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hey so i never knew but i slept ontop of a box of the full commodore setup it had the mouse commordore and the floppy drive and im supprised i never lnew for 3 years
Commodore 128 / 65816 emulation are basically the only things that this unit lacks. Want a PAL system? Check. Want an NTSC system? Check. Badline emulation for those games that use it? Check. Want a 1541, 1571, or 1581 drive? Check, you get two of those. Want a hard disk? Check. Want an REU? Check, up to 16MB. Want a faster processor? Check, up to 48Mhz. Want HDMI output? Check. Want chroma/luma output for your 1702 monitor? Check. Want composite output? Check. Want to use your old cartridges? Check. Want to use your old joysticks? Check. Want to use your old keyboard/case? Check. Want to use your old disk drives? Check. Want to use your old tape drive? Check. Want to use FTP to update the internal or external usb thumb drive? Check. Want to use Telnet to operate the menus on a remote machine without suspending the currently running program? Check. Want to accelerate that slow emulated 1541 with FastLoad, Jiffydos, or DolphinDOS? Check, check, and check. How about instant DMA loading for those 1-filed games? Check. You want audio? 6581/8580 emulated audio (x2) plus two sockets for real SIDs.. The sheer quantity of features this unit has is ludicrous. Buying all the accessories and addons this simulates would cost thousands of dollars.
Well, this is what I've been wondering about with the Ultimate64. If I play C64 software on the MiSTer, it really is cycle accurate. BUT, using my DB9 joystick via a (very low latency) USB DB9 converter introduces about a frame of delay. Who cares most people will say, but trying to play (Son Of) Blagger, Great Gianna Sisters or Bruce Lee 2 with that one frame of delay on the joystick input just makes a really hard game EVEN harder... Is there any delay on the DB9 joystick input on the Ultimate64? (Gidion?).
@@erwindewit4073 There's no additional delay. It *might* differ from the original by a few nanoseconds (maybe slower - or maybe faster), but neither you nor the game code will ever notice that. Considering that a USB DB9 converter has a minimum guaranteed latency of 1 millisecond, that should not matter much. Note that the USB HID standard specifies 10 milliseconds as the fastest polling interval, but the HID descriptor can be tweaked to allow for 1 millisecond polling; apparently, no operating systems actually checks whether the value in the HID description is actually within the specified limits. Yes, I did check that when I built my own USB DB9 converter in 2005 (called "CJoy", ancient design by now, schematics and firmware published on the C64-Wiki since 2005), at that time running with a 5 millisecond poll interval - that gave sufficiently low latency for emulation gaming. The idea to tweak the HID description with a (technically) invalid poll interval came up after emulation gamers complained that a commercial USB version on the Competition Pro design was too laggy for the sports games where you have to rattle the joystick like hell. So, 200 polls per second instead of the usual 100. Oh well, the (technically legitimate) 100 polls/second would probably have been good enough, as it turned out that the commercial chip had a bug - its HID descriptor asked to be polled every 80 milliseconds instead of the usual 10, so it had a rate of 12.5 poll/second. Yep, that was way too slow.
@@klausstock8020 Well, I am extremely sensitive to those timings I noticed. This USB DB9 converter has about 1 frame delay which is pretty incredible. Yet, I still notice. Well, on the C64 I do on the MiSTer, not on the Amiga, MegaDrive etc. I personally think it's a real pity that the MiSTer version of the C64 core dropped the SNAC support, as the MegaDrive makes it perfect. Still, now I really want to go try a Ultimate64. I've been thinking about it for a good while now. Pity it's not exactly cheap, and I still need a keyboard and case for it. But so be it. It's the C64 I love the most....... Thank you for your very elaborate explanation! I bought the Ultimate Deamon x2 by the way, as it is one of the fastest options out there...
As the owner of pretty much every hardware remake and add on for the C64 I have to say the Ultimate 64 Elite is by far the most impressive and full featured C64 replacement by a country mile (which I am told is 1.2 city miles ;) ).
Ultimate64 is the best thing ever happened to C64. It is amazing peace of ingeneering and Gideon made it perfect. I have it in c64 casing connected to original floppy drive and datassette and also 1084 monitor. I use old media and my son likes it a lot. When I want it to be faster, I use usb for loading stuff. It is also connected to my network so I can send files directly to it. Just amazing replacement for C64 that will last forever.
Had a hick-up on my board, Gideon's site marked mine as shipped when it never was. Contacted him, and he responded on his July vacation to get it fixed in the system and my board was shipped out the first day back, so the customer service from the site is amazing. Still have not gotten it yet, but I have a case with a LED MEchboard64 keyboard all ready to go with RGB LED's and a white power LED put in, so I think it is going to look amazing.
I guess with the Xilinx its more easy to connect 5V in and outputs to the fpga. Latest altera deviced uses 3.3 or 1.8V pins, so many conversions are nesessary
I need to build a MiSTer before long. Sure it's not as authentic but my love doesn't end with the C64 alone. I admit I love the speaker disk sound emulation though. 👍
@@blackterminal MiSTer is not at all expensive once you realise how many systems it provides, everything from the Atari 2600 to the Nintendo 64. Simply astounding value for money.
I have an Ultimate 64 Elite, and absolutely love it. Got a Commodore MAX-inspired silver custom case for it, and it’s so nice to just plug in a USB stick and play every game designed for the system without having to worry about failing discs or tapes.
Everyone likes different things. For me I like to modify the old motherboards with armsid, static ram, plankton/neatpla, modern ROMs, c0pperdragon rf mod replacement (analog only), DCDC converters instead of 7805/7812, modern 8701 replacements, new connectors / power switch, new el. caps, heatsinks and a refurbished case/keyboard. That is my sweet spot. Others will think my choice is "too much modern replacements" too, but for me I prefer to have the original VIC-II, processor and motherboard.
I love my retro computers and consoles, but got limited space. So I have to choose, Having this instead of a complete C64 setup with diskdrives and whatnot, allows me to divulge in other systems I also love... And tbh. I'm just like you with the system closest to my heart, the Atari ST
agreed, just found a real 1541 floppy drive for the C64 recently, seriously considering getting this (and 3D Printing a clear case for fun) and or the Commander X16, depending on which I can get first, it'll make a good companion for the Athlon 64 based XP PC I'm in the midst of building now
Usually my take away from an FPGA based product is "Ew, too expensive for what it does, lame." like the MiSTer MSC, but that's actually surprisingly cheap for a complete, hardware compatible main board upgrade. They seem to have taken full advantage of every advantage an FPGA could offer too. If I was into the C64 I'd jump on this like a mad dog.
I agree with the Mister MSC but that is just a mostly unnecessary expansion board and case. Getting the Mister on its own with a ram board is amazing value to play every 4, 8 and 16 bit consoles and computers really accurately for £130 on something the size of a box of matches. This Ultimate C64 is nice if you really really really want something that exactly fits in a C64 case and can natively attach to real hardware, it's a shame it can't also do other consoles or dual boot to Mister, especially as it costs twice as much as a Mister...
