Pete Brown's Silverlight C64 Emulator

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:16:26 GMT

Project Description

A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight 3 by Pete Brown

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3 Beta. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support. The emulator is pretty CPU intensive due to zero optimization and lots of array copies; if you're not running a fast dual core machine, you're going to see something close to 100% CPU utilization. This isn't a deficiency in Silverlight, rather the result of some pretty inefficient translation from pointers to array copies. This will be fixed.

If you want to use the function keys the browser normally eats, you need to run the application out of browser. Most other keys are mapped. Run-stop is mapped to Escape.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx
(and yes, 1mhz, not 1hz :) )

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has some bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others. Starting with a C# port still saved me a ton of time and allowed me to understand how everything worked without getting back into C/C++ right away. Sharp C64 was written by Stuart Carnie http://aussiebloke.blogspot.com, based on the Frodo source code.

Screen Shot

Other Silverlight Information

If you're interested in Silverlight, be sure to subscribe to my blog at http://10rem.net and
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pete_brown

Attention Mac and Linux Users

The code unfortunately has a dependency on Windows. Specifically, I needed to use platform-specific key codes to map some of the keys that Silverlight does not natively recognize. I'm working with some folks in the moonlight community to get the correct linux keycodes. However, I still need Mac keycodes, as I do not have a mac to test with. If you're interested in helping me out there, please contact me in the dicussion list or via my blog.

Commented Issue: Is there any plan to work on this? [5484]

Psychlist1972 — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:35:58 GMT

Please let me know. I'd like to help optimize this. I'm also interested in porting c64 image conversion tools from C/Linux to c#.
Comments: ** Comment from web user: Psychlist1972 **

I haven't worked on it in a while, but would love to work with some folks who are interested.

The WP7 version really needs to be XNA, same with the proposed WPF version. The Silverlight version can definitely stay as media stream source.

Created Issue: Is there any plan to work on this? [5484]

Minimalist360 — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 02:09:38 GMT

Please let me know. I'd like to help optimize this. I'm also interested in porting c64 image conversion tools from C/Linux to c#.

Source code checked in, #48188

_TFSSERVICE — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:15:13 GMT

Checked in by server upgrade

New Post: PlatformKeyCode values

fool — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:25:22 GMT

I've just updated Virtu with PlatformKeyCode support for Unix (http://virtu.codeplex.com/SourceControl/changeset/view/40956#333170) - so now it supports Win32NT, MacOSX and Unix. This works on Moonlight but you need to wait for the next Preview drop as there is a bug in their keyboard handling (http://old.nabble.com/Re%3A-Strange-KeyEventArgs-Key---PlatformKeyCode-values-p27526431ef1367.html).

New Post: PlatformKeyCode values

fool — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:26:09 GMT

Hi Pete,

I use platform key codes for some keys in my Apple IIe emulator. Check out the GetAsciiKey method in SilverlightKeyboardService.cs: http://virtu.codeplex.com/SourceControl/changeset/view/19235#333170.

Cheers, Sean.

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:57:46 GMT

Project Description

A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight 3 by Pete Brown

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3 Beta. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support. The emulator is pretty CPU intensive due to zero optimization and lots of array copies; if you're not running a fast dual core machine, you're going to see something close to 100% CPU utilization. This isn't a deficiency in Silverlight, rather the result of some pretty inefficient translation from pointers to array copies. This will be fixed.

If you want to use the function keys the browser normally eats, you need to run the application out of browser. Most other keys are mapped. Run-stop is mapped to Escape.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A larger format video may be found on my site here
http://community.irritatedvowel.com/blogs/pete_browns_blog/archive/2009/03/21/My-MIX09-Silverlight-3-ShowOff-Video-_1320_-Commodore-64-Emulator.aspx

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx
(and yes, 1mhz, not 1hz :) )

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has some bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others. Starting with a C# port still saved me a ton of time and allowed me to understand how everything worked without getting back into C/C++ right away. Sharp C64 was written by Stuart Carnie http://aussiebloke.blogspot.com, based on the Frodo source code.

