mirror of https://github.com/stella-emu/stella.git
1880 lines
74 KiB
PHP
1880 lines
74 KiB
PHP
<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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<title>Stella: "A Multi-Platform Atari 2600 VCS Emulator"</title>
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<link href="cssscreen.css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen">
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<link href="cssprint.css" rel="stylesheet" media="print">
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</head>
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<body id="news">
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<div class="rightcolumn">
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<div class="header"><?php include("header.php"); ?></div>
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<div class="content">
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<!---------------------------------------------------------------->
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<H4>May 16, 2009</H4>
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Major website update using newer technologies (PHP and CSS). Updated
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many dead links, and added a new 'Homebrew Developers' section.
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Special thanks go to Andrew Kator
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(<a href="http://www.katorlegaz.com">http://www.katorlegaz.com</a>)
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for providing the PHP/CSS code.
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<H4>May 12, 2009</H4>
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The Stella repository has now been fully converted to Subversion. All
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developers currently using CVS should switch over to SVN immediately.
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<H4>May 1, 2009</H4>
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Stella release 2.7.7 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Corrected emulation of CPU opcodes involving 'decimal' mode (ADC/RRA
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and SBC/ISB). Special thanks to SeaGtGruff and others on the Stella
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mailing list for in-depth discussion and creation of test ROMs.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug in F4SC bankswitching mode; writes to bankswitch addresses
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weren't triggering a bank switch.</li>
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<li>Changed internal sound frequency of Pitfall 2 from 15.75KHz to 20KHz,
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as this sounds much more authentic when compared to a real cartridge.</li>
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</ul>
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Have Fun!
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<H4>April 14, 2009</H4>
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Stella release 2.7.6 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Added support for 'EF' bankswitching (Paul Slocum Homestar Runner),
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as well as auto-detection of this format.</li>
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<li>Added support for 'EFSC' bankswitching, as well as auto-detection of
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this format. This is similar to the 'EF' scheme, but also includes
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128 bytes SuperChip RAM.</li>
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<li>Added autodetection for '0840' and 'SB' bankswitching formats.</li>
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<li>Improved autodetection for 'UA' bankswitching format.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug in selecting video modes larger than the current screen;
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the resulting video mode will now be the largest one available
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(previously it selected the smallest one available).</li>
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<li>The currently selected CPU register now displays its value in
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decimal and binary (in addition to hex) in the debugger.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>March 27, 2009</H4>
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Stella release 2.7.5 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>After about 2 years, finally fixed the infamous 'red screen' issue when
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using ATI video cards in OpenGL mode in Windows. In the end, it was
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determined to be a bug in the ATI drivers. Special thanks go to
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Ant (<a href="http://aqfl.net">http://aqfl.net</a>) for bugtesting and
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constant feedback wrt this bug.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug in TIA SCORE mode emulation when the Priority bit is also
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set. This fixes a very noticable graphical glitch in 'Swordquest
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Waterworld', as well as minor glitches in several other ROMs such
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as 'Space Shuttle'.</li>
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<li>Treat spaces as normal characters in the ROM launcher. This means
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that ROMs with spaces can be located with quick selection (ie,
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typing characters will automatically jump to a ROM with that name,
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and typing 'space' won't cause the launcher to jump back to the top
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of the list).</li>
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<li>The debugger window can now have a minimum height of 620 lines
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(previously the minimum was 690), but you lose access to the TIA 'RAM'
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bytes when using this resolution. This should allow it to work
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better on devices with small displays.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>February 9, 2009</H4>
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Stella release 2.7.3a for Windows is now available.
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<ul>
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<li>Fixed minor issue in 2.7.3 with basedir.txt functionality; the
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pathnames can now contain spaces.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>February 9, 2009</H4>
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Stella release 2.7.3 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Fixed rendering issues in software mode when using 24-bit colour depth.
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This isn't as fast as 16 or 32-bit modes, so you're recommended to use
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one of those whenever possible.</li>
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<li>For the Win32 port: re-added ability to change the default location
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for storing Stella config files. To use this, simply create a file
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named 'basedir.txt' in the application directory containing the full
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path where all Stella-related items should be stored.</li>
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<li>Tweaked the TIA info statistics overlay to be smaller while still
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including all relevant information.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>January 27, 2009</H4>
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Stella release 2.7.2 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Fixed major bug in ROM Audit functionality; renaming ROMs would create
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files without an extension.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>January 26, 2009</H4>
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Stella release 2.7.1 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Partial workaround for sound not working in OpenGL video mode in
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Windows with ATI video hardware. Sound will now work for the first ROM
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selected, but not for subsequent ones (you will have to quit and
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restart Stella for sound to work again). Related to this, added
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'-audiofirst' commandline argument, which initializes audio before video
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when emulating a ROM. Further work is required to completely fix
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this bug.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug where volume wasn't being saved in 'Audio Settings' when
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started from the ROM launcher.</li>
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<li>Fixed crash which sometimes occurred when viewing snapshots in the
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ROM Info viewer.</li>
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<li>Allow setting window sizes for the ROM launcher and debugger to be larger
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than your desktop resolution. Be careful with this feature, as switching
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to fullscreen mode may cause problems in such cases.</li>
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<li>Made the ROM launcher filename filtering be case-insensitive. This fixes
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a bug whereby ROMs with uppercase extensions were marked as invalid.</li>
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<li>Added a pattern matching textbox to the ROM launcher, used to
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further filter the files shown in the listing. For now, this filters
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files only (directories are not filtered, and are always shown).</li>
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<li>The location of EEPROM files used for AtariVox/Savekey emulation can
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now be changed with the '-eepromdir' commandline argument as well as
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in the UI.</li>
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<li>Added '-gl_aspectn' and '-gl_aspectp' commandline arguments (and
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associated UI items), which replace the previous '-gl_aspect' setting.
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The aspect modes can now be set separately for NTSC and PAL mode.
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Related to this, the range of values is now 80 - 120.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug with hold-select/reset/button0 when overriding ROM properties;
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the checkboxes in the UI weren't actually doing anything.</li>
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<li>The 'grabmouse' option is now configurable from the UI; previously
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it was only accessible from the commandline or its shortcut key.</li>
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<li>Removed 'Emulation_HmoveBlanks' ROM property and associated UI item.
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You can no longer optionally turn off HMOVE blanking; it is always
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enabled when necessary.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>January 19, 2009</H4>
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Stella release 2.7 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Totally reworked the built-in UI to be font-sensitive and use higher-resolution
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fonts. Stella now requires a minimum screen size of 640x480.
