ShuriZma
/
stella
mirror of https://github.com/stella-emu/stella.git
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

Updated the documentation for the 1.4 release. 

git-svn-id: svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/stella/code/trunk@285 8b62c5a3-ac7e-4cc8-8f21-d9a121418aba
This commit is contained in:
stephena 2004-06-26 21:31:28 +00:00
parent 80f596924b
commit 76e5371bb3
1 changed files with 154 additions and 138 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

292
stella/docs/stella.html
View File

@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
<li><a href="#Installation">Installation</a></li>
<li><a href="#Games">Games</a></li>
<li><a href="#Starting">Starting A Game</a></li>
<li><a href="#Settings">Settings File</a></li>
<li><a href="#Keyboard">Keyboard Layout</a></li>
<li><a href="#Properties">Game Properties</a></li>
<li><a href="#Adaptor">Stelladaptor Support</a></li>
@ -28,7 +29,7 @@
<br><br><br>
<center><b>February 1999 - June 2004</b></center>
<center><b>February 1999 - July 2004</b></center>
<center><b>The Stella Team</b></center>
<center><b><a href="http://stella.sourceforge.net">Stella Homepage</a></b></center>
@ -209,70 +210,57 @@
<h2><b>New in Release 1.4</b></h2>
<p>FIXME - add feature list</p>
<!--
<ul>
<li>Improved TIA sound system so that games with digitized audio work</li>
<li>Added saving and loading of game state to the core; X11, SDL, and DOS
versions current support saving and loading game state</li>
<li>Added support for F4 bankswitching method</li>
<li>Pitfall II DPC sound emulation completed</li>
<li>Fixed a bug which caused the difficulty switches to operate backwards</li>
<li>Changed DPC auto-detection to use file size so that Pitfall II mods work</li>
<li>Modified RIOT timer emulation so that startup values are random</li>
<li>Added 3F bankswitching auto-detection routine so that homebrews and
demos work without a stella.pro entry</li>
<li>Updated the TIA message boxes so they look a little nicer</li>
<li>Latest stella.pro file included in distribution</li>
<li>Added some <b>developer</b> options to the core, and the ability to change
game width, height, xstart, ystart, etc. while the emulation is running. Added
ability to switch between NTSC and PAL at runtime, and the ability to save the
current properties to a file or to merge the changes into the stella.pro file;
X11 and SDL versions supported for now</li>
<li>Added save/load state ability to the core; X11 and SDL versions supported for now</li>
<li>External sound server for the X11 and SDL versions no longer required, as all
sound code is now integrated into the core</li>
<li>Changed the locations of the users' config files for the X11 and SDL versions; the users'
stellarc file is now located in "<i>$HOME/.stella/stellarc</i>", state files
are located in "<i>$HOME/.stella/state/</i>" and the stella.pro file is located
in "<i>$HOME/.stella/stella.pro</i>"
<li>Changed the way options are supplied on the commandline. Now all commandline
options take <b>exactly</b> the same arguments as in the INI file</li>
<li>Added "<i>-accurate</i>" command line option to choose between accurate
(CPU-intensive) timing or less accurate (CPU-friendly) timing to X11 and SDL
versions. This is the final version of what was considered experimental timing code
in Stella 1.2</li>
<li>Added "<i>-sound</i>" command line option to choose which sound backend to use
(alsa, oss, sdl) with the X11 and SDL versions</li>
<li>Added the following <b>developer</b> command line options to the X11 and SDL
versions, which are only activated in <b>developer</b> builds:
<ul>
<li><i>-Dformat</i></li>
<li><i>-Dwidth</i></li>
<li><i>-Dheight</i></li>
<li><i>-Dxstart</i></li>
<li><i>-Dystart</i></li>
<li><i>-Dmerge</i></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Fixed window resize bug in the X11 port</li>
<li>Added "<i>-nosound</i>" command line option to the DOS port to disable audio</li>
<li>DOS port supports a "<i>-vsync</i>" option to synchronize emulation with the
video blank of the video card</li>
<li>Changed VGA code in the DOS port to use a 60Hz 320x200 and a 60Hz
320x240 graphics mode</li>
<li>DOS port has been updated to run better under Windows NT, 2000, and XP.
