For what IT worths

Back in 1986 my first computer was a Commodore 64. It was a very successful hobby computer of its time, with features like 320×200 screen resolutions with 16 colors, 8 separately controllable 24×16 moving objects (sprites) with collision detection, three channels programmable synthetiser, and so on. Though these features may sound a little awkward today, the Commodore 64 created a (sub)culture that spawned a plethora of timeless computer games that will not likely to perish for long. What more, you can even play them over the web.

I have spent countless hours eager to put together something useful, or just deciphering or dissecting games for a better understanding of how they work. Then, when I started drawing Mandelbrot sets, I realized the limitations of the 1MHz CPU, and moved on to a PC.

Even after these machines have finally been replaced by PCs, they lived on in form of emulators, such as the excellent free softwares VICE and Frodo to name a few. Emulators have appeared on many platforms ranging from DOS to UNIX to Java to Dreamcast and a whole lot more. Frodo was even ported to EPOC OS, thus runs on Psion Handhelds, and even on some Symbian Smartphones. I too have started implementing an emulator, and got as far as a emulating the 6510 CPU before abandoning the project to do something more useful instead.

Of course, data needed to be transferred to this new, virtual world, for which purpose, different tools have emerged. I myself used the X1541 cable and the wav to prg converter. A couple of different file formats have also emerged to store C64 tape and disk images.

In the meantime, a single chip version of the C64 has been designed. It is packaged within a joystick, comes preloaded with some 30 classic games, and only needs 4 AA batteries and a TV to connect to. The C64 Direct-To-TV and its second generation successor, the C64D2TV are so cheap many C64 owners bought it just for fun, and of course, started taking them apart, and with a little hacking, made them a fully functional C64, some even made them appear as one.

With hardware extensions still being developed to this platform, one can use an SD card as a modern replacement of the floppy disk with the 1541/III project, or even connect to ethernet networks with a LAN card, to name a few. With my limited skills in wiring/soldering, I’ve only built an RS232 signal level converter only to give a second purpose to my C64 as a text terminal to my PC.

On the software side, development hasn’t stopped either. New operating systems have been created to the C64, such as LUNIX and Contiki that added TCP/IP support, and even let you reuse your C64 as a web server (ok, not a high-performance one, lol), what more, some sick software lets you browse the web from a C64.

One may say there’s not much point in developing on such an old, limited platform, but think of it: those who master programming such a limited device, will for sure excel in programming embedded systems too, where there are similare restrictions even today.

All in all, C64 was not only successful because of its “advanced” features in its time, but is also successful due to the simple, understandable, yet extensible hardware design, that lets hobbyists create interfaces that keep the connectivity of the core up-to-date, which ultimately ensures many years still to come for the C64.