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If used in a resolution smaller than that, the fonts will be reduced
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accordingly. Related to this, switching between software and OpenGL
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rendering now requires an application restart.</li>
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<li>Added three different sized fonts (small, medium, large) which can be
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used in the ROM launcher.</li>
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<li>Added ability to temporarily override ROM properties from the UI. This
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is tied to a right mouse button context menu in the ROM launcher, and
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is very useful when you want to use a set of properties for all
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subsequent ROMs without having to manually change each one.</li>
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<li>Added ability to filter the files shown in the ROM launcher. Currently,
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the choices are 'all files', 'all roms', or 'roms ending with a certain
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extension'. This functionality is tied to a right mouse button context
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menu in the ROM launcher. Extensions can also be set with the
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'-launcherexts' commandline argument.</li>
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<li>Added ability to reload the listing in the ROM launcher, either from
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a right mouse button context menu or pressing the Control/Cmd-R key.</li>
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<li>Made the ROM info viewer in the ROM launcher configurable to show
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snapshots in 1x or 2x mode.</li>
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<li>Made the delay between consecutive keys being recognized as one word
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configurable in the ROM launcher. This is useful if you find that you
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have to press keys too quickly to jump to a specific ROM. This can be
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set in the UI or using the '-listdelay' commandline argument.</li>
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<li>Updated internal ROM properties database to ROM-Hunter version 4
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(thanks go to RomHunter for his tireless research in this area).</li>
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<li>Expanded the statistics overlay for the TIA image to also show
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Display Format and Bankswitch type information.</li>
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<li>Added '-ss1x' commandline argument and associated UI item, used to
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generate snapshots in 1x mode, independent of the filtering/scaling
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currently in use.</li>
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<li>Various path textboxes in the UI now recognize './' (or '.\') to mean
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the current directory and '~/' (or '~\') to mean your home directory
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(for Windows, home directory will be your 'My Documents' folder).</li>
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<li>Large speedup in loading directories with many files in the ROM launcher.</li>
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<li>Fixed reset issue in 3E, 4A50, AR, CV, E7, F4SC, F6SC, F8SC, FASC and MC
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ROMs; the internal RAM wasn't being randomized after the initial reset.</li>
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<li>M6532/RIOT RAM is now randomized at every reset, not just when the
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emulation starts.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug in _diff pseudo-registers in the debugger; they were actually
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defined backwards.</li>
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<li>Added fix for 'Challenge/Surfers Delight' ROM; the startup bank was
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incorrect. Combined with the new 'Override Properties' functionality,
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you can now play both games directly from the UI (no need to use the
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commandline).</li>
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<li>Fixed paddle issue with Activision Casino ROM; the last card in game 4
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can now be reached.</li>
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<li>Added new pseudo-registers to the debugger, useful for conditional
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breakpoints (_fcount, _cclocks, _vsync, _vblank).</li>
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<li>Added 'timing' commandline argument functionality to the UI, so you no
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longer need to use the commandline to set it.</li>
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<li>Size restrictions on the TIA image are now strictly enforced. The
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maximum height of a 1x TIA image is now 256 lines.</li>
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<li>Added a new setting to the 'fullres' option named 'auto'. Using
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'auto' will let Stella decide the best videomode to use in fullscreen.</li>
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<li>Changed 'gl_fsmax' option to mean 'scale TIA image in fullscreen'. It
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will have no effect on UI modes.</li>
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<li>Changed 'gl_aspect' option to range 80-100 (previously, it was 50-100).</li>
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<li>Removed 'ui_zoom' and 'tia_zoom' options, replacing them with
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'tia_filter' (which can be zoom1x, zoom2x, etc). There is no equivalent
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for ui_zoom, since the UI can no longer be scaled.</li>
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<li>Added experimental 64-bit version for Vista64 (may also work on WinXP64).
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This hasn't been extensively tested, and is probably quite a bit slower
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than the 32-bit version.</li>
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<li>OSX port now requires at least 10.3 and XCode 3.0 to compile. Sorry,
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but I no longer have access to older systems to compile for 10.2.</li>
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<li>Huge updates to the documentation, particularly concerning the debugger.
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Many features that have been in Stella for a while are now documented for
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the first time.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>May 23, 2008</H4>
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Stella release 2.6.1 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Introduced more accurate timing for NTSC vs. PAL modes, where the
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framerate is based on the number of scanlines per frame. This should
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eliminate 'clicking' sounds when emulating ROMs that don't follow
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the exact NTSC or PAL scanline specs.</li>
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<li>Added ability to see the current number of scanlines and corresponding
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framerate to the TIA emulation. This can be set with the '-stats'
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commandline argument, or dynamically turned on and off with the
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'Alt-l' key combo.</li>
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<li>Modified '-framerate' commandline argument, where a non-zero value
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overrides the automatic framerate calculation (based on number of
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scanlines). Setting 'framerate' to zero re-enables auto-frame
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calculation. Also, re-enabled changing the framerate from within the
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UI.</li>
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<li>Added '-timing' commandline argument, which sets the type of waiting
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between processing frames. Setting it to 'sleep' emulates the
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previous behaviour in Stella; setting it to 'busy' emulates z26,
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and can in some cases eliminate screen tearing (at the expense of
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using all available CPU time).</li>
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<li>Fixed issue with debugger disassembly and mirrored $40 TIA write
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addresses. They were actually defined at $30, and generating incorrect
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labels.</li>
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<li>Fixed issue in AtariVox and SaveKey controllers where accessing the
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EEPROM sometimes failed after the first write.</li>
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<li>Changed AtariVox and SaveKey EEPROM emulation to default to $FF for
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a blank EEPROM.</li>
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<li>Fixed regression in cart auto-detection logic; some F6 ROMs were being
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misdetected as E7.</li>
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<li>Fixed issue with M6532/RIOT timer initialization; it was causing some
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ROMs to hang (most notably Summer Games). Related to this, reworked
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the built-in random number generator to generate 'more random' numbers.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug in CommandMenu where console buttons (Select, Reset, etc)
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weren't doing anything.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>May 16, 2008</H4>
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Stella release 2.6 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Added AtariVox support using a real AtariVox device, where Stella
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sends data directly to the AtariVox. For now, this is supported in
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Linux/UNIX, OSX, and Win32 only. You'll obviously need a real
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AtariVox, and a serial<->USB adaptor to connect it to your system.
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Added '-avoxport' commandline argument used to set the serial port
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to which the AtariVox is connected. Special thanks to Al Yarusso
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and Richard H. for providing sample hardware.</li>
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<li>Added AtariVox and SaveKey EEPROM emulation. This reads/writes data
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to a 32KB file, not to the actual hardware. Very useful for testing
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EEPROM support without actually wearing out the real device. Special
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thanks to J. Payson for providing the EEPROM emulation code, and A.
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Herbert for answering many driver-related questions.</li>
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<li>Added support for CX-22, CX-80, and AmigaMouse trackball controllers.</li>
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<li>Improved debugger symfile handling so that addresses accessed as
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read-only won't use write-only labels (and vice-versa). More work
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is still needed in this area.</li>
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<li>Added M6532/RIOT tab to the debugger. This will be expanded on in a
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future release.</li>
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<li>Added TIA emulation fixes for graphical glitches in Escape from the
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Mindmaster, Mission Survive, Solaris, and SWOOPS!</li>
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<li>Fixed bug where fullscreen OpenGL scaling wasn't working on 4:3 monitors.</li>
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<li>Further improvements to the M6532/RIOT emulation, which unfortunately
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have broken old state files (again).</li>
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<li>Added deadzone setting, for adjusting the deadzone amount for
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analog joysticks. This can be set using the commandline argument
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'-joydeadzone' or dynamically within the UI.</li>
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<li>Make ROM disassembly in debugger take advantage of a wide window.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug in 6507 BCD handling introduced in the last release.</li>
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<li>For the Win32 port; Win9x should be fully supported again.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>April 9, 2008</H4>
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Stella release 2.5.1 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Fixed M6532 RIOT timer emulation. More testing is needed, but the
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changes so far have fixed several ROMs that didn't work before.</li>
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<li>Fixed issue with weird characters in the debugger disassembly when
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loading .lst files.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug where entering the debugger for 4A50 and E0 carts caused
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the ROM to be frozen afterwords.</li>
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<li>Removed logic whereby starting a ROM from something other than the
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built-in launcher wouldn't allow the user to go back to the ROM launcher.</li>
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<li>Fixed bug (hopefully) with the app icon not showing on the Stella window.
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Further testing is needed, since I can't duplicate the error myself.</li>
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<li>Fixed default snapshot folder issues; the folder will now be
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automatically created in the same place as state folders, ini files,
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etc (whereever that may be for your platform).</li>
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<li>Re-added 'lastrom' functionality, where Stella will remember and
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auto-select the last ROM that was successfully launched in the ROM
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launcher.</li>
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<li>For Stella developers, fixed SpeakJet emulation so it compiles again.
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No improvements have been made to the emulation itself, though.</li>
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</ul>
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<H4>March 28, 2008</H4>
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Stella release 2.5 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
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Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
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<ul>
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<li>Added RomInfo widget to the ROM launcher, which shows properties
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information and a snapshot of the currently selected ROM. Updated the UI
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and added '-romviewer' commandline argument to activate this setting.
