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2024

  • The C128: Commodore's dark horse? - Even though the C128 was a popular choice for many Commodore users at the time, Commodore corporation still seemed to do it's best to stifle sales and popularity for this 8-bit wonder. If so, what could have been the reason for doing so?

  • I wasn't alone in my opinion - Seems like RUN Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Dennis Brisson and I held pretty much the same opinions regarding our Commodore C128s, back in the day.

  • RUN Magazine was a Commodore user's best choice - I've come to the conclusion that from what I've read, I think RUN magazine was probably the best written and covered the most useful information for the “average” home and small business Commodore user.

  • The D-SUB9 Arrives! - Today the D-SUB9, from Retronic Design, arrived and I am thrilled to be able to play C64 games via VICE with my favorite vintage joysticks.

  • Website update: the Library - I've spent the last several evenings updating the website with a new section for the games and applications I have made available for downloading. It's called, “The Library”.

  • My mini Commodore - Today there's an entire range of Commodore 8-Bit emulator systems. But back in the early 2000s, we had to be a little more creative. For me, the ASUS EeePC 701 fit the bill perfectly.

2023

  • C64Forum day-timer/notebook - Here's a gift idea for the retro Commodore computer enthusiast who has everything; it's also a way to pass along some support to C64Forum.com, if that interests you.

  • My latest Lulu project - My latest (and probably last - for a while) book from Lulu is specifically for my C128. This one contains the user manuals for the alternate operating systems Unix 128 and SHELL 128.

  • I'm hooked on LuLu! - They did such a great job on my reprint of my first programming book, “Using The Commodore 64 In The Home”, that I decided to go ahead and produce another book for my Commodore collection. This one was not a book that was published once in the past. This book, which I entitled “The Four BASICs”.

  • My first computer book arrives - After all of these years, the first Commodore 64 computer programming book I ever owned makes it back onto my bookshelf.

  • My favorite typed-ins: Demon's Lair - One of the first video games I typed into my C64. Demon's Lair is a dungeon crawler game that was published in the book “Using The Commodore 64 In The Home”, and it taught me a lot about programming in BASIC. It holds a special place in my memories.

  • My favorite typed-ins: Spiders - This was probably the first machine language typed-in game that I attempted. Spiders is a commendable Galaxian-style shoot-em-up game that I enjoyed quite a bit, back in the day. It's still something I return to, every now and again.

  • My favorite typed-ins: Space Dodger - I'd like to share some of my favorite magazine typed-in games, from back in the day. These were the most affordable kind of games you could get, without “trading” with other C64 owners. First up, “Space Dodger”.

  • Basement game development - I just can't get enough of these simple games, created by just an Average Joe, plunking away on his C64 in his basement or bedroom. In this blog entry, I take a look at “Rocket Man” and “Neutron Man”, published in UpTime Disk Mag, from 1988.

  • What happened to my keyboard?! - For some unknown reason, all of a sudden, my one-twenty-eight's keyboard is all screwed up! The O key is now Q (in C64 mode) and the F1 key (in C128 mode). What's going on?!.

  • New release Sea Wolf II - Here's a fun little game for one or two players, where your challenge is to sink more ships than your opponent. It's a remake of the classic Commodore game, Sea Wolf, for your C64.

  • "Flyer Keys" for the C128 - I wrote a little program that reprograms the C128's function keys to the most commonly used commands I use with my Retroswitch Flyer.

  • 80 column version of my DVD printer - I decided to take my DVD cover printer program and tailor it for the C128's VDC 80 column display. In doing so, I also learn some new things about CBM BASIC 7.0.

  • DVD cover printer upgrades - Today I finished up on my final improvements and tweaks on my DVD cover and label printer program, for my C128. As I've been printing covers for my DVD keeper cases, as well as labels for the DVDs, I've made notes on what worked and wasn't quite working in my most recent BASIC programming effort.

2022

  • It's a physical thing - It occurred to me today that, perhaps one of the reasons I still use my C128 for other things, other than gaming, is because of the physical communication that modern day computers lack.

