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Updated 4/30/23 to version 0.60 with 506 additional games. Full details here. Current progress: working through "R" TLDR / What is it? This is a huge work-in-progress collection of hand-picked C64 games (3000 currently), demoscene demos, SID music, C64 magazines, and diskmags. 100% of the collection has been tested, streamlined and custom-tailored to get you into the games and playing as easily and quickly as possible. It's also portable and doesn't require any front-end to function (though it does come packaged with Launchbox). Video Guide / Project Overview / Demonstration Written Guide / Video Script Introduction Some of you may know that I have a website where I update older PC games to run on modern computers. While I primarily stick with DOS and Windows 3.1/95 games, I've also done a few Amiga games and even made a collection of C64 games called C64 Dreams. That was a collection of 128 of my favorite C64 games from my childhood, and it turned out relatively well. I've always been extremely picky when it came to C64 emulation. Having done my time with a real C64 as a kid, I have no desire to go back to the hassles that that entails (extremely long load times, cumbersome disk swapping, constantly swapping joystick ports from game to game, etc.) and, having been into emulation since the late 90's, I've messed around with a lot of different C64 emulators over the years. In nearly all cases there was always something that just rubbed me the wrong way; something that kept it from being exactly what I wanted. That said, CCS64 had always been my emulator of choice, because it got the closest to what I wanted. The Windows version of CCS64 has some significant... idiosyncrasies (more like bugs) however. What I ended up doing was using an admittedly rather convoluted method of setting up the DOS version of CCS64 (yes, it's that old) in DOSBox Daum which actually worked a lot better than you'd probably expect. I had custom joystick controls that allowed me to swap ports, swap disks, fast forward, have a dedicated button for up on the joystick (useful for platformers), and it had the massive boon of "Maximum 1541 Speed", an awesome auto-warp feature in CCS64. I was relatively satisfied with that collection, but knew that eventually I was going to have to expand it into a larger project. That's what I've been working on for the last 6 months. For the first month or two I continued to do the same thing I had done with the original collection but simply expanded the library. The further I got, however, the more some things started to creep through and bother me. There were a few things that I just could not remedy no matter what I did. Fairly frequent, inescapable vsync flaws were basically the final straw for me. After literally months of work and an insane amount of testing, I finally came to the conclusion that I just needed something else. It just wasn't where I wanted it to be. I was at about 600 games completed when I decided I was just going to have to burn it all down and rework the whole thing. feelsbadman.jpg I kindof went back to the drawing board at that point and decided to do a fresh sweep of a bunch of different emulators to see if anything would be satisfactory. I used Vice (both SDL and GTK3), Hoxs64, micro64, C64 Forever, Yace64, Frodo, and several versions of CCS64. CCS64 2.0B in DOSBox was still better than basically all of these options, which didn't exactly bode well. Finally I tried Vice in Retroarch. I love Retroarch and I've used it for years, but computer platforms isn't exactly something that it typically handles all that well, as that tends to introduce a lot of additional complications - it's just not all that conducive of an environment for it. After a fair bit of fiddling, however, I could see that there was real potential there. Something that Retroarch excels at is giving you the ability to custom-tailor your settings for individual games, which is really essential for this project. Fast forward a couple weeks and I had something working really well that was actually shaping up to be what I wanted. Breaking down the features of my prior setup and the new one, it's a pretty clear choice. The Games At this point, you're probably saying "Well that's great and all... but what about the games? What's in it and why should I care?" Something you have to understand about the C64 is that its library is absolutely massive. There are literally around 30,000 C64 games. To put it into perspective, if you took the entire libraries of NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, Dreamcast, Playstation, and Playstation 2, combined all the games together and then multiplied them three times it still would be less games. Think you have