Commodore 64 Full Game in Assembly Language - Starbraze C64 Build and Customize a C64 Space Shooter in Assembly for the Commodore 64

Previously published as Commodore 64 Full Game in Assembly Language - Starbraze C64 by Eric A. Norton and Jorah Sallow.

Build a Commodore 64 space shooter using your Windows PC-no original C64 required.

Starbraze is a practical, project-based guide to Commodore 64 assembly development using modern tools. You write the source code on a Windows PC, assemble it with 64tass and run the resulting C64 .prg program in VICE, the Commodore 64 emulator.

The game targets the C64; Windows provides the development environment. This book follows that workflow rather than teaching programming directly on original Commodore 64 hardware.

From your first working screen to a complete arcade game.

Develop an original space shooter through playable milestones, connecting assembly instructions to visible results. Learn how the game draws its spacecraft, responds to controls, detects collisions, manages progress and produces sound-and discover how to change those systems yourself.

This expanded second edition contains 18 chapters and takes the project further with the Starbraze Arcade Edition:

• An animated title screen and opening audio selection.

• Multicolor spacecraft, animated engines and directional banking.

• Four enemy classes with different appearances and behaviors.

• Three sectors, enemy waves and three distinct boss encounters.

• Scores, lives, temporary protection and a session high score.

• Sector transitions, Game Over, victory and restart screens.

• Original SID music and revised laser, impact and damage effects, with a choice of music, sound effects or silence.

Understand the code. Make the game your own.

Customization is part of the learning process throughout the book. Guided experiments identify the values and routines you can change, explain their dependencies and show what to check after rebuilding.

Experiment with ship graphics, movement, weapons, enemy behavior, difficulty and audio. Learn to make a controlled change, observe its effects and restore a working version when an experiment goes wrong.

Progressive explanations, selected assembly listings, color illustrations and screenshots from the running game support the lessons. The companion source package provides the complete assembly project and playable C64 program.

The documented setup and testing use Windows, 64tass and VICE in PAL mode. Operation on physical Commodore 64 hardware has not been verified.

One series. An independent game in every volume.

Starbraze is Volume 1 of the C64 Game Manual Series, a collection planned around monthly releases. Every volume presents an original, customizable game and a self-contained learning project. No previous volume is required.

For retrocomputing enthusiasts and programmers who want to understand how a Commodore 64 game works-and experience the satisfaction of shaping one themselves.