@@beatchef Thus why I specified the MiSTer MSC and not "MiSTer" in general. I wouldn't be surprised if basic FPGA emulation for other home computers from the era is added to Ultimate C64 later, It's seemingly the only FPGA feature they didn't take full advantage of, even though the hardware is more than capable of it.
Why bother when you have an emulator on a PC? The only good in this board for me is ZIF sockets for real SIDs. I like real hardware. Real c64s are still avaliable and with pi1541 and new power supplies they are very reliable. I like the idea of putting ZIFs to give opportunity to insert original chips like 6502, VIC2 and SID. That will be the board I consider to buy.
@@surfinbirdzx Because it's not emulation, it's not software, the FPGA is effectively recreating an entire C64 in hardware, accurate down to the gate. Even on modern computers that'd be a brutal emulation to run and would lack the satisfaction of real hardware. The ZIF sockets for SID chips are just there to satisfy the people who like the imperfections of an original SID, it can recreate 9 of it's own SIDs without an original, all hooked up to the proper registers and crystal clear. Look, FPGAs are an incredibly complicated technology to explain, way too much to explain in a TH-cam comment. Even then they're one of those thing where even to an enthusiast like myself, technology starts to resemble magic.
Yeah, now you understand why people are all over the Ultimate II+ cart. That lets you use most of these goodies (minus some obvious bits like the higher clocked CPU) with any regular C64. I'm about to order my 2nd Ultimate II+, and I'm very heavily contemplating getting an Ultimate 64 board too. Not like I don't have enough toys, and I'm not even really that much of a C64 person... But it's just too good.
The Ultimate 64 board is amazing, but it's a real shame that the Ultimate II+ has been so hard to get. I'm glad I got one well before the worldwide shortages, because it's a great piece of kit that allows you to have all the modern conveniences using original hardware.
It looked like he already had it in a C128 case. Also, with the insane memory and CPU speed available on this thing, you could basically use it like a C128 and more!
@@c128stuff I never actually owned an actual C64 (at least in my youth), I went right from a VIC-20 to a secondhand Coleco Adam (briefly) to a C128, while I did spend a nice bit of time in C64 mode, I was one of the few who spent an equal amount of time in native 128 mode, primarily because I liked used GEOS, and GEOS was far better on the C128 than it was on the C64. Plus Infocom text adventures were much better in 80 column C128 mode then they were in C64 mode.
About that "classic 1541 drive sound". After a thorough clean and lube, my 1541's were so quiet that it was hard to tell if it was working unless you looked at the drive activity light. That sound is a result of improper lubrication of the drive head rails(looking at you, Commodore) They could have been very quiet from the factory except of course during the head rattle(which can be turned off). Meanwhile, I am blown away with this machine. May have to get a junked 64 just for the case and get one of these if for nothing more than to play "Driller" without losing my mind. Thank you for posting this.
I bought an Ultimate 64 (not the elite) a few years ago and I love it!! To me, it's an authentic C64 experience (tapes and peripherals) while still benefiting from modern conveniences (HDMI and SD cards) Are there any interesting demos/games with 2 SIDs? I don't think I've experienced music tracks with 2 SIDs.
I've had one of these for a couple of years now and it's a great way to build a new C64 with some modern features like HDMI output. I made a couple of videos on it over on my channel, where I take you through what was my 'lockdown' project, including the various options I considered at the time. I've acquired several more C64s since including a THEC64 and one built with the Faszination C64. Of course I also have a few vintage C64s as well but in reality, these don't see much use except for when I need a real nostalgia hit.
Those marks that look like gouges are from resting against power cords for the C64, IIRC. Something about the chemical in the cords that melts the plastic.
That 48mhz clock is drawing me closer and closer. I would love to play Gunship, Elite, Echelon, subLOGIC's Jet, Access' golf games, and so many others at a decent frame rate. Great video, thank you.
I don't think there are many games at all that won't run too fast, I'm afraid. Hardware accelerators such as the SuperCPU weren't an attractive target for development as practically nobody had them due to their price and lack of software support. I'm not sure about Driller and the other games in that series, though!
Thank you for the video, this looks like a very fun project. I have an old C64 in the cupboard along with a Megadrive. I toyed with the idea of harvesting the audio chips to make a DIY synth (which I could still do with the Megadrive). Perhaps I'll have a look at this for the C64. Hmmm you've given me lots to think about! 👍
The "best" cartridge for C64 I've ever owned was a Final Cartridge (1 or 2, I don't remember it's been too long) with custom ROM. Not because it was the fastest of the bunch, but it had so much functionality. It supported my C64 with 256kB RAM expansion (from 64'ER magazin) and was able to hold a bunch of tools (most notably custom Turbo Assembler with label support and FCopy III+, that allowed 1541 floppy disks to be copied in one go without swapping the disc). You could even bank switch between multiple games. ps. I also remember the toxic rivalry between C64 and Amiga owners -- also know as the OG fan bois -- back in the day. Ah, nostalgia!
I hope the team who did this are able to make a good living and continue what they are doing. Just seeing the pictures and hearing the sounds is enough to trigger a massive nostalgic smile.
I had a C64 from the 1982 until the mid 90's. One of the best things I did was get the stereoSID cartridge with the StereoSID player for making and playing 6 channel music.
Awesome bit of kit. If I were more into the C64 I would think about it. I do feel that they integrate to much into these sorts of things. Half the fun of having the kit is plugging in things, inserting disks or tapes etc. I wonder if it could be made cheaper by removing the tape/disk/cart/sid etc emulation and having them as plug in options attaching to the ports, so you could buy the addons you need/want rather than all of them, even if you aren't going to use them. Still this is a great bit of kit and defiantly worth it!
Pi1541 has been ported to the ESP32, and I think that's a much more appropriate platform as you don't really need something as fast as a Pi Zero to fill that task.
Nice to know it has been ported to the ESP32. That said, the Pi Zero is barely fast enough for that task. In fact, you have to overclock the Pi0 to run the Pi1541 (and you can't use HDMI on the Pi0 while running Pi1541).
I bought an Ultimate 64 Elite what 3 years ago now before the chip shortages/pandemic/board redesign and its awesome. I also got brand new black and sx64 colored C64C injection molded cases from Europe along with the LED strip, internal speaker, exterior badging, and just this year a brand newly built Mechboard64 mechanical keyboard/mounting plate w/blue switches. The only thing I need is a brand new set of keycaps. I wish someone made them.........Everything is brand new. Oh year ARM SID too.