a hard time deciding which Playstation game to play? Try diving into the C64 library some time. It's insane. My goal with this project is to bring some semblance of order to all that chaos, while providing a play experience that's as simple, streamlined, and pain-free as possible. Gamebase64 is a collection of essentially every known C64 game. It's one release per game (often times several different cracking groups would release their own version of any given game, in some cases with 10+ groups releasing their own version of the same game), although it does include alternate regional/language versions as well. The end result is about 27,000 games in the library. It's an incredible accomplishment and an awesome resource, but it presents an obvious problem - where do you even begin with all that? For every Last Ninja or Bruce Lee there are at least 10 games that look like this. This presents a ton of noise to have to filter out. Sure, you could find a top 50 or top 100 list of "greatest C64 games of all time" or some such and call it close (even though you honestly can't even begin to scratch the surface with that few games), but I wanted to do a genuinely deep dive. It's a platform I've loved since I was a kid, and one that I want to help more people experience, including lesser known games; the C64 is packed with hidden gems that have never had the honor of finding their way into some paltry little best of list. When I was a kid, I had the benefit of having literally boxes and boxes full of generic hand-written label C64 disks (clearly entirely legit) that I would just pore over like an absolute treasure trove, and I found all kinds of neat and weird stuff. I guess it's all come full-circle. So how am I going about the selection process? Well, I'm literally going through the alphabetical screenshot folders in the Gamebase64 collection by hand and picking out anything that looks interesting. There are over forty two thousand images in there... I'm currently making my way through "K". To put into perspective the amount of filtering I'm doing, there are 9227 images between # and C, and I have 661 games in the collection within that range. Once I find a game that looks interesting, I don't actually pull out the Gamebase64 version (not typically anyway). I source most of the games from csdb.dk because I like to individually pick and choose which group to use (and sometimes there are newer/better versions than what's on Gamebase64, like an Easyflash version) - I sortof have a mental flow chart of group priority, which is something like Remember > Hokuto Force > Nostalgia > Genesis Project > Excess > Onslaught > Triad > Laxity > Fantastic 4 Cracking Group > Derbyshire Ram > Pugsy > Lurid & Tricycle > Hotline > Ikari > whatever else. Then I set the game up and test it. In some cases there might be some issue with a particular version of a game, like it might not work with True Drive off whereas a different version would (with True Drive enabled, it emulates the original drive read speeds, which is required for some games to work, but results in significantly longer load times), so then I'll try a different version and see if I can get around that. Only 6.72% of the games currently in the collection have True Drive enabled, which means speedy load times for the vast majority of them, and in the cases that True Drive is required, auto-loading savestates and/or auto-warp are often used. In some cases I've gone through 10 different versions of the same game to find the one I want. I also set each game up to use the correct joystick port (which varies from game to game) so you don't have to guess every time you load up a game whether or not you'll need to switch it - it's done for you already. In some cases I'll add in my own custom joystick controls like with Spellbound Dizzy, a game that's ordinarily keyboard input only. I've also mapped a number of handy functions to the controller, but more on that later. Outside of scouring through Gamebase screenshots, I also try to keep up with new releases and updated versions on csdb.dk and add/update games from that on a regular basis. I check latest releases on csdb.dk several times a week. I'm currently at 3500 games complete and, as I said, I have a long way to go. This is something that I will be continually working on for, very likely, several years. However, I thought this would be a good point to put out a sortof "alpha" release to get it out there for people to play around with, see what they think, and give me some feedback. The full list of all currently available games, along with game-specific notes can be found here: >>>C64 Dreams Game Details Spreadsheet<<< Usage The collection can be imported into existing Launchbox libraries, but this requires a bit of