The Commodore C64 can be used to control all kinds of hardware. In this demonstration you can see that the C64 is used to control a pallet warehouse. A program written in BASIC is used to move the pallets from one place in the warehouse to another place. The movement is controlled with 3 stepper motors that can make the mechanical arm move in the X, Y and Z directions. The commands for the motors are given via 5 outputs at the user-port of the C64.

Read the article about the pallet warehouse.

Let's compare is a series of videos about classic computer games. In the videos from the Gaming History Source channel you can see all the classics games but on different computers or consoles. A few examples of the games are Pole Position, Congo Bongo, Crystal Castles, R-Type, Donkey Kong, Zaxxon, Burger Time, Bubble Bobble and many more. The computers used for the games are the Commodore VIC-20, C64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad, Gameboy, original arcade machines and many more.

Let's Compare Pole Position

The web page Commodore128.org is organizing a competition. In this competition you need to write a program for the Commodore C128 in 40 or 80 column mode. The rules are: Original programs not larger than 4096 bytes (4kb). Programs must work on a real C128 and VICE. The start of the competition is October 29th 2011 and will end at April 1st 2012. The prizes are from 25 $AU to 100 $AU.

A new version of RunInUAE (r5) is available. RunInUAE is a system that makes it possible to run old Amiga games or programs on Amiga OS4. And RunInUAE comes with an easy installer. Changes in this version: If not available a WB3.1 will be created. Improved emulation performance. Added a Help menu item. Added Mason's icons for RunInUAE's folder, plus UAE's folder and program. A comprehensive online manual (English) for RunInUAE is available.

In this German language d64 magazine the following articles: Computer Szene with Commodore Treffen Graz, HomeCon, Spectacular Odysee and Emu64. Talkies und Diskussionen. Games corner with Darlek Attack, Jim Slim and D.A.D. Out of C64 and the Musikbox.

People are making music with the Commodore C64 since the year 1982. And most people use the SID chip to produce the music. But Jordan Bartee does it a little bit different. He uses various synthesizers and digital equipment to turn the digital signals of the C64 into music. Jordan welcomes you to the micro-galactic frontier.

Chang's Adventure is a new game for the Commodore C64. The game is made by The Mad Scientist (Hokuto Force). In the game you need to find the treasures, fight the enemies and find a boat to escape the island.

Markus Gritsch wrote an alternative firmware for his HybridSID device. It can now act as a "Network SID Device" and can be used as the sound output device for ACID 64 and GoatTracker. When the HybridSID works together with ACID 64 you will have support for the RSID format and the music is played cycle exact. The HybridSID is a open source project, the schematics and firmware are available to build your own device.

Kichy made a Commodore Plus/4 version of the platform game Lode Runner. The original game was developed by Douglas E. Smith in 1982. The game was released by Brøderbund in 1983 for many 8-bit computers like the Commodore VIC-20, C64, Apple II, ZX Spectrum and the Atari. In the game you must must collect all the gold, but be aware of the guards. The game includes an editor for making your own levels.

Krzysztof Smiechowicz made an AROS version of the game Cube 2 : Sauerbraten. Cube 2 is an First Person Shooter with fast game-play and beautiful 3D graphics. Cube 2 for AROS is the first game that uses the advanced capabilities and features of AROS 3D sub-system. The game comes with a configuration tool to optimize the game for the available video card.

Cube 2 - AROS download

Twylo told us last month that he is working on a SD card for the Commodore PET/CBM. He now has an improved proto-type. This prototype is made on a so-called breadboard with loose components and wire connection. In the near future he is going to make some prototype PCBs. You can watch the latest proto-type in a YouTube video.

Jorge Castillo gave a demonstration of his voice synthesizer, that is controlled by an Commodore C64. The synthesizer is made with PIC16F648A micro controller. It is connected to the user-port of the C64. The program XL VIP terminal is used to communicate between the C64 and the PIC controller. You can watch the demonstration video on YouTube.

Technical information PIC voice synthesizer C64.

