More work on my #c64 Tool. This video is of data captured live from the C64U. Sprite info moved to above the screen view. I've now got better visualisation of VIC and SID changes in the activity view to the right of the screen view - hover to show the raster line and even cycle of the change.

Last weekend I saw a guy in a wheelchair leading a circle mosh at the Fear Factory concert. It was one of the most Metal things I've ever seen.

I'm still working on my C64 too. I've been getting per cycle processing of video and memory so I can handle sprites in the border etc. I've got the basics working now, but I've also improved the VIC view (green and purple view). I'm also showing the entire processing space including overscan

Now I’m all set up for proper programming.

So, Google's AI Search thing. Why would you use a search engine that might be lying to you? I was using Gemini last night to ask it questions about a 60 page ASCII document on the VICII chip. It seemed pretty useful. At least until I asked it to diagram the screen layout.

My precious code for my C64 tool was a little naive, so I’m rewriting it to be cycle accurate. The intent is to get the cool VICII demo abuses like open borders and FLI and DMA delay working. This is where I am now, counting pixels between my old and new code and C64 and Vice.

I've just spent a couple weeks refactoring my #C64U Tool code. Save files are now 35% of the previous size and code is much nicer. Added register view to the activity, showing which VIC (green) and SID (blue) registers have been written to on which scan line. And, even better....

Holy shit! This wasn't on my expected releases list.

Well, yes. Me too. But also;

I think I just hit my Ballmer Peak.

I used AI this morning to debug why my Spa temperature settings weren't doing what I thought they should. AI's answer was exactly, confidently, 100% wrong. It did give me the correct link to documentation which is subsequently read and figured it out for myself.

One of the things that really struck me when visiting Berlin and Belfast earlier this year was how important art is as a form of resistance.

I’m almost home from the US. While I was trying to sleep on the plane last night, I had an idea about my #C64 tool. What if I could construct a flow chart of the assembly being run? That would be great for understanding what code is run when and for what. Anyone have any good examples of this?

#C64 Tool - I've managed to get some Hotel programming time in. Added sprite details including a sprite view of the memory. Next thing I want to do is add the ability to step through the code, instruction at a time and to set breakpoints in code and on memory read/writes.

This is the best thing about America.

I made it to the US. But for the second time in a row CBP took me aside and questioned me. I asked about it and it’s because I had a visa refused once so that brings up a red flag. However, I’m definitely getting more questions and having to provide more proof of reason for travel.

I'm heading to the States next week, and I wanted to be able to keep working on this while I'm there. So I made a way to save and load a couple minutes of gameplay. As I side effect, I can now scrub backwards and forwards! Great for hunting down those one frame glitches!

To be clear, I have spent WAY too much time programming this Easter weekend. My #C64 Ultimate tool now does a lot more - it shows sprites, toggles the different view modes, shows interrupts, reads(green)/writes(red) and VIC 2(blue) access in the memory view. Testing it on Demos now...

Good Friday is a Good Day for C64 programming! Added raster interrupts and sprites to my #C64 Ultimate Tool! I can connect to the C64U with this from my PC and inspect games and demos in realtime. It's still a little flakey but it works!

I am having way too much fun. Screen view in text and bitmap modes is working. Added a disassembly mode which syncs with all the views. So, you can click on the memory map and see the hex and disasm, or click on the screen view and see the memory in the hex and disasm views.

My C64 Ultimate tool now has a screen view mode. It shows whatever is on the C64's screen (well, almost). Colour is wrong but its definitely close. Runs in realtime (Karateka is crazy slow).

I went and saw The Pogues last night. I didn't expect much from them, but bloody hell they were good! I can only describe the show as joyous. There was even a little mosh for us youngsters.

I keep trying to use AI as a programmer because all the hype can't be wrong, right? Wrong. 9 times out of 10, AI gives me the worst possible solution to a problem. It will probably work, but its not extensible, ignores all context and is overly verbose. It makes my Coder's soul hurt.

I now have realtime views of the full memory map of my C64U! In this video you can see the memory map (mono hires), VICII view and Hex View memory, all running async. I'm using the Debug stream functionality - consuming UDP output of every instruction on the C64 and decoding it in realtime.

On the weekend I saw Bloodywood supporting BABYMETAL. So much fun. Good to see a younger, more diverse crowd too.

I miss content like this - I still have my Zzap64! magazines from the late 80s, and they are a pleasure to browse through. A snapshot in time. But this... this sounds like a snapshot of current videogame culture. And I'm here for it.

I'd like to announce I have a new(ish) Podcast! It's called GameDev Unsung Heroes, and it's basically interviewing all the names in games you don't know about what they do, their career path, a few stories along the way. All free. Here's the link gamedevunsungheroes.com I could use re-posting :)

Friday night. Beer and C64 coding.

I never thought I'd ask something like this, but I'd like to formally request that Mega Crit delay Slay the Spire 2. I've not finished Mewgenics yet and I question my capacity to play two great games at once.

Had some more C64U fun this weekend. Tidied up my texture code, added some more REST commands and tried out looping the read from C64U to PC. It works, buts its a little slow (150 - 200ms per frame for the full 64k) but it works!

Huzzah! Now correctly Swizzled!

Slowly getting there. I can now grab the C64U memory and display it in a texture. It's not swizzled correctly yet and I'm not using the colour map or anything, but, its a solid start:

I was really keen to make some games on my new C64 Ultimate, but instead I’m building tools. I’ve just got my PC talking to my C64U! Just had to build curl libs, build ImGui libs, set up a new VS solution, write the code, fail to make it work, reverse engineer with Wireshark, then, Presto! Works!

It’s here! Now if I could only find the correct cable for the 1084S!

I was doing some C64 coding yesterday and was using AI for some hints and direction. Didn't take long before I hit its limit - and that limit is drawing a line in Hires mode on the C64. AI couldn't do it. I ended up spending half an hour teasing it for being useless.

Oooh! Soon, my pretty, soon!

I _think_ my C64 is being delivered tomorrow. Something is coming from the Netherlands anyway...

It’s not every day you see a crowd surfing dinosaur.

I'm heading to Froth & Fury tomorrow. Originally I was really excited to see Archspire and other international acts. But after listening to most of the lineup, I can't wait to see some of the local acts - Frenzal Rhomb of course, but also BattleSnake and Rocky's Pride and Joy look like stupid fun. 🤘

Got home last night after a month of travelling and for the first time in a month, I woke up and had no idea where I was.

What a day. Started with a visit to the Titanic museum in Belfast, followed quickly by a car accident (no one hurt) then a 4 hour walking tour in east and west Belfast covering both sides of the “Troubles”. Now in a bar with my Son drinking beers. Travel is good.

I’m travelling and started getting constant notifications from my front camera. I checked out and, well, it’s a huntsman. Not sure if it’s eating or shedding.

Bloody hell York. You look like a fairy tale.

Just arrived at our new accomodation and found the lift was out of order. Lugged 100kg of luggage upstairs (4 of us) and this is our new view.

Last night I went to the “oldest pub” in Nottingham. Then I went to the other “oldest pub” in Nottingham. Then I went to another “oldest pub” in Nottingham. I suspect they were all also “the most haunted”

This might be the best thing I’ve seen all year.

Yeah. This is good. A fantastic Xmas diversion.

I think I just saw Rammstein at a Xmas market.

The Berlin sky put on a bit of a show for us today.

You know you’re in Berlin when you stumble across a random bar and it has a shrine to The Hoff