C64 Game Maker v2.1.1

"C64 Game Maker" is a tool that allows you to generate C++ source code for simple video games. Evolution and replacement of the previous tool "C64 Graphics Maker" (with which it's backwards compatible), this new tool allows you to use a simple BASIC language to make the code (whose guide can be found in the .zip file in English and Italian).

The binary (.prg) file must be generated by downloading external C++ compilers (from the respective author's site) and currently only Oscar64 and LLVM-MOS are directly supported.

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 the invocation.

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

DISCLAIMER (please read carefully):

This tool has limitations (in terms of performance, available memory and C64 features) and may contain bugs (as well as external compilers used) and so may not be suitable for your particular project, please carefully evaluate if it's the right tool for you. It's made for fun and it's free of charge for any use. You are authorized to use it only if you read and fully agree with the license (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).
In no case, I can fix external compilers, as I don't have the skills to do so.

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 v2.1.1:

• 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;
• Provides a sprite abstraction called "Actors";
• Provides the definition of paths for the actors;
• Provides the definition of map of actors;
• Provides the definition of "Levels";
• Provides the definition of "Games";
• Provides sound effects through the SidSFX Editor version 0.1.1 or higher;
• Provides multi-directional (8-way) scrolling;
  
• Allows import of external data/routines (like music routines);
• Support multiplexer up to 32 sprites;
• VIC-II Calculator;

LICENSE:

Permission is hereby granted, to any person obtaining a legal, unmodified, copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to use the Software, including for commercial purposes without any obligation to pay fees to the author, but **not** to modify, redistribute and/or sell copies of the Software without explicit written permission from the author, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR  IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,  FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE (INCLUDING THE INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE IN THE PRESENT OR FUTURE).

FURTHERMORE, THE AUTHOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS ARISING FROM ISSUES IN EXTERNAL TOOLS THAT THE SOFTWARE USES, FROM THE EVENTUAL DISCONTINUATION OF THE SAME, OR FROM ANY OTHER CAUSE THAT MAY AFFECT THE FUNCTIONING OF THE SOFTWARE. THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS AT THE SOLE RISK OF THE USER, WHO ASSUMES ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE AND/OR LOSS OF ANY NATURE.

RELEASE NOTES:

V2.1.1 (May 19, 2025):

• added MOVE SCROLL TO statement to move the scroll window to a specified position in pixels;
• added the ability to invoke UPDATE MAP also among global functions;

V2.1.0 (May 18, 2025):

• BREAKING CHANGE: The scroll window update and the automatic scrolling of actors are now done with a new specific new instruction: "PREPARE SCROLL"
  
  To update from V2.0.3 to V2.1.0, you must add this instruction before the "UPDATE BACKBUFFER".
  
  In addition, any call to "SETUP SPRITES", must happen after "PREPARE SCROLL". See the new "Desert'n'Treasures" demo for an example (in the game's global declaration). All demos and the manual have been updated.
• added a 8-way scrolling demo: "Desert'n'Treasures" (during the game you can press the space key to look down);
• added "TwoCharsets" demo to demonstrate how to create a split screen using 2 different character sets;
• bug fix: fixed a major alignment bug that in some circumstances caused Oscar64 to generate incorrect code;
• bug fix: fixed the problem that caused the game engine to allocate sprites in reserved areas (from "Extra Data");
• bug fix: BLANK ON and BLANK OFF now work also when scrolling is enabled;
• bug fix: added CURRENT keyword in the highlighter;
• updated manual: added a paragraph for scrolling repositioning;
• updated manual: improved the paragraph "WAIT UNTIL SCROLLING HAS STOPPED";

V2.0.3 (May 05, 2025):

PLEASE DOWNLOAD **AGAIN** THE LATEST VERSION OF Oscar64 as it contains an important bug fix!

• added re-fit button to recompute the hit-rectangle;
• added .id in the Actor;
• added "{Actor} IS ActorClass" instruction to check whether a generic ActorRef is an instance of a specific Actor;
• added "Breakout" example;
• improved help and manual on HITHW instruction;
• bug fix: fixed a bug with the setup of charset for screen with scrolling;
• bug fix: fixed missing selection rectangle around actors in ActorsMapEditor, when no screen is selected;
• bug fix: removed THEN function when another animation is setup;
• bug fix: made SHRCHRS and SHLCHRS available also when scrolling is not enabled;
• bug fix: fill selected cells of ScreenEditor now works again;
• bug fix: fixed a bug in the USE SCREEN MAP when no ActorsMap is associated to the screen;

V2.0.2 (April 26, 2025):

• improvement: removed sprite setup in SETSCROLLREGS instruction. Must now be called manually via SETUP SPRITES. This fixes the rhino/trunk issue in "The Legacy Of Lost Spell" demo for both PAL and NTSC systems.
• minor corrections in the manuals.
• added missing dll (for the svg icons).

