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From: c9037544@cc.newcastle.edu.au (David Williams)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.emulations,comp.sys.cbm
Subject: Re: Commodore 64 Emulator for Amiga
Message-ID: <1991Mar25.105148.9892@cc.newcastle.edu.au>
Date: 25 Mar 91 00:51:48 GMT
References: <1991Mar22.185447.4533@afit.af.mil>
Organization: University of Newcastle, AUSTRALIA
Lines: 64

In article <1991Mar22.185447.4533@afit.af.mil>, dlindsle@afit.af.mil
(David T. Lindsley) writes:
> 
> I've got a Commodore 64 that is beginning to seriously show its age.
> I really love it, though. And while I can easily find equivalent (or
> better) "serious" application software if I upgrade, the games will
> be hard to replace. I'll miss GEOS, too :-(
> 
> Besides the 64, I own a PC clone, which I can't get rid of -- yet,
> anyway. (In fact, I need to upgrade.)
> 
> I like the 64 for its sound and graphics (I know there's lots of
> Amiga users will tell me they're primitive, but that's by *today's*
> standards). I don't think it's going to be (long-term) cost-effective
> to repair/replace the 64.
> So I'm looking for a computer with good sound and graphics to replace
> my 64, and naturally was drawn to the Amiga.
> (I know I can get an Amiga with a bridge card and let the PC go too.
> I might. I'm also looking to shift my programming efforts to another
> platform; here, too, under either AmigaDOS or *ix, the Amiga looks
> good. But that's another story.)
> 
> My question is this. I understand that there is at least one c64
> emulator available for the Amiga. How good is it/are they? Will
> it/they run the 64 programs? I'm mostly concerned about the games,
> since I will probably begin using Amiga "serious" software sooner
> than later.
> 
> I guess what I'm asking is, If I buy an Amiga, how much of my 64
> software do I need to scrap? Or, put another way, how gracefully
> can this migration be done? Remember, we're talking games, graphics,
> and sound. (I saw one earlier posting which suggested that there
> is no sound on c64 emulators. Is this true?)

There are at present two Commodore 64 emulators. One is GO64 (the name
deriving from the fact that on a Commodore 128, to go into 64 mode, the
command GO64 is used), and the other is The 64 Emulator (or some highly
original name along those lines).
Unfortunately, all this is from memory, and I am not sure which one is which,
but here goes :

One of them has no sound, that is true, but the other does. However, both run
very slowly, or at least depending upon the program. SpeedScript and other such
small programs like those, that use no fancy features work perfectly. The
trouble is, that the way an emulator works is to read in the 6502 instruction
and then convert it into 68000 and so on, ie: the speed advantage of the
Amiga is lost. Overall, the only real use for an Emulator is to port over text
files and such things.
The way one of them works is to just basically emulate a 64, ie: after you type
something in, or whatever, the Emulator then tries to interpret it. The other
one uses a different principle, having 'parameter files' (like the way
Fast Hack' Em operates) for various programs, such as GEOS. The company was
planning to keep producing these, but this seems to be not happening.
Unfortuanately, all this is very vague, but hopefully I have given you some
idea. I will try and find the article I had concerning these, and get back to
you.

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| David Williams                      | University of Newcastle, Australia    |
| c9037544@cc.newcastle.edu.au        | Computer Science student              |
| c9037544@jupiter.newcastle.edu.au   |                                       |
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|   "The decision of Random Numbers is too important to be left to chance !"  |
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