There are still issues with the sound, however, it is usable.</li>
<li>DOS port is using a new Sound Blaster driver created by Matt Conte which
supports auto-detection of sound cards.</li>
<li>DOS port supports a STELLA_HOME environment variable that defines
the location of config files.</li>
<li>In the DOS port the stella.pro file is searched for first in the
current working director and then in the <i>%STELLA_HOME%</i> directory
<li>In the DOS port the ROM image is searched for first using the
specified path, then in <i>%STELLA_HOME%/ROMS</i>, and finally
in <i>%STELLA_HOME%</i></li>
<li>Codebase ported to SDL. The DOS and X11 ports have been discontinued.</li>
<li>Sound code ported to SDL. For the Linux versions, ALSA and OSS sound
support has been discontinued.</li>
<li>The Linux, MacOSX and Windows ports are now based on the same codebase and
are actively maintained. That means simultaneous (and hopefully
more frequent) releases.</li>
<li>A new Windows port has been created, with the GUI based on StellaX.
This is the first new release for Windows since Stella 1.2.</li>
<li>A new Mac OSX port has been created by Mark Grebe. This is the first new
release for Mac OSX since Stella 1.2.</li>
<li>Added OpenGL rendering support.</li>
<li>Added more refined in-game GUI.</li>
<li>Added event remapping. Emulation keys can now be remapped to the keyboard
or up to 4 joysticks.</li>
<li>Added native Stelladaptor support. Joysticks, paddles, and driving controllers
have been tested.</li>
<li>Digital sound support (used in games like Quadrun and Pitfall2) has been
greatly improved. Sound generation is now more tightly synchronized with
video updates.</li>
<li>Added support for UA Limited style bankswitching (Funky Fish and Pleiades).</li>
<li>Switched to using <i>high compatibility M6502 mode</i> by default.
<li>The meaning of the "<i>-sound</i>" command line option has been changed.
This option now accepts either 'true' or 'false (1 or 0) to enable/disable
sound.</li>
<li>Changed sound mixer functionality. The system volume/mixer settings will
never be changed; volume changes in Stella will only affect the emulation
itself.</li>
<li>Added "<i>-video</i>" command line option. This option accepts either 'soft'
or 'gl', to use software/OpenGL rendering.</li>
<li>Added "<i>-gl_filter</i>" command line option. This option accepts either
'nearest' or 'linear', to use GL_NEAREST or GL_LINEAR filtering.</li>
<li>Added "<i>-gl_aspect</i>" command line option. This option accepts a decimal
value specifying how much to scale the width of the emulation image (useful
for giving an authentic 'square-looking' 4:3 mode).</li>
<li>Added "<i>-fragsize</i>" command line option. This option accepts the
size to use for sound fragments. Linux/MacOSX works well with 512,
Windows seems to need 2048. This value must be a power of two.</li>
<li>Modified "<i>-volume</i>" command line option. If you specify '-1',
Stella will use the system volume.</li>
<li>Renamed the "<i>-pro</i>" command line option to "<i>-altpro</i>".</li>
<li>Renamed the "<i>-fps</i>" command line option to "<i>-framerate</i>".</li>
<li>Removed the "<i>-center</i>" command line option. Stella now automatically
centers the window when possible.</li>
<li>Removed the "<i>-paddle real</i>" command line option, since it never really
worked correctly (and Stelladaptor support adds that functionality
anyway).</li>
<li>Removed all command line options relating to the X11 port
(owncmap, display).</li>
</ul>
-->
<p>
<h2><b>Features</b></h2>
@ -331,7 +319,7 @@
<li>486/120 MHz required; 586/166 MHz highly recommended
<li>SDL version 1.2.0 or greater
<li>Joysticks or gamepads are highly recommended
