Breadbox

An interesting take on an emulator... If the price doesn't put you off. I have only tried the Commodore 64 emulator so far. I like it, it gives a sense of depth to running programs with the models and sounds of the hardware there. It took a while to get used to the keyboard layout and I still haven't found the £ mapping but otherwise it is smooth sailing. I also wouldn't be surprised if there was a patch sometime in the not so distant future that addressed that (or I have to smash more buttons to find the pound sign :)). Joystick supported. I spent much more time with this thing than I thought I would and I gifted a copy to a friend who had one of these as a kid. It does not come equipped with any game disks or tapes, but you can find those online. Personally I sank most of my time into programming and the internals of the emulated hardware. I get a sense of satisfaction of coding for this thing, although I don't know much yet. It's one of those things I guess I wanted to do but never got around to. I see it as a great learning platform for retro computers. I wish to get acquainted with the systems but it feels like just 1 out of the 3 systems that come with the game at present time is well enough for me to keep busy. Breadbox hasn't been available for too long as I understand it. The developer responds quickly in the discussion boards in Steam. It had several updates since launch, fixing unexpected issues and adding support for different keyboard language layouts. I have been out of the retro scene so I don't know how much love there is around for hobbyists, but it sure has stated a fire in me. Personally I hope to see more enthusiasts. It also makes you appreciate modern computers in a different way, longing for a mouse, selecting and copying text in editors. The only downside I see with this is the price, but it can also be understandably set as it's a very niche market. I don't demand much more from Breadbox as I feel it has offered enough for me personally, but I would not be against added systems of course. I am quoting the store page for Breadbox: "Currently there are three computer models: Commodore 64, VIC-20 and PET 2001-8. We start adding more computer models (one by one), when project is moving on from Early Access." I guess the only advise I can give you is to carefully check the "Missing features" section on the store page to see if it's the thing for you. My guess the biggest issue at present moment is support for only 1 joystick, so playing a game together could pose a problem. I wouldn't be so worried about the other missing features. Plus, it's amusing to stream a simulator with whirring disk drives, clacky keyboards and 3d scenery. :-)

I wasn't quite sure what this was going to be, and had it on my wishlist for some time before picking it up. What you are presented with, is a nice visual recreation of 3 classic Commodore machines and their most common peripherals, with emulator support provided by embedded open source software. When you run the program, it walks you through setting up VICE, which for those who aren't familiar, is one of the defacto Commodore emulators that's nearly as old as some of the computers it emulates (it's open source, and you can download it free online). If you are among the initiated, then know that this is basically just an additional wrapper around VICE, and I have to say, a nicely made addition. As someone who spent countless hours plugging away on my C64 as a child, and who still drags that old hardware out from time-to-time to recapture that nostalgia, this takes me back to darn near the experience of the real deal. It adds a quality aesthetic to a typically utilitarian emulator in VICE. You can pan around the various hardware, interact with switches and such, and it all feels and sounds pleasingly realistic. There is a handy menu to the left of each machine to access floppies, cassettes, cartridges, and manuals, which you can easily import by hitting the File Explorer link to get a system window to copy things over. You'll have to provide and/or hunt down your own content from various online resources, as there is nothing (besides some RAM disk carts for the VIC-20) included here by default. I pulled several .d64 disk images and manual PDFs out of my archive and had no problems loading them up and interacting with them. Unlike when using VICE directly, I don't seem to be able to speed up things such as drive load times and processor speed, RAM, etc., so I experienced the actual real ~90 second load time for Planetfall for the first time in almost 30 years. It would be nice to have some options for this. There are countless charms that persist from the 8-bit era, but waiting for disk load times that were excruciatingly slow even for their day is not one of the better carryovers. Still, if you want a genuine experience, you've got it with this setup! Another thing worth mentioning, is that I do experience some input lag on at least the C64 keyboard. The game manual suggests that this could be due to GPU load, and to adjust some display settings, so give that a try if you encounter any issues. Funny enough, this didn't bother me that much, because I remembered having to type slowly and deliberately on these older machines. If you rattled off keystrokes like on a modern mechanical keyboard, you'd miss key inputs and get typos all the time. I assumed the input lag was deliberate until I read otherwise in the manual. Overall, I think this is a nicely done visual wrapper and worth the price. If you're a fan of these old machines, or even a newcomer who is drawn in by their vintage allure, I highly recommend checking it out. I appreciate the effort put in by the developer to capture and present the essence of these classics, and would love to see more stuff like this on Steam!

A great and interactive take on retro computer emulators.. I hope to see this game progress in the future as things are added and updated. In it's current state, it is a convenient C64 emulator with lovely sound design, but a little lacking in features considering the potential that the video game aspect this particular emulator has. I hope to see maybe a public library of preinstalled disks, and hopefully the option to configure more about our computer set up.. Can't wait to play more!

Очень атмосферная игра! Это этакий 3d-frontend для Vice IoI эмулятора (устанавливается в игре), на данный момент есть 3 компьютера, все они от Commodore-Amiga (PET, VIC, C64), есть геймпады, магнитофоны и дисководы, очень хочется новых компьютеров в игру, Spectrum во многих версиях (включая Next), все модели Commodore, некоторые ПК Amiga, и советские клоны) Рекомендую игру!

I love this simulator, and it is definitely my favourite simulator/emulator that I have used.

Good emulator, although I just dont seem to be able to get the games to be playable with either joystick??? They are both plugged in and the game cartridge has loaded EG (parallax) screen is on and is ready to start. Nothing I do can get the game to start. There really needs to be a much simpler way to invoke the joystick or use the keyboard - Nice emulator that really captures what it was like to own a c64 from my childhood. The UI needs a large overhaul as the main barrier is just getting a game to run and have the joystick input work. Gave up after 40 minutes of trying anything, Even mashing all the keys on the keyboard in the hope something might happen failed. Usability is a massive roadblock and source of frustration with this emulator, not even the original C64 was this hard to start a game. Please make it simpler and offer a menu item to use and define keys on the keyboard as joystick conrols.

Love this thing, the immersion transports me back to my childhood :)

Самый атмосферный эмулятор

I never grew up with these old computers or knew anyone that actually had one, but the old AVGN videos as a kid always had me intrigued about these old systems. If you're like me you might ask "Why not just play these games online or with a different FREE emulator", and of course you could go do that, however I would argue the charm in these old systems is not only getting the games to actually work, but simply LEARNING how to use the different commands and computer peripherals is half of the fun. That's why I would recommend this emulator over any others, the simulation it provides with the hardware is unmatched in my opinion. After using this emulator I have no desire to use real commodore hardware as I feel Breadbox satisfies me more than enough. (Keep in mind I am not experienced with 8-bit computers) It Took me two hours to get the original Turrican to run, was I pulling my hair out or yelling at my screen? A little bit.. but there's not a lot of games that can provide me with the satisfaction of finally seeing that title screen and listening to that amazing C64 SID chip music. I wish the NES could produce C64 quality music, the only composer that ever came close to doing so was Tim Follin. Anyways, Breadbox is the best way to experience these 3 8-bit Commodore computers outside of owning actual hardware, can't wait to see what other computers will be supported in the future!