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  • CBM-FAQ

    The FAQ below is not directly related to emulators, it is covering all aspects of Commodore 8bit computers.
    The newest version of the cbmfaq may be found at
    rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/commodore/main-faq/.
    Or via link try the following:
    Plain text version of Commodore FAQ Part 1
    Plain text version of Commodore FAQ Part 2
    Plain text version of Commodore FAQ Part 3
    Plain text version of Commodore FAQ Part 4
    There is also a hypertext version available, but I guess it won't be up to date:
    Hyper text version of cbm-faq.

    CBM-8BIT-EMULATION FAQ

    The newest version of the cbm 8bit emulation faq may be found at
    rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/commodore/8bit-emulation-faq/.
    Or via link try the following:
    Plain text version of commodore 8 bit emulation FAQ Part 1
    Plain text version of commodore 8 bit emulation FAQ Part 2
    Plain text version of commodore 8 bit emulation FAQ Part 3
    Plain text version of commodore 8 bit emulation FAQ Part 4
    There is also a hypertext version available, but I guess it won't be up to date:
    Hyper text version of commodore 8 bit emulation FAQ at http://www.hut.fi/~msmakela/cbm/faq/.
    Emulator Menu C64 Menu

    Emulators

    There is a whole bunch of emulators available. Better see the
    commodore 8 bit emulation FAQ for more information, and better describtion of them. Here I will give just a list of them with a small comment to each I tried. Just one thing, I really like the c64 and I still have much software for it. As much as I'm fascinated by emulators, I like running the programs I've got, so if the emulator doesn't do it's job correctly, it is not usefull to me (concerning the useability of my software). Naturally some emulators are better at that than others. So if I say something about one emulator that sounds unfair, don't be concerned about my opinion, all the programmers are doing a great job, I certainly couldn't do what they are doing and therefor I also couldn't do any better (and I do realize that).
    Here we go:
    (in no particular order)
    ALE C 64 (Linux (UNIX that is) and DOS)
    (Copyright protected, Freely redistributal)
    Well, this one is pretty new (May 1996). The current (beta) Version 1.12g was just released. This emulator is written by Andreas Arens, Lut Sammer and Edgar Türnig (now I wonder where it got its name from?). I didn't test it very expansively yet. I had both versions working (Linux and DOS) though. For both OS there a several versions available (binary distribution by the way). Supported are X Windows (Linux), SVGA Lib (Linux), DOS (Go32), with and without speaker (Sound), and video synchronisation. (DSP under Linux, OPL in developement)
    I only tested two programs so far, Donkey Kong (Atari), works just fine... . And (naturally) Archon, which too works just fine!!!
    It's a bit slow though, written 100% in 'C'. It doesn't support Disk Images yet. The directory which it is started from can be accessed as floppy device 8. Raw programm images can be loaded. Under DOS and SVGA Joystick can be simulated with the number block.
    This emulator is not finished yet, illegal opcodes are not implemented yet, and several other 'features' are missing. But overall it looks like it's worth waiting for.

    I didn't find a homepage or something alike, you can contact the authors at:
    johns@av.rwth-aachen.de
    I found copy of the emulator at: ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/cbm/c64/emulation/alec/ or try a download via link:
    ale64112.zip (DOS)
    alec64-1.11-bin.tar.gz (Linux)
    NEW
    A WEB page is now available for ALE C64 as well, have a look at:
    http://majestix.av.rwth-aachen.de/~ari/c64info.html
    They have got a ftp site for it available too, try downloading the newest version there:
    ftp://majestix.av.rwth-aachen.de/pub/alec64/
    Or via link:
    ftp://majestix.av.rwth-aachen.de/pub/alec64/ale64112.zip v1.12 DOS
    ftp://majestix.av.rwth-aachen.de/pub/alec64/alec64-1.12-elfbin.tar.gz v1.12 Linux (elf)
    ftp://majestix.av.rwth-aachen.de/pub/alec64/beta/ale64112h.zip beta v1.12h DOS
    ftp://majestix.av.rwth-aachen.de/pub/alec64/beta/alec64-1.12h-elfbin.tar.gz beta v1.12h Linux (elf)
    But beware this is the slowest ftp site (for me) that I've come across!

    VICE AND X64 (Linux (UNIX that is))
    Preamble: X64 and Vice are two different projects, Vice is a complete rewrite, X64 is no longer developed. Vice is sort of based on X64...

