Pushing the Trusty Old Commodore 64 to its Absolute Limit

in #computers7 years ago (edited)

I've covered the demo scene before, as well as chiptunes. But this article isn't strictly about demos or music. Much like several other beloved old machines, the Commodore 64 has had a sort of second life made possible by fans of the platform who still develop for it all these years later.


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For reference, the Commodore 64 was an 8 bit home computer with 64k ram and capable of 16 different colors onscreen at once. Very comparable in specs to the original Nintendo Entertainment System. These are the graphics typical of C64 games back in the day:


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However since that time, programmers obsessed with the machine due to the fond childhood gaming memories it gave them have devoted countless hours to teasing more and more impressive graphical feats from the ancient machine. This owes largely to the demo scene, which managed such impossible performance out of the C64 as seen below:

However there's also been very active game development by programmers who only got into programming in the first place because, in their youth, they wanted to make their own games for the Commodore 64 they had such fun playing other peoples' games on.

This is what catalyzes so much retro styled indie game development. When indie devs first began to dream of developing games, they imagined making games for the systems familiar to them.

But technology changed so much as they grew up, by the time they were able to program games, they looked nothing like the games they grew up with which inspired their passion.

This is how we wound up with such incredible looking modern day Commodore 64 games as Mayhem in Monsterland, widely considered to be the apex of graphics in Commodore 64 games:

If you had an original Nintendo, compare those graphics to the average NES game. Imagine how blown your mind would have been to see a game like that on the NES back in the day. There's just no comparison.

Of course developers in the 80s and 90s had fixed deadlines to work within. They didn't have decades to spend learning every little trick for getting the most out of the hardware.

Indie developers today who make games for these old machines have the benefit of all that accumulated knowledge, so they're able to make software that absolutely blows away everything made for it back when it was new. This principle applies also to the demo scene, which has produced such impossible wonders as this:

Much of that would be impressive even on 16 bit machines, frankly. Where are the limits? Are there no limits? Can programmers just keep somehow scrounging up more and more hidden power from their ever-increasing mastery of the Commodore 64 architecture, or have we long since passed the point of diminishing returns?

So far there is no end in sight, in my opinion. Demos just continue to get more and more impressive, albeit in smaller increments with each passing year. Probably we will never see Crysis running on the Commodore 64, haha. But that doesn't make stuff like this any less impressive:

Below you'll find a few more of my picks for the most impressive graphical accomplishments by modern day Commodore 64 developers. Much respect to these silicon benders, these masters of the archaic metal who never gave up on a machine beloved by so many.



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That is insane they were able to push it that far.

I can hardly believe what I see. Amazing how clever people are getting these days. It is absolutely beautiful

Nostalgia.☺

hum you are right......!

Piccata? Titicaca! I am Cornholio! I need piccata for my bunghole!

Oh, I love seeing what can be done with old technology. It's a thumb in the eye of planned obsolescence.

It seems like, every time game developers are just starting to get the hang of what their console can do, it's time for the next model to hit the market. (Of course, I haven't bought one since the original XBox. But I do have a few friends.)

I remember my friend's older brother had a strip poker game on his C64. We'd sneak into his room and spend hours trying to get that 8-bit still graphic down to her altogethers.

Haha, I remember those days. Back when all it took to excite me was a pair of vaguely breast shaped clouds or something

The powers of imagination!

Outstanding post and narrative. Thank you for sharing!
resteemed

I am so happy to see this development. The Commodore64 was such my age. We used to go thru Macy's and put in the command prompt to make the display say "Fuck You" all across the screen.

I think the Nuclear Silos are still running on this technology.

Haha, that's...discomforting...

@alexbeyman,
I can't believe you have that machine :O OMG that's history of PC revolution :O Friend this is incredible once one of my friend had 64 MHz Dell branded computer :D And unfortunately we didn't know the value of that PC and used it to testing purposes :/ Those are the marks of today's revolution PCs!
Great article and yeah I am watching those videos now! I know it's not great in graphics, but it's hard to find!

Thanks for sharing such great experience and video with us! Really appreciate your effort!

Cheers~

Where did I say that I have one?

@alexbeyman,
Oh sorry , I thought you have one! Coz of your interesting about VR and other rare technologies all the time and yeah I didn't notice "source"!
Yeah, I didn't notice a reference link for videos as well! Anyway that's my fault! Sorry for that! (And hope you will find that kind of machine... coz of your tasty for rare technologies)

Cheers~

Haha, no problem. Good guess even though it was wrong, I probs will pick one up at some point, it's definitely in line with my interests.

@alexbeyman,
That would be great to hear! Rare technologies and you have some kind of Yin Yang connection :D
Sometimes, I might be busy and you know, concentrate put on entire article might not work well. (Professionally I am an IT guy :/ )
I missed 2 parts of your latest story and hope to find a time space for reading it well. (Definitely I will read them)

Cheers~

The Commodore 64 was my first computer back in 1984. I'm glad to see that there are some people who still do things with it.

@alexbeyman - I can't believe my eyes friend. Where did you find this kind of a machine? Actually now a days, it is very difficult to find one right? And it is very nice to hear that you are using it for gaming. that must be really interesting ... Great work Alex.. :) Good luck... And thank you very much for sharing it with us... Therefore, I wish to ReSteem your post.

+W+ [UpVoted & ReSteemed]

I don't have one, I never said I did. I don't know how you got that impression.

Oh is that so? I am really sorry Alex. I didn't see the references for those videos. And i know you have different kinds of gaming devices, like, SEGA TV games, VR gaming devices, Mini Portable PCs, etc.. So i thought you have bought this one also. I am so sorry for the inconvenience . :)

Thank you for the information. I had no idea that people is still developing software for that amazing machine. Where can I buy one?

Ebay or Amazon. To make them easier to use, there are also kits that let you use an SD card to load programs instead of the old tape drive or floppy disks it normally used. The fan community for these old computers has thought of everything to make using them easier and more fun.

amigo #resteemia at your service

'old is gold, here is the proof'. nice work @alexbeyman

ReSteemia
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