Jump to content
LaunchBox Community Forums

C64 Dreams (massive curated C64 collection)


Zombeaver

Recommended Posts

Blog post for v0.45 on Zomb's Lair
Download C64 Dreams v0.45
Download local magazine module (optional but recommended)

Game Details Spreadsheet

Version 0.45 of C64 Dreams is now available! It features 500 new games and a ton of improvements and new features! Just like last time, this update ended up being a significantly larger undertaking than I realized when I started. It's the result of 9+ months and 1000+ hours of work. The primary new feature this go round is the integration of Zzap!64 reviews so that now, any games that were reviewed in Zzap can be right-clicked in the library and you can start a shortcut to jump directly to the Zzap review for that game, either on the web or in the optional (but recommended!) local copy of the magazine (the local magazines now have a randomized playlist of SID tracks that play while reading as well). I think this provides an interesting context to these games and serves as something of a time capsule. I really hope this is something that will be of interest to people because it entailed a massive amount of work to get functioning the way I wanted. First I had to go through and create my own index of what games were reviewed on which pages in what issues, then I had to take that information and turn into something that I could actually use. The index itself ended up being 2500+ lines long... Despite there only being 90 issues of Zzap, in some cases they would review 30+ games in a single issue and sometimes they would review the same game multiple times months or even years apart (usually for a budget re-release but sometimes just seemingly for the hell of it) which, of course, I've included as well. The funny thing is, having spent so much time getting intimately acquainted with the magazine during this process, it made me realize just how much and how frequently I find myself disagreeing with their reviews haha. I do find them very entertaining regardless and consider them absolutely worth including and preserving, but I frequently found myself at odds with the opinions on display - they were regularly very harsh on games that I would consider to be some of my favorites (a 58% for Master of the Lamps?) and on many occasions strangely positive about games that have, in my estimation, very few redeeming qualities (a 92% for Hercules (CRL) are you actually insane?). They clearly were having a ton of fun though which makes them an enjoyable read just the same, and I find their takes consistently interesting whether I agree with them or not.

Because of the altered focus on Zzap!64 this time, unlike past updates where I continued my ongoing mission to parse through all of GB64, this go round I made a concerted effort to include games that were reviewed in Zzap. This has meant that there are a fair few instances of new games added that I might not have gravitated to otherwise, but I think they're worth including even if they're not to my personal taste - I'm not really a fan of most strategy or flight sim games on the C64 but I know there are people out there who are, and even among those there were some that I found pleasantly surprising like Solo Flight. That said, there's a good mix of new stuff here that should provide something for everyone. Something that was particularly interesting to me was a game called Deus Ex Machina which is, to my knowledge, one of the earliest is not the first cases of a game-as-art title. It was designed to be played in tandem/sync with an audio cassette that narrated the story of what was happening on screen. It's some seriously artsy fartsy weido stuff... which is right up my alley. It took a bit but I got the audio recording working quite nicely with the game, which starts automatically, can be paused, resumed, and sides changed while in-game via keyboard keys (consult the notes overlay in game via Numpad Minus + Numpad Plus or Back + Menu on a controller for details). 

Since the-eye.eu is still in limbo, this is going to be uploaded to Mediafire for the initial release and I'm going to give it a week so that if there are any last-minute issues that people encounter I can make any needed adjustments before uploading it to Archive.org. I'm not anticipating any based on earlier testing that was done but it's a bigger to-do to make changes on Archive than it is to a standard file locker so I just want to include that slight buffer. If anyone has any issues, please let me know! So, without further ado, let's get to it!

New:

  • Added Zzap! 64 review integration so that you can now right-click on a game and, if it has a review, you can jump right to the review, either via web or local copy (if you have the magazine module installed)
  • Added all Zzap! 64 reviewed games to their own playlist in Launchbox so that you can quickly access all relevant games at once
  • Added a randomized playlist of SID music that plays whenever you start magazines or specific Zzap! 64 reviews - this can be disabled via the Configurator.exe if so desired; please note that this only works for the local versions of the magazines currently; while playing, you can display the music player via Numpad 8, hide it via Numpad 2, pause/resume via Numpad 5, change to the next track via Numpad 6, and change to the previous track via Numpad 4; pressing Escape will close both the reader and the music player
  • Added optional lightpen (mouse) launch option for Shadowfire (highly recommended!)
  • Added optional mouse control launch option for Operation Wolf (highly recommended!)
  • Added additional app (accessible via the right-click menu in Launchbox) for an audio recording of the background story of Doomdark's Revenge
  • Added interactive codewheels for The Bard's Tale III, Chip's Challenge, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Demon Stalkers, Hillsfar, Legacy of the Ancients, Mars Saga, Neuromancer, Pool of Radiance, Rocket Ranger, and Sorcerer (Infocom); these are accessible via the right-click menu for each game or by starting the [Game Name] Codewheel.vbs files in the game folders

Version Updates:

  • 3-D Skramble - replaced with OneLoad version
  • 4th & Inches - replaced with OneLoad version
  • 8Bit-Slicks - replaced with 1/26/21 version by Triad
  • A.M.C. - Astro Marine Corps - replaced with +4M version by Commo Bam
  • Actionauts - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Champions of Krynn - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Curse of the Azure Bonds - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Death Knights of Krynn - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Pool of Radiance - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Adventures of Basildon Bond, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Alien (CP Verlag) - replaced with +3 version by Dynamix
  • Alien Kill - replaced with Bros version
  • Alien Kill 2 - replaced with Bros version
  • Alternate Reality II - The Dungeon - replaced with +MDF version by Fairlight
  • Aqua Racer - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Arac - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Arachnophobia - replaced with +6DFIR version by Nostalgia
  • Archon II - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Atomic Robo Kid - replaced with +12DH version by Hokuto Force
  • Axis Assassin - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Badlands - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Bagitman - replaced with +2 version by Atheist
  • Ball Game, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Barbarian - The Ultimate Warrior - replaced with +2D version by Remember
  • Batalyx - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Batman - replaced with +6FDHRI Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Beer Belly Burt's Brew Biz - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Big Deal, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Bigtop Barney - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Bionic Commando - replaced with +7DFHIR version by Nostalgia
  • Blade Runner - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Blue Max - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Blue Max 2001 - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Blue Thunder - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Boulder Dash - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Boulder Dash III - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Buck Rogers - Countdown to Doomsday - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Bulldog - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Bump Set Spike - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Burger Time - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Captive, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Castle (Protocol Productions) - replaced with +4DG version by Excess
  • Castle Master - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Castle Master II - The Crypt - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Castlevania - replaced with +8DIR version by Nostalgia
  • Caveman - replaced with +3DG version by Army of Darkness
  • Chameleon - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Championship Jet Ski Simulator - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Championship Sprint - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Chimera - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Choplifter - replaced with OneLoad version; added alternative jewel version by ROLE
  • Citadel of Corruption - replaced with GB64 version
  • Clean Up Time - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Co & Co - replaced with OneLoad version
  • CORE - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Countdown to Meltdown - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Cybernoid II - The Revenge - replaced with +6 version by Scouse Cracking Group
  • Dam Busters, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Decathlon - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Dig Dug - added alterative jewel version by ROLE
  • Doctor Who and the Mines of Terror - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Donald Duck's Playground - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Doriath - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Drak - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Duel, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Elektraglide - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Ellak's Tomb - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Endless - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Enigma Force - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Evil Crown - replaced with GB64 version
  • Fast Break - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Fire Track - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Flash Gordon - replaced with +8DIR version by Nostalgia
  • Floyd of the Jungle - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Floyd the Droid - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Flying Shark - replaced with Remember version
  • Football Manager - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Forbidden Fruit - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Fury, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Game Over - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Garrison - replaced with +11DFIJ version by Nostalgia
  • Hacker - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Hacker II - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Harvey Smith Showjumper - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Herobotix - replaced with OneLoad version
  • How to be a Complete Bastard - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Howard the Duck - replaced with +8DIR version by Nostalgia
  • Humanoids - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Hypa-Ball - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Ice Palace (K-tel) - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Imagination - replaced with GB64 version
  • Infection - replaced with OneLoad version
  • International 3D Tennis - replaced with OneLoad version
  • International Basketball - replaced with OneLoad version
  • International Tennis - replaced with OneLoad version
  • It's a Knockout - replaced with OneLoad version
  • It's Only Rock n' Roll - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Jewels of Babylon - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Jinks - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Jonah Barrington's Squash - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Katakis - replaced with +5HDF Easyflash version by Hokuto Force
  • Kayleth - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Kentilla - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Kikstart II - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Kromazone - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Main Frame - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Metagalactic Llamas - Battle at the Edge of Time - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Microprose Soccer - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Midnight Resistance - replaced with +8DFHR version by Nostalgia
  • Mig Alley Ace - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Movie Monster Game, The - replaced with +2DIR version by Nostalgia
  • Navy Moves - replaced with +7DFHIRW version by Nostalgia
  • Nexus - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Ole! - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Operation Wolf - replaced with +6DFHR version by Nostalgia
  • Poster Paster - replaced with +5DGH version by Raiders of the Lost Empire
  • Prince Clumsy - replaced with +9DH version by Nostalgia
  • Psi Warrior - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Quake Minus One - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Rally Speedway - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Return of the Mutant Camels - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Robocop - replaced with +8DFHIR Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Rocket Roger - replaced with +5HDG version by Threshold
  • Scumball - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Seaside Special - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Sentinel - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Shadow Warriors - replaced with +9DF version by Nostalgia
  • Shamus - replaced with +3DH version by Wanderer
  • Shamus Case II - replaced with +3D version by Wanderer
  • Sooper Froot - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Speedball - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Star Raiders II - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Survivor - replaced with +3H version by Wanderer
  • Tetris (Andromeda Software) - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Time Tunnel - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Velocipede II - replaced with OneLoad version

