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Commodore 64 loading


dov_EL

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You can use -fastload as a command-line parameter, yes. With "Maximum 1541 Speed" enabled though it's basically the same whether a normal boot or fast. As I said, I don't use any command line parameters and it works just fine.

Quote

Command-Line Options

To get a syntax description of the current available command-line options, just run the program from a command-window with the argument "?". Example:

CCS ?

This will probably give an output like: CCS [filename.{prg/p00/p01/t64/d64/g41/tap/crt}[,index]] [-cfg filename] [-fastload] [-normalload] [-autorun] [-manualrun] [-window] [-hardsid id]

Explanation:

[]                          - means that this option is optional and has not to be given.
{opt1,opt2,...}    - means one of the options.

filename.{prg/ p00/ p01/ t64/ d64/ g41/ tap/ crt}[,index] A filename that describes a disk/tape/cartridge image to be loaded at the start of CCS64. The optional index tells which individual file inside of a disk/tape images that should be loaded (default is the first one).
Example: mygame.d64,3
-cfg filename Change the filename of the config file to be used (default is c64.cfg).
-fastload Turns on the fastload feature when loading from disk or tape file images. Can be less accurate.
-normalload Turns on the most accurate emulation of the disk drive when loading from disk or tape file images.
-autorun Automatically starts the program that are loaded at the start of CCS64.
-manualrun Do not start the program that are loaded at the start of CCS64.
-window Force the emulator to use the windowed mode of the DirectX graphics display.
-hardsid id Select the correct id for the HardSID sound card.

 

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No problem! I'm a C64 nut so I'm always happy to help people get C64 emulation up and running. The C64 is where my love for gaming began. Games like Times of Lore, Supremacy, Ballblazer, Rescue on Fractalus, The Last Ninja, Boulderdash, Master of the Lamps... those were my childhood.

One of these days I'd like to actually pick up one of these: SD2IEC. This lets you plug an SD card into a real C64 and read roms off the card just like it were reading it from a real 1541 disk drive.

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Happy to help! Yeah Maximum 1541 Speed definitely makes it a more enjoyable experience for me. Keep in mind that it only works for disk images. .D64 is the format I recommend, when available. You can of course still manually activate warp with any format, but having it kick in and turn off automatically as needed is awesome. One other point regarding file format that might be worth mentioning is that CCS64 does not support .nib files. This really isn't a problem as far as I'm concerned though because you should really just avoid .nib files to begin with - they're part of the Preservation Project and contain all of the original copy protection which will often render them unusable even on emulators that actually support the format. 

1 hour ago, dustLOOP said:

Now just need to get a competent romset for C64 without 800 versions of the same game lol

Yep, that can definitely be an issue. Even worse is that TOSEC actually has a significant number of bad dumps for C64 games. They've made the statement before that it's basically for historical reasons and that they typically don't remove dumps even if they're bad, which is kinda retarded as far as I'm concerned - having multiple dumps based on different cracking groups does make some amount of sense to me (I mean this was basically the birth of Demoscene - I think that stuff has some amount of historical significance), but having multiple dumps of the same group's crack, multiple of which don't work, doesn't. What exactly are you preserving by doing that? The fact that someone had a bad disk or did a poor job of ripping it? The only thing that amounts to is a good deal of annoyance for the end-user.

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I found the post I mentioned above.

Cassiel, an admin for TOSECDev, said in response to a question about why bad dumps didn't get removed from the sets:

Quote

Partially by design. Partially historic.

Remember when TOSEC first began it was all about cataloguing EVERY image and so all CRC32 were known. It's a fairly modern trend (with project such as No-Intro etc) to now 'faze out' bad dumps when good dumps are available.

We did actually attempt this ourselves a few years ago by having DATs generated on the fly and customizable i.e. you could exclude bad dumps, overdumps etc but people didn't like it. Same problem GoodTools had... if you catalogue it, people will want to collect it (even if the default is to exclude). And then bad dumps hang around forever.

I actually prefer this method, by default excluding bad dumps BUT making sure we're aware of bad images in the background too for identification purposes.

I did briefly look into using the <baddump> flag in CMP, but with things like ROMVault becoming much more popular now we would ideally need a 'cross-tool' solution instead.

It's on my list... just along with 1000 other things! :)

The only thing I can say to that is, who are these "people"? Why in the world would anyone want to collect dumps that simply don't work (and are known not to work, no less). I'll say again that this isn't preserving anything, any more than I'd be "preserving" something if I were to open up a rom with a hex editor, mash some random keys in a few spots, and then save it as "[game name] (my turbo awesome version).zip".

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I love my C64. I grew up with it and the Amiga. My Amiga set is near complete with the recent full conversion to WHDLoad, beautiful thing it is. 

I just need to get my head sorted to organise a near perfect C64 romset and share with the world! Just so soul crushing how many files there are though lol

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17 minutes ago, DOS76 said:

Having a bad dump on your drive is like having trash lying on your floor always jettison that gar bage

Exactly. I mean it's literally just a waste of hard drive space and clutters up your roms. Granted, hard drive space is mostly a non-issue for C64 games but still...