  • Printing labels like it was 1989 - To help add a level of retro nostalgia to my DVD burning project, I write a program in C128 BASIC to print index cover sheets for my DVD keeper cases.

  • New ribbons arrive! - Even though I'm glad that I was able to hack my way at restoring my C128's printing capabilities, I'm glad to say that brand new printer ribbons for the Gemini II have arrived!

  • Quick Notes 2.0 released - I'm very pleased to present (to the one person out there, other than myself, who uses it) version 2.0 of my BASIC program, Quick Notes! With this update, you can save your notes to the datasette, as well as to disk.

  • Documents for your printer- Now that I've gotten the use of my Gemini II printer back, I've been going through the Commodore related documents I've created and am making versions of them that can be printed on a C64 or C128.

  • Hacking a printer ribbon - I was determined to get my Gemini-II dot matrix printer operational again and not have to spend a small fortune for a new ribbon cartridge to do so.

  • eBay finds and TurboTape - I actually find some reasonably priced games on cassette on eBay and experiment with the fast loader, TurboTape.

  • Picked up the MSD Super Disk - Finally made it back into town to pick up the MSD Super Disk Drive, along with another unexpected surprise. I also got around to testing the C64C and 1541C.

  • Always expect the unexpected - Out here on the prairie, in the middle of nowhere, finding any sort of vintage Commodore hardware or software these days is one of the furthest things on my mind. Well, look at what just fell into my lap today!


  • Site Stats for July - Can you believe it, the year is already half over! Here are some site stats I've compiled for July 2022. Wouldn't you know it, our new C64 Forum is the source for the most popular referral link to the site this month!

  • Something is happening - To all the EverythingC64.boards.net refugees out there: Something is about to happen. Something wonderful…

  • Site Stats for June - Interested in seeing more sites stats? Here's the compiled list I put together for June 2022. Once again, EverythingC64 shows to be the source for the most popular referral link to the site!

  • Going to try a mailing list - Sadly, the EverythingC64 forum has been shut down. Another good resource has gone away. How do I find and communicate with the good folks I met there now? Can a good old fashioned mailing list be of any use today? I'm going to try and find out.

  • The TurboDisk fast loader - This fast loader was published in Compute! Magazine and boosts the speed of the 1541 by a factor of three, and works by storing a portion of itself on the 1541.

  • The storage medium we tend to overlook - We have a few options available to us when we want to store software for our C64. Floppy disks and cassettes are most common, but paper was widely used “back in the day”, too.


  • Site Stats for May - Interested in seeing more sites stats? Here's the compiled list I put together for May 2022. EverythingC64 shows to be the source for the most popular referral link to the site!

  • A Few Site Stats for April - I was curious about how my little web site here was being used and what has been drawing the most attention. Here's a few stats I thought I'd share.


  • MMC64 Revisit - I take a look back at the first “modern” peripheral I purchased for my C64/128, to move it into the 21st century, and rediscover it's relevance today.

  • Run C64 BASIC at 2Mhz - Use this utility, published in Up-Time magazine, to run C64 BASIC programs at 2Mhz on your C128.

  • Disk-co Parties Of The Past - It's Saturday night, but long gone are the days of the disk-co parties of my youth that went into the wee hours of the morning.

  • I'm Selling My Evercade - It's a great retro handheld console, I just don't play it enough and could use the funds to help keep this site going.

  • Tutankham - This classic arcade video game, from 1982, finally makes it to the C64!

  • Lil' Potato - A game of tyranny and justice. Are you brave enough to make the right decision?

2021

  • New Games from TND - I happened across a couple of new games recently published by Richard Bayliss, over at TND, which I thought I“d share. They're both space shoot 'em up games, one in the classic “Galaxian-style” and the other a vertical scroller.

  • Adding Disk Covers to VICE - You know how you can attach cover art to your MP3s, so when your playing the song in your media player, it displays the embedded CD cover art? I'd really like to have that ability with my D64s within VICE.