OMG! It's sad when I have to REPLY TO MY OWN POST! Do any of you think that I don't know things COST MONEY or that an individual is doing this on his own. Had ANY of you read my post, I SAID "it is too spicy for my pockets." IN OTHER WORDS, I DON'T HAVE 300 BUCKS TO JUST CHUCK AWAY AT A COMMODORE EMULATOR!... LAST TIME I CHECKED, KEEPING A ROOF OVER MY HEAD AND FOOD ON MY PLATE ALONG WITH BILLS BEING PAID COMES FIRST. But I guess all the people in chat must be made of MONEY!
Shame, sold out! :( Haven't played with C64 in decades, but this looked so good i was about to buy the board and figure out the chassis later despite my very restrictive schedule. Sonic the hedgehog looks AMAZING for C64 :O :O
I have no problem painting cases so long as they damaged / repaired like this, I have few cases with melted cable marks and look great in garish colours. I would never do it to a case that isn't damaged though.
Brilliant video. I really love your channel. Never covered the cost of the Ultimate 64. You got a like from me. I am simply amazed at how technology has come from the days when the C64 came out.
I'm a fan of Commodores but they were never sold here in Brazil and find one around is almost impossible and will cost you an arm and leg. This might be an interesting alternative.
Wow, you guys didn't even have clone 64's over there? I heard you could buy Sinclair Spectrum clones in the 80's and 90's in Brazil, I kinda assumed the c64 had a similar treatment
@@speedysandisk78 The C64 used custom chips manufactured by Commodore while the ZX Spectrum used standard chips, except for the ULA, which was a (rather primitive) programmable gate array. The ULA could be cloned easily (some GDR clones even did so with standard logic chips). Reverse engineering of the C64's VIC and SID was still ongoing in the 2000s, and a perfect recreation of the 6581 SID is still considered a "holy grail" today. I am, however, very much impressed by the quality of the emulation in the Ultimate 64.
Oh and this vid just scratched the surface a bit. Owning two Ultimate-Boards I really can tell you, it's the best piece of Hardware a C64 enthusiast can buy. Make yourself a wonderful present as long boards are in stock.
Very good! Thanks. "...and I promise you it won't be mustard yellow." Now that's an awesome idea! Paint an old case to look like it's yellowed. Give it another 30 years and a subsequent owner will be really puzzled when the darn thing won't Retr0Brite. :-D
Really nice video. Informative, not over the top, and has that "How It's Made" vibe to it. I use an Ultimate 64 to run my BBS. Although it will answer using its internal ACIA, I prefer an actual Turbo232 cartridge.
I thought it was going to be a port/conversion of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive release of Sonic and how in the heck how that would work…but it’s the one for the Master System which suddenly makes a lot more sense…and it runs it extremely well. Also, dare I say that release (Master System) in many ways better than the Genesis/Mega Drive counterpart
Are there any display options? Fuzziness, scanlines? I have a pi 4 with retropie and a BMC64, both in original cases with original keyboards but my preference goes to the pi 4 because of the full featured Vice emulator that allows me to soften those horribly sharp HDMI pixels.
Scanlines only I'm afraid. They're pretty decent on a fully HD, or better, monitor but I was scratching my head when I plugged it into a 20", 720p Sony set I picked up recently. It looked awful. Nice crisp pixels is my preferred route anyway though...
Scanlines is the only option. However, you can still go to the trouble of finding a compatible CRT monitor like the Commodore 1084S and connect to that for some true nostalgia.
while this board IS technically impressive, it doesn't have the one thing I'd want. A big giant plastic red flip switch that makes a nice "KERCHUNK" sound when you turn on the machine.
Just once I’d like to be able to find one of these retro hardware remake videos, learn about something I’ve been wishing would happen for years, then just be able to order it. 100% of the time its out of stock. Every single time. This one hurt, too. I’ve been wanting to get something like this for what seems like forever.
so tempted to get this but my 2 c64s are working so it would be sacrilege to gut real c64s for this. maybe if I get a broken c64 with a working keyboard, this would be perfect.
You can buy brand new 64C cases relatively inexpensively (you'll also have to buy the keyboard standoffs for the 64C case with this board and a used keyboard off somewhere like Ebay)
@@iguanac6466 think i'd rather buy a somewhat none functional C64 for a cheap price and use the keyboard etc from there, i still got some plastic stand off laying around so that isnt an issue.
I started listening and was like, wait what? Damn that was a long time ago. Still, this board does a lot. We hate to think we are going to replace our old systems, but those old chips are dying hand-over-fist. Good engineering now let’s us keep the past and advance toward the future.
It's interesting that this board uses both the Altera and Xilinx FPGA's. Altera is owned by Intel, and Xilinx is owned by AMD. Spreading the love around both of the major x86's providers, even if it is not the x86 they are using.
I've had an Ultimate 64 Elite (most recent revision) for quite sometime now but eventually went back to using real C64 hardware for now because the Ultimate 64 / Ultimate 64 Elite does not currently load any retail floppy games that use V-Max! Tried real 1541 and implemented, both fail to load such floppies or G64 files on the Ultimate 64's. Theres also currently compatibility issues with certain hardware too such as Koala Pad not working, real Epyx Fastload carts do not work, the physical release of Zeta Wing is not compatible, etc. There's currently just too many compatibility issues right now to justify exclusive usage as a C64 replacement, I'm sure all those issues will be eventually fixed but as of now those issues have existed from day one, they have been reported by multiple people since it's debut but have yet to be fixed.
The Koala Pad is fixed on the 1.4a boards which ship since mid 2022. You probably have an 1.4a board from the 2020 run...and a Koala Pad which is still working? Awesome!
That is NICE! Unfortunately not available at the moment due to chip shortages. Hadn't I already ordered a Reloaded MK2 I might have ordered this. Oh well. The reloaded is nice for testing most of the chips. Eventually I'll get this or if the Ultimate-II+ cartridge has FTP as well. That is nice you don't have to swap USB drives. Oh well I'm only on ordinary paychecks and I already ordered a heck of a lot of parts for a(n almost) new C64 with 466 board. Still need the board though as I want it in blue or purple (only red and black available at the moment). Must both machine have new cases (one new is on the way) and mechboards which I'll not start out with then they're going to be quite expensive. How large USB drives does it support? Does it support other than FAT formatted drives? NTFS or at least exFAT would be nice. If you want to load up the entire HVSC and a ton of games the FAT file system can become unstable in my experience. Does it support .tap files too? Found a site which have about 1900 tapes in tap format and availabel in a single zip file - nice
@ The Retro Shack this may be too "modern" for you, but I've always wanted to see what you, personally, could do to upgrade an Xbox 360. They are still in the "old hardware" category and not yet in collectable status, so you can still by them for super cheap.
While it's a very cool board, I don't regret preordering an ultimate 2+ about a month ago. I really wish I had ordered it in 2018 like a planned but got busy with real life. I'm hoping it ships before the end of the year.