<li>Mouse required for paddle emulation using the mouse
<li>Mouse or Stelladaptor required for paddle emulation
</ul>
<p>
@ -381,8 +369,7 @@
<hr>
<p>Once you have a Stella distribution you should follow the instructions for
your operating system given below. If your operating system isn't listed then
see the installation instructions included with the distribution for your system.</p>
your operating system given below.</p>
<p>
<h2><b>Linux/UNIX</b></h2>
@ -413,7 +400,7 @@
<p>If you're using the binary RPM's or source SRPM's, consult your distribution on
how to proceed.</p>
<p>If you have a supported joystick and driver installed and SDL can see the device,
<p>If you have a supported joystick and driver installed and SDL can access the device,
you can play games using joysticks. For additional information about the Linux
joystick driver see the following web site:
<a href="http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~vojtech/input">
@ -511,13 +498,18 @@
<p>The Linux version of Stella uses command line arguments to specify the game
you'd like to play as well as other options. To see the list of available
arguments, simply run stella without any options or filename. To run Stella
use a command line of the following format:</p>
arguments, simply run stella without any options or filename.</p>
<p>The KDE frontend <a href="http://kstella.sourceforge.net">KStella</a> can
also be used, which provides a graphical, point-and-click interface for changing
most Stella options.</p>
<p>To run Stella from the commandline, use the following format:</p>
<pre> stella [options ...] filename.bin</pre>
<p><b>Options</b> (0 indicates false, 1 indicates true, others are self-explanatory)
The words 'true' and 'false' can also be used.</p>
<p><b>Options</b> ('0' or 'false' indicates false, '1' or 'true' indicates true,
others are self-explanatory):</p>
<table BORDER=2>
<tr>
@ -546,7 +538,13 @@
<tr>
<td><pre>-sound &lt;0|1&gt;</pre></td>
<td>Enable or disable sound.</td>
<td>Disable or enable sound.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><pre>-fragsize &lt;number&gt;</pre></td>
<td>Specify the sound fragment size to use. Linux/Mac seems to work
with 512, Windows may need 2048.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
@ -581,9 +579,8 @@
</tr>
<tr>
<td><pre>-paddle &lt;0|1|2|3|real&gt;</pre></td>
<td>Indicates which paddle the mouse should emulate or that real Atari
2600 paddles are being used (defaults to paddle 0).</td>
<td><pre>-paddle &lt;0|1|2|3&gt;</pre></td>
<td>Indicates which paddle the mouse should emulate (defaults to paddle 0).</td>
</tr>
<tr>
@ -598,7 +595,9 @@
<tr>
<td><pre>-accurate &lt;0|1&gt;</pre></td>
<td>Accurate game timing (uses more CPU).</td>
<td>Accurate game timing (uses more CPU). This setting seems to work
better with the Linux 2.4 kernel. Newer kernels, Mac and Windows
should probably not use this.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
@ -656,34 +655,46 @@
</table>
<p><b>Emulator Game Shells</b></p>
<p>
<h2><b>Macintosh</b></h2>
<p><a href="http://kstella.sourceforge.net">KStella</a>, which concentrates on
Stella only and includes manuals, snapshots, cartridge labels, etc.</p>
<p>The Mac version of Stella is a native Cocoa-based application.</p>
<p> FIXME - add more info</p>
<p><b>INI File</b></p>
<p>
<h2><b>Windows</b></h2>
<p>This version of Stella has support for INI files. This file can contain your
default options, and eliminates the need to specify them on the command line. Any
options specified on the command line will override those in the INI file.</p>
<p>The Windows version of Stella is either commandline based or can use a GUI.
