A C64 emulator that runs in a terminal window. This is a real C64 emulator underneath, with pixel-accurate graphics output via the sixel or kitty terminal graphics protocols, or a Unicode PETSCII text mode fallback. No sound output. Based on https://github.com/floooh/docker-c64 but modified to have:
- Pixel graphics output via sixel or kitty protocols (auto-detected)
- Full PAL TV crop with accurate border rendering
- More accurate PETSCII text mode with UTF-8 character mapping
- Scanline-accurate VIC-II timing
- Autoloading and running a PRG file
- Container image built from scratch
The easiest way to run is via the included c64.sh wrapper script, which handles mounting
PRG files and passes arguments through to the container:
./c64.sh
./c64.sh demo.prg
./c64.sh game.tap
./c64.sh game.d64
./c64.sh --mode=sixel demo.prg
c64.sh uses podman if available, otherwise docker.
Build:
podman build . -t malafoss/c64
Run from Docker Hub:
podman run --rm -it malafoss/c64
Load and run a file — supports .prg, .tap (datasette), and .d64 (disk image):
podman run --rm -it -v ./demo.prg:/demo.prg malafoss/c64 /demo.prg
podman run --rm -it -v ./game.tap:/game.tap malafoss/c64 /game.tap
podman run --rm -it -v ./game.d64:/game.d64 malafoss/c64 /game.d64
The --mode= option selects the graphics output. The default is auto, which probes
the terminal at startup and picks the best available mode.
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
auto |
Auto-detect kitty or sixel, fall back to text (default) |
kitty |
Kitty terminal graphics protocol |
sixel |
Sixel graphics protocol (xterm, mlterm, foot, …) |
narrow |
Unicode PETSCII text, narrow characters (1:1 ratio) |
wide |
Unicode PETSCII text, wide characters (2:1 ratio) |
Examples:
podman run --rm -it malafoss/c64 --mode=kitty
podman run --rm -it malafoss/c64 --mode=sixel
podman run --rm -it malafoss/c64 --mode=narrow
Or via the wrapper:
./c64.sh --mode=kitty demo.prg
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| PageDown | Load file (given filename or file.prg) |
| PageUp | Save file (given filename or file.prg) |
| End | Toggle upper/lower case characters |
| Escape | RUN/STOP key |
| Ctrl+C | Exit emulator |
See https://github.com/malafoss/docker-c64
Based on:
- https://github.com/floooh/docker-c64
- https://github.com/floooh/chips
- https://github.com/floooh/chips-test
Pre-built container image: https://hub.docker.com/r/malafoss/c64