Westminster Typeface — Commodore VIC-20 & Commodore 64

Commodore 64	Commodore VIC-20

Tiny, BASIC-launchable .prg installers that load a custom 8×8 Westminster typeface into the Commodore machine's custom character sets. Westminster typeface is the 1960s MICR / "computer cheque" face. There is a separate installer for the Commodore 64 and unexpanded Commodore VIC-20.

Each installer copies a character set into RAM, overlays the redefined Westminster glyphs, repoints the machine's video chip at the RAM charset, and RTS-es back to BASIC so the new glyphs persist at the READY. prompt. The installers print nothing, hook no interrupt, and leave no resident code.

📑 Table of Contents

• 📥 Download and run
• 🧰 Dependencies
• 🔧 Setup
• 🔨 Build
• 🚀 Run
• 🔤 Redefining a glyph
• 📁 Repository layout
• 📄 Licence

📥 Download and run

Download the prebuilt binaries from the Releases page, no toolchain needed, only real hardware or an emulator (VICE, etc). To build from source, see Build from source below.

File	For	What it is
westminster.d64	C64 and VIC-20	Disk image holding all four programs below
westminster.tap	VIC-20	Cassette image of the VIC-20 installer
westminster-c64.prg	C64	Typeface installer
westminster-vic20.prg	VIC-20 (unexpanded)	Typeface installer
cls-64.prg / cls-vic20.prg	C64 / VIC-20	Utility program that sets the screen, border, and text color.

Run an installer in VICE (autostart):

x64sc -autostart westminster-c64.prg
xvic -memory none -autostart westminster-vic20.prg

The VIC-20 cassette image autostarts the same way: xvic -memory none -autostart westminster.tap.

From the disk image (westminster.d64 serves both machines): attach it as drive 8, then on a C64:

LOAD"WESTMINSTER-C64",8
RUN

or on a VIC-20:

LOAD"WESTMINSTER-V20",8
RUN

The CLS-64 and CLS-VIC20 utility programs load the same way (e.g. LOAD"CLS-64",8 then RUN). The two utility programs are unrelated to the WESTMINSTER typeface program. They are used purely to set the border, screen and text color for aesthetic entertainment.

🧰 Dependencies

Tool	Purpose	Where
Kick Assembler (KickAss.jar)	Assembles the 6502 sources into .prg	http://theweb.dk/KickAssembler/
Java (JRE/JDK)	Runs KickAss.jar	any JRE/JDK on PATH

No Python or other toolchain is needed. The font table ships as ready-to-assemble source.

🔧 Setup

Before building, you need to tell the scripts where you installed Kick Assembler, Java (see Dependencies), and VICE. You do this once, in a small config.bat file.

First, copy the committed template to create your own local copy:

copy config.example.bat config.bat

Then open config.bat and set these three variables to match your machine:

Variable	Set it to
KICKASS_JAR	Absolute path to your KickAss.jar — e.g. C:\tools\kickass\KickAss.jar
JAVA_EXE	The Java launcher — leave it as java if a JRE/JDK is on your PATH, otherwise the full path to java.exe
VICE_HOME	Your VICE install folder, the one containing bin\x64sc.exe and bin\xvic.exe — e.g. C:\tools\vice

config.bat is git-ignored, so your local paths stay on your machine and are never committed.

🔨 Build

From the project root:

build-c64.bat    -->  dist\westminster-c64.prg
build-vic20.bat  -->  dist\westminster-vic20.prg

Each script assembles the matching main and writes a .prg under dist\ (created automatically).

🚀 Run

Builds, then launches the installer in VICE:

run-c64.bat    -->  x64sc
run-vic20.bat  -->  xvic -memory none  (unexpanded)

After it loads, the installer returns to BASIC; type at the READY. prompt to see the Westminster glyphs.

🔤 Redefining a glyph

The whole font lives in src/shared/charset.asm — one self-contained source file shared by both machines. To change a glyph, edit its .byte record directly; no extra tooling is involved.

Each record is 9 bytes: a screen-code byte followed by eight packed glyph bytes (top row first; MSB-left, so column 0 is bit 7). Above every record is an 8-row picture of the shape those bytes draw, which is a comment guide only; the .byte values are what assemble. For example:

        //   .XXXXX..
        //   .X...X..
        //   .X...X..
        //   XXXXXXX.
        //   XX....X.
        //   XX....X.
        //   XX....X.
        //   ........
        .byte $01, $7C, $44, $44, $FE, $C2, $C2, $C2, $00   // 'A'  screen $01

To pack a row, read it left to right: X = 1, . = 0, MSB first (.XXXXX.. → %01111100 → $7C). If you add or remove whole records, update WESTMINSTER_OVERLAY_COUNT at the top of the file to match. Rebuild with build-c64.bat / build-vic20.bat.

📁 Repository layout

westminster-typeface/
├── README.md             # this document
├── LICENSE               # MIT License
├── build-c64.bat         # build entry points (assemble → dist\*.prg)
├── build-vic20.bat
├── run-c64.bat           # run entry points (build, then launch in VICE)
├── run-vic20.bat
├── config.example.bat    # toolchain-path template (copy to config.bat)
└── src/                  # all Kick Assembler sources
    ├── c64/              # C64 installer main + platform constants
    │   ├── westminster-c64.asm
    │   └── platform-c64.asm
    ├── vic20/            # VIC-20 installer main + platform constants
    │   ├── westminster-vic20.asm
    │   └── platform-vic20.asm
    └── shared/           # shared macros + the Westminster font table
        ├── macros.asm
        └── charset.asm

📄 Licence

Released under the MIT License — Copyright © 1989 Rohin Gosling.