Commodore 64 Reverse Engineering
Edit on Github | Updated: 1st May 2026Games
mm-explained: Maniac Mansion C64 Disassembly
pditincho has produced a reconstructed and fully commented disassembly of the Commodore 64 implementation of Maniac Mansion. This project documents the inner workings of the engine’s C64 iteration, covering 6502 assembly routines, specialized disk loaders, and hardware-level interactions with the VIC-II and SID chips. It provides a detailed technical breakdown of game entities such as rooms, costumes, and scripts, serving as a comprehensive resource for understanding the game’s original architecture.
Freeload: The Ocean Loader Technical Retrospective
Paulie Hughes provides a detailed technical breakdown of “Freeload,” the iconic Commodore 64 turbo loader used by Ocean Software. The page explores the evolution of the loader’s design, including its signature raster bars, the integration of loading music by composers like Martin Galway, and the various anti-piracy encryption methods implemented toward the end of the C64’s lifecycle. Crucially, it discusses the transition from standard loading routines to more advanced techniques, such as loading data directly into the stack to execute games via a manual stack pointer manipulation.