JOURNEY TO THUNDER PEAK

The earth trembles, the entrance looms. Will you survive the depths?

Journey to Thunder Peak is an 8-bit RPG odyssey for the Commodore 64. Descend into the shadow of a legendary dungeon in this C-powered retro adventure. Ancient secrets lie buried beneath the stone, and only those with the resolve to enter the deep will uncover what the Peak has guarded for centuries.

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⚔️ The Adventure

• Classic Dungeon Crawling – Traverse a jagged, subterranean world built with authentic 8-bit aesthetics.
• Atmospheric Mystery – A journey focused on the echoes and dangers of the deep.
• Handcrafted Visuals – Custom-designed PETSCII environments and sprites.

🛠️ Current Progress

The Commodore 64 was my "dream" computer in my childhood, but I never had one (seems like everyone else did though ;-) So, I'm excited to "live my dream" through the Commodore 64 Ultimate, and what better adventure to take than programming some retro-style games that I enjoyed in the 1980's. I am a professional software developer, but this is my first foray on the Commodore 64, so this is very much a learning project.

The engine is currently in the early prototype phase. Recent milestones include:

• Hybrid Charset System: Integration of custom charset with standard ROM typography.
• Dynamic HUD: Real-time rendering of player stats and inventory status.
• Map and Tile System: A dynamically generated overworld map using tilesets.
• Joystick Movement: Joystick enabled movement - left, right, up, down, plus diagonals!
• Idle Events: This is an Adventure, and things can happen at anytime.

Very Early Prototype Screenshots (actual gameplay):

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⚙️ Project Build

While the heart of the game is adventure, the engine is built for reliability:

• Built with the Oscar64 C toolchain for the MOS 6510.
• Modular game logic for a smooth, deep-crawl experience.
• Designed for original hardware and VICE emulation.

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Oscar64 Compiler – The core C toolchain for the MOS 6510.
• VICE Emulator – The primary environment for testing and debugging.
• VSCode & VS64 Extension – The recommended IDE setup for integrated building and symbol mapping.
• Ninja Build – High-speed build system used for compiling the project.

Building & Running

The project is optimized for a Ninja-based workflow within VSCode:

1. Open Project – Open the project folder in VSCode.
2. VS64 Setup – Ensure the VS64 extension is configured with your Oscar64 installation path.
3. Build – Press Ctrl+Shift+B. The extension will invoke Ninja to compile the source and link the game.
4. Run – The generated JTTP.PRG can be set to auto-launch directly into the VICE emulator for immediate testing.

Manual Build (Alternative)

If you prefer building from the terminal:

cmake -G Ninja -B build
ninja -C build

Debugging

This project generates a .dbj debug symbol file. Use the VICE monitor (Alt+H) with -moncommands to see C labels in the assembly.

📜 License

This project is MIT licensed - see the LICENSE file for details. Use it, break it, fix it, or build on it! All I ask is a tiny nod in your README or credits—think of it as "Loot Sharing" for the open-source community.