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New VICE Version Released
Posted by Csabo on 2009-12-29
We're a few days behind announcing the new version of VICE, the multi-platform, multi-computer emulator. This version finally brings some improvements to the Plus/4 emulation:
  • Added Digibooster SID Cart add-on emulation.
  • Added SID Cart joystick port emulation.
  • Fixed bug in tape recording.
  • Improved graphics handling.

That last line is the most promising. After running some quick tests, indeed there are some noticeable improvements. Demoparts that contain FLI effects seem more stable, and Sinx+Siny is partially working. Unfortunately even though those particular pieces of software look better, they are still not properly emulated. For our scene, this leaves VICE behind Plus4Emu and YAPE. Still, we send our thanks to the VICE team and hope for better Plus/4 emulation in the future!
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Merry Christmas To All From MMS!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-12-22
MMS Xmas 2009MMS released a new demo in time for the holidays: a little greeting to everyone on the scene. I'd like to join in and say Happy Holidays to all! Check out MMS Xmas 2009 and enjoy!
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A Few Hungarian Programs
Posted by Csabo on 2009-12-21
BetüpókerWe have updates for you about 3 Hungarian programs for the Commodore 16. Lacus recently got his hands on two tapes (via Vatera.hu, a Hungarian auction site) and he's sharing his new treasures with us. First we now have Betüpóker, a previously missing game. Second, we now have an alternate cassette cover for Karakter-szerkesztő. Finally, RoePipi found a game called Kisvasút, which was a type-in, but the source is currently not known. Check them out!
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New Picture Show From MMS
Posted by Csabo on 2009-12-16
Iron MaidenMMS recently released a new Iron Maiden themed picture show: Iron Maiden. (Sorry for the delay in announcing this release!) Check out two disk-sides worth of FLI, HFLI and IHFLI pictures. The author sends special thanks to István Varga for his fantastic converter program. He also recommends using the fastest emulation mode (if you're viewing it on an emulator), since each picture is 170 blocks. Enjoy!
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'Tis the season to be gaming... Fingers Malone Remake
Posted by Chicken on 2009-12-15
Fingers Malone RemakeHomeGnome announced in the forum yesterday that his Fingers Malone remake (which was in the news before while still in development) has reached v1.0 status.
For those who have followed the work in progress this might not come as much of a surprise but the finished game is a nice one indeed. Invite Blinky, Sparky, Thingy and Wotsit for a round of nostalgia with a fresh new look. Download is available here.

Update:
HomeGnome already released a new version which is a bit easier and also features an additional music. Download for that version is available here.
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Club Info 114
Posted by Csabo on 2009-12-10
Club Info 114The latest issue of Club Info is here! Erich/Unlimited packed two disks sides full of German articles and new or recent releases. On side B you will find: Weihnacht, Merge (Einf), Disketten Pruefer by Lukian, Triple Play - a game from Australia, Toss and Indiana Jones Demo - converted by Erich. Download it and check it out!
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Service Communication
Posted by Luca on 2009-12-02
At the moment, the forum (including news comments feature) seems to be out of action, and Csabo is on vacation.
We will wait for him, then everything will get well, of course. Be patient, in the meantime use PMs intensively ;)

Update: The forum is working again, sorry for the downtime.
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New Slideshow From Assassins
Posted by Luca on 2009-12-01
Time Travel SlideshowOne of the best graphicians around in the Plus/4 scene, is back with a little cute slideshow demo.
Kichy of Assassins is back on the keys, to unveil and let us ponder on a hard concept: the notion of Time, a theoretical construct which has been closely studied by philosophers of all ages.
Time Travel Slideshow pictures collection represents his own 8bit view about the argument, in order to take a look at it carefully in any aspect. Let's look carefully, then.
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Our Brand New Plus/4 Archive
Posted by Luca on 2009-11-24
Othersi.deIt was the year 1994: everything had born with the Delta System's FTP repository, which had shown it was possible to store swap and spread Plus/4 stuff via Internet. That repository had been enlarged, becoming the Rulez.org Plus/4 Archive, fulcrum for any user. Unfortunately the historical Hungarian archive can be updated no more, and it rested frozen since March 2008.