    Old X64 story...
    It has it's homepage (x64) at
    stekt.oulu.fi/~jopi/x64.html
    Try a link download of x64-0.3.1.tar.gz from x2ftp.oulu.fi:/pub/local/jopi/.
    Here is also an email adress of one of the authors Jouko Valta.
    I allways liked (and still like) these UNIX type of projects that provide you with good programms and well maintained source codes as well. They are certainly doing a great job at it. But (isn't there allways a BUT) the problem is that one often can't access a machine to it's details. So this is not as fast as some other emulations (well it, doesn't matter, 100% speed is 100% if it's achieved fast or slow). Sound support is one other core problem... (/dev/sequencer... /dev/audio... /dev/idontknowwhatelse). It's a pitty it has no sprite collision detection yet, it's very nice to look at, but you can't really play any games yet (at least if you aren't an adventure guy).
    X64 Is the only package that I know of, that provides some features of a C128.

    New VICE story... (Versatile Commodore Emulator)
    VICE V0.12 PL 0. (VICE.LSM says...)
    Commodore C64/C128/PET/VIC20 Emulators for X Windowing System. Each provides complete emulation of the hardware as well as some peripherals. Extensive ML monitor is built-in for easy manipulation of programs.

    (still...)
    I didn't have a real look at VICE yet, this part is therefor not up to date anymore. It describes X64 (V0.31) which is now obsolete. VICE is its successor. VICE has an own homepage at http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/~fachat/vice/vice.html, look there for more info about it (for the time being)...
    There are some places where you can get the newest version. I got mine from http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/~fachat/vice/vice-0.12.0.tar.gz

    Notice however, this is (will be) no emulator for games, they might work with it, but the developers are planning some sort of 8 bit commodore revival, these emulator(s) are supposed to be used for cross-platform development projects...
    For a beta release look at:
    ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/local/jopi/

    PC64 (DOS)
    First, this emulator was (a long time ago) called C64 NEU or C64 NEW, or something like that. That name is OBSOLETE the name changed, there is NO emulator by that name anymore!!!

    The homepage of
    PC64 is located at ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pc64. Check there for the most recent info on PC64. You may try downloading it via link.
    (Wolfgang Lorenz)
    pc64_e.zip for DOS (English version)
    pc64_d.zip for DOS (German version)
    These links go to ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/cbm/c64/emulation/pc64/.

    So what is to say about that one?
    Pros:

  • emulates a lot

  • sound support

  • no annoying shareware restrictions (I hate that, I registered it without being annoyed!)

  • user friendly interface (even if some say it's not)

  • snapshots supported

  • one can fiddle with many settings

  • other ROM's supported

  • supports unusual C64 mass storage mediums via link

  • nice debugging feature (but I never actually used it)

  • good documentation

  • good support

  • Cons:
  • price is to high (compared to real C64)

  • no fast loader support (but detection)

  • sort of yerky graphics, not as smooth as on real c64 or C64S emulator (why?)

  • no c64 border

  • no t64 format supported (that's ok with me)

  • colors differ slightly from original c64

  • I used to prefer it over the C64S, it just suits me more. I like the styling and the sort of desktop feeling. It's quite comfortable to brows through your directories (there is a bug (feature?) actually, after browsing in a 'deep' directory, and going back, you can't go up (cursor up), you have to go back in the hierachy (cursor left) to be able to go up again, it's a bit annoying). This one never failed me (like some others) concerning stability, it didn't crash my computer even once. But since I've got the registered version of C64S, I've got to admit that I use that one more often nowadays. The first thing one recognizes, is the missing border. If you run both emulators at the same time (or just one after the other), one will see, that the graphics of the C64S are a lot smoother. (they are DOS programs, can't you switch off that HD interrupt?) Overall I would say I'd like to get an emulator with the features of this one and the feeling of C64S...

    C64S (DOS)

    Well I guess that's the comercially most successfull c64 emulator. It started of as a shareware emulator, as far as I know it sold quite well. As a matter of thanks for many people registering they crippled the newer shareware versions. You are only permitted to try the newer versions for about ten minutes, then it will exit gracefully...
    (needless to say I don't like that) (are they hoping for more people to register or what?)
    I recommend therefor to get an old version of the c64s as far as I know up to version 1.0c this nice new feature wasn't implemented. Get
    c64s10cd.zip at frodo.hiof.no/pub/c64/emulator. (there are newer versions, look for them yourself...) They tell us a new shareware (V 2??) version will be out someday, but as a matter of fact, it seems like they are forgetting it... .
    I don't know what it's like in other countries, since Germany got another distributer than the rest of the world, but here the update policy is handled very strangely... You have to buy 'tokens' of some kind (by registering you get 3 tokens for 'free'). If you want to upgrade your registered version you have to tell them your token number (which in turn have to be registered), depending on the kind of update you need more than one token... . Extended support too costs one token (again, needless to say that I DO NOT LIKE that).
    The current version of the emulator has difficulties with soundblaster settings (I've got a soundblaster pro compatible card), I asked them what went wrong, they said it's a known problem perhaps it will be fixed some day (I didn't have any problems with the old shareware version (DON'T run the config program ever without '-s' option (if you don't want to take a high risk of having to reboot))). They gave me the tip I should put soundblaster settings in the 'autoexec.bat'. Great tip, that I got allready out of the handbook, after all I'm able to read. OK, after they couldn't help, I did a little experimenting. I don't know if that is true for all versions but it heavily seems to depend where in the 'autoexec.bat' the settings are set and in what order they are set. If you do have the same problem just try experimenting with these two factors in mind (eventually it did (and still does) work for me)(there is a third factor, rumors tell, that it matters if the setting are written in capitals or not!!!).