Changes/Fixes:

  • Updated to Retroarch 1.9.4 (custom compiled by sonninnos so that cg support is maintained/included!); I've taught myself how to do this as well so I'll be supplying my own custom builds going forward, but seeing as this is what I've been testing with for nearly a year now this is what's included with v0.45 - new versions require additional testing to confirm that everything is still working as it should so I'll be updating to the latest once work on the next update begins - with that said, I've included a custom compiled copy of the current latest version for use if you so choose (in the C64 Dreams\C64 Dreams\Retroarch\!Retroarch Versions\ folder), just be aware that that's not what was used for testing so there may be some unforseen issues / use at your own risk
  • Disabled core info caching in Retroarch as, in 1.9.4 or perhaps an earlier version, it incorrectly saves static path info which can cause issues when attempting to load content through the RA UI (not really a big deal for the collection since everything is handled externally via command-line but it's still an issue) - based on some brief testing this is no longer a problem in 1.9.13 so it could be re-enabled if you update (it's not necessary though)
  • Renamed "Lemans" to "Le Mans"
  • Renamed "But Out 2019" to "BugOut 2019"
  • Renamed "Canals of Mars" to "Canals of Mars, The"
  • Renamed "Evil Wizard 2" to "Evil Wizard II"
  • Renamed "Fire!" to "Fire! (Arlasoft)"
  • Renamed "Ghost Town" to "GhostTown"
  • Renamed "Ghost Town 64" to "Ghost Town"
  • Renamed "Popeye" to "Popeye (Parker Brothers)" because "Popeye (Piranha)" was added
  • Renamed "Thunderbirds" to "Thunderbirds (Firebird)" because "Thunderbirds (Grandslam)" was added
  • Corrected media and metadata for Battle Command which was supposed to be for the 1991 game by Ocean not the 1985 game by Applied Computer Consultants
  • Replaced "Bob Moran - Rittertum" (German release) with "Lee Enfield - Tournament of Death"
  • Replaced "Captain Zzap" (US release) with "Flash Gordon" (European release)
  • Replaced "Espodill" (EBES re-release) with "Celluloid" (original CP Verlag release)
  • Added custom cropping to Pang as the (gigantic) timer at the top of the screen was cropped out previously
  • Adjusted the cropping on Jars' Revenge as some of the top and bottom of the screen were cropped previously - re-enabled bezel because the resultant image now fits within it again
  • Added separate launcher (accessible through the right-click menu) for Part 2 of Bugsy
  • Added separate launcher (accessible through the right-click menu) for side 2 (Docks / Hard) of Championship Jet Ski Simulator
  • Added separate save disks for Castle of Terror, Jahangir Khan Squash, and Imagination
  • Converted Adventureland and Imagination from .t64 (from GB64) to .d64 as the save function wasn't functioning in the original format
  • Changed a few SID tracks to use 6581 instead of 8580 based on the file instructions
  • Slight brightness boost to CRT-Easymode-Halation-C64 (again) to correct very dark colors being completely black (the walls in Asylum being an example)
  • Fixed what essentially amounted to a memory leak with custom music playlists where each music track's .exe would remain open even after switching to the next track and would stay open until Retroarch was closed
  • Unresponsiveness with fire button presses in The Detective Game have been fixed thanks to core updates
  • Remade all 200+ auto-loading savestates because the core change from Vice 3.3 to Vice 3.5 broke all of them... oof :/ I also deleted about 30 of them in the process that no longer seemed necessary with auto-warp enabled
  • Corrected Lily Lander, Magnetoball, Mig Alley Ace, and Rally Speedway to use joystick port 1
  • Replaced Mars Saga Cluebook with improved scan courtesy of user Manuches (thanks again!)
  • Changed keyboard keys for zooming manuals in and out to use "I" and "O" instead of "+" and "-" in order to accommodate international keyboards (thanks bbneo!)
  • Changed controller inputs for zooming manuals in and out to be handled via Antimicro instead of AHK as the latter has inconsistent/broken joystick input handling, especially in Windows 10 post-Anniversary Update
  • Slightly increased deadzone for right-stick to arrow key inputs in order to avoid erroneous inputs when moving the stick the maximum distance from the center and then quickly releasing (flicking)
  • Improved the startup smoothness when manuals are used and there's now a brief fade in animation on initial boot (may or may not be visible depending on your monitor settings) and the game audio now fades in when switching back to it rather than starting abruptly
  • Updated Launchbox to v12.1

Misc:

  • Parsed through all new media (4000+ files!) in Ultimate Tape Archive v3.0 for missing or upgradable manuals and transformed into usable/conducive format for viewing, resulting in hundreds of new or upgraded manuals and covers!
  • Created hundreds of new and remade hundreds of old 3D boxes
  • Created my own template for fanart boxes where no official box art exists, in the same style as Lassiveran's fanart boxes, and created 400+ fanart boxes that previously were just using screenshots - there are now boxes and 3D boxes for every single game in the collection
  • Renamed all .cbr files to .cbz and updated all references accordingly - as Boris Schneider-Johne rightly pointed out on my discord, they weren't .cbrs to begin with, they were zipped and then just renamed to .cbr afterwards which in reality would make them .cbz
  • Did a lot of additional metadata and media cleanup and linked 37 games that previously didn't have LBGDB entries (thanks as always to all the fine folks that work on the DB!)
  • Color and contrast corrected hundreds of screenshots that had the red tint issue or low contrast present in many screenshots from GB64; and deleted a few duplicate or erroneous screenshots in the process - work is still ongoing for this
  • Renamed all AD&D games to "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - [Title]" rather than just the game title for consistency (backend)
  • Added a Readme to the Magazines\!XMLs folder to explain how to swap the default launch behavior for Magazines between web and local
  • Upscaled all controls overlays to 1440p and converted from png to high quality jpg - the end result being higher quality images with a smaller filesize footprint
  • Created a universal launcher .bat that no longer requires game-specific references (with the exception of custom music where used and alternate launchers for docs/intros/etc.); this helps simplify and streamline things going forward; not all existing launchers (Game.bat) have been updated to the new format but I'll be gradually transitioning them all over to it over time - there's no negative impact for existing launchers, it's just a backend thing
  • Updated automators to use new universal launcher format
  • Added additional notes to config editor
  • Added sound effects for opening and closing manuals
  • Added Trizbort to the Utilities folder - this is a neat little mapper for text adventures which you may find useful, it lets you quickly create your own maps of areas, naming them, linking them together, etc.; handy if you find yourself getting lost in a sprawling text adventure
  • Removed all emulator entries from Launchbox as none of them are used - everything is handled externally
  • Disabled check for update in Launchbox
  • Created an icon for C64 Dreams

New custom note overlays:

  • 3-D Pinball - Pinball Power
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Pool of Radiance
  • Blood Brothers
  • Castle Dracula
  • Caves of Oberon, The
  • Celluloid
  • Countdown to Meltdown
  • Deus Ex Machina
  • Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge
  • Genius 3
  • Great American Cross-Country Road Race, The
  • HES Games
  • International Basketball
  • Jet Strike Mission
  • Jewels of Babylon
  • Kentilla
  • Lost Tomb
  • Magician's Ball, The
  • Mask II
  • Midsummer Olympics
  • Might and Magic - Secret of the Inner Sanctum
  • Might and Magic II - Gates to Another World
  • Mindwheel
  • Moonfall
  • Mountain King
  • NOMAD
  • Operation Wolf (mouse)
  • Polar Pierre
  • Powerboat USA - Offshore Superboat Racing
  • Powerplay - The Game of the Gods
  • PP Hammer
  • Rad Ramp Racer
  • Rebel Planet
  • Return of the Space Warriors
  • Revs
  • Rocket Ball
  • Samurai Trilogy
  • Scalextric
  • SDI - Strategic Defence Initiative
  • Shades
  • Shark
  • Shogun
  • Silent Shadow
  • Soccer Pinball
  • Souls of Darkon
  • Super Bowl XX
  • Superkid in Space
  • Tir Na Nog
  • Tour de France
  • Valkyrie 17
  • Witch's Cauldron, The
  • World Series Baseball
  • Xybots
  • Zone Ranger

New games:

