Best game.
There is a register in the SID chip that affects the volume output. Every time 1 of 4 bits of this register are changed, it produces a staticy audible clicking noise, with 4-bit resolution. By alternating between clicking noises fast enough, you can modulate sample sounds. The effect is similar to when you watch a hubcap on a car's wheel spin:
Eventually, the changes are so great that we stop seeing the individual spins and instead the hubcap looks like it's spinning slower (or sometimes backwards) to our eyes. This is because the refresh frequency is so great that we actually see new information. Similarly, the frequency of the audio clicks if produced fast enough sound like different sounds.
It's a similar to how they play music on floppy disk drives:
Cool! Couldn't have a better background as a gamer from my point if view! :) Are you still a reviewer?despite everything, here's my fave C64 game:
I've started working in the late eighties writing reviews for and editing an italian C64 magazine, so I've probably gone through the entire C64 library, but if I have to single out the game that made me fell in love with the old breadbin, that game will have to be H.E.R.O.
Nebulus is quite something, that game punched so hard above its weight.
With The Final Cartridge III you could make a freeze save for cassette games, it was like a save state, after loading a relatively small file everything started exactly like it was when you pressed the cartridge button, very useful, I used that a lot both for games with long load times (if I didnt have it as a "backup") and for floppy games if I wanted a save at a particular moment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epyx_Fast_Load
That's great that you're still working in the industry, lots of respect for sticking around all the way from the 80's and not abandoning the hobby like so many others. I take it you're in the 40's by now? I'm 41 myself, so many people have said over the years that I should quit gaming but I've been here gaming for over 30 years now and I won't ever quit. Just love retro gaming. I try to pass forward my love for these old games to my kids as well now, it's actually going quite well, the catchy tunes help a lot, kids love the melodic SID tunes :)