Seems like these are not available until late this year. Can't get the FPGA's to build them. So I am looking for a different solution. I think I might just have to build my own from-scratch PCBWAY here I come.
The 1541Ultimate cartridge rocks ive 2 of them .. But i really want the Ultimate 64 full board now .. Great video mate :) ... Note if you use the ultimate64 kernal you can use DMA for instant loading :) ..
Just watched (listened!) to that - amazing! When you think that the original designs for the SID were for it to have 32 voices and that demo is only(!) 24...
Look for Tuneful 8 by LMan. It is a multi SId song. I think there are instructions out on the internet somewhere on how to set up UltiSid to play it properly.
This is what I love about hackers, and yes I'm using the word correctly, we've progressed to enormous desktop PC's that can emulate a Commodore 64 perfectly. But that's just not good enough. You have to make a dedicated emulator that supports genuine hardware and software. Sure you can do the same on a Raspberry Pi, but where's the romance and reliving those childhood memories of the keyboard and tape? My first game - Hunch Back. My dad's absolute favourite - Chuckie Egg. My favourite - Elite. Can it emulate trying to copy your mates games with a hi-fi tape to tape? Can it emulate the wonder of disc loading for the first time and the absolute jealousy that your mate has one and you never will? No. But it's as close as you'll ever get without being mates with Doc Brown and a DeLorean.
Sounds to be an awesome board, literally. Definitely getting your money’s worth this one. Not sure how they emulator the Epyx Fastloader since it depended on very timing-sensitive charging and discharging of capacitors.
To me it didn't look great, quite a bumpy surface. Painting could have been avoided by evening out the surface with a soldering iron and a little sanding.
By fitting your C-64 casing with this you won't use any C-64 anymore - but an emulator running on some obscure RISC platform (ARM perhaps?). Still you could use VICE-emulator directly on your PC for free. No difference - except Ultimate will occupy the casing of your C-64. Oh, and it's not x86, but (probably) ARM.
You will go back. For example, we all get excited by today's better methods of loading games, but soon enough we're repairing disk and tape drives, missing that genuine experience. Same with an actual c64. Realistically, this is what you'll be bringing to parties as it's less likely to break down. Time for a new system on a chip to bring prices down
Nice video. I own the Ultimate-II + for a couple of years now and find the cartridge great. This should be the next step. I noticed that all your screenshots are wide screen. The video output from the Ultimate-64-Elite should be 720x576 (PAL version) so I imagine that your settings on the HDMI monitor or capture device don't take the right aspect ratio into account. Can this be the case?
the horizontal resolution of 720 pixels per line doesn't have anything to do with the c64. everyone made his own home brewn horizontal resolution back in the days. sometimes they used the quarz oscillator to make the color carrier for the individual video standard as a base frequency and derived the pixel clock and cpu clock from it. sometimes the color carier frequency with a fixed ratio from the quarz oscillator.
@@stefanweilhartner4415 the point here is that the aspect ratio of 4:3 is the standard those days and not the 16:9 that is shown in the video. I only want to point out that the screenshots don’t do enough justice although they give an overall great picture. The Elite outputs the 4:3 aspect ratio (see documentation) so I figured there must be a setting on the monitor or capture card that isn’t quite right.
![[NEW] Crystal Clear HDMI For The Commodore 64 In 60 Seconds](/img/n.gif)
Thanks so much for watching! If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe as it really helps the channel to grow, and allows us to continue doing neat stuff like this :)
Nice video, Sir.
Great board.
If that's your thing. (It's not mine....)
hey so i never knew but i slept ontop of a box of the full commodore setup it had the mouse commordore and the floppy drive and im supprised i never lnew for 3 years
Disappointed that you didn't show us Driller running at 48MHz, after mentioning it.
But a great video nonetheless.
Commodore 128 / 65816 emulation are basically the only things that this unit lacks.
Want a PAL system? Check. Want an NTSC system? Check. Badline emulation for those games that use it? Check.
Want a 1541, 1571, or 1581 drive? Check, you get two of those. Want a hard disk? Check.
Want an REU? Check, up to 16MB. Want a faster processor? Check, up to 48Mhz.
Want HDMI output? Check. Want chroma/luma output for your 1702 monitor? Check. Want composite output? Check.
Want to use your old cartridges? Check. Want to use your old joysticks? Check. Want to use your old keyboard/case? Check.
Want to use your old disk drives? Check. Want to use your old tape drive? Check.
Want to use FTP to update the internal or external usb thumb drive? Check.
Want to use Telnet to operate the menus on a remote machine without suspending the currently running program? Check.
Want to accelerate that slow emulated 1541 with FastLoad, Jiffydos, or DolphinDOS? Check, check, and check.
How about instant DMA loading for those 1-filed games? Check.
You want audio? 6581/8580 emulated audio (x2) plus two sockets for real SIDs..
The sheer quantity of features this unit has is ludicrous. Buying all the accessories and addons this simulates would cost thousands of dollars.
Oh ghawd! You had me at telnet! 😜
Well, this is what I've been wondering about with the Ultimate64. If I play C64 software on the MiSTer, it really is cycle accurate. BUT, using my DB9 joystick via a (very low latency) USB DB9 converter introduces about a frame of delay. Who cares most people will say, but trying to play (Son Of) Blagger, Great Gianna Sisters or Bruce Lee 2 with that one frame of delay on the joystick input just makes a really hard game EVEN harder... Is there any delay on the DB9 joystick input on the Ultimate64? (Gidion?).
@@erwindewit4073 There's no additional delay. It *might* differ from the original by a few nanoseconds (maybe slower - or maybe faster), but neither you nor the game code will ever notice that.
Considering that a USB DB9 converter has a minimum guaranteed latency of 1 millisecond, that should not matter much. Note that the USB HID standard specifies 10 milliseconds as the fastest polling interval, but the HID descriptor can be tweaked to allow for 1 millisecond polling; apparently, no operating systems actually checks whether the value in the HID description is actually within the specified limits. Yes, I did check that when I built my own USB DB9 converter in 2005 (called "CJoy", ancient design by now, schematics and firmware published on the C64-Wiki since 2005), at that time running with a 5 millisecond poll interval - that gave sufficiently low latency for emulation gaming. The idea to tweak the HID description with a (technically) invalid poll interval came up after emulation gamers complained that a commercial USB version on the Competition Pro design was too laggy for the sports games where you have to rattle the joystick like hell. So, 200 polls per second instead of the usual 100. Oh well, the (technically legitimate) 100 polls/second would probably have been good enough, as it turned out that the commercial chip had a bug - its HID descriptor asked to be polled every 80 milliseconds instead of the usual 10, so it had a rate of 12.5 poll/second. Yep, that was way too slow.
