Commodore 64

[Bealman]

Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool!..... 

[mickeyflinn]

I got mine in 1983, just when it got really popular and you couldn't get the tape decks for love nor money. Ended up having to play cartridge games (Radar Rat Race was the first one) until I bought an after market adapter for using (generally poorly) an ordinary tape player.

I got my first Commodore tape deck from Fine Fare (another name from the past) Hyper-store (remember them). I think it cost £50 in 1984 which was a hell of a lot then for a poor student.

I also used to program using the BASIC, because part of my studies included computer programming in BASIC, FORTRAN and I think we did a small amount of COBOL.

Didn't half think it was the bees-knees, especially because of its full size keyboard, cool graphics (all the hype about it using sprites) and its massive memory compared to the ZX Spectrum (my brother-in-law had a 16K Spectrum which he upgraded himself to 48K).

Seem to remember the best thing I ever bought for it was a speech synthesizer so the games could now even talk to you!! 

I eventually sold it along with all my games in 1989. We were getting married in May of that year and SWMBO thought I was selling it to put towards the wedding. Bought my first CD player with the proceeds, as I wanted to be able to buy some CD's and spread jam over them and see them still play (it must be true - it was on "Tomorrow's World)  .

[5982]

My introduction to the C64 was at work - where my boss succeeded in setting up a bank of them to control automatic test equipment (ATE) for the various products we made (Security alarms).
Prior to that he had managed to get one ATE system running with a Sinclair something or other
Eventually the products being tested became too sophisticated for the C64s and we upgraded (to "proper" custom ATE).
I inherited one of the C64s, with hard drive, printer, etc and my son cut his computing teeth on it, before we passed it on to a centre for those with learning difficulties.

[1936ace]

Yeh rub it in, we never had a Commodore 64 vic20 or anything remotely like that. We never even got an atari. We only got colour tv in 1985 and mum and dad bought an new electric stove and oven no more going out and chopping wood on a Sunday the same year.
BUT I had a train set.
Can't understand why I'm so far behind in the IT stakes.
Bart

[NTrain]

I learned to programme on a Commodore Pet, same version of basic without the colour and sound bells and whistles. We got one at work and I taught myself to program it in my spare time.

I even managed to do some 6502 machine code................

All forgotten now.

[Bealman]

Heh heh heh Bart! Just like me... had to lick road clay oft' road! But I did have a train set. Well, 20 years prior to the C64, anyway. Triang RULES. Britannia and Pullman set. With smoke! 

Hey, NTrain - PETS. Those were the funny little computer made of white metal with the trendoid cool shaped little monitor built on top of them. Whoohoo, this IS memory lane.

They did indeed have a 6502 processor - generally regarded at the time as being better than the Z80 chip.

Yep, we're getting old (or I am) but it's interesting to hear from railway modellers who were going through all this stuff. I personally am glad I did - an exciting time.

And I am hugely impressed by you writing machine code for the 6502, NTrain! 

[Paddy]

Ah the 1980s computer scene - remember it well.  Never owned a C64 as I was not in to games (then or now).  Did you know you can buy a new C64?  See the following...

http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_Home.aspx

Personally I started on a ZX81, moved on to a ZX Spectrum with Microdrive, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and then world of PCs.  Ah happy days.

Still program the 128K Spectrum for fun (did I just write that?).  Got a Windows based IDE that I develop in and then run the resultant code on a Nintendo DSi XL running the ZXDS emulator.

Paddy
 

[NTrain]

And I am hugely impressed by you writing machine code for the 6502, NTrain! 

We had an apprentice start working for us and he had done a course at college. He showed me some of the basics and the Commodore manual had a lot of information. I had to enter the code in Hex and spent a week writing my first set of code.

Everyone gathered round to find out what marvel I had come up with.

Everyone stood with bated breath.

I loaded the code and prepared myself to press the enter key.

and.......................................

The screen cleared.

I had written my own clear screen command.

No-one was immpressed. But I was. 

[508111]

I had written my own clear screen command.

No-one was immpressed. But I was. 

It's so much easier in BASIC:

10 CLS



As a wee lad, back in the day, I had the fortune to be presented with an Acorn Electron and a Plus 1, one Christmas. I used to copy games directly from books from the library, though never bothered to learn what much of the code actually did, at that time. Though, since getting a bit older, I found a piece of software called DarkBASIC a few years ago. It was rather fun to actually learn some programming, finally!

[Sprintex]

I got mine for my 15th birthday in 1984.

You're the same vintage as me then

I've got a ZX Spectrum 48k, not that many games though as I was always quite picky about what games I bought, but the ones that stand out for using the Spectrum to its max were Psytron and Codename:MAT. Also have an Atari 2600 console although not the original one I had unfortunately, that was the 'woody' version but it went bang after the mains plug got accidentally pulled out of the back while it was on Have the later silver version now but still love games like Space Invaders, Asteroids, Adventure, Dodgem, Indy 500, and of course the game it ALWAYS came with - Combat

Having tried Playstations and Eggboxes I'm not impressed - the graphics are stunning yes, but the games have lost that simple playability that made the old consoles so fun


Paul

[Adam1701D]

I started with a VIC-20 back in 1983, with all of 3.5k onboard memory (though we pushed the boat out and purchased a 3K expansion cartridge). Brilliant first computer which lasted us a few years until we got the new all-singing and dancing Amstrad CPC464. 

[Bealman]

After starting all this off, I can't believe I just spent a good 15 minutes typing in a post all about the great days of computing, and replying to you people..... but I lost the lot!! 

I really don't know what I did, it was about six paragraphs long and I'm st*ffed if I can get it back (Just as well, I can hear the collective moans). So much for my computer prowness.

Anyway, I'll try again but will shorten it. Paddy - ah yes, the Amstrad. Wasn't that the first 'independent' computer that could run Domestos? If you are still programming a Spectrum for fun, I hope it is model railway oriented!  Your last sentence in that post is lost on me, however. 

NTrain - if you cleared a screen it would have impressed me too. I remember attending a computer course at Durham University as part of my studies back in 1971 and it would take about 100 punchcards to achieve that. The punched bits made good 00 scale bricks, by the way.

Yep, 508111 - 10 CLS would do the trick.... I think I must have punched that in with me last post!

Seriously, if anyone can tell me how to recover all the typing that I thought I'd sent but then it didn't show up on the Forum, I'm all ears, 'cos it's not the first time I've done it. 

Cheers, George.

[Sprintex]

With long posts I always type out in Word then copy and paste into reply box on forum, lost too many long posts in the past to do it any other way


Paul

[Adam1701D]

Remember when the likes of Smiths and Dixons had all the computers on display to try? Sinclair, Commodore, Memotech, Oric, Lynx, etc...?

Those of us of a certain age may have popped in after school and typed the following...

10 PRINT "WH SMITHS IS RUBBISH!!";
20 GOTO 10

[Sprintex]

 

That's one of the cleaner things we typed yes


Paul