The firmware 6d (beta) is now available for the Chameleon cartridge. Changes in this version: Turbo speed increase. Auto speed option for the turbo. Turbo slows down when access to the IEC bus - GEOS works now! 1541 emulation improved (IEC timing, VIA6522). New cartridge emulations: Mikro Assembler, StarDOS, Business Basic, S'More, Prophet-64, Capture, Mach-5, Westermann Learning, Epyx Fastload, Easy-flash and PageFox.

Sophia Tong interviewed the musician Chris Hülsbeck. You can watch the video of the interview on the GameSpot web page. Chris started his career many years ago making music for computer games. A few examples of games that Chris made music for are: The Great Giana Sisters, Turrican, R-Type, Apidya and M.U.D.S. His latest project is music for Star Trek: Infinite Space.

The KryoFlux system can now write an image back to a diskette. In a demonstration you can see that original and protected games (Xenon 2, Turrican 2 and Dragon's Lair) are written back to a diskette, and work without problems. The software for writing images is in beta stage, but will be available in the near future for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. You can visit the KryoFlux web page for more information.

KryoFlux web page

Valley of Treasures is an adventure game for the Commodore C16 and Plus/4. This adventure is a conversion from the Commodore C64 version. The conversion is made by Kichy and the original is from Charles Gray. In the adventure you need to find five treasures to complete the game.

C64 version

SIDPLAY is a Commodore 64 music player for Mac OS X with support for HVSC. The program emulates the sound chip and other internals of the Commodore 64 home computer to play back music that was originally written for a real C64. Changes in this version: Fixed issues in Lion (Mac OS X 10.7). The SID song lengths are corrected after synchronization with the latest HVSC version. Fixed export issues.

Endurion (Georg Rottensteiner) is writing a blog about making a game on the Commodore C64. He explains every step he takes and you can look at the assembly code for each step. At the moment he is at step 12, but it will take about 36 steps in total to complete the game. Every step includes the assembly code (ACME cross compiler) and part of the program (.prg).

XRoar is an emulator for the Dragon and Tandy computers with the 6809 CPU. XRoar can use virtual diskettes, cassettes or cartridges. There are 3 video modes, joystick support and a audio output available. XRoar is available for the Amiga OS4, GP32, Nintendo Dual Screen, Linux and the PSP. In this version many new options, bug fixes, improved audio and CPU emulation improvements.

The game Escape From Psylon is a game for the Commodore Plus/4 that was released in the year 1989. Now after many years it is found again and you can play it. In the game you need to escape from a big maze with your tank. You must collect 45 puzzle pieces on 3 levels and assemble them into a big picture. The game was made by Csaba Nemes and Gábor Nagymáthé.

Deff-Ender is a new game for the Commodore C64. The game is made by Pavel Loda and is one of the games in the Sideway SEUCK competition 2011. In the game you must fly with your laser equipped aircraft through four battle zones. You have to fight against the aliens and try to rescue the humans.

Worm Wars is an advanced Tron / Snake-style arcade game for up to 4 simultaneous players. There are 36 types of creature and 32 types of Power-Up objects. There is also a level editor for making your own levels. New in this version: When killing creatures, it briefly shows the points they are worth. Improved rabbit movement. New bonus level: "hunt the rabbits". Worm Wars is available for: AmigaOS 2-3, AmigaOS 4, MorphOS and Windows.

Wilfred Bos released an update of SID Known. This version is compatible with the latest HVSC (#55). SID Known is a tool which you can use to identify SID tunes from SID and PRG files. The tool has two methods to identify SID music. The first method is to play the SID and generate a hash to look it up in the database. The second method will try to identify the SID tune by it's memory usage.

The DiskFreezerX is a project that aims to capture bit cell exact information from floppy disk drives as a standalone device. On Lallafa's blog you can follow the project, and at the moment the hardware is working. The device is made out of several modules: Processor board with a SAM7 ARM processor. IO board with an SD card slot. Floppy adapter module. And a 256 KiB SPI memory module.

The English and German Amiga (paper) magazine Amiga Future 91 has been released. In this edition: Interviews: ACube, Chris Raynor and Manfred Kleinmann. AmigaOS 4.1 Classic, WebP, ScummVM, BlueManager, Amiga911Maker, Pentagram, Nuvie, Flare, Alien Fish Finger, Personal Nightmare, Volkscomputer, C-Workshop Teil 8, AmigaOS 4.1 Workbench Teil 2, AmigaOne X1000 Update, Amiga Timeline Teil 2, Der passende Amiga für jeden.