@@klausstock8020 Well, I am extremely sensitive to those timings I noticed. This USB DB9 converter has about 1 frame delay which is pretty incredible. Yet, I still notice. Well, on the C64 I do on the MiSTer, not on the Amiga, MegaDrive etc. I personally think it's a real pity that the MiSTer version of the C64 core dropped the SNAC support, as the MegaDrive makes it perfect.
Still, now I really want to go try a Ultimate64. I've been thinking about it for a good while now. Pity it's not exactly cheap, and I still need a keyboard and case for it. But so be it. It's the C64 I love the most.......
Thank you for your very elaborate explanation!
I bought the Ultimate Deamon x2 by the way, as it is one of the fastest options out there...
for those who don't realise check means tick in UK English ;-)
As the owner of pretty much every hardware remake and add on for the C64 I have to say the Ultimate 64 Elite is by far the most impressive and full featured C64 replacement by a country mile (which I am told is 1.2 city miles ;) ).
Ultimate64 is the best thing ever happened to C64. It is amazing peace of ingeneering and Gideon made it perfect. I have it in c64 casing connected to original floppy drive and datassette and also 1084 monitor. I use old media and my son likes it a lot. When I want it to be faster, I use usb for loading stuff. It is also connected to my network so I can send files directly to it. Just amazing replacement for C64 that will last forever.
Had a hick-up on my board, Gideon's site marked mine as shipped when it never was. Contacted him, and he responded on his July vacation to get it fixed in the system and my board was shipped out the first day back, so the customer service from the site is amazing. Still have not gotten it yet, but I have a case with a LED MEchboard64 keyboard all ready to go with RGB LED's and a white power LED put in, so I think it is going to look amazing.
Good service is worth a LOT - good to hear that Gideon's Logic are all over stuff like that.
I'm amused that they used both an Altera (owned by Intel) and a Xilinx (owned by AMD) FPGA in the same machine.
Because the only perceived enemies Commodore had were Atari and IBM. 🤣
I had one notebook - not Mac - with Intel processor and ATI graphics card. The early hybrids graphics, the worst combination.
I guess with the Xilinx its more easy to connect 5V in and outputs to the fpga. Latest altera deviced uses 3.3 or 1.8V pins, so many conversions are nesessary
2 different groups probably developed each of the programs? Vhdl?
@@thadoctorreturns2999 No, no, they also competed with Apple.
As a C64 owner, some years ago when I was 11, circa 1982, this is the coolest / geekiest thing I've ever seen. I want one.
Have had the Ultimate 64 Elite a couple of weeks now, it’s just an amazing implementation of the C64. Love it!
Agree, got mine like a month ago and I'm completely in love with it...
I need to build a MiSTer before long. Sure it's not as authentic but my love doesn't end with the C64 alone. I admit I love the speaker disk sound emulation though. 👍
@@AlexKidd4Fun mister is very expensive
@@blackterminal MiSTer is not at all expensive once you realise how many systems it provides, everything from the Atari 2600 to the Nintendo 64. Simply astounding value for money.
I have an Ultimate 64 Elite, and absolutely love it. Got a Commodore MAX-inspired silver custom case for it, and it’s so nice to just plug in a USB stick and play every game designed for the system without having to worry about failing discs or tapes.
...and without the fear of a failing C64 power supply which would fry the unit.
Something to be said for using real disks though. It's an experience
Everyone likes different things. For me I like to modify the old motherboards with armsid, static ram, plankton/neatpla, modern ROMs, c0pperdragon rf mod replacement (analog only), DCDC converters instead of 7805/7812, modern 8701 replacements, new connectors / power switch, new el. caps, heatsinks and a refurbished case/keyboard. That is my sweet spot. Others will think my choice is "too much modern replacements" too, but for me I prefer to have the original VIC-II, processor and motherboard.
I love my retro computers and consoles, but got limited space. So I have to choose, Having this instead of a complete C64 setup with diskdrives and whatnot, allows me to divulge in other systems I also love... And tbh. I'm just like you with the system closest to my heart, the Atari ST
This is actually a really interesting idea. I might have to pick myself one of these up to give it a spin sometime. Much better for the modern day.
agreed, just found a real 1541 floppy drive for the C64 recently, seriously considering getting this (and 3D Printing a clear case for fun) and or the Commander X16, depending on which I can get first, it'll make a good companion for the Athlon 64 based XP PC I'm in the midst of building now
Usually my take away from an FPGA based product is "Ew, too expensive for what it does, lame." like the MiSTer MSC, but that's actually surprisingly cheap for a complete, hardware compatible main board upgrade. They seem to have taken full advantage of every advantage an FPGA could offer too. If I was into the C64 I'd jump on this like a mad dog.
I agree with the Mister MSC but that is just a mostly unnecessary expansion board and case. Getting the Mister on its own with a ram board is amazing value to play every 4, 8 and 16 bit consoles and computers really accurately for £130 on something the size of a box of matches. This Ultimate C64 is nice if you really really really want something that exactly fits in a C64 case and can natively attach to real hardware, it's a shame it can't also do other consoles or dual boot to Mister, especially as it costs twice as much as a Mister...
@@beatchef Thus why I specified the MiSTer MSC and not "MiSTer" in general.
I wouldn't be surprised if basic FPGA emulation for other home computers from the era is added to Ultimate C64 later, It's seemingly the only FPGA feature they didn't take full advantage of, even though the hardware is more than capable of it.
Why bother when you have an emulator on a PC? The only good in this board for me is ZIF sockets for real SIDs. I like real hardware. Real c64s are still avaliable and with pi1541 and new power supplies they are very reliable.
I like the idea of putting ZIFs to give opportunity to insert original chips like 6502, VIC2 and SID. That will be the board I consider to buy.
@@surfinbirdzx Because it's not emulation, it's not software, the FPGA is effectively recreating an entire C64 in hardware, accurate down to the gate. Even on modern computers that'd be a brutal emulation to run and would lack the satisfaction of real hardware. The ZIF sockets for SID chips are just there to satisfy the people who like the imperfections of an original SID, it can recreate 9 of it's own SIDs without an original, all hooked up to the proper registers and crystal clear.
Look, FPGAs are an incredibly complicated technology to explain, way too much to explain in a TH-cam comment. Even then they're one of those thing where even to an enthusiast like myself, technology starts to resemble magic.
Well you could get a reloaded mkii aswell from icomp probly the best real c64 solution or a mister if Fpga is your thing
Sounds like a nice board!😃
😅
You know something about the use for those 8 UltiSIDs, right?
Yeah, now you understand why people are all over the Ultimate II+ cart. That lets you use most of these goodies (minus some obvious bits like the higher clocked CPU) with any regular C64. I'm about to order my 2nd Ultimate II+, and I'm very heavily contemplating getting an Ultimate 64 board too. Not like I don't have enough toys, and I'm not even really that much of a C64 person... But it's just too good.
The UII+ is absolutely brilliant, completely agree!
