
*************************************
       Commodore Free Magazine
    http://www.commodorefree.com/
*************************************

      Issue 44, September 2010

      Free to download magazine
  dedicated to Commodore computers
  Available as PDF, HTML, TXT, SEQ
         and D64 disk image

=====================================

*************************************
              CONTENTS
*************************************

* Editorial
* NEWS
  - ACE Commander 128 RC
  - Vandalism News #53 Released
  - Shredz64 Updated, PSX64 Available
  - Pocket 1541
  - Contiki Download Page
  - Aladdin 4D & ARES Partnership
  - A Conversation With Chuck Peddle,
    Bil Herd, Jeri Ellsworth
  - IceFileSystem 1.13 For MorphOS
  - AmiUpdate 2
  - CommodoreServer.com
  - Maziacs on the Plus/4
  - VIC20 New Game: Pillow Fight
  - UWOL Quest For Money
  - SCACOM Issue 18/19 Released
  - BOH Update13 Released
  - PyGame Ported To AmigaOS 4
  - Commodore Computer Club Update
  - Games That Wern't Update
  - C128 System Information 7.2
  - RETURN - 8 bit magazine issue 4
  - 64HDD Celebrates 10 Years
  - ART Episode 45
  - TGA: The Great Adventure
  - Plus4 Club Info 118 Released
  - Morph Game
  - Enhanced Music Player For iPad
  - Two sd2iec Releases
  - CBM-Command Version 1.5 Released
  - SEUCK Vault Update
  - Diskmag "Hugi" Issue 36
  - Ultimate Pack 1.6.0 For MorphOS
  - Blu Manager V0.5 Released
  - TargetD64 V0.4.0 Released
  - MiniGame Compo 2010
  - Commodore Announces Exclusive
    Worldwide Licensing Rights
  - LOADSTAR Compleat
* Interview With Payton Byrd
* Writing CBM-Command
* CBM-Command
* Interview With Michael
* Will You Still Love Me
  Will You Still Need Me When I'm 64

=====================================

*************************************
              EDITORIAL
*************************************

I AM THE COMMANDER

This issue sees an interview with
Payton Byrd creator of Cbm-Command,
if you have seen Norton commander 
then you will get the idea of the
application. Basically it's a File
or menu application for viewing,
copying, renaming, moving files. The
application features a split screen
so you can have for example disk 8
on the left and disk 10 on the right
and copy files to and fro from one
disk to another, very smart and a
great project. This software
actually runs on the Commodore 128,
64 and there is even a lite version
for the vic20. It totally amazes me
that we have so much creativity
within the Commodore community, and
such great ideas. This particular
piece of software as you will have
seen in the news section of
Commodore Free is very regularly
updated and enhanced, also it's a
project in need of volunteers to
help optimise the code and make
improvements.

FILED AWAY WITH C64 ARCHIVIN

In this issue we also have an
interview with Michael creator of
C64 ARCHIVIN archiving software for
your commodore 64 files, all
packaged up in one handy graphical
front end, slick and easy to use,
again a neat solution to a very
common project.

NOSTALGIC

I recently had a visitor who was
wowing at some fancy graphical pc
game, I pointed out that with
unlimited processing and graphical
power that "anything" should be
possible. I suppose with the right
machine (once technology catches up)
we will be producing "Toy Story"
follow-ups on our desktops maybe
even during lunch hour, and
rendering the results in real time.
With the 8-bit and even 16-bit
machines the hardware is more or
less fixed, ok you can add a
replacement processor in the case of
the Amiga or a SCPU for the
Commodore 64 or other hardware
accelerator; but the whole point is
these are fixed hardware devices. So
if you wanted a demo to run faster
you would have to turn to tuning
your program; or rewriting it in a
more efficient manor. Heck you may
even think it's not possible with
the hardware and scrap the project
(although I suppose this should have
been worked out before you started
coding the application).

So when I loaded some amazing
Commodore 64 demos they were lost on
him; as he said the pictures were
grainy and small and limited in
colours, I on the other hand sat for
some time totally amazed someone
could actually produce something

1. So beautiful
2. So efficient
3. Work at all!

My friend never had an 8-bit or
16-bit system; instead he went into
computing late and just started on
the PC route. In the interview with
www.commodroeserver.com it was
pointed out that these users had
missed out on something. I am glad I
can appreciate the skill of Demo
coding and games designers and
realise this is an art form in the
same sense as a painter would use
canvas and oils to replicate what he
saw in real life.

The next demos you see think to
yourself.

- How is this possible on such a
  machine?

- How did they get that effect to
  work so fast?

- How did they manage to cram so
  much code into so small a memory
  footprint?

- How beautiful this actually is

OVER AND OUT

That's me out of space, and I am
sure you'd rather stop the waffle
and get on with the magazine.
I sincerely hope I stirred up
something deep within you, if not
then I feel sorry that you are
missing out on such beauty.

Regards
Nigel  (Editor)
www.commodorefree.com

=====================================

*************************************
                NEWS
*************************************

*************************************
        ACE COMMANDER 128 RC
*************************************

MICOSOFT has released a test version
of a commodore 128 file commander
style application, to download the
application visit

http://noname.c64.org/csdb/getinterna
lfile.php/91625/acecom128.rar
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?i
d=93983

-------------------------------------

*************************************
     VANDALISM NEWS #53 RELEASED
*************************************

After a long delay the 53rd edition
of Vandalism News strikes the scene.
Three disk sides of text, exclusive
music and a disk cover by Zapotek.
What are you waiting for?

http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/in
dex.php?id=93907

-------------------------------------

*************************************
  SHREDZ64 UPDATED, PSX64 AVAILABLE
*************************************

Toni Westbrook has been busy
updating the C64 program, Shredz64,
and building the accompanying
adapter, PSX64. With Shredz64 and
PSX64, you can connect a Guitar Hero
guitar controller to the C64 and
play the SID music that comes with
the software.

For Shredz64, new songs in NTSC and
PAL have been added to the original
line-up of SID tunes, the new tunes
being Bombo, Stairway Intro, and
Still Alive. For the PSX64 adapter,
Toni is producing them again. Send
him an e-mail, and he will build one
for you. Also, new firmware for the
PSX64 makes the device more
efficient and bug-free.

Go to http://www.toniwestbrook.com
or to http://www.synthdreams.com

OVERVIEW

Shredz64 is a modern day game for
the Commodore 64 that makes use of
the Playstation guitar controller
hooked through the PSX64 interface.
Its design is modelled against the
popular "Guitar Hero" series, geared
toward the ability to play along to
your favourite C64 music on the
guitar. Correctly played notes
increase your score and applause
meter, while incorrectly played
notes decrease your applause meter.
If the crowd stops applauding,
you're out! Additionally, Shredz64
features the "shredocity" meter that
allows for extra points when you're
doing an awesome job shredding to
your favourite chiptune.

With Shredz64, the fun doesn't stop
when you've mastered all the
included songs. You can add your
favourite SID files to the game and
record your own custom notes, or
download songs other people have
created - Shredz64 keeps rocking
nonstop.

-------------------------------------

*************************************
             POCKET 1541
*************************************

Pocket 1541 is a disk emulator using
an SD card and supporting the
following formats: D64, M2I, PRG,
D71, D81 and P00 the firmware is
based on the open source SD2IEC the
device features an LCV for
navigation of the disk images for
more information visit the ITALIAN
SITE

http://www.rgmelsat.com/display_lcd/d
isplay.htm

Here is a Google translate of the
information text in the website
Italian to English translation

EMULATOR DISK DRIVE FOR 1541
COMMODORE 64 BASED ON OPEN SOURCE
SD2IEC FIRMWARE
POWER: 9-12V 0.1A (centre positive)
not included.

MICROPROCESSOR: 8 MHz clock.

NEED FOR EXTERNAL SECURE DIGITAL
MEMORY: TESTED WITH SD 256MB, 512MB,
1GB, 2GB. THE POCKET1541

DO NOT HAVE INTERNAL MEMORY SUPPORT
(0 BYTE) NOT SUBJECT TO THE FAIR
CONSUMPTION TAX.

Supported file formats:. D64 / M2I
(reading and writing). PRG. D71.
D81. P00.

KERNAL TESTED WITH ORIGINAL WITH THE
JIFFYDOS, Exos / TORNADO DOS
CARTRIDGE TURBODISK, FCIII.

POCKET1541 SUPPORTS THE SWITCH FROM
DISK 1-2 MENU 'BUTTON UP-DOWN OPTION

Weighs 200 Grams.

Native support for subdirectories
with commands CMD.
TYPE OPEN 1,8,15, "CD: NOME.D64"
CLOSE1.

Follows the command LOAD "$", 8.
LOAD "NOMEFILE.PRG, 8.1 for
uploading files. PRG.

TESTED WITH C64 AND VIC20
C128.COMPONENTI ROHS compliant. ALL
COMPONENTS OF THE KIT IS UNDER EC

-------------------------------------

*************************************
        CONTIKI DOWNLOAD PAGE
*************************************

CONTIKI V2.4

C64web have made a web page; where
you can download a disk image with
the latest version of the Contiki
OS. On the webpage you can fill in
you internet configuration and
choose which Ethernet card you are
using, and then download the
relevant precompiled version.
Contiki v2.4 contains the following
programs: dhcp client, web server,
web browser, wget, smtp client, irc
client and a Twitter client

http://cbm8bit.com/contiki/

-------------------------------------

*************************************
     ALADDIN 4D & ARES COMPUTER
             PARTNERSHIP
*************************************

For the first time get Aladdin 4D
5.x integrated at a special price
when you buy an ARES One

Chicago, IL / Duisburg, Germany
August 28, 2010  DiscreetFX, a
Visual Effects powerhouse in
creative software and content
creation enabling products, and ARES
Computer, a market leader in AROS
system integration, today announces
a partnership to include 3D
animation / rendering / effects
tools with each ARES One computer
sold. Bringing hobbyist animation,
rendering and particle effects
creation software to new AROS
computer graphics professionals.

Now enjoy the speed and native
hardware support for AROS on an ARES
ONE and great creative software to
make you more productive using AROS.
The ARES ONE also comes with other
exciting software including Amiga
Forever 2009 OEM, Cinnamon Writer,
Art Effect, AMC and Frying Pan.
Aladdin 4D 5.x is an optional
Instant Download when you buy an
ARES ONE. Price is an attractive
discounted price since it is being
purchased as part of a system
solution. Bonus objects, textures
and effects are also included as
part of the ID. Aladdin 4D 5.x
operating system integration is also
available as an option for MorphOS &
Amiga OS 4.x if those developers
choose to partner with DiscreetFX.
Purchase an ARES ONE & Aladdin 4D
5.x together and get lighting fast
3D renders and animations.