If you wish to use the commandline version, the options are the same as for the
Linux version (described above).</p>
<p>Stella searches for an INI file in two places. First, it will look for
<i>stellarc</i> in your $HOME/.stella directory. Then, it will look for <i>stellarc</i>
in the <i>/etc</i> directory.</p>
<p> FIXME - add more info about GUI StellaX launcher</p>
<p>The syntax for the INI file is very straightforward. Any line starting with
<br><br>
<p><h1>
<a name="Settings">6. Settings File</a></h1>
<hr>
<p>Stella will remember when you change a setting either at the command line
or while the emulation is running, and use the settings the next time
you start the emulator. The settings are saved in a text file which can
be edited outside of Stella. This file can contain your default options,
and eliminates the need to specify them on the command line. Any
options specified on the command line will override those in the settings file.</p>
<p>The syntax for the settings file is very straightforward. Any line starting with
a ';' character is considered a comment and is ignored. Other lines must be of
the form: <b>command = value</b>, where <i>command</i> is the same as that
specified on the command line (without the '-' character), and <i>value</i>
is dependent on the command.</p>
<p>For example, the following table illustrates how command line and INI entries
<p>For example, the following table illustrates how command line and settings entries
are similar:</p>
<table BORDER=2>
<tr>
<th>Command Line</th>
<th>INI File</th>
<th>Settings File</th>
</tr>
<tr>
@ -702,27 +713,28 @@
</tr>
</table>
<p>See the sample stellarc file for more information.</p>
<p>The settings file has a special name/location depending on which version of Stella
you use:</p>
<p>
<h2><b>Linux/UNIX</b></h2>
<p>The Linux and UNIX version of Stella searches for the <i>stellarc</i> file in
two places. First, it will look for <i>stellarc</i> in your $HOME/.stella directory.
Then, it will look for <i>stellarc</i> in the <i>/etc</i> directory.</p>
<p>
<h2><b>Macintosh</b></h2>
<p>The Mac version of Stella is a native Cocoa-based application.</p>
<p> FIXME - add more info</p>
<p>FIXME ...</p>
<p>
<h2><b>Windows</b></h2>
<p>The Windows version of Stella is either commandline based or can use a GUI.
If you wish to use the commandline version, the options are the same as for the
Linux version (described above).</p>
<p> FIXME - add more info about GUI StellaX launcher</p>
<p>The Windows version of Stella looks for the <i>stella.ini</i> file in the same
directory containing the application. Future versions of Stella for Windows may look in
user-specific locations (C:\Documents and Settings\...).</p>
<br><br>
<p><h1>
<a name="Keyboard">6. Keyboard Layout</a></h1>
<a name="Keyboard">7. Keyboard Layout</a></h1>
<hr>
<p>The Atari 2600 console controls and controllers are mapped to the computer's
@ -740,8 +752,13 @@
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Exit emulator/submenu</td>
<td>Escape (Alt-F4 for Windows)</td>
<td>Exit emulator</td>
<td>Escape (Cmd-Q for Macintosh)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Exit submenu (in menu mode)</td>
<td>Escape</td>
</tr>
<tr>
@ -1306,35 +1323,29 @@
<br><br><br>
<p><h1>
<a name="Properties">7. Game Properties</a></h1>
<a name="Properties">8. Game Properties</a></h1>
<hr>
<p>Stella uses game properties to specify the "best" emulator settings for a
game. As of Version 1.2 of Stella, there are no longer any properties built-in.
You must download the latest <b>stella.pro</b> file from the maintainer,
Erik Kovach, <a href="http://home.earthlink.net/~voch/atari">here</a>.</p>
You must use the included <b>stella.pro</b> file. Otherwise, the emulator
will try to guess the best settings for the game.</p>
<p>
<h2><b>Linux/Unix</b></h2>
<p>The Linux and Unix versions of Stella looks for the property file
<i>stella.pro</i> in your <i>$HOME/.stella</i> directory. If this file is not found there,
Stella will look for a <i>stella.pro</i> file in the <i>/etc/</i> directory.
If the file isn't found in either place, then the emulator wil try to
guess the best settings for the game.</p>
in your <i>$HOME/.stella</i> directory. If this file is not found there,
Stella will look in the <i>/etc/</i> directory.