Received almost month ago. Great hardware. Installed led strip and dual led. Works great.
The Ultimate 64 board is amazing, but it's a real shame that the Ultimate II+ has been so hard to get. I'm glad I got one well before the worldwide shortages, because it's a great piece of kit that allows you to have all the modern conveniences using original hardware.
I would absolutely love to see a C128 implentation of this.
It looked like he already had it in a C128 case. Also, with the insane memory and CPU speed available on this thing, you could basically use it like a C128 and more!
@@VenomStryker That's a C64C case. The C128 also has a numeric keypad.
@@VenomStryker the c128 has hardware the U64 doesn't emulate. There are people who use it for 128 mode instead of just a glorified c64.
@@c128stuff I never actually owned an actual C64 (at least in my youth), I went right from a VIC-20 to a secondhand Coleco Adam (briefly) to a C128, while I did spend a nice bit of time in C64 mode, I was one of the few who spent an equal amount of time in native 128 mode, primarily because I liked used GEOS, and GEOS was far better on the C128 than it was on the C64. Plus Infocom text adventures were much better in 80 column C128 mode then they were in C64 mode.
I've been the proud owner of board number 38 for many years (from the very first batch), still going strong
About that "classic 1541 drive sound". After a thorough clean and lube, my 1541's were so quiet that it was hard to tell if it was working unless you looked at the drive activity light. That sound is a result of improper lubrication of the drive head rails(looking at you, Commodore) They could have been very quiet from the factory except of course during the head rattle(which can be turned off).
Meanwhile, I am blown away with this machine. May have to get a junked 64 just for the case and get one of these if for nothing more than to play "Driller" without losing my mind. Thank you for posting this.
I purchased one from Gideon back in 2019 and I'm so glad I did. The Ultimate 64 is truly the best way to experience the C64.
After my opinion C64 is the best way to experience the C64
@@peterjensen3162 I totally agree.
I bought mine around the same time.
Love it.
I bought an Ultimate 64 (not the elite) a few years ago and I love it!! To me, it's an authentic C64 experience (tapes and peripherals) while still benefiting from modern conveniences (HDMI and SD cards) Are there any interesting demos/games with 2 SIDs? I don't think I've experienced music tracks with 2 SIDs.
I've had one of these for a couple of years now and it's a great way to build a new C64 with some modern features like HDMI output. I made a couple of videos on it over on my channel, where I take you through what was my 'lockdown' project, including the various options I considered at the time. I've acquired several more C64s since including a THEC64 and one built with the Faszination C64. Of course I also have a few vintage C64s as well but in reality, these don't see much use except for when I need a real nostalgia hit.
Those marks that look like gouges are from resting against power cords for the C64, IIRC. Something about the chemical in the cords that melts the plastic.
That 48mhz clock is drawing me closer and closer. I would love to play Gunship, Elite, Echelon, subLOGIC's Jet, Access' golf games, and so many others at a decent frame rate. Great video, thank you.
Can't you do that with an emulator?
Elite will run too fast, it doesn't use any frame sync. Not sure whether any of the other games does, just tried Elite.
I don't think there are many games at all that won't run too fast, I'm afraid. Hardware accelerators such as the SuperCPU weren't an attractive target for development as practically nobody had them due to their price and lack of software support. I'm not sure about Driller and the other games in that series, though!
Thank you for the video, this looks like a very fun project. I have an old C64 in the cupboard along with a Megadrive. I toyed with the idea of harvesting the audio chips to make a DIY synth (which I could still do with the Megadrive). Perhaps I'll have a look at this for the C64. Hmmm you've given me lots to think about! 👍
IMHO no cart will take the top prize until I see MIDI In/Out and a pass-through cartridge interface.
"Tuneful Eight" seems to be the only thing that has made use of the 8 sid chips ability lol, nice bit of music.
The "best" cartridge for C64 I've ever owned was a Final Cartridge (1 or 2, I don't remember it's been too long) with custom ROM. Not because it was the fastest of the bunch, but it had so much functionality. It supported my C64 with 256kB RAM expansion (from 64'ER magazin) and was able to hold a bunch of tools (most notably custom Turbo Assembler with label support and FCopy III+, that allowed 1541 floppy disks to be copied in one go without swapping the disc). You could even bank switch between multiple games.
ps. I also remember the toxic rivalry between C64 and Amiga owners -- also know as the OG fan bois -- back in the day. Ah, nostalgia!
Superb conversion of the Master System Sonic.
I hope the team who did this are able to make a good living and continue what they are doing. Just seeing the pictures and hearing the sounds is enough to trigger a massive nostalgic smile.
That’s an awesome implementation. Might even consider getting one… if they are ever available again.
There’s always been a waiting list for these. There was when I got mine long before the chip shortage. Put your name on the list, it’s worth the wait.
I had a C64 from the 1982 until the mid 90's. One of the best things I did was get the stereoSID cartridge with the StereoSID player for making and playing 6 channel music.
You’ve just put Gideon’s orders through the roof! 😂
Awesome bit of kit. If I were more into the C64 I would think about it. I do feel that they integrate to much into these sorts of things. Half the fun of having the kit is plugging in things, inserting disks or tapes etc. I wonder if it could be made cheaper by removing the tape/disk/cart/sid etc emulation and having them as plug in options attaching to the ports, so you could buy the addons you need/want rather than all of them, even if you aren't going to use them.
Still this is a great bit of kit and defiantly worth it!
Pi1541 has been ported to the ESP32, and I think that's a much more appropriate platform as you don't really need something as fast as a Pi Zero to fill that task.
Nice to know it has been ported to the ESP32. That said, the Pi Zero is barely fast enough for that task. In fact, you have to overclock the Pi0 to run the Pi1541 (and you can't use HDMI on the Pi0 while running Pi1541).
I bought an Ultimate 64 Elite what 3 years ago now before the chip shortages/pandemic/board redesign and its awesome. I also got brand new black and sx64 colored C64C injection molded cases from Europe along with the LED strip, internal speaker, exterior badging, and just this year a brand newly built Mechboard64 mechanical keyboard/mounting plate w/blue switches. The only thing I need is a brand new set of keycaps. I wish someone made them.........Everything is brand new. Oh year ARM SID too.
I would have loved to buy this but at $330 CAD it's a little too spicy for my pockets. Had it been $100, I'd be saying "Where do I sign up?!!!"
Making that price point however is not really possible, especially not at the moment.
The FPGA chip itself costs like $100
Selling it under cost for a side project isn't really possible though.
@@fmichlick not to mention.. with the current price, supply is a much bigger issue than demand, especially with the current lead times for fpgas.
