JVIC: New web-based Commodore VIC 20 emulator

by lance_ewing • 6 months ago

39 39 6 months ago

lance_ewing14• 6 months ago

The code and instructions on how to use it are here: https://github.com/lanceewing/jvic

waldrews• 6 months ago

That's one maxed out RAM configuration. Back in my day, we had 4k RAM, about 3500 bytes usable from BASIC, and that was enough, unless you were rich enough to have a 3k memory expansion cartridge. But really, if you need that extra 3k, you're just not writing code efficiently enough, right.

lance_ewing14• 6 months ago

Back in the 80s, I was lucky that my father was an electronics design engineer, so he built a 24K expansion cartridge for us. I agree that there were some great games for the unexpanded VIC 20 though, such as Rockman. I loved that game. So many levels for a small game.

drzaiusx114• 6 months ago

I had a home brewed ram expansion board (still do actually, in a box somewhere...) I powered everything up a couple years ago when my kids found it and asked what the heck it was. Still works

lance_ewing14• 6 months ago

My original VIC 20 machine that I had in the 80s still works as well, but a few things have been replaced along the way. I still have the same 24K expansion cart that my Dad built 40 years ago and it also still works.

empressplay• 6 months ago

Neat, but crashed when I tried to load Frogger

drzaiusx114• 6 months ago

Sounds authentic

lance_ewing14• 6 months ago

Do you mean specifically the Frogger game? Or in general? - If you mean in general, it hopefully does sound very close to the original VIC 20. I actually reversed engineered the VIC chip schematic from photos of the silicon chip, so the sound emulation is based on what I worked out from the reversed engineered schematic. Some of my discussion on that is covered here:

https://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.p...

lance_ewing14• 6 months ago

In what way did it crash? What browser and device did you try running it on? - There might be an issue where its possible to start typing before the program load sequence has finished, e.g. where it has queued a "RUN" command for when the disk load has finished, but if you start typing before that, it might interfere with that RUN. I have an idea on how to fix that, if this is the issue. Just need to ignore key presses until all program load commands have been processed.

davepdotorg• 6 months ago

Guess it’s time to finally type this out again: https://www.davep.org/misc/grid-bike/

B1FIDO• 6 months ago

  THI5 1Z A WAY-K00L BBOARDZ D00DZ!!1!

  B1FF
    ...B1FF ... B1FF ?!

   ... ... B1FF B1FF B1FF BB0ARDZ!1

   B1FF ... ... ... B1FF!

  D0EZ THI5 MEAN MY BR0THER CAN KEEP HIZ OWN Vic-20 NOW??!?!????!!!


   ... BIFF B1FF B1FF D00DZ!!1!

bitwize2• 6 months ago

If I were dang or tomhow, I'd give this a pass just this once for the USENET nostalgia. What good is Hackernews if it's all CxO-wannabe bait and not stuff that resonates with actual hackers?

pipo2343• 6 months ago

Nice to have this, though I personally find Matt Godbolt's web-based BBC emulator more exciting (and useful)

https://bbc.xania.org/

lance_ewing14• 6 months ago

Yeah, that one is a great online emulator. I've played around a bit with that one. I have fond memories of the BBC Micro from my school days, especially the game Castle Quest.

How does it handle being run on a mobile phone? My main focus with JVIC was to try making it as easy as possible to use on mobile devices, although I'll admit that my testing has only been on Android so far. I haven't tried it on iOS yet.

pipo2343• 6 months ago

Castle Quest - an impossibly hard game (to modern standards). I spent so many hours only to die and start al over once more. Great fun!

My Android phone is way too old and slow to load jvic, unfortunately. Let alone jsbeeb.

But works great on my 2013 laptop when plugged into a wall socket!

Eggpants2• 6 months ago

Young me remembers fondly poking and peeking system memory locations to see what happens. The manual, if I remember right, had a table of memory locations to system settings. Things like font and background colors.

I made a “punch out like” boxing game in basic where the background color blocks was the opponent and the font lines was your character via poking memory locations.

It was slow but I was just a kid at the time. It definitely told me what I wanted to do for a living at an early age.

lance_ewing14• 6 months ago

Exactly the same story with me. I got my VIC 20 when I was about 10, in the mid 80s, and that is how I learnt how to program and how I knew what I wanted to do as a career.

technothrasher• 6 months ago

Add me to that list, though my Commodore machine was a PET 2000. In fact, I was young enough at first that all I could do was remove lines from other people's basic programs and see what happened. It all grew from there.

mixmastamyk• 6 months ago

Interesting, did similar. But there was no information available to me about working on them for a living in the early 80s. Only the movie Wargames, which while cool didn’t seem like a realistic path, nor did it pay. Didn’t figure it out until a full decade later.

Eggpants2• 6 months ago

Definitely helped that I just missed the punch card era. I know young me would have dropped my stack of cards many times…

pjmlp3• 6 months ago

In LibGDX, that is great!

lance_ewing14• 6 months ago

Yeah, libGDX is my go to now for web-based emulators and interpreters. JVIC is the third one I've written now. The other two are JOric and AGILE:

https://oric.games/

https://agi.sierra.games/

They all use the GWT html target. I realise that there is now also a TeaVM target. I might try converting JVIC to use TeaVM at some point.

pjmlp3• 6 months ago

I still remember when it used to be all the rage before Unity and Unreal took off, especially in Android indie games.

p0w3n3d• 6 months ago

So everything is web-based today I guess? But why? Is this about programming language? Packaging?

pjmlp3• 6 months ago

Delivery, and not wanting to target each platform individually.

The Chrome OS Platform (given the browser engines left) is the most successful WORA since UNCOL was introduced as idea in 1958.

I would rather that we kept Web for documents and everything else native with networking protocols.

This isn't new however, Applets, ActiveX, Silverlight, Flash, NaCL and PNaCL, asm.js, plugins,...

Running LibGDX on the browser has a certain Applets revenge feeling to it.

aenis• 6 months ago

Nostalgia overload.

I got a Commodore/PLUS 4 - With almost no games (just Saboteur, Jet Set Willy and Booty), and my father taught me how to program in Basic 3.5 - and before I was 10 i was making trainers with 7501 assembly learned almost by trial and error. I knew back then what I wanted to do in life and followed that path to the fullest extent.

bitwize2• 6 months ago

Ah, the VIC-20, my actual first computer. By making the PETSCII birds fly how I chose, I learned the elements of composing and modifying software.

You can play with an emulation of my other early computer, the TI-99/4A, at https://js99er.net

harel• 6 months ago

Like many others who commented, this was my first computer. I received it as a hand-me-down from a french aunt. Manuals were all in French. The C64 just came out and was all the rage. Couldn't find games to save my life. All I had left was to learn how to program. Still doing that 40 years later.

TYPE_FASTER• 6 months ago

That brings back so many memories! The Vic was our first computer. 45ish years later, here I am, still writing code. Thanks for making that and posting it here.

JVIC: New web-based Commodore VIC 20 emulator

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