  • Necessity is the mother of invention - I needed to find a simpler way of logging into my V-1541 virtual disk drive, so I put together this simple program in BASIC to reduce the process to just a few keystrokes.

  • Reconnecting with Commodore Server - I'm really glad I decided to reacquaint myself with the on-line services of CommodoreServer.com (CS) and make more use of my V-1541 virtual disk drive account.



  • Some NTSC gems - With my latest update to my archive of NTSC-specific games, I happened across a few unexpected gems, which I thought I'd mention here and bring to your attention. These games are not titles that I've seen mentioned in other C64 or classic gaming circles, so I'm not sure how well these games are known. read more...

  • The sounds of NTSC - I know that it may detract from the game maker's original vision, but in most cases I just prefer the faster tempo of game soundtracks when played on my NTSC system. To play the games that I've been playing for the better part of thirty years at PAL-speed just sounds wrong to me in so many ways. read more...

  • An e-book for your C64 - With all of the e-book work I've been doing on my eBookMan website, I thought, why not try and encode one of the books for the Commodore 64? So, I chose a recent favorite find of mine, “Beware, The Usurpers!”, by Robert W. Krepps. I found it to be a good read and a nice size to try out my idea. read more...

  • An Update On What's Been Going On - Been a little while since my last blog post. I guess I've been working on other projects, as well as taking care of the kind jobs that need to get done when it isn't snowing. But, here's a bit about what's been going on. read more...

  • I Know I've Seen This Before - Just a little while ago, Psytronik announced a new game they published, called “Battle Kingdom”. From first glace, this game looked very familiar to me. I know I've seen this game before, but where? read more...

  • A Dizzy Game I Actually Enjoyed? - Recently, I happened to stumble across this 1990 Codemasters' game, Kwik Snax, created by Jason Benham. Out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try and, right from the start, I was hooked by the game-play. read more...

2020


  • GEOS: More Than a Desktop Environment - GEOS is known for being a fantastic 8-bit desktop environment for your Commodore computer. But, just under the surface, it's one of the best disk utilities available for the C64 and C128, as well. read more...

  • BASIC Enhancements For Your C64 - BASIC 2.0 on the C64 is really an amazing programming environment and loved by many. But, sometimes dealing with it's little idiosyncrasies can be taxing. I take a look at four BASIC extenders published by Loadstar that made BASIC 2.0 much more user friendly. read more...

  • Keeping Those Self-isolation Blues Away - Like most of population on the planet (gosh that sounds so strange), we're in self-isolation on our homestead to help avoid the coronavirus pandemic that spreading across the world. As we wait for planting season, and from becoming too bored, I've been playing a few new games on my C64Mini. read more...

  • Copy and Paste in BASIC - I received a comment today, on the Reddit Commodore 64 feed, regarding the review I just posted for Loadstar's Two In One utility, that allows you to run two BASIC programs at once. The comment was, “wouldn't it be nice to be able to cut and paste from one environment to the other”. read more...

  • A Bit Of A Hiatus - It's been a little while since my last post. But that doesn't mean I haven't been working on my good 'ol Commodores; not at all. I've been up to my elbows in databases for the past little while. read more...

2019

  • Trogue64: Drain of Doom - I stumbled across a really fun dungeon crawler game, called Trogue64: Drain of Doom, which updates the format of the classic terminal game, Rogue, published by Epyx in 1985. read more...

  • GEOS on TheC64Mini - Although TheC64Mini is not the best system to run the GEOS desktop, it is doable, with a little effort. But, if you'd like to give this milestone in the history of Commodore a try on TheC64Mini, then here's a ZIP file that I put together to help get your started. read more...

  • The BOSS - I was doing some rummaging around this afternoon, when I came across this little artifact from the past: It's one of the boxes for my Wico “The Boss” joystick. read more...


  • Turbo the Tortoise - I added a fun platformer game, to my list of TheC64Mini software packages, called Turbo the Tortoise. It's a challenging game and runs quite well on TheC64Mini. read more...


