtual world of a digital
computer EVERYTHING is numbers (you
can see it with any debugger). As a
physicist, I think the same thing
for the real world. So far all our
efforts were to try to guess the
laws of the universe using our
classic mathematics and by doing
many physical experiments. But,
could we just see the REAL CODE of
the universe (like Neo in the
Matrix)? The Quantum Computers use
the nature as a mathematical
library, with ignorance about HOW
she does her math. But can we see
HER math? We could debug a quantum
computer but that would violate
fundamental principles of quantum
mechanics. Yet, maybe there is a
chance if we could build a "Quantum
Meta-Machine" (a kind of quantum
emulator on a quantum computer) and
then watch its operation with the
hope that this way we could cheat
the nature. We must just believe in
a more powerful principle that says:
"nothing is impossible".

Q. I guess I know why you use the
handle "mathfigure".

I guess you guessed right!

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