User:SiDawg
Basic and Assembler programmer from Melbourne, Australia
I got a C64 for Christmas when I was 7. I remember being disappointed i couldn't get the cartridges like "Wizard of Wor" and "International Soccer" working. So instead I started reading the manual, and learning about basic. I later learned I just wasn't pushing hard enough on the cartridges: but if I hadn't have made that mistake maybe I wouldn't be where I am now?? I created a few very simple basic programs up to around the age of 14. I always wanted to learn how to build games: doing this in basic was very difficult. I loved games like Giana Sisters, Rick Dangerous, The Last Ninja series, Bubble Bobble, Monty on the Run and Wizball (I was addicted to Wizball!). I knew I had to learn assembler to build these sorts of games but the motivation waned partly due to the perceived effort required. By the time I was 16 I had my first PC and put the C64 in the cupboard. That was around 1995 so the popularity of the C64 was dropping off.
Fast forward I'm now over 40: I'm an IT Business Analyst for most of my day, but still enjoy programming. Mostly these days it's plugging gaps with Visual Basic, but do a bit of Java, Python, Arduino, and C programming in spare time: the latter three mostly for electronics/robotics projects.
I bought a C64 (the brown one: I used to have the white one) and discovered the wonders of CBM Studio, Vice, C64 Debugger, and of course C64 Wiki and various other sites. If I had those tools back when I was 16 maybe I would've stuck with it: then again sites like this didn't exist yet and there was most likely limited info on C64 programming until people grew up, got bored, started getting nostalgic, and revisited their lost youth.
I only plan to be an occasional editor: as a Business Analyst, communication is my job. So I'm keen to expand on a few pages as I progress on my journey, in areas I personally found confusing or difficult to grasp. On a scale between "Professional Hand Model" and "Tech Head" I'm a few steps below a full on tech head, so hopefully my writing style is useful for others in that same camp.