Screen Shot

Other Silverlight Information

If you're interested in Silverlight, be sure to subscribe to my blog at http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Blog and
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pete_brown

Attention Mac and Linux Users

The code unfortunately has a dependency on Windows. Specifically, I needed to use platform-specific key codes to map some of the keys that Silverlight does not natively recognize. I'm working with some folks in the moonlight community to get the correct linux keycodes. However, I still need Mac keycodes, as I do not have a mac to test with. If you're interested in helping me out there, please contact me in the dicussion list or via my blog.

New Post: Well, where the heck is it?

Psychlist1972 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:05:15 GMT

Hi Justin

As Silverlight 3 does not yet have a go-live or end-user runtime, and the installation experience for end-users gets confusing* if they don't already have it installed, and as I do not have a build of the emulator that works with a large number of games, I opted not to put up a live version. Once Silverlight 3 has an end-user runtime available, and there is a build of SilverlightC64 that supports more commonly used games/demos, I'll put it up live and post a link in the wiki.

For now, you can download the source code and run it inside Visual Studio 2008, if you have the Silverlight 3 tools installed.

Pete

* There is no end-user install of Silverlight 3. Unless I add in separate detection and basically host the control in an iframe pointing somewhere else, the installer points users to Silverlight 2. As the app was built against SL3, the user keeps getting prompted to install Silverlight, which simply leads to confusion.

New Post: Well, where the heck is it?

justinc — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:48:24 GMT

If it's silverlight you can embed it in to the codeplex wiki.

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:55:40 GMT

Project Description

A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight 3 by Pete Brown

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3 Beta. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support. The emulator is pretty CPU intensive due to zero optimization and lots of array copies; if you're not running a fast dual core machine, you're going to see something close to 100% CPU utilization. This isn't a deficiency in Silverlight, rather the result of some pretty inefficient translation from pointers to array copies. This will be fixed.

If you want to use the function keys the browser normally eats, you need to run the application out of browser. Most other keys are mapped. Run-stop is mapped to Escape.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A larger format video may be found on my site here
http://community.irritatedvowel.com/blogs/pete_browns_blog/archive/2009/03/21/My-MIX09-Silverlight-3-ShowOff-Video-_1320_-Commodore-64-Emulator.aspx

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx
(and yes, 1mhz, not 1hz :) )

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has some bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others. Starting with a C# port still saved me a ton of time and allowed me to understand how everything worked without getting back into C/C++ right away. Sharp C64 was written by Stuart Carnie http://aussiebloke.blogspot.com, based on the Frodo source code.

Screen Shot

Other Silverlight Information

If you're interested in Silverlight, be sure to subscribe to my blog at http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Blog and
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pete_brown

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 04:08:46 GMT

Project Description

A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight 3 by Pete Brown

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3 Beta. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support. The emulator is pretty CPU intensive due to zero optimization and lots of array copies; if you're not running a fast dual core machine, you're going to see something close to 100% CPU utilization. This isn't a deficiency in Silverlight, rather the result of some pretty inefficient translation from pointers to array copies. This will be fixed.

If you want to use the function keys the browser normally eats, you need to run the application out of browser. Most other keys are mapped. Run-stop is mapped to Escape.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A larger format video may be found on my site here
http://community.irritatedvowel.com/blogs/pete_browns_blog/archive/2009/03/21/My-MIX09-Silverlight-3-ShowOff-Video-_1320_-Commodore-64-Emulator.aspx

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx
(and yes, 1mhz, not 1hz :) )

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has some bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others. Starting with a C# port still saved me a ton of time and allowed me to understand how everything worked without getting back into C/C++ right away. Sharp C64 was written by Stuart Carnie http://aussiebloke.blogspot.com, based on the Frodo source code.