V2.0.1 (April 25, 2025):

• fixed a regression in the ANIMATE instruction;
• added missing "Parallax" example;

V2.0.0 (April 25, 2025):

• added 109 new instructions;
• added generic "Actor" reference type;
• added the attribute "tag" (byte) to Actors;
• added ActorList;
• added ActorPool;
• added multi-directional scrolling 2x2 and 4x4 (supported only by Oscar64 in this first release);
• added fully 16 bits sprites coordinates (with clipping);
• added auto scrolling of the Actors;
• added ActorsMap with possibility to update it;
• added Path Editor;
• added UPDATE SCREEN and RESTORE SCREEN to modify and restore a screen (including screen with scrolling);
• added support of the fixed point for the STR instruction.
• added PRINTG to print blockset text in hires mode (mono and multicolor);
• added ability to copy ROM characters even in blocksets (useful for PRINTG);
• added a label in each editor showing the name of the open resource;
• added the ability to click an error and go directly to the code;
• added pick of the cell in Screen Editor with the Ctrl (when the drawing tool is enabled);
• added frame numeration and spinner in Actor Editor;
• added shortcut in Tileset editor to swap from Tile (T) and Char/Block mode (C). Add also a shortcut for deleting selection (Del);
• added Selection (S), Flood fill (F), Clear selection (Del) shortcut in Screen Editor;
• added BlockChars to animate a group of moving characters on the screen (including scrolling screen);
• added parallax scrolling instructions;
• added SID instructions;
• added Actor visibility and priority flags;
• added CTRL + / to comment/uncomment a line or selected lines;
• added "Blazar-X" demo;
• added "Legacy Of The Lost Spell" demo;
• added "Parallax" demo;
• improved HOME button behavior in the code editor;
• improved MOVE TO/MOVE BY speed;
• updated the demo "The Runner" (the pick of objects is simplified by the UPDATE SCREEN instruction);
• fixed highlighter (underscore detection was missing);
• fixed type check when operators are an integer and a fixed-point number (now reports an error);
• fixed a crash condition in the Screen Editor;
• fixed an issue where frames in actor animations would not relocated when a frame was deleted;
• fixed a bug when a new animation is set in a THEN statement of the ANIMATE;
• fixed a bug in Actor reset that left the previous THEN running!
• fixed several bugs in the multiplexer that caused flickering!
• fixed a bug in code generation when a code resource (Actor/Level/Game) has a name that is a subsequence of another;

V1.5.5 (January 17, 2025):

• fixed a bug in the MIRROR instruction when sprites are in reserved memory areas;
• preserved the state of the current window when "cut" is performed;
• fixed rendering of the mirror axis in the Actor editor;

V1.5.4 (January 11, 2025):

• improved multiplexer stability;
• multiplexer bug fixing;

V1.5.3 (December 24, 2024):

• Reduced flickering in multiplexer;
• Bug fix: fixed a bug when the priority multiplexing is enabled (which made the sprites disappear);
• Changed string color in dark mode (it was a too dark red, now it's like the normal text);

V1.5.2 (December 23, 2024):

• Bug fix: removed multiplexer code that was erroneously emitted when multiplexer was not enabled;

V1.5.1 (December 23, 2024):

• Added missing file for the multiplexer (LLVM-MOS);

V1.5.0 (December 22, 2024):

• Added sprite multiplexer (with a demo called "Multiplexer");
• In ScreenEditor you can now select a cell with both the left and right mouse button and use them to draw with pencil or filler;
• In Charset/Spriteset and Blockset:
  • you can now clear the selected slots with the "delete" key;
  • in multicolor mode, you can select the left color with Ctrl+B/1/2/R and the right color with Alt+B/1/2/R;
• In Charset/Spriteset, added the possibility to import and export binary raw data;
• Added auto capitalization of keywords;
• Fixed a bug where when updating a sprite's mono/multicolor mode, the updates were not applied to the Actor(s) in the executable;
• Fixed a bug that highlight keywords inside strings;

v1.0.6 (December 05, 2024):

• Improved tiling of the windows;
• Improved resizing and scaling of the UI;

v1.0.5 (November 30, 2024):

• Added the Actor/background test through the hardware register;

v1.0.4 (November 29, 2024):

• Added ability to open a file from the command line;
• Fixed an issue with the char.rom and the compilers when the current working directory is not the one of the executable (for e.g. when the extension .gmk64 is associated to the executable and a .gmk64 file is double clicked);
• Allow scaling of the UI below 100% and up to 200% (see File > Settings... menu');
• Fixed regression that doesn't show the C++ compiler error messages;

v1.0.3 (November 22, 2024):

• Fixed font scaling on Windows 10;

v1.0.2 (November 17, 2024):

• 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 (November 15, 2024):

• Fixed an issue with VICE 3.7;

v1.0.0 (November 14, 2024):

• FIRST PUBLIC RELEASE.