Commodore 64...what do get?

[in99flames]

So...last week I was out of the country visiting a friend in Europe. His family gave me their Commodore 64 (PAL version)with the disk drive(1541 model). I never had one of these...nor do I know what to start with. I am missing the cable to connect the disk drive to the Commodore itself. I appears to be a standard DIN port similar to the Genesis 1's video port.

  I know it was very popular in the early 80s but I never had one. I do not have any programs or games. Can i hook this up to my TV? It appears I can but I figured I would try to ask someone that would know more about them before I attempt things. Also..What should I get for it? Thanks :-)

[in99flames]

Aah! Ok. Ill look into those. I appreciate the input. Its been a computer/game system I've wanted it for a bit but never knew much about it.

[o.pwuaioc]

What other systems from that era do you have? I'd recommend getting Colecovision versions for most ports (some are best on 2600, some on C64, some on 5200, but most on CV).

As for C64 itself, get Bard's Tale, Creatures, Creatures 2, Giana Sisters, Jumpman Jr., Maniac Mansion, Sword of Fargoal, Turrican/Turrican II (no music, so listen to the Amiga version in the background while you play), Maniac Mansion, and the Ultima series.

Also get this: http://www.1541ultimate.net/content/index.php

[bob]

well, paradroid is a must have classic

[Arkhan Asylum]

Check out the chameleon addon cart.


Gateway to apshai, space taxi, last ninja, project firestarter!

[ClodBusted]

Can i hook this up to my TV?

This should help:
https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/A/V_Jack

Available video signals:
Composite video (CVBS)
S-Video (YC)

Regardless if you use a TV, suitable Commodore monitor, or some other professional monitor (PVM, BVM), they need to be able to be compatible with PAL signals for your machine. Since your machine outputs a video signal at 50 Hz refresh rate and PAL color standard.

[in99flames]

This is great information. Thank you guys! I had no clue maniac mansion and ultima are on C64....this is good news to me haha. Ive read a bit seeing that there are a ton of good games for it....im going to explore a bit now with these suggestions.

From that era...not many unfortunately. I have a lot of consoles but this early era is what I am lacking. I have an Odyssey 2, intellivision, an atari pong, and a dayya marume 2000 game system(obscure pong clone from the 70s). I dont have any original Ataris yet.

I was just happy this was given to me.  I also didnt realize how much of a following there is for this thing too.  The only drawback is that I am using a step-up converter to power it since it is PAL...but i heard a normal US power adapter will power it no problem. I dont know though.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Just get a usa c64.   Theyre like ten bucks lol.   

[ccovell]

For the time being, try to find a cheap SD2IEC unit for sale online.  This can let you download any program or .D64 disk image from the 'net and load it from a virtual disk.  For games that don't load from SD2IEC (because of fastloaders or copy protection), well, use the real disk drive you have.

You're lucky to have a PAL model.  Most action games & scene demos target PAL machines.

Oh, and try to find an EPYX fastloader cart ASAP (if your C64 doesn't have a fast load cart/JiffyDOS ROM already); it'll preserve your sanity as the C64 disk data rate is glacial...

[Dicer]

For the time being, try to find a cheap SD2IEC unit for sale online.  This can let you download any program or .D64 disk image from the 'net and load it from a virtual disk.  For games that don't load from SD2IEC (because of fastloaders or copy protection), well, use the real disk drive you have.

You're lucky to have a PAL model.  Most action games & scene demos target PAL machines.

Oh, and try to find an EPYX fastloader cart ASAP (if your C64 doesn't have a fast load cart/JiffyDOS ROM already); it'll preserve your sanity as the C64 disk data rate is glacial...

This and a jiffydos and you'll be pretty well set...

[in99flames]

Hmmm alright. Well i just popped it on for the first time. I tested the power supply with a multimeter...its outputting 5.21v DC. I hear thats borderline bad. Ill look into fixing.
 I have it connected with an NES RF adapter(for now) and despite a fuzzy image...it came online!!! It also came online with an apparent infamous error..."?out of memory Error in 0" then the next line says "ready.".....hmmm needs RAM repair apparently.


Edit: its outputting 5.21v DC at the plug...that should be ok actually as it will drop a little going through the unit if im not mistaken...

[ClodBusted]

Regarding the power supply, the C64 wiki provides information for you, too:

https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Power_Supply_Connector
https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Power_Supply

The Commodore 64 is supplied by an external power supply unit via the power supply connector. It needs 5V DC voltage and 9V AC voltage. The 5V DC voltage should fluctuacte in a range of 4.95 to 5.10 Volt, else the C64 will not work properly. The power supply normally produces a voltage slightly higher than 5V, because of a small resistor between the voltage regulator and ground in the power supply.

also:

Owners of a C64 using an original power supply should regularly (for example, once a year) check the 5V DC function of their power supplies, as they tend to produce higher voltages as they wear out. Because the C64 almost directly uses the 5V to power its chips, higher voltages can become dangerous for the Commodore 64. If you measure the voltage of your power supply, you should interpret this as follows:
4.95 - 5.1V   Power supply functions normally
5.1 - 5.2V   Minor concern, measure the power supply more often
5.2 - 5.5   The power supply is failing. You Commodore 64 will not die right away, but it is an unhealthy situation. Replacement or repair of the power supply is recommended.
5.5 - 6V   Your Commodore 64 is in danger.
>6V    In most situations where a Commodore 64 got killed by its power supply, the voltage had risen above 6V. Usually the RAM memory gets damaged first.