These days we've put online the 3rd incarnation, and thanks to Chicken which has made it possible by offering his own free FTP space!
Othersi.de is now our main reference Internet archive, continued exactly from where Rulez.org has stopped, and it's right now the largest existent 264 software archive in the whole WWW, from where you can easily pick up all the Plus/4 related demos, games, documents, tools and magazines.
As for the past Rulez.org era, Luca will keep it updated, reporting all the changes and variations into the appropriate .txt files you can find in the upper folder.

So, welcome Othersi.de! Ready to start again!
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Botticelli Bilderdisk 34
Posted by Csabo on 2009-11-21
Botticelli Bilderdisk 34Erich/Unlimited is keeping the scene alive during these release-starved days: he just released Botticelli Bilderdisk 34. Check out this picture show of two disk sides, containing 32 multicolor pictures using the Magica driver.
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Novotrade Promotional Material
Posted by Csabo on 2009-11-17
Lacus once again found something interesting: we have added the releavant page scans of a promotional material booklet from Novotrade. Simply titled "Ajánlat" (Offerings), it lists all their releases for Commodore 16, Commodore Plus/4 and a few other insignificant platforms no-one could possibly be interested in. Unfortunately the listings only include the program names and suggested retail price, the product codes aren't there. Still, at least the archive hunters will know what is still missing, what to look for.

Lacus also managed to create a working TAP file for Hidra. From that we were able to create a proper PRG crack which works on a regular Commodore 16, replacing the previous broken program file. Enjoy!
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New Version Of Thrust!
Posted by Ulysses777 on 2009-11-13
ThrustWe have some great new contributions to the site, from none other than Matt Young, who coded the C16 port of the classic Thrust!

Apparently Thrust was originally released with a bug in the scrolling, and although Matt was able to fix it, this version never saw the light of day...until now! Having transferred his original code off his 5.25" disks, he has released a revised version of Thrust, which not only has greatly improved scrolling, but also includes built-in cheats for infinite lives and fuel, as well as invulnerability and a level select!

And if that's not enough, he has also released the game's source code as well!

Both downloads are on the Thrust page. Many thanks to Matt for all this stuff, enjoy!
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New Uploads
Posted by Csabo on 2009-11-12
We have to additions to the database this time: Rüdiger scanned the 8-page German booklet that accompanies Two To One by Kingsoft. As far as we know, sadly this game was the last commercial release by a large software company for the Commodore Plus/4. The sign of the times also shows on the booklet: the instructions list the Plus/4, but also Amiga and even IBM PC. Another interesting fact about this game is that since it came on the market so late, it wasn't very well known, and some members of the Hungarian demogroup EVS actually converted from C64 what is essentially the same game: Magnet-X.

Second, Lacus found another Hungarian educational program: Teljes Hasonulás. We have the two part TAP file, no cover as of yet. It's unlikely that any more youngsters will actually learn from this oldie, but it does present the subject matter (grammar in this case) in a playful, colorful way with some background music. Big thanks for these guys!
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New Cover Scan And TAP Files!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-11-07
MozgasLacus is back again with a few rare goodies straight outta Hungary. First we have Mozgás (Motion), an educational program package in 5 chapters. It teaches areas such as speed, average speed, relativity of movement, free fall and vibrations. This product bears the code "ED 74", one more missing piece found! The second interesting addition is the original TAP file for A hős lovag (The Heroic Knight), an adventure game. With this file, the archive for that game is finally complete. By the way, it's from Brazil, who is thanked on the loading screen of the game. Finally we have one more new addition: Fizikai Mérések (Physics Measurements). We've known about this release for a long time, since it was added to the database back in 2004, but we now have a TAP file for it. (Still no cover, but it's a start!)

Big thanks to Lacus for these! Be sure to be on the lookout for old treasures: our archive is still not complete!
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New Fingers Malone Remake In The Works!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-11-02
Fingers Malone RemakeHomeGnome sent us word that he is working on a new Fingers Malone remake for the PC. You can follow the development process here (in Hungarian). From the preview images it looks pretty neat! The current development plans show playable levels by the end of this month.

