My first personal computer was a Commodore 128 and I loved it (I continue loving it). Its BASIC v7.0 was excellent in graphics and sound and other points (for example KEY command for listing or programming function keys, excellent DO-LOOP[WHILE/UNTIL/EXIT] loop expression), but for programming, as all other 8-bit home computers BASIC I know of, except BBC Micro, is garbage: you can't define procedures and you only have "GOSUB line-number" which is horrible (no name, no arguments...). In BBC BASIC on BBC Micro computer you can define procedures with arguments as you can do on good structured languages (this is the only integrated BASIC on 8-bit home computer I know having such a capable BASIC from factory). Even you can insert assembly code inside BASIC program. Whit procedures and arguments YOU CREATE NEW COMMANDS for BASIC, you expand that language in that way. You can't do that on those other bad BASIC. BASIC V10 in Commodore 65 or BASIC65 con Mega65 add more commands to Comodore 128 BASIC v7.0, but they don't change worst flaw in that BASIC: no procedures (no arguments, etc). PD: What I enjoyed the most in my C128 ROM was integrated machine code MONITOR.
When I was a kid back in the 80s I memorized a little game in Basic, just like your skiing game, but with a little snake trying to avoid stars. I could play it with a joystick even. I think it was only 7 lines of code :)
I still play Shadow Switcher every now and again. Maybe you can try and make a BASIC version of that for the Mega65 :) I wonder, how many Mega65's have been sold by now?
thanks for playing shadow switcher :) actually i have done a "real" mega65 basic game and i've noticed that it's not as easy as i thought. 40 mhz is quite an improvement but can still be slow... as far as mega65 sales go, i think they're about to ship the 3rd batch now (and i think a batch contains 400 units)
basically this is what the MEGA65 (and also the C65) is doing. however, the architectural differences are too big (to my understanding) so that it's not 100% compatible.
With the recently released VISION BASIC for the C64 it fixes all the problems with programming a C64 in BASIC, On the fly compiling, easy graphics and sound commands, and a complete programming system that the C64 has never seen before.
OK. You talked me into it. I just pre-ordered a Mega-65. Finally. I've been wanting one since word first started going around about the original C-65, so I don't know what's been holding me back.
i like assembly too, as i have written numerous games on the C64 in assembly. however, when coding BASIC, i prefer a good set of BASIC commands and functionality instead of having to POKE everything. it's the reason of a language's existence to do things differently from other languages, after all ;)
well, this is not a "game console"-type computer, at least not at this moment - and maybe never. it's more or less a computer for programmers and other Commodore enthusiasts
pretty sure yes :) and i think the 80 column mode might be handy for that. actually, there's a game in the mega65 filehost (lunar taxi) that instantly reminded me of gorillas because of the colors and the 80 column mode: files.mega65.org?id=b3dc243a-ae5d-4ed8-8a0a-8c4443b602c3
@@drwuro Gives me an idea for a possible addition to the game. What if the gorillas are flying and dropping bananas on each other's troupes? Maybe change it to a jungle setting. Just for fun, they could be riding Pegasus'.
yes, it's not cheap. on the other hand, it's a non-profit project, and it's got a very high quality keyboard and a real disk drive etc, and i've been waiting for 7 years until it was finally available for pre-order - so i had plenty of time to think about whether i want it or not :D
@@drwuro I think that less people would complain about the price if we saw programs that do look better than what we saw on the C64 but unfortunately despite the better hardware of the MEGA65 the C64 scene still provides more and better new games on the older machine. That great hardware of the MEGA65 will worth it's price when it is supported by great software. I wish it would improve soon.
Apparently the Mega65 uses a real 4510 processor, which is a derivative of the 6502 processor but with a LOT more features including the ability to run at 40.5mhz. But I wonder why they didn't implement the whole thing in FPGA because that would possibly have allowed the 4510 to run at even higher speed (200mhz anyone?). I'm no electronics expert, so I may not know what I'm talking about! LOL.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere no idea, i guess there must be some reasons for that; interestingly, the Ultimate64's turbo mode has 40 mhz (or 48 mhz?) as well, maybe it's just the maximum possible speed with the fpga's transistor size?
a little fun fact: if you stop the video at 0:53 (and you're able to read German), you can see that an optional white background is addressed in the last paragraph of the accompanying text ;)
I have no interest in the Mega65 (mainly due to the price point, why would I pay nearly as much for a realization of an unreleased prototype 90s computer as I would for a PS5?, hell I can get a low-end gaming PC for the same price) Plus, it's only a matter of time before someone develops a mister core anyway. There's already emulators for the Spectrum NEXT. It's a beautiful piece of hardware, but not worth the price point, at least in my opinion. At least the Spectrum NEXT (which I do own) had a decent price point.
