Vic40 from vic20 upgrade to new computer from an undated late 1981. To provide access for the vic to the entire 64 kb address space, two lines, or bits, in port a of cia2 directs the vic to one of four vic banks. When i bought my commodore 64 computer, i recognized that there was very little software written expressly for my machine. The vic20 was the first computer of any description to sell one million units. Beginning assembly programming on the commodore vic20.
On the other hand the spectrum was clocked at approx 3. The vic 20 was the first computer of any description to sell one million units. Vic20 full screen scrolling with sprite beginnings. Ive even written my own games on the vic20 and i know its hardware pretty well. The transactor fall 83 converted to digital by modore. But, because of its similarity to the vic20, i thought it would be possible to modify most if not all vic programs with minimal effort to run on my.
Commodore vic 20 top 10 vintage is the new old, retro. Well why would one use software sprites when hardware ones are available. Vic 1001, vic 20 palntsc, vic 1010, vic 1020, vicmodem, vic 1515, vic 1525, vic 1540, vic 1541, c2n, 1530, paddles, joysticks, boxes and cartridges. Apr 29, 20 vicii for beginners part 5 bringing sprites in good shape games unlimited hardware sprites in addition to the soft scrolling capabilities were major reasons why the commodore c64 was the ultimate gaming machine in the 80s.
The screen editor still will assume the standard 22x23 layout. A vic bank is one of four 16 kb regions in the 64 kb ram available in the c64. Youll have to keep in mind though, that all this only applies to the display as done by vic. Software support and great marketing were the real keys to its success. Proverbs 3k, vince apps, 40 educational games for the vic 20. Line 22 sets the color of the dalek sprites 0 and 1 to red in this case line 23 doubles the size of sprites 0 and 1 in both x and y directions line 30 enables sprites 0 and 1, so that they become visible lines 5068 load the sprite data contained at lines 190780 into.
In computer graphics, a sprite is a twodimensional bitmap that is integrated into a larger scene, most often in a 2d video game. The vic20s basic is compatible with the pets, and the datasette format is the same. Vic20s basicis easy to learn and has a wonderful range of capabilities. List of almost all vic 20 cartridges ever produced, version 2. The c64 was built around the 6510, a 1 mhz 8bit cpu which was an improved design of the very successful 6502. Another quality ga me from the past that still plays well today. These enhanced sprite rendering routines might even allow for it to reside in an unexpanded vic, for small games requiring a limited number of active sprites. The vic ii chip itself can only address 16 kb, and so any graphics, text etc. The commodore vic20 is a great machine to learn an assembly language on. With support for multicolor sprites and a custom chip for waveform generation, the c64 could create superior visuals and audio compared to systems without such custom hardware. Jul 14, 2017 while the vic 20 may have a horribly low resolution, its cpu can whip along rapidly enough which is needed in this game as the software sprites rip about. Coming soon vic 40 addon board for those vic owners wishing to extend the capacity of the vic 20 to include 40 column by 24 line display, prestel compatibility and full 32k ram there is an addon expansion board that will do it all.
He decided that they should put them into a successor to the vic20, to be tentatively titled the vic40. The vic 20 was only on the market from late 1980 to january 1985 and sales dropped off in 1983, so its software library is much smaller. You could buy a coco and have a trickle of commercial games and ten more columns of text, or you could have a vic 20 with a ton of games and applications. C16 and vic 20 never had geos either that i know of. A ton of publishers put out games and applications for it and a lot of commercial applications supported ram expanders, which were cheap and plentiful. My advice is to support the mega65 project and see how well it does before making the c16 or vic 20 versions. The commodore max machine, also known as ultimax in the united states and canada and vc10 in germany, is a home computer designed and sold by commodore international in japan, beginning in early 1982, a predecessor to the popular commodore 64. Oldcomputr made a web page where you can register your vic 20 or vic 1001. The vic20 was my first computer too, as a 14 year old in 1983. The machine is well documented, well supported through forums and much of the hardware is plentiful and quite cheap. Page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 table of contents page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 introduction page 10 setup page 11 unpacking and connecting the commodore page 12 installation page page 14 page 15 optional connections page 16 page 17 operation page 18 troubleshooting chart page 19 cursor page 20 color adjustment page 21.