  • Tea Timer - I would have thought that a simple tea timer program would have been written for the Commodore by now. But try as I could, I didn't find anything like I was looking for. I found a few alarm clock programs, but nothing like a simple countdown timer. So, I decided to go and write one for myself. read more...

  • A Few More Mini Game Reviews - In Volume 2 of my Mini Game Reviews, we look at four more awesome modern video games for your C64. They are: C-2048, Let's Invade!, Wolfing, and Rocket Smash EX. read more...

  • A Few Mini Game Reviews - Recently, there's been several new games for the C64 appearing on itch.io. I've had some time to check a few of them out, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on the one's that I've played so far. read more...

  • Floppy Disk Labels For You - In order to help organize my floppy disks, I've created some disk labels that are applied to the disk sleeve, rather than the floppy disk, itself. They are nice and large, which makes it easier to list all of the programs a floppy disk may contain. read more...

  • Disk Management with Free Base - For a while now, I've been using Disk Master to help me keep track of my collection of floppy disks and their contents. However, as the database has grown, the program has been getting slower in it's searches. Now, it's at a point where it's slowed down so much that it's pretty much useless to me. read more...

  • Nintendo: Corporate Bullies to the Core - I was never a fan of the game, Super Mario Bros. In fact, I was never really fond of Nintendo in general. I never owned an NES, Super NES, or Nintendo 64, back in the day. I just never had much interest in the type of games Nintendo produced, nor do I care for Nintendo's corporate attitude. I preferred my Commodore and Sega Genesis and never saw any reason to buy into Nintendo. read more...

  • VICE and TheC64Mini Joystick - Just out of curiosity, I wanted to see if USB joystick, which came with my TheC64Mini, would work on my Linux laptop running the VICE emulator. So, I started up VICE and plugged in the joystick into the laptop. read more...

  • Yearning for Simpler Days - I've just been reflecting back on the simpler days of computing, on my C64 and C128, and how running software on these machines is so much simpler than today's modern PCs. Even with brand new games being written for these classic systems, all you need to do to get them to run is LOAD them and then RUN them. read more...

  • My First C64 Game - A question that I see crop up, from time to time, is “what was the first game you ever played on your C64?” It's an interesting question and I enjoy hearing and reading other's answer to this question. For me, it's not an easy question to answer, because my initial interactions with the C64 was with the BASIC interpreter and my tinkering with BASIC 2.0. read more...

  • Settling In - I started to finally settle in to my new home, on the Internet. If you've been able to follow me here, then thank you very much for your patience and for following me over here. I had to move the website here because I could no longer justify the expense for my own domain name. read more...

  • Left behind in 1986 - One game that I've enjoyed playing the past year is a relatively new release, called Trance Sector Ultimate, released by TND back in 2015. Although I never seen or played this game before last year, it seemed familiar to me in some way; I just could not figure out why. All I knew is that I enjoyed playing it. read more...

2018

  • Two months with the C64Mini - It's been just a little over two months that I have had the C64Mini. So, what do I think of this little console after having some time to play with it? I have to confess that I've warmed up to this device quite a bit and have been playing it more frequently than what I first guessed I would be. read more...

  • A Christmas gift to you - Well, it's that wonderful time of the year once again and. in celebration of Christmas, I thought I'd bring some attention to these enjoyable holiday themed programs for your C64. read more...


  • A new C64 game from Canadian publisher - I happened to stumble across information about another new game for the C64, set to be released early next year. What excited me most about this new game is that it is being produced by a retro games developer, here in Canada! To me, this is fantastic news and is something that compels me to throw my support behind. read more...

  • A failing 1541 - After sitting in cold/hot storage for better part of three to four years, I finally got around to getting out my original 1541 floppy disk drive and giving it a test drive. Right from the get-go, however, the drive didn't sound very good, nor did it appear to work properly. Oh boy. read more...

  • Is the C64Mini all that bad? - My intention is not to turn this website/blog into a C64 Mini focused one. But, I just had a desire to share a few of my thoughts on some of the negative emotions the Mini is generating amongst some of the Commodore retro community. read more...