This brings up an interesting question: does anyone know if the author should ask permission from anyone before releasing this game? If so, should it be the author (Doug Turner, who posted on our forum before), or the company who released the game? Talk it out on the forum!
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New Cover Scan
Posted by Csabo on 2009-10-28
Logikai ÁramkörökWe haven't had new cover scans added in a while. To remedy this situation, Lacus sent us a little surprise: Logikai Áramkörök (Logic Circuits) is another missing piece of our puzzle. We mentioned before that while we pretty much have all the Mastertronic releases and other English software houses covered, things is far from complete on the Hungarian side.

This particular educational program, which explains the various logic gates, bears the production code of "ED 70". At this moment we don't even have the full list of releases yet, but this is a good step in the right direction! Big thanks to Lacus and Brazil himself (the orignal author), who got their hands on a copy of this tape!
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Plus4IDE Updated!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-10-22
Plus4IDE, the Integrated Development Environment for coding on for the Plussy was updated to version 1.64. The update itself is bugfixes and cosmetic improvements. However, for the first time ever, I got code contributed for a project, from gerliczer. This is much appreciated and a welcome turn of events! Also thanks to MikeZ for pointing out some problems with the documentation. (Good to know people actually read it :-))

If you use Plus4IDE, you may want to updated. Don't forget that all my utilities are released with full source code, so feel free to look into and tinker with them. Even if you're not a programmer, bug reports, requests or any other kind of feedback is appreciated.
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Hand-drawn Mercenary Maps and Revamped Solutions Page
Posted by Csabo on 2009-10-16
Roepipi scanned two ancient treasures: hand-drawn maps for Mercenary - Escape From Targ. These are quite detailed and are in color, marked up in Hungarian. Check them out, and browse the game's detail pages for a bit - it's the perfect example of how much information we have on some releases.

Allow me to use this newspost to bring the revamped Solutions page to your attention. Here you will be able to find the solution for every Commodore 16 or Commodore Plus/4 adventure game. Khm. Eventually. As of this writing, we have 254 unsolved or partially solved games. If only one person adds only one solution per day, we'll have this project wrapped up by June 27, 2010 (mark your calendars!). Enjoy!
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New Releases From RoePipi!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-10-10
New Releases From RoePipiRoePipi surprised us with two brand new Commodore Plus/4 game releases: Foxish and Maze of Mazes. Both are nicely polished and definitely worth a look. The author even provided us with nice write-ups of each game:

Foxish: a real-time hunting action/rhythm game written in BASIC 3.5
  • runs on systems with at least 32k RAM
  • real-time hunting action: seek and chase preys, bring them to your grateful fox family
  • virtual 3D scrolling system
  • enormous terrain to explore
  • transient time system, lighting and fog effects, breath-taking landscape
  • 30 minutes guaranteed gameplay
  • intimate music scores (can be turned off)
  • immensely sweet and unique graphics
  • hidden extras

This is what would have been said about Foxish in 1987:
"In PipiSoft's new game - Foxish - you play the head of a fox family as he goes hunting into the night. He must search for a prey, get as close as possible, hunt them down via a rhythm game and take them back into the foxhole.

In the main menu you can view the hungry fox family, set the volume level (so there's no need to fumble with the volume knob on your television set), and select one of two possible fur colors (orange or red, probably the writer of the program could not decide between them). The "EMULATOR SPEED" option allows the entire game to be slowed down, however, we could not find a practical use for this option.

The game features a total of four different music pieces - which is not bad if we take the fact that this is a BASIC program into consideration - however, the final piece that can be heard when the player wins is less than enjoyable.

Due to the circumstances of the game's production - which is revealed at the end of the game - the player cannot die, and the members of the fox family won't go hungry. Instead, after an apology from the protagonists the same level can be replayed. Out only enemy (well, besides all the animals that constantly attempt to escape us), is time itself, whose passing is indicated by the slowly spanning Moon at the top of the screen. With dawn the hunters arrive as well and we must quickly return home.

If, however, our task is well done, the fox hole will be slowly filled up with little foxes."