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Note that the ROM launcher will have to be sized at least 640x480 for this
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to be used. Also note that the snapshots must be in 1x mode with a
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maximum size of 320x260. This will be expanded on in a future release.</li>
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<li>Added ROM audit functionality, whereby ROMs can be physically renamed
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according to their properties' name.</li>
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<li>Added bankswitching support for 0840, SB, X07 and 4A50. A special thanks
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to Eckhard Stolberg for much help in this area.</li>
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<li>Removed "non-browse" functionality from the ROM launcher; it now always
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uses browse/filesystem mode. The previous 'pretty' names can now be
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seen by renaming all your ROMs with the new ROM audit feature.</li>
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<li>Huge overhaul of controller handling and Stelladaptor support, making it
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much easier to add new controller types in a future release.</li>
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<li>Fixed paddle issues in Night Driver; paddle emulation speed should be
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much better.</li>
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<li>Fixed several 6507 emulation bugs related to BCD handling.</li>
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<li>Updated ROM properties based on info from RomHunter.</li>
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<li>ROM properties can now be edited from the ROM launcher; you no longer
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have to start a ROM to do so.</li>
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|
|
<li>Added support for configurable font to ROM launcher (currently only
|
|
'small' and 'large'). Updated the UI and added -launcherfont' commandline
|
|
argument to change this setting.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added SECAM, NTSC50, PAL60 and SECAM60 to the list of formats that can
|
|
be used. Also, switching between these modes with 'Ctrl-f' now switches
|
|
the palette only; the number of scanlines won't change.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed crash when switching between software and OpenGL mode with a
|
|
Stelladaptor plugged in.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added '-tiafloat' commandline argument, which determines whether or not
|
|
the TIA pins are in a 'floating' state. This is useful for testing on
|
|
certain CMOS EPROM chips where the unused TIA pins on a read are not
|
|
floating but pulled high.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed issue in debugger where once a .sym file was loaded, it was used
|
|
in all ROMs loaded after that.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed issue in debugger where equate names weren't showing up in the RAM
|
|
and CPU widgets. Note that this still isn't perfect, and needs support
|
|
from DASM for proper functionality.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Updated state file format, creating smaller files (and in preparation
|
|
for state rewinding in a future release). Old state saves will no longer
|
|
work.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added '-bs' commandline argument, which is an alias for '-type' (which
|
|
is still present).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed -pXspeed' commandline arguments, and replaced them with a
|
|
single '-pspeed'.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed '-paddle' commandline argument. The paddle currently emulated
|
|
by the mouse can still be changed with Ctrl-0..3 or within the UI, but
|
|
the setting is no longer saved.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Reworked UI for specifying that the console ports have been swapped,
|
|
hopefully making it easier to understand.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'Ctrl-c' & 'Ctrl-v' to EditTextWidgets, allowing to copy and paste
|
|
the text widget contents. More work in this area is coming in a future
|
|
release.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'Ctrl-leftarrow' and 'Ctrl-rightarrow' to EditTextWidgets, to move
|
|
to the first character of previous and next words (respectively).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Win32 port: fixed OpenGL crashes in Vista. Graphical updates
|
|
are still slower in Vista compared to XP, though.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Win32 port: default folder for Stella config files is now
|
|
'My Documents\Stella'; this can be disabled if necessary. This should
|
|
fix issues with losing settings when launching Stella from an IDE,
|
|
and the creation of stella.ini and 'state' directories in many
|
|
different places.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Win32 port: several fixes to the Visual Studio project files,
|
|
allowing building in debug or release mode, for both i386 and x86_64.
|
|
The project files have been upgraded to Visual Studio 2008, and Stella
|
|
can now be built and distributed without the VS runtime libraries.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Updated configure script for cross-compiling Win32 version in Linux.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>September 18, 2007</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.4.2 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
|
|
Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Made usage of 'GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE_ARB' extension configurable, and
|
|
have it default to off. This should take care of the black/white
|
|
screen many people were experiencing with ATI video hardware. This
|
|
is accessible using the 'gl_texrect' commandline argument). Set it to
|
|
'true' or 'false' to enable/disable the extension.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>August 27, 2007</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.4.1 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
|
|
Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Re-added OpenGL aspect ratio setting ('gl_aspect' commandline argument).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Re-added non-browser mode to the ROM launcher.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Linux/UNIX port; fixed OpenGL vsync issue with Nvidia video cards.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>August 20, 2007</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.4 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available.
|
|
Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Added new video sub-system where fullscreen and windowed modes are treated
|
|
differently. Windowed modes now use '-zoom_tia' and '-zoom_ui' arguments,
|
|
while fullscreen modes can be specified by resolution using the new
|
|
'-fullres' argument.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Widescreen video modes are now supported; Stella will simply center the
|
|
image with surrounding black borders.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Many UI-related changes, including resizable ROM launcher and debugger
|
|
windows, and a new UI palette (the previous 'classic' palette is still
|
|
available). This is still a work in progress.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>The locations of all major config files (statedir, palette file,
|
|
cheat file, properties file, etc) are now configurable from the
|
|
commandline and within the UI.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Updates to TIA palette support. Added SECAM support, and removed the
|
|
built-in 'original' palette. Standard, z26, and user are still
|
|
available.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Various bugfixes to some debugger commands. The 'run' command no
|
|
longer causes a crash, and several others have better error-checking.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added more complete cartridge auto-detection for Commavid (CV), 3E,
|
|
3F and Activision (FE) formats.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed XStart and Width ROM properties, since the forthcoming TIA
|
|
rework won't be using them.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Reworked internal storage of ROM properties to be faster and take up
|
|
less space.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added several different ways of stretching the OpenGL image to the
|
|
'-gl_fsmax' argument, for more flexibility.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed OpenGL aspect ratio setting favour of the previously mentioned
|
|
video changes. We'll see how this goes.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed dirty-rect support from software rendering, since it was actually
|
|
sub-optimal in Windows and OSX and defaulted to off in previous versions.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added support for gzipped ROMs.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Re-added pause support.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Re-added support for Windows 98.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed support for 'STELLA_BASEDIR' environment variable, since each
|
|
config file can be now configured separately.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed '-fastscbios' argument, since it must always be turned on.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed PSP support, since it hasn't been updated in over a year, and
|
|
someone else is maintaining another port elsewhere.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Unix/Linux port; fixed 'make install' issues, and changed icon to
|
|
PNG format.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>January 17, 2007</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.3.5 for Linux, Mac OSX, Windows and GP2X is now available.
|
|
Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Greatly improved cartridge bankswitch type auto-detection. Stella
|
|
can now (mostly) autodetect cartridge types 'E0', 'E7', '3E', '3F' and
|
|
Superchip carts. Obviously, this autodetection is not infallible, but
|
|
relies on patterns in the ROM data, and how it was compiled. Because
|
|
of the auto-detection types already supported, almost all bankswitch
|
|
info was removed from internal ROM properties. Set the ROM property
|
|
"Cartridge.Type" to "Auto-detect" for this to take effect.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added auto-detection of display type (NTSC or PAL). Currently, PAL60
|
|
ROMs will be detected as NTSC. This is almost 100% accurate, and fails
|
|
in very few cases (for those that are mislabeled, the ROM properties
|
|
can be set specifically). Set the ROM property "Display.Format" to
|
|
"Auto-detect" for this to take effect.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Improved emulation timing when exiting one ROM and starting another.
|
|
Previously, this could result in the second ROM having its sound start
|
|
later than it should have.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed pause functionality from the core, since it's been superceded
|
|
by the other event states. You can now enter one of the menus for a
|
|
similar effect (options, command, debugger, etc).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added toggle for PAL color-loss emulation, which defaults to off.
|
|
Previous versions of Stella always used color-loss emulation.