The ARES ONE is only sold through
Vesalia Online

http://www.vesalia.de/e_aresone2010.h
tm

http://www.vesalia.de/e_aresone.htm

ABOUT DISCREETFX

Want to see DiscreetFX's effects
software in action? Turn on your
television, we have been creating
visual effects software products for
editors and creative professionals
for over 15 years. DiscreetFX
creates Real-time transitions and
effects seen on over 100 television
programs including Blind Date, 5th
Wheel, Shipmates and many more! You
can also see DiscreetFX software
used on the following networks HBO,
Showtime, Discovery Channel, PBS,
Fox and more!

DiscreetFX is privately owned visual
effects startup and based in
Chicago, Illinois. For more
information, please visit:
www.discreetfx.com .

ABOUT ARES COMPUTER

ARES Computer (owner Pascal Papara)
started in 2009 to bring AROS
enthusiast and newbies a powerful
but inexpensive, fully
AROS-compatible System. The result
was the AresOne and his now
available successor (www.vesalia.de).

With Broadway, AMC, the ultimate
MediaCenter for all three Amiga-like
Systems (AmigaOS/AROS and MorphOS)
and the coming app-browser(working
title), we are aiming also to non-
amigans. Our long time target is to
get back a healthy and commercial
interesting Amiga eco system.

-------------------------------------

*************************************
  A CONVERSATION WITH CHUCK PEDDLE,
      BIL HERD, JERI ELLSWORTH
*************************************

To: Commodore Free
From: RobertB
Subject: A Conversation with Chuck
Peddle, Bil Herd, Jeri Ellsworth

After much time rendering, editing,
and re-rendering these babies, I
have the first batch of videos
available from the Commodore Vegas
Expo v6 2010.  These videos focus on
the presentations done by Commodore
and Amiga presenters at the show.
Here is each video's subject matter
and how to get to them --

CommodoreServer.com, V-1541, Comet64
Internet Modem  by Greg Alekel
http://blip.tv/file/4038591

Portland Commodore User Group -
PDXCUG  by Greg Alekel
http://blip.tv/file/4042778

Enhanced Music Player for the iPad
by Keith Henrickson
http://blip.tv/file/4042847

Commodore Programming Resources  by
Larry Anderson
http://blip.tv/file/4042913

Disabling the NMI  by Steve Davison
http://blip.tv/file/4042940

While we await second batch of
CommVEx 2010 videos, here's part 1
of a video from CommVEx 2009.  CBM
engineer Chuck Peddle, CBM engineer
Bil Herd, and engineer Jeri
Ellsworth video-conferenced into
CommVEx and had discussion of the
early days at Commodore Business
Machines. Not to be confused with an
earlier Chuck Peddle interview from
the Vintage Computer Festival East,
this new talk sheds more light on
Peddle, Jack Tramiel, and the PET
and VIC-20 computers.

To see the one-hour video, go to
http://blip.tv/file/4055830

Parts 2 and 3 will be uploaded in
the future.

Thanks to BIOS for uploading,

Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

COMMODORE FREE
I am sure I have posted this news
before still for the benefit of
people who missed out here it is
again

-------------------------------------

*************************************
   ICEFILESYSTEM 1.13 RELEASED FOR
               MORPHOS
*************************************

DESIGN GOALS AND PRIORITIES

64bit disk file system supporting a
high number of useful features, by a
design prioritised like following:

1-Reliability 2-Scalability
3-Efficiency 4-Speed

FEATURES

* 64bit file/partition/extent sizes
  (actually very close to 2^63
  bytes). No self imposed
  fragmentation of large files
  unless there is not enough
  contiguous space available.

* All metadata on disk is check
  summed. This means any errors on
  disk will be detected a lot
  quicker.

* Meta level journaling. Journaling
  makes operations to disk atomic.

* Hard links (directory and file),
  soft links, notification, examine
  all, record locking, file
  comments. Fully supported.

* Supports almost any 2^x media
  sector sizes. File system layout
  on disk is not dependant on a
  specific underlying sector size.
  File system may however place data
  on disk so that it is optimal for
  the sector size used.

* File system does not get slower
  for larger partitions (scales very
  well), or when heavily fragmented.

* No limit in # of files/dirs in
  partition/dirs.

* Handles removable media.

* Supports optional recycle dir.

* Supports automatically truncated
  log files and optional file system
  log file.

* Wastes only 128k (and
  pre-allocates another 128k for
  meta space) for file system
  administration data, regardless of
  partition size.

* Dynamic handling of cache memory.
  Memory is given back
  (progressively) to system when not
  used.

TECHNICAL

* Extent based space and file data
  layout.

* Main space allocator is based on
  the TLSF algorithm, adapted for
  on-disk storage.

* All metadata except extent headers
  are located in special extents
  called pools and use a local
  bitmap to keep track of free meta
  space. Metadata is very compact.

* Entry lookup in directories uses
  one or more hash tables depending
  on need. This gives the effect of
  a variable hash table ranging from
  124 to 3472 buckets.

* Implementation uses two level
  caching (sector + metadata).

* Implementation supports
  pre-allocation to minimize
  fragmentation (and increase speed)
  when several files are
  concurrently written to.

PLATFORMS SUPPORTED

* MorphOS (2.x for best performance)

http://blubbedev.net/icefs/

-------------------------------------

*************************************
             AMIUPDATE 2
*************************************

In celebration of the 25th birthday
of the Amiga computer, amiupdate.net
is pleased to announce the immediate
release of AmiUpdate version 2.0. To
support this new version, we have
also given the website a facelift
and significantly updated the
contents.

You can download this version from
the Downloads section.

There have been lots of changes to
AmiUpdate in this version. Most
notably is the addition of the
Preferences editor, and the
scheduled scan feature. More details
about the new features have been
added to the Description section of
this website.

With the release of the translation
files, we are now pleased to
announce that the following
languages are supported by
catalogues which can be downloaded
from here.

Finnish
French
German
Italian
Spanish

One other notable change is the
removal of the AmigaGuide?
documentation. All documentation is
now web-based from this website. We
apologise for this, and the fact
that it makes localised
documentation impossible, but it
certainly helps us keep the
documentation more up-to-date, and
saves the extra overhead of
maintaining various documents.

Version 2.2 now brings back the
AmigaOS 4.0 compatibility. Extensive
testing has been done to ensure this
version will work to allow users of
older versions of AmigaOS 4 to enjoy
easy updating of their systems. Many
thanks go to Chris Dallimore and
Darren Eveland for their help with
testing 2.2.

http://codebench.co.uk/AU_LiveSite/

-------------------------------------

*************************************
         COMMODORESERVER.COM
*************************************

CommodoreServer is the service that
your Commodore computer has been
missing for the last three decades!
With many online resources and
activities available,
CommodoreServer provides a friendly,
social community for Commodore
enthusiasts.  It serves as a
centralized location for managing
your D64 files, blogging about
Commodore-related topics, posting
new software releases and provides a
place for Internet-based software
and games.

CommodoreServer provides information
and other programming resources for
developing Internet-based software
for Commodore computers.  With
several Internet adapters on the
market, it is easy to see the need
to develop new applications and
games that utilize this technology.
Since there are very few software
titles available today,
CommodoreServer strives to be a
one-stop-shopping resource for
finding and developing Internet
software for all Commodore computers
(like an app store).

Some of the many features and
benefits of CommodoreServer.com:

* Upload/download D64 files

* Download games or other files
  directly from a Commodore computer

* Release and publish new software
  in the Public Directory (members
  can view/download directly from
  their Commodore computers)

* Share disks with friends

* Manage and access D64 files from a
  Web browser (or Commodore computer)

* Maintain history of disks with
  snapshots, preserving older
  versions

* Open disk contents in a Web
  browser to view BASIC programs or
  ML disassembly

* Download individual PRG or other
  files from a D64 without having to
  download the whole D64

* Download a "BASIC LOADER" for
  machine language programs

* View files as a HEX dump

* View disk sector data in a HEX dump

* Create newly-formatted disks with
  a click

* Community blogging for
  Commodore-related topics

* A complete resource for
  programming Internet software

* Sell software or hardware

For more information, visit
http://www.commodoreserver.com

COMET64 INTERNET MODEM

The Comet64 Internet Modem is an
RS-232 device that hooks up to the
user port on a Commodore 64,
Commodore 128, Vic-20 or SX-64
computer.  It is a
serial-to-ethernet (S2E) board that
translates RS-232 data to high-level
Internet protocols.  Using the
Comet64, you can write or use
software to access just about any
modern Internet protocol, such as
SMTP, FTP, HTTP, Gopher and more.

The Comet64 comes with a disk
containing the V-1541 software,
which allows users to connect
seamlessly to CommodoreServer.com
and access and view disks in the
Public Directory or in the user's
private account.  Using V-1541,
users can view disks, list directory
contents, SAVE programs and download
games or other files using standard
LOAD and SAVE operations.

By default, the Comet64 is
configured to interact and connect
to CommodoreServer.com so that users
can easily access any of the
activities available there.
Although it is pre-configured,
programmers can send commands via
software to change the configuration
of the device and connect to other
Internet servers and ports, allowing
greater flexibility for new
Internet-based software.

The Comet64 Internet modem allows
programmers to develop new software
with ease, focusing more on
high-level data rather than the
underlying complexities of TCP/IP.
It has built-in support for DHCP,
PPPoE, DNS, baud rate, parity/data
bits/stop bits, flow control, and a
few additional configuration
parameters that allow it to be used
as a client or server (configuration
is limited to a single connection,
so it is not practical to run as an
Internet server).  Baud rates
supported are 1200, 2400, 4800,
9600, 19.2K, 38.4K, 57.6K, 115.2K,
and 230.4K, although speeds are
limited to the physical conditions
of the Commodore computer that it is
connected to.

The Comet64 has two configuration
options: 1) Internet Modem only and
2) Internet Modem + RS-232 port.
The RS-232 port can be used to
connect to any other RS-232C-capable
device, such as a PC, printer or
telephone modem, using a standard
DB9 RS-232 cable.  Users have the
ability to switch between Internet
modem and the RS-232 port.

For purchasing information, visit
http://www.commodoreserver.com/produc
ts

-------------------------------------

*************************************
        MAZIACS ON THE PLUS/4
*************************************

New release Maziacs for the 64k 264
series of Commodore machines. This
game is a conversion of the Spectrum
game by Don Priestley below is some
furtherer information from the PLUS4
world website.

Title: Maziacs
Category: Game/Maze
Release Date: 2010-08-22
Language: English
Size: 64K
Machine: PAL Only
Code Type: Machine code
Distribution: Freeware
GameEndingType: Has an end, game ends
Released by: Assassins (ASN)
Converted by: K., Rbert (KiCHY)
Notes: Original program by Don
Priestley on Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

http://plus4world.powweb.com/software
/Maziacs

-------------------------------------

*************************************
    VIC20 NEW GAME: PILLOW FIGHT
*************************************

Jeff Daniels released a new VIC20
game, Pillow Fight, (shelved for
some time) which can be played on a
unexpanded Vic and features
multichannel sound.

