Chameleon VIC20 core

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • When you start the VIC20 core I get "BASIC.ROM NOT FOUND" same for the rest of the list. But it works fine when I click on 1,2,3 or 4 and I get the "VIC20 CBM BASIC V2 screen".

    For the VIC20 core to work do you have to put in the "NOT FOUND" rooms into the root/CHAM20 directory?

    How would you load and run a game?

  • Quote

    For the VIC20 core to work do you have to put in the "NOT FOUND" rooms into the root/CHAM20 directory?

    no, the default roms are provided in the rom-vic20.bin - please refer to the readme in the .zip

    Quote

    How would you load and run a game?

    again, please refer to the readme in the zip. currently the only practical way is to provide a megacart ROM image.

  • So I updated to the latest VIC 20 core in order to be in line with the new video modes that came late last year with one of the Chameleon firmwares. 9J I think it was. I see that the Vic 20 core is locked at 800x600@72Hz? Is it possible to implement it so this can be changed to 640x480@50Hz or 768x576@50Hz as these gives the best picture quality for me?


    Not a big deal. But I just wondered if this was easy to implement. Or maybe it's there and I missed it?

  • No not so easy as the VIC 20 core doesn't have a menu system like the C64 main core has. So most of the settings are set static during the compilation of the core and can't be changed by software.

  • No not so easy as the VIC 20 core doesn't have a menu system like the C64 main core has. So most of the settings are set static during the compilation of the core and can't be changed by software.

    Thanks for the answer. Not a big deal as 800x600@72Hz is 'good enough' for VIC20 use

  • So I'm using the Megacart image with the VIC20 core. Alot of games not working. Any more work planned for this core? If not, maybe someone else could make a new VIC20 core or be allowed to continue the work on this one? I would also love a 720x576 screen resolution. Like the C16 core and Amiga core.

  • The VIC20 core contains components that are not public, such as the 6502 with illegal opcodes and the 6522 VIAs. Remember that this core was mainly made in order to test these very components for back-porting them to the 1541 emulation. If you take a look at this original goal, you'll see that the video chip didn't get much love in the process.


    A different output screen resolution may be possible in the future.

  • Quote

    Alot of games not working.

    Please tell which of them that would be - according to my testing most games did work just fine (which is not surprising, most dont need anything fancy at all)

  • Please tell which of them that would be - according to my testing most games did work just fine (which is not surprising, most dont need anything fancy at all)

    Pole Position not loading at all. Galaxian just restarts when pressing the firebutton instead of firing. And several other games did not react to the fire button. Other games not working at all. I have to retest and note all the games when I get the time. And this is using the TC64 V2 in cartridge mode. Using a joystick port switcher aswell. So wrong port can be ruled out. Since the VIC20 only has one joystick port aswell.

  • I started on the 'A' section of games from the megacart. Issue after issue. Alien Blitz: fires when I move the joystick left and when I hit fire I move right. Alien Sidestep: game pauses when I hit the firebutton. Amazing Maze: Screen just moves/shifts when moving joystick. Amok: No joystick movement. Only fires sometimes when I move the stick. But character is not moving. Ape Escape: No joystick input. Arachnoid: Resets to the menu when I hit the fire button. After this I didn't bother to test more games. Some games seems to work, but I'm sure if I continued there would be a ton of games not working correctly. This was just from starting at the 'A' section and going down the list.


    And with the screen resolution the image quality is really blurry and has alot of ghosting. TC64 V2 handles the lower resolutions best. Like 640x480@50Hz, 768x576@50Hz or even better, if you added 720x576@50Hz to get the correct aspect ratio and overscan area for PAL and at the same time would give a much sharper image.

  • Sounds strange, could you try some older releases of the core? I am sure i tested a bunch of games and saw no problems.... it sounds to me like something with the joystick input is wrong now. I'll have a look


    Edit: OK i see it now (and now i remember this Problem too) - it only happens in Cartridge mode, and only with the real Joystick connected to the C64. My guess would be that in that case the Joystick interfers with the Keyboard in a way it shouldnt. pwsoft needs to look at this (later), i tried before and couldnt find the problem.

  • Sounds strange, could you try some older releases of the core? I am sure i tested a bunch of games and saw no problems.... it sounds to me like something with the joystick input is wrong now. I'll have a look


    Edit: OK i see it now (and now i remember this Problem too) - it only happens in Cartridge mode, and only with the real Joystick connected to the C64. My guess would be that in that case the Joystick interfers with the Keyboard in a way it shouldnt. pwsoft needs to look at this (later), i tried before and couldnt find the problem.

    Okay. Just tried an older core with the same problems. However, Arachnoid suddenly works now on both the latest core and the one that came before. Would be nice to get this fixed

  • I tried to install JiffyDOS today. While the bin file for the VIC-20 Core just has to be renamed to KERNAL.ROM and placed in the "cham20" folder on the SD card, I was unable to install JiffyDOS for the 1541. I therefore ask how the ROMfile for the 1541 has to be named so that it can be loaded by the VIC-20 core when it boots.

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.