“Rich Code for Tiny Computers: A Simple Commodore 64 Game in C++17”
summary
Uses C++17 and Compiler Explorer to compile idiomatic C++ into 386 assembly then translate that into 6510/6502 code with an x86-to-6502 reassembler, building a complete Pong: ball, two paddles, sprites and joystick input. The compiled game is tiny (about 105 bytes), the 6502 output is ~419 instructions (x86 ~231), sprite generation is a 64‑deep constexpr recursion with 505 parameters, and the program runs on a real Commodore 64 via SD2IEC—Pong actually works.
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chapters (12)
- 0:00Introduction and goals
- 3:48Hardware and environment
- 9:09Memory-mapped I/O basics
- 13:21Abstractions and performance
- 19:08Working with colors
- 24:14Compile-time optimization
- 30:12Joystick and user input
- 35:30RAII for game logic
- 43:31Sprite management
- 52:58Final game implementation
- 1:01:46Live hardware demonstration
- 1:06:41Summary and Q&A
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