Remember Pro Wrestling? Manoeuvre
the protagonist by "bouncing off the
ropes" and changing directions
during travel to collect all the
round objects. The trick is you can
only collect them when the colour is
right.  Avoid the sharp objects.
There are 12 levels, each with a
time limit to complete. Bonus
objects will send you to bonus
levels or allow you to skip levels.

http://sleepingelephant.com/denial/pi
llow.zip

-------------------------------------

*************************************
          COMMODRE 64 GAME
        UWOL QUEST FOR MONEY
*************************************

The Mojon Twins have released a new
game converted from the Spectrum,
called UWOL, Quest for money. In The
game you try to steal as many coins
as possible. Uwol won't want to end
his mission until he collects a
minimum of 255 of those.

The manor rooms are arranged like a
pyramid, starting from the very top.

After you clean a room of coins you
will be given the chance to choose
which path (left or right) to take.
You select a path walking over one
of the arrows which appear and
pressing DOWN.

If you get to the bottom of the
pyramid and you haven't gathered
enough coins you get back to top and
start over. This time, you should
choose another path 'cause the
already visited rooms will be empty.
Use the pyramid map to know which
rooms are visited and which aren't.

UWOL has great graphics and a nice
SID tune.

http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/do
wnload.php?id=117505

-------------------------------------

*************************************
SCACOM (GERMAN) ISSUE 18/19 RELEASED
*************************************

Scacom-Aktuell is a German Commodore
Magazine, and has just released a
new issue. The magazine is available
in PDF and JPG-format on the website
of Scacom-Aktuell.

In this magazine you can find:

Commodore Meeting 2010
AmigaONE X1000
Amiga 3000T
Commodore prototypes
Trash Design
etc.

http://scacom.bplaced.net/scacomakt/A
usgaben/SCACOM_Aktuell_Ausgabe_18.pdf

-------------------------------------

*************************************
        BOH UPDATE13 RELEASED
*************************************

For both those who are having a
great gaming time now and those who
will back at their computers after
the summer, here is one more massive
update that takes BOH to yet another
level.

More specifically, this update:

* adds world standings: the game can
  send automatically the local
  records to a global server that
  keeps the real-time standings of
  all the players in the world who
  make use of this new feature;

* adds a new tile kind: the message
  point, i.e. a location that
  reveals a message (a hint, a
  riddle, a part of story, etc.);

* uses the messages points to make
  many missions more intriguing and
  to improve the tutorial missions
  (which have also been slightly
  modified for greater
  effectiveness);

* adds the theme "pyramid";

* adds 5 new missions;

* adds the possibility of specifying
  a success epilogue and a failure
  epilogue for each phase;

* reworks automappers: the more
  powerful one now covers the same
  area of the other one, but
  provides also an alternative
  rendering mode whereby the map
  reflects faithfully the actual
  colours of the tiles;

* makes movements of enemies clearer;

* allows the RM to open locked
  passages and exits only when
  facing them;

* removes sidestepping;

* makes [SPACE] the default
  automapper key;

* makes the alignment of menu texts
  definable by the theme designer;

* improves a few strings in some
  translations;

* improves and updates the manuals;

* applies various other changes.

The update can be downloaded for
free from the DOWNLOADS page of the
official website. he demos have been
updated to reflect the changes.

ABOUT BOH

BOH is a unique retro-flavoured
puzzle-riddled maze game spiced up
with thrilling action. You move in
claustrophobic, mysterious,
dangerous battlefields searching for
the Evil Masters, who throw
countless enemies at you until you
discover and face them in the final
battle. Although your quests are
made slightly less hard by the
power-ups scattered all around,
carrying out the missions demands
lots of concentration and quick
reflexes. With BOH the fun never
ends: new missions can be added
anytime and you can even create your
own! And, as if that was not enough,
you can also customize entirely its
audio-visual aspect!

BOH has been created with lots of
passion and care to offer, with its
old-school style, a fascinatingly
different video gaming experience.

Website: http://www.bohthegame.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BOH/995
98418583
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/bohthegame

-------------------------------------

*************************************
     PYGAME PORTED TO AMIGAOS 4
*************************************

After one late evening and half a
day it's done!

PyGame is ported to AmigaOS4. This
opens up the doors for a flood of
new game/demo/app ports. The first
decent game that is ported is called
Mobius Skies - a very nice
horizontal shmup.

Download PyGame here!

Download Mobius Skies
http://www.os4depot.net/index.php?fu.
..obiusskies.lha

The shared object of SDL,
SDL_Mixerl, SDL_Image etc are
needed, they are all available on
os4depot. Have fun!

Spot

-------------------------------------

*************************************
   COMMODORE COMPUTER CLUB UPDATE
*************************************

www.CommodoreComputerClub.co.uk

COMMODORE FREE
Although this is an internal club 
memorandum I thought it may be
useful to read, esspecially after 
such a after a quiet period.
The membership has been simplified to
make it easier for the club 
administration. The internal memo 
reads as follows:We will no longer be
taking six-month or one-year 
memberships effective immediately. If
you want in, it has to be a life 
membership from now on I'm afraid. 
That means anyone who has paid for 
their membership so far will pay the 
balance should they want to remain as
members of the club. For instance,27
will be payable for those who paid up
for six months already and 25 for 
those who paid up for a year. You'll
have until the end of the year to 
sort this out, and you may now pay 
via PayPal if you want to.

So, for those who want to continue to
be a member of the club (and you're 
not already a life member), then 
please fill in an online form 
available through the site to check
that we have all of your details.
We'll ask for the balance via your 
preferred method. If anyone has 
changed of address, email or whatever
and is a life member, then the new
membership form will allow you to 
update your details without being 
invoiced.

The future? I am currently discussing
with members and the operations
manager at the National Museum of 
Computing at Bletchley Park to
arrange the club's next meeet within
the next six months or so if people 
are interested? The benefits with 
Bletchley is that we can use one of 
the rooms (at a cost, still to be 
discussed) and passers by might call
in to see what we're up to. As most
people had a Commodore or Sinclair in
the 1980s, this might increase the 
club's profile somewhat. On the 
agenda: Allan is going to experiment
with a SVGA adapter for the RGBI 
output on the 128; he has a good 
enough(if you don't mind waiting for
it to warm up) prototype that does
SVideo, so hopefully he can just plug
in the daughter board into the SVGA 
adapter and it'll work. Allan will 
announce rough prices. He also has 
some Palm Cradles that he can convert
to use with the SwiftLink/Turbo232 if
people are interested - just nudge 
Allan about this one via our forums 
or Google Group. Many thanks for your
continued interest and patience.
Regards,

Shaun_B
CCC (UK) Secretary"


-------------------------------------

*************************************
      GAMES THAT WERN'T UPDATE
*************************************

Nobby the Aardvark,
X-Fighter CD32
Lone Wolf: the Mirror of Death

Amiga Games That Weren't hast three
games in this updates:

NOBBY THE AARDVARK

is a famous C64 game that was in
development for the Amiga. Sadly,
the Amiga was about half complete
and was affected by Thalamus'
liquidation. aGTW speaks to
developers Jonathan Temples and
Ashley Hogg.
http://agtw.abime.net/games/view/nobb
ytheaardvark

Genesis Software / Thalamus - 1992
Status: Development incomplete -
four playable levels

X-FIGHTER CD32

GTW talks to the elusive Kwok Man
about his game X-Fighter CD32.
X-Fighter was the commercial
successor to PD game Mad Fighters
II, was due to be published by
Thalion and was reviewed by a number
of Amiga magazines before it
mysteriously disappeared.
http://agtw.abime.net/games/view/xfig
hter

X-FIGHTER CD32
Kwok Man / Thalion - 1995
Status: Game completed but
unpublished

LONE WOLF: THE MIRROR OF DEATH

Finally, we query Ian Upton, the
designer of Lone Wolf: the Mirror of
Death. This action/platform game was
based on a popular series of game
books and was released on a number
of 8-bit platforms. Although
advertised for the Amiga, Atari ST
and DOS, only the PC saw a release.
http://agtw.abime.net/games/view/lone
wolfmirrorofdeath

LONE WOLF: THE MIRROR OF DEATH
Audiogenic - ?
Status: Unknown

-------------------------------------

*************************************
C128 SYSTEM INFORMATION 7.2 RELEASED
*************************************

http://noname.c64.org/csdb/getinterna
lfile.php/90889/sysinfo72.prg

MIRKOSOFT has released a Commodore
128 information tool to display what
hardware is attached to your
Commodore 128, the software can also
detect the drives attached to the
machine as well as the Ram and if a
SCPU is installed

-------------------------------------

*************************************
   RETURN - 8 BIT MAGAZINE ISSUE 4
*************************************

http://www.return-magazin.de/

Issue 4 of the German language
RETURN has "returned" back in its
printed format

Contents:

* Power Play - 8-bit with
  development contract

* Clive Sinclair: inventor and
  visionary

* Review: Pitfall II

* Interview with Keith Robinson

* Crossover: Dig Dug

* Bandai Playdia

* "Dunkle Katakomben" (Dark
  Catacombs) Adventure for C64

* Sega: 8 Bit Accessories (2)

* Mercenary - Open World game of the
  80ies

* Fail Safe for Atari 7800

* Interview with Kultboy.com

http://www.return-magazin.de/

-------------------------------------

*************************************
      64HDD CELEBRATES 10 YEARS
*************************************

From: 64HDD Registrations
To: 64HDD Registrations
Subject: 64HDD Celebrates 10years

64HDD has reached the 10year
milestone - thanks to those who have
supported over the years!

The freeware version can be
downloaded; professional users can
reply to this email with their
serial number. The emulator core has
been standardised across all
versions.

This upgrade has been worked on for
so so long I forget what refinements
have been added (not all in the
freeware or CD versions)... main
ones:

* lower memory usage - helps with
  people installing memory resident
  drivers

* vga switch for making use of a
  larger GUI screen

* AR6 switch for setting action
  replay tolerant mode

* ezvic switch sets directories to
  display in ~20column format

* T1541 and F1541 commands are now
  configured to external BAT files.
  This frees up some code space, but
  as Star Commander now can be run
  in command mode it means you can
  configure that program to do your
  transfers and the job gets done
  faster than 64HDD used to do it.
  You need to use the SC beta
  0.83xxx version or better though.

* disk-flipping has been improved.
  There is an auto-disk-flip mode
  (makes similarly named files a
  disk-set) or manually using the
  XS: command (the XS: command is
  used by SD2IEC, so I just called
  it the same name for the command)

* a lot of extra keys are defined
  which allow you to better
  configure 64HDD Pro whilst its
  running. The Help [H} screen shows
  these.

