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Stella 2.6 released


stephena

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OK, here's the latest version of Stella. We're still working on the TIA updates, and I didn't want to delay this release for that, so here it is. We did manage to fix a few TIA graphical glitches, though.

 

  * Added AtariVox support using a real AtariVox device, where Stella
sends data directly to the AtariVox.  For now, this is supported in
Linux/UNIX, OSX, and Win32 only.  You'll obviously need a real
AtariVox, and a serial<->USB adaptor to connect it to your system.
Added '-avoxport' commandline argument used to set the serial port
to which the AtariVox is connected.  Special thanks to Al Yarusso
and Richard H. for providing sample hardware.

 * Added AtariVox and SaveKey EEPROM emulation.  This reads/writes data
to a 32KB file, not to the actual hardware.  Very useful for testing
EEPROM support without actually wearing out the real device.  Special
thanks to J. Payson for providing the EEPROM emulation code, and A.
Herbert for answering many driver-related questions.

 * Added support for CX-22, CX-80, and AmigaMouse trackball controllers.

 * Improved debugger symfile handling so that addresses accessed as
read-only won't use write-only labels (and vice-versa).  More work
is still needed in this area.

 * Added M6532/RIOT tab to the debugger.  This will be expanded on in a
future release.

 * Added TIA emulation fixes for graphical glitches in Escape from the
Mindmaster, Mission Survive, Solaris, and SWOOPS!

 * Fixed bug where fullscreen OpenGL scaling wasn't working on 4:3 monitors.

 * Further improvements to the M6532/RIOT emulation, which unfortunately
have broken old state files (again).

 * Added deadzone setting, for adjusting the deadzone amount for
analog joysticks.  This can be set using the commandline argument
'-joydeadzone' or dynamically within the UI.

 * Make ROM disassembly in debugger take advantage of a wide window.

 * Fixed bug in 6507 BCD handling introduced in the last release.

 * For the Win32 port; Win9x should be fully supported again.

 

As always, you can download Stella here. Please report any problems to me by email or through this thread.

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I have the AVox and adaptor plugged in and tested on comport 4, but when I select port 4 in the Options / Input Settings / Virtual Devs, I get nothing with the speech enabled games.

 

Am I doing something wrong ?

In the setting you mention, you would have to type 'COM4', not just '4'. This is described in the manual.

 

The previous setting just means that *if* there's an AtariVox plugged in, that's the port it's on. You also have to tell Stella that there's an AtariVox plugged into the right virtual port. This is under Game Properties -> Controller. Set the P1 controller to 'AtariVox', click OK and reload the ROM. It should be fine then. If not, please report it, as it's a bug.

Edited by stephena
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On the I/O tab, if we want to be able to simulate controller data, how about 4 sliders for the 4 pot lines?

 

Would it also be possible to have a button called "sample" that would simply take the controller settings and read them in as it normally does from the emulator and then stamp the data into the I/O tab? That would help for things like the driving controllers. Otherwise you have to rely on break points for the emulator to pick up the real controllers.

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Finally! After all these years, the Solaris TIA bug fixed! This is monumental.

Well, it's actually just a 'cheat' for this particular ROM, since I was tired of hearing about it every time I did a new release :) But the forthcoming TIA rewrite will hopefully take care of all these issues for good. It will probably mean a 3.0 release ...

 

On the I/O tab, if we want to be able to simulate controller data, how about 4 sliders for the 4 pot lines?

 

Would it also be possible to have a button called "sample" that would simply take the controller settings and read them in as it normally does from the emulator and then stamp the data into the I/O tab? That would help for things like the driving controllers. Otherwise you have to rely on break points for the emulator to pick up the real controllers.

Yes, I definitely need to improve on what's there. Right now, it's very joystick-centric, and doesn't include the dumped INPTx registers at all. Sometime soon, I'll be posting a request for comments on how to improve this tab. Your input will be beneficial then.

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But, the Midnight Magic drawing error is still there... That extra line just bugs me! :ponder: ;)

 

Seriously though, the effort you put into Stella is greatly appreciated!

Oh absolutely, the TIA still isn't fixed yet. I have list of over 30-40 ROMs that have glitches. It's just that the Solaris and SWOOPS! ones were very noticable. The other big one is GI-Joe, but that one can't be fixed in the current code at all; it will have to wait. Our goal with the TIA rewrite is to get rid of all 'cheats' and have the emulation 'just work'. And it *is* coming, it's just taking longer than expected.

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But, the Midnight Magic drawing error is still there... That extra line just bugs me! :ponder: ;)

 

Seriously though, the effort you put into Stella is greatly appreciated!

Oh absolutely, the TIA still isn't fixed yet. I have list of over 30-40 ROMs that have glitches. It's just that the Solaris and SWOOPS! ones were very noticable. The other big one is GI-Joe, but that one can't be fixed in the current code at all; it will have to wait. Our goal with the TIA rewrite is to get rid of all 'cheats' and have the emulation 'just work'. And it *is* coming, it's just taking longer than expected.

 

Thanks for the insight into the future plans! I've been using Stella for some 10 years now... since, the first Mac port. I've installed it on whatever my main system is ever since. I certainly didn't mean anything critical, I've lived with the line for this long, a while longer won't kill me. :)

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Thanks for the AtariVox support! It took a little fussing (had to reinstall the USB adapter driver), but once I got that figured out (and read the docs) it worked great! :thumbsup:

I had similar issues in OSX (which is what you use, isn't it?). For the AVox USB adaptor from Richard H, it seems that the device isn't recognized unless you reboot the Mac with it plugged in. The drivers don't seem to support hot-plugging.

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Yep - I'm on OS X 10.5.2. It was weird though, since the AtariVox showed up as a USB device in System Profiler, but I couldn't get it to show up as a serial device in Terminal until I reinstalled the driver. I'd tried rebooting with it already plugged in, to no avail. But it's fine now.

Edited by Nathan Strum
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Yes, I definitely need to improve on what's there. Right now, it's very joystick-centric, and doesn't include the dumped INPTx registers at all. Sometime soon, I'll be posting a request for comments on how to improve this tab. Your input will be beneficial then.

 

What I would like to see would be the ability to specify, for each paddle, whether it attaches to the mouse cursor's X or Y position, and what paddle values (possibly negative or out of range) would correspond to the edges of the screen.

 

By adjusting those values properly, it would be possible to make many paddle games' player character track the mouse cursor (if the mouse cursor moves too far, the character's position would just 'peg'). I would expect this would make many paddle games much more playable with the mouse than they are now.

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What I would like to see would be the ability to specify, for each paddle, whether it attaches to the mouse cursor's X or Y position, and what paddle values (possibly negative or out of range) would correspond to the edges of the screen.

 

By adjusting those values properly, it would be possible to make many paddle games' player character track the mouse cursor (if the mouse cursor moves too far, the character's position would just 'peg'). I would expect this would make many paddle games much more playable with the mouse than they are now.

 

Have you tried pressing Ctrl-G to lock the mouse cursor into the Stella window?

 

The only paddle game that I find unplayable in Stella (at least I haven't been able to figure out how) is Bumper Bash, it uses the buttons for the Paddle-0 and Paddle-1 to control the flippers and you have to press both buttons to launch the ball. Other paddle games work just fine.

Edited by Buzbard
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Just a FYI that Stella 2.6.1 has been released, and it addresses many of the issues mentioned here, as well as adding a few nice features. Please move all discussion to that thread, and report any bugs there.

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