8-bit Archives - Armchair Arcade

Evercade announces Indie Heroes 4 with 11 more games, plus updated master game list

Bill Loguidice — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 16:23:27 +0000

Evercade has announced their latest cartridge, the 64th, and number 43 in the main series, Indie Heroes 4, with 11 games. The games on the cartridge are a mix of titles from a variety of platforms: Batty Zabella, Block Droppin’, Block’em Sock’em, Collie Defense, Flea!2, Jane Austen’s 8-bit Adventure, Murtop, Nyghtmare: The Ninth King, Soko Banana, Starseed, and The Curse of Illmore Bay. It should release February 2025 with preorders starting on January 30th.

Evercade Indie Heroes Collection 4 Trailer

You can check out the current list of games in the entire Evercade library with my master list, found here. There are 553 titles on cartridge, not counting unlockables, with dozens more built into the various hardware. You can check out my IGN review of the recent Alpha Mega Man and Alpha Street Fighter bartops here.

Evercade Indie Heroes 4 – Games

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Evercade reveals Toaplan Arcade 4, plus updated master game list

Bill Loguidice — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 14:38:51 +0000

Evercade just revealed Toaplan Arcade 4, with 5 new arcade games and 1 console game, bringing its total number of cartridge-based games to 540, not counting unlockables or anything built into hardware. Preorders for the new cartridge begin October 24, 2024, for a December release. You can see my current Evercade master list of games at this link.

All 6 games from Toaplan Arcade 4 for the Evercade platform

Toaplan Arcade 4 announcement

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Amiga Forever and C64 Forever 10 Released!

Bill Loguidice — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 14:40:25 +0000

New versions of the ultimate Commodore 8-bit (Commodore 64, PET 2001, CBM 3032, CBM 4032, CBM 8032, VIC 20, CBM 610, C16, Plus/4, C128, etc.) and Amiga (OCS, ECS, AGA) emulation packages are now available. These plug and play releases are the easiest way to experience some of the greatest classic computing platforms of the 1970s – 1990s.

Here’s a link to C64 Forever: https://www.c64forever.com/

Here’s a link to Amiga Forever: https://www.amigaforever.com/

If you buy both packages, they work together!

Amiga Forever

Here’s the full press release:

December 20, 2022 – Cloanto released today version 10 (build 10.0.10.0) of Amiga Forever and C64 Forever, the official Commodore/Amiga preservation, emulation and support suites for Windows.

The new editions are the result of almost two years of development since the previous major version. Cloanto’s RetroPlatform framework is the result of a lot of effort to make Amiga and CBM 8-bit features and interfaces appear effortlessly unified. The two packages now encompass more than 700K lines of code written by Cloanto, integrating with a collaborative endeavor of emulation plugins and content preservation.

Before adding visible features, a priority of this version consisted in the removal of speed and space constraints. Some of the old barriers may have been out of sight before, but the result after upgrading is a satisfying sensation of increased freedom and power: the title editor opens and closes in an instant, large media files are handled with more ease, while windows and other elements that used to be fixed can now be resized. Content folders can be added anywhere under Amiga Files and CBM Files, while new personal playlists and improved content shortcuts offer more ways to rapidly access titles and folders stored on any disk.

Amiga Forever 10 includes direct support for FloppyBridge-compatible floppy drive and controller devices (e.g. DrawBridge, Greaseweazle, SuperCard Pro, Waffle). Whereas previous versions only supported floppy disk images, now physical floppy drives and disks can be accessed by the emulation. No additional software is required.

Like floppy disks, bulletin board systems were omnipresent in the home computing world of the 1980s and 1990s. “Back in those days, with my colleague Oscar at Cloanto we helped Jay Miner add animated graphics support to the SkyPix software used on his ‘The Mission’ BBS, where Jay was known as ‘El Padre’,” remembers Mike Battilana. Could there be a better way to celebrate BBS culture than using a Hayes-compatible “internet modem” directly from Amiga Forever and C64 Forever?

The new RetroPlatform virtual modem can be attached to the desired port in the Configuration tab of the editor (right-click a title, select Edit), and is ready for use by Amiga applications like NComm and Term, and 8-bit counterparts like CCGMS! and VIP Terminal. C64 Forever 10 even comes with a preinstalled version of the CCGMS! terminal program, complete with ready-to-run BBS entries in the phone book. Don’t forget to type AT$ for Help.

Hundreds of smaller new features and refinements also made it into these new versions. Windows too went through several new releases since the previous major release of Amiga Forever and C64 Forever, and the new code base provides better support for features introduced in Windows 11 and Windows 10 versions up to 22H2.

Amiga Explorer 10 is also being released at the same time, with new features like Amiga-PC clipboard text sharing. As “legacy support” is in our DNA, we made an extra effort to restore compatibility with Windows XP and with Amiga systems without mathffp.library. This is a free upgrade for all Amiga Explorer customers, and is included with Amiga Forever Plus Edition and Premium Edition.

As always, we are grateful to the many friends who supported this project and our Amiga passion, vision and hope. Special thanks to Toni Wilen. Current and soon-to-be Amiga serial and print integration features would not have been possible without his help.

Amiga Forever 10 is available now in three editions:

Value Edition (downloadable installer)
Plus Edition (downloadable installer with option to build DVD ISO image)
Premium Edition (downloadable Plus Edition, plus boxed software and additional videos on 3 DVDs)

C64 Forever 10 is available now in three editions:

Free Express Edition (feature-limited version)
Downloadable Plus Edition (downloadable installer with option to build CD ISO image)
Boxed Plus Edition (downloadable Plus Edition, plus boxed CD)

Both packages recognize and work with each other, with options to merge the different platforms into the same interface. Prices start from $9.95 (Value Edition, or special upgrade offers).