* PS printer engine added - text
  output can now be distilled to PS
  or printed to a PS printer

* some fixes for DriveGhost users

* 64HDD Pro CDROM updated and is
  bootable

The user manual has been re-worked;
new quick start sections and its
split into two: a "user manual" and
a "command reference guide".

Check out the 64HDD website here:
www.64hdd.com

-------------------------------------

*************************************
           ART EPISODE 45
     DOUBLE RAINBOWS AND KITTENS
*************************************

Amiga Podcast

http://www.amigaz.org/2010/08/08/art-
episode-45-double-rainbows-and-kitten
s/

Hosts: Rich Lawrence, Sean
Fitzgerald.
Guest Host: Jerry Withers

* Fortis v1.1 for Morphos out
  :encore-games.com.

* Cheap Chinese Boing Ball keyboards
  and mice for fun and profits!

* 25 Years  Amiga  rather broad
  topic.

* 10 Years Morphos.

* Audio Evolution for Aros released.
  Morphos is just a powermac g4 away.

* Fairly recent flurry of game
  ports: Ginana Returns, Sqrxz, Gish
  all quality!

* Open Office lite/kids edition
  development via Hyperion for OS4.

* amiwest plug  around the corner.
  Rich going?

-------------------------------------

*************************************
      TGA: THE GREAT ADVENTURE
*************************************

The Great Adventure is a conversion
by Orion70 from the Commodore 64
version of a classic Italian
multiple-choice text RPG written by
Alessandro Castellari in 1983.

The VIC20 TGA version contains not
only the original quest but is
expanded with both hi-res and
multi-colour screens.

The player can choose of 4 different
missions from your homebase: the
Inn. You can also choose to  use the
map. The map screen comes in handy
since every mission has is it's own
locations accompanied  with relevant
cut scenes graphics.

http://sites.google.com/a/vic20.it/fi
les/index/orion70/TGA_v2.zip

-------------------------------------

*************************************
    PLUS4 CLUB INFO 118 RELEASED
*************************************

The fourth Club Info issue of 2010,
the most popular C264 series
disk-magazine, is now available to
download

Erich/Ultd packed the two disk sides
with a lot of goodies.

On side a the German language
articles contain reviews and tips
for some of the latest programs.

On side b you can find articles and
recently released programs (e.g.
.among these are: Kalah, Number
Inversion, Solitario and Rechnerei
004.), jokes and a lot of other
information.

Download It From here.
http://plus4world.powweb.com/dl/mags/
club_info/club_info_118.zip

-------------------------------------

*************************************
       COMMODORE 64 MORPH GAME
*************************************

Commodore Free
A nice version of a logic solving
and frustratingly addictive game has
been released for the Commodore 64
here is what the author wrote about
the program

Hi guys, I have released a C64
puzzle game called MORPH. It is a
conversion of the Amiga puzzle game
Polymorph.

Check it out!

http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?i
d=93187

Th3_MAD_Sc1ent1st!

-------------------------------------

*************************************
   ENHANCED MUSIC PLAYER FOR IPAD
*************************************

------ Original Message
From: Keith Henrickson
Date: Wed, August 4, 2010 11:25 am

Enhanced Music Player for iPad now
available!

Those of you at Commvex saw a
pre-release demo of this! The
Compute's  Gazette Sid Collection
can now be played back on the iPad!

This is a different collection than
the HVSC, and also has songs
supporting Stereo Sid and lyrics.
Unfortunately, it's not there for
the iPhone/iPod Touch yet. Have to
see if I can't bring the CPU usage
down.

Enhanced Music Player is now live on
the App Store

http://itunes.apple.com/app/enhanced-
music-player/id381985743?mt=8

-------------------------------------

*************************************
         TWO SD2IEC RELEASES
*************************************

Subject: sd2iec 0.9.3 and 0.10.0pre1

Hi!

Two sd2iec releases - one stable,
one experimental:

VERSION 0.9.3:

* Bugfix: Extension hiding works
  again with names >12 characters

* Bugfix: Increase data hold time
  during standard TALK (fixes hang
  in Knights'n'Grail when using the
  standard serial protocol)

* Testing aid: card detect-to-LED
  function (hold down PREV button
  during powerup to use, uIEC/SD
  will show the state of the card
  detect switch on its activity LED;
  others will show that on the dirty
  LED and the write protect switch
  on the busy LED, exit with NEXT
  button or power-cycle)

VERSION 0.10.0PRE1:

As my requests for disk images from
original GEOS disks weren't as
successful as I hoped[1] I'll just
push testing duties to the users.

* GEOS 2.0 support (d64/d71/d81
  images only)

  1.3 probably works, 1.2 certainly
  doesn't, 1.5 not tested, Gateway
  might work, Wheels won't. Don't
  try to switch the disk image type
  on the fly, the C64 won't know
  about it and may ruin your disk
  image. No cracked versions
  supported, but disks built with
  geoMakeBoot are ok. No idea about
  Maverick-built ones, when I tried
  it in VICE Maverick crashed to a
  blue READY screen.

  DNP will not work. The CMD manuals
  I've seen specifically mention
  that only 1581 partitions are
  supported in GEOS and nobody has
  pointed me to a software yet that
  would change that.

* File-based M-R emulation

  Basically a way to redirect M-R
  calls in the rom area to a file on
  card so some drive detection
  routines will work. The one in
  GEOS reads quite a lot of data
  this way, do use this feature when
  using GEOS or you may run into
  lots of detection problems (e.g.
  depending on the version of
  Configure sd2iec gets detected as
  a 1541 or 1581, which will cause
  trouble when booting from a D64
  file). To use this, put a copy of
  the rom(s) on the card and set its
  name as current rom file with
  "XR:filename". Paths not
  supported, the file will be
  searched for in the current
  directory of the current
  partition, then the root of that
  partition, then the root of the
  first partition. If it's missing
  or the feature is disabled ("XR")
  the internal table will be used.

  Beware: If a rom file is used, the
  Action Replay 6 will enable its
  unsupported fastloader. Dreamload
  will not be detected by sd2iec if
  you're using a rom other than the
  1541 one.

* Removed "oldnkc" configuration

  I assume that nobody out there has
  upgraded the old, ATmega32-based
  board to an ATmega644 because I
  heard no complaints when I stopped
  providing binaries for it some
  time ago.

If you've got a version of GEOS 2.0
that you're sure is not cracked[2]
and that won't work with sd2iec,
send me a D64 of the disk.

Download at http://www.sd2iec.de  as
usual.

-ik

[1] Peter Rittwage and Bo Zimmerman
were very helpful, but I'm still
looking for GeoRAM/BBGRam-compatible
versions.

[2] There are way too many different
cracks out there to support them all.

-------------------------------------

*************************************
  CBM-COMMAND VERSION 1.5 RELEASED
*************************************

http://cbmcommand.codeplex.com

RELEASE VERSION 1.5 - STABLE

This version encompasses many
enhancements and improvements of
existing functionality, as well as
inclusion of new target platforms
(VIC 20, Plus 4) and features (D81
support, Configuration Colour
Picker).

NEW FEATURES

* (ALL) New colour picker for the
  configuration program

* (64, 128, PLUS 4) 1581 Disk Image
  (D81) Support

* Added support for Commodore Plus 4
  computer

* 32K Expanded VIC-20 now supported

CHANGES

* (ALL) Removed CTRL key from hot
  keys that previously required it.
  Hot keys the use the C= key still
  require it.

* (ALL) If you have 1 or more files
  selected (highlighted) and choose
  delete, all selected files will be
  deleted. If you do not have any
  files selected (highlighted) then
  only the file that the selector is
  pointing to will be deleted.

* (ALL) When you rename a file the
  textbox is pre-populated with the
  name of the old file.

* (VIC 20, Plus 4) Configuration
  files are enabled and working
  correctly

* (ALL) Changed the UI for file
  transfers to use a new progress
  bar to give feedback on the copy
  operation.

* (64, 128, Plus 4) Changed the UI
  for disk image creation/writing to
  use a new progress bar to give
  feedback on the image operation.

* (VIC20) Refactored many of the
  screens to better fit the 22x23
  layout.

* (VIC20) Filename shortening
  removed and the file type moved to
  the left of the directory display

* (PLUS4) Created colour scheme to
  match the environment

* (VIC20) Panels are not displayed
  side by side, only one panel is
  displayed at a time.

* (VIC20) D64 support is removed,
  the RAM was needed elsewhere.

* (ALL) The screen has been made
  more scalable.

KNOWN ISSUES

* None

-------------------------------------

*************************************
         SEUCK VAULT UPDATE
*************************************

Time to open the Vault doors once
again for more Shoot 'Em Up
Construction Kit games.

We have a new batch of C64 games,
taking our grand total to over 200.

NEW THIS MONTH:

* Frank Gasking's workdisks,
  including a clever end sequence
  created with the Kit

* Kill Hill tape version with new
  loading screen by Richard Bayliss

* Car Wars and its sequel

* Two new games from Bamse (Sonny
  Top)

For Amiga users, we now have 40
different games. And we plan to
bring the Atari ST version onto the
site in the near future too.

http://www.seuckvault.co.uk

-------------------------------------

*************************************
    DISKMAG "HUGI" ISSUE 36, FOR
     AMIGAOS4 HAS BEEN RELEASED
*************************************

The well-known and 14 years exciting
diskmag HUGI is out for AmigaOS4 !!

For now we released the most recent
issue of Hugi: #36, which was
initially released at the BreakPoint
2010 party in April for windows, and
now, for the 25 years Amiga
celebration we released an AmigaOS4
version !

The diskmag is based on the
well-known engine called Panorama,
done by Chris Dragan (initially for
PC users), and later, with help of
Ransom from IRIS was updated by SDL
part , which makes it possible to
port it to AmigaOS4 (and not only)
as well.

This issue can be a bit slow on week
machines, because of the 1024x768
true-colour mode and many different
features and effects (which are
fully done by only the CPU for now,
so, better cpu = better speed). But
you always can disable effects from
the starting menu, and set your WB
to 16bit mode for gain more speed
for if necessary. But I am pretty
sure, many of you will be happy to
read such a modern diskmag, which
full of features (such as a
integrated musicdisk part and great
Amiga related articles) on AmigaOS4,
even, if for some of you it will be
not very fast. Engine of course can
still have some little bugs and
problems, and if you will found any
- contact me, and i will fix it for
the next issues.

The first issues of HUGI were more
or less PC centric, but the latest
ones start to be more and more cross
platform, and Hugi#36 which we
released now, is half based on
Amiga-related topics. Since issue
#32 Magic of Nah-Kolor (the old and
well-known Amiga group) is the
co-editor of Hugi, and that can
explain more Amiga-related context.