    If you close your eyes concerning what I said before, you'll get a fine emulator. I do not feel quite as comfortable with it as I do with PC 64, but once you get it going it certainly does feel more like a C64. It has some sort of fastloader support (V20a) (you can configure it that it emulates a 1541 in all details, including processor...)). It's annoying that you cannot switch between the two floppy-emulation modes online. If a game really uses a fastloader (on your real c64), it will thus be turned into a slowloader (kind of funny isn't it?) (hey, that's just a fact, I can't do any better..).
    (BTW, I can't set the default D64 directory, am I dumb again or is it a feature?)
    Upon registering you also get a small bunch of utilities with some (not up to date) documentation. (Again, that's just my experience). I like the transfer utility (com1541), though it's documentation is more than spartanic, the program itself even crashed quite a few times... but don't get me wrong, I really like it. (I transfered about 1.000 disks with it, since I was running DOS, some crashing is to be expected). (I'm in a bad mood today, you might have noticed!)
    So what is to say about that one (V20a)?
    Pros:

  • has a good c64 feeling

  • emulates a lot (best emulation I think, but not near the 100% mark yet)

  • sound support

  • snapshots supported

  • direct/emulated support for C64 hardware

  • fastloader (slowloader) support

  • named and first used the D64 format (now kind of a standard) (since his was the first 'useable' emulator)(is that really a PRO?)

  • Cons:
  • price is to high (compared to real C64)

  • support is handled strangely

  • annoying shareware restrictions

  • not so user friendly interface (compared to PC 64)

  • other ROM's not supported

  • *doesn't support extended D64 format (but the manual says it does)

  • *(I didn't verify it) Paul did a few tests with a simple read error check program, it did apparently work with PC 64, but not with C64s

    If your are still interested, try contacting www.seattlelab.com.
    If your are still interested, try contacting in Germany (europe) (email) They got a page:
    http://www.phs-edv.de.
    They have a 'new' demo there as well as some updates (German version)


    If you want to contact the author directly try (both and the others as well, to be sure you get'em)at: Miha Peternel
    Miha Peternel
    (when I'm allready at it, try the newest (crippled) shareware version anyway http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Nemo_Pohle/c64s20bd.zip)

    NEW There is a new version out v2.5. It is only available for people who registered in Germany. THIS VERSION IS NO FAKE VERSION!!! It has some enhancements over 2.0a, but to tell the truth, I have more trouble with it than with the last. My PAS 16 soundcard flatly refuses to work with that version on native conditions (allways have to switch to sound blaster). Even than one has to fine tune some settings to get bearable results. A new video mode is available for users who had problems with the more exotic modeX resultion. It no supports vesa modi, though that is quite a bit slower. The tools which come with the emulator have (thank god) been greatly enhanced, so it is now possible to transfer copy protected disks to a *.d64 file. Even the emulator supports no 'enhanced' *.d64 files (which it claimed befor, but didn't). If the emulator would only hold what it promises it would be great... but it doesn't. I for one am glad I didn't have to pay for that update. And I still can't wait that Wolfgang finishes his PC64Win (though 1998 sounds a bit far away now). Ralph what happened to you promising emulator?