Maze of Mazes:
  • runs on 32k and 64k systems
  • play the mazes or build your own!
  • 38 built-in maps of mazeness
  • 4-way infinite scrolling mazes
  • stairways and goal objects
  • full-blown maze editor
  • random mazes for the lazy ones
  • build hundreds of mazes up to the free RAM!
  • create art with just typing!
  • custom colors, walls and floors for every map!
  • customizable title and ending screen
  • 3 different sounds with adjustable volume!


Besides these new ones, we've noticed that RoePipi's homepage contains a few more games that we did not list before, so be sure to check out: Pipi's Stuffs, Üzlet Egy Tyúkért, Pipitrain and Madarak Bolygója.
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Club Info 113
Posted by Csabo on 2009-10-08
Club Info 113Erich/Unlimited released Issue 113 of the German diskmag Club Info. Side A has the articles, while the other side contains some new programs: Purete 9 & 10 (plans in Page Setter format for a Joystick/Paddle), Brick Buster (a good game from Australia), Battleship Game (converted from the PET by Erich himself) and End-Raterei (from Lukian).

On a somewhat related note, Jakec sent us a little BASIC utility: Művelet Tervez­ő Segédprogram. It performs some very specific calculations, might come in handy it's what you need.


AustroSpeed Decompiled!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-10-05
The AustroSpeed Compiler is an excellent piece of software: it's a 2-pass BASIC compiler that turns your BASIC programs into P-Code. We here at Plus/4 World concentrate a lot on games and demos, so why should we still care about BASIC? I think it's one of those things that need to be understood well to be appreciated: could YOU code all floating point operations, string functions and array handling in machine code? That barely scratches the surface of what kind of heavy lifting BASIC does.

The AustroSpeed Compiler is a bit of a mystery. There is no known source code for it and there are no known +4 decompilers. We're happy to announce that a successful decompilation has been done by MikeZ! He managed this with a modified C64 Austro-Blitz decompiler. During that process it was learned that AustroSpeed +4 was itself compiled by Blitz, and it was written entirely in BASIC V2.0. The decomp consists of a machine language file and a BASIC file. (It won't run as a BASIC program without some modification, because it was coded to run compiled, and some things just aren't where they should be in the BASIC version.)

This, along the nearly complete reverse engineering of the P-Code format is provided for those who wish to look inside of AustroSpeed +4 and perhaps want to modify and recompile it. This effort also provides an excellent insight to the nature and syntax of P-Code, and to the structure of a compiled program. You can read more and find the download link on the AustroSpeed Compiler page.


YAPE 0.84
Posted by Luca on 2009-10-03
Now the summer hiatus is over, a small update to Yape is ready.
Mainly tape related fixes/features but let us not forget the simple external assembler that is now added to the monitor and is available via the A (or .) command, just like for the good ole TEDMON. It could still be improved but for now it'll suffice I guess. It also supports illegal opcodes, of course.

But here's the full log of what's been changed:
. implemented a simple assembler in the external monitor (yay, at last!)
. tape head adjust dialog for wave samples
. optionally invert tape sample input signal (soundcards may invert the phase while recording WAV's)
. tape fast forward and rewind in 15 sec steps
. TAP's with non-native encoding now supported (C64, VIC20 frequencies)
. bugfixes (sound, tape)

Let's run to the Yape's page, then grab the appropriate build, or be there directly:


Conversions are back: Container!
Posted by Luca on 2009-09-29
ContainerConverting games from C64 can be considered a real art form, and the Plus/4 has an ancient tradition about that.

Hence, here comes Chronos, who decided to seriously pass thru the gates of crossassemblers'coding with a first-step attempt (supported by Csio too!), which includes both intro and conversion, a burnout beginning! Released under the Absence And Wilds label, Container is a C64 entry for the Minigame Compo edition 2009. Originally coded by Charles Grey aka Iceout/Avatar, it gives you smart'n'cute action in 1 Kilobyte only, plus an extended instructions'textfile and with original logos included too.


Mychess 2.0 TAP Version Found!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-09-19
Mychess 2.0 loading from tapeAt long last, Gaia has created a C16 encoded TAP file for Mychess 2.0. This is the original tape release, as mustered by Master Crown and Master Pigmy themselves. Gaia was able to retrieve this almost lost file from a cassette, originally copied in 1988 for an uncle :-) A great find indeed, worth checking out!