In brief, if you want to start by
the Amiga-related articles, we
advise the following ones:

* Amiga Scene: Jump into the hole
  (my article about the current
  situation with aos4/mos/aros)

* BreakPoint 2009 - From a
  Breakpoint TV point of view (about
  Amiga releases mostly)

* The Vague - Amiga Diskmag on stage
  - Part 3 (my article about our
  warp3d diskmag)

* Mad Wizards - looking back with
  Azzaro (about Elude as well)

* Muffler: from Amiga musician to
  top DJ Producer (yeah, we all
  remember Muffler !)

Many articles are not related to any
platform, but about everything in
demo scene in general, so Hugi#36
will be interesting to read all the
way.

Have fan, enjoy, and wait for other
Hugi issues which will be released
on Amiga AOS4 as well ! (Do not
forget to switch music tracks by 1-8
keys , or use the music-menu.
Music-disk part in that issue are
awesome and professional).

Download it from scene.org HERE
http://scene.org/file.php?file=/mags/
hugi/hugi36_aos4.lha&fileinfo  (77
mb).

Also you can see HUGI36 on AOS4 in
action on Amiga25years celebration
party in Holand on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkRGB4
XxGIc part1 and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpPM_c
PIIXk part2.

More information at
http://hugi.scene.org

PS. if you have any problems with
diskmag engine, write me at
kas1e@yandex.ru Also if you have
interest to support Hugi on by Amiga
(aos3/aos4/mos/aros/general ones)
articles, you can contact Magic of
Nah-Kolor at magic_nah@hotmail.com
or also contact me and I will help
you the best I can.

-------------------------------------

*************************************
 BETA RELEASE OF ULTIMATE PACK 1.6.0
          (FOR MORPHOS 2.5)
*************************************

The French website
www.meta-morphos.org is released a
beta version of Ultimate pack 1.6.0
for MorphOS 2.5. The pack will allow
you to quickly and effortlessly
obtain a more complete MorphOS
environment.

Included are:

* Mail,
* chat,
* calendar,
* address book,
* music and video players,
* drawing software,
* photo organizer,
* E-UAE integration
* and much more.

The icons directory, wallpapers and
MIME types have been contributed by
Patbest. This pack is not an
official MorphOS update but a
community-driven add-on. For
installation, simply unzip the
archive on a clean installation of
MorphOS 2.5. Cautionary users should
remember to create a backup of your
old system.

Important notice: The default
language is French. Please remember
to choose your preferred language
after the installation.

also Pack Games and Pack Emulators
(PowerSDL v14.0 is required).

-------------------------------------

*************************************
      BLU MANAGER V0.5 RELEASED
*************************************

Blu manager is a database program
for your blu ray collection. It has
its own (and small atm) online
database.

Requires Wget in C dir and online
connection

CHANGES:

* The delete button could be
  activated if one just opened the
  about window and closed again. Has
  been removed for now.

* Added print button. Let's you
  print the list on paper.

* Downloads the database.txt on
  startup. Before it was never
  updated.

* Fixed some typos in the database.

* Changed to listbrowser in about
  window.

* Added more space to the first
  column(number).

http://os4depot.net/index.php?functio
n=showfile&file=office/database/blu_m
anager.lha

-------------------------------------

*************************************
      TARGETD64 V0.4.0 RELEASED
*************************************

http://home.arcor.de/karlheinz.langgu
th/targetd64/index.html

The basic idea behind TargetD64 is
to shift as much processing as
possible from the user to the
computer before a particular program
(or a group of programs) is executed
by an emulator. After you have
downloaded a program from the
internet you usually find that this
program is treated by archivers and
often by more than one archiver.
Well known examples should be the
.lnx.gz or .d64.zip format. Normally
you are going through a process of
de-archiving which needs user
interaction (e.g. calling unzip or
launching up WinZip and so on).
TargetD64 takes away all this work
from the user. TargetD64 recognizes
the archive format(s) and
de-archives recursively. TargetD64
will finally produce D64 archives
which are passed to an emulator.

Supported archive formats are zip,
gz, lha, lnx, ark, [1-4]!, d64, x64,
t64, p00. If a file can not be
matched to one of these formats it
is treated as a raw C64 (PRG) file.

Introduction:
http://home.arcor.de/karlheinz.langgu
th/targetd64/index.html
Changelog:
http://home.arcor.de/karlheinz.langgu
th/targetd64/td64tracker.html
Download:
http://home.arcor.de/karlheinz.langgu
th/targetd64/td64download.html

-------------------------------------

*************************************
         MINIGAME COMPO 2010
*************************************

INTRO:

Due to the missing of the official
MiniGame Compo website I started
this site.

I find it important to keep the
MiniGame Compo alive although the
compo of last year only had a few
voters. I value the development of
games and the fun to it more
important than the voting at the
end, although I will try to
eliminate abuse voting. All voted
games must have a comment WHY you
value the game that score. I will
check if this is a value comment by
comparing other comments and my own
comment on the game. If the comment
is too different from other voters I
will skip the score.

The compo will be in the same
categories as last year

1K, 2K and 4K but ONLY for 8 bit
computers!!!!!

The last day for submission of each
compo will be:

1K : 31 August 2010
2K : 31 October 2010
4K : 30 November 2010

Voting can be done in the month
following closure.

All entries can be sent to
DR_BEEP2000@OOHAY.DE and will be
published here
(SPAM prevent: Type OOHAY backwards
for the right address).

The games must be sent as a ZIP-file
containing the game in a format that
most emulators can handle and may
not be larger than the maximum value
for the compo it is for, I.e. a C64
game must be a 1K PRG-file and not a
complete DSK-file with a small part
of the DSK the program I must
introduce this rule since I will not
be able to determine if the program
uses more of the DSK-file than the
reserved amount of space for the
game. All other minimal filesizes as
in previous compo's count.(Fill
ROM-files with 0 for Atari 2600, ZX
Spectrum + 25bytes for header data
etc.. etc..)

Dr Beep.

http://minigamecompo2010.00freehost.c
om/

-------------------------------------

*************************************
    COMMODORE ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE
     WORLDWIDE LICENSING RIGHTS
*************************************

COMPANIES INK DEAL TO PRODUCE NEW
LINE OF ALL-IN-ONE KEYBOARD COMPUTERS

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL and OLDENZAAL,
THE NETHERLANDS, August 25, 2010
Commodore USA, LLC and Commodore
Licensing B.V., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Asiarim Corp (OTCQB:
"ARMC"), today announced their
licensing agreement whereby
Commodore USA, LLC will produce a
full line of new Commodore branded
"AIO" (All In One) keyboard
computers, under an exclusive
worldwide license granted by
Commodore Licensing B.V. for this
newly revitalized computer category.

Mr. Barry Altman, President and CEO
of Commodore USA, LLC states "We are
ecstatic to be partnering with
Commodore Licensing B.V. in this
new, exciting product launch. The
legacy of the Commodore C64, which
sold over 30 million units, making
it the best selling computer of all
time, and our reintroduction of this
legendary form factor, combined with
the world's most recognizable
consumer electronics brand, is a
once in a lifetime opportunity. We
look forward to bringing these new
products to market, and welcoming a
whole new generation of computer
users to the Commodore experience".

In response to an overwhelming
demand from former Commodore users
worldwide, Commodore USA's CTO Leo
Nigro announced today that their new
Commodore PC64 will be available for
purchase this holiday season.
Featuring an exact replica of the
original beige chassis Commodore
C64, this new addition to our
line-up will include an Intel Atom
525 CPU with NVIDIA Ion2 graphics,
4GB DDR3 memory, 1TB Hdd, HDMI,
DVD/CD optical drive (Blu-ray
optional), dual-link DVI, six USB
ports, integrated 802.11n WiFi,
bluetooth and a 6-in-1 media card
reader.

With the recent introduction of
their flagship Phoenix model,
Commodore USA has once again
catapulted the Commodore namesake to
the forefront of consumer
electronics brand recognition. Other
Commodore keyboard computers include
the Amigo, a basic entry level
computer featuring a system on chip
configuration, and the Invictus,
featuring a small portable form
factor with an embedded LCD screen
display.

ABOUT COMMODORE LICENSING B.V.:

Commodore Licensing B.V., a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Asiarim
Corporation (OTCQB: "ARMC"), is the
licensor of the trademark Commodore,
and grants other parties licenses in
connection with specific products or
services. Asiarim Corporation is
also investing in companies engaged
in, or related to, the development,
sales and distribution of computer,
mobile and multi-media products
marketed under the brand name
Commodore.

ABOUT COMMODORE USA, LLC:

Commodore USA, LLC designs, produces
and markets a series of all-in-one
Commodore branded keyboard
computers, and other unique form
factor computers and consumer
electronics.

Barry S. Altman is the President and
CEO of Commodore USA, LLC, based in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Spanning a
25 year career in the bleeding-edge
electronics and satellite/space
telecommunications industry, Mr.
Altman founded and served as CEO &
President of Cabletech Satellite
Systems, Inc. U.S. Cable Technology,
Inc., The Cabletech Satellite
Network and United Broadcasting Co.
This group of companies built NOC's
(Network Operation Centres) for
cable television programmers, and
cable television head ends for cable
companies throughout the United
States, They designed and
constructed the satellite uplink
network operation centres for such
companies as Viacom International,
Warner Amex, Viacom and MTV
Networks. They directed and produced
the domestic satellite telemetry
downlink for the Live Aid concert
for MTV, which was at that time the
largest world wide deployment of a
live satellite television broadcast.
Cabletech has manufactured, designed
and installed systems for Grumman
Aerospace, The United Nations,
government and private industry, and
over 45,000 TVRO C& Ku band
satellite systems for businesses and
consumers nationwide. Cabletech was
a developmental partner with General
Motors & Hughes Communications in
the small aperture DBS system that
later became DirecTV.

-------------------------------------

*************************************
          LOADSTAR COMPLEAT
*************************************

LOADSTAR was one of the very first
disk-magazines ever published. In
1982 Jim Mangham got the idea of a
monthly magazine on disk filled with
programs, graphics and text that
people would run on their computer.
In 1984 the first issue of LOADSTAR,
a magazine for the Commodore 64/128
computer was launched and over the
next 15 years and 199 issues, a LOT
of stuff was published on these disk
magazines. Now, every bit of it has
been converted to fit on one CD that
you can run on your PC -- and
there's still room on the CD for
more old LOADSTAR things like music,
JPGs of the colour covers of the
issues, and much, much more.

