c64 C64 Dreams (massive curated C64 collection)

[kyzumi]

On 7/21/2025 at 5:17 PM, Zombeaver said:

You can either press Numpad Minus + F1 or back + guide on an Xbox controller.

What is it you're trying to do exactly? You should be very careful about changing anything in Retroarch as it has the potential to create problems quite easily depending on what you're doing.

I managed to figure it out! It was in the configuration option. now my changes to hotkeys work fine

[NLS]

(since I cannot post in discord)
 

[JoJoJuJu59]

Update on the problem I've been having getting certain new games e.g. Steel Ranger to run,  By checking this thread and messing around with game.cmd and game.bat files, I fixed the problem and even learned how to add some missing games to C64 Dreams I played on original hardware like Stationfall (a difficult infocom text adventure).  I also learned how to add my own manuals.  C64 Dreams has been a great project and Zombeaver has done a superb job making all the old C64 classics available to us in an easy, curated and pre-configured package.  Even if he stopped working on it, I feel it's polished enough to leave as is.  All new releases and missing old games can be easily added yourself.  Thanks for all the effort. 

A question though: what's a good color shader/reshade to use to add just a bit more color (very little) to make that C64 palette pop a bit more so the colors look slightly more saturated like the old Sega Master System, Amiga, ZX Spectrum or Atari ST but not oversaturated?  That's one thing I miss in the Commodore 64 is the default slightly dull color palette, imo, compared to these old systems.

Edited July 31 by JoJoJuJu59

[launchretrogirl2562]

3 minutes ago, JoJoJuJu59 said:

Update on the problem I've been having getting certain new games e.g. Steel Ranger to run,  By checking this thread and messing around with game.cmd and game.bat files, I fixed the problem and even learned how to add some missing games to C64 Dreams I played on original hardware like Stationfall (a difficult infocom text adventure).  I also learned how to add my own manuals.  C64 Dreams has been a great project and Zombeaver has done a superb job making all the old C64 classics available to us in an easy, curated and pre-configured package.  Even if he stopped working on it, I feel it's polished enough to leave as it.  All new releases and missing old games can be easily added yourself.  Thanks for all the effort. 

A question though: what's a good color shader/reshade to use to add just a bit more color (very little) to make that C64 palette pop a bit more so the colors look slightly more saturated like the old Sega Master System, Amiga, ZX Spectrum or Atari ST but not oversaturated?  That's one thing I miss in the Commodore 64 is the default slightly dull color palette, imo, compared to these old systems.

About adding games to it. Stigzler made a tool for that so you don't need to do it manually anymore.

 

[JoJoJuJu59]

Just now, launchretrogirl2562 said:

About adding games to it. Stigzler made a tool for that so you don't need to do it manually anymore.

Alas, I tried the tool and got errors pointing to the directory paths needed to get it to work so I did a new install of C64 Dreams and it worked but then I got an error about a missing text file.  I assumed it was because the tool is a new and still needs bugs worked out (?).  I went back to my old install of C64 Dreams because I added so many new things to it and didn't want to lose them.  I'll attempt it again perhaps with a later version that recognizes my current directories.  The manual method for me (thanks for your post showing us how to do it, btw) isn't a biggie because I only add a game once in a blue moon.

 

[stigzler]

If you post details of the errors or reproduction steps in the linked post, happy to take a look. A video of the error via OBS and YouTube would also be helpful

[JoJoJuJu59]

10 hours ago, stigzler said:

If you post details of the errors or reproduction steps in the linked post, happy to take a look. A video of the error via OBS and YouTube would also be helpful

Here's the directory structure that causes problems: K:\games\C64 Dreams v0.60\C64 Dreams.  It accepts where my LB folder is for that first required path but I get the invalid directory message for the C64 dreams folder. Note: the "C64 Dreams v0.60" folder is where the launchbox,exe is.

Edited July 31 by JoJoJuJu59

[stigzler]

5 hours ago, JoJoJuJu59 said:

Here's the directory structure that causes problems: K:\games\C64 Dreams v0.60\C64 Dreams.  It accepts where my LB folder is for that first required path but I get the invalid directory message for the C64 dreams folder. Note: the "C64 Dreams v0.60" folder is where the launchbox,exe is.