  • Playing multi-game disks on the C64 Mini - I've spent some time playing games from my own collection on the C64 Mini, but discovered an issue with disk images containing multiple games. The issue being, the Mini only loads the first file it finds on any disk image, preventing you from playing any other games that may be stored on that disk. read more...

  • I join the Mini revolution - I was pleasantly surprised today with a belated birthday gift from my son. Apparently, he placed this pre-order earlier this spring and, today, it was finally delivered by the retailer. I am now the proud owner of a new C64Mini specifically released for the North American market. read more...

  • The past is disappearing - In my last blog post, I brought up the subject about how there are currently no projects, within the Commodore computing community, regarding a “rebuild” of the C128; similar to the projects like, the C64 Reloaded or the Ultimate64. For those of us who still use our C128, rather than rely on emulation, we have limited options available to us when breakdowns occur. read more...

  • Bad SID - Not more than a week after I finally get around to repairing my C128's keyboard, the sound started to crackle and fade out on me. A quick jiggle of the video cable and the problem didn't go away. What was up now? read more...

  • C128 Restored and back in operation - For the last few months, my beloved C128 was out of commission, due to problems with some of the keys on the keyboard. Fortunately, I still had my C64C to fall back on, but I was determined to get my C128 operational once again. read more...

  • Creating an archive of game instructions - Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I can't recall game controls as easily as I used to; at least with games that I haven't played for an extended amount of time. So, I've started jotting down these commands for easy reference. read more...


  • More Fun With the Flyer - One of the reasons why I purchased the Retroswitch Flyer modem was for backing up and archiving my collection of floppy disks before they degraded and became unreadable. It's been working out well, in this capacity, but I'm ashamed that I never thought of this use for it until now! read more...

  • The 1541 DOS Wedge - Recently I came across an old notebook of mine, and inside were some notes I made regarding the 1541 DOS Wedge utility program. This program came on a floppy disk, which Commodore originally bundled with the 1541 floppy disk drive. read more...

  • Blogging With the C128 - I know it is probably strange, but I really do like typing on the C128 keyboard. It is something that I miss, when working on the laptop. I would really like to be using my C128 more for typing documents, for the blog and such. But the problem is getting the text into a format that I can use on-line. read more...

  • On-line Floppy Disk Editing Tools - Like many Commodore users today, I have collected a large number of .d64 disk images. But to use these disk images on real Commodore hardware, I don't have enough floppy disks for them all. So, a good portion of my floppy disks contain more than one game or program. read more...

  • The Under Appreciated C128 - I was working on a new review for the site (on a database application for the C128) and I have to say that the C128 has to be one of the most under rated and under appreciated PCs of the 8-bit era. read more...

  • Playing Through Argus - Been spending some time playing through the game Argus and, although I'm making some progress, it's been a little slow going. Here are my first thoughts of the game. read more...

  • Additions to the Site - In case it hasn't been noticed, I've added a couple of new things to the old website, including a list of the Commodore games I've completed over the years. read more...

  • Steel Ranger Demo - Just by chance, I happened across the new game, soon to be officially released by Psytronik, Steel Ranger for the C64. The game will be released on floppy disk next month, but you can purchase a download copy today; as well as a demo version to test out. And that's what I did. read more...

2017

  • More C128 goodness - It's amazing at what you can find on the Internet, when you put some real effort into your searches. Wouldn't you know it, I came across yet another fertile resource for Commodore 128-specific software. read more...

  • Software for my C128 - I really like my C128. But, for the longest time, all I ever really used it for was to run my extensive library of C64 games and software. Recently, I have found a lot of C128 specific software, which is making me adore my C128 even more. read more...

  • Taking Things Into My Own Hands - As I was doing some maintenance/updates to my list of Commodore resources, I noticed that one website (which I referenced many times) was no longer available. The Wiki provider that hosted the Commodore Programming Wiki shut down the site. They no longer provided free wiki space. Another valuable Commodore related resource was gone. Or was it? read more...

  • A New Game for the Collection - Well, it took me somewhere around twenty four years, but I finally got around to buying a new game on floppy disk for my C64/128. What I decided to buy for myself is the game Soulless, published by Psytronik. And, after just over a month, the parcel finally arrived. read more...