additional work. I'll be providing some instructions on how to do this and will streamline a separate import-only version in the future, but the current version is just a standalone LB package. You can copy your existing license file, if you have one, into the folder and it'll function just like your normal version of LB. It's functional without that though. If you're really set on importing it into your existing library as-is, we can walk through how to do that. I've tried to incorporate as many useful functions into the controls as possible. These will take care of the most common situations, but it should be noted that a keyboard is still recommended because you'll need access to things like the F# keys on occasion as well as other specific things in one-off cases. I do include a virtual keyboard key though if you're adamantly opposed to it. You can get by pretty well with the standard control mappings. While the virtual keyboard works in a pinch, you probably aren't going to want to use that for any text adventures (of which there are a few in here) Disk swapping works using .m3us and, as such, functions just like any other platform in Retroarch that has .m3u support, like Beetle PSX. If you want to swap from disk 1 to 2, you would use Eject/Insert Disk > Next Disk > Eject/Insert Disk. In this case that means you simply press (on a 360/XB1 controller) Back+RB > Back+Y > Back+RB and then you just keep on truckin'. Many games have cracktros and trainers (cheats) before the game starts. Ordinarily you'll press space (or B on the controller) to bypass these. You'll often press N or Y to indicate yes or no on a trainer screen, and this can be accomplished with the left and right joystick buttons. Some games have doc screens (explanation of a game's story, controls, etc.) and will say to press "Runstop" in order to proceed - this is mapped to the start button. The C64 only had one fire button on the joystick, so it was somewhat common practice in platformers to use up on the joystick to jump - this will most likely feel pretty awkward for new players, so I've added an additional mapping to send an up input on the X button - giving you a dedicated jump button. If you need a reminder of the mappings, you can press Back+Start to display the above screen in-game, then press it again to go back to the game. The keyboard can be used for joystick input as well. 8456 on the numpad = Up, Left, Down, Right Left Alt = Fire Left Ctrl = C= Key ESC = Runstop Numpad asterisk = swap joystick ports Numpad minus is the combo key Numpad minus + Numpad 0 = Eject/Insert Disk Numpad minus + Numpad 9 = Next Disk Numpad minus + Numpad 8 = Previous Disk Numpad minus + Space = Fast Forward (can also hold down PgDwn to activate warp mode) Numpad minus + Numpad plus = toggle controls/notes display Numpad minus + Numpad return = toggle manual Numpad minus + ESC = Quit Numpad minus + F2 = Save State Numpad minus + F4 = Load State Numpad minus + F7 = Next State Numpad minus + F6 = Previous State Numpad minus + Up arrow = show info on current custom music track Numpad minus + Down arrow = show info on current custom music track Numpad minus + Right arrow = play next custom track (if in playlist) Numpad minus + Left arrow = play previous custom track (if in playlist) While not exactly a primary feature, it's probably worth noting here that this collection does not in any way require Launchbox or any front-end for that matter in order to function. Launchbox is and will continue to be my front-end of choice, so it's what it will be packaged with, and what I use it with personally, but this collection is setup in such a way that it can function independently of the front-end, because it's all setup with .bats. Each game, each demoscene demo, etc. has its own .bat in their folders, these .bats are setup with relative paths so all you have to do is start the .bat and it does everything else for you. As far as the front-end is concerned, these are just like starting a PC game - no emulator is specified in LB, as the .bats already take care of starting programs, directing files, etc. So if you want to use something else, go for it. It should be noted that you will actually want to use the .vbs files in each folder, not the .bats themselves - the .vbs files are visual basic scripts that run the .bat for the game but hide the command prompt window. The Collection The thought occurred to me while I was working on this that I could expand it beyond just games, and incorporate Demoscene demos, SID music, diskmags, and even C64 magazines into the collection as well. One C64 collection to rule them all, as it were. I really liked the idea of doing this because the C64 scene is still huge, and very much alive and kicking, and there's a ton of great stuff