Action Def is a new game for the Commodore C64. The game is made by Christian Siege and is one of the games in the Sideway SEUCK competition 2011. In the game you go on a secret mission. You need to defeat the guards but be very careful where you walk. The game is not easy and you need to be precise and concentrated to play this game.

The Cracktros web page added more than 15 new cracktros to the database last couple of weeks. A cracktro, also known as a crack intro, loader, or just intro, is a introduction from the cracking crew who removed the copy prevention. The new cractos are from the following groups: Vision Factory, Wanted Team, Unit A, TRSI & Zenith and TRSI.

Edition 51 of the English pdf, text, seq, d64 and html magazine is now available. In this edition the following: C2N-II, Aries One, Snapshoter, cbm264.com, New C64, XSane, Jim Slim, Escape, Yes VIC can, C64copy, IceFileSystem, Amiga Immortal CD, 1541U-II, New Masonicons, Monitor switcher, TOSEC, C and A magazine and Protovision. Reviews: Strokeworld, Cascade, Its Magic, Ice Guys, Bomb Mania, Metal Dust.

Jens Schönfeld showed a proto-type of the RR-Net MK3. This cartridge for the Commodore C64 has the following features: Ethernet (Wiznet W5100 chip with integrated TCP/IP stack), 8 kbyte ROM (Writeable with the C64), 128kbyte RAM (bank switching). The RR-Net MK3 can also be use together with the Chameleon, Retro Replay, MMC Replay and the Nordic Replay via the clock-port.

Joshua Green made a new game for the Commodore C64. The game, Escape From the Annoying Chavs, is one of the games in the SEUCK 2011 competition. In the game you are Richard and you want to go to your local pub after work. But you have to walk through many dangerous streets. You better take some coconuts with you for your protection. The music in the game was made by Richard Bayliss.

CSAM is a Windows application for importing images or video, and then converting it into a Commodore 64 format. The program analyses the original picture and will make a codebook (2 kbyte) and screen-data (1 kbyte). With this data you can display your image on the C64. The encoding on the PC will take some time, but the decoding on the C64 is very fast. Version 3 brings you new encoders and pre-compressors. A English manual is included with the program.

Fortis is a game for MorphOS. The game has 36 levels in 3 stages. The game increases in difficulty when you get to higher levels. It has great sound effect, a weapons store, changeable back-grounds, diversity of enemies, pick-ups in the bonus levels, three language interface and much more. New in this version: Better management of CPU usage. USB joystick / joypad support. Compiled with MorphOS SDK 2.0.

The web page C64 Endings has added 14 new game endings last month. The latest additions are: Congo Bongoby (U.S. Gold), Cylu (Firebird Software), Dragon Skulle (Ultimate), Extreme (Digital Integration), Fire and Forget 2 (Titus Software), Fearless Fred (Americana Software), Metro-cross (U.S. Gold) On The Farm, On The Farm 2 (Achin Volkers), Rocket Roger (Alligata Software), R.M.S. Titanic (Electric Dreams), Speedball 2 (Image Works), Spellbound (Mastertronic) and Toki (Ocean).

Erich released the Botticelli Bilderdisk 36 for the Commodore C16 and the Plus/4. This double-sided diskette is filled with pictures in the Botticelli format. The Magica viewer is used to display the pictures. The pictures are a mix of handmade and digitized pictures.

Jeri Ellsworth released a video on YouTube. In this video you can see a old project of Jeri from 2005. This project was the successor of the C64-DTV. The Amiga version needed more Flash memory, and the toy company lost interest because it would be more expensive. Later the market for this kind of toys collapsed.

There are 5 new game videos available on the C64 Longplays web page. If you want to see how a game ends you can watch the video. The new entries are: Bounder (Gremlin Graphics, 1986), Crazy Comets (Martech, 1985), Spy Vs Spy 2 (First Star Software, 1985), Hyper Sports (Imagine, 1985) and Winter Games (Epyx, 1985).

The web page Plus/4 World found a lost program for the Commodore Plus/4. Print Shop, originally made for the Commodore C64, was converted and translated into Hungarian by Cassi many years ago. With Print Shop you can design greeting cards, note cards, banners and a whole lot more.

