ALBERT, the pixel art editor for creating extended Commodore 64 images, now has its own website: https://www.albertpixels.com/
Together with Joachim, we are going to provide future updates through such website. Stay tuned for further announcements!
Author Archives: luigidifraia
IECHost GUI client version 3.8.12 released
Version 3.8.12 of the IECHost GUI client is now available within my Software page. Binaries are available for Windows, macOS (Intel), Linux x86_64 and armv7l.
This is a minor update for a few enhancements:
- New feature: Added a counter of accessible sector errors in the disk dumping tab
- New feature: When warpsaving to D64 also check if tracks need shifting outwards and offer to do so
- Enhancement: Check if tracks require shifting inwards or outwards also when loading a D64 for re-reads
Details of the changes are also available through the issue tracker.
ALBERT preview version 1.0.50 released
Version 1.0.50 of ALBERT is now available within my Software page.
Binaries are available for Windows and macOS (Intel).For Linux users, Docker images are published on Docker Hub here.
Here are all changes delivered in this update:
- Added support for creating hires standard artwork (with a few hardware-induced caveats)
- Added constraints for the position of new knots in the image adjustment widget when importing PNG images
- Non-ASCII and space characters in the application path won’t impair the execution of exomizer under *nix
ALBERT 1.0.50: support for standard hires artwork
Update: The official homepage for ALBERT is now: https://www.albertpixels.com/
IECHost GUI client version 3.8.11 released
Version 3.8.11 of the IECHost GUI client is now available within my Software page. Binaries are available for Windows, macOS (Intel), Linux x86_64 and armv7l.
This is a minor update for a few enhancements and bug fixes. Here are all changes delivered in this update:
- New feature: The file chooser dialog used to load disk images now shows the count of sectors with errors in the selected D64 file
- New feature: The main window now shows the count of sectors with errors in the D64 file loaded for re-reads
- Fix: Multiple copies of the same dialogs cannot be created any longer under macOS
- Fix: When expanding the file chooser dialog for opening D64 files the vertical scrollbar is not expanded
Details of the changes are also available through the issue tracker.
Here’s a couple of screenshots that illustrate the count of sectors with errors, both accessible and inaccessible:
IECHost GUI Client: count of errors displayed in the file chooser dialog
IECHost GUI Client: count of errors displayed in the main window
The count of accessible sectors with errors is of particular interest as those are the ones that can be re-read, e.g. after a disk surface is cleaned, in an attempt to fix their contents. A re-read operation can be performed when the count of “Max errors” is greater than or equal to the count of accessible sectors with errors.
I shall conclude by saying that the change was requested by Achidchild of The Transfer Team.
ALBERT preview version 1.0.49 released
Version 1.0.49 of ALBERT is now available within my Software page.
Binaries are available for Windows and macOS (Intel). For Linux users, Docker images are published on Docker Hub here.
Here are all changes delivered in this update:
- The Lua function
drawclear()now creates a checkpoint only if it makes changes to the canvas - Added the image adjustment functionality when importing PNG images
- The project is not reset any longer when a PNG image is imported
Specifically, a new dialog is available for the PNG image import workflow in order to enhance the results of a conversion to the Commodore 64 palette and hardware.
ALBERT 1.0.49: PNG image import dialog
ALBERT 1.0.49: PNG image import dialog
Multiple palette conversion methods are now available: nearest match, error diffusion (Floyd–Steinberg) dithering, and ordered dithering. Each of these references the palette currently active: different palettes will produce different results at conversion time.
Furthermore, whereas the natural (Euclidean) distance is found to be unsuitable for color matching, a weighted alternative is available. The latter should produce results in line with expectations based on the luminance value of Commodore 64 palette colors.
Finally, a curves adjustment widget is provided in order to adjust each color channel separately and/or all of them at the same time.
Update: The official homepage for ALBERT is now: https://www.albertpixels.com/
More software updates
Version 1.1.2 of the C64 Pic Extender is now available within my Software page.
This is a minor update for a few enhancements. Here’s what’s been changed:
- Added support for “Attribute Byte Format” in order to preserve individual colors when importing sprites from Sprite Pad (use the Preferences menu to activate)
- Accept Koala Painter images even if they load at non-conventional addresses ($2000 or $4000)
Version 1.4.2 of C64 Raster Effect Editor is now available within my Software page.
This one too is a minor update. Here’s what’s been changed:
- Accept Koala Painter images even if they load at non-conventional addresses ($2000 or $4000)
The DC2N4-LC command-line client has been replaced by the DC2N4-LC command-line utilities. The latter re-implements the former’s functionality using my most recent development framework.
Finally, the Commodore 64 Cartridge Dumper command-line client is now referred to as Commodore 64 Cartridge Dumper utilities.
ALBERT preview version 1.0.48 released
Version 1.0.48 of ALBERT is now available within my Software page. Binaries are available for Windows and macOS (Intel).
This is a minor update for a few enhancements and a few more sample projects.
ALBERT on macOS: Master of Puppet by The Sarge
Here’s what’s been changed:
- The project name is now reset to “Untitled.alb” also when a PNG image is imported
- Added support for “Attribute Byte Format” in order to preserve individual colors when importing sprites from Sprite Pad (use the Preferences dialog to activate)
- The brush size can now also be changed with the ‘[‘ and ‘]’ keys
- Accept Koala Painter images even if they load at non-conventional addresses ($2000 or $4000)
Update: The official homepage for ALBERT is now: https://www.albertpixels.com/
DC2N4-LC command-line client 2.4.0 released
Version 2.4.0 of the DC2N4-LC command-line client is now available within my Software page. Binaries are available for Windows, macOS (Intel), Linux x86_64 and armv7l.
This is a minor update that improves the initial device synchronization.
Commodore 64 Cartridge Dumper command-line client 2.1.3 released
Version 2.1.3 of the Commodore 64 Cartridge Dumper command-line client is now available within my Software page. Binaries are available for Windows, macOS (Intel), Linux x86_64 and armv7l.
This is the first publicly available release of the client. Bear in mind that the firmware update option is only relevant to the Pro-Micro based boards. Blue Pill based boards do not support updates via the USB serial port.
IECHost command-line nibbling utilities 1.4.2 released
Version 1.4.2 of the IECHost command-line nibbling utilities is now available within my Software page. Binaries are available for Windows, macOS (Intel), Linux x86_64 and armv7l.
This is the first publicly available release of the nibbling utilities, which require the use of the extended IECHost firmware that ships with them, instead of the standard IECHost firmware. The former is backward compatible with the latter, but I recommend not mixing things: use the standard IECHost firmware when running non-nibbling software and the extended IECHost firmware when running nibbling software. Best even, have two IECHost devices: one for non-nibbling purposes and one for nibbling purposes, so you can reduce the overhead of switching between different firmware versions.