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Commit 69d189c1 authored by bwmott's avatar bwmott
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Updated text files with information for the 1.3 release. 


git-svn-id: svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/stella/code/trunk@170 8b62c5a3-ac7e-4cc8-8f21-d9a121418aba
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stella/Announce.txt
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......@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
SSSS ttt eeeee llll llll aaaaa
===============================================================================
Release 1.2 for DOS, Linux, and Unix
Release 1.3 for DOS, Linux, and Unix
===============================================================================
The Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS), introduced in 1977, was the most
......@@ -21,15 +21,15 @@ of your favorite Atari 2600 games again! Stella was originally developed for
Linux by Bradford W. Mott, however, it has been ported to a number of other
platforms.
This is the 1.2 release of Stella for DOS, Linux, and Unix. Distributions
This is the 1.3 release of Stella for DOS, Linux, and Unix. Distributions
for other operating systems will appear as they become available. The three
distributions currently available are:
* Binary distribution for Linux (stella-1.2-linux-x86.tar.gz)
* Binary distribution for Linux (stella-1.3-linux-x86.tar.gz)
* Binary distribution for DOS (st12.zip)
* Binary distribution for DOS (st13.zip)
* Source code distribution for Linux, Unix, and DOS (stella-1.2-src.tar.gz)
* Source code distribution for Linux, Unix, and DOS (stella-1.3-src.tar.gz)
PLEASE DO NOT WRITE ASKING FOR ROM IMAGES TO USE WITH STELLA! ALL SUCH
REQUESTS WILL BE IGNORED!
......@@ -37,69 +37,82 @@ REQUESTS WILL BE IGNORED!
New in this Release
===================
* Improved illegal CPU instruction support. Thrust and Qb will now operate
correctly.
* Improved TIA sound system so that games with digitized audio work
* Improved emulation of undefined TIA reads. The ball in Video Pinball
finally bounces off of the paddles!
* Added saving and loading of game state to the core; X11, SDL, and DOS
versions current support saving and loading game state
* More accurate NTSC and PAL palettes. These palettes should be much more
like the colors displayed on a real TV.
* Added support for F4 bankswitching method
* 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.
* Pitfall II DPC sound emulation completed
* TIA emulation improved to fix some problems with Pole Position,
Fatal Run, Dolphin, Decathlon, Robot Tank, and Hole Hunter.
* Fixed a bug which caused the difficulty switches to operate backwards
* 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.
* Changed DPC auto-detection to use file size so that Pitfall II mods work
* Support added for the Commavid (CV) bankswitching method.
* Modified RIOT timer emulation so that startup values are random
* Support added for the Megaboy cartridge.
* Added 3F bankswitching auto-detection routine so that homebrews and
demos work without a stella.pro entry
* Improved Supercharger emulation including a new BIOS that shows the
vertical blue progress bars like the real thing.
* Updated the TIA message boxes so they look a little nicer
* Code for the emulation core has been updated to work with newer C++
compilers compliant with the C++ standard.
* Latest stella.pro file included in distribution
* 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.
* 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.
* 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)
* An SDL port of Stella is available (requires SDL 1.2.0 or greater)
* External sound server for the X11 and SDL versions no longer required, as
all sound code is now integrated into the core
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* 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.
* Added snapshot support to the X11 and SDL versions. Pressing F12 saves
the current screen in PNG format. Requires PNG library.
* 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.
* 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.
* Added "-sound" command line option to choose which sound backend to
use (alsa, oss, sdl) with the X11 and SDL versions.
* Added pause functionality to the core. Implemented in DOS, X11, and
SDL versions for now.
* 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
* Fixed window resize bug in the X11 port
* Added "-nosound" command line option to the DOS port to disable audio
* DOS port supports a "-vsync" option to synchronize emulation with the
video blank of the video card
* Changed VGA code in the DOS port to use a 60Hz 320x200 and a 60Hz
320x240 graphics mode
* 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.
* DOS port is using a new Sound Blaster driver created by Matt Conte which
supports auto-detection of sound cards.
* DOS port supports a STELLA_HOME environment variable that defines
the location of config files.
* In the DOS port the stella.pro file is searched for first in the
current working director and then in the $STELLA_HOME directory
* 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
Distribution Site
=================
......
stella/Changes.txt
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......@@ -12,6 +12,85 @@
Release History
===============================================================================
1.2 to 1.3: (February 17, 2003)
* Improved TIA sound system so that games with digitized audio work
* Added saving and loading of game state to the core; X11, SDL, and DOS
versions current support saving and loading game state
* Added support for F4 bankswitching method
* Pitfall II DPC sound emulation completed
* Fixed a bug which caused the difficulty switches to operate backwards
* Changed DPC auto-detection to use file size so that Pitfall II mods work
* Modified RIOT timer emulation so that startup values are random
* Added 3F bankswitching auto-detection routine so that homebrews and
demos work without a stella.pro entry
* Updated the TIA message boxes so they look a little nicer
* Latest stella.pro file included in distribution
* 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)
* External sound server for the X11 and SDL versions no longer required, as
all sound code is now integrated into the core
* 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
* 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.
* 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.
* Added "-sound" command line option to choose which sound backend to
use (alsa, oss, sdl) with the X11 and SDL versions.
* 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
* Fixed window resize bug in the X11 port
* Added "-nosound" command line option to the DOS port to disable audio
* DOS port supports a "-vsync" option to synchronize emulation with the
video blank of the video card
* Changed VGA code in the DOS port to use a 60Hz 320x200 and a 60Hz
320x240 graphics mode
* 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.
* DOS port is using a new Sound Blaster driver created by Matt Conte which
supports auto-detection of sound cards.
* DOS port supports a STELLA_HOME environment variable that defines
the location of config files.
* In the DOS port the stella.pro file is searched for first in the
current working director and then in the $STELLA_HOME directory
* 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
Cyberstella 1.2.1 (May 16, 2002)
* Removed the built-in games until some legal stuff is sorted out
......
stella/Copyright.txt
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......@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
License Information and Copyright Notice
===============================================================================
Copyright (C) 1995-2002 Bradford W. Mott <bwmott@acm.org>
Copyright (C) 1995-2003 Bradford W. Mott <bwmott@acm.org>
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
......
stella/Readme.txt
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This is release 1.2 of Stella. Stella is a multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS
This is release 1.3 of Stella. Stella is a multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS
emulator which allows you to play all of your favorite Atari 2600 games
on your PC. You'll find the Stella Users Manual in the docs subdirectory.
If you'd like to verify that you have the latest release of Stella visit
......@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ the Stella Website at:
Enjoy,
The Stella Team
April 21, 2002
February 17, 2003
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