4x4 Off-Road Racing
747 Flight Simulator
ACE
ACE 2088
Acro Jet
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Secret of the Silver Blades
Adventures of Jim Slim in Dragonland, The
Airwolf
Alice in Wonderland
Almazz
Altered Beast
Alternative World Games
Amulet, The
Antics
APB - All Points Bulletin
Arcticfox
Ark Pandora
Astonishing Adventures of Mr. Weems and the She Vampires, The
Atomino
Ball Blasta
Ballyhoo
Barbarian
Battle for Midway
Battle for Normandy
Battle of Britain
Battletech - The Crescent Hawk's Inception
Beatle Quest
Betrayal
Better Dead Than Alien!
Blizzard! Part I - Commando Libya
Blood Brothers
Blue Baron
Bomb Fusion
Bombo
Booty
BoxyMoxy
Brainstorm
Brian Bloodaxe
Brian Jack's Superstar Challenge
Bristles
Bulge, The
Captain Kidd
Castle Blackstar
Castle Dracula
Caverns of Eriban, The
Caves of Oberon, The
Chickin Chase
Chopper
Circus Circus
Codename-Mat II
Collapse
Colossal Cave Adventure
Colossus Chess 4
Combat Leader
Comet Game, The
Cops 'N' Robbers
Count Duckula II
Crazy Comets
Crillion
Crossroads II
Crusade in Europe
Crystal Frog
Cylu
Dark Sky Over Paradise, A
Deactivators
Death Wake
Decision in the Desert
Deus Ex Machina
Dicky's Diamonds
Dragon Wars
Droids
Dynamite Dan
Eagles
Earl the Tomb Robber
Eddie Kid Jump Challenge
Emerald Isle
Empire Strikes Back, The
Estra
Exploding Fist+
FA Cup Football
Faerie
Falklands 82
Field of Fire
Fighter Pilot
Fire One
Five A-Side
Fix It Felix Jr.
Flight Path 737
Flight Simulator II
Flyer Fox
Force, The
Formula 1 Simulator
Frogger
Galaga
Gates of the Ancient
GBA Championship Basketball - Two-on-Two
Genius 3
Geoff Capes' Strongman Challenge
Germany 1985
Gettysburg - The Turning Point
Ghosts'n Goblins Arcade
Ghouls
Glider Pilot
Graham Gooch's Test Cricket
Grand Larceny
Granny's Cleaning Day
Graviton
Great American Cross-Country Road Race, The
Gyroscope
HardBall!
Head Coach
Helter Skelter
Herbert's Dummy Run
Hercules
HES Games
Hi Bouncer
Ian Botham's Test Match
Ice Station Zero
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Intensity
Isle of the Cursed Prophet*
Iwo Jima
Jet Strike Mission
Johnny Reb II
Jump Jet
Kayak
Keys to Maramon, The
Keystone Kapers
Klax
Knight Games II
Knight Orc
Knight Rider
Knight Tyme
Knights of the Desert
Knockout
Kokotoni Wilf
Kong (Sputnik World)
Lady Pac
Lands of Havoc, The
Lapis Philosophorum - The Philosopher's Stone
Las Vegas Video Poker
Last Amazon Trilogy, The
Last Duel
Legions of Death
Lifeforce
Little Puff in Dragonland
Live and Let Die
Lone Wolf - The Mirror of Death
Lord of the Rings
Lost City, The
Lost Realms of Murkasada
Lost Tomb
Lucifer's Realm
MACH - Maneuverable Armed Computer Humans
Magician's Ball, The
Magnetron
Mandragore
Mask
Mask II
Masters of the Universe - The Movie
Match Day II
Max Headroom
Maze Mania
Meganova - The Weapon
Menace
Mercenary - The Second City
Merlin
Metabolis
Metropolis (The Power House)
Metropolis (Topo Soft)
Miami Dice
Midsummer Olympics
Might and Magic - Secret of the Inner Sanctum
Might and Magic II - Gates to Another World
Mighty Bombjack
Millenium Warriors
Mind Pursuit
Mindfighter
Mindshadow
Mindwheel
Mission Asteroid
Monster Trivia
Moon Cresta
Moon Shuttle
Moonfall
Moontorc
Moonwalker
Mordon's Quest
Motor Mania
Mountain Bike Racer
Mountain King
Mr. Heli
Mr. Mephisto
Mr. TNT
Mugsy's Revenge
Murdlok
Mystery Voyage
Nam
NARC
Necromancer
Neighbours
Neutral Zone
Neverending Story II, The
Nick Faldo Plays the Open
Night Knight
Ninja Carnage
Ninja Warriors, The
NOMAD
Nonterraqueous
Norway 1985
Nutcraka
Octoplex
Odysseus - Trojan Warrior
Odyssey, The
Olli & Lissa 3 - The Candlelight Adventure
Ollie's Follies
Ollo
Ollo II
Omega Race
On-Court Tennis
On-Field Football
One Bite Too Deep
Operation Swordfish
Operation Whirlwind
Orion
Out of this World
Out on a Limb
Out Run
Overlander
Pac-Man
Paradroid - Competition Edition
Parsec
Penetrator
Percy The Potty Pigeon
Perry Mason - The Case of the Mandarin Murder
Peter Pack Rat
Phantom of the Asteroid
Phileas Fogg's Balloon Battles
Ping Pong
Pink Panther
Pipe Mania
Pitstop
Poker (Duckworth Home Computing)
Polar Pierre
Pole Position
Poltergeist
Popeye (Piranha)
Potsworth & Co
Power Pyramids
Powerboat USA - Offshore Superboat Racing
Powerplay - The Game of the Gods
PP Hammer
Predator 2
Price of Magik, The
Prison Riot
Psi-Droid
Psycho Pigs UXB
Psycho Soldier
Pulse Warrior
Quann Tulla
Quest for the Holy Grail
Questprobe I - The Incredible Hulk
Questprobe III - The Fantastic Four
Rad Ramp Racer
Radar Rat Race
Rally Cross (Codemasters)
Ramparts
Raskel
Rats, The
Raven, The
Realms of Darkness
Rebel Planet
Red Max
Red Moon
Red Storm Rising
Redhawk
Return of the Jedi
Return of the Space Warriors
Revs
Richard Petty's Talladega
Ripper!
RISK - Rapid Intercept Seek and Kill
RMS Titanic
Roadwars
Robozone
Rock Star Ate My Hamster
Rocket Ball
RodMan
Room Ten
Rootin' Tootin'
Rupert and the Toymaker's Party
Rygar
Saboteur
Saboteur II
Saint Dragon
Samantha Fox Strip Poker
Sammy Lightfoot
Samurai Trilogy
Santa's Xmas Caper
Scalextric
Scapeghost
Schizofrenia
Scoop!, The
Scorpion
Scorpius
Scout
Scramble Infinity
Scramble Spirits
Scroll of Akbar Khan, The
Scrolls of Abadon, The
Scuba Kidz
SDI - Strategic Defence Initiative
Seabase Delta
Seafox
Seas of Blood
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, The
Security Alert
Serpentine
Shades
Shark
Shockway Rider
Shogun
Shoot Em Up
Short Circuit
Sidewalk
Silent Shadow
Ski or Die
Skool Daze
Skull & Crossbones
Sky High Stuntman
Sky Shark
Skyjet
Slicks
Snow Queen, The
Soccer Pinball
Software Star
Solar Fox
Soldier of Fortune
Solo Flight
Solo Flight - Second Edition
Sonic Boom
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sorcerer (Infocom)
Sorcery
Souls of Darkon
Southern Belle
Space Crusade
Space Panic
Space Pilot II
Space Shuttle - A Journey Into Space
Spartacus - Sword Slayer
Speed Duel
Speed King
Spellbound (MAD)
Spellbreaker
Spherical
Spiky Harold
Spitfire 40
Spitfire Ace
Split Personalities
Spooked
Spooks
Spore
Spy's Demise
Star Control
Star League Baseball
Star Paws
Star Trader
Star Trek - The Promethean Prophecy
Star Wars Droids
Starfire
Starflight
Starion
StarRay
Steel
Steg the Slug
Steve Davis Snooker
Stix
Stop the Express
Storm
Stormbringer
Street Surfer
Strider
Strider II
Stringer
Stroke World
Stryker in the Crypts of Trogan
STUN Runner
Stuntman Seymour
Subsunk
Super Bowl XX
Super Dragon Slayer
Super Gran - The Adventure
Super Hero
Super Huey
Super Seymour
Super Space Invaders
Super Tank Simulator
Super Zaxxon
Superkid
Superkid in Space
Superstar Ping-Pong
Supertrux
Supremacy - 30th Anniversary Edition
Suspect
Tangent
Tarkus
Tarzan Goes Ape!
Task III
Taskmaster
TechnoCop
Terminator II - Judgement Day
Terrafighter
Terramex
Terrormolinos
Terry's Big Adventure
Thai Boxing
Three Stooges, The
Through the Trap Door
Thunderbirds (Grandslam)
ThunderChopper
ThunderJaws
Tiger Mission
Tiger Road
Tigers in the Snow
Tim Love's Cricket
Time Fighter
Time Search
Time Soldier
Time Thief
Tintin on the Moon
Tir Na Nog
To Hell and Back
Tom & Jerry
Toobin'
Top Cat - Beverly Hills Cats
Topper the Copper
Touchdown Football
Tour de France
Toy Bizarre
Tracer Sanction, The
Trap
Trap Door, The
TRAZ - Transformable Arcade Zone
Triaxos
Trivial Pursuit
Trollbound
Tubular Bells
Turbo the Tortoise
Typhoon
Ulysses and the Golden Fleece
Uridium Plus
Vagan Attack
Valkyrie 17
Vampire's Empire
Vegetables Deluxe
Velnor's Lair
Vengeance
Very Big Cave Adventure, The
View to a Kill, A
Vindicator!, The
Vindicators
Viz
Volfied
Vortron
WAR
Warlock - The Avenger
Way of the Tiger
Web Dimension
Weird Dreams
Western Games
Whirlinurd
Who Dares Wins
Who Dares Wins II
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Wicked
Wild Streets
Wild West
William Wobbler
Willow Pattern
Wing Commander
Winter Camp
Wishbringer
Witch's Cauldron, The
Wizard and the Princess, The
Wizard of Id's Wiztype, The
Wizard Warz
Wizard's Lair
Wizard's Pet, The
World Cup Carnival
World Cup II
World Cup Soccer
World Series Baseball
Xybots
Yabba Dabba Doo
Zone Ranger
Zone Trooper
Zybex
Zyto
Zzzz

*this game is still commercially available so the roms are not supplied

New Magazines:

Commodore Format Issues 35 - 54
Zzap!64 Issues 61-90 (complete!)