|
|
Related to this, added 'colorloss' commandline argument.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added rudimentary support for configuring the UI palette ('uipalette'
|
|
commandline argument) and ability to change the size of the launcher window
|
|
('launchersize' commandline argument). This will be expanded on in future
|
|
releases.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Reworked options menu so it's now accessible from the ROM launcher as
|
|
well as while playing a ROM.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Re-added ability to change the width and height of a Console. Related to
|
|
this, changing XStart/YStart/Width/Height dynamically no longer resets
|
|
the ROM.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed 'tiadefaults' commandline argument, since Stella will now default
|
|
to using accurate positioning, and not use 'tweaks'.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Joystick code now allows all 4 directions; 'Bumper Bash' now works
|
|
correctly.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Improved Keypad emulation; 'Alpha Beam with Ernie', 'Oscars Trash Race'
|
|
and 'Magicard' now work correctly.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Reworked GUI code, so that all dialog boxes are automatically centered.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'rominfo' commandline argument, which prints some detailed info for
|
|
a ROM.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the OSX port; fixed crashes in OpenGL mode.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the GP2X port; some improvements to the sound code.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the GP2X port; added vertical centering of the TIA image (when possible).</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>December 22, 2006</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.3 for Linux, Mac OSX, Windows and GP2X is now available.
|
|
Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><b>Note: Because of the many changes in this release, all settings
|
|
will be reset to defaults. If this doesn't happen for you, it will be necessary
|
|
to manually delete your previous settings (see 'Settings' section of the manual
|
|
for more information).</b></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Potentially huge speedups in software rendering mode, both in emulation
|
|
and UI modes. Deactivating 'dirty rects' uses these new modes, which
|
|
can be 2-3 times faster for many configurations.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For UI navigation, changed from using 'joymouse' to the more familiar
|
|
'tabbing' functionality, where you move from object to object by use of
|
|
some tab key. As a result, completely removed the 'joymouse' commandline
|
|
argument and all associated functionality.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added event remapping for UI events, separate from events while in emulation
|
|
mode.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added support for PAL60 ROMs, which use the PAL palette and resolution
|
|
but run at NTSC timing (60Hz). Added ROM property for this, and updated
|
|
the internal properties database for many PAL60 ROMs.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added support for user-definable palettes. For now, only one extra palette
|
|
is supported, but in the future we may have them specified per-ROM.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug in PAL colour-loss emulation, which wasn't actually being done
|
|
for the original Stella and z26 palettes.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed several TIA-related emulation bugs as reported on AtariAge. More
|
|
fixes will come with the TIA rewrite, due in the next release.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added new scaler infrastructure, replacing the '-zoom' commandline argument
|
|
with '-scale_ui' and '-scale_tia'. This means the UI and emulation can now
|
|
be scaled independently.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added '-gl_vsync' commandline argument and associated UI elements, which
|
|
uses synchronization to vertical blank interrupt in OpenGL on supported
|
|
systems. This eliminates tearing in OpenGL rendering.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Changed naming of snapshots and state files. These files are now
|
|
named based on the names given in the properties database, and no longer
|
|
use the 'md5sum' name. As a result, state files from previous versions
|
|
will no longer work unless they're manually renamed. Related to this,
|
|
removed the '-ssname' commandline argument.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug where 'Snapshot saved' appeared when taking snapshots in
|
|
succession.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added a 'Previous directory' entry to the top of each listing while
|
|
in ROM Browse mode, which is equivalent to the 'Go Up' button. This makes
|
|
it easier to navigate the filesystem, since you never have to 'tab out'
|
|
of the ROM listing.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added all sound related commandline options to the UI, so you no
|
|
longer have to use the commandline to set those options.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added new property to ROM properties specifying whether to swap paddles
|
|
plugged into a virtual port. This eliminates the need to manually set the
|
|
paddle mode for those ROMs that don't use paddle zero by default.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added a 'Defaults' button to the Game Properties dialog, which resets
|
|
the ROM properties to the internal defaults, deleting that ROMs properties
|
|
from the external properties file.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug whereby modified ROM properties weren't being reloaded when
|
|
restarting a ROM.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Made 'phosphor' and 'phosphor blend' a ROM property, meaning it can be
|
|
set per-ROM.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added support for relocating the base Stella directory, by setting the
|
|
environment variable 'STELLA_BASEDIR'. This must be done each time before
|
|
Stella starts.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added '-fastscbios' commandline argument, which speeds up loading of
|
|
vertical bars in Supercharger ROMs, and made it the default.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added '-autoslot' commandline argument, which automatically switches
|
|
to the next available slot after saving a state. This defaults to off,
|
|
and must be set from the commandline.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug in debugger command 'runto', which could enter an infinite
|
|
loop under some conditions.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Updated configure/build toolchain so patching is no longer required for Debian
|
|
packages.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed dependency on PNG library (PNG snapshots are still present, but the
|
|
actual library is no longer required).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the OSX port, improved OpenGL performance on Mac Mini using Intel GMA950
|
|
video hardware.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the GP2X port, added support for PAL ROMs, and updated SDL to use hardware
|
|
scaling.</li>
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>April 7, 2006</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.2 for Linux, Mac OSX, Windows, WinCE and GP2X is now available.
|
|
Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Added new ROM browser option which works like a normal filesystem
|
|
browser, allowing navigation throughout the filesystem.
|
|
The old mode of browsing is still present, and can be toggled at
|
|
runtime. Related to this, fixed bug whereby sorting in the ROM
|
|
launcher sometimes didn't work.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Integrated stella.pro properties into the application, resulting in
|
|
faster startup time. Now Stella can be redistributed as a single
|
|
binary; no external files are needed, but they will still be used
|
|
if present.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Reworked ROM properties files once again. The 'user.pro' file has
|
|
been removed, and all user-defined properties are stored in
|
|
'stella.pro' instead. You should delete all properties files when
|
|
upgrading to this version, to take advantage of the speed increases.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Reworked settings files once again. Removed all references to a
|
|
global settings file. Each user now gets a user-specific settings
|
|
file only. If that file doesn't exist, the built-in defaults are
|
|
used.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'conditional saving' of the cheatcode and settings files, so
|
|
that these files are only written to disk when absolutely
|
|
necessary. This doesn't really affect desktop systems, but is very
|
|
useful for systems with flashram-based storage (GP2X, WinCE, etc).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Reworked Settings class, hopefully fixing a bug whereby settings
|
|
weren't being saved in certain cases (most evident in the OSX port).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'tiadefaults' commandline option, which can also be toggled
|
|
from within the GUI. This option disables all TIA positioning
|
|
'tweaks' that typically make a game look better, and present the
|
|
image exactly as it would appear on a real 2600.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added jitter-detection code for the paddle emulation, which should
|
|
eliminate an annoying 'jittering' effect when using paddles with
|
|
a Stelladaptor.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Related to jitter-detection, added '-pthresh' commandline option
|
|
and GUI entry, which sets a bound below which the emulation detects
|
|
jitter.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed crash when adding one-shot cheats.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug in RAM comparitive searches in the debugger.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug with setting snapshot naming type from the GUI (it was
|
|
always being set to 'romname').</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Re-added low compatibility CPU emulation mode, since it benefits
|
|
some slower systems. This is activated with the commandline argument
|
|
'-cpu low'.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the OSX port, added Universal binary support.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the OSX port, reworked the menu handling, so that certain menu
|
|
options are only enabled when it makes sense to do so.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the GP2X port, fixed joystick deadzone issues and scroll bug in
|
|
ROM launcher.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the GP2X port, fixed issue with PAL ROMs causing a crash because of
|
|
screen size. A message is now shown indicating that PAL ROMs are not
|
|
yet supported.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>January 29, 2006</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.1 for Linux, Mac OSX, Windows, WinCE and GP2X is now available.