OMG! It's sad when I have to REPLY TO MY OWN POST! Do any of you think that I don't know things COST MONEY or that an individual is doing this on his own. Had ANY of you read my post, I SAID "it is too spicy for my pockets." IN OTHER WORDS, I DON'T HAVE 300 BUCKS TO JUST CHUCK AWAY AT A COMMODORE EMULATOR!... LAST TIME I CHECKED, KEEPING A ROOF OVER MY HEAD AND FOOD ON MY PLATE ALONG WITH BILLS BEING PAID COMES FIRST. But I guess all the people in chat must be made of MONEY!
I know of one SID-file Septet in the HVSC, but AFAIK these files were made to run on 7 synchronized C64s, not one C64 with seven SIDs.
Shame, sold out! :(
Haven't played with C64 in decades, but this looked so good i was about to buy the board and figure out the chassis later despite my very restrictive schedule.
Sonic the hedgehog looks AMAZING for C64 :O :O
I have no problem painting cases so long as they damaged / repaired like this, I have few cases with melted cable marks and look great in garish colours. I would never do it to a case that isn't damaged though.
Brilliant video. I really love your channel. Never covered the cost of the Ultimate 64. You got a like from me. I am simply amazed at how technology has come from the days when the C64 came out.
I ordered one and it arrived the same day as my Spectrum Next did. What a funny coincidence, two FPGA machines on the same day.
I'm a fan of Commodores but they were never sold here in Brazil and find one around is almost impossible and will cost you an arm and leg. This might be an interesting alternative.
Except you’ll need the case and keyboard
@@stephenpalmer9375 Yes but those are easier to find or import.
Wow, you guys didn't even have clone 64's over there? I heard you could buy Sinclair Spectrum clones in the 80's and 90's in Brazil, I kinda assumed the c64 had a similar treatment
@@speedysandisk78 The C64 used custom chips manufactured by Commodore while the ZX Spectrum used standard chips, except for the ULA, which was a (rather primitive) programmable gate array. The ULA could be cloned easily (some GDR clones even did so with standard logic chips).
Reverse engineering of the C64's VIC and SID was still ongoing in the 2000s, and a perfect recreation of the 6581 SID is still considered a "holy grail" today. I am, however, very much impressed by the quality of the emulation in the Ultimate 64.
Disk drive noises! Cassette loading
I was on the fence about the black paint job even though it technically matched the board but after i saw the decal..
Looks mf NICE
Thanks :)
Oh and this vid just scratched the surface a bit. Owning two Ultimate-Boards I really can tell you, it's the best piece of Hardware a C64 enthusiast can buy. Make yourself a wonderful present as long boards are in stock.
Very good! Thanks.
"...and I promise you it won't be mustard yellow." Now that's an awesome idea! Paint an old case to look like it's yellowed. Give it another 30 years and a subsequent owner will be really puzzled when the darn thing won't Retr0Brite. :-D
I hate retro Brite. I'll never believe it doesn't damage the plastic
Really nice video. Informative, not over the top, and has that "How It's Made" vibe to it.
I use an Ultimate 64 to run my BBS. Although it will answer using its internal ACIA, I prefer an actual Turbo232 cartridge.
I thought it was going to be a port/conversion of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive release of Sonic and how in the heck how that would work…but it’s the one for the Master System which suddenly makes a lot more sense…and it runs it extremely well.
Also, dare I say that release (Master System) in many ways better than the Genesis/Mega Drive counterpart
Great video. I have one too. Great bit of kit. Interested to find out more about using the FTP server. Cheers.
Strange looking Commodore 64 case! I dont remember ever seeing this design before 0.o
Looks like a typical C64C. This version came out after the C128 and was made to look similar.
This should fit into a breadbin c64 as well?
Yep :)
Are there any display options? Fuzziness, scanlines? I have a pi 4 with retropie and a BMC64, both in original cases with original keyboards but my preference goes to the pi 4 because of the full featured Vice emulator that allows me to soften those horribly sharp HDMI pixels.
Scanlines only I'm afraid. They're pretty decent on a fully HD, or better, monitor but I was scratching my head when I plugged it into a 20", 720p Sony set I picked up recently.
It looked awful.
Nice crisp pixels is my preferred route anyway though...
Scanlines is the only option. However, you can still go to the trouble of finding a compatible CRT monitor like the Commodore 1084S and connect to that for some true nostalgia.
while this board IS technically impressive, it doesn't have the one thing I'd want. A big giant plastic red flip switch that makes a nice "KERCHUNK" sound when you turn on the machine.
So make one? 😁
Just once I’d like to be able to find one of these retro hardware remake videos, learn about something I’ve been wishing would happen for years, then just be able to order it. 100% of the time its out of stock. Every single time. This one hurt, too. I’ve been wanting to get something like this for what seems like forever.
It is amazing how your channel grew so quickly from a couple of thousand to 20k+. Always am enjoying your content. Thanks.
They're well made and the narration is good. If the person doing the talking is boring it unfortunately means the channel probably won't get anywhere.
It's a really good idea to put a heat sink on that SID chip...
so tempted to get this but my 2 c64s are working so it would be sacrilege to gut real c64s for this. maybe if I get a broken c64 with a working keyboard, this would be perfect.
I've been dreaming of this for Nintendo NES
Great. Something else that I don't need ... but I REALLY REALLY want!
This is actually really cool, if i can find an old C64 case i might even do this to, i loved my old C64 to this day i regret selling it.
You can buy brand new 64C cases relatively inexpensively (you'll also have to buy the keyboard standoffs for the 64C case with this board and a used keyboard off somewhere like Ebay)
@@iguanac6466 think i'd rather buy a somewhat none functional C64 for a cheap price and use the keyboard etc from there, i still got some plastic stand off laying around so that isnt an issue.
The algorithm gods have worked! Amazing video!
I started listening and was like, wait what? Damn that was a long time ago. Still, this board does a lot. We hate to think we are going to replace our old systems, but those old chips are dying hand-over-fist. Good engineering now let’s us keep the past and advance toward the future.
It's interesting that this board uses both the Altera and Xilinx FPGA's. Altera is owned by Intel, and Xilinx is owned by AMD. Spreading the love around both of the major x86's providers, even if it is not the x86 they are using.
I've had an Ultimate 64 Elite (most recent revision) for quite sometime now but eventually went back to using real C64 hardware for now because the Ultimate 64 / Ultimate 64 Elite does not currently load any retail floppy games that use V-Max! Tried real 1541 and implemented, both fail to load such floppies or G64 files on the Ultimate 64's.
Theres also currently compatibility issues with certain hardware too such as Koala Pad not working, real Epyx Fastload carts do not work, the physical release of Zeta Wing is not compatible, etc.
There's currently just too many compatibility issues right now to justify exclusive usage as a C64 replacement, I'm sure all those issues will be eventually fixed but as of now those issues have existed from day one, they have been reported by multiple people since it's debut but have yet to be fixed.
The Koala Pad is fixed on the 1.4a boards which ship since mid 2022. You probably have an 1.4a board from the 2020 run...and a Koala Pad which is still working? Awesome!