Here's some of what you'll get on
the CD:

* All 199 issues of LOADSTAR in .d64
  and .d81 format

* All 42 issues of LOADSTAR 128 in
  .d64 format

* .TXT files of all of the text on
  the issues for fast searching on
  your PC

* All 21 issues of UpTime (a rival
  disk magazine that LOADSTAR
  soundly defeated and bought)

* JPGs of all of the colour covers
  of the issues when LOADSTAR was
  sold in stores

* PDFs of all 73 issues of The
  LOADSTAR Letter, Jeff Jones'
  excellent newsletter companion to
  LOADSTAR

* MP3s of selected Knees Calhoon
  songs

* .d64 files of every LOADSTAR
  product published separately from
  the monthly issues: the Complete
  Bible, the Complete Programmer,
  all five LOADSTAR Extras, Barbara
  Schulak's puzzles, etc.

* All of Dave Marquis' SID and MIDI
  music

* All of Walt Harned's artwork --
  Walt is the most prolific artist
  ever for the Commodore computer

* and whatever else I could find
  from the historic LOADSTAR
  archives.

US Only -  $24 plus $3 S&H

Outside the US -  $24 plus $6 S&H

http://www.ramblehouse.com/loadstarco
mpleat.htm

=====================================

*************************************
     INTERVIEW WITH PAYTON BYRD
        Author of CBM-Command
*************************************

http://cbmcommand.codeplex.com/

Please introduce yourself to our
readers

Hi my name is Payton Byrd.  I live
in Clarksville, Tennessee, USA and
have been programming for the last
27 years!

What do you do for a living

I'm a software development
professional specializing in large
systems.  I do both development and
architecture.  I've been doing this
for 15 years now and in a lot of
ways it still feels like yesterday
that I got started.

So How did your computing love start
then

When I was 12 my family went to a
Montgomery Wards department store to
do Christmas shopping.  While in the
electronics section I encountered a
very cool display featuring a VIC-20
and the Introducing Your Commodore
VIC 20 manual.  I stood there and
read the whole manual and typed in
every example while my family did
their Christmas shopping.  I was
hooked.  My uncle was sent to find
me in the store and when he found me
and I told him I'd been there the
whole time he told my Grandmother
that I needed a computer more than
he did.  He gave me his VIC-20 with
8K RAM expansion and a datasette
during spring break of that next
year and it changed my life forever.

Do you still own real Commodore
machines then

Oh yes!  I've got several.  I have a
couple of non-functional VIC's, a
64C, several flat 128's in various
states of (dis)repair, and an Amiga
500.  I've got every kind of drive
you can think of except a 1540.

Apart from "CBM-Command" that I
would like to talk about later; have
you realised any other Commodore
related software

Yes, in 2005 I took over the
maintenance of GUI4CBM4WIN from
Wolfgang Moser and converted it to
.Net.  You can still download the
most recent version from 2007 on my
blog at
http://blog.paytonbyrd.com/?p=98  so
go get it!

OK so back to "CBM-Command"; can you
tell our readers what is it?

CBM-Command is a disk manager for
the Commodore 64, Commodore 128,
Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore
Plus/4 computers. It is written in
the vein of Norton Commander or
Midnight Commander, but is much
simpler due to the target platforms.
Both the C128 and C64 have their own
native version of the application

Where did you get the idea for
"CBM-Command"

I was trying to utilize my uIEC and
just got frustrated.  JiffyDOS and
its wedge are great, but they just
don't have any ease of use.
Actually, the only reliable way I
had found to copy files to/from an
uIEC was using the JiffyDOS wedge.
I decided that needed to change.

What hardware combinations can the
software be used on

It works on both real machines and
WinVICE.  And So far I have tested
it with the following hardware:

* Flat Commodore 128 w/Jiffy DOS
* Commodore 1571 w/Jiffy DOS
* Commodore 1581 w/Jiffy DOS
* uIEC/SD
* Commodore 64 (stock)
* Commodore 1541 (stock)
* Commodore 1541 w/Jiffy DOS
* Blue Chip 128 Disk Drive

Additional testing has been
performed under VICE using the
following file systems:

* IDE64 Native File system
* Vice File System
* Vice Virtual Drive (not TDE)
* 1541 TDE
* 1581 TDE
* 1551 TDE
* Commodore Plus 4 Emulation
* Commodore VIC 20 Emulation
* Commodore 64 Emulation
* Commodore 128 Emulation

In addition to these you should be
able to use any device that uses
standard kernel routines.

How can our readers download the
software

The preferred method is to download
it from the project website at
http://cbmcommand.codeplex.com  on
CodePlex.

Are you still looking for Helpers
with the project, what sort of help
do you need

I'm always looking for testers,
documentation writers and such.  But
right now I need someone who can
help convert the shared UI portion
of CBM-Command into pure assembler
to reduce the size of the
executable.  I don't have those
skills (CBM-Command is written in C)
and would be very grateful for such
help.

How "finished" is the current version

The current version as of this
interview is Version 1.6.  I
consider it very complete.  There
are always little things you think
about adding, but for now I don't
have any major plans.

Do you have plans to implement more
features, will you ever get to a
stage where you feel the software
"is" complete

Right now, unless I find someone to
help reduce the size of the
executable, it's very complete.
This is a big application and there
simply isn't much room left to add
more code.

What do you feel is more important
"more Features" or "more stability"

Stability, by a long shot. There's
been a lot of great testing by a lot
of people, but as we all know
software is never bug free.

Has the stability of the project
ever been an issue

That's a very interesting question.
I wrote a document
(http://cbmcommand.codeplex.com/relea
ses/view/48963 ) and its reprinted
in this issue of Commodore Free; the
document details what it was like to
write CBM-Command.  The project
definitely had its rocky moments,
but the community gave me a lot of
support and that support helped to
see the project be finished.

What is the project written in I
know you mentioned c language for

The project is written in C using
the cc65 tools.  There are a few
other smaller technologies used, and
even a dabblings of assembler, but
the majority of the code is C.  As
stated earlier, I'd love to get more
of it migrated to assembler, but
more for space savings over
performance.

Do you have any other projects your
working on

Yes,

First and foremost is the Apple II
version called A2 Command.  I'm
working with Oliver Schmidt on doing
the port to the Apple II.  I don't
think this would have been possible
if I had written the application in
anything other than C using cc65.

Also I've been kicking around a
couple of new ideas.

The first is a dungeon crawler RPG,
but I don't know when I'll get time
to write that one. The other is a
program to help manage applications
on large storage devices.  Whereas
CBM-Command is all about file
management, this app would be all
about Application management.  You
can read more at
http://www.paytonbyrd.com/wiki/CBM_Ap
ps.ashx  which details my current
development plans.

Thanks for taking the time to talk
to Commodore Free magazine

Nigel, I want to thank you for your
hard work on Commodore Free magazine
and it's been a pleasure to answer
your questions!

Geeez its me that should be thanking
you

=====================================

*************************************
         WRITING CBM-COMMAND
An Adventure in Social Collaboration
*************************************

Things got started in April 2010 as
I sat bored and contemplative.

I was surrounded by all this old and
cool equipment which I was doing
practically nothing with. What could
I do? I got these machines because I
love programming for them. I decided
to write some software. I wanted to
give back to the community,
something that people would use and
appreciate, but I wasn't sure what
to write.

I started playing around with the
uIEC devices I had bought from Jim
Brain. One thing became abundantly
clear to me: there was no good way
to manage this thing. The old
software that worked with the CMD HD
series didn't work well with the
uIEC as there were minor
incompatibilities. Since the uIEC
supports JiffyDOS, and I have
JiffyDOS, I decided to give the
built in JD file copier a shot. It
works, but it's clunky and the
routine for using it is less than
ergonomic.

I then began playing around with
managing files directly on the SD
card with 64Copy. While this works
just fine, it felt like cheating,
plus 64Copy doesn't do file
transfers to real CBM devices. Star
Commander does, but you have to use
it from DOS. OpenCBM does but you
have to have a parallel port and the
computer I was using OpenCBM on just
died and its replacement has no
parallel port. I was sunk when it
came to using PC's with my CBM
drives. I decided to do something
about it. I decided to use 64Copy as
my model for how the program would
work. My first whack at the problem
was doing a quick prototype in BASIC
on the C= 128. Although I could have
written the whole thing on that
platform, I knew it wasn't scalable
past the 128. I rather quickly
abandoned the BASIC prototype and
decided on writing the software in C
using cc65.

I had previously dabbled in cc65 and
found it to be very powerful, and
also very intimidating. To get the
most out of it you need to have some
secondary tools such as GNU Make.
While not absolutely necessary,
using GNU Make makes life a lot
easier. I even contemplated writing
custom NAnt tasks for cc65, but
decided that since the cc65
community uses GNU Make, I'd learn
to use GNU Make to fit in. This was
my first attempt at social
collaboration with the project, and
it started a firestorm on the cc65
mailing list.

As a n00b to real cc65 development,
and a complete neophyte to GNU Make,
I posed a lot of questions that were
met with equal parts helpfulness and
a healthy dose of "Oh god, another
n00b". Although nobody came out and
used such terms, it was hard not to
get that sensation. One positive
person stood out, Oliver Schmidt. He
was greatly helpful and it was my
questions about a standard makefile
for using cc65 that started a
mini-revolution that led to us
preparing some changes to cc65 that
led to a truly universal makefile.

Besides the cc65 mailing list, the
other major tool for overcoming my
makefile n00bness was Managing
Projects with GNU Make. This book
was essential in learning enough
about GNU Make to even have a chance
of starting an intelligent
discussion on the cc65 mailing list.
Today I have a very clean and robust
makefile for the project that has
made a MAJOR difference in the ease
of development for the project.

The next major decision was about
development environment. Should I
use GNU/Linux; should I use Windows?
Should I use a text editor; should I
use an IDE? What IDE should I use,
Visual Studio or Eclipse? In the end
I decided to go with what I know
best: Visual Studio on Windows.

I chose Visual Studio 2010 because
the machine I'm programming on isn't
high powered (just a 1.47 GHz AMD
Athlon X2) and VS 2010 uses WPF
instead of GDI to render it's UI,
which puts the processing power for
displaying the IDE in the hands of
the video system instead of the CPU,
which has the benefit of freeing up
CPU for background processing which
makes VS 2010 much faster than
previous versions. Fortunately, VS
has kept its C roots and allows for
C/C++ projects that are makefile
based. This was a HUGE help as I was
able to simply configure custom
targets that use the makefile I had
built and all worked well. By this
time I was approaching late April,
and I was ready to write code.

The normal paradigm for Norton
Commander and its clones is to have
both hotkeys and drop down menus. I
started out by working on the UI.
Once I got the UI nailed down I
could easily add the functionality.
I built a menuing system and
released it as a preview.
Appropriately, people were sceptical
that anything would come from it,
but I did get a lot of positiveif
guardedfeedback when I described the
goals of the project.