New Demos:

Memento Mori by Genesis Project
Gamertro by Lethargy
Median by Lethargy
Scene of the Living Dead by Atlantis + Delysid
Fantomas by Siesta
Bromance by Bonzai
We Are New by Fairlight
Boogie Factor by Fairlight
Lash by Fairlight
One Million Lightyears from Earth by Fairlight

New Diskmags:

RapidNews 16-20

New SID:

acrouzet - My PALs Must Have a Clue (at This Rate)
c0smo - Space Oddity
chuinho - In France They Die Young
Conrad - Firestarter
DAM - Burn
Fegolhuzz - The Demosceniors
Flex - Helix
Flex - Sad Song
Flotsam - Honey
Flotsam - Prtzl+Kola
Jammer - Euro Boogers
Jammer - Gliding Gladly
Jammer - So Grainy It Hertz
Jammer - What The Fuck Is Going On
Jangler - Electrostatic
Juzdie - Gone Already
LMan - Blade Runner Main Titles
LMan - The Tuneful Eight (8 SIDs!)
MCH - Tequila Shot
MCH - Winter Rose
Mermaid - Hyperdrive
Mibri - I Can't Go On. I'll Go On
Mibri - Playa de los Gatos
Mutetus - Banaanin Alle
Mutetus - Haparanda Systembolaget
Mutetus - Rasvaton
Mutetus - The Required Fields
psych858o - Transformation
rytone - Cybernetic Raven
rytone - Dazed
rytone - Staring Into The Sun
Shogoon - Love Your Sample
Shogoon - Masquerade
Shogoon - Nelly Goes West
SMC - Whipped Cream
The Syndrom - Bumpy Ride
Toggle - Wieselflink
Uctumi - Seminare
Vincenzo - Baaaaah
Vincenzo - Mirrored Inverse Fragments

I also want to once again thank all the people that helped contribute to this update in various ways. Thanks again, I appreciate the support!

sonninnos for continually working with me and improving the VICE Retroarch core, being a sounding board for ideas, and helping me work through unusual issues
@boohyaka for helping to get me started in the right direction on the new universal launcher
StatMat for his awesome OneLoad64 project which you can check out here - this is a great project and you'll likely notice that many of the updated games came from this collection
The folks at The Museum of Computer Adventure Game History and the Ultimate Tape Archive
Everyone who contributes time and energy on improving the LBGDB with media and metadata!

As a final note, I haven't forgotten about the RG351V/Pi/etc. version, but seeing as this has been a seemingly never-ending update that was quickly approaching a full year since the last one, I wanted to get this out as that can come separately later. I'm also planning to make a video showcasing the collection, features, usage, etc. as I realize that there's a number of things going on here that people may not be entirely accustomed to or know about if they haven't read all of the opening post / usage instructions. That's going to take some time though so I didn't want to hold this up until that was done. Anyway, that's it for now.

Have fun!

  • Like 17
  • Thanks 4
  • Game On 2
  • Unusual Gem 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Zombeaver said:

Blog post for v0.45 on Zomb's Lair
Download C64 Dreams v0.45
Download local magazine module (optional but recommended)

Game Details Spreadsheet

Version 0.45 of C64 Dreams is now available! It features 500 new games and a ton of improvements and new features! Just like last time, this update ended up being a significantly larger undertaking than I realized when I started. It's the result of 9+ months and 1000+ hours of work. The primary new feature this go round is the integration of Zzap!64 reviews so that now, any games that were reviewed in Zzap can be right-clicked in the library and you can start a shortcut to jump directly to the Zzap review for that game, either on the web or in the optional (but recommended!) local copy of the magazine (the local magazines now have a randomized playlist of SID tracks that play while reading as well). I think this provides an interesting context to these games and serves as something of a time capsule. I really hope this is something that will be of interest to people because it entailed a massive amount of work to get functioning the way I wanted. First I had to go through and create my own index of what games were reviewed on which pages in what issues, then I had to take that information and turn into something that I could actually use. The index itself ended up being 2500+ lines long... Despite there only being 90 issues of Zzap, in some cases they would review 30+ games in a single issue and sometimes they would review the same game multiple times months or even years apart (usually for a budget re-release but sometimes just seemingly for the hell of it) which, of course, I've included as well. The funny thing is, having spent so much time getting intimately acquainted with the magazine during this process, it made me realize just how much and how frequently I find myself disagreeing with their reviews haha. I do find them very entertaining regardless and consider them absolutely worth including and preserving, but I frequently found myself at odds with the opinions on display - they were regularly very harsh on games that I would consider to be some of my favorites (a 58% for Master of the Lamps?) and on many occasions strangely positive about games that have, in my estimation, very few redeeming qualities (a 92% for Hercules (CRL) are you actually insane?). They clearly were having a ton of fun though which makes them an enjoyable read just the same, and I find their takes consistently interesting whether I agree with them or not.

Because of the altered focus on Zzap!64 this time, unlike past updates where I continued my ongoing mission to parse through all of GB64, this go round I made a concerted effort to include games that were reviewed in Zzap. This has meant that there are a fair few instances of new games added that I might not have gravitated to otherwise, but I think they're worth including even if they're not to my personal taste - I'm not really a fan of most strategy or flight sim games on the C64 but I know there are people out there who are, and even among those there were some that I found pleasantly surprising like Solo Flight. That said, there's a good mix of new stuff here that should provide something for everyone. Something that was particularly interesting to me was a game called Deus Ex Machina which is, to my knowledge, one of the earliest is not the first cases of a game-as-art title. It was designed to be played in tandem/sync with an audio cassette that narrated the story of what was happening on screen. It's some seriously artsy fartsy weido stuff... which is right up my alley. It took a bit but I got the audio recording working quite nicely with the game, which starts automatically, can be paused, resumed, and sides changed while in-game via keyboard keys (consult the notes overlay in game via Numpad Minus + Numpad Plus or Back + Menu on a controller for details). 

Since the-eye.eu is still in limbo, this is going to be uploaded to Mediafire for the initial release and I'm going to give it a week so that if there are any last-minute issues that people encounter I can make any needed adjustments before uploading it to Archive.org. I'm not anticipating any based on earlier testing that was done but it's a bigger to-do to make changes on Archive than it is to a standard file locker so I just want to include that slight buffer. If anyone has any issues, please let me know! So, without further ado, let's get to it!

New:

  • Added Zzap! 64 review integration so that you can now right-click on a game and, if it has a review, you can jump right to the review, either via web or local copy (if you have the magazine module installed)
  • Added all Zzap! 64 reviewed games to their own playlist in Launchbox so that you can quickly access all relevant games at once
  • Added a randomized playlist of SID music that plays whenever you start magazines or specific Zzap! 64 reviews - this can be disabled via the Configurator.exe if so desired; please note that this only works for the local versions of the magazines currently; while playing, you can display the music player via Numpad 8, hide it via Numpad 2, pause/resume via Numpad 5, change to the next track via Numpad 6, and change to the previous track via Numpad 4; pressing Escape will close both the reader and the music player
  • Added optional lightpen (mouse) launch option for Shadowfire (highly recommended!)
  • Added optional mouse control launch option for Operation Wolf (highly recommended!)
  • Added additional app (accessible via the right-click menu in Launchbox) for an audio recording of the background story of Doomdark's Revenge
  • Added interactive codewheels for The Bard's Tale III, Chip's Challenge, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Demon Stalkers, Hillsfar, Legacy of the Ancients, Mars Saga, Neuromancer, Pool of Radiance, Rocket Ranger, and Sorcerer (Infocom); these are accessible via the right-click menu for each game or by starting the [Game Name] Codewheel.vbs files in the game folders

Version Updates:

