I'm not revealing any secrets when I say that computing hasn't always been as we know it. When I got my first computer, we were already on Windows XP; I didn't use Linux because I didn't even know it existed. But when I was younger, I did use a Commodore 64 (with my brother always watching, since it was his). That was simply another world—worse, of course, but with its own charm. If, like me, you remember that "great" computer, you should know that you can relive its magic with VICE , an emulator available for Linux.
VICE is a 2-in-1 emulator. Once installed, two icons will appear in the applications menu: one for the Commodore 64 and another for the 128k version. The emulator(s) work similarly to other well-known emulators: once launched, you'll enter the user interface and can begin using the system. Of course, you'll need to know how those computers worked, and I'm going to show you what little I remember about running programs and games on VICE.
How to Play Commodore Games on VICE
The first thing we need to do is install the VICE Snap package . To avoid confusion, here are the steps to follow:
- We install the emulator with the following command:
sudo snap install vice-jz
- We open the emulator. In this example, I'm going to use the one from Commodore 64.
- Once inside the emulator, the next step is to use it. If you remember any command, you can try it. I remember rather little. In the third step we have to look for the ROMs, although in this case they are also called "Tape". Due to a copyright issue, we cannot add any links.
- Once the ROM or "Tape" is downloaded, we have to insert it. We have probably downloaded a .zip file and we are interested in what is inside. For this example I am going to run a game called "Strider", more specifically "Strider (Europe) .tap". To put the "tape." we click where it says "Tape" and choose "Attach tape image ...".
- We choose the file «Strider (Europe) .tap.
- Already with the "tape" inside, we are going to load it: we write "load" without the quotes and press enter ("Return" was called).
- We will see the text "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE" and that is what we have to do. We go back to the "Tape" menu and click on "Start" (it would have been easier if the option put "Play", but ...).
- Two things can happen here:
- If it works, we wait and, once loaded, we could play.
- If a message appears saying that you have found something, we will probably have to put load »strider» just as I have written it.
- We wait.
- If you ask us to reset the tape account, we do. We will have to press "Fire", which was once the fire button on the joystick.
- We wait for it to load and play.
Touching on the options we can configure the controls and other parameters of the emulator. What do you think of this trip back in time?
You can find this and more information here.
