How playable are C 16 / Plus 4 games???

Pedro Lambrini · Post by **Pedro Lambrini** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:22 am

As a side note to the above post I would strongly recommend buying a joystick adapter or if you're brave mod the computer with 9 pin d-subs. C16/Plus4 joysticks are fairly rare and aren't that great. Having the ability to use standard 9 pin joysticks on this lovely machine makes a huge difference to your gaming experience...

rhurst · Post by **rhurst** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:51 am

I would love to find ANY supplier of such adaptors -- fortunately, I got my hands on a well-kept original.

RobertBe · Post by **RobertBe** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:17 pm

carlsson wrote:I understand those 1540/41/51/71 internal power supplies are not adjustable to different input voltages?

Very true.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org

RobertBe · Post by **RobertBe** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:22 pm

rhurst wrote:I would love to find ANY supplier of such adaptors...

8-Bit Designs used to sell them. You can make contact at

shifty_butch(at)hotmail.com

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org

robinsonmason · Post by **robinsonmason** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:51 pm

Sorry to jump in late here, but did the C16 or Plus/4 have any Role-Playing Games? All I've seen in my searches so far are platformers, puzzles, etc. It would seem with the graphic limitations that they would have been better suited to RPGs than action games....?

RobertBe · Post by **RobertBe** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:14 am

robinsonmason wrote:...did the C16 or Plus/4 have any Role-Playing Games?

Gaze upon them at

http://plus4world.powweb.com/games

t would seem with the graphic limitations that they would have been better suited to RPGs than action games....?

Check out the action games there, too.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 24-25 CommVEx v6 2010 - http://www.commodore.ca/forum
and click on ComVEX

robinsonmason · Post by **robinsonmason** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:13 am

Thanks, Robert, the categories really helped narrow it down (though there were some text adventures thrown into the "RPG" mix). There are also a few non-English titles, but I will ignore those for now.

http://plus4world.powweb.com/sl.php?ptid=116

Notable were Bard's Tale 1-3, Magic Candle, and Centauri Alliance (I'd actually never heard of the last one before, and it looks neat). All require 64K.

I'm sure if I had owned a Plus/4 then I would have been happy with that selection alone.

"D&D Part One: The Four Treasures" looks like the only one categorized as an RPG that appears to be unique (to the Plus/4), unless they just forgot to add a link to a C64 version of the same.

"Warlock" is the only (English) game listed that works with 16K. However, the GB64 lists the C64 version of the game as "Adventure - Selectable Answers".

So if the list is complete, then there is no unexpanded, English C16 true RPG!

However, according to Wikipedia: "A relatively simple internal ram expansion could make the C16 almost equivalent to the Plus/4, allowing it to run the same software"

The downside of owning a Plus/4 or C16 , compared to a VIC-20, is the need to buy a new datasette (or an adapter), and new proprietary joysticks. I wonder how many working 16/4 joysticks are still out there today in perfect shape?

Pedro Lambrini · Post by **Pedro Lambrini** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:59 am

Yeah, the internal 64k mod is pretty easy to do. I'm pretty rubbish with these sorts of things but even I could do it.

As I mentioned above the joysticks are few and far between and also in general pretty poor. Ebay has plenty adapters for both the joysticks and Datasettes. I recommend both. Also, wiring 9 pin ports onto the C16 is pretty easy too. I fitted mine down the side of the case in front of the power switch - it also leaves the original ports free in case you happen to come across a working, quality C16 joystick...

robinsonmason · Post by **robinsonmason** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:27 am

Thanks Pedro I'll have to check out those adapters and the instructions on modding a C16 and maybe I'll commit to getting one.

orion70 · Post by **orion70** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:47 am

robinsonmason wrote:"Warlock" is the only (English) game listed that works with 16K. However, the GB64 lists the C64 version of the game as "Adventure - Selectable Answers".

I've tried the C64 version, and it says "C64 / VIC20 version" in the title screen. On the T64 there are two games, Warlock Caves and Warlock Caves V2, which are very similar and apparently both work on the unexpanded VIC. They are typed in from Melbourne House's Commodore 16 Games Book, or the equivalent C64 book. The game itself is VERY poor, and doesn't deserve to be saved from oblivion.

As for true C16 RPGs, I had the C16 for several years, and can't remember of a single RPG for this computer. My first RPG was Bard's Tale I on the C64

.

Italian RPGs listed there fall in the category of selectable-answer adventures:

- Conan was one of my fav on the C64, and had a huge success in Italy in the late 80s; I also tried to produce an English 40-column VIC version, but no luck (out of RAM).

- Harem Adventure is a silly game based on the same mechanics as Warlock, and I wouldn't recommend it even to the hardest fan of sexy games

.

robinsonmason · Post by **robinsonmason** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:25 am

Cool details, orion.

As for true C16 RPGs, I had the C16 for several years, and can't remember of a single RPG for this computer

Could this be a job for Ghislain?