The vic 20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after commodores first personal computer, the pet. Aug 29, 20 they called this computer the vic20, although it was known as the vc20 in germany because vic in german pronunciation sounds like fick, meaning what the built in commodore basic v2 language could do to your brain, so they shortened it to vc which the packaging said stood for volkscomputer, meaning peoples computer, based on. The vic 20 s basic is compatible with the pets, and the datasette format is the same. Unlike the c64 which emulated the 6551 chip in software, the plus4 had a builtin mos technology 6551 uart chip that could perform up to 19200 bits. Programming in basic exhausted the 3583 bytes of ram too quickly. Sep 26, 2018 the vic 20 doesnt have any hardware sprites, which means you either have to stick with character aligned movement or implement your own software sprites using dynamically updated custom characters. Ifyouwishtousethe programs as models for future efforts ofyour own, youwill need an. Vic1001 is an 8bit home computer that was sold by commodore business machines. Commodore vic20 wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. The coco, atari, and ti994 never had the software support that the vic 20 had.
Ive even written my own games on the vic 20 and i know its hardware pretty well. The vic20 had a different cart slot than c64 as well, etc. The vic 20 in germany, vc 20, in japan, vic 1001 is an 8bit home computer that was sold by commodore business machines. I now know of the following categories of vic20commodore 64 differences. Yogizilla december 16, 2015 a lot of people foolishly believe the c64 was the most powerful pc of the time because they equate sales with power. Before the computers release, a commodore executive promised it would have enough additional documentation to enable an experienced programmerhobbyist to get inside and let his imagination work. Superficially, the c64 closely resembled the vic 20. But today, i downloaded stella and started playing some old 2600 games and many other games i never even heard of. If you dont have a color tv, you can still run the programs,buttheresults will beless spectacular. Bjs vic20 software includes arcade and adventure games and a compiler. List of almost all vic20 cartridges ever produced, version 2. There is colourclash that the speccy version is jealous of, but when the game plays this well it is easily forgiven. Classic gamings vic20 starter page has links to vic20 game packs and other sites. The vic20 had proprietary connectors for programexpansion cartridges and a tape drive petstandard datassette.
The original vic chip exposes the current scan line via a couple of registers so instead youd perform a busy loop until it got to the number you wanted, then cue the via. Sprites were developed at texas instruments by daniel hillis originally sprites referred to independent objects that are composited together, by hardware, with other elements such as a background. Pseudo sprites, markus leberecht, 64er magazin nov 1984. The majority of people want a c64c65mega65 system because it has a large collection of software behind it. The composition occurs as each scan line is prepared for the video. Aug 10, 2018 the vic 20 hit a sweet spot on price and because of its pet lineage the software market was quick to support it. Since the plus4 does not have sprites, games must make use of character graphics for software sprites, like on the vic 20 this tended to cause unintentional color clash.
Programming in basic, machine code, sprites, pcg and much much more. In the midst of this discussion, it emerged that the mos engineers had one more trick up their sleeves. The vic 20 had a different cart slot than c64 as well, etc. Cops and robbers 1985atlantis software released 1985 also for atari 8bit, bbc micro, commodore 16, plus4, electron, vic 20 published by atlantis software limited perspective topdown genre action gameplay arcade visual fixed flipscreen description you are a robber whose target is the acme diamond co.
The vic20 doesnt have any hardware sprites, which means you either have to stick with character aligned movement or implement your own software. While the vic 20 may have a horribly low resolution, its cpu can whip along rapidly enough which is needed in this game as the software sprites rip about. I have quickly discovered the 2600 is actually quite inferior to the vic20 in pretty much every way except for its extra colors and sprites. This web page will be used to analyse the existing vic 20s and vic 1001s in the world. The apple ii had similar software support, but the price was stratospheric compared to the vic 20. Apr 16, 20 the commodore vic 20 is a great machine to learn an assembly language on. The vic20 was announced in 1980, 3 roughly three years after commodores first personal computer, the pet. A beginners guide to real programming discover your vic20. I believe most if not all c64 demos with bobs use hardwired routines to gain some speed.