|
|
Ports to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Added <b>phosphor effect</b>, similar to z26. Useful on ROMs which
|
|
alternate sprites from one frame to another, resulting in an
|
|
annoying flicker. When using phosphor mode, a pixels colour is mixed
|
|
with its previous value, resulting in a blended image that doesn't
|
|
flicker, emulating the phosphoresence effect on a real television.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'pp' developer commandline argument to set the "Display.Phosphor"
|
|
property, and 'ppblend' to set the amount to blend pixels in
|
|
phosphor mode. Also added 'Alt p' key to enable/disable phosphor
|
|
effect while ROM is emulated. By default, phosphor mode is only used
|
|
when necessary, as specified in the stella.pro file.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Renamed 'cheetah' commandline argument to 'cheat'.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added per-frame cheatcodes (4 characters long), which are evaluated
|
|
each frame.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added cheatcode GUI, where cheats can be named, edited, saved, etc.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Cheat codes are now saved to stella.cht file and are automatically
|
|
reloaded when Stella starts.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Improved 'joymouse' functionality. While in GUI mode, any axis
|
|
will simulate mouse movement, and any button will simulate a mouse
|
|
click. So the GUI can be completely navigated without a mouse.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Improved CommandDialog and LauncherDialog wrt joymouse functionality.
|
|
These dialogs are used more than any other on devices without a mouse,
|
|
so joystick axis movement switches between GUI objects, rather than
|
|
simulating the mouse. This leads to much faster selection of objects.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added mapping of multiple SDL joystick axis to Event Mapping.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added joystick hat support, and mapping of multiple hats to Event
|
|
Mapping.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added remapping of paddle emulation to the keyboard or joystick axis
|
|
(the mouse is still used by default for paddles). Related to this,
|
|
use more precise analog values when analog axis are mapped to
|
|
analog-type events (such as paddles).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Treat joystick events as other types of controllers based on the
|
|
virtual port entry in stella.pro. This means that mappings for a
|
|
joystick will emulate other devices when necessary.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'sp' developer commandline argument, which sets the
|
|
"Console.SwapPorts" property and swaps the arrangement of the
|
|
virtual ports. Useful for games like "Raiders of the Lost Ark",
|
|
where the joysticks are normally swapped.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added ability to set which Stelladaptor device emulates which virtual
|
|
joystick port ('sa1' and 'sa2' commandline arguments, which accept
|
|
'left' or 'right').</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed issues with jittering joysticks/mice causing weird events when
|
|
starting Stella.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'freq', 'tiafreq' and 'clipvol' commandline arguments, which
|
|
affect the sound subsystem (see manual for further info).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Made state files completely cross-platform, both in terms of endianness
|
|
as well as CPU size (32 vs. 64 bit).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed crash with using 'cheat' and 'break' from the commandline.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Implemented dynamic loading of OpenGL library.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>October 25, 2005</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.0.1 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Added 'dirtyrects' support, which speeds up rendering for some Windows
|
|
users.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug where taking snapshots would fail if the snapshot directory
|
|
wasn't specified.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Made ROM launcher case-insensitive, so upper and lowercase names are now
|
|
mixed in the correct order.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed ZIP ROM support to search the archive for ROMs ending with either
|
|
.bin or .a26 (case insensitive).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>ROMs which don't have an associated properties entry are no longer named
|
|
'Untitled' in the Stella window or when taking snapshots. The actual
|
|
ROM name is now used.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Changed minimum height of debugger to be 27 lines in the prompt, or approx.
|
|
700 pixels high. This should make using the debugger easier for users
|
|
with lower resolution monitors. Related to this, the RomWidget now uses
|
|
all possible vertical space when changing the debugger height.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug related to upgrading Stella and event mappings being incorrect.
|
|
Stella now detects this, and uses the default mappings. So upgrading
|
|
to version 2.0.1 means your event mappings will be reset.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed bug in loading debugger symbol files generated on different
|
|
operating systems.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Windows port; added exe installer based on InnoSetup.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Windows port; compiled icon into Stella, so it now looks like
|
|
a real Win32 application.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the OSX port, reverted window resize key combos back to 'Cmd =' and
|
|
'Cmd -' to match the 1.4.2 release.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<H4>October 16, 2005</H4>
|
|
Stella release 2.0 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Added integrated GUI. Stella is now a fully graphical application, and all
|
|
settings can be changed dynamically while the application is running. That
|
|
means the commandline is no longer required (but support is still there
|
|
for those who want to use it).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added ROM launcher. You can now exit a game and start playing another one
|
|
from directly within Stella (you no longer have to quit Stella and
|
|
restart it).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Because of the integrated GUI and ROM launcher, StellaX and KStella
|
|
(the Windows and Linux frontends) have been discontinued. The OSX
|
|
port now uses the launcher as well.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added an integrated debugger for game developers. This is currently
|
|
the first version of a debugger in Stella, but it's already quite
|
|
usable.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added new sound subsystem, which is much faster and more accurate. Related
|
|
to this, added stereo sound output (used by some homebrew games).
|
|
|
|
<li>Added ZIP support. Stella can now open ROM's compressed in zip
|
|
format.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added cartridge 'frying', thanks to Fred "batari" Quimby. This
|
|
emulates the action of turning the power button on and off on a
|
|
real Atari, often resulting in some strange effects.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added ability to edit current ROM properties from directly within
|
|
Stella, which can then be saved directly into the 'user.pro' file.
|
|
So creating a properties entry for a new ROM can be done without
|
|
any external tools.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added initial support for using Stella in an 'arcade-box'
|
|
environment without a keyboard. This consists of an in-game
|
|
menu for choosing common actions in Stella, as well as using the
|
|
joystick navigate the mouse pointer.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Reworked properties system to use both a system-wide 'stella.pro' and
|
|
a per-user 'user.pro' properties files. Changes made by the user
|
|
and stored in 'user.pro' are no longer erased when upgrading Stella.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added support for cartridges with 3E bankswitching format.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added preliminary Cheat support.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added <b>Alt/Shift-Cmd z, x, c, v, b, n</b> keys to enable/disable the
|
|
P0, P1, M0, M1, BL, PL bits in the TIA, respectively.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added <b>Alt/Shift-Cmd .</b> key to disable all bits in the TIA.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added <b>Alt/Shift-Cmd /</b> key to enable all bits in the TIA.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added <b>Alt/Shift-Cmd g</b> key to switch dynamically switch between
|
|
software and OpenGL modes while Stella is running.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added <b>Ctrl/Cmd r</b> key to reload the ROM currently being
|
|
emulated.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added <b>Alt/Shift-Cmd s</b> key to merge the current game properties
|
|
into the properties file.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added <b>help</b> commandline argument. Launching Stella from the
|
|
commandline with no options now starts Stella in ROM launcher mode,
|
|
instead of showing help (as in previous versions).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added the following commandline arguments for developers:
|
|
<b>pro, type, ld, rd, tv, lc, rc, bc, format, xstart, ystart, width
|
|
height, cpu, hmove</b>. Developers can consult the manual for
|
|
further details.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed <b>mergeprops</b> commandline argument, since there are now
|
|
dedicated keys to either save or merge game properties.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Removed <b>hidecursor</b> commandline argument. Stella will now
|
|
automatically decide when to use this setting.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed framerate when switching between NTSC and PAL modes. Stella
|
|
now uses the correct framerate based on the format of the ROM,
|
|
in terms of both video <b>and</b> audio.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added 'configure' support to the build process for both Linux and
|
|
Win32 (using MinGW). Developers can now use the familiar 'configure;
|
|
make; make install' commands to compile Stella.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Further consolidation and integration of SDL. This should lead to
|
|
faster operation and a more consistent look for all ports.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed some 64-bit issues. Stella now compiles and runs correctly
|
|
on AMD64 and PPC64 Linux systems.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Updated the Stella manual with pictures of the new integrated GUI.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<H4>February 19, 2005</H4>
|
|
Stella release 1.4.2 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Updated the sound system. All popping and cracking sounds that previously
|
|
occurred at program start/stop and when entering/exiting menu or pause
|
|
mode have been eliminated.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed the gl_fsmax argument to mean "switch to desktop resolution on
|
|
fullscreen OpenGL", instead of to the maximum possible resolution (the two
|
|
are not always the same).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added Alt [ and Alt ] keys to dynamically adjust the sound volume during
|
|
emulation.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added Control 0, Control 1, Control 2, Control 3 keys to dynamically change
|
|
which paddle the mouse should emulate.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Added video_driver argument. This accepts the different options that can be
|
|
specified for SDL_VIDEODRIVER (see SDL homepage for more information).