    C64 Alive (crippled DOS)
    Well, here we go again. Some things in advance, I had (some time ago) some sort of correspondence going on with the author. I have to admit that I don't like him. (he sort of told me that I am a lamer and the programs I've written were pathetic, I could go on telling what I think of him, but then again why should I...)
    Since I'm in a mood to look rather at bad things than at good things...
    In the headline I mentioned crippled DOS with that I mean no memory manager allowed (that switches to protected mode, are there others?). Usually that means rebooting befor starting, which I think is very annoying. Playing a game on a c64 emulator means (for me) an entertainment in between... if I have to boot my pc every time just to play a game, it's not in between anymore (one usually has to go back to the configuration one started with too (using WIN95 that means ages...)). Many PC users are actually unaware of the capabilities of their computer (and how to configure it), so it happened quite often that people had no clue at all how to even start the emulator. It's a nice feature to access the pc filesystem via the c64, but somehow I find it dangerous, pc programs look very strange listed on a c64, but than again it is not as easy to delete something on a disk with a c64 than it is on a pc (via del...). It disturbs somehow my sense of neatness to brows through my pc directory and seeing strange files with even stranger extentions, 'cause the emulator uses filenames up to 11 characters (using the extentions...). So this is a solution in between, you are able to use the hardware of a pc, but the filename convention of a c64 (16 characters) is crippled.
    The author prides himself having used some fastest possible machine language routines (his fabled base-system) and so on, the emulation still requires at least a 486 with a fast video card (but I do believe him that it's well programmed, he seems to be quite competend). The emulation's supposed to be quite ok, one of the first games I allways try (it's one of my alltime favourites) is ARCHON, the sprite collision detection didn't work, so I droped the whole subject... . Demos and the like are supposed to work very well with it though. You may contact the author
    Frank Littmann, or if you are interested, I found a recent beta version of C64 Alive at http://www.aloha.net/~bstaggs/c64.html.
    C64 (DOS hercules graphic card)
    Well, I can't say much about that one. All I know is that it's old and it exists. You can get it for example at
    frodo.hiof.no/pub/c64/emulator. It's there as c64.zip.
    It needs an hercules graphics card.
    C64sally (DOS)
    Well a pitty I can't say much about this one either. It's very old and abandoned. I don't even have it anymore (I used to have it, but somehow it escaped me). There used to be a copy at
    frodo.hiof.no/pub/c64/emulator, but there is none anymore. Anybody got a clue where else a copy may be hidden? Even the FAQ doesn't mention it anymore, but it DOES exist.

    I've got a copy now (thanks to "bduncan"), it starts up and shows the C64 screen, that's all I can say right now, didn't do any testing as yet...

    NEW
    You'll find c64sally at ftp://ftp.uni-duisburg.de/pub/local/systems/msdos/emulators/c64/c64sally.zip.

    WIN64 (Windows)
    This one looks very promising. Can't really say many bad things about it. (apart from this being very beta, not many games are running, no fastloader support, no fixed speed as yet, no sound...).
    It's a pitty that no new versions are coming... The author seems quite occupied. It's the only emulator that supports four of the most used file formats (D64, T64, PRG (called C64), P00). It is very userfriendly in its design and looks like being very fast. If this project is being continued it might just be that this is going to be my favourite.
    (I liked the story why he did start it...) A recent beta version can be found at
    frodo.hiof.no/pub/c64/emulator, or try at http://www.aloha.net/~bstaggs/c64.html which is a very good C64 page. Or try a link download win64b02.zip.
    (BTW the adress given in the help file is obsolete)

    The above is not up to date anymore. There is a ne beta 0.31 available. The author put up a web page for it: (actually I got two addresses???)
    http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/6558/win64.htm
    http://bip.concept.se/user/kiwi/win64.htm
    You can download the newest version at one of the above pages or via link:
    http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/6558/win64b31.zip

    What to say? Ugh, I dunno, only tried it very shortly. The author states it has sound support, I didn't hear a thing. It looks very nice, quite windowish (wonder why)... This version took some time to arrive, inspite of that it looks very beta'ish. The helpfile is missing! (It was there in the last version) I only tried two games, Jumpman an oldie but goldy. Right at the start it is obvious that something is wrong with the sprite. The letters jumpman drops are somehow mingled with these 'vines' he uses for up and down... . Well I though little stuff. But once trying to start the game my enthusiasm gets another bumb... It doesn't start... it doesn't work :-(
    Next game... Repton (sort of a defender clone), at least it is starting... but wait in the status line are some Commodore characters, light blue on darker blue!?!?! I quit after that. It might be possible that it plays certain games well, but with so many and some of them good ones... other emulators arround I am hesitant to look all that much further into this emulator which proved its imperfection with two first and eldest games I have...

    Sorry Ralph


    So... I looked at the above version again. Seems I really picked the wrong games there. It plays actually a lot of games. Even some games which PC64Win doesn't play... Blue Max is working so is Wizardry and a few others. The all time difficult Frantic Freddy doesn't play yet... but no other emulator gets this far... And another thing, dunno why it is like that. But I don't have sound under Win95. I just tried the emulator under WIN NT 4.0... Runs well AND WITH sound!!!