out there outside of the games themselves. This aspect of the collection is still very much in its infancy, but there's some interesting stuff here for you to check out. There are currently 70 demoscene demos, 140 SID tracks, 30 diskmags, and 160 magazines available. The SID tracks are setup both with the disk version (default launch) as well as standalone .sid files with a built-in player (accessible via the right-click menu). The library is broken into Games, Demoscene, SID, Diskmags, and Magazines, some of which are further broken out into specific playlists. There are separate playlists for Commodore Force, Commodore Format, and Zzap!64 in Magazines, for example. Games has playlists of favorites, Best Of Vol. 1 (this is the 128 games featured in the original release of C64 Dreams), and Best Of Vol. 2 (this is a new set of 128 games). I'll be creating more Best Of playlists as I continue to expand the library. The Tools A number of additional tools were needed to bring all this together, so I wanted to take a bit of time to go over those. AutoHotkey: This one's kindof a given. It's used to accomplish many different things in the project, from starting different Antimicro profiles, to handling the manual swapper, to piping in custom music playlists. Most of the scripts used have been converted to .exes (via Ahk2Exe) so that you do not need AHK installed on your computer for this to work, but if you want to know what's in the scripts specifically, they're available for your perusal in the C64 Dreams > C64 Dreams > Utilities > AHK Script Compiler > Completed folder. Antimicro: This is an open-source joystick mapper, similar to something like Xpadder. I use this to map the arrow keys to the right stick for all games as well as pipe in custom controls in one-off cases. ASuite: This is the program I use to make the configurator tool. CDisplay Ex: This is a great comic book viewer that, in this case, I'm using to display the and manuals. SumatraPDF: This is another great comic book / PDF viewer that I'm using to display the magazines. It's essential for jumping to the specific Zzap!64 reviews because it's one of the few readers out there that let you specify a starting page via command-line. Theoretically it may replace CDisplay Ex eventually for manual viewing but CDisplay does a better job of determining when to combine and when to separate pages based on their dimensions (which isn't really important for the magazines but is for manuals) so for the time being both are used for different purposes. CudaText: This is a lightweight, portable text editor that I include to quickly alter the default config. FastStone Image Viewer: This is a lightweight, portable image viewer. I use it to display the commercial game message, which is actually just an animated .gif. sidplayfp: This is a highly accurate SID music player that runs directly from Windows command-line. It's used to pipe in custom music for text adventures when they're in .sid format, as well as to play the standalone .sid files in the SID platform. mpg123: This is an mp3 player that runs directly from Windows command-line. It's used to pipe in custom music for text adventures when they're in .mp3 format. Mpxplay: This is another mp3 player that runs directly from Windows command-line that's used for the background music in the local magazines. It's a little nicer and more feature-rich than mpg123 and will likely end up replacing instances where mpg123 are used in the future Palemoon: This is a portable web browser that's used to display the interactive codewheels. SoundVolumeView: This is a tiny little program that's part of the NirSoft suite. It's used to fade Retroarch audio out and in when swapping to and from manuals. FART (Find And Replace Text): A tiny but highly useful tool for quickly making text replacements via command-line. This is used when swapping around some settings via the configurator. Known Issues If you're using Windows 10 and are using 1080p but most of the screen is cropped off, you may need to adjust your "high DPI settings". Go to the C64 Dreams\C64 Dreams\Retroarch folder, right-click on Retroarch.exe and select "change high DPI settings", select the checkmark "override high DPI scaling behavior performed by" and select "application". Thanks to @MacGuyver for bringing this to my attention and sorting it out. Controllers It should probably be noted here that this is really intended to be used with a 360 or XB1 controller or close equivalent. I recently picked up an 8bitdo Pro 2 and it works perfectly as well. Other controllers may work, but I can't guarantee it. 360 and XB1 are what's used for testing purposes. If you're on Windows 7 and are using an XB1 controller, I would recommend using the wireless dongle rather than BT