C64 Game Maker v1.0.2

The "C64 Game Maker" is a tool that allows you to create games for the Commodore 64. Evolution and replacement of the previous tool "C64 Graphics Maker" (with which it's backwards compatible), this tool allows you to create games through the use of a simple BASIC language (whose guide can be found in the .zip file in English and Italian).

The task of the tool ends with the conversion of the BASIC code to C/C++. The next step is to compile this code with an external C/C++ compiler (currently Oscar64 and LLVM-MOS are supported) that must be downloaded from the respective authors' sites. To install the tool, please watch the following video:

Introduction to C64 Game Maker (English version)
Introduzione al C64 Game Maker (Italian version)

N.B.:

• there is no need to manually run external compilers, the tool automates this process.

• If you have already downloaded the two C/C++ compilers, please download them again as some important fixes have recently been released for both.

The tool is free for any use (please read the license), but donations are welcome and help me further expand the capabilities of the tool. Thank you in advance.

This is the first release that has limitations and maybe some bugs, please read the guide and especially the "Troubleshooting" section in case of problems. Please note that the authors of the external C/C++ compilers are not involved in this project and are obviously not required to fix any bugs in their compilers to make "C64 Game Maker" work. So if you have any issues, please file a bug at https://github.com/AGPX/C64GameMaker/issues and if the issue is related to external compilers, I will try to contact them, but again I can't guarantee anything (see the guide for more details on how to report bugs).

For a full explanation of the tool (including a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a game with it), check out my playlists:

C64 Game Maker (English version)
C64 Game Maker (Italian version)

Inside the 'examples' directory you can find 3 demos: "Space Pong", "Snakes" and "The Runner" (commented in English and Italian).

Note:  the implementation of the LZO algorithm is courtesy of DrMortalWombat, see Oscar64 for details on the decompression algorithm.

Features list of the v1.0.2:

• MDI Application;
• Supported characters mode: Standard Character Mode (SCM), Multi Color Mode (MCM), Extended background Color Mode (ECM) with exporter for assembly and basic;
• Supported sprites mode: monocolor, multicolor with exporter for assembly and basic;
• Supported bitmap cells (named "Blockset") with mode: monocolor, multicolor (you can also use it to import a full screen bitmap, BUT be aware that there is no proper fullscreen bitmap editor inside the software, the blockset are treated just like characters);
• Editing of multiple characters/sprites/blocks displaced in a grid (with ability to mix mono and multicolor characters);
• Editing tool:
  • Up to 4 Layers;
  • transformation: shifting, rotation, resizing, invert, mirror, flip (you can restrict them to the selection);
  • drawing tool: freehand, line, ellipse, rectangle, floodfill (clipped to the selection, if any). Possibility to use two colors dithering.
  • selection: irregular shape, move selected area, copy & paste;
• Import images to characters (SCM, MCM or ECM), sprites (mono or multi) or blocks (mono or multi) with automatic search of the best fitting colors and dithering support (import can take a while, please fix at least the background color to speedup the operation);
• Import/Export of data and project items;
• Animation editor for characters, sprites and blocks with "ghost" functionality;
• Characters/sprites/blocks optimization: remove unused, empty and duplicates (with cascading update);
• Unified clipboard between sprites, characters and blocks ('cut' also updated tiles, screens and animations);
• Drag & Drop (between characters, tiles and blocks);
• Possibility to add a background/foreground image (with adjustable position and size) useful to perform decaling;
• Zoom/Pan;
• 100 levels of undo/redo;
• Tiles editor (characters or blocks based);
• Screens editor (characters, blocks or tiles based);
• RLE and LZO compression;
• Includes a simple BASIC language that is transpiled to C/C++;
• Provides a programming model based on state-machines;
• Supports a sprite abstraction called "Actors";
• Supports the definition of "Levels";
• Supports the definition of "Games";
• Supports sound effects through the SidSFX Editor version 0.1.1 or higher;
• Allows import of external data/routines (like music routines);
• VIC-II Calculator;
  
  

RELEASE NOTES

v1.0.2:
* Added support for the Windows dark mode;
* Added scaling factor in the setting to enlarge the UI;
* Fixed additional issues with VICE 3.6.1, 3.5 and 3.2;

v1.0.1: Fixed an issue with VICE 3.7.

v1.0.0: FIRST PUBLIC RELEASE.