  • 3-D Skramble - replaced with OneLoad version
  • 4th & Inches - replaced with OneLoad version
  • 8Bit-Slicks - replaced with 1/26/21 version by Triad
  • A.M.C. - Astro Marine Corps - replaced with +4M version by Commo Bam
  • Actionauts - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Champions of Krynn - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Curse of the Azure Bonds - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Death Knights of Krynn - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Pool of Radiance - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Adventures of Basildon Bond, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Alien (CP Verlag) - replaced with +3 version by Dynamix
  • Alien Kill - replaced with Bros version
  • Alien Kill 2 - replaced with Bros version
  • Alternate Reality II - The Dungeon - replaced with +MDF version by Fairlight
  • Aqua Racer - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Arac - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Arachnophobia - replaced with +6DFIR version by Nostalgia
  • Archon II - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Atomic Robo Kid - replaced with +12DH version by Hokuto Force
  • Axis Assassin - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Badlands - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Bagitman - replaced with +2 version by Atheist
  • Ball Game, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Barbarian - The Ultimate Warrior - replaced with +2D version by Remember
  • Batalyx - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Batman - replaced with +6FDHRI Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Beer Belly Burt's Brew Biz - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Big Deal, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Bigtop Barney - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Bionic Commando - replaced with +7DFHIR version by Nostalgia
  • Blade Runner - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Blue Max - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Blue Max 2001 - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Blue Thunder - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Boulder Dash - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Boulder Dash III - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Buck Rogers - Countdown to Doomsday - replaced with Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Bulldog - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Bump Set Spike - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Burger Time - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Captive, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Castle (Protocol Productions) - replaced with +4DG version by Excess
  • Castle Master - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Castle Master II - The Crypt - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Castlevania - replaced with +8DIR version by Nostalgia
  • Caveman - replaced with +3DG version by Army of Darkness
  • Chameleon - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Championship Jet Ski Simulator - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Championship Sprint - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Chimera - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Choplifter - replaced with OneLoad version; added alternative jewel version by ROLE
  • Citadel of Corruption - replaced with GB64 version
  • Clean Up Time - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Co & Co - replaced with OneLoad version
  • CORE - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Countdown to Meltdown - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Cybernoid II - The Revenge - replaced with +6 version by Scouse Cracking Group
  • Dam Busters, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Decathlon - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Dig Dug - added alterative jewel version by ROLE
  • Doctor Who and the Mines of Terror - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Donald Duck's Playground - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Doriath - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Drak - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Duel, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Elektraglide - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Ellak's Tomb - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Endless - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Enigma Force - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Evil Crown - replaced with GB64 version
  • Fast Break - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Fire Track - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Flash Gordon - replaced with +8DIR version by Nostalgia
  • Floyd of the Jungle - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Floyd the Droid - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Flying Shark - replaced with Remember version
  • Football Manager - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Forbidden Fruit - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Fury, The - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Game Over - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Garrison - replaced with +11DFIJ version by Nostalgia
  • Hacker - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Hacker II - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Harvey Smith Showjumper - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Herobotix - replaced with OneLoad version
  • How to be a Complete Bastard - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Howard the Duck - replaced with +8DIR version by Nostalgia
  • Humanoids - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Hypa-Ball - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Ice Palace (K-tel) - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Imagination - replaced with GB64 version
  • Infection - replaced with OneLoad version
  • International 3D Tennis - replaced with OneLoad version
  • International Basketball - replaced with OneLoad version
  • International Tennis - replaced with OneLoad version
  • It's a Knockout - replaced with OneLoad version
  • It's Only Rock n' Roll - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Jewels of Babylon - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Jinks - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Jonah Barrington's Squash - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Katakis - replaced with +5HDF Easyflash version by Hokuto Force
  • Kayleth - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Kentilla - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Kikstart II - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Kromazone - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Main Frame - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Metagalactic Llamas - Battle at the Edge of Time - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Microprose Soccer - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Midnight Resistance - replaced with +8DFHR version by Nostalgia
  • Mig Alley Ace - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Movie Monster Game, The - replaced with +2DIR version by Nostalgia
  • Navy Moves - replaced with +7DFHIRW version by Nostalgia
  • Nexus - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Ole! - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Operation Wolf - replaced with +6DFHR version by Nostalgia
  • Poster Paster - replaced with +5DGH version by Raiders of the Lost Empire
  • Prince Clumsy - replaced with +9DH version by Nostalgia
  • Psi Warrior - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Quake Minus One - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Rally Speedway - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Return of the Mutant Camels - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Robocop - replaced with +8DFHIR Easyflash version by Nostalgia
  • Rocket Roger - replaced with +5HDG version by Threshold
  • Scumball - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Seaside Special - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Sentinel - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Shadow Warriors - replaced with +9DF version by Nostalgia
  • Shamus - replaced with +3DH version by Wanderer
  • Shamus Case II - replaced with +3D version by Wanderer
  • Sooper Froot - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Speedball - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Star Raiders II - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Survivor - replaced with +3H version by Wanderer
  • Tetris (Andromeda Software) - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Time Tunnel - replaced with OneLoad version
  • Velocipede II - replaced with OneLoad version

Changes/Fixes:

  • Updated to Retroarch 1.9.4 (custom compiled by sonninnos so that cg support is maintained/included!); I've taught myself how to do this as well so I'll be supplying my own custom builds going forward, but seeing as this is what I've been testing with for nearly a year now this is what's included with v0.45 - new versions require additional testing to confirm that everything is still working as it should so I'll be updating to the latest once work on the next update begins - with that said, I've included a custom compiled copy of the current latest version for use if you so choose (in the C64 Dreams\C64 Dreams\Retroarch\!Retroarch Versions\ folder), just be aware that that's not what was used for testing so there may be some unforseen issues / use at your own risk
  • Disabled core info caching in Retroarch as, in 1.9.4 or perhaps an earlier version, it incorrectly saves static path info which can cause issues when attempting to load content through the RA UI (not really a big deal for the collection since everything is handled externally via command-line but it's still an issue) - based on some brief testing this is no longer a problem in 1.9.13 so it could be re-enabled if you update (it's not necessary though)
  • Renamed "Lemans" to "Le Mans"
  • Renamed "But Out 2019" to "BugOut 2019"
  • Renamed "Canals of Mars" to "Canals of Mars, The"
  • Renamed "Evil Wizard 2" to "Evil Wizard II"
  • Renamed "Fire!" to "Fire! (Arlasoft)"
  • Renamed "Ghost Town" to "GhostTown"
  • Renamed "Ghost Town 64" to "Ghost Town"
  • Renamed "Popeye" to "Popeye (Parker Brothers)" because "Popeye (Piranha)" was added
  • Renamed "Thunderbirds" to "Thunderbirds (Firebird)" because "Thunderbirds (Grandslam)" was added
  • Corrected media and metadata for Battle Command which was supposed to be for the 1991 game by Ocean not the 1985 game by Applied Computer Consultants
  • Replaced "Bob Moran - Rittertum" (German release) with "Lee Enfield - Tournament of Death"
  • Replaced "Captain Zzap" (US release) with "Flash Gordon" (European release)
  • Replaced "Espodill" (EBES re-release) with "Celluloid" (original CP Verlag release)
  • Added custom cropping to Pang as the (gigantic) timer at the top of the screen was cropped out previously
  • Adjusted the cropping on Jars' Revenge as some of the top and bottom of the screen were cropped previously - re-enabled bezel because the resultant image now fits within it again
  • Added separate launcher (accessible through the right-click menu) for Part 2 of Bugsy
  • Added separate launcher (accessible through the right-click menu) for side 2 (Docks / Hard) of Championship Jet Ski Simulator
  • Added separate save disks for Castle of Terror, Jahangir Khan Squash, and Imagination
  • Converted Adventureland and Imagination from .t64 (from GB64) to .d64 as the save function wasn't functioning in the original format
  • Changed a few SID tracks to use 6581 instead of 8580 based on the file instructions
  • Slight brightness boost to CRT-Easymode-Halation-C64 (again) to correct very dark colors being completely black (the walls in Asylum being an example)
  • Fixed what essentially amounted to a memory leak with custom music playlists where each music track's .exe would remain open even after switching to the next track and would stay open until Retroarch was closed
  • Unresponsiveness with fire button presses in The Detective Game have been fixed thanks to core updates
  • Remade all 200+ auto-loading savestates because the core change from Vice 3.3 to Vice 3.5 broke all of them... oof :/ I also deleted about 30 of them in the process that no longer seemed necessary with auto-warp enabled
  • Corrected Lily Lander, Magnetoball, Mig Alley Ace, and Rally Speedway to use joystick port 1
  • Replaced Mars Saga Cluebook with improved scan courtesy of user Manuches (thanks again!)
  • Changed keyboard keys for zooming manuals in and out to use "I" and "O" instead of "+" and "-" in order to accommodate international keyboards (thanks bbneo!)
  • Changed controller inputs for zooming manuals in and out to be handled via Antimicro instead of AHK as the latter has inconsistent/broken joystick input handling, especially in Windows 10 post-Anniversary Update
  • Slightly increased deadzone for right-stick to arrow key inputs in order to avoid erroneous inputs when moving the stick the maximum distance from the center and then quickly releasing (flicking)
  • Improved the startup smoothness when manuals are used and there's now a brief fade in animation on initial boot (may or may not be visible depending on your monitor settings) and the game audio now fades in when switching back to it rather than starting abruptly
  • Updated Launchbox to v12.1

Misc:

