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{Photograph}: Matt Kamen
Boot up the C64U, and also you’re greeted by a re-creation of the C64’s menu. Right here, you may kind in operation instructions simply as you’ll again within the day, utilizing the BASIC programming language. Downside: I don’t have the primary clue about BASIC. Nevertheless, in what’s probably the best throwback of all, the C64U comes with a spiral-bound, 273-page person information. It’s an absolute tome. Considerably surprisingly, it’s not a reprint of something that got here with the unique, however slightly a tailor-made information to what the C64U does, the place it differs from the C64, and tips on how to familiarize yourself with the pc’s capabilities. Equal components historical past guide and instruction guide, it begins out educating you some easy instructions and builds as much as educating you tips on how to code. I’m nonetheless very a lot working my manner via it, however that tactile strategy—referring to the guide, attempting one thing out on the pc, forwards and backwards—is a superb contact.
Hidden Upgrades
If you happen to don’t fancy having to do homework, the C64U’s personal default menu, accessed at any time with a flick of the multifunction energy button on the right-hand facet of the unit, is an easy listing of choices and settings. Hit RETURN to enter any part—say, “Video Setup” to regulate whether or not the C64U outputs in authentic decision, in PAL or NTSC modes (surprisingly essential, given some video games will solely work with one show normal or the opposite), or a crystal clear 1080p with scanlines eliminated—and again out to avoid wasting any adjustments to the system’s flash reminiscence. It’s nonetheless a minimalist strategy, however feels pretty intuitive.
That is additionally the place you can begin taking part in round with among the different trendy touches of the C64U, like tips on how to leverage its far higher energy. Nicely, “higher” compared to 1982. Spec-wise, this isn’t going to threaten any extra trendy machine, however working on an AMD Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA chip and packing 128-MB DDR2 RAM—in comparison with the 64 KB of the C64—it blows its inspiration out of the water. Whereas at baseline it replicates the efficiency of the 1982 {hardware}, which means it operates as if there’s solely the unique 64 KB have been there, you may menu-dive to activate a virtualized RAM Growth Unit, or activate a “Turbo Increase” to speed up the clock velocity to a lightning-fast (on this explicit context) 64 MHz.
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