Well, I have no interest in a PS5 or a gaming PC either ;) but I do have interest in this beautiful machine and I followed the project for over 7 years now, and it was always clear to me that I would buy it. I have the Spectrum NEXT too, btw, and while this machine is beautiful as well, I think the simple fact that the MEGA65 is bigger, has a mechanical keyboard and a built-in disk drive etc should make it obvious that the price can't be the same. But yes, I understand that the price may be a bit too high for some. In the end, everybody has to decide for themselves whether it's worth the price or not.
by the way, the mega65-core is open-source, so you can run it on other devices as well, for example it has been originally developed on a NEXYS FPGA board and can still run on it. that way, if the hardware is too expensive, everyone can use this cheaper alternative. i don't know whether it would run on a MiST oder MiSTer, though, as it depends on the size of the FPGA
the presentation of your video is exactly why I wpuld purchase something like the MEAG65. You turn it on and you can start programming, you can use floppy. The 40Mhz is what makes it "usable" for new programs, and the optional SD-card access mak it possible to do "other things" than just 1x Floppy. Unlike most people, I only play games when I am bored, the rest of the time I would rather be creating something.
12:30 "In the beginning I thought I would probably never use the floppy drive, because it's obsolete technology and so on" Yeah wouldn't want some antique storage device on your 40 MHz 8/16-bit computer
i was joking there. lots of people in the community know that i'm a huge fan of the 3.5 disk drive, as there are also some people who'd prefer to have a mega65 without the drive. i always stood up for the drive, even though i was quite sure that i'd almost never use it, because on my c64, i also use mostly modern media. but it's a different thing when you're saving your own stuff, because then, the disk drive feels rather handy, which i discovered during my initial mega65 basic experiments. for trying out other software from other developers, the sd card is of course much more handy instead.
Interesting machine. I only played with a C64 back when I was 12 years old in school because the school I attended has the C64. I was fully aware of the 128 when it came out in 1985 but at that time my family only had a TI-99/4A and a newly bought Atari 800XL (then being discontinued to make room for the XE series). I never realized Commodore attempted a follow-up to the 128 at the start of the '90s but then Commodore figured 8-bit was outdated. Too bad, it could have made a great budget machine for those that couldn't afford an Amiga. Anyways the Charset command is exactly like the Call Char command for the TI-99/4A. On that computer, for example, to change the apostrophe into the same smiley face, it's CALL CHAR(96,"3C5A5A7E42663C00"). 96 being the ASCII character number for apostrophe (') on TI BASIC.
First of all - i really need this fine machine (saving up for it) and second ... i would love to subscribe to the Megazine. One question tho .. doe it come finished .. without the need to add any chips (SID etc.). Thanks and regards from Dänemark.
yes, the hardware itself is finished (no additional chips needed), however software and firmware development is still ongoing, so don't expect a 100% finished product yet!
The MEGA65 is surely a cool system. I have also been following its development for years. It’s just unfortunate that the final product is priced way beyond what the majority can realistically afford. This, unfortunately, is going to severely limit the size of the owner community. We can only hope that the early enthusiast uptake is high enough that pricing can eventually be reduced through increased manufacture volume.
i'm currently working on a little more elaborate project in BASIC, also making use of some more features. however, some of the more advanced features of the MEGA65 are hard to use from BASIC
This channel (fortunately) seems to be more about how you can cool little BASIC games much more easily than on the C64 rather than some amigaish ASM game stuff. Maybe you should check out shallan64's channel here, he does the things you are searching for, I guess.
@@UltimatePerfection It actually shows Mega65 features. That's the whole point of the video. Showing off Mega65 BASIC and how easily you can create simple games with it.