  • Parsed through all new media (4000+ files!) in Ultimate Tape Archive v3.0 for missing or upgradable manuals and transformed into usable/conducive format for viewing, resulting in hundreds of new or upgraded manuals and covers!
  • Created hundreds of new and remade hundreds of old 3D boxes
  • Created my own template for fanart boxes where no official box art exists, in the same style as Lassiveran's fanart boxes, and created 400+ fanart boxes that previously were just using screenshots - there are now boxes and 3D boxes for every single game in the collection
  • Renamed all .cbr files to .cbz and updated all references accordingly - as Boris Schneider-Johne rightly pointed out on my discord, they weren't .cbrs to begin with, they were zipped and then just renamed to .cbr afterwards which in reality would make them .cbz
  • Did a lot of additional metadata and media cleanup and linked 37 games that previously didn't have LBGDB entries (thanks as always to all the fine folks that work on the DB!)
  • Color and contrast corrected hundreds of screenshots that had the red tint issue or low contrast present in many screenshots from GB64; and deleted a few duplicate or erroneous screenshots in the process - work is still ongoing for this
  • Renamed all AD&D games to "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - [Title]" rather than just the game title for consistency (backend)
  • Added a Readme to the Magazines\!XMLs folder to explain how to swap the default launch behavior for Magazines between web and local
  • Upscaled all controls overlays to 1440p and converted from png to high quality jpg - the end result being higher quality images with a smaller filesize footprint
  • Created a universal launcher .bat that no longer requires game-specific references (with the exception of custom music where used and alternate launchers for docs/intros/etc.); this helps simplify and streamline things going forward; not all existing launchers (Game.bat) have been updated to the new format but I'll be gradually transitioning them all over to it over time - there's no negative impact for existing launchers, it's just a backend thing
  • Updated automators to use new universal launcher format
  • Added additional notes to config editor
  • Added sound effects for opening and closing manuals
  • Added Trizbort to the Utilities folder - this is a neat little mapper for text adventures which you may find useful, it lets you quickly create your own maps of areas, naming them, linking them together, etc.; handy if you find yourself getting lost in a sprawling text adventure
  • Removed all emulator entries from Launchbox as none of them are used - everything is handled externally
  • Disabled check for update in Launchbox
  • Created an icon for C64 Dreams

New custom note overlays:

  • 3-D Pinball - Pinball Power
  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Pool of Radiance
  • Blood Brothers
  • Castle Dracula
  • Caves of Oberon, The
  • Celluloid
  • Countdown to Meltdown
  • Deus Ex Machina
  • Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge
  • Genius 3
  • Great American Cross-Country Road Race, The
  • HES Games
  • International Basketball
  • Jet Strike Mission
  • Jewels of Babylon
  • Kentilla
  • Lost Tomb
  • Magician's Ball, The
  • Mask II
  • Midsummer Olympics
  • Might and Magic - Secret of the Inner Sanctum
  • Might and Magic II - Gates to Another World
  • Mindwheel
  • Moonfall
  • Mountain King
  • NOMAD
  • Operation Wolf (mouse)
  • Polar Pierre
  • Powerboat USA - Offshore Superboat Racing
  • Powerplay - The Game of the Gods
  • PP Hammer
  • Rad Ramp Racer
  • Rebel Planet
  • Return of the Space Warriors
  • Revs
  • Rocket Ball
  • Samurai Trilogy
  • Scalextric
  • SDI - Strategic Defence Initiative
  • Shades
  • Shark
  • Shogun
  • Silent Shadow
  • Soccer Pinball
  • Souls of Darkon
  • Super Bowl XX
  • Superkid in Space
  • Tir Na Nog
  • Tour de France
  • Valkyrie 17
  • Witch's Cauldron, The
  • World Series Baseball
  • Xybots
  • Zone Ranger

New games:

4x4 Off-Road Racing
747 Flight Simulator
ACE
ACE 2088
Acro Jet
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Secret of the Silver Blades
Adventures of Jim Slim in Dragonland, The
Airwolf
Alice in Wonderland
Almazz
Altered Beast
Alternative World Games
Amulet, The
Antics
APB - All Points Bulletin
Arcticfox
Ark Pandora
Astonishing Adventures of Mr. Weems and the She Vampires, The
Atomino
Ball Blasta
Ballyhoo
Barbarian
Battle for Midway
Battle for Normandy
Battle of Britain
Battletech - The Crescent Hawk's Inception
Beatle Quest
Betrayal
Better Dead Than Alien!
Blizzard! Part I - Commando Libya
Blood Brothers
Blue Baron
Bomb Fusion
Bombo
Booty
BoxyMoxy
Brainstorm
Brian Bloodaxe
Brian Jack's Superstar Challenge
Bristles
Bulge, The
Captain Kidd
Castle Blackstar
Castle Dracula
Caverns of Eriban, The
Caves of Oberon, The
Chickin Chase
Chopper
Circus Circus
Codename-Mat II
Collapse
Colossal Cave Adventure
Colossus Chess 4
Combat Leader
Comet Game, The
Cops 'N' Robbers
Count Duckula II
Crazy Comets
Crillion
Crossroads II
Crusade in Europe
Crystal Frog
Cylu
Dark Sky Over Paradise, A
Deactivators
Death Wake
Decision in the Desert
Deus Ex Machina
Dicky's Diamonds
Dragon Wars
Droids
Dynamite Dan
Eagles
Earl the Tomb Robber
Eddie Kid Jump Challenge
Emerald Isle
Empire Strikes Back, The
Estra
Exploding Fist+
FA Cup Football
Faerie
Falklands 82
Field of Fire
Fighter Pilot
Fire One
Five A-Side
Fix It Felix Jr.
Flight Path 737
Flight Simulator II
Flyer Fox
Force, The
Formula 1 Simulator
Frogger
Galaga
Gates of the Ancient
GBA Championship Basketball - Two-on-Two
Genius 3
Geoff Capes' Strongman Challenge
Germany 1985
Gettysburg - The Turning Point
Ghosts'n Goblins Arcade
Ghouls
Glider Pilot
Graham Gooch's Test Cricket
Grand Larceny
Granny's Cleaning Day
Graviton
Great American Cross-Country Road Race, The
Gyroscope
HardBall!
Head Coach
Helter Skelter
Herbert's Dummy Run
Hercules
HES Games
Hi Bouncer
Ian Botham's Test Match
Ice Station Zero
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Intensity
Isle of the Cursed Prophet*
Iwo Jima
Jet Strike Mission
Johnny Reb II
Jump Jet
Kayak
Keys to Maramon, The
Keystone Kapers
Klax
Knight Games II
Knight Orc
Knight Rider
Knight Tyme
Knights of the Desert
Knockout
Kokotoni Wilf
Kong (Sputnik World)
Lady Pac
Lands of Havoc, The
Lapis Philosophorum - The Philosopher's Stone
Las Vegas Video Poker
Last Amazon Trilogy, The
Last Duel
Legions of Death
Lifeforce
Little Puff in Dragonland
Live and Let Die
Lone Wolf - The Mirror of Death
Lord of the Rings
Lost City, The
Lost Realms of Murkasada
Lost Tomb
Lucifer's Realm
MACH - Maneuverable Armed Computer Humans
Magician's Ball, The
Magnetron
Mandragore
Mask
Mask II
Masters of the Universe - The Movie
Match Day II
Max Headroom
Maze Mania
Meganova - The Weapon
Menace
Mercenary - The Second City
Merlin
Metabolis
Metropolis (The Power House)
Metropolis (Topo Soft)
Miami Dice
Midsummer Olympics
Might and Magic - Secret of the Inner Sanctum
Might and Magic II - Gates to Another World
Mighty Bombjack
Millenium Warriors
Mind Pursuit
Mindfighter
Mindshadow
Mindwheel
Mission Asteroid
Monster Trivia
Moon Cresta
Moon Shuttle
Moonfall
Moontorc
Moonwalker
Mordon's Quest
Motor Mania
Mountain Bike Racer
Mountain King
Mr. Heli
Mr. Mephisto
Mr. TNT
Mugsy's Revenge
Murdlok
Mystery Voyage
Nam
NARC
Necromancer
Neighbours
Neutral Zone
Neverending Story II, The
Nick Faldo Plays the Open
Night Knight
Ninja Carnage
Ninja Warriors, The
NOMAD
Nonterraqueous
Norway 1985
Nutcraka
Octoplex
Odysseus - Trojan Warrior
Odyssey, The
Olli & Lissa 3 - The Candlelight Adventure
Ollie's Follies
Ollo
Ollo II
Omega Race
On-Court Tennis
On-Field Football
One Bite Too Deep
Operation Swordfish
Operation Whirlwind
Orion
Out of this World
Out on a Limb
Out Run
Overlander
Pac-Man
Paradroid - Competition Edition
Parsec
Penetrator
Percy The Potty Pigeon
Perry Mason - The Case of the Mandarin Murder
Peter Pack Rat
Phantom of the Asteroid
Phileas Fogg's Balloon Battles
Ping Pong
Pink Panther
Pipe Mania
Pitstop
Poker (Duckworth Home Computing)
Polar Pierre
Pole Position
Poltergeist
Popeye (Piranha)
Potsworth & Co
Power Pyramids
Powerboat USA - Offshore Superboat Racing
Powerplay - The Game of the Gods
PP Hammer
Predator 2
Price of Magik, The
Prison Riot
Psi-Droid
Psycho Pigs UXB
Psycho Soldier
Pulse Warrior
Quann Tulla
Quest for the Holy Grail
Questprobe I - The Incredible Hulk
Questprobe III - The Fantastic Four
Rad Ramp Racer
Radar Rat Race
Rally Cross (Codemasters)
Ramparts
Raskel
Rats, The
Raven, The
Realms of Darkness
Rebel Planet
Red Max
Red Moon
Red Storm Rising
Redhawk
Return of the Jedi
Return of the Space Warriors
Revs
Richard Petty's Talladega
Ripper!
RISK - Rapid Intercept Seek and Kill
RMS Titanic
Roadwars
Robozone
Rock Star Ate My Hamster
Rocket Ball
RodMan
Room Ten
Rootin' Tootin'
Rupert and the Toymaker's Party
Rygar
Saboteur
Saboteur II
Saint Dragon
Samantha Fox Strip Poker
Sammy Lightfoot
Samurai Trilogy
Santa's Xmas Caper
Scalextric
Scapeghost
Schizofrenia
Scoop!, The
Scorpion
Scorpius
Scout
Scramble Infinity
Scramble Spirits
Scroll of Akbar Khan, The
Scrolls of Abadon, The
Scuba Kidz
SDI - Strategic Defence Initiative
Seabase Delta
Seafox
Seas of Blood
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, The
Security Alert
Serpentine
Shades
Shark
Shockway Rider
Shogun
Shoot Em Up
Short Circuit
Sidewalk
Silent Shadow
Ski or Die
Skool Daze
Skull & Crossbones
Sky High Stuntman
Sky Shark
Skyjet
Slicks
Snow Queen, The
Soccer Pinball
Software Star
Solar Fox
Soldier of Fortune
Solo Flight
Solo Flight - Second Edition
Sonic Boom
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sorcerer (Infocom)
Sorcery
Souls of Darkon
Southern Belle
Space Crusade
Space Panic
Space Pilot II
Space Shuttle - A Journey Into Space
Spartacus - Sword Slayer
Speed Duel
Speed King
Spellbound (MAD)
Spellbreaker
Spherical
Spiky Harold
Spitfire 40
Spitfire Ace
Split Personalities
Spooked
Spooks
Spore
Spy's Demise
Star Control
Star League Baseball
Star Paws
Star Trader
Star Trek - The Promethean Prophecy
Star Wars Droids
Starfire
Starflight
Starion
StarRay
Steel
Steg the Slug
Steve Davis Snooker
Stix
Stop the Express
Storm
Stormbringer
Street Surfer
Strider
Strider II
Stringer
Stroke World
Stryker in the Crypts of Trogan
STUN Runner
Stuntman Seymour
Subsunk
Super Bowl XX
Super Dragon Slayer
Super Gran - The Adventure
Super Hero
Super Huey
Super Seymour
Super Space Invaders
Super Tank Simulator
Super Zaxxon
Superkid
Superkid in Space
Superstar Ping-Pong
Supertrux
Supremacy - 30th Anniversary Edition
Suspect
Tangent
Tarkus
Tarzan Goes Ape!
Task III
Taskmaster
TechnoCop
Terminator II - Judgement Day
Terrafighter
Terramex
Terrormolinos
Terry's Big Adventure
Thai Boxing
Three Stooges, The
Through the Trap Door
Thunderbirds (Grandslam)
ThunderChopper
ThunderJaws
Tiger Mission
Tiger Road
Tigers in the Snow
Tim Love's Cricket
Time Fighter
Time Search
Time Soldier
Time Thief
Tintin on the Moon
Tir Na Nog
To Hell and Back
Tom & Jerry
Toobin'
Top Cat - Beverly Hills Cats
Topper the Copper
Touchdown Football
Tour de France
Toy Bizarre
Tracer Sanction, The
Trap
Trap Door, The
TRAZ - Transformable Arcade Zone
Triaxos
Trivial Pursuit
Trollbound
Tubular Bells
Turbo the Tortoise
Typhoon
Ulysses and the Golden Fleece
Uridium Plus
Vagan Attack
Valkyrie 17
Vampire's Empire
Vegetables Deluxe
Velnor's Lair
Vengeance
Very Big Cave Adventure, The
View to a Kill, A
Vindicator!, The
Vindicators
Viz
Volfied
Vortron
WAR
Warlock - The Avenger
Way of the Tiger
Web Dimension
Weird Dreams
Western Games
Whirlinurd
Who Dares Wins
Who Dares Wins II
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Wicked
Wild Streets
Wild West
William Wobbler
Willow Pattern
Wing Commander
Winter Camp
Wishbringer
Witch's Cauldron, The
Wizard and the Princess, The
Wizard of Id's Wiztype, The
Wizard Warz
Wizard's Lair
Wizard's Pet, The
World Cup Carnival
World Cup II
World Cup Soccer
World Series Baseball
Xybots
Yabba Dabba Doo
Zone Ranger
Zone Trooper
Zybex
Zyto
Zzzz