No-Intro is typically a good way to avoid this kind of junk but their C64 sets are almost entirely Preservation Project files, which is unfortunate. I've had a good deal of success with Gamebase - their stuff isn't always in .d64 format but they seem to always work at least. I usually just use a combination of TOSEC and Gamebase - if the Gamebase version is .d64 format, then you should be good to go. If it's not, I'll usually try the TOSEC .d64s (and there's usually several...) until I find a good one; if there isn't a good one, then I just fall back to the Gamebase version regardless of file format. I've only got about 300 C64 games in my library (because I pick and choose everything) but I've tested them all xD

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Old-timer C64, Amiga, demoscene dude here. :)

I've played around with C64 emulation since early 90's, but haven't really put much work into making a collection of old favourites till now. Most dumps in GameBase and TOSEC are cracked. I think some of the earlier formats didn't support copy-protection, which is why we don't see many original (untouched) dumps.

As much as i love some of the old cracktros, i usually prefer original dumps as it was common for crackers to remove parts of a game for different reasons. Though this is more common on Amiga games though. Differences could also be seen in disk and tape releases. Like the tape release of Last Ninja lacking the initial loading tune.

My setup now is primarily meant for BigBox use (who can resist playing the old games on the couch?), so i'm interested in finding the C64 emulator which works best for this use. The only emulator i've gotten to work properly with my joysticks and pads is the SDL WinVICE, which has full support and customization for controllers. SDL has some issues though, like latency, which sorta kills it for me.

Guess this post didn't add much to this thread, but i just wanted to join in and maybe contribute something later on.

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CCS64 works just fine with my 360 controller. Hell, it even works with my Genesis/Master System/Atari/C64 to USB adapter + TAC-2 Joystick. It's also the only one (between it, Vice, and Hoxs) that actually works via Steam Link (because I enjoy Big Box + couch gaming as well, but don't feel like hooking up an actual PC to my living room TV).

712J3Aa8XKL._SL1500_.jpg

tac-2-in-its-glory.jpg

 

 

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So this is kinda exciting. I just discovered how to convert .nib files to .g64 and .d64 (and .g64 to .d64). Success rate when running them in an emulator seems a bit mixed so far though, which I guess is to be expected. More testing to be done.

EDIT: It figures that the first game I tried this on (Times of Lore) uses V-MAX! protection:( The .g64 conversion works in Hoxs64 but in CCS64 you can't get passed the character selection screen.

EDIT 2: The Last Ninja conversion (to .g64) seems to be working great in CCS64.
EDIT 3: Ballblazer conversion is working great in CCS64.

It would seem that a normal boot (i.e. not fast-boot) is required for these to work, but the Maximum 1541 Speed option in CCS64 doesn't seem to interfere with it and works great with .g64. Normal vs Fast boot is basically a non-issue with Maximum 1541 Speed enabled anyway.

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Some further testing is below. All of these have working cracked versions already that work just fine in CCS64 and other emulators, but it's interesting to see that some of the Preservation Project (.nib) files actually work in CCS64 once converted to .g64 format. I started by using MNIB + DOSBox to convert them, but 1) that's kinda time consuming and 2) didn't yield working results as often as using Nibtools. Nibtools seems to just be easier and more reliable all around. You can find it here. All you have to do is drag a .nib file onto the "nibconv.exe" file and it will convert them into .g64 which you can load in CCS64 or other C64 emulators.

Working in CCS64:

Aztec Challenge
Ballblazer
Boulder Dash
Bruce Lee
Captain Blood
Dig Dug
Hawkeye
The Last Ninja
Legacy of the Ancients
Master of the Lamps
H.E.R.O.
Hacker
Impossible Mission
Koronis Rift
Little Computer People
Montezuma's Revenge
The Movie Monster Game
Rad Warrior
Raid on Bungeling Bay
Raid Over Moscow
Rampage
Rescue on Fractalus
Skate or Die!
Summer Games

Not working in CCS64:

Artillery Duel - crashes
Beach-Head - some garbled graphics
Beach-Head II - has a hilariously preachy message about software piracy and then hangs
Bop 'n Rumble - hangs
Choplifter - garbled graphics; works in Hoxs64
Times of Lore - hangs after character selection screen; works in Hoxs64
First Samurai - seems to actually work but requests password to start
IK+ - crashes
Mr. Robot And His Robot Factory - plays but is missing some sounds
Project Firestart - hangs
Psi 5 Trading Company - hangs
Shadowfire - hangs
Spy Hunter - doesn't load
The Train - hangs
Zorro - hangs

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  • 3 weeks later...

Zombiebeaver talks about CCS64 being a good emulator for Commodore 64, but I'm wondering from those who have used it, how does it deal with multi disk games and how should they be added to launch box?

I ask because I had problems previously with multi disk Atari st games using hitari and the emulator just didn't seem to find the next disk even though it was right there in the folder. I just got stuck on an insert disk screen.

Looking forward to getting this up and running soon

cheers guys

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You switch disks in-emulator for CCS64. When it asks you to switch disks, you press F10 to pull up the emulator menu, go to the first disk drive, browse to the second disk and press F4 to select it and it will go back to the game. You can then continue as normal. It's super easy.

I really like Steem for Atari ST emulation, by the way.

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So that version is essential steem with all the same functions but updated for newer OS's?

http://steem.atari.st/download.htm that's the original version I assume?

Is this the Version of CCS64 ok, it seems that the official site is broken http://www.dosgamers.com/commodore-64/ccs64-c64-emulator

Official site http://www.ccs64.com/ (error when loading)

 

 

 

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