    Guess I like the emulator after all
    PC64WIN (Windows (WING, better DirectX))
    This is another beta emulator, it too is very promising. A new beta release is due in a few weeks. It's being programmed by
    Wolfgang Lorenz, the one that did PC 64. Therefor one should expect that his experiences will make a very nice emulator indeed (he abonded (still releasing bugfixes) PC 64 in favour of this new project). It doesn't emulate to much yet but shows a lot of promise (borders are now handled, I like the possibility of resizing windows). Be sure to have a look at it. Get it at his homepage at ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pc64 or via link as http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pc64/pc64w214.exe
    A new version is available at the above page, but it not a release it comes within the release of the long awaited EDK:
    http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pc64/EDK213.exe
    (notice, frodo wasn't up to date the last time I checked).
    Activision Game Pack for C64 (Windows 95)
    Oh that's sad!
    Did you know that Jeff Vavasour programmed this emulator?
    Actually a fully working C64 emulator for Windows 95 and it is crippled!!! You are just able to run the 15 games supplied with it. Activision, don't you think it would have been more succesfull to release the emulator as a fully working one and give us the games as a bonus? I bought it anyway, but I'm sort of a collector... .
    I bet you could have easily sold more copies of that emulator than they did of C64S. Really a pity.

    For more information about it go to the section of Activision's Commodore 64 15 Pack in the CD ROMS section of my Emulators page.

    Hardcore c64-emulator fans might look at emulators in emulators... (Amiga, Atari ST, Macintosh), some emulators reportedly do run on the appropriete emulators... .

    Frodo
    Allright, Amiga people should know what to expect. This emulator is no newbee, it has some past... It is well known as resource hungry, the info says it will satisfied with a medicore pentium though. It tries to emulate the graphics of the c64 down to the last detail. I haven't run it yet, since my Linux is not set up properly. It was advertised as a port to BeBox computer, the UNIX (LINUX) version sounds like some sort of bonus to me... but reportedly it does run. There is a homepage available for it, have a look at:
    http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002
    Or try a download via link:
    ftp://ftp.std.com/pub/jrs/Frodo-WIN32-4.0.2.zip (Win 32)
    or
    ftp://ftp.std.com/pub/jrs/Frodo-WIN32-4.0.2-Src.zip (source)
    http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/FrodoV4_1a.Src.tar.gz (UNIX source)

    CBM 64
    All right, this is supposed to be a small emulator. I say 'supposed to' 'cause I can't get it to work. It is only a source code distribution in BP 7. I have that compiler but everything I might try there allways seem to be a unit or to missing.
    Anyway, perhaps you are luckier than me, have a look at the homepage:
    http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PaulToth/usbp7.htm
    or try a download:
    http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PaulToth/cbm64.zip
    or just email the author :-)
    Paul Toth

    CCS 64
    A star is born, is all one can really say about this one. A newcomer hits the marked and is in almost all respects better than the other available emulators. It supports nearly all known C64 features even the more exotic ones, can't really give all that many examples, best thing for you is to have a look at the homepage yourself and download some available 'extreme' demos from there and try them with other emulators and with this one, you will know very shortly what I mean...
    Homepage:
    http://www.fatal-design.com/ccs64
    download a shareware version from there...
    ftp://ftp.fatal-design.com/pub/ccs64/ccs64107.zip
    The authors address:
    Hakan Sundell

    There is now also a port for linux available, though this is for now only and older version ported...
    Homepage:
    http://www.funet.fi/pub/cbm/crossplatform/emulators/ccs64/
    download a shareware version from there...
    http://www.funet.fi/pub/cbm/crossplatform/emulators/ccs64/ccs64-linux-0.9.tar.gz
    Emulator Menu C64 Menu



    Free 64
    There is allways another one, isn't there :-). Nice to have the emulation going on...
    Have not as yet had much time in testing this one, so only the page is given here for now...
    Homepage:
    http://home.gvi.net/~martin/
    download from there...
    http://home.gvi.net/~martin/free6401.zip
    E64
    This one is little more than a rumor. It was mentioned in an interview with it's author (Hey Frederic, if you read this, I would like to get a copy to have a look at it!)
    Here is a part of that interview relevant to E64!
    
    Interview of Frederic Gidouin [french]
    - When did you get the idea to code PaCifiST? And Why? 
    - I was following the C64 emulation scene for a long time and about 3 years ago I started one
    (E64) to challenge myself. It was very limited, but sufficient to play my favourite game: The
    Sentinel. I haven't carried on the development. 
    ...
    
    
    Emulator Menu C64 Menu




    Last Updated: August 1997 Chris