  • Over Thirty Years and Still Kickin' - Here it is over thirty five years after it's release and there are still new commercial games being made for the Commodore 64 home computer! I just find it so amazing to see a community of C64 users still enjoying this amazing little 8-bit computer. read more...

  • It's Old School or Nothing - It may sound a little silly, but I foresee, as time progresses, that I will be spending even more of my leisure time playing more games on my C64 and C128. It's turning out to be the only form of digital entertainment that my mind is willing to accept. Because, the crap on T.V. and in the movies of today are becoming far too sadistic for me to enjoy, let alone watch. read more...

  • Loadstar and the 128 - I've been spending some time going through all of the disk images I have for the Loadstar “disk mag”, trying to document all of the games and applications which I find to be the best of the bunch. As I've been doing this, I've discovered that Loadstar actually published a fairly good number of programs for the C128. read more...

  • There is a Difference - Today, I actually witnessed a performance issue between a C64 and C64C. This the first time I've ever seen a program function differently between the two models of C64. read more...

  • The Value of a Floppy Disk - Believe it or not, there was actually a time when 5 ¼ inch floppy disks were used as a form of currency. Okay, it may have only been used in the limited economy of my high-school's cafeteria, but it was a currency, none-the-less. read more...

  • Up and Running Once Again - Oddly enough, I found myself with a bit of extra time and desk space to actually unpack some of my Commodore hardware from storage and set it up once again. This is the first time I've been able to do this, since moving out to the homestead three years ago. read more...

2014

  • My Flyer Modem Arrives - It's been a long wait, but I was finally able to get around to picking myself up a Flyer Internet modem for my C64, made by Retroswitch. If you've never heard of the Flyer, it's very similar to the Comet64, which I've discussed previously, except that along with being an Internet device it also doubles as a disk drive emulator. read more...

  • Welcome VIC-20 - It's been quite a while since I've been able to add anything to my Commodore collection. But, last week, I was able to acquire a few components for which I've been looking (thanks Aaron!). read more...


2013

  • What Would be Launch Day Worthy? Part 2 - In Part One of this post I listed my favorite top five games, of which I would consider to be “launch day” quality, written specifically for the Commodore 64. In Part Two, I will list my launch day picks of games that were ported to (or adapted for) the C64. Again, I'll try to keep it to a selection of five. read more...

  • What Would be Launch Day Worthy? Part 1 - I was looking back at some of the games that I thought really shined on the Commodore 64. There are so many great games for the C64. Then I thought, what games would I consider to be “launch titles” if the C64 was a new gaming machine that was about to hit the market tomorrow? read more...


  • What Happened to Thunder Mountain? - I know, far too long to go without an update to the blog - but that's just the way it goes. Been enjoying some reading about a few C64 game publishers from the day, and wondered what ever happened to Thunder Mountain. read more...

2012


  • QuickNotes 64 - I enjoyed writing that BASIC program a few weeks ago so much, that I decided to do another one. This one is a note taking app. for your C64. read more...

  • My Favorite Time-Wasters - I probably spent more time than I should have, playing games on my C64 in my youth (and afterwards as an adult, if I'm being completely honest). But this is a short list of some of my favorite non-arcade type games that took more of my attention than others and bring back good memories when ever I play them. read more...

  • Ledger 64 - I thought I'd try and write my own specialized ledger app for my particular needs. So, I set off and began to write (in BASIC), a little program I've called, “Ledger 64” . read more...








  • Trying Out CommodoreOS - This past weekend I decided to download and install the CommodoreOS Vision Linux distro on to my Asus Eee Box PC, and I have to say that it was pretty good. read more...

2011





  • When The Magazine Was King - I didn't know many other computer users back then, let alone them being Commodore users. Most of the things I learned about my C64 came from experimentation - using the C64's user manual as my reference guide - or from Commodore computer magazines. read more...

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blog.txt · Last modified: 2024/09/28 16:59 by David