|
|
Basically, it eliminates the need to set the SDL_VIDEODRIVER environment
|
|
variable.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Made sure screen is refreshed before taking a snapshot. This eliminates
|
|
the problem with new snapshots containing the text "Snapshot saved".</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Windows port; added windib and directx as options for
|
|
'video_driver' when using software rendering. The 'windib' option is now
|
|
the default, and in many cases it's up to 10 times faster than using
|
|
'directx'.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the OSX port; added 'Cmd-R' key to reload the currently loaded ROM.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<H4>August 15, 2004</H4>
|
|
Stella release 1.4.1 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Fixed PAL sound issues. PAL games now should sound correct (no distortion
|
|
or missing sounds), but some games may still run too fast. This is still
|
|
a work-in-progress, and will be fixed in Stella 1.5.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Cleaned up the SDL event gathering loop. This should hopefully fix the
|
|
problems with "double-pumping events" reported by some Windows users.
|
|
Event gathering and dispatching is now much faster as well.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Fixed a bug where the Control or Alt keys could be assigned to some event,
|
|
but they could never be used. Control/Alt can now be used for any event.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Updated stella.pro file to work with the latest Good2600 ROMset release
|
|
(Thanks go to Voch for helping to maintain the stella.pro file).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Windows port; removed requirement for ROM files to be named *.bin
|
|
in the StellaX frontend. The ROM's can now have any name, but ZIP-files are
|
|
not yet supported.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the Windows port; fixed the problems with the included modified SDL
|
|
library and Windows 98 users. Stella should now run in Windows 98.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the OSX port; added preference to allow user to select the directory
|
|
in which ROM images are stored. This sets the default directory to start
|
|
the browsing for a ROM in, and doesn't preclude the user from selecting a
|
|
file outside that directory.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>For the OSX port; fixed preferences bug where Preferences changed before
|
|
a game was opened were not being saved.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<H4>July 17, 2004</H4>
|
|
Stella release 1.4 for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<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.
|
|
(software mode is not yet optimized; OpenGL mode works much better)</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 switchable palettes. Currently you can switch between the
|
|
current Stella palette, original Stella palette (pre-1.2 versions), and
|
|
the z26 palette.</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. This
|
|
means old state saves from previous Stella versions will no longer work.</li>
|
|
<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>-gl_fsmax</i>" command line option. This option accepts either
|
|
'true' or 'false, and specifies to use the maximum possible resolution when
|
|
in fullscreen OpenGL mode (useful for Linux and for Windows on laptops).</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>
|
|
|
|
<H4>February 17, 2003</H4>
|
|
Stella release 1.3 for DOS, Linux, and Unix is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>Improved TIA sound system so that games with digitized audio work
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added saving and loading of game state to the core; X11, SDL, and DOS
|
|
versions current support saving and loading game state
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added support for F4 bankswitching method
|
|
|
|
<LI>Pitfall II DPC sound emulation completed
|
|
|
|
<LI>Fixed a bug which caused the difficulty switches to operate backwards
|
|
|
|
<LI>Changed DPC auto-detection to use file size so that Pitfall II mods work
|
|
|
|
<LI>Modified RIOT timer emulation so that startup values are random
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added 3F bankswitching auto-detection routine so that homebrews and
|
|
demos work without a stella.pro entry
|
|
|
|
<LI>Updated the TIA message boxes so they look a little nicer
|
|
|
|
<LI>Latest stella.pro file included in distribution
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added some developer options to the core, and the ability to change game
|
|
width, height, xstart, ystart, and others 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 (compile option)
|
|
|
|
<LI>External sound server for the X11 and SDL versions no longer required, as
|
|
all sound code is now integrated into the core
|
|
|
|
<LI>Changed locations of the user's config files for the X11 and SDL versions;
|
|
the user's stellarc file is now located in $HOME/.stella/stellarc, state
|
|
files are located in $HOME/.stella/state/ and the stella.pro file is
|
|
located in $HOME/.stella/stella.pro
|
|
|
|
<LI>Changed the way options are supplied on the commandline for the X11 and
|
|
SDL versions. Now all commandline options take exactly the same arguments
|
|
as in the INI file.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added "-accurate" 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>Added "-sound" command line option to choose which sound backend to
|
|
use (alsa, oss, sdl) with the X11 and SDL versions.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added the developer command line options to the X11 and SDL versions,
|
|
which are only activated in developer builds: -Dformat, -Dwidth,
|
|
-Dheight, -Dxstart, -Dystart, -Dmerge
|
|
|
|
<LI>Fixed window resize bug in the X11 port
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added "-nosound" command line option to the DOS port to disable audio
|
|
|
|
<LI>DOS port supports a "-vsync" option to synchronize emulation with the
|
|
video blank of the video card
|
|
|
|
<LI>Changed VGA code in the DOS port to use a 60Hz 320x200 and a 60Hz
|
|
320x240 graphics mode
|
|
|
|
<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>DOS port is using a new Sound Blaster driver created by Matt Conte which
|
|
supports auto-detection of sound cards.
|
|
|
|
<LI>DOS port supports a STELLA_HOME environment variable that defines
|
|
the location of config files.
|
|
|
|
<LI>In the DOS port the stella.pro file is searched for first in the
|
|
current working director and then in the $STELLA_HOME directory
|
|
|
|
<LI>In the DOS port the ROM image is searched for first using the
|
|
specified path, then in $STELLA_HOME/ROMS, and finally in $STELLA_HOME
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<H4>April 28, 2002</H4>
|
|
Stella release 1.2.1 for DOS is now available for download. This release
|
|
fixes the following:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>The control keys are no longer confused for the pause key
|
|
|
|
<LI>Bug in the pause key feature which caused the emulator to lockup
|
|
on some systems has been fixed
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>Apirl 24, 2002</H4>
|
|
The http://stella.atari.org redirector will be updated soon to point to the new
|
|
Stella Website at <A HREF="http://stella.sourceforge.net">http://stella.sourceforge.net</A>. Please update your bookmarks and links if necessary...
|
|
|
|
<H4>April 23, 2002</H4>
|
|
Stella release 1.2 for DOS, Linux, and Unix is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>Improved illegal CPU instruction support. Thrust and Qb will now operate
|
|
correctly.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Improved emulation of undefined TIA reads. The ball in Video Pinball
|
|
finally bounces off of the paddles!
|
|
|
|
<LI>More accurate NTSC and PAL palettes. These palettes should be much more
|
|
like the colors displayed on a real TV.
|
|
|
|
<LI>PAL color loss is now emulated. If a PAL game displays an odd number
|
|
of scanlines then the next frame will be displayed in black & white.
|
|
|
|
<LI>TIA emulation improved to fix some problems with Pole Position,
|
|
Fatal Run, Dolphin, Decathlon, Robot Tank, and Hole Hunter.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Support for Pitfall II has been added, however, the enhanced sound
|
|
provided by the DPC chip found in the Pitfall II cartridge isn't
|
|
currently emulated.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Support added for the Commavid (CV) bankswitching method.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Support added for the Megaboy cartridge.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Improved Supercharger emulation including a new BIOS that shows the
|
|
vertical blue progress bars like the real thing.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Code for the emulation core has been updated to work with newer C++
|
|
compilers compliant with the C++ standard.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Basic message support added to the TIA emulation. This allows a short
|
|
message to overlay the TIA frame. Currently, it's used when switching
|
|
color modes and difficulty settings.
