Commodore VIC-20 Documentary Chapter 3

Relive the Commodore VIC-20 or experience it for the first time. In this chapter, find out how to navigate around BASIC, write small programs, and load from the datasette and 1541 disk drive

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Commodore
• VIC-20
• 1541
• datasette
• casette
• drive
• load

[Tapewormz]

I'm 100% positive that demo was run on an emulator. I'd like to see it run on an actual cbm vic 20 hardware.

[adric22]

@Tapewormz - you are correct, it was on an emulator. The whole series was done with an emulator because I wanted the video to be crystal clear. However, I've run the demo on the real hardware, it looks/sounds no different.

[JayArgonaut]

Superb demo: pushed the VIC to limits I never thought possible!

[ytlizard]

I wish demo writers for the vic and 64 would put their skills to making some incredible games and not just demos...

[Tapewormz]

@SarahSmith666

I love how the manual came with schematics. To me that's crazy! :D Awesome, but I never understood them when I was 10.

[SarahSmith666]

@Tapewormz I remember that manual.. had many hours using that with my Vic20..

[SarahSmith666]

@unifiedreality The graphics were never terrible back in the day.. not up to arcade standards but i think a lot of that was cos they couldnt be bothered. probably took them a day to knock up a game...

[unifiedreality]

I almost don't believe it. I had a VIC. I'd have wet myself if I saw it doing what I just saw. How!?

[Tapewormz]

@adric22 I didn't mean it as a shot or anything. I just had one of these in 1980. It was the best xmas present ever. I learned to program in both basic and asm on it. The manual was one of the best written manuals I've ever encountered.

[drakon32]

Cool review. Thanks!

[elephantrange]

I used to write programs on a VIC back around 1982, when I was in my mid-teens. It was always fun work to design the monsters for my games, and eventually I put together a program that automated the process. A few years later, I transliterated it to GW-BASIC, and then to Quick BASIC (essentially replacing the VIC's POKE statements with PSETs). These days I keep a 486 computer around with emulators for all these old machines. I prefer the dedicated emulators to MESS, tho' it's great too.

[clays121]

@ytlizard Some are game programmers, in the business today, but are limited to what they can do, by there employers. ;) Demoscenetv has shown a few of them, at some of the Demo gatherings in the past. ;)