Screen Shot

Other Silverlight Information

If you're interested in Silverlight, be sure to subscribe to my blog at http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Blog

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:42:57 GMT

Project Description

A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight 3 by Pete Brown

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3 Beta. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support. The emulator is pretty CPU intensive due to zero optimization and lots of array copies; if you're not running a fast dual core machine, you're going to see something close to 100% CPU utilization. This isn't a deficiency in Silverlight, rather the result of some pretty inefficient translation from pointers to array copies. This will be fixed.

If you want to use the function keys the browser normally eats, you need to run the application out of browser. Most other keys are mapped. Run-stop is mapped to Escape.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A larger format video may be found on my site here
http://community.irritatedvowel.com/blogs/pete_browns_blog/archive/2009/03/21/My-MIX09-Silverlight-3-ShowOff-Video-_1320_-Commodore-64-Emulator.aspx

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx
(and yes, 1mhz, not 1hz :) )

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has a number of bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others.

Screen Shot

Other Silverlight Information

If you're interested in Silverlight, be sure to subscribe to my blog at http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Blog

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:24:27 GMT

Project Description

A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3 Beta. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A larger format video may be found on my site here
http://community.irritatedvowel.com/blogs/pete_browns_blog/archive/2009/03/21/My-MIX09-Silverlight-3-ShowOff-Video-_1320_-Commodore-64-Emulator.aspx

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx
(and yes, 1mhz, not 1hz :) )

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has a number of bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others.

Screen Shot

Other Silverlight Information

If you're interested in Silverlight, be sure to subscribe to my blog at http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Blog

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:15:01 GMT

Project Description
A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A larger format video may be found on my site here
http://community.irritatedvowel.com/blogs/pete_browns_blog/archive/2009/03/21/My-MIX09-Silverlight-3-ShowOff-Video-_1320_-Commodore-64-Emulator.aspx

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx
(and yes, 1mhz, not 1hz :) )

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has a number of bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others.

Screen Shot

Other Silverlight Information

If you're interested in Silverlight, be sure to subscribe to my blog at http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Blog

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:13:46 GMT

Project Description
A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A larger format video may be found on my site here
http://community.irritatedvowel.com/blogs/pete_browns_blog/archive/2009/03/21/My-MIX09-Silverlight-3-ShowOff-Video-_1320_-Commodore-64-Emulator.aspx

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx
(and yes, 1mhz, not 1hz :) )

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has a number of bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others.

Screen Shot

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:12:59 GMT

Project Description
A commodore 64 emulator ported to Microsoft Silverlight

"Just to prove Silverlight was up to the task"

This is the raw (and I do mean raw), buggy source code for a Frodo-based port of a C64 emulator for Silverlight 3. Future revs may move to a port of Vice, but I wanted to make the current source available while I mull that decision over.

Currently only a small set of games work or partially work. C64 basic commands and typical disk access work. Up to four drives are supported. Currently no sound support.

The interesting thing about the approach I used, is the display is a 50fps video, generated at runtime in Silverlight 3. This uses the enhanced MediaStreamSource (managed codec) support introduced in Silverlight 3.

Additional Information

A video showcasing this emulator may be found on Channel 9 here: http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Honorable-Mention-MIX09-Show-Off-Contest-Silverlight-Commodore-64-Emulator/.

A larger format video may be found on my site here http://community.irritatedvowel.com/blogs/pete_browns_blog/archive/2009/03/21/My-MIX09-Silverlight-3-ShowOff-Video-_1320_-Commodore-64-Emulator.aspx

A podcast Scott Hanselman did with me at MIX09 covers this emulator http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HanselminutesPodcast155AC64EmulatorWithSilverlight3ByPeteBrown.aspx

References

Frodo Emulator: http://frodo.cebix.net/
Sharp C64: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sharp-c64

Frodo is the best place to go for reference. Sharp C64 is what I used as a starting point, but it has a number of bugs that Frodo does not. Note that Frodo itself is a very CPU-intensive emulator when compared to others.

Screen Shot

Updated Wiki: Home

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:31:05 GMT

Source code checked in, #1836

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:52:33 GMT

Source code checked in, #1835

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:52:22 GMT

Source code checked in, #1834

Psychlist1972 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:52:04 GMT