I decided to check were tools are using now for development and I found the cross compiler project CC65. and their new hosting for the project at GitHub.
You can download a Mac pre compiled version of VICE at Sourceforge. This was already tested in conjunction with the CC65 so, I followed the lead. I have no C64 actually but I already knew the VICE emulator.
So, how to, from my mac, create code using C and Assembler and running on a C64? If you have trouble to run games, try to edit options in Settings > Peripheral Drives.I was a fan of the Commodore line back in the 8 bits days. Running games in VICE is quite straightforward most of the time. Use the File > Attach Disk Image to attach the required disk, then press a button to continue. Games with multiple disks will prompt you to insert disk number two or more at some point. Click on the picture to see a bigger GIF. Simple drag and drop of Chip's Challenge d64 file into WinVICE window. Most C64 games can be launched in just a few seconds with a simple drag and drop of the game file, or the first file, into the VICE main window, where you can see the Commodore 64 prompt screen.Īlternatively, you may select File > Smart attach Disk/Tape, then select the program name to run in the image contents. Most of the time, multiple disks are named GAME0.D64, GAME1.D64, and so on. Look for the game file or the first one if the game is on multiple disks. prg, plain program file: program files that can be loaded immediately, not a physical format per se. crt, cartridge format: cartridge were fast, but very expensive, less than 400 cartridge games are listed by C64-Wiki. t64, tape format: tapes where quite popular too, around 7000 games were released in this cheap and slow format, according to. d64, disk format: the most popular format for games, some of the later games where released on several disks. NFO containing game information, and one or more files containing the actual game code. Most of the time, you will just want to run the Commodore 64 emulator, named 圆4.exe (or 圆4.app on Mac).Īfter downloading a C64 game and unzipping it, you will usually find one. VICE comes with several emulators for the various computers released by Commodore. Note: This tutorial is focused on Windows, but it's almost the same on other operating systems. Other emulators are quite similar and should not pose any problem.