*this game is still commercially available so the roms are not supplied

New Magazines:

Commodore Format Issues 35 - 54
Zzap!64 Issues 61-90 (complete!)

New Demos:

Memento Mori by Genesis Project
Gamertro by Lethargy
Median by Lethargy
Scene of the Living Dead by Atlantis + Delysid
Fantomas by Siesta
Bromance by Bonzai
We Are New by Fairlight
Boogie Factor by Fairlight
Lash by Fairlight
One Million Lightyears from Earth by Fairlight

New Diskmags:

RapidNews 16-20

New SID:

acrouzet - My PALs Must Have a Clue (at This Rate)
c0smo - Space Oddity
chuinho - In France They Die Young
Conrad - Firestarter
DAM - Burn
Fegolhuzz - The Demosceniors
Flex - Helix
Flex - Sad Song
Flotsam - Honey
Flotsam - Prtzl+Kola
Jammer - Euro Boogers
Jammer - Gliding Gladly
Jammer - So Grainy It Hertz
Jammer - What The Fuck Is Going On
Jangler - Electrostatic
Juzdie - Gone Already
LMan - Blade Runner Main Titles
LMan - The Tuneful Eight (8 SIDs!)
MCH - Tequila Shot
MCH - Winter Rose
Mermaid - Hyperdrive
Mibri - I Can't Go On. I'll Go On
Mibri - Playa de los Gatos
Mutetus - Banaanin Alle
Mutetus - Haparanda Systembolaget
Mutetus - Rasvaton
Mutetus - The Required Fields
psych858o - Transformation
rytone - Cybernetic Raven
rytone - Dazed
rytone - Staring Into The Sun
Shogoon - Love Your Sample
Shogoon - Masquerade
Shogoon - Nelly Goes West
SMC - Whipped Cream
The Syndrom - Bumpy Ride
Toggle - Wieselflink
Uctumi - Seminare
Vincenzo - Baaaaah
Vincenzo - Mirrored Inverse Fragments

I also want to once again thank all the people that helped contribute to this update in various ways. Thanks again, I appreciate the support!

sonninnos for continually working with me and improving the VICE Retroarch core, being a sounding board for ideas, and helping me work through unusual issues
@boohyaka for helping to get me started in the right direction on the new universal launcher
StatMat for his awesome OneLoad64 project which you can check out here - this is a great project and you'll likely notice that many of the updated games came from this collection
The folks at The Museum of Computer Adventure Game History and the Ultimate Tape Archive
Everyone who contributes time and energy on improving the LBGDB with media and metadata!

As a final note, I haven't forgotten about the RG351V/Pi/etc. version, but seeing as this has been a seemingly never-ending update that was quickly approaching a full year since the last one, I wanted to get this out as that can come separately later. I'm also planning to make a video showcasing the collection, features, usage, etc. as I realize that there's a number of things going on here that people may not be entirely accustomed to or know about if they haven't read all of the opening post / usage instructions. That's going to take some time though so I didn't want to hold this up until that was done. Anyway, that's it for now.

Have fun!

Thanks for this awesome update ! 👍

Are there new instructions on how to merge this new setup into an existing Launchbox setup or is this just a standalone version ?

I have tried to add lines into parents.xml and platforms.xml from the data files in your download, but nothing seems to work for me, as still showing 2,500.

I am obviously missing something :)

Any help appreciated.

Thanks again for all your hard work compiling this.

Edited by zugswang
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you copy/overwrite the xmls, images, etc.? Updating the parents and platforms xmls on its own won't do anything. You still have to copy over the xmls from Data\Platforms and Data\Playlists as well as the images. They're specified in C64 Dreams\C64 Dreams\Docs\Files to Import.txt

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Zombeaver said:

Did you copy/overwrite the xmls, images, etc.? Updating the parents and platforms xmls on its own won't do anything. You still have to copy over the xmls from Data\Platforms and Data\Playlists as well as the images. They're specified in C64 Dreams\C64 Dreams\Docs\Files to Import.txt

All along it was installing fine, but I was expecting it to copy over as C64 Dreams into LB and it was added it as Games.

All good now.

Thanks again

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantastic work!  I'm really shocked how few video snaps are available at EmuMovies for C64.  I noticed this when I was manually adding a few that were missed due to the naming convention.  I mentioned a request for Launchbox to add a fuzzy search option that allows linking to a game if the name isn't a perfect match, but not sure if or when that will happen.  I'm going to have to look into contributing videos to get the ball rolling with remedying the lack of content.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great work on the final release of 0.45!  You'll be happy to know (perhaps not as happy as I am about it) that with this new version my problem with exiting games using the controller buttons causing unstable behavior on my desktop using DS4Windows went away.  I really wanted this too because I have an overwhelming preference for my DS4 controller over the Xbox 360/xbone pad. So thanks for whatever you did or didn't do in 0.45 final that solved the issue hehe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome work. I integrated it now for the first time, and it took about 10 minutes to do so. I just skipped the magazines, SIDs, diskmags and demos. I was quite disappointed to see how few of them were integrated, but I'm just guessing the time it would take to add a massive demo part, wow. 

I'm always using clear logos in Big Box, as I prefer it that way, but as you created 3.000 3D box arts I'm using those, only thing is that I don't know how to display them in Big Box? Whatever wheel or wall I chose, it doesn't show 3D boxes, would be great to have those with a wall background. Do I miss an option? I'm using the Colorful theme at the moment.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, DeadVoivod said:

I just skipped the magazines, SIDs, diskmags and demos

...why? It takes the same amount to time to import all of them as it does just the games, assuming you followed the import instructions. And if you didn't (and did something like importing the games from scratch into LB like a few people have suggested here previously, wrongly), then you're literally removing huge portions of work for no apparent reason and wasted your time. There are additional apps for about half the games, from optional mouse modes, to codewheels, to audio recordings for games like Valkyrie 17, to the 1600+ Zzap reviews that were incorporated in 0.45. On and on and on.

