Getting Started with C64 Development

What You Need

To develop for the C64, you need two things: a way to compile your code, and an emulator to run it.

Asm198x is one binary that assembles for every system in the curriculum.

brew install asm198x/tap/asm198x

Or, without Homebrew, the installer script for macOS, Linux and Windows.

Assembly

asm198x --dialect acme --prg game.asm -o game.prg

BASIC

petcat -w2 -o game.prg game.bas

petcat tokenises a BASIC listing into a loadable program. It comes with VICE, which you are installing anyway to run what you build.

Install VICE natively for the best experience.

macOS

brew install vice

Linux

sudo apt install vice

Windows — Download from vice-emu.sourceforge.io

x64sc game.prg

Use x64sc (accurate) rather than x64 (faster but less accurate).

Your tools are set up. Time to write some code.