Stella 4.0 released

[israelg]

The "good" systems work better with the custom build (no options menu)

 

about the video option: my mistake but it seems that -video directx is treated somehow as -video direct3d they both changed the rendering to Direct3d (checked in video settings menu)

[+stephena]

The "good" systems work better with the custom build (no options menu)

 

about the video option: my mistake but it seems that -video directx is treated somehow as -video direct3d they both changed the rendering to Direct3d (checked in video settings menu)

 

OK, so this confirms that the custom build is fixing the menu issue. So I will remove the code responsible for this in the next release.

 

Also confirmed is that this is only happening on ATI hardware for you. Unfortunately, I don't have any ATI hardware to test on; all my systems (including ones at work) are Intel or Nvidia. I just did a google search about ATI and missing/incorrect Direct3D acceleration, and it seems that it's a pretty widespread problem. From the little bit of reading I've done, people suggest downloading drivers directly from the AMD/ATI webpage, and also reinstalling DirectX9 from Microsoft.

[Trebor]

One of the systems I use Stella on is running Win 7 64-bit Home Premium on an i7 Gen 2 core. I have an ATi Radeon 5670 HD card. 64-bit Stella runs without issue.

However, as mentioned by stephena for 'the fix', the following is (coincidentally) applicable in my case:

 

1. I have installed drivers directly from the AMD/ATi webpage previously.

2. Due to wanting HLSL support to work properly for MAME/MESS, I have installed the DirectX End User Runtime SDK according to what is mentioned at point 2.6 here: http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=255593&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

It states:

"If you are on Windows 7, running DirectX 10.0 or above, you may not have DirectX 9.0c installed on your system. DirectX 10 and above are known not to be backwards compatible in this instance. Even if you have DirectX 9.0c, you may be missing the SDK .DLL needed for this! If you are receiving an error mentioning such files as "dx9_43.dll" as missing, you need to install the DirectX End User Runtime SDK linked below.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyId=2DA43D38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3"

 

Although never receiving any '*.dll' error message(s), without installing the DirectX End User Runtime SDK linked above on any machine I try to enable HLSL on will run into problems with either no video or crashing MAME/MESS.

 

Hope the above helps.

 

Side note: I also run Stella 32-bit, on an i7 core, Windows 7 Professional, Dell laptop (Lat E6410), Intel HD graphics and experience no problem with it as well. Again, same deal though with having previously installed the DirectX End User Runtime SDK linked above.

[israelg]

Update the drivers didn't help...

 

I give up (for now) and using the 32 bit version...

 

Thanks,

 

I.G

[Csonicgo]

Raspberry Pi should be getting adequate SDL2 support soon (officially) so when it does I'll be sure to compile this and test it out.

[davidmt]

What is the preferred rendering method for PC? I am assuming it is still OpenGL but with the new options I am not really sure anymore.

[+stephena]

The preferred rendering method is whatever works best on your system For Windows, that is probably Direct3D, and is what will be used by default. For Linux/OSX, OpenGL will be used by default. However, if you prefer to keep using OpenGL in Windows, you can still do so. IME, Direct3D tends to work a little better, and has the advantage of (mostly) working in Windows without having to download drivers separately.

 

Basically, as long as you're using hardware-accelerated video (ie, have the drivers installed), the output will be the same for Direct3D and OpenGL. So use whichever one works best for you.

 

In terms of actual output, consider trying the TV effects, which add scanlines, NTSC blur, etc. They're available in the UI, or by pressing Alt-1 to Alt-6 on the keyboard.

[JL]

Stephen ,

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into new Stella releases.

 

Nice to use a console emu that is still in active development as so many other efforts are now defunct.

[Zoyx]

Any input improvements so you can use a joystick or a touch surface to navigate the GUI?

[mos6507]

I want to also commend Stephen for committing to Stella for so long. The fidelity of Stella to replicate even the most esoteric TIA quirks is pretty remarkable.

[Skarro]

Thanks Stephen for a great update!

 

I was wondering - and apologies if this has already been requested - if there was any way to improve the snapshot display in the ROM Info Viewer? Personally, I prefer to see the original box-art instead of a snapshot, but the snapshot display doesn't seem to be able to show an image in hi-res, only a small (1x) or zoomed (2x and blocky) image, regardless of whether the PNG file is a hi-res scan or not. Can the snapshot window be modified to display an appropriately-scaled image with as much resolution as possible?

 

Here's a couple of pics to demonstrate:

 

The Missile Command box is OK quality, but the bottom gets cut off.

 

The Seaquest box is all there, but there's lots of aliasing from the 2x zoom, even though the original file is high-quality pic.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

[iesposta]

Thank you, Stephen, for your work on Stella!

So much more than an emulator, it is also a development tool, learn how the objects are used (debug colors), etc.

Thanks also to coders working on better TIA emulation. Keep up the good work to keep this program great!

[+stephena]

Thanks for all the words of support; it really makes all the difference in continuing with Stella. I'd be lying if I said that I have the same amount of time available as I used to, with getting older, some real-life issues, illness, etc. But I plan to continue with Stella for as long as I can. The releases may be slow in coming, but they will continue.

[+stephena]

Thanks Stephen for a great update!

 

I was wondering - and apologies if this has already been requested - if there was any way to improve the snapshot display in the ROM Info Viewer? Personally, I prefer to see the original box-art instead of a snapshot, but the snapshot display doesn't seem to be able to show an image in hi-res, only a small (1x) or zoomed (2x and blocky) image, regardless of whether the PNG file is a hi-res scan or not. Can the snapshot window be modified to display an appropriately-scaled image with as much resolution as possible?

 

Here's a couple of pics to demonstrate:

 

The Missile Command box is OK quality, but the bottom gets cut off.

Stella 4 missile.png

 

The Seaquest box is all there, but there's lots of aliasing from the 2x zoom, even though the original file is high-quality pic.

Stella 4 seaquest.png

 

Thanks!

 

There will be improvements in this area in the next release. I was actually working on this very item before the latest release, but fixing it would have delayed the 4.0 release too long, which has already taken 6+ months. BTW, it would be helpful if you could provide the exact images you used here, so I can use them in testing the new functionality.