Visual Tours

Here are some suggestions to highlight specific features for YouTubers and other more visual friends. Some celebrate the older 8-bit CBM systems, while others are shared with the more powerful Amiga environments.

Shared – BBS like it’s 1985: in C64 Forever, launch CCGMS! (Applications folder), then connect to one of the BBS entries in the phone book. To do so, press to go to the dialer and parameters screen, press to go to the phone book screen, use the cursor keys to select a BBS, then press to connect to it. You are online!

8-Bit – Amber PET? In C64 Forever, set the PET/CBM system colors to amber (Tools/Options/Emulation/Hardcoded Palettes), then start a PET/CBM system from the Systems folder.

Shared – Arcade and Tile modes, via View menu. Be sure to try out fullscreen Arcade mode (via the maximize button on the title bar), and to use it with a game controller.

Shared – Light vs. Dark Mode, via Tools/Options/Skin.

Shared – Virtual Keyboard: open an Amiga emulation session like Workbench 3.X (in the Systems folder) and then use the keyboard menu at the bottom left of the playback window to open the Virtual Keyboard. Inside the emulation, open the Input Prefs and change the keyboard to a different language (e.g. German). Did you notice how the virtual keyboard on the Windows side also updated its layout? And still, it all keeps working with your unchanged physical PC keyboard, no matter what layout that one has. Then on closing the session you can choose whether to commit the keyboard layout change to the title configuration, or not.

8-Bit – Virtual Mouse: start an 8-bit title (e.g. a PET 2001, or 8032, or C64) from the Systems folder of C64 Forever, and use the mouse to move the text cursor around. If you ever spent a lot of time programming or writing on those systems, isn’t this something you’ve been wanting to do for more than 40 years?

Shared – Fullscreen Controls: start or switch any Amiga or 8-bit emulation session to fullscreen (use the button in the top row of the playback window), then hold down the Escape key for one second to open the fullscreen controls. These can be selected with the mouse, with the keyboard, or with the same controllers you are using to play. At last, you can swap disks, pause, resume, save, etc., without needing to leave your favorite screen mode and controls.

Shared – Type Clipboard Text: use the keyboard menu at the bottom left of the playback window to paste the content of the Windows text clipboard. Works with any Amiga or 8-bit system (in Japanese too…)

Screenshots and Box Shots
Amiga Forever Screenshots
Amiga Forever Box Shots
C64 Forever Screenshots
C64 Forever Box Shot
Cloanto Logo

Additional Information
Focus on New Features
Quick Instructions for Upgraders
C64 Forever Homepage
Amiga Homepage

New Features
https://www.amigaforever.com/whatsnew/

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Nox Archaist – 2020 CRPG for the Apple II – Unboxing!

Bill Loguidice — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 17:08:22 +0000

Here’s a quick unboxing of the collector’s edition of Nox Archaist by 6502 Workshop for the Apple II. It’s a brand new 8-bit CRPG for the end of 2020:

First startup. I look forward to playing it!

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Top Emulators Amiga Forever and C64 Forever 8 Receive “R2” Update

Bill Loguidice — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 20:56:28 +0000

Press Release

September 9, 2019 – Cloanto released today the “R2” (8.2.2.0) update for Amiga Forever 8 and C64 Forever 8.

The “R2” build is the result of eight months of work since the previous major release, and takes into account user feedback, operating system enhancements and numerous features from our own wish list.

This is a free update for existing version 8 users, who can get the new version through the Help/About dialog in Amiga Forever and C64 Forever. The updated full installation package can also be accessed via the original confirmation email or from the new Help/My Downloads and Keys menu item, and is set to remain available for 10 years after an order.

The new release further delivers an important milestone in the effort to implement better mechanisms for documenting and delivering version changes. Changelog details for available, installed and past versions, including early access builds, are now accessible from the Changelog tab under Help/About, and as part of the software update notifications.

Other new and enhanced features include:

Gorgeous resizable and reconfigurable virtual keyboards, now also with multi-touch support and a dock option
Even more advanced game controller configuration and testing features than ever before (under Tools/Options/Input, Help/Developer/Test and in the Input tab of the title editor)
Improved Disk Toolbox (convert disks to images and vice versa, from the Tools menu) and support for direct-attached disks (to more easily share media between Classic Amiga and emulation systems, via the Media tab of the title editor)
New general input options (add your own commands like Load last snapshot, Cartridge freeze button, Open debugger, etc.)
New CD drive controls (e.g. for CDTV) and improved fullscreen mode controls
Updated WinFellow plugin interface to support 64-bit version and HDF images
Improvements to AmigaOS 4/PowerPC support (better detection of bootable and non-bootable states, increased number of reserved blocks, etc.)
Support for some of the latest Windows 10 features introduced in versions 1709, 1809 and 1903
Continuing best-in-class support for content curation, high-DPI and mixed display environments, real and virtual game controller and keyboard input

The Setup Wizard and Tip of the Day components were also refined, aiming to ease setup and feature discovery. These tutorial functions can also be invoked from the Help menu, and are designed to expose important and lesser-known features to both novice and longtime users.

Overall, the project remains permeated by attention to detail, usability and beauty, which have been part of our Amiga software development work for more than three decades.

As always, we are grateful to everyone who supported this project and to the friends who shared our passion and vision during these sometimes challenging, but always bright Amiga days.

Please stay tuned for more to come.

Additional Information

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