9 hours ago, DeadVoivod said:

I was quite disappointed to see how few of them were integrated

I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean but I think you may be confused. The SID and Demoscene are curated just like the games are. I probably listen to 50 SID tracks for every one that I actually add to the collection. Things like HVSC are at your disposal if you want everything ever, but I have no more desire to include all that than I do the 28,000+ games in GB64. Not filling it with crap is kinda the point. There are thousands of demos out there but there will never be thousands of demos in C64 Dreams, by design. Even when all is said and done and I reach v1.0 if I had to wager a guess I would say there will probably be something like 700-800 SID tracks and maybe 300 demos. The point with the music and the demos, just like the games, is that it's all stuff that's worth your time, because not everything out there is. There are 26000+ one-file demos on csdb that, if you actually watch them, are largely things like... a spinning cube while some music plays. That's neat and all, but that's never going to be in here. For demos I focus primarily on things that were used in demo competitions - I pay attention to the latest competitions that are taking place and then pick several out from the mix that I think are worth including (usually the higher-placing ones). For music I normally load up Unepic SID Channel on Youtube and let it play - and I'll often listen for an hour before I come across something that I actually want to include in C64 Dreams. All of it is curated.

As far as the magazines, I'm not sure what you're expecting exactly. As of v0.45 there are 10GB of magazines in the collection, including the entire run of Zzap!64 and Commodore Force. All but the last 7 issues of Commodore Format are included. There are really only a handful of C64-specific magazines that I consider worth including at all, and those are all the big ones. There are some big German-only magazines for C64 stuff but those will never be included as, well, I don't speak German (at least not well) - this is an English-focused project. Things like Computer & Video Games will likely never be included because those are not C64-specific - they cover things like Spectrum, CPC, etc. alongside C64 and as result aren't entirely relevant. There are also some magazines out there like Commodore User and Your 64 that honestly just... aren't that great. I will likely end up including both of those eventually but again you're not missing a whole lot.

9 hours ago, DeadVoivod said:

I'm always using clear logos in Big Box, as I prefer it that way, but as you created 3.000 3D box arts I'm using those, only thing is that I don't know how to display them in Big Box? Whatever wheel or wall I chose, it doesn't show 3D boxes, would be great to have those with a wall background. Do I miss an option? I'm using the Colorful theme at the moment.  

You'd have to ask the theme author for any specific theme support but in general you have to first set a button that changes views via Big Box's options menu and then press that button when you're on the screen where you want to change the view. Normally Big Box themes have several different options for any given view, whether it be Clear Logos, Boxes, 3D Boxes, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love the woodgrain main background but I prefer titles underneath the box covers.  I know you can enable Text but then it becomes slightly obtrusive with the black background on the titles.  Is there a theme for launchbox that would allow me to make the backgrounds on the text/titles transparent so they blend in more seamlessly with the box covers and we just see the titles over the box covers?  Just thought I'd ask.  This is how the titles and their backgrounds look by default:

Clipboard01.jpg

Edited by JoJoJuJu59
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With a few I only meant SIDs and Demos, and I mentioned that I'm aware of how much work that would be and that it would not make any sense. Of course you cannot add every single demo and every SID from the HVSC, that would be unnecessary. And I don't need magazines or diskmags, don't read them anyways.

I imported the collection the correct way, copying everything over to my LB install and editing the xml. Like I mentioned, was done in 10 minutes without any hassle and worked fine. Plus I imported everything but deleted the magazines, demos, diskmags and SIDs folders afterwards as I don't care about them. If I want to add them again at a later point, I can do so very easily. 

And btw, I did not mean to upset you by using your work in a way that I want to and not necessarily the way you want it to be. I said that I admire your determination to do all this and that you are willing to share your work. I do the same with my LB setup since over 2 years now and have a strange feeling that the project will never really end, there's always gonna be something to add. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, DeadVoivod said:

With a few I only meant SIDs and Demos, and I mentioned that I'm aware of how much work that would be and that it would not make any sense.

They're not any more work than the games. In fact, they're significantly less, that's what I'm trying to explain. The most time-consuming part of that process is just finding things that I feel strongly enough about that I want to add to begin with (which actually does take quite a bit of time). I could have five to ten times the number of them that I have now and spent less time on it than I have if I just threw in a haphazard array of things that I stumbled upon. The stuff that I come across that seems worth including gets added, the stuff that doesn't... doesn't. If there's specific stuff that you, or anyone else for that matter, want to see added for demos or SID tracks, then by all means, name them and I'll add them in (that certainly makes my life easier than digging through this stuff blind). I actively encourage people to do that every single update and it never fails that someone says they wished X or Y game was included after nary a peep about it in the months (or an entire year in this case) that led to release, while I've been repeatedly telling people to send in their requests. I've never refused a user request for games so I wouldn't do that for music or demos either. But what it mostly sounds like to me is that you have some arbitrary number in your head of how many you think there should be, without any real justification upon which to base it, and then when you see there are less than that arbitrary number you consider it disappointing - that's setting yourself up for failure from the start. The existence of thousands of demos and tens of thousands of SID tracks doesn't mean that anywhere near that number are actually interesting enough to be included. There are 4000~ (non-one-file) demos on csdb and if I'm generous I'll say that when all is said and done I might include 10 percent of that. There are 55,000 SID tracks in HVSC and I'll probably end up including about 2% of that. I can't say for sure of course because I haven't gone through them all, but I think that's a fair estimate.

5 hours ago, DeadVoivod said:

I imported the collection the correct way, copying everything over to my LB install and editing the xml. Like I mentioned, was done in 10 minutes without any hassle and worked fine. Plus I imported everything but deleted the magazines, demos, diskmags and SIDs folders afterwards as I don't care about them. If I want to add them again at a later point, I can do so very easily.

That's good. Fair enough then.

5 hours ago, DeadVoivod said:

And btw, I did not mean to upset you by using your work in a way that I want to and not necessarily the way you want it to be. I said that I admire your determination to do all this and that you are willing to share your work. I do the same with my LB setup since over 2 years now and have a strange feeling that the project will never really end, there's always gonna be something to add. 

Fair enough. Just keep in mind that when someone tells you that they've spent years and thousands of hours of their life on a project and your response contains the phrase "quite disappointed" that's not likely to be received particularly well by anyone in any context. If you'd said "Hey, I like what you have so far. Could you add X, Y, and Z demo/SID? Those are some of my favorites and would love to see them included here." then I'd happily oblige; and appreciate the genuinely helpful feedback. As it is though, it comes across as vague complaining just for the sake of complaining. If there's something specific that you want, say so and I'll make it happen. If you think that the number should just be larger because reasons that's not a good justification for anything. Curation is one of the central goals of the project so I'm not going to undermine that.

I don't think you meant any harm by it. I'm not upset, I just find that kind of response frustrating.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I love that this is a relatively small collection (compared to, say, ExoDos) of games that are not considered complete crap.  With 50,000+ games and programs released for the C64 it's nice to see an attempt at a "cream of the crop" compilation.  With the recent inclusion of the two Of Might & Magic games, I think every game I ever played (or at least those that are in some way memorable) on my original C64 hardware is now included; a pleasing thing, of course.  My next step is to install the Colodore color palette on a few select games since I don't like the VICE core's washed out looking one.

Edited by JoJoJuJu59
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's doable. What's there is accurate though. It doesn't use the "VICE" palette, it uses a custom one. What's used is a combination of custom palette and shader settings to produce the resulting appearance. Pay particular attention to the skin color below.

VICE Palette with no shader:

Z0luO9K.png

Radioactive neon garbage. This is totally and completely wrong.

Colodore Palette with no shader:

AodwotO.png

Significantly better, clearly, but still not quite right. They're still a bit too pink.

Internal/Custom Palette with CRT-Easymode-Halation-C64 shader (CRT-Easymode-Halation with customized saturation, contrast, and color values):

image.thumb.png.28594a568598d8d3950f6e5e5ad7cd3b.png

You can of course change things to taste but they won't be "correct".

The easiest way to make changes would actually be through the shader, rather than palette settings. The palette is specified in the core options, which are saved to retroarch-core-options.cfg if a game doesn't have its own .opt file, but there are 800+ opt files for specific games where it's specified as well. You could do a mass find and replace with something like Notepad++ though.

The shader applies to everything across the board though so that's an easier place to start. There are saturation, contrast, and individual color settings that you can adjust there.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll look into the global shader thing as an alternative to changing color palettes.  I didn't know you could do that with shaders.  I prefer a higher color saturation than the defaullt in C64 Dreams because when I played these games on an old Zenith 20" CRT television (not a monitor) back in the late 80s/early 90s, it had a more vivid color to it that was probably the result of the Zenith, which is what I'm used to (and of course the more vivid colors you get with other 8-bit and 16 -bit emulators or even just modern console and PC games).  I don't care how accurate or correct the default color palette is; I like a more saturated color that's more comparable to everything else I see in gaming.  But it's good to know about the shaders so thanks for the tip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...