Being a professional software
developer I've grown accustomed to
some basic tools: source control,
issue tracking, wiki documentation
and release management. I
immediately decided to use CodePlex
as it provides all of these tools in
a cohesive environment. I know
CodePlex isn't the sexiest choice in
the community because it's run by
Microsoft, but this was a decision
that I found easy because CodePlex's
source control integrates directly
in Visual Studio 2010. This proved
to be a lifesaver as I had a
hardware failure during development
at a point where I would have lost a
lot of work if not for my habit of
frequently checking in source code
as I get a feature working.

Another major win with using
CodePlex was that I was able to
immediately publish a feature set
and documentation about the project.
I firmly believe that this level of
professionalism and dedication built
trust in the Commodore community
that I wasn't yet another
vapour-ware maestro. People actually
asked me questions about features,
offered advice, and even criticism.

As all this was going on, I
continued to add more and more code
to the framework and soon I was
displaying a directory on the
screen. This was HUGE. First, it
helped me to know I could use the
cc65 tools to do the heavy lifting
of the application, and second it
showed people I was serious. I
released another preview, got more
feedback and felt somewhat gratified
that I was doing something good and
useful.
During this phase of the project I
started running into issues with the
code. Coming from a managed
framework world where the code runs
on big servers with lots of memory,
I was in the habit of populating
large structures and working from
them for speed and ease of coding.
This is not a good idea when the
systems you are targeting have as
little as 32K of RAM. On top of
being on a wild goose chase, I had a
major memory leak in my code that
took me weeks to track down and
resolve. In the end, resolving the
memory leak led to the overall
solution for displaying large
directories of files. Another thing
to come from working in such tight
memory was the realization that the
drop down menus were too costly and
had to go.

Over the course of May 2010 things
really began shaping up. I had added
support for copying batches of
files, deleting a single file and
renaming a file. Both panels could
be displayed simultaneously and
operate independently of each other,
but things just felt incomplete. One
feature that was never in the
initial scope of the project was
disk image support, and another
feature that was out of scope was
text file viewing. Being a
professional developer, I really
wanted to stick to my original
scope, but enough people were asking
for disk image support that I
decided to give it a try and
implement it. Fortunately, most of
the disk logic was similar to that
of the file copying code, so it was
actually rather easy to implement.
It did bloat the code a bit and I
was forever refactoring code to
regain a few hundred bytes here, a
couple hundred bytes there.

Initially, the help information was
going to be hard-coded to the app,
but now there was no room for it. I
replaced it with a message to go to
the documentation page on CodePlex,
but people didn't like that
solution. Eventually I realized the
only workable solution was to
display the help from a text file.
This meant generating a text file
reader, of course and since I was
targeting both the 128 in 80 columns
and the 64 in 40 columns, the text
file reader needed to be smart and
wrap text based on the size of the
screen. This would eventually become
even more important as I moved
towards VIC 20 support later in the
project.

About 2 weeks into public preview
releases of the project I started
getting suggestions that I should
attend C4 in Cincinnati during the
last weekend in May. I was
approaching feature-completeness at
that point and was ready to publish
the release candidate for version
1.0. I figured if I could get a
stable and functional 1.0 by the
Wednesday before C4 that I'd attend.
As the days went on with the release
candidate, I received lots of
feedback and few bug reports. I put
together version 1.0 on May 25 and
made 22 floppy disks to take with me
to C4.

C4 was a wonderful experience. I got
to meet a lot of people in the
community and even do a demo of the
project. I worked with Six to start
working on a PET port of the project
(which nearly worked) and generally
it was a big success. I gave out
about 15 disks of the project and
even helped a couple of folks solve
problems using the project. It was
at this time that I knew I had
created something good and it was
something to be proud of.

Right after C4 my children came to
live with me for the summer. My time
to work on the project was suddenly
gone, but I was still getting
feedback, still monitoring the
downloads and still thinking of ways
to improve the project for the next
major version. In July I started
carving out some time to work on the
project and incorporate some of the
feedback. A couple of things on my
to do list was VIC 20 support and
PET support. The VIC 20 was a bit of
work as much of the UI had to be
refactored, but of all segments of
the C= community, it has been most
well received in the VIC 20 world.
After going through the code for VIC
20 support it was obvious that
adding support for the Plus 4 was a
no brainer so I did that in a couple
of hours. As I added support for the
VIC and Plus 4, I started getting
new perspectives on things to
improve about the project. As the
community of potential users grew,
so did the opportunities to improve
the project to the benefit of all
users.

As I write this the project is
approaching its next major
milestone: version 1.5. There are a
lot of new features, UI changes and
general ergonomic improvements; and
almost all of them were requests
from the community. I believe that
aggressively engaging the community
early in the project, and giving
them a real voice in the project has
led to a much better product.

Even though development of the
project never would have finished
without support and participation of
the community, it also was never
finished because of negative
feedback that I was "doing it all
wrong". For many programmers in the
Commodore community, you keep your
code close to the vest, you don't
show it to anybody, and you bang
away on it for eight months before
showing it to a single other soul. I
DON'T AND CANNOT WORK THAT WAY. I
would get fired in a heartbeat for
trying that in the real world. Why
shouldn't a Commodore project use
the same iterative development
lifecycle that I use in my day job?
I stuck to my guns, provide frequent
releases, and ENCOURAGE people to
read the code and provide help.

At this point I need to thank Greg
King for his code contributions to
the project. Greg helped clean up a
lot of the keyboard handling code
and also provided assembler code to
store the screen under the kernel
ROM and retrieve it from there. This
saved nearly 2k of runtime RAM and
was a big part of the success of
adding additional features over the
last couple of weeks.

Finally, I want to thank the entire
Commodore community from all of the
supporters to all of the detractors.
I needed every bit of feedback that
I received to make CBM-Command the
project that it is today.

=====================================

*************************************
             CBM-COMMAND
*************************************

WHAT IS IT:

CBM-Command is a tool for many
Commodore machines that helps to
easily manage files by using an
interface in the Norton Commander
style.  It uses 2 panels (except for
the Vic-20 Version) and buttons
along with short keys that help to
perform various tasks like Rename,
Copy, Delete, make a dir (when
available) and also manage disk
D64/D81 images (except for the
Vic-20 Version).

Versions (Supported machines):

* C64 - This is the basic version
  and only includes support for 40
  column display. It's filename is
  cbmcommand.c64.

* C128 - This is the advanced
  version and supports only the 80
  column display. The C128 version
  automatically uses the 2mhz system
  speed of the C128 computer which
  allows for faster operations. The
  C128 version's filename is
  cbmcommand.c128.

* VIC-20 - This is the "lite"
  version and only includes support
  for 22 column display. It's
  filename is cbmcommand.vic20.

* Plus 4 - This is nearly identical
  to the C64 version except is
  allows use of the full 121 colour
  palette of the Plus 4 computer.
  It's filename is cbmcommand.plus4

HOW DOES IT WORK:

LOAD"*",8 or LOAD"LOADCBMCMD",8
where 8 is the drive where file
resides (do not use the ,1 suffix)
This command just load the first
file "LOADCBMCMD" and detects the
current machine then loads the
proper program for the recognized
machine.

CUSTOMIZE:

You may customize the interface of
the program by using the proper
config program for the target
system, for example to customize the
C128 version load and run the file
"CBMCMDCONFIG.C128" while for the
plus4 run the file
"CBMCMDCONFIG.PLUS4".  You may
select default drives for Left/Right
Panels and colours for Background,
Menu, File names etc etc.

INTERFACE:

The program uses two panels (left
and right) each with an own drive
that displays the content of the
directory, by using cursors key
(left/right) you may swap between
panels while by using (up/down) you
move inside the directory, the space
key selects/unselects items in case
you want perform a task to multiple
files, example copy 3 files from a
drive to another drive with just one
step.

In the bottom there are buttons that
you may select by using Function
Keys, they perform the main tasks,
DELETE, RENAME, COPY etc.

DRIVES:

CBM-Command uses two panels to
display contents of one or two
drives at a time. Each drive panel
has an associated menu depending on
whether it is the left panel or
right panel. The drive panels may be
refreshed by selecting the Re-read
option from the appropriate menu.

Directory panels are the primary
focus of CBM-Command. There are two
directory panels, one for the left
drive and one for the right drive.
To use a drive panel, you must first
select a drive using the Left or
Right menus' Drive... option for the
corresponding panel, or using the D
(left panel) and C=-D (right panel)
hot keys.

You can navigate between the panels
using the left and right cursor
keys. You may also toggle panels on
and off using the T hot key.

Directory panels can be refreshed,
which means that the directory is
re-read from the drive. This is done
by using the E (left panel) and C=-E
(right panel) hot keys.

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS:

For some "advanced" tasks or simply
as alternative for common tasks you
may use some Keyboard Shorcuts.

Function     Key(s)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Re-Read     E (Left)
Directory C=E (Right)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Select      D (Left)
Drive     C=D (Right)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Toggle              T
Panels On/Off
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Help               F1
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Quit               F2
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GO64 (C128 Only)    G
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Make Directory     F7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Enter      SHIFT-PLUS
Directory/
Disk Image
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Exit      SHIFT-MINUS
Directory/
Disk Image
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Copy File(s)       F5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rename File        F6
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Delete File(s)     F8
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tag a file      SPACE
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tag All             A
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tag None            S
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Navigate      Up/Down
within a       Cursor
panel
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Page Up          PLUS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Page Down       MINUS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Top of              ^
Directory    UP ARROW
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bottom of     SHIFT-^
Directory    UP ARROW
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Navigate   Left/Right
Between        Cursor
panels
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Write     SHIFT-SPACE
D64/D81
to Disk
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Write Disk          X
to D64/D81

=====================================

*************************************
        INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL
        Creator Of C64 Archiv
*************************************

http://www.purmike.de/documents/c64ar
chiv_en.html

Please introduce yourself to our
Readers

Hello, my name is Michael, I'm 38
years old and I live in the south of
Germany with my wife and my two
children. Whenever I have some spare
time, which is rare, I like to
program, to play chess or to do some
(endurance) sports.

Can you tell our readers a little
about your computing history and the
machines you owned

In 1985, at the age of 13 I saw the
first C64 and was immediately
enthusiastic about it. So I decided
to save up enough money to buy one,
I finally got one at Christmas  with
the monetary help of my parents.
After creating small basic games I
started to program in Assembler
where, for example, I built a sprite
editor and projects like an text
adventure or a macro assembler.
Although I bought a C128 in 1988 I
lost interest in programming soon
due to other hobbies and activities.
I didn't get re-involved in
computers until 1997. I Bet with a
friend who is able to program the
best Connect Four Program (I
actually won 7:3), I started to
program again, especially 'puzzling
and riddling games'. You might have
a look in the download-section of my
homepage,
(http://purmike.de/documents/download
s_en.html ), where you can find
besides Connect Four also MasterMind
and 8 queens puzzle.  Meanwhile I
have been working part-time for a
software programming company, which
writes software quality assurance
programs (for industrial companies),
I have worked there for about 10
years.