Commodore vic 20 software archive commodore vic 20 software archive commodore vic 20 startup screens vic 20 boot screen unexpanded. Cover art for the game moons of jupiter was the product of david byrden, who came over from ireland to work for romik software back in the early 80s. Also the c64 clock speed is quite slow at approx 1mhz and when it comes to scrolling it becomes quite difficult. Part of the attraction is the amazingly large software sprites representing the yellow marvel and his foes, as they waltz around the maze after one another. Unlike the c64 which emulated the 6551 chip in software, the plus4 had a builtin mos technology 6551 uart chip that could perform up. A wide range of software packages, games and programming languages was available for this machine which was itself available practically anywhere from a toyshop to a business supplier. Pucman puckman, nicholas webster, popular computing weekly 9 sep 1982. Vicii for beginners part 5 bringing sprites in good. C16 and vic20 never had geos either that i know of. Rom operating system logic areas vic20 has a larger operating system. The vic20 in germany, vc20, in japan, vic1001 is an 8bit home computer that was sold by commodore business machines. Vicii for beginners part 5 bringing sprites in good shape games unlimited hardware sprites in addition to the soft scrolling capabilities were major reasons why the commodore c64 was the ultimate gaming machine in the 80s.
Commodore vic 20 game development toolsutilities commodore. The c64 home computer also commodore 64 or c64 was launched in 1982 by commodore business machines. My advice is to support the mega65 project and see how well it does before making the c16 or vic20 versions. Ram areas location, not contents commodore 64 is much larger here. Commodore vic 20 top 10 vintage is the new old, retro games. Great vic20 games posted on august 26, 2012 by admin i wanted to do a bit of a balancing entry to the one i did yesterday where i took the piss out of several bad vic20 games, lest i give the impression that i am a complete curmudgeon and that the vic was incapable of hosting great games.
In scrolling game id only use software sprites for bullets small and fast, no need for proper masking and elements which dont require horizontal shifting. Vic20 an introduction to basic part 1 internet archive. Pseudosprites, markus leberecht, 64er magazin nov 1984. Apr 06, 2018 the vic 20 was my first computer too, as a 14 year old in 1983. The act of manually creating sprites, as opposed to prerendering them or using digitized images, is a form of. Vic 20 s basicis easy to learn and has a wonderful range of capabilities. The commodore 64 manual mentions the machine by name, suggesting that commodore intended to sell the machine internationally. The software sprite stack promotes a flickerfree video experience, with the option by the game programmer to govern frame buffer flips with screen raster timing. If i ever port toyshop trouble to the vic 20, it will make use of raster timing to set the background color register four times per scan line as toys move left and right.
Since the plus4 does not have sprites, games must make use of character graphics for software sprites, like on the vic20 this tended to cause unintentional color clash. I have quickly discovered the 2600 is actually quite inferior to the vic 20 in pretty much every way except for its extra colors and sprites. While the vic 20 computer and its graphics are primitive to begin with, this api was created to strike a balance between machine and programmer friendliness which is what the vic. Although the max had better graphics and sound capability, commodores own vic20, which sold for around the same amount of money, was much more expandable, had a much larger software library, and had a better keyboardall of which made it more attractive to consumers. Preceded by the commodore vic 20 and commodore pet, the c64 took its name from its 64 kilobytes 65,536 bytes of ram. It was released in 1981 and was the first computer to sell one million units, which contributes to its popularity today. Commodore lies by claiming that their first computer to offer built in colour, graphics, and sound was somehow friendly, although it had no built in basic language commands to control these facilities i decided to do this post because tmr of the rival blog. The vicii chip itself can only address 16 kb, and so any graphics, text etc. Use of the term sprite has expanded to refer to any twodimensional bitmap used as part of a graphics display, even if drawn into a frame buffer by either software or a gpu instead of being composited onthefly at display time. Vic20 full screen scrolling with sprite beginnings youtube. Cops and robbers 1985atlantis software released 1985 also for atari 8bit, bbc micro, commodore 16, plus4, electron, vic20 published by atlantis software limited perspective topdown genre action gameplay arcade visual fixed flipscreen description you are a robber whose target is the acme diamond co. The apple ii had similar software support, but the price was stratospheric compared to the vic20.
The atari 8bit computers can use display lists to show more than five sprites on screen, provided theyre sorted vertically. The atari 8bit computers can use display lists to show more than five sprites on screen, provided theyre sorted vertically with no more than five on a line. The vic20 was announced in 1980, roughly three year s after commodores first personal computer, the pet. A software engineer for over 20 years, jeff has written extensively on many different development topics. Superficially, the c64 closely resembled the vic20.
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