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How to play PETSCII Robots on The C64 Mini without a keyboard using an INNEXT SNES joypad.
NOTE you will still need the keyboard for some things (F1 to cycle weapons and F3 to cycle items) but the majority of the controls will be moved to the joypad.
So, you got a Commodore 64 or bought a C64 Mini and don’t know what to do with it? This list is not comprehensive, but it should get you started. For simplicity sake, we have linked directly to the site or store itself. Websites are dynamic, however, and the links could change. Let us know if that happens.
We are reasonably certain that the links provided are not only safe, but more or less legitimate sources as well. However, we cannot make any sort of guarantee to that.
*Important! PLEASE NOTE: Downloading copyrighted materials is illegal in most countries. Do so at your own risk. Be sure to know and follow the laws in your area before downloading any such material.
| Hardware | |
| The C64 Mini | Home of The C64 Mini |
| Individual Computers | Home of the C64 Reloaded |
| TFW8B | The Future Was 8 Bit |
| Ultimate 64 | Home of the Ultimate 64 board |
| Retro Innovations | Home of hardware mods for C64 |
| Pixel Wizard | Home of new C64C style cases. |
| Commodore4ever | Accessories for Commodore machines |
| CBMStuff.com | A Variety of C64 Hardware |
| COREi64 | 3D Printed Commodore parts |
| Restore Store | More Hardware (in German) |
| idoregesz.hu | Unique hardware from Hungary |
| Media | |
| 64K | 64K YouTube Channel hosted by BastichB |
| Morgan Just Games | C64 longplays and info hosted by Jamie Morgan |
| Commodore4Ever | Commodore4Ever Channel |
| Jan Beta | Detailed retro repairs hosted by Jan Beta |
| The 8-Bit Guy | Commodore and retro hosted by David Murray |
| Perifractic C64 | C64 videos from Perifractic’s Retro Recipies |
| MsMadLemon C64 | C64 Videos from MsMadLemon |
| SIDspieler.de | SID Music Site (German) |
| C64 Radio | C64 SID Tunes Radio |
| Chicken Head | The Chicken Head Chronicles Commodore 8 bit |
| Software (ROMs, disk image, and abandonware) | |
| C64.com | Site dedicated to preserving C64 software. |
| My Abandonware | Massive abandonware site |
| Games That Weren’t | Games that Weren’t abandonware and recovery. |
| Gurce.net | Site of C64 Mini Wiki and some game packs |
| C64 Scene | The C64 Scene Database |
| GEOS | GEOS Software and docs |
| Commodore.software | Commodore Utilities and Software |
| C64 Games | C64 Games site. (German) |
| Software NEW | |
| Protovision | Developer of current C64 Games |
| RetroGamerCD | Developer of New C64 Games |
| Poly.Play | New Hardware and Software |
| C64OS | C64 OS Project |
| 8bitguy | Home of Planet X2 and other software |
| Psytronic | Downloadable C64 and other Commodore games |
| RetroZone | Boxed versions of Psytronic Software |
| Emulators | |
| VICE | VICE multi-system Commodore emulator |
| Combian 64 | Raspberry Pi Quick boot VICE emulator |
| Books, Reference, and Documentation | |
| Archive.org | Commodore 64 Book Archive. |
| SharewarePLUS | C64 Hardware Blog |
| C64 Mini Zone | C64 Mini reference site with useful tools |
| GameBase64 | C64 Games Database |
| Lemon64 | Large Forum for Everything Commodore |
| C64 Wiki | The Commodore 64 Wiki |
| Zzap! 64 | Zzap! 64 Magazine and archive |
| Reset 64 | Reset Magazine |
| Commodore Free | Commodore Free Magazine |
| C64 Blast | C64 Blast Magazine |
| Other Sites | |
| C64 Registry | Commodore Serial Number Registration |
| Breadbox64 | C64 Blog |
| Commodore BBS | Commodore Bulletin Board Service Outpost |
| The C64 Community | The C64 (Mini) User board |
| C64 Fan App | Web based C64 aggregator. (Login Required) |
Gigabytes Technology LLC is providing this information free of charge or obligation. We were not paid or compensated for providing these links.
The C64 Mini can set all kinds of settings through the use of .CJM files, however, what if you just have a single problematic game and don’t really want to configure a whole .CJM file? There is a older method that works with the mini called Flag Configuration.
How it works: At its most basic, it is simply renaming a file and adding an underscore (_) and a two capital letter tag to the end of the file name.
Example: Jupiter-lander.d64 —> Jupiter-lander_J1.d64
The above example tells the mini that this file is a joystick port 1 game.
SIDE NOTE: The ports on the Commodore had to be addressed directly from code so some games used joystick port 1 and most others used joystick port 2.
You can add any number of flags in any order to the end of the file. It should be noted that if your game has underscores in the name, you may have to remove those as well for this to work.
Example: The Jupiter Lander file is a PAL joystick 1 image you want to run on an NTSC system. It doesn’t load properly so you want to turn the cycle accurate disk reader on (use Accurate Disk Drive Mode).
Jupiter-lander.d64 —> Jupiter-lander_TPJ1AD.d64
Flag Key
| Flag | Description | Use |
| J1 | This sets the primary joystick port as port 1. With a second Joystick connected, it automatically uses port 2. | Use this flag if you cannot use a joystick with a game you know should work with one. |
| J2 | This sets the primary joystick port as port 2. With a second Joystick connected, it automatically uses port 1. | Port 2 is the default for the Mini so it does not need to be set. |
| AD | Stands for “Accurate Disk”. Turns on the cycle exact disk reader on the Mini. | Use this if your game is unstable when you try to run it. |
| RO | This makes the disk image read-only. | This is mainly for protection, however, some games did check this for copy protection. |
| NI | “No Indicator” turns off the drive access indicator. | Mainly a user preference thing. |
| TN | Tells a PAL (European) system that the disk image is NTSC (Japan and North America). | Use if you are running a PAL system with an NTSC image or the game play seems too slow. |
| TP | Tells an NTSC (Japan and North America) system that the disk image is PAL (European). | Use if you are running a NTSC system with an PAL image or the game play seems too fast. |
This information is found in more detail here under Appendix A.
Technical Note: “Accurate Disk” does slow the loading of games down, however, it does not turn off the “fast loader” on the C64 Mini. Before loading your ROM or disk image, press the third button on the C64 Mini to turn off Fast Load.