Can you move this over to my topic as originally requested so as not to take the OP off topic? Also, struggling to understand what you're saying here. A quick vid via OBS is your best option alongside showing your directory structures.

Edited July 31 by stigzler

[freikugel]

Hi, I've been trying C64 Dreams out, and enjoying it, but I've just come across a problem (for me, anyway). I've wanted to play Labyrinth: The Computer Game, and found that this version of the game doesn't seem to have a save feature? The menu has no save or load game option and there's no file select when starting the game.

Obviously this must be a feature of this cracked version of the game... Is this intentional? I'd rather be able to use the original save feature as opposed to having to use Retroarch save states. I don't like save states and will forgo them when I can.

[{c}Guy123]

I know a LOT of people have said Thank You for this amazing work @Zombeaver, I just wanted to add my personal thanks as well. I grew up in the 80's and my first computer was a C64 and the love I have for that machine and the games I played has never left. 

This is amazing work, thank you again. 

- Bob

 

[Zombeaver]

So, just as a bit of an update, while I've been though nearly every major life event in the last year and a half, which slowed progress significantly, some of which aren't even totally resolved yet, I have been getting back into working pretty significantly on this lately. I'd already made decent progress on things beforehand so I'm getting back into the swing of it and carrying on bit by bit.

I do have something that people could potentially help with if they're so inclined. Finding new and upgrading existing manuals is a neverending battle, but one that's important to me. I have a giant stack of ones that I'm working on already, but I also took some time to pinpoint some games that are likely to have manuals but I have yet to locate scans of them anywhere. If people want to help look for them and send me what they find it would be appreciated. The rationale for this list is that every one of these was reviewed in Zzap!64, which raises the likelihood that they had wider commercial distribution and, in theory, had manuals of some variety.

The only real requirements that I have are that they 1) be an actual scan of original materials, not just say a text file and 2) while multi-language manuals are perfectly fine, English needs to at least be one of the included languages.

If anyone locates scans of any of these, please send them in here, and I'll take a look. Any assistance is appreciated.

As usual I tend to chip away at one thing until my eyes bleed and then switch to another angle and then another, until I'm back to the beginning again, and sometimes people ask me what they can do to help. I'm a bit too OCD to let most things be handled by anyone else, but this is something that certainly could be done by members of the community, and every bit helps and is appreciated.

I'll have more news as things progress.

Looking for:

747 Flight Simulator
Almazz
Amazon Warrior
Arcana
Ball Blasta
Ball Game, The
Beatle Quest
Beer Belly Burt's Brew Biz
Betrayal
Big Game Fishing
Blue Baron
Bob Winner
Bone Cruncher
Boulder Dash II
Bounty Hunter (River Software)
Budokan - The Martial Spirit
Bugbomber
Bushido - The Way of the Warrior
Captured
Castle Dracula
Caverns of Sillahc
Champ, The
Cheap Skate
Chess Chiller a.k.a. Chess Game, The a.k.a. Night Walker
Chuck Rock
Citadel
Citadel of Corruption
Cleanup Service
Crazy Paving
Cyberdyne Warrior
Daffy Duck
Dante's Inferno
Dark Sky Over Paradise, A
Death Wake
Deliverance (The Power House)
Deus Ex Machina
DNA Warrior
Dragon's Kingdom
Droids
Dylan Dog
Elvira II
Empire
Enforcer, The
Equinox
Evil Crown
F1 GP Circuits
F1 Tornado
Faerie
Final Blow
Floyd the Droid
Galaxy Force II
Gerry The Germ
Gertie Goose - The Lost Eggs
Gods & Heroes
Grave Yardage
Groovy Garden
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Head Coach
Herbert's Dummy Run
Hercules
HES Games
Hi Bouncer
Hocus Focus
Hyper Circuit
Ice Station Zero
Intensity
International Team Sports
Iron Lord
Island of Dr. Destructo, The
Iwo Jima
Jet Strike Mission
Kamikaze
Katakis
Kayak
Knight Games II
Laurel & Hardy
Legend of Sinbad, The
Legend of the Amazon Women, The
Lifeforce
Little Green Man
MACH - Maneuverable Armed Computer Humans
Mandroid
Master Blaster (Zeppelin Games)
Masters of the Universe in Terraquake
Max Torque
Mean City
Metabolis
Miami Dice
Millenium Warriors
Mind Pursuit
Mini Golf (Magic Bytes)
Moonfall
Mr. Mephisto
Mystery Voyage
Nam
Necromancer
Neverending Story II, The
Ninja Commando
Odysseus - Trojan Warrior
Odyssey, The
Orpheus in the Underworld
Out on a Limb
Over The Net
Poker (Duckworth Home Computing)
Powerboat USA - Offshore Superboat Racing
PP Hammer
Psi-Droid
Purple Heart
Quann Tulla
Return of the Space Warriors
RISK - Rapid Intercept Seek and Kill
Rubicon
Samurai Warrior - The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo
Santa's Xmas Caper
Saucer Attack!
Software Star
Soldier of Fortune
Special Agent
Speed Duel
Starship Andromeda
Stratton
Stuntman Seymour
Super Gran - The Adventure
Taskmaster
Terrafighter
ThunderJaws
Tim Love's Cricket
Time Search
Time Soldier
Trollbound
Tubular Bells
Warlock - The Avenger
Wild Streets
Wings of Fury
Zone Trooper

