Viewing topic Bomberland (Commodore 64 homebrew)

Bomberland (Commodore 64 homebrew)

Pengling Jun 26, 2022

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I've just been checking out Bomberland, which is a Bomberman clone for the Commodore 64 - a system that didn't get an official Bomberman game (or "Dynablaster", as it would've been in the UK back then) back in the day. Trailer here.

It's available as a free download from the publisher's Itch.io page, as either just the C64 files, or those files bundled with the VICE C64 emulator for various OSes - Linux included. Both zip-files include a ".crt" cartridge file of the game, a disk-image for saving to, and goodies like PDFs of the manual, a poster, a sheet for writing down level-passwords, and a "Monster Sheet" that showcases all of the game's enemies in the style of trading-cards, which is nice.

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Unsurprisingly, it plays like you'd expect a Bomberman-style game to play, and it has obvious influences from the well-loved SNES installments (and nice animations to match). There are some neat little touches that might throw existing Bomberman fans off-guard, too, including enemies spawning from Skull panels if you blow them up (something harmless that you would usually instinctively do to get these power-down items out of your way), which I haven't seen before in any of the official titles that I've played. The music is great too, with remixes of familiar tunes run through the distinctive SID chip.

It has a 36-level single-player mode, and also offers the iconic battle-mode for up to five players (four on joysticks through a multi-tap, plus one using the keyboard) though I haven't gotten to try that out and I don't know if it's supported under emulation.

For a freebie, this is a really nice game. Apparently it was a long-running passion-project, and it shows.

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StoneColdSpider Aug 7, 2022

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Awesome I just downloaded it will give it a shot later.....

Cant go wrong with Bomberman....

Thanks for the info :)

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Craggles086 Aug 18, 2022

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Talking of C64 Emulation, I wish CCS64 would get released as open source.

CCS64 used to be the best Commodore 64 emulator there was. But with most development being done on the VICE code recently, CCS is surely loosing ground here am sure the open source community could help.

Also a Linux release would be great. The developer can’t claim he is making a huge amount of money on something that used to be released as shareware years ago, with the paid version unlocking some features.

Last edited by Craggles086 on 18 August 2022 at 9:54 pm UTC

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Pengling Aug 18, 2022

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Quoting: Craggles086Talking of C64 Emulation, I wish CSS64 would get released as open source.

CSS64 used to be the best Commodore 64 emulator there was. But with most development being done on the VICE code recently, CSS is surely loosing ground here am sure the open source community could help.

I must admit, I've never used CSS64 (only VICE, and, way back in the mists of time at one point, Frodo, but mostly various spins of the former). In the emulation circles that I used to mix in 20 or so years ago, it was generally said that VICE was the best option. What was it that set CSS64 apart? I'd love to learn more.

Last edited by Pengling on 18 August 2022 at 9:28 am UTC

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Craggles086 Aug 18, 2022

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Quoting: Pengling
Quoting: Craggles086Talking of C64 Emulation, I wish CSS64 would get released as open source.

CSS64 used to be the best Commodore 64 emulator there was. But with most development being done on the VICE code recently, CSS is surely loosing ground here am sure the open source community could help.
I must admit, I've never used CSS64 (only VICE, and, way back in the mists of time at one point, Frodo, but mostly various spins of the former). In the emulation circles that I used to mix in 20 or so years ago, it was generally said that VICE was the best option. What was it that set CSS64 apart? I'd love to learn more.

The first few versions of CCS64, (sorry for miss spelling it earlier)

the first few versions had more accurate emulation then VICE, Vice might have improved since then.

CCS had a better colour palette,
(now included as a colour setting / option in Vice)

CCS had support for Direct X,
(probably not a plus here, but Vulkan would be nice)

CCS played better full screen, which is how I enjoy my C64 games.

And all settings were available from the keyboard using the escape key, you did not have to get outside the window, or exit the environment just to change a setting.

https://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2963

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/163117-ccs64-or-vice/

My main issue here was being stuck with VICE as the only C64 emulator on Linux and not having options. :)

Guess I will get over it.

Last edited by Craggles086 on 19 August 2022 at 12:10 am UTC

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Pengling Aug 19, 2022

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Quoting: Craggles086
Quoting: Pengling
Quoting: Craggles086Talking of C64 Emulation, I wish CSS64 would get released as open source.

CSS64 used to be the best Commodore 64 emulator there was. But with most development being done on the VICE code recently, CSS is surely loosing ground here am sure the open source community could help.
I must admit, I've never used CSS64 (only VICE, and, way back in the mists of time at one point, Frodo, but mostly various spins of the former). In the emulation circles that I used to mix in 20 or so years ago, it was generally said that VICE was the best option. What was it that set CSS64 apart? I'd love to learn more.

The first few versions of CCS64, (sorry for miss spelling it earlier)

the first few versions had more accurate emulation then VICE, Vice might have improved since then.

CCS had a better colour palette,
(now included as a colour setting / option in Vice)

CCS had support for Direct X,
(probably not a plus here, but Vulkan would be nice)

CCS played better full screen, which is how I enjoy my C64 games.

And all settings were available from the keyboard using the escape key, you did not have to get outside the window, or exit the environment just to change a setting.

https://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2963

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/163117-ccs64-or-vice/

My main issue here was being stuck with VICE as the only C64 emulator on Linux and not having options. :)

Guess I will get over it.

Adjusting to a less-familiar emulator always sucks - after all, it sort of becomes part of the experience and muscle-memory. It's the bridge between the original hardware and our modern computers!

I've never known a different C64 emulator of course, but as far as I know VICE has addressed at least some of these issues by now. I currently use the regular release, but there are also a couple of options in RetroPie (which I compiled on my x86 hardware because I liked the experience on my Raspberry Pi units so much) and RetroArch that are derived from the VICE versions made for mobile phones and open handhelds, as well, and all of them offer slightly different ways of doing things.

Last edited by Pengling on 19 August 2022 at 5:40 pm UTC

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