Never type 'google' into Google!
Posted by Luca on 2009-09-15
The IT CrowdHi there, buddies! Here's Luca/FIRE from Italy! How's going?

Autumn is coming, and we all know that when leaves begin to fall down, that's the best time to stay at home and code! During this summer, in the interstitial times swimming in the Mediterranean, tripping in Northern Europe and relaxing nighttime at the Senese thermal baths, I wasted further time watching TV series, and I simply loved The IT Crowd!
But I spent my time also playing with cute Plus/4 tools, especially the beloved Csabo's Wave Converter, a terribily funny toy!

From the merging of those two, here comes a little digi demo: The IT Crowd! Just to: celebrate this adorable british stuff; to put some code altogether and see it works; to induce all of you in producing and releasing everything you want, despite quality perfection parties or whatever else!

Oh, and remember: never type 'google' into Google!


Club Info 112
Posted by Csabo on 2009-09-09
Club Info 112A little later than usual, Erich has finished the latest issue of the German diskmag: Club Info 112 is here! Side B has new programs: Divis N-Stellen and Dez/Hex/Bin-Wand from Lukian, Weltzeit, Pick up, Mind-Master, and a game from Australia called Rock Alley. Check it out and enjoy!


Árok Party #11
Posted by Chronos on 2009-08-24
BeachThis year's coolest 8 bit Hungarian scene event is over now - yes I'm talking about Arok - and we're proud again because Ati submitted a marvelous picture to the graphics competition that has reached the 5th place. Good work and keep up with new stuff!

You can check everything in one pack at the party's homepage at
Arok Homepage


Zauberland Maps And Solutions
Posted by Csabo on 2009-08-22
Zauberland IIChicken dug up a few old pages: he sent us maps/solutions for the two German language adventure games he converted and debugged: Zauberland and Zauberland II (Land of Magic). These are from 1997! You can find them on our Solutions page - which is currently being revamped. You can already see the language of each game marked, as well as which games do not yet have a solution. If you like this genre, help us find a solution for every adventure on the Commodore 16 and Commodore Plus/4!


Johnson's Point Of View
Posted by Luca on 2009-08-17
Turn on your Commodore Plus/4. Ok now press F1, then Return. Yes, that's the 3-Plus-1, you're right: both beauty and beast depending by who was talking in that certain time.

And, to say, what about a bit of truth from the man who created it?
On the screen where you read "3-PLUS-1", below you can see a name, David W. Johnson.
And on the 24th of July, David W. Johnson wrote to Mike Dailly, giving his own point of view, the missing piece of the puzzle that you can't find on the big books or the famous sites.

What do you think about reading the letter?


C16/Plus4 Game Quiz 02
Posted by Csabo on 2009-08-08
How well do you know the classic C16 and Plus/4 games? Very well, you say? How about their music? Now you can put your knowledge to the test with our C16/Plus4 Game Quiz 02. You'll have to identify 20 well know games just by listening to short clips from their music.

What are you waiting for? Pump up the volume on your speakers and get started now!


Plus4IDE Updated
Posted by Csabo on 2009-07-08
A new version of Plus4IDE, the Commodore Plus/4 Integrated Development Environment was released today. Big thanks to gerliczer for his feature requests and beta testing. Here's what's new:
  • Better documentation (see help menu)
  • Re-definable shortcut keys
  • Window position and normal/maximized status is remembered between sessions
  • CTRL+TAB allows cycling between tabs
  • Any editor window can be closed (not just the last one :-))
  • Comment/uncomment code block works more intuitively
The source code is also released, feel free to make or request changes. Enjoy!


SVS-Calc 1.0 released!
Posted by Luca on 2009-06-25
SVS-Calc 1.0The best way to celebrate a new summer (northern hemisphere, guys!): a long awaited release which let us to put our tongues out at Micro$oft Excel, and use the Plus/4 rather.

SVS finally released the final version of SVS-Calc 1.0, your ultimate spreadsheet-ing weapon to calculate, compute, elaborate, graphically show everything you need to! All of this and more, can be easily performed thanks to a very intuitive interface, in order to immediately ignite your job in a very little time. Included in the .zip pack, you will also find a brief but quite complete manual, in which all the features have been schematically exposed, your straight guide to the program.