|
|
|
|
<LI>The internal data structure for the stella.pro file was changed from
|
|
a resizable array to a binary search tree. This results in quicker
|
|
startup times.
|
|
|
|
<LI>An SDL port of Stella is available (requires SDL 1.2.0 or greater)
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added option to not load in the whole stella.pro file when starting
|
|
Stella. This option is enabled on the X11, SDL, and DOS versions. Win32
|
|
version is left alone since it's needed for loading multiple games from
|
|
the UI. Saves on memory usage.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added INI file option to the X11 and SDL versions. Options can be
|
|
specified in this file instead of entering them on the commandline. Any
|
|
options entered on the commandline override options in the INI file.
|
|
File is called stellarc. For the X11 and SDL versions, it can be in
|
|
either $HOME (as $HOME/.stellarc) or in /etc (as /etc/stellarc). The
|
|
one in $HOME has higher priority than the one in /etc.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added snapshot support to the X11 and SDL versions. Pressing F12 saves
|
|
the current screen in PNG format. Requires PNG library.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Removed stella.pro file from the binary, resulting in large space
|
|
savings. The stella.pro file is no longer optional. For the X11 and
|
|
SDL versions, it can be in either $HOME (as $HOME/.stella.pro) or in
|
|
/etc (as /etc/stella.pro). The one in $HOME has higher priority than
|
|
the one in /etc. For DOS and Win32 versions, the stella.pro file must
|
|
be in the same directory as the executable.
|
|
|
|
<LI>Added pause functionality to the core. Implemented in DOS, X11, and
|
|
SDL versions for now.
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>August 26, 2001</H4>
|
|
The http://stella.atari.org URL
|
|
will be updated soon to point to the new Stella web site at <A HREF="http://www.redlinelabs.com/stella">http://www.redlinelabs.com/stella</A>. Please update your bookmarks and links if necessary...
|
|
|
|
<H4>June 10, 2001</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:stiles@emulation.net">John Stiles</A>' port of Stella 1.1.2 to
|
|
the PowerMac is now available online in the download section. The biggest change is native support for Mac OS X.
|
|
|
|
<H4>November 3, 2000</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:dspice@houston.rr.com">Darrell Spice Jr.</A>'s port of
|
|
Release 1.1 of Stella to OS/2 is available for downloading.
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI> Improved throttle routines for faster systems
|
|
<LI> Added PAL color palette and frame rates
|
|
<LI> New game controller status (which controller needed for current cartridge)
|
|
<LI> Settings dialogs
|
|
<LI> Keyboard controls are now user definable
|
|
<LI> Keyboard controls have changed
|
|
<LI> And much more...
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>August 22, 2000</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:enk2@po.CWRU.Edu">Erik "Voch" Kovach</A>'s latest stella.pro
|
|
file is online in the download section.
|
|
|
|
<H4> May 8, 2000</H4>
|
|
Release 1.1.3a of StellaX for Windows is available for downloading:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>Fixed joystick handling regression
|
|
<LI>Fixed repaint problem on doc page
|
|
<LI>Fixed problem where some machines would report path not found
|
|
<LI>Added force 640x480 video mode
|
|
<LI>Added browse button on config dialog
|
|
<LI>Improved video detection logic
|
|
<LI>Added DisableJoystick options to stella.ini file
|
|
<LI>Rewrote the sound driver code - no more scratchy sound!
|
|
<LI>Added multiple screen shot support - first writes to stella00.bmp
|
|
then stella01.bmp, etc.
|
|
<LI>Added cool round buttons on main screen
|
|
<LI>Added configuration dialog
|
|
<LI>Major code cleanup and performance tuning
|
|
<LI>Internal ROM list should be complete - make sure your roms are in
|
|
the ROMS directory and that each rom has the ".bin" extension
|
|
<LI>Run on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT and Windows 2000
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>September 29, 1999</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:stiles@emulation.net">John Stiles</A>' port of Stella 1.1 to
|
|
the PowerMac is online in the download section.
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
July 20, 1999</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:jdandrea@att.com">Joe D'Andrea</A>'s port of Stella 1.1 to
|
|
IRIX version 6.5 is online in the download section.
|
|
|
|
<H4> June 11, 1999</H4>
|
|
Release 1.1.2 of StellaX for Windows is available for downloading:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Run on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT and Windows 2000</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Does not take over the .bin extension</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
DirectSound works on all systems</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Added DirectInput support for keyboard, mouse, and joystick (except on
|
|
NT)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Fixed minimize button bug</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Created virtual list view to speed load time</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Add screen capture (F12 key) to save current screen to a bmp file</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Stella icon properly shows on the task list</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
March 20, 1999</H4>
|
|
Release 1.1.1 of StellaX for Windows is available for downloading:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Video works on all systems: Windows 9x, Windows NT and Windows 2000</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Runs on systems without sound cards</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Fixed some GDI leaks which would eventually cause a reboot on Win9x machines</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Made GUI come up faster after a game is finished playing</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Right player ';' key wasn't working in 1.1</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Undocumented command line option: -mute (mute all sound)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Undocumented command line option: -showfps (show FPS at end of game)</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
March 18, 1999</H4>
|
|
Jeff Miller's port of Stella release 1.1 to Windows (StellaX) is available
|
|
for downloading.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 27, 1999</H4>
|
|
Stella release 1.1 for DOS, Linux, and Unix is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
DOS and Linux versions support real Atari 2600 paddles using a special
|
|
PC game port adaptor</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Linux version uses the new 1.2.x Linux Joystick API</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Unix versions support the "-display" command line option for specifying
|
|
the display to use</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Unix versions support the "-owncmap" command line option to install a private
|
|
colormap</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Greatly improved Supercharger single-load and multi-load game support</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved TIA emulation to support the RESPx multi-sprite trick</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 27, 1999</H4>
|
|
After some careful consideration I've decided to move the Stella web site.
|
|
The new home page for Stella can be found at <A HREF="http://stella.atari.org">http://stella.atari.org</A>.
|
|
This URL will redirect you to the current location of the Stella web site
|
|
which is my school account for now.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
December 9,1998</H4>
|
|
David McEwen's port of Stella 1.0 to the Acorn platform and Joe D'Andrea's
|
|
port of Stella 1.0 for IRIX 6.2 and Solaris 2.5.1 are available for downloading.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
October 23,1998</H4>
|
|
David Asbell's port of Stella 0.7 to Java is available for downloading
|
|
in the 0.7 download directory.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
October 7, 1998</H4>
|
|
Stella release 1.0 for DOS, Linux, and Unix is now available. Ports
|
|
to other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Supports Robot Tank and Decathlon</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Supports Joystick, Keyboard, Booster Grip, and Indy 500 Driving controllers</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
DOS version supports 320x200 and 320x240 graphics modes</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Preliminary support for Chris Wilkson's Megacart bank-switching scheme</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved graphics emulation (TIA)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved timer emulation (6532 PIA)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved CPU emulation (6502)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved Supercharger support</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Contains properties for over 540 ROMs</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Will soon be ported to to pretty much every OS under the sun :-)</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
August 2, 1998</H4>
|
|
Stella 1.0 Beta 1 for DOS is available in the "Development versions" download
|
|
area.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
July 25, 1998</H4>
|
|
At long last, Stella 1.0 Beta 1 is now available for Linux and Unix.
|
|
This is a stable beta release and assuming no major bugs are discovered
|
|
a final 1.0 release will be made in a few weeks. The beta release
|
|
can be found in the "Development versions" download area. Ports to
|
|
other operating systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
A partial list of features is:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved graphics emulation (TIA)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved timer emulation (6532 PIA)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved CPU emulation (6502)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved Supercharger support</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Supports Robot Tank and Decathlon</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Supports Joystick, Keyboard, Booster Grip, and Indy 500 Driving controllers</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Contains properties for over 540 ROMs</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Will soon be ported to to pretty much every OS under the sun :-)</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
May 3, 1998</H4>
|
|
The Stella home page has moved to a new server! The new home page can be
|
|
found at <A HREF="http://www.classicgaming.com/stella">http://www.classicgaming.com/stella</A>.
