C64AIToolChain

# C64AIToolChain

**C64AIToolChain** is a Commodore 64 development toolchain designed as a **creative benchmark for AI agents**. It uses AI models inside **Visual Studio Code with GitHub Copilot** (agent mode) to develop C and assembly games for the Commodore 64.

**Tested with:** **Google Gemini 3** · **Claude Opus 4.6**

### How It Works as a Benchmark

The agent is given access to the workspace via GitHub Copilot in VS Code and asked to:
1. **Analyze** the project structure, existing games, and development rules (`AGENT_RULES.md`, `AGENT_HOWTO.md`)
2. **Understand** the constraints (6502 CPU, 64KB RAM, VIC-II, SID, cc65 compiler)
3. **Generate a game** — either a classic clone or, for the creative benchmark, an entirely **new original game** by combining mechanics from existing ones

This tests sustained, multi-domain autonomous problem-solving: game design, systems programming, hardware constraints, memory layout, visual debugging, and iterative refinement — all in a single unbroken session. Unlike benchmarks such as ARC-AGI (pattern recognition), SWE-bench (isolated bug fixes), or HumanEval (function-level generation), this measures an agent's ability to **hold a complex constrained system in context and ship a working product**.

> **All `.prg` files are included pre-compiled** — load them directly in VICE without needing cc65.

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## 🎮 Game Showcase

### ☄️ METEOR STORM — *AI Original (Claude Opus 4.6)*

<p align="center">
  <img src="meteor/meteor.gif" alt="Meteor Storm Demo" width="480">
</p>

An **original game** (not a clone) created entirely by Claude Opus 4.6 via GitHub Copilot. The agent analyzed the existing codebase and designed something new by combining mechanics from Asteroids (splitting meteors), Space Invaders (destructible shields), and Arkanoid (power-up drops).

**1,581 lines of C** · 14 custom characters · 4 hardware sprites · 3-voice SID sound · parallax starfield · combo scoring · UFO bonus · demo AI · progressive wave difficulty.

The