Bill Gate$, your empire of obscure domination ends here today, SVS-Calc 1.0 has just arrived in the city!


GfxEdit Updated (V0.64)
Posted by Csabo on 2009-06-04
The cross-platform graphics editor Csabo's Gfx Edit has been updated to version 0.64. Once again thanks to Ati for his feature requests, feedback and testing. Here's the short list of changes:
  • Preview window added next to the color palette
  • Screen update optimization for faster performance
  • PRG file import and export works better, saves extra color information like Multi-Botticelli
  • A few minor bugfixes
If you're planning on drawing Plus/4 logos or pictures on your PC, head to the Tools page to download it. Enjoy!


Club Info Issue 111
Posted by Csabo on 2009-06-02
Club Info 111Erich/Unlimited has just finished putting the final touches on the latest issue of the German disk-mag: Club Info. Issue 111 is available for your downloading pleasure! Side A is filled with German language articles. Be sure to check the B side of the disk for some new stuff: 4 utilities from Lukian, Mozzie Zapper (a game from Australia), Flipper/Bas and Demo Pack 2 (converted by Erich). Enjoy!


YAPE 0.83! Get it double!
Posted by Luca on 2009-05-23
Here comes a major release for YAPE, which raises up to version 0.83 just today.

One thing you'll notice immediately: two YAPE.EXE files in the usual .zipped pack! The added one is compiled in order to run even on WIN98/NT, a feature YAPE had lost because of some compiler's troubles. No probs by now!

Other addons and fixes in this version are: you can choose by yourself if you dare to have F12 key as immediate quit; SID card DigiBlaster (8bit DAC) support has been now fully added; occasional GCR data corruption problem has been fixed.

Of course, run to get it from the usual place:


limiTED2: results out!
Posted by Luca on 2009-04-26
...and judgement day has come, in the very end!

limiTED2 is over! Congratulations to all the participants, the voters, the supporters in general! Hail to the winners, you coded astonishing stuff, for real!
This year, the quality of the single releases was dangerously high, making the challenge very bloody: category compos won for a single point, overtaking at any new votesheet and so on!
Enter the official page in order to see the final ranking, or download the charts in .XLS format, or better download the .D64 image with all the entries and a fresh restro to show the results.

Time to vote on the usual archives now, let's go!


D64 Recall - Bushrat Round 2
Posted by Csabo on 2009-04-22
Just a quite note that 11 more ZIP files have been added to D64 Recall - Bushrat Edition. This is 60 MB more stuff of what Jim has uploaded for us, now public for everyone to grab. Some files may contain duplicates, so sorting is up to you. Nevertheless there's lots of good stuff to be found so dig in!


YAPE 0.82 Released!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-04-21
Gaia updated his popular Commodore Plus/4 emulator, YAPE to version 0.82. According to the change log, quite a few bugs have been fixed. You may also get an up to 30% performance increase due to profile guided optimization.

It's worth pointing out that this version can now correctly emulate Sinx+siny, the recently released limiTED2 entry, which contains an unusual and previously unknown TED effect. Download it from the usual place, enjoy!


Two New Italian Cover Scans
Posted by Csabo on 2009-04-19
GunslingerPanchoBitGlamour found two more missing pieces of the puzzle - the puzzle being the complete collection of all commercial Commodore 16 and Plus/4 games ever released! Both are Italian re-releases of classic games. The first one is Gunslinger, which already had an interesting cover, the German Waffenslinger release. This time we've added "Out Of Law", which is the Visiogame release. The second cover scan is for Pancho, and the re-release is from Armati. Glad to have these in the collection. Enjoy!


limiTED2 Compo Enters Voting Phase
Posted by Csabo on 2009-04-19
The scene is abuzz with the new releases, but an official summary and announcement is due.

Phase one of the compo ends and we're very happy with the participation and the quality of the entries! The final tally is five 128 byte entries, five 512 byte entries and six 1K ones. You can now download the 16 fantastic mini demos that the contestants lovingly crafted for your enjoyment. So watch them, enjoy them, think about them, and eventually rank them. You get a whole week to cast your vote, the voting deadline is April 25, 2009.

You can find the download pack and the voting links on the official page.