Good job on the paintjob!!
That is NICE! Unfortunately not available at the moment due to chip shortages. Hadn't I already ordered a Reloaded MK2 I might have ordered this. Oh well. The reloaded is nice for testing most of the chips. Eventually I'll get this or if the Ultimate-II+ cartridge has FTP as well. That is nice you don't have to swap USB drives.
Oh well I'm only on ordinary paychecks and I already ordered a heck of a lot of parts for a(n almost) new C64 with 466 board. Still need the board though as I want it in blue or purple (only red and black available at the moment). Must both machine have new cases (one new is on the way) and mechboards which I'll not start out with then they're going to be quite expensive.
How large USB drives does it support? Does it support other than FAT formatted drives? NTFS or at least exFAT would be nice. If you want to load up the entire HVSC and a ton of games the FAT file system can become unstable in my experience. Does it support .tap files too? Found a site which have about 1900 tapes in tap format and availabel in a single zip file - nice
@ The Retro Shack this may be too "modern" for you, but I've always wanted to see what you, personally, could do to upgrade an Xbox 360. They are still in the "old hardware" category and not yet in collectable status, so you can still by them for super cheap.
Well I have got a console episode coming up soon :) I guess the XBOX might qualify for retro if not quite vintage - it is over 20 years old now :)
While it's a very cool board, I don't regret preordering an ultimate 2+ about a month ago. I really wish I had ordered it in 2018 like a planned but got busy with real life. I'm hoping it ships before the end of the year.
This is quite impressive!
I imagine having all those SID chip options are for the people that use the C64 to make music
You will love the U64E.
Excellent. I thought the board needed extra bits to fit into a C64C case?
On some c64c cases the keyboard clips into the top section of the case, so no mounting blocks are required :)
In the mount and run menu if you choose DMA load it will load nearly instantly. Unless of course you want to wait for disk load like the old days.
Awesome board. Awesome video. Cheers!
Being from the 80's the burn marks were probably cigarette burns....
LOL - Could be! :)
Seems like these are not available until late this year. Can't get the FPGA's to build them. So I am looking for a different solution. I think I might just have to build my own from-scratch PCBWAY here I come.
The 1541Ultimate cartridge rocks ive 2 of them .. But i really want the Ultimate 64 full board now .. Great video mate :) ... Note if you use the ultimate64 kernal you can use DMA for instant loading :) ..
Omg, I have no words!
Great video!
I have no desire to play any C64 games
But I still enjoy this content
Nice piece of hardware, for sure.
This thing double as furnace during winter. Friend turn on c64 disk drive and put under bed covers keep toes warm during winters
i love this product. I can recommend every Commdore fan to buy one.
The only demo I can think of that employs a full array of eight SID chips is LMan's "The Tuneful Eight": th-cam.com/video/RMvPTn3HqnQ/w-d-xo.html
Just watched (listened!) to that - amazing! When you think that the original designs for the SID were for it to have 32 voices and that demo is only(!) 24...
I was going to mention this. I have tried it on my SideKick64 and it's amazing to hear so many voices coming from a C64
Look for Tuneful 8 by LMan. It is a multi SId song. I think there are instructions out on the internet somewhere on how to set up UltiSid to play it properly.
This is what I love about hackers, and yes I'm using the word correctly, we've progressed to enormous desktop PC's that can emulate a Commodore 64 perfectly. But that's just not good enough. You have to make a dedicated emulator that supports genuine hardware and software.
Sure you can do the same on a Raspberry Pi, but where's the romance and reliving those childhood memories of the keyboard and tape?
My first game - Hunch Back.
My dad's absolute favourite - Chuckie Egg.
My favourite - Elite.
Can it emulate trying to copy your mates games with a hi-fi tape to tape?
Can it emulate the wonder of disc loading for the first time and the absolute jealousy that your mate has one and you never will?
No. But it's as close as you'll ever get without being mates with Doc Brown and a DeLorean.
What mic are you using. Sounds great !
Thanks! I'm using a Samson G-Track Pro and a FiFine K678 in the studio at the moment :)
Sounds to be an awesome board, literally. Definitely getting your money’s worth this one. Not sure how they emulator the Epyx Fastloader since it depended on very timing-sensitive charging and discharging of capacitors.
Well I would think you could rebuild that with the FGPA approach.
Wonder if they'd ever consider building a 'fully loaded' VIC 20 version?
What about demos that require a 1541 to function properly? Do those work?
Let me know a specific one and I’ll test it :)
@4:42 what was the name of the product you used to fill in the blemishes? 2 part ____? 🤔 thanks ✌️
Miliput :)
A great looking paint job on the C64 later updated Casing nice,sonic on the C64 no way😁
To me it didn't look great, quite a bumpy surface. Painting could have been avoided by evening out the surface with a soldering iron and a little sanding.
By fitting your C-64 casing with this you won't use any C-64 anymore - but an emulator running on some obscure RISC platform (ARM perhaps?). Still you could use VICE-emulator directly on your PC for free. No difference - except Ultimate will occupy the casing of your C-64. Oh, and it's not x86, but (probably) ARM.
I have a non working C-64 with missing chips, no power supply and a questionnable motherboard, so this is perfect to reuse the case and the keyboard.
Do you remember the Superboad two computers . It would be great if you could feature one
You will go back. For example, we all get excited by today's better methods of loading games, but soon enough we're repairing disk and tape drives, missing that genuine experience. Same with an actual c64. Realistically, this is what you'll be bringing to parties as it's less likely to break down. Time for a new system on a chip to bring prices down
You think you're out and then they pull you back in :)
Nice video. I own the Ultimate-II + for a couple of years now and find the cartridge great. This should be the next step. I noticed that all your screenshots are wide screen. The video output from the Ultimate-64-Elite should be 720x576 (PAL version) so I imagine that your settings on the HDMI monitor or capture device don't take the right aspect ratio into account. Can this be the case?
the horizontal resolution of 720 pixels per line doesn't have anything to do with the c64.
everyone made his own home brewn horizontal resolution back in the days. sometimes they used the quarz oscillator to make the color carrier for the individual video standard as a base frequency and derived the pixel clock and cpu clock from it. sometimes the color carier frequency with a fixed ratio from the quarz oscillator.
@@stefanweilhartner4415 the point here is that the aspect ratio of 4:3 is the standard those days and not the 16:9 that is shown in the video. I only want to point out that the screenshots don’t do enough justice although they give an overall great picture. The Elite outputs the 4:3 aspect ratio (see documentation) so I figured there must be a setting on the monitor or capture card that isn’t quite right.
Some games will refuse to run if the SID doesn't generate the same numbers as a MOS CORP SID.
I really want one of these!
Ooh. Pricey.
Great Idea but I cannot find where do order one, one question will the board output NTSC