How can I play Boulder Dash on my pc?

Boulder Dash is originally a small game for the old Commodore 64. On this page I'll explain in full detail how to play this classic, and any other C64 game, on your pc. I assume that you're using Windows as your operating system, and that you have some experience with playing games on the C64.

Step 1: Download an emulator.

A C64 emulator is a program which mimics a Commodore 64 on your pc. Several emulators are currently available on the net, but my favourite one is VICE.

- Go to: http://www.viceteam.org/

- Download the latest version from VICE for MS-Windows.

- Extract the content of the zip-file into a new path, which you've given a name like "Vice".

- Go to this path and doubleclick on the executable file "x64.exe" to start the C64 emulation program from VICE.

Step 2: Download .d64 files.

A.d64 file is nothing more than a file which behaves like a floppy-disk from the C64. Just like a floppy-disk, it contains one or more games.

- If you want to play one of the original Boulder Dash I, II or III, you'll have to search for them by yourself. Sadly, it's impossible for me to put any downloads of these games on my site. But there are other places where you can easily find them.

- A huge collection of other Boulder Dash games can be found on Marek Roth's site: http://www.gratissaugen.de/erbsen/. Also note http://www.firefox.ch/ where you can download a lot of Boulder Dashes too. And of course you can download my BD games on my site: http://www.boulder-dash.nl/

- Remark: usually the .d64 files are downloaded into zip-format, so you have to extract them first.

Step 3: Open the .d64 bestanden into your emulator.

If you have VICE running you can play your games as follows.

- Go to the "file" menu.

- Choose "attach disk image" and "drive 8".

- You get window that looks like an explorer. Search into this explorer for the .d64 file containing the game that you wish to play. Click on this file.

- Under "Image contents" you can view the contents of this disk. Doubleclick on the name of the right game and it will be loaded and started automatically.

- In order to be able to play you only have to adjust the controls. Go to the "Settings" menu and choose "Joystick settings". Under "Joystic port #1" you choose "Keyset A". Click on "Config keyset A" and adjust the keys you wish to use. For example the arrowkeys combined with the left ctrl for the "fire button". You don't have te adjust the diagonal directions like north-west. Click on OK.

- Now it is still possible that your keys aren't working when you try out a game. This is because the C64 has two joystick ports. By clicking on "Swap joystick" in the "Options" menu the to ports will be swapped, and everything should work properly now.

Step 4: Play Boulder Dash I.

In order to learn Boulder Dash, I think it's the best to start playing the original Boulder Dash I.

- Run Boulder Dash I in VICE. The titlescreen will appear immediately.

- Press F1. You'll see a menu in which you can choose (with the arrowkeys) in what cave you want to begin: A, E, I or M. Press fire button to start the game.

- You can walk with Rockford using the arrowkeys. By pressing the firebutton and an arrow key at the same time, you can dig without moving Rockford. You can pause by pressing the spacebar. If you've got stuck in the game, you can give up your try by pressing escape (run-stop on the C64). By pressing F1 you return to the titlescreen.

- Furthermore, the rules of the game are simple. In each cave the objective is to collect a certain amount of diamonds. When you've found enough diamonds, you see a flash and an exit door opens. This door brings you to the next cave. All this has to be done within a given time limit.

- If you ever find a cave in which you don't know what to do, take a look at my site. I've devoted one page to the solutions of all the caves from Boulder Dash I. Also on one page you find descriptions of the elements from Boulder Dash.

Step 5: Play other Boulder Dashes.

Have you succeeded to complete all the caves from Boulder Dash I? Then try Boulder Dash III and after that game try Boulder Dash II. Also Arno Dash I shouldn't be too hard now. Are you able to complete all these games? Congratuations! You are already a real BD freak now. But there are certainly many challenges waiting for you within the huge number of fangames, which can be downloaded from the net!

If you still have any questions, or if you need a bit more explanation on some topic, please let me know by the mail: arnoweber@hotmail.com.