Club Info 110 Released
Posted by Csabo on 2009-04-09
Club Info 110Erich/Unlimited is here with Issue 110 of Club Info. The German language two-side diskmag is chock full of articles and recent/new programs. The new releases you will find on the B side: Temp. Umrechner, Pegboard, and two images in PageSetter format.

Erich also sent us the new part of his Hires Color series. Hires Color 3 has 16 hires pictures on each side. Most of them very professionally done, they illustrate well how to use the limited color space of the hires graphics format of the Commodore Plus/4. Enjoy!


D64 Recall - Bushrat Edition
Posted by Csabo on 2009-04-08
In 2001 we gave you the original D64 Recall, in 2002 we followed it up with D64 Recall TomHX Edition. This year we present you with D64 Recall - Bushrat Edition! Hurry on to download 60 MB worth of files, archived for the ages by Jim Hehl. There's also a handy (albeit large) text file that contains the full index of all disk images, it can be used for text searching.

Inside there's a lot of treasures to be found - the especially relevant parts are probably the "Graphics Viewers" archives. We need to sort of quite a few of this stuff still, any efforts in this would be appreciated. Well, better late than never :-) Enjoy!


Our limiTED2 Time Is Up!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-04-04
Not! Here is the official announcement: due to popular demand the deadline of the currently ongoing limiTED2 democompo has been extended by two weeks, to 2009 April 18. This means you have fourteen more days to sit down and write some interesting and/or pretty demos in only 128/512/1024 bytes. This is the definitive final deadline, so hopefully this will help you get motivated.

Big thanks to the authors of the currently submitted 9 entries for taking the time and participating! Keep an eye on the official page for further updates.


Papersoft Magazine Scans Added
Posted by Csabo on 2009-04-03
It's not often that we get Italian magazine scans, so it may interest you that 7 issues of Paper Soft have been added. Paper Soft was a weekly review magazine published by J. Soft since June 1984. The format was small (A5 size) and it cost 1000 Liras. It published source listings for Apple ][, TI-99/4A, Sinclair Spectrum, C64, VIC20 and later the C=16. Check it out!

Also remember to send us your old magazine scans for our every growing Publications section.


Commodore Free 28 Online
Posted by Csabo on 2009-03-31
The latest issue of Commodore Free (a free to download magazine dedicated to Commodore computers) is now online. Among other articles, this issue has a reader-submitted C16/Plus4 program called AATimer. Another thing that may interest Plus/4 sceners is the mention of a revolutionary music player on the C64 (conversion, anyone?). The magazine is available in multiple formats (txt, PDF, etc). Worth checking out, thanks for RobertB for the heads up.


GfxEdit Updated (V0.63)
Posted by Csabo on 2009-03-31
Csabo's Gfx Edit, the cross-platform graphics editor has been updated to V0.63. If you are planning on drawing images or logos for the Plus/4, give it a try. Thanks to Ati for his feedback! Here's what's new:
  • Copy/paste will honor the current drawing mode
  • Bugfix: for some grids, pixels on right/bottom were cut off
  • Bugfix: the Toggle Drawing mode menu item was not working
  • Bugfix: saving color maps for odd sizes produced invalid ASM
This program and other alternative ones can be found on the Tools page. Enjoy!


New Cover Artwork Found
Posted by Csabo on 2009-02-22
Keresd A GyémántotLacus got his hands on a rare treasure, found on Vatera (the Hungarian eBay). He's now the only scene member own a copy of Keresd A Gyémántot (Find The Diamond), a commercial game from Hungary. Luckily, we can all share the cover scan and the TAP image which he submitted to our database. A few words about the game: it's a less than excellent Boulderdash clone. The game play unfortunately has some major issues: the character cannot hold boulders on its head, and the level does not restart after you die. This causes even the first level to be difficult to complete. In other news, I found a ZIP file from Lacus, which contained the PRG file for Pattinka, among others. These will be uploaded in the coming days. Big thanks for this scan, and be sure to keep your eye on those long lost programs popping up on auction sites!


