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Commodore 64/VIC-20/PET

c64

The Commodore 64 is an 8 Bit personal computer introduced in 1982 by Commodore International. This model holds the world record for the highest-selling single computer model of all time.

Emulator Rom Folder Extension BIOS Controller Config
VICE c64 .crt .d64 .g64 .t64 .tap .x64 .zip .prg none /opt/retropie/configs/c64/sdl-vicerc
/opt/retropie/configs/c64/sdl-joymap-c64.vjm
lr-vice c64 .crt .d64 .d80 .d81 .g64 .t64 .tap .x64 .zip .prg .tap .t64 .crt .m3u .zip optional /opt/retropie/configs/c64/retroarch.cfg

ROMS

Accepted File Extensions: .crt .d64 .g64 .t64 .tap .x64 .prg

Place your ROMS in 

/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/c64

Emulator: VICE

Controls

Key Action
Space Start Game
F12 Menu
Enter Select
Backspace Cancel
Esc Exit Menu

Changing Controls

Press F12 to open the VICE menu.

  • Navigate to Machine settings, use Enter to open the menu
  • Navigate to Joystick settings, use Enter to open the menu

  • Navigate to Joystick device in port 2, use Enter to open the menu

    • to use a numpad to play your game, navigate to Numpad use Enter to select it. The mapping will be:

      • Up: 8
      • Up/Right: 9
      • Up/Left: 7
      • Left: 4
      • Right: 8
      • Down: 2
      • Down/Left: 1
      • Down/Right: 3
      • Fire: 0
    • to use a Joystick (gamepad) instead, navigate to Joystick and use Enter to select it.

Use Backspace to go back to previous menu or Escape to exit the Menu completely.

Saving Configuration

Configuration can be saved from Settings management menu. Available options:

  • Save current settings
  • Save hotkeys
  • Save joystick map

The Save settings on exit option can be toggled from the same menu, so that any changes to the VICE configuration will automatically be saved when quitting the emulator.

Custom Joystick Mappings

Custom mappings can be defined from the Joystick settings (under the Machine settings menu). The Joystick 1 mapping or Joystick 2 mapping menus can be used.

The mapping can be changed by pressing Enter on each joystick input (Up/Down/Left/Right/Fire 1,3,3), followed by pressing the corresponding button/key on the gamepad/keyboard.

Other Commodore Systems

In addition to Commodore 64, the VICE emulator also emulates the following Commodore systems:

  • C128
  • C64DTV
  • almost all PET models
  • PLUS4
  • CBM-II (aka C610)
  • VIC20

To select the emulated system, the Runcommand Launch Menu can be used before a ROM is started.

03062016_2322241

Emulator: lr-vice

BIOS

lr-vice can use external ROM files for JiffyDOS support, which should be copied to:

/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/vice
Filename Description MD5
JiffyDOS_C64.bin JiffyDOS C64 Kernal be09394f0576cf81fa8bacf634daf9a2
JiffyDOS_1541-II.bin JiffyDOS 1541 drive BIOS 1b1e985ea5325a1f46eb7fd9681707bf
JiffyDOS_1571_repl310654.bin JiffyDOS 1571 drive BIOS 41c6cc528e9515ffd0ed9b180f8467c0
JiffyDOS_1581.bin JiffyDOS 1581 drive BIOS 20b6885c6dc2d42c38754a365b043d71

Controls

lr-vice uses the RetroArch configured RetroPad (see: RetroArch Configuration).

Default controls

RetroPad button Action
D-Pad Move
B Keypress
A Toggle transparency
Y Toggle ShiftLock
Y (Long) Quick map button
Y (Very long) Quick clear button
X Press Space
Start Press Return
Keyboard key Action
F12 Toggle statusbar
Right Control Switch between joyports
End Reset

Virtual keyboard controls

The VICE cores have a virtual keyboard that can be accessed by default through the Select button.
The virtual keyboard can be controlled with:

  • RetroPad
    Button Action
    D-Pad Move
    B Keypress
    A Toggle transparency
    Y Toggle ShiftLock
    X Press Space
    Start Press Return
  • Keyboard
    Key Action
    Cursors Move
    Enter Keypress
    CapsLock Toggle ShiftLock

Long press for sticky keys. Stickying the third key will replace the second.

Joystick control

Older C64 games tend to use joystick port 1 and newer ones tend to use port 2 for player 1. There are several ways to switch ports:

  • Using the core options: Quick Menu -> Options -> RetroPad Port
  • On virtual keyboard (Select): press the key labeled JOY
  • Pressing the default keyboard shortcut: Right Control
  • Assigning Switch Joyport to any RetroPad button, under Quick Menu -> Options
  • Renaming the game, eg. Bruce_Lee_j1.tap or Bruce_Lee_(j1).tap for port 1, similarly Bruce_Lee_j2.tap or Bruce_Lee_(j2).tap for port 2

M3U support and disk control

For a multi disk game, an M3U playlist file can be used to group and change discs from the RetroArch Disc Control interface.

A M3U file is a simple text file, with one disk per line (see the Wiki M3U page).

Example:

M3U file: Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems).m3u, containing:

Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 1 of 3 Side A)(Game).d64
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 1 of 3 Side B)(Surface).d64
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 2 of 3 Side A)(Dungeon).d64
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 2 of 3 Side B)(Populace A).d64
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 3 of 3 Side A)(Populace A).d64
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 3 of 3 Side B)(Populace A).d64

Paths in the M3U file can be absolute or relative to the location of the M3U file.

When the game asks for it, the current disk can be change from the RetroArch Disc Control menu:

  • Eject the current disc with Eject Disc
  • Select the right disc index with Current Disc Index from the disk list drop-down
  • Insert the new disc with Insert Disc

By default, RetroArch will display the filename (without extension) of each M3U entry when selecting a disc via the Current Disc Index drop-down men_. Custom display labels may be set for each disc using the syntax: DISC_FILE|DISC_LABEL. For example, the following M3U file:

Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 1 of 3 Side A)(Game).d64|Game
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 1 of 3 Side B)(Surface).d64|Surface
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 2 of 3 Side A)(Dungeon).d64|Dungeon
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 2 of 3 Side B)(Populace A).d64|Populace A
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 3 of 3 Side A)(Populace B).d64|Populace B
Ultima VI - The False Prophet (1990)(Origin Systems)(Disk 3 of 3 Side B)(Populace C).d64|Populace C
will be shown in the selection menu as: 
1: Game
2: Surface
3: Dungeon
4: Populace A
5: Populace B
6: Populace C

Zip Archives Support

ZIP archives will be extracted to a temporary directory, in roms folder. The temporary directory will be removed on exit.

This allows:

  • Automatic M3U playlist generation from the all files included in the archive.
  • The use of zipped images in M3U files.

Other Commodore Systems

lr-vice supports a large number of Commodore systems, RetroPie includes:

  • C128
  • C64
  • C64DTV
  • almost all PET models
  • PLUS4
  • VIC20

To select the emulated system, the Runcommand Launch Menu can be used before a ROM is started.

Core Configuration

Configuration of the lr-vice core(s) is available from the RetroArch's Core Options menu. A list of available parameters and configuration options is found in the Libretro Core documentation.

Other configurations

Dedicated systems (e.g. VIC20/Pet/Plus4/C128) can be created in EmulationStation following these instructions.

SVG Logos for each Commodore system are available here, courtesy of forum user UDb32.