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Development => Consoles => Topic started by: Ivoah on January 29, 2016, 08:44:35 PM

Title: MEGA65
Post by: Ivoah on January 29, 2016, 08:44:35 PM
I found this today: http://mega65.org/
Quote from: MEGA65MEGA65 is an open-source new and open C65-like computer.
Hardware designs and software are open-source (LGPL).
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 29, 2016, 09:29:29 PM
I had no idea that the Commodore 65 was a thing. I thought the C64 successor was the Amiga or something. This seems cool, by the way. I wonder if this would allow me to get a C64-compatible machine for cheaper...
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: kegwaan on January 29, 2016, 09:47:26 PM
I had no idea a C65 existed either... Wasn't it named the Commodore 64 because it was a 64 bit computer? So would a C65 be a 65 bit computer?
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: novenary on January 29, 2016, 09:54:26 PM
C64 was 8 bit. :P

That looks awesome, nice find.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Ivoah on January 29, 2016, 10:03:50 PM
Quote from: kegwaan on January 29, 2016, 09:47:26 PM
I had no idea a C65 existed either... Wasn't it named the Commodore 64 because it was a 64 bit computer? So would a C65 be a 65 bit computer?

Looks like it was a prototype meant to be the successor to the C64 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_65
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 29, 2016, 10:26:59 PM
Ah right, I missed the sidebar on Wikipedia for some reasons, so I thought it was a released computer.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Yuki on January 29, 2016, 11:09:17 PM
Well, that looks pretty cool.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: deft on January 30, 2016, 06:37:02 PM
Quote from: Streetwalrus on January 29, 2016, 09:54:26 PM
C64 was 8 bit. :P

That looks awesome, nice find.

Thank you, I am part of the development team of the MEGA65 and we are indeed happy with what we achieved so far; nevertheless there is A LOT of work ahead of us to deliver a finished product and a turn-key-ready super-8-bit machine that is 99,99% compatible to both the c64 AND the C65. We are always looking for motivated coders on 8-bits (6502/6510/4502/4510), C++ and of course VHDL. Please message me if you are interested in participating.

cheers
Deft

---

More infos at MEGA's page http://mega.ms (http://mega.ms). There also is a little forum: http://mega65.net (http://mega65.net)

(Edit by Streetwalrus: merged double post)
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: pimathbrainiac on January 30, 2016, 09:21:55 PM
@deft if I may make a comment on the design, I like the idea of it being around 50x faster than the C64, but I don't think there will be enough RAM for that at 288kb (about 4x the C64 and 2x the C65) to actually achieve that. I would think you'd need around 1-2 MB at least, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: novenary on January 30, 2016, 09:22:56 PM
I think I read on the site that there is an extra 128 or 256MB DDR2 for advanced applications.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 31, 2016, 06:20:31 AM
Heya deft and welcome to CodeWalrus. I hope you enjoy your stay :walrii:
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Yuki on January 31, 2016, 06:32:00 AM
Nice to see you here, keep up the good work ^_^
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: garvalf on February 18, 2016, 10:59:16 PM
There are very few of those C65 prototypes. The last ones which were sold on ebay reached above 20 000 €.
The mega65 is a cool project. Since the SID chip is almost impossible to emulate or recreate perfectly, couldn't it be possible to use some real ones in this project?
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 19, 2016, 12:17:17 AM
Darn, it takes me close to a year to earn 20K. This is why I'm glad there are now third-party alternatives. Also nice to see you Garvalf :3=
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: utz on February 20, 2016, 12:57:51 PM
I'm afraid buying a MEGA65 would set you back quite a few bucks, too ;) It's an awesome project, but it'll have it's price.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: DarkestEx on February 20, 2016, 02:31:38 PM
Nice project. Since christmas as you might all know I do own a real C64. And currently we are working on a modern 8 bit computer too. Not 6510 based though.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: garvalf on February 25, 2016, 11:08:40 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 19, 2016, 12:17:17 AM
Also nice to see you Garvalf :3=

thanks DJ Omnimaga! ;)
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: aetios on February 29, 2016, 08:33:35 AM
Quote from: DarkestEx on February 20, 2016, 02:31:38 PM
Nice project. Since christmas as you might all know I do own a real C64. And currently we are working on a modern 8 bit computer too. Not 6510 based though.
So do I, I think i've had one for about 2 years. Been wanting to make some programs for it, but I need to grab an IDE somewhere. I got a working SID from @Keoni29 last year, that's pretty cool.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: utz on February 29, 2016, 02:23:45 PM
@aeTIos Try C64 Studio (https://c64studio.codeplex.com) if you're on Windows. Otherwise, use cc65 (http://www.cc65.org) with some shell scripts ;)
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: aetios on March 01, 2016, 09:43:37 PM
I'll be doing my c64 stuff on windows, way easier interfacing :x
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: garvalf on March 02, 2016, 09:27:10 PM
I've just bought a C64C today.. :-[
I think I'll get a sid2sid card and a mssiah extension too. And probably a sd card adapter. It'll get damn expensive I must be crazy, especially when the emulation (sidplayfp) is quite similar to the real thing :banghead:
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 03, 2016, 05:59:04 AM
Something I wonder about Commodore computer is how fast is the BASIC language? Can a tilemap game with no scrolling, where the character moves square by square (like in Block Dude) be fast enough to run like some hybrid TI-84+ BASIC games? Or will only ASCII art games or text-only games be fast enough to be playable? Or is the language crippled like TI-Nspire BASIC?
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: utz on March 03, 2016, 09:45:11 AM
The original BASIC used on the C64 is, err... not one of the strong points of the machine, due to a rather inefficient implementation. Commodore improved it on later machines (C128, Plus 4 series), but on the C64 it is very sluggish. That said, you can do almost anything on it since it allows you to POKE in machine code, then call it with the SYS command.
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: aetios on March 03, 2016, 10:02:42 AM
It's quite slow, but not crippled. ASM is quite fast though, especially if you use tricks to make it run faster. That said, I have a cartridge of SIMON'S BASIC, and I gotta say that works really well :D
Title: Re: MEGA65
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 17, 2016, 08:27:06 AM
Quote from: aeTIos on March 03, 2016, 10:02:42 AM
It's quite slow, but not crippled. ASM is quite fast though, especially if you use tricks to make it run faster. That said, I have a cartridge of SIMON'S BASIC, and I gotta say that works really well :D
Would the speed compare with Grammer or xLIB? That would definitively be enough.