<p>
<h2><b>Macintosh</b></h2>
<p>The Mac version of Stella looks for the property file in the $HOME directory.</p>
<p> FIXME - check to see where the Mac port looks for the properties file.</p>
<p>
<h2><b>Windows</b></h2>
<p>The Windows version of Stella looks for the property file in the directory
containing the application. In the future, support may be added for storing the
property file in the users profile (Windows 2000 and higher).</p>
<p>The Windows version of Stella looks for the property file in the same directory
containing the application. Future versions of Stella for Windows may look in
user-specific locations (C:\Documents and Settings\...).</p>
<p>
<h2><b>Property File</b></h2>
@ -1509,36 +1520,34 @@
<br><br>
<p><h1>
<a name="Adaptor">8. Stelladaptor Support</a></h1>
<a name="Adaptor">9. Stelladaptor Support</a></h1>
<hr>
<p>Stella supports real Atari 2600 joysticks and paddles using the
<a href="http://www.pixelspast.com/products">Stelladaptor</a> device.
The 1.4 release of Stella does not yet support driving controllers connected
to a Stelladaptor.</p>
<p>Stella supports real Atari 2600 joysticks, paddles and driving controllers
using the <a href="http://www.pixelspast.com/products">Stelladaptor</a> device.</p>
<p>Stella can use up to <b>two</b> Stelladaptors; any extra ones are ignored.
Stelladaptor devices will be automatically detected and configured. The
detection and configuration is as follows:
Stelladaptor devices will be automatically detected and configured. Devices
can be plugged/unplugged while the emulation is running; Stella will detect the
change and act accordingly.</p>
<p>The detection and configuration is as follows:
<ul>
<li>The first Stelladaptor found will act as either the left physical
joystick or paddles 1 & 2. Basically, whatever controller you plug
into it will behave as if it were plugged in to the <b>left game
port</b> on a real Atari.</li>
<li>The first Stelladaptor found will act as the <b>left game port</b>
on a real Atari. Depending on the device, Stella will detect it as
either the left joystick, paddles 1 & 2, or the left driving controller.</li>
<li>The second Stelladaptor found will act as either the right physical
joystick or paddles 3 & 4. Basically, whatever controller you plug
into it will behave as if it were plugged in to the <b>right game
port</b> on a real Atari.</li>
<li>The second Stelladaptor found will act as the <b>right game port</b>
on a real Atari. Depending on the device, Stella will detect it as
either the right joystick, paddles 3 & 4, or the right driving controller.</li>
<li>Any other Stelladaptors will be ignored.</li>
</ul>
<br><br>
<p><h1>
<a name="Acknowledgments">9. Acknowledgments</a></h1>
<a name="Acknowledgments">10. Acknowledgments</a></h1>
<hr>
<p>Bradford W. Mott started developing Stella during the fall of 1995 and since
@ -1554,7 +1563,8 @@
<td>Ported Stella 1.1 to SDL. Added extra command line options to X11/SDL
versions. Added INI file support, faster startup, snapshot support,
and pause functionality to core. Converted Stella 1.1 manual to HTML.
Current maintainer for the X11 and SDL versions.</td>
Ported codebase to SDL for Windows/MacOSX. Added OpenGL support and
Stelladaptor support. Current maintainer for the Linux and Windows versions.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
@ -1607,6 +1617,12 @@
<td>Author of the Power Macintosh version of Stella until release 1.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td VALIGN="TOP">Mark&nbsp;Grebe</td>
<td>Author of the Macintosh OSX version of Stella starting with the
1.4 release. Helped with Stelladaptor support.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td VALIGN="TOP">Mark&nbsp;Hahn</td>
<td>Allowed "Elk Attack" to be included in the Stella distribution and
@ -1708,7 +1724,7 @@
<tr>
<td VALIGN="TOP">John&nbsp;Stiles</td>
<td>Current maintainer of the Macintosh Stella port</td>
<td>Maintained the Macintosh version of Stella until release 1.2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
@ -1745,7 +1761,7 @@
<td VALIGN="TOP">Brian&nbsp;Watson</td>
<td>Helped with getting the illegal CPU instruction support working with Stella.
Brian also submitted a number of other changes, such as debugger support, which
will be integrated into the 1.3 release of Stella.</td>
will be integrated into the 1.5 release of Stella.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
@ -1762,7 +1778,7 @@
<br><br>
<p><h1>
<a name="License">10. License and Disclaimer</a></h1>
<a name="License">11. License and Disclaimer</a></h1>
<hr>
<p>