Do you still own any Real Commodore
hardware?

I still have my first C64 and a
Floppy 1541, but unfortunately I
don't use the hardware any more. To
my big surprise both gadgets worked
smoothly three years ago. (that was
the last time I tested them).

Can you tell our readers about The
C64-Archive software and what it
does?

The C64-Archiv is a small file
manager to keep track of all your
C64 files. It automatically scans
your hard disc for C64 related files
and stores the information in a
database. So it is possible to
search quickly and easily for a file
and start them in different
emulators, or in other tools. In
addition; it is also possible to
download games or to look for
information through the Gamebase
interface.

Why did you create the software?

After I had transferred my discs to
the PC (about 100), I wanted to get
a fast survey of my collection on
the one hand, and on the other hand
to be able to start the different
programs easily in an emulator. So I
began to search the internet for a
program to manage my files and I was
very surprised that there weren't
any suitable programs to manage the
discs available. So I decided to
write the C64-Archiv.

Originally, I just wanted to write a
program to administer my D64-files.
But in order to be able to register
most of the games and the tool-files
as well, I decided to include
further file formats. The idea of a
Gamebase interface, used to
simultaneously show more than 30
information about a game in a list,
also evolved out of the necessity to
show more than two information like
the Gamebase frontend does.

What are the differences between the
GAMEBASE and C64-Archiv? Can both
versions be run together via the
same front end?

Gamebase is a great tool with which
one can collect as much information
about a game as possible. The "GEMUS
script" also offers a variety of
possibilities to influence the start
of an emulator. However, you have to
add one file by one to the database
manually.

The C64-Archiv automatically scans
your whole collection and stores all
files from an D64-image and from
other common files in a database.
The rate is about 10.000 D64-files
or 100.000 PRG-files in about 3 
minutes (tested on a pc with a
Core2Duo 2,66Mhz). Thus then obtains
a complete survey of one's
collection within a few minutes of
the first installation, and then you
are able to search for any file with
the 'quicksearch' button very
quickly. Then the program can be
started via an already existing
profile in the most popular
emulators. There are also profiles
like 'only to attach an image',
which offers you various
possibilities how to use the disc in
the emulator.

The C64-Archiv is also able to open
a Gamebase database, which can
display almost all information
(there are more than 30 fields) in a
list. Existing entries can't  indeed
be changed and new ones can't be
created.

How easy is the software to use, and
is it possible to search for a disk
image and also search inside a disk
image for a specific file. lets say
I was looking for tetris.prg if I
searched for this would I get a
list of disk images or files located
into disk images

The C64-Archiv is very easy to use,
because the program needs only a few
settings to work. Also after the
initial installation a wizard helps
you to gather all necessary
settings. The GUI resembles the well
known Windows explorer and even
looks like it. If you have one main
folder which contains all of your
C64 files you only have to select
this folder and the C64-Archiv scans
this folder for all C64 files.  To
search for a specific file you can
enter only a part of the name in the
?quicksearch" field and the
C64-Archiv displays all related
C64-files in the list.  For example,
if you open the 'file'-view all
'disc-images', which somehow include
a C64-file with the term sought
after, are marked with a plus in the
file directory tree.  In order to
search for several details at the
same time, there is a Filter menu
with which you can generate a search
request, which can be shown under an
arbitrary name in the main window.

The Software features a database to
hold the contents of the files is
this an open or proprietary format

Not really, The C64-Archiv uses a
standard Access database format.

If there is Gamebase64 why would
people want to use C64-Archiv?

As I mentioned above the Gamebase64
is a powerful tool to build
primarily themed databases and to
gather a lot of information for each
file. But it definitely requires
some time to import each file.

If you only want to keep a quick
overview of your own C64 files it's
easier to use the C64-Archiv, where
the program collects the possible
file data for you. Additionally,
there is the possibility to download
Gamebase games with two clicks and
to start them immediately.

What File formats does the software
support

The Software supports the most
common file formats for the C64:
D64, D71, TAP, T64, PRG, P00. It
also stores session files from VICE
(VSF) and CCS (C64). Because there
is often additional information on
files you can also store files with
the extension TXT, NFO or DIZ (in
the latest version PDF files, too).
The C64-Archiv also optionally
browses compressed files (ZIP,7Z and
CAB). Future versions will include
further file formats (G64, RAR,
etc.).

What emulators is the software
compatible with

You can run all emulators which can
be started by the command line. For
the most common emulators VICE,
CCS64, HOXS64 and EMU64 the
C64-Archiv is preconfigured. The
standard emulator can either be
chosen with the 'start-wizard' when
first starting the C64-Archiv or can
be changed via the menu "Option" any
time. A variable number of emulators
can be deposited, which can be used
and arbitrarily chosen when starting
C64-programs.

What Operating system does the host
machine have to be running

The C64-Archiv requires a Microsoft
window operating system (2000 or
later).

Have you thought about a server type
plugin so the files could be run on
a real Commodore 64 from the PC
using some sort of serial / Transfer
cable from the Pc to the Commodore 64

That's a very nice idea, but until
you mentioned it; I have never
thought about this. Maybe I can take
up the idea some time and think
about how to program it.

Can files be extracted from disk
image, and viewed edited on the pc
then saved back to the image, if not
do you consider this a useful
feature to add, maybe a gfx viewer
and text viewer

Yes, this would be a very useful
feature, but I am not familiar with
the tools in this area. It isn't
possible to edit a disk image with
the C64-Archiv at the moment. But
it's very easy to integrate external
tools e.g. 64Copy, D64Lister or
DirMaster. These programs can also
be started via the  ?command line"
and thus can be deposited like an
emulator in theC64-Archiv.

Are there any other features you
would like to add to the software
and is the project still a working
project?

I am trying to keep on developing
the C64-Archiv constantly, where at
the next up-coming updates won't
bring about any great changes. I
intend to create a completely new
GUI and a new display of the
'file-explorer'. Additionally, I
intend to implement a tool to export
files to a Gamebase database and to
be able to work on them afterwards.

What have users comments been about
the software, and is the software
Freeware

Up to now there hadn't been so much
feedback, apparently because the
software is not that well-known
(there are about 40 downloads a
month on average). The feedback I
have received though were all quite
positive or included suggestions for
improvement.

Some comments were

* "It is exactly what I was looking
  for, as all other solutions seem a
  bit complicated to install"

* "It's great! Now I can see all my
  music scripts from 1986 to now as
  one big picture! "

Do you plan to create any other
Commodore related software?

I think the C64-Archiv will be the
only project.

Do you have any comments you would
like to add

Thanks for your great magazine. It's
very nice to see that the C64 is
still alive.

=====================================

*************************************
   WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME WILL YOU
      STILL NEED ME WHEN I'M 64
          By Commodore Free
*************************************

WHAT HAPPENS TO COMMODORE AS WE GROW
OLD?

I have contacted a number of
Commodore users; now classed as ex-
commodore users! Why Ex users? Well
they are all now winding down there
Commodore operations and equipment
collections, and maybe just keeping
one of each item. In some cases
however the users were selling
everything off on eBay to the
highest bidders, or giving the
machines away. Heck I even found one
user (who recently passed away)
whose wife was so fed up with all
the "old junk", and possibly the
memories; she just took it to a
local landfill site and disposed of
it in a hole to slowly degrade and
fill the land with toxic chemicals.

LET'S FACE IT; TIMES CHANGE; PEOPLE
CHANGE;

Gone are our schooldays and endless
time for playing, we are all growing
older; there is nothing we can do
about it; sadly we have to accept
the fact. we meet companions, get
married have children and then
before you know what has happened;
you don't have time to even turn on
your machine, let alone find out why
the disk drive doesn't load games
anymore. For many users this is a
sad fact of life. I know that I am
guilty of the usual excuse "getting
caught up in every day life"
changing the light bulbs, putting
out the bins, decorating, cleaning;
by the time the day is over from
work, I don't usually have time to
sit down; let alone go and check out
my Commodore. I do now however
dedicate 1 day to the machine,
although I confess to using
emulation at least 3 times per week.
I know its not perfect but it means
I can use my machine at lunch times
during the working week.

FAMILY LIFE IS KILLING COMMODORE

Finding time for a hobby is at the
moment difficult for me, I know
other users are in the same
situation. I do have spare time but
like most users, Commodore isn't my
only hobby. How do you juggle all
the things you want to do into the
small amount of time that a 24 hour
day holds. Also we must remember to
take out 9 hours for work and then
there is sleeping on average about 8
hours per night; although for me
with a bad back at the moment its
more like 3 hours sleep a week.

I WISH I HAD AN ANSWER

The only ray of light for me is as
my son grows older he may become
interested in computers; and look
back into how computing history
started. He will be informed about
the innovations Commodore made from
myself and I will explain how
history has shrugged some of the
Commodore creations, I know some
people think that a certain company
invented the idea of having a
central machine for playing DVD's
and computing (sounds to me like the
cdtv commodore created and Amiga 500
with cd player housed in a family
friendly rack to sit under the tv,
many people have forgotten Commodore
had this vision, of course it
doesn't end with just one machine ,
this was an example of how history
is distorted.) My son will be told
that there is more to computing than
Intel and Microsoft yes and even
Apple. Hopefully he will want to
learn about loading and playing
"classic" games and about the
various Computer hardware; and
interfacing machines together (all
the fun parts of computing), my son
loves the DTV; and has been able for
some time to plug it all into the tv
turn it on and select a racing car
game as he calls it; and plays the
game for quite some time bashing
into the other cars and walls.

TIME MANAGEMENT

The boffins will tell you to manage
your time more efficiently, so you
write down everything you actually
want to do and plan the week around
these things,

Day 1 playing with son till he goes
to bed then Commodore for 1 hour
Day 2 playing with son till he goes
to bed, odd jobs and washing
Etc

MACHINE DEATH

I suppose there will come a time
when our machine just become to old,
the components will disintegrate and
the whole machine will be unusable.
I have 2 machines boxed as new
waiting for my son to be of an age
where he can appreciate them, once
that happens I hope they still power
on! They are kept in vacuum sealed
and at a constant temperature, as
much really as I can do. I hope when
he grows old he can pass the
machines on to his son, and explain
the joy about what Commodore gave to
me and hopefully will give to him.
We have emulation but nothing is a
good as holding the real thing. Lets
hope the younger generation take the
machines to there hearts, lets hope
clubs can recruit younger members,
lets hope the memories last forever
and don't fad into a foggy history
that's re-written by Microsoft and
apple. (iphone shouldn't it be an
ear phone?)

=====================================