BitGlamour!
Posted by Csabo on 2009-02-21
BitGlamourSurprise! A new demo called BitGlamour has popped up unexpectedly through a message on our forum. It's a welcome surprise to be sure. The intro features four smooth scrollers and all the nearly 121 colors of our beloved machine. It runs on a C16 and it's even (gasp!) NTSC compatible. To quote the author:
This demo (intro) represents my personal tribute to the memory of Commodore 16. It has been developed in Assembler many years ago and required a whole week of intense work and dedication. I hope it will be appreciated...
Well, it's simple, it's pretty, I like it! :-)


Monarchy Gets Two New Members
Posted by Csabo on 2009-02-19
In demoscene news, we're happy to report that two new members have joined Monarchy. Elkmoose (AKA TMB) who hails from Vienna is an artist and Frog (AKA ex-BSS/ex-GOTU) from Hungary will be doing code and some graphics as well. We've added photos of the guys so be sure to check out the Faces of the Scene gallery. This fresh demogroup has been recently getting active under Csio's leadership, and we can only hope that they are busy putting together some quality productions for the Commodore Plus/4 that will amaze us all. Go MHY!


New Adventures
Posted by Csabo on 2009-02-18
Paul's 4K AdventureTwo new adventure games by Dunric have been added today: Vampyre Cross and Paul's 4K Adventure. They are BASIC games, converted from their C64 counterparts and made to work on the Plus/4. Vampyre Cross has some RPG elements while the 4K one is a traditional adventure.

Also over at commodore16.com new pictures from the January 2009 Commodore Computer Club meeting are up. Among others, indi, Chris and Patrick were there. Some captions would be nice, but as they say more info is coming soon. Still worth checking out!


Map That Booty
Posted by Csabo on 2009-02-12
BootySay hello to Atisoft, our newest member, who sent us a new entry for our maps collection. It's for the old C16 classic, Booty. In the game you control Jim the Cabin Boy, your task is to collect all the booty from the ship's 20 holds. Each room has 3 doors leading to another location, this is where the maps comes in handy. After collecting 160 pieces of treasure, you have 45 seconds to locate a bronze key. We haven't been able to find it so far though!

This could be one of the games that bring back those fond memories of the good old days. If the words "slow paced" come to your mind when you think of Booty, perhaps you should check out the newly added uber-cheat that actually speeds up the player! Thanks to Attila for this map, enjoy!


Club Info 109 Hits The Streets
Posted by Csabo on 2009-02-09
Club Info 109The newest issue of the long-running German diskmag Club Info is here! Erich/Ultd packed two disk sides full of articles and also some newly released software. Among these are: Demon Caverns (a game from Australia), Muehle/Lukian (a game from Lukian, AKA. Wolfgang Wiegmund from Germany), Slot! (a game converter from the PET by Erich) and Hardcopyroutine (which -- as the name suggests -- prints pictures). Check it out!


Pixel Dreams From Ati
Posted by Csabo on 2009-01-31
Pixel DreamsWe close the first month of 2009 with a bit of good news: there's a new release on the Plussy! Fresh off the desk of Ati comes Pixel Dreams. It's a minimalistic picture show with two hand-pixelled pictures. In the author's words: "I know it's nothing big, but the piccies were fun to draw". Who knows, maybe this will get others coding? Cheers to Ati for actually doing something!


YAPE Updated
Posted by Csabo on 2009-01-19
One day late, but we're here to announce some juicy official news: YAPE has been updated to version 0.81. It's mostly bugfixes, but there's two interesting things: there's a native 64 bit version, and the open source SDL version has been updated as well. Cheers to Gaia for finding the time next to daddy-duties to do this update! For details and download head on to...


New Stuff From Rüdiger And Erich
Posted by Csabo on 2009-01-13
Botticelli Bilderdisk 33We break the continued lack of news items with this important bulletin: new stuff has been added to our database. First up, Rüdiger collected a few interesting program files: Ace 2, TAP file for Gamebusters release (which does not have copy protection), European Games, D64 file of the original disk version, Diamond Mine II D64 file, and last but not least both missing TAP files for Micro Text and Micro Text 2.0. The first official release of 2009 comes from Germany, created by Erich: Botticelli Bilderdisk 33 is another 2 disk-sided picture show containing 32 images. Big thanks for these to both guys! Enjoy!

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