|
|
|
|
<P>As far as the status of the next release of Stella progress is being
|
|
made, however, it'll probably be another month or so before a final release
|
|
is made. I hope you can wait...
|
|
<H4>
|
|
April 13, 1998</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:jdandrea@att.com">Joe D'Andrea</A>'s port of Stella to
|
|
IRIX version 6.2 is online in the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
March 27, 1998</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:enk2@po.CWRU.Edu">Erik "Voch" Kovach</A>'s latest stella.vcs
|
|
file is online in the download section. This version contains a few new
|
|
settings for Color Bar Generator, Advertisement Cartridge, Night Stalker,
|
|
and Seesaw.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
March 13, 1998</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:enk2@po.CWRU.Edu">Erik "Voch" Kovach</A>'s latest stella.vcs
|
|
file is online in the download section. This version contains a few new
|
|
settings and has a few tweaks here and there.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 11, 1998</H4>
|
|
A once a year International Atari Collector/User Show set for the Summer
|
|
of 1998 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California is being planned.
|
|
For more information see the <A HREF="http://www.atarihq.com/atari98.html">Atari
|
|
World 98</A> home page.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 6, 1998</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:enk2@po.CWRU.Edu">Erik "Voch" Kovach</A>'s latest stella.vcs
|
|
file is online in the download section. This version contains settings
|
|
for some of the newer games and has a few settings tweaked here and there.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
January 12, 1998</H4>
|
|
Another improved stella.vcs file by <A HREF="mailto:enk2@po.CWRU.Edu">Erik
|
|
"Voch" Kovach</A> containing the names of 479 cartridges is available from
|
|
the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
January 8, 1998</H4>
|
|
An improved stella.vcs file by <A HREF="mailto:enk2@po.CWRU.Edu">Erik "Voch"
|
|
Kovach</A> is available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
January 6, 1998</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 3.2 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
is available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
December 21, 1997</H4>
|
|
Development of version 0.8 of Stella is proceeding slower than expected.
|
|
A release before Christmas will not be made. Actually, a 0.8 release of
|
|
Stella may never be made, instead the plan is for 1.0 to be the next release.
|
|
Hopefully, the wait will be well worth it.
|
|
|
|
<P>Have a Merry Christmas!
|
|
<H4>
|
|
December 6, 1997</H4>
|
|
Stella has won an <I><A HREF="http://kayos.reshall.ksu.edu/ar/">Archaic
|
|
Ruins</A> Editor's Choice Award</I>
|
|
<H4>
|
|
November 29, 1997</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 3.1 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
is available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
November 12, 1997</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 3.0 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
is available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
October 1, 1997</H4>
|
|
Stella was featured in the article "Great Games Never Die..." on page 84
|
|
of the October issue of <I>PC-Gamer</I>.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
September 6, 1997</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 2.1 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
is available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
August 29, 1997</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 2.0 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
is available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
August 20, 1997</H4>
|
|
The development team is working on version 0.8 of Stella. A partial list
|
|
of features is:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Optimizations to improve speed</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved TIA and PIA emulation</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved Supercharger support</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Support for other controllers (Keypad, etc.)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
And much more...</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
There is no estimated-time-of-arrival, however, hopefully it'll be ready
|
|
by Christmas.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
July 29, 1997</H4>
|
|
Stella version 0.7 has been released for Windows 95 & NT.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
June 28, 1997</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 1.61 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
has been released. It's available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
June 13, 1997</H4>
|
|
Stella version 0.7 has been released for the Power Mac and OS/2.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
June 7, 1997</H4>
|
|
Stella version 0.7 has been released for DOS, Linux and Unix/X. Ports to
|
|
other systems will be released as they become available.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
June 2, 1997</H4>
|
|
Keith Wilkins is no longer supporting the DOS port of Stella due to lack
|
|
of free time and other responsibilities. Bradford Mott will be maintaining
|
|
the DOS port of Stella.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
May 23, 1997</H4>
|
|
Most of the "core" code modifications for version 0.7 have been completed.
|
|
Porting to the various operating systems is underway. Hopefully, a release
|
|
will be ready around the end of May or beginning of June.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
May 9, 1997</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 1.4 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
has been released. It's available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
March 25, 1997</H4>
|
|
Development of version 0.7 of Stella is proceeding slower than expected,
|
|
however, the wait will be well worth it. A partial list of new features
|
|
is:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Optimizations making this the fastest version ever!</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
VCS files combined into a single file</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
ROM image filename independence (name them whatever you like)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved TIA emulation (Warlords works...)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Starpath Supercharger support</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
And much more...</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
There is no firm estimated-time-of-arrival, however, hopefully it'll be
|
|
ready by the end of May.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
March 17, 1997</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 1.3 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
has been released. It's available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 17, 1997</H4>
|
|
Stella version 0.61 for Windows 95 & NT has been released!
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 14, 1997</H4>
|
|
"Game Menu" version 1.2 by <A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A>
|
|
has been released. It's available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 10, 1997</H4>
|
|
The development team is working on version 0.7 of Stella. A partial list
|
|
of new features is:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Optimizations making this the fastest version of Stella ever!</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
VCS files combined into a single file</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
ROM image filename independence (name them whatever you like)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved TIA emulation</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
And much more....</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
There is no firm estimated-time-of-arrival but it'll probably be the first
|
|
or second week of April 1997.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 9, 1997</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:pixelboy@lanzen.net">Luc Miron</A> has released version
|
|
0.2 of his utility which allows you to store all your VCS file data in
|
|
a single file. It's available from the download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
February 5, 1997</H4>
|
|
Stella version 0.6 released!
|
|
<H4>
|
|
January 31, 1997</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A> has released version 1.1
|
|
of his front end for MS-DOS called "Game Menu". It's available from the
|
|
download section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
January 22, 1997</H4>
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:JPSoftCo@aol.com">Jim Pragit</A> has written an excellent
|
|
front end for MS-DOS called "Game Menu". It's available from the download
|
|
section.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
January 17, 1997</H4>
|
|
The "core" code modifications for version 0.6 have been completed. Porting
|
|
to the various operating systems is underway. A release will hopefully
|
|
be ready within the next week.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
December 16, 1996</H4>
|
|
The development team is working on Version 0.6 of Stella. A partial list
|
|
of new features is:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Faster than Version 0.5 on most games</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved 6532 (PIA) emulation to fix those screen jitters</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Support for almost all bank-switching methods</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved TIA emulation</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Better sound support for MS-DOS systems</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Much smaller executable size</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
And much more....</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
There is no firm estimated-time-of-arrival but it'll probably be the third
|
|
or forth week of January 1997.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
November 16, 1996</H4>
|
|
Stella version 0.5 released!
|
|
<H4>
|
|
October 31, 1996</H4>
|
|
The "core" code modifications for version 0.5 have been completed. Porting
|
|
to the various operating systems is underway. A release will hopefully
|
|
be ready by the 2nd week of November.
|
|
<H4>
|
|
September 24, 1996</H4>
|
|
The development team is currently working on Stella Version 0.5. This version
|
|
will have the following features:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Faster than Version 0.4 on most games</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Sound support (hopefully)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
More bank switching methods supported</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Improved 6532 (PIA) emulation to fix screen jitters (Frogger works)</LI>
|
|
|
|
<LI>
|
|
Fixed TIA undefined read accesses (Haunted House works)</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
This is a partial list of features since Version 0.5 is still in development.
|
|
There is no firm estimated-time-of-arrival but it'll probably be sometime
|
|
near the end of October or beginning of November.
|
|
<CENTER></CENTER>
|
|
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