as BT controllers aren't treated as xinput in 7 (which causes issues for Antimicro). There are custom drivers to force Windows to treat BT controllers as xinput but I haven't used them myself so I can't personally attest to how well/if that would work. Commercial Games There are a number of modern C64 games in the collection (as I said, the C64 scene is still very much alive), and a few of these are still commercially available - 30 of them, to be exact. Because of this, the roms for these games are not included in this collection. The game details spreadsheet has links to where these can be purchased where relevant. Then you simply drop the .d64 file into the relevant folder, name it "Disk1.d64", then start the "Install Real Config.bat" in the folder and you'll be good to go. Until you do this, when you start those games, you'll just see the following message: As I said though, this only accounts for 34 games in the entire collection. The specific games in question are as follows: Age of Heroes, The Argus Aviator Arcade II Battle Kingdom Briley Witch Chronicles Darkness Eye of the Gods Galencia Guns 'n' Ghosts Isle of the Cursed Prophet It's Magic 2 Knight 'n' Grail Lord of Dragonspire, The Mars Metal Dust Metal Warrior Ultra Moonspire My Life Organism Outrage Pains 'n' Aches Planet Golf Planet X2 Platman Worlds Rocky Memphis Legend of Atlantis Run Demon Run Sam's Journey Shadow Over Hawksmill Sizzler Sky is Falling, The Soul Force Space Trip 2086 Steel Ranger Sydney Hunter This is basically where I'm at content-wise, which I realize makes it looks like there's nothing here, but it's just that there's still a long way to go from what is already a lot of stuff. So that's pretty much it! I'm looking forward to having some more people test it out, provide some feedback, and let me know if there are any issues that I need to get sorted out. Have fun! Download C64 Dreams V0.60: Archive.org Direct Download Archive.org Torrent Download C64 Dreams V0.60 Hotfix (5/15/2023) Place the hotfix in the base folder (next to Launchbox.exe) and extract/merge/overwrite Download the local magazine module (optional but recommended!): Archive.org Direct Download Oh, and there are a number of people that I've either spoken to previously about this project directly or that I just know have an existing interest in C64 emulation that I thought I should shoutout here in hopes to get as many potentially interested eyeballs on this as possible @CriticalCid @Belgarath @ALIE @dragon57 @bundangdon @vaderag @djsim101 @orac31 @Zeaede @InfinityFox @C64Crazy @alnyden @zorkiii @mothergoose729

Ultimate play the game big box collection View File File contains authentic 3d recreations of the large black cardboard boxes that Ultimate games such as Knight Lore and Sabre Wulf used to come in. For those of you that remember the days of the old 8 bit micros in the UK, these boxes should be pretty familiar. I always loved the artwork on these boxes and that created a mystery about the games inside. I was not happy with the available art for these games so created these boxes using the highest quality assets I could find. They are authentic to the originals except a few that came in double casette boxes that I've converted those to the cardboard type. Anyway, wasn't sure how to catagorise this seeing as they aren't all one platform so I've put it as playlist media. If any one is interested I have 2d version here... Submitter Djronz Submitted 02/12/2023 Category Playlist Media Packs  

Hi People, All my c64 games are .nib and are not loading?? Can someone point me in the right direction on what to do please. Thanks

Hi All, hope all is well. I am just wondering do many of you have the C64 setup in LB \ BB? There are so many keyboard combos, just wondering has anybody got around this using a joypad setup only, or is it possible? A lot of games require a keyboard input to start them :-) Thanks All

Hello, sorry to understand me, but english is not my first language ;-) I have a problem with commodore 64 files and uncompressing them. All files are .zip, i have checked the option "extract rom archives before running", but Hoxs64 or Vice are only loading the LAST DISC into the emulator. It cant load the game of course, i need the first disk! What can i do to force the uncompressing tool to load in the first disk?

Ok so I always looking to play my c64 collection, but usually don't because I'm not sure which of the 20,000 games is any good or playable.

Hi, As the topic says, is there a way to add JoyToKey to all games automatic so that it starts with the emulator/game and ends when emulator closes . I saw that you could add this manually game by game but that aint a option on thousands of games. So have I missed something or is that not possible (yet?)?