Alf Yngve made a new game for the Commodore C64. The game, Forgotten Forest, is one of the games in the SEUCK 2011 competition. In the game you have to go through a dark and spooky forest. You have a flame thrower with you, to fight against the dangerous creatures. The music in the game was made by Richard Bayliss and the loader was done by Martin Piper.

There is a update available of the High Voltage SID Collection. There are now more than 40.000 SIDs in the collection. In this update 804 new SIDs, 113 fixed/better rips, 742 SID credit fixes, 176 SID model/clock infos, 20 tunes identified and 38 tunes moved. You can download the update from the HVSC web page.

There are new games added to the GTW web page: New York Crisis by Jason Daniels, 6 Kingdoms of Babylon by Crystal Software and Electronics, Bombmania by Winkel Software and Bomber Clot by Ewen Gillies. There are also games updated: Autoguard, 9 Lives of Fritz the Cat, Barry the Seahorse, Colony, Crucial Bros, Kick Off 2 Cartridge and Moon Gods.

For the HxC floppy emulator is new firmware available. The HxC floppy emulator is a replacement of a 3.5 inch disk-drive in for example an Amiga or a Atari ST. With this device you can connect the original floppy controller in the computer to a SD memory card or a USB port on a PC. Recent changes in the firmware: New track generator. Variable bit-rate support. Kurzweil KRZ file support. Many new file systems supported for example ADF Amiga / UAE Extended and D81 (C64+1581). SD-card settings window and much more.

Always wanted to play a game to the end? On this web page you can find out how to do it. At the moment there are 378 walkthroughs of games available. The latest addition are Elvira 2 and Runaway. There is also a discussion forum and you can send in your own walkthrough.

Hyperion Entertainment has now a forum for customers. The forum has the following categories: General, AmigaOS 4.x including Classic, AmigaOne, Sam and Pegasus, Games (Shogo, Heretic II, Freespace, Quake II) and Developer (Generic and SDK). The language on the forum is English.

There is a new game available for the Commodore C64. This game is a conversion of the game Frantic Freddy for the Colecovision and Spectravideo that was released in 1983. The conversion was done by encore and the graphics were made by Joe. In the game a building is on fire. You are the fireman Frantic Freddy and you need to put out the fire. And do not forget to save the cats in the windows.

Markus Gritsch has improved the firmware of his HybridSID. In this version he added level bars for the SID voices on the display. HybridSID is a hybrid SID player, built with emulated and real hardware. The CPU and CIA are emulated with a PIC32 and the sound is generated by a "real" SID chip. You can watch a demonstration on YouTube.

Jörg Heyltjes from the Technische Maschinenfabrik released 5 extra levels for his game Lady Kakerlak. This game is inspired on the game Ladybug and can be played on the Commodore C64. You can also make extra levels yourself with the built-in editor.

Alessandro Dorigatti has made a ZX Spectrum (48k PAL) core for the C-One with FPGA extender. The core supports the ULA+ 64 color mode, a Kempston joystick emulation and can load TAP files. This core requires a monitor that supports 50Hz. An English manual and a keyboard layout is included.

C64 Studio is a assembly development environment which is dependent on VICE. You can write assembly code and test this with the VICE emulator. Changes in this version: Image import / export for sprites and characters. Added: Pseudo pc macro, Project configurations with predefines, Element dependencies, Tab configuration and Undo/redo in the toolbar/menu.

Roboteralarm made a web page where you can transform images into Commodore 64 images. The web page is in Beta stage but you can drop a jpg or png image on the C64 screen and the image will be converted into a C64 image. You will need a modern web browser such as Chrome, Safari5 or FF4 that is compatible with "canvas". Roboteralarm is now working on gamma boost for the color palette and PDF creation.

Stewart Wilson from Subchrist Software released a new version of Sprite Pad. With this (Windows) program you can edit and animate your multicolor and high-resolution sprite images. Sprite Pad has also advanced editing features like: rotation, overlay and multiple color palettes. Changes in this version: Single file projects, VICE snapshot ripper, Browser window is now 8x7 (56) sprites. Import and export options with support for SEUCK/PRG files.