Edited yesterday at 12:15 AM by Zombeaver

[{c}Guy123]

@Zombeaver I don't know if this would interest you or anyone using the c64 dreams project, but I took the time to take the amazing work of the OneLoad project and integrate it into c64 dreams. So any of the games that were the same, the d64 files or tapes( if there were any) were replaced with the .crt files so games load instantly. I then updated all the .vbs or .bat files as needed. 

If there's any interest, I'll zip up the finished work and post it. 

Let me know,

- Bob

 

[Zombeaver]

9 hours ago, {c}Guy123 said:

@Zombeaver I don't know if this would interest you or anyone using the c64 dreams project, but I took the time to take the amazing work of the OneLoad project and integrate it into c64 dreams. So any of the games that were the same, the d64 files or tapes( if there were any) were replaced with the .crt files so games load instantly. I then updated all the .vbs or .bat files as needed. 

If there's any interest, I'll zip up the finished work and post it. 

Let me know,

- Bob

 

So one of the major changes that's taking place in the next version is that I've sortof rethought the logic a bit about what versions are used for the games, and as always this comes down to what I'm considering the "best" version of any given game. What determines that I've redefined slightly as, in the past, any game that had a version with trainers available, the best trained version was used. But now that's shifted slightly:

If a game has a high score saver that's been added by the cracking group, that version is used. I consider high score saving an objective improvement that everyone would reasonably benefit from. OL64 versions do not have the ability to save scores.

If the game has an in-game save function, that version is used. Keep in mind that you cannot save your games in OneLoad64 as those roms are essentially static, you can't save any data to them. There are a few exceptions to this where a game allows you to save it to a separate disk - in cases where that's true, the OL64 version is used, but otherwise if in-game saving is broken by OL64 the trained/disk version is used.

If the game has a docs screen and I haven't yet located a manual for it (rare but there are a few such cases), that version is used.

In the cases where these criteria aren't present and, for example, all it is is say 3 trainers available and nothing else, the OL64 version is now used.

But to go one step further, now in those cases you'll actually be able to right-click on those games and choose to launch the trained version instead if you so choose. So you still have access to them / the best of both worlds.

That process will encompass 800+ games in the collection once all is said and done, and I'm most of the way through that by now. But of course, as always, I have to test all this stuff.

The idea is as it has always been to present the user with the best version of any given game. I've just shifted my thought process slightly on what that means, while also giving people access to what would have been used in the past since some may still prefer that.

Edited yesterday at 10:02 PM by Zombeaver

[{c}Guy123]

That's awesome, thanks for the explanation. As far as saving games, though... with the built in Save States feature of vice ( that you've so nicely integrated into the controller mapping), I'm not sure why that would be a high priority? 

Anyways, glad to hear you're already on top of this. 
 

[Zombeaver]

Save states are less reliable than proper in-game saves. They do work, generally, but should be considered inferior to that. Existing states also periodically break/are no longer usable when the VICE core gets updated. I should know - it's quite a pain in the ass to go back and have to recreate states for the 200+ games that I have setup to auto-load a state on launch every time that happens.

Savestates are fine, but actually saving the game to disk is objectively better, and significantly less prone to errors. So cases where that's an option take priority.

Edited yesterday at 04:17 PM by Zombeaver