[in99flames]

Yea....maybe ill repair the power supply. Cant hurt. It needs memory chips anyways at this point. Maybe ill get lucky and. By fixing the power supply itll correct the error too.

[in99flames]

Ok not working on that power supply....after prying off the bottom all i got is a huge solid block of 30 year old epoxy. Not happening.

[Galder]

ULTIMA IV   

[Arkhan Asylum]

http://www.syntiac.com/chameleon.html
http://www.1541ultimate.net/content/index.php

If you decide to go apeshit with C64, the above are things you should consider.

I would not be surprised if you can find a SD2IEC cheap as shit because everyone jumped to these things.

I always forget about those (the SD2IEC).   Some people mount them inside the machine, IIRC.

[DeshDildo]

I second most of what was recommended.  I personally wouldn't use an original PSU at this point and there are plenty of folks that produce high quality modern built PSU's for Commodore.  #1 mod you can do is jiffydos.  #2 is flash drive (I have an internally mounted SD2IEC on mine).  I would also recommend grabbing one of the S-video cables on ebay that are made for C64.  I also have a canibalized NES controller modded for my C64.  I have "up" also wired to "a button" as most games use "up" to jump.

Maintenance wise I would just replace all of the ram and I would highly recommend replacing the original PLA chip.  The only replacement I would use would be PLAnkton. 

As far as games, I can't believe nobody mentioned Space Taxi.

[Arkhan Asylum]

As far as games, I can't believe nobody mentioned Space Taxi.

I mentioned it... lol.

gitchu some glasses duder

[DeshDildo]

As far as games, I can't believe nobody mentioned Space Taxi.

I mentioned it... lol.

gitchu some glasses duder

I already have teh glasses but I must still be blind.  My eyes are all derp derp hsheidjckxsjhshd

[johnnykonami]

Impossible Mission and Lazy Jones are two of my favorites, I highly recommend them.  I also personally rebought the gold box AD&D games from GOG.com.  I had Pool of Radiance as a kid, but the last disk failed on me so I never got to beat it.  In the middle of an attempt to rectify that now, though I haven't played for weeks just being busy at work.  Pool of Radiance was a great Xmas memory (one year before I turbob'ed) but I think you have to be open to old CRPGs to recommend it to you now.

[Arkhan Asylum]

The goldbox shit on C64 is great.  but, you are honestly better getting the collections for DOS for sure. 

They are the same games with no load times.  C64 vs DOS visuals are basically identical for those games.   Don't injure yourself on load times.


Really if the game game is not exclusive to C64 (Legacy of the ancients or magic candle), you really ought to just DOS it up to avoid load times and pain of disk swaps.   

Especially for Ultima.   

Ultima especiallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.     Reconstruction.void.net has so many DOS patches and updates that it is a better experience than C64.

[Gypsy]

I'm putting together a Win98 P4 tower to DOS it up. I'm not buying any of those retardedly priced voodoo cards or anything though. But yeah this will give me good DOS support to play my old floppy discs on something besides my ancient laptop.

[DeshDildo]

I'm putting together a Win98 P4 tower to DOS it up. I'm not buying any of those retardedly priced voodoo cards or anything though. But yeah this will give me good DOS support to play my old floppy discs on something besides my ancient laptop.

I still use my old Pentium II Dell machine for classic PC stuff.  I bought a Voodoo5 5500 for it when they were new.  It still works great.  I about shit when I saw what they sell for when I decided to look at buying a backup.

[Gypsy]

Yeah it's pretty stupid. Back when that card was new all I had was a ghetto af tower that had been used at a bank previously and was given to me for free. Of course I was like, 12 at the time so I didn't really care too much.

I thought for a second on a Pentium II build but figured it would be much more of a pain. If I had stuff from that era still it would be different but I'd literally have to buy pretty much everything. Whereas I have quite a bit of P4 stuff lying around still.

[soop]

One of the best c64 games I remember playing was a Wonderboy title.  I can't remember how many were made, but it was one of the very adventury type ones rather than a simple platformer.  I remember being very surprised how deep it was (considering Wonderboy had several very simple titles) and it was exceptionally polished.  Reminded me more of a console title.

Pretty sure the C64 had a decent selection of Dizzy games too, which are always worth a play.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if they stood the test of time today, they were always some top notch games.

[in99flames]

Geez. I have a lot to check out. I appreciate the suggestions. I did get an EPYX cart. about to buy a game now.

[in99flames]

I ended up getting a New power supply...a dead test cart..svideo cable...and the Epyx fastloader. I found and fixed the faulty memory chip at U24. Just waiting on some games to come in the mail. At least the commodore is alive once more.

[ClodBusted]

Nice to see your C64 project coming along. Pics please!

[Arkhan Asylum]

Nice to see your C64 project coming along. Pics please!

yeah man we all need to see a C64.

never seen one of those plugged in before.

[ToyMachine78]

TSR Gold Box AD&D... Best damn games on the C64. Pretty damn collectable now though, so probably pricey.

[Arkhan Asylum]

they actually are not that expensive, because they were mass produced as fuck, rereleased digitally a few times, exist on compilations, and all of that.

The C64 ones SHOULD be pretty cheap.

If not, shit, time to sell mine!  I have the DOS ones too, lol.

[ToyMachine78]

they actually are not that expensive, because they were mass produced as fuck, rereleased digitally a few times, exist on compilations, and all of that.

The C64 ones SHOULD be pretty cheap.

If not, shit, time to sell mine!  I have the DOS ones too, lol.

True, but you need them complete. All disks, all disks functional, journal book, and decoder wheel.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Yeah, I have that.