Stella 1.4.1 Released

[Albert]

A new version of the Atari 2600 emulator Stella has been released. Stella 1.4.1 includes several improvements and bug fixes over the recent 1.4 release:

• Fixed PAL sound issues
  
• Cleaned up the SDL event gathering loop
  
• Fixed a bug with Control and Alt keys
  
• Updated stella.pro file to work the latest Good2600 ROMset
  
• Windows: ROM files no longer need to be named *.bin
  
• Windows: Fixed problems with SDL library and Win98
  
• OSX: Added preference to allow selection of ROM directory
  
• OSX: Fixed bug where Preferences not always saved
  

You can download the latest version of Stella for Windows, Linux, and OS X here.

 

Here's a more detailed changelog:

 

* 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.

 

* 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.

 

* 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.

 

* Updated stella.pro file to work with the latest Good2600 ROMset

release (Thanks go to Voch for helping to maintain the stella.pro

file).

 

* 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.

 

* For the Windows port; fixed the problems with the included modified

SDL library and Windows 98 users. Stella should now run in Windows 98.

 

* 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.

 

* For the OSX port; fixed preferences bug where Preferences changed

before a game was opened were not being saved.

 

..Al

[Trebor]

First, Fantasic News!

 

Great to see Stella updated.

 

Controller issue (double pumping/sticking) is gone. YES!

 

Glad to see no underscores for spaces when taking a screenshot! Great!

 

Interestingly, Stella plays only the [b3] dump of Pitfall II. It doesn't play the [!] dump. Additionally, the music is 'off'. However, I don't know if that is a result of the bad dump being the one that is playable or they're seperate issues in themselves (One being not playing the Good dump of the ROM, and the other, improvement on the emulation of the sound chip in Pitfall II).

 

My only last remark (and I believe I mentioned this with the 1.4 release) is the ability to re-map another key along with ESC to exit a game. I know ESC is staying as the definitive exit key - However, it would be nice to be able to map another key along with ESC.

 

Nonetheless, another great release. Glad to see the progress - This emulator keeps getting better and better! With the fix of the controller issue - This is my official emulator of choice for the Atari 2600. Great work!

 

-Trebor

[+stephena]

First, Fantasic News!

 

Controller issue (double pumping/sticking) is gone.  YES!  

 

I wasn't sure the changes I made would fix it for sure, since I couldn't reliably duplicate the problems. Glad to hear it works.

 

Interestingly,  Stella plays only the [b3] dump of Pitfall II.  It doesn't play the [!] dump.  Additionally, the music is 'off'.  However, I don't know if that is a result of the bad dump being the one that is playable or they're seperate issues in themselves (One being not playing the Good dump of the ROM, and the other, improvement on the emulation of the sound chip in Pitfall II).

 

I get the same results, so I'll have to look into it. It could very well be a problem with the labelling the stella.pro file (where the [b3] ROM is the good dump).

 

My only last remark (and I believe I mentioned this with the 1.4 release) is the ability to re-map another key along with ESC to exit a game.  I know ESC is staying as the definitive exit key - However, it would be nice to be able to map another key along with ESC.

 

I couldn't get that done for this release, since I want to have a way to reset the event mappings from within Stella before I try it. It will be done, but not until I get that other part done as well. Maybe for the next release. You realize you can still use 'Alt-F4' to exit, right?

 

Steve

[Trebor]

First, Fantasic News!

 

Controller issue (double pumping/sticking) is gone.  YES!  

 

I wasn't sure the changes I made would fix it for sure, since I couldn't reliably duplicate the problems. Glad to hear it works.

 

Interestingly,  Stella plays only the [b3] dump of Pitfall II.  It doesn't play the [!] dump.  Additionally, the music is 'off'.  However, I don't know if that is a result of the bad dump being the one that is playable or they're seperate issues in themselves (One being not playing the Good dump of the ROM, and the other, improvement on the emulation of the sound chip in Pitfall II).

 

I get the same results, so I'll have to look into it. It could very well be a problem with the labelling the stella.pro file (where the [b3] ROM is the good dump).

 

My only last remark (and I believe I mentioned this with the 1.4 release) is the ability to re-map another key along with ESC to exit a game.  I know ESC is staying as the definitive exit key - However, it would be nice to be able to map another key along with ESC.

 

I couldn't get that done for this release, since I want to have a way to reset the event mappings from within Stella before I try it. It <b>will</b> be done, but not until I get that other part done as well. Maybe for the next release. You realize you can still use 'Alt-F4' to exit, right?

 

Steve

 

 

Yep, teseted the controller issue for a bunch of games - Everything smooth with no issue.

 

The Pitfall II is an odd issue - Perhaps Cowering's labelling of the Pitfall II ROM is incorrect? Not that it is the be-all-to-end-all - But Z26 also produces the same exact results as Stella - It plays the "Bad ROM" [b3], but not the "Good ROM" [!]. Not to knock Cowering's tools - But I have found inconsistancies in the past with other systems as well. It could very well be that the [b3] ROM should be the [!] ROM (And vica-versa). For the most parts 95-98% of the time the "Good Tools" are accurate - However, I have found mistakes with other system ROMs as well.

 

Yep. No Rush - Sure I know Alt-F4 exits. For me I use the Hot Rod SE Controller to play my Atari 2600 emulation on - Better than any gamepad. I have a series of the other possible options - Button combinations. However, ESC isn't one of the options on the controller. Basically, in conjuction with the front-end I use (Game Launcher). I can scroll through my list of games - Select a game, and play the game, without touching a keyboard. I have the select, reset and difficulty switches mapped, and there's two jousticks (Obviously both Player One and Two are mapped). The only thing I can't do on the HotRod SE is exit the game.

 

Once exiting a ROM can be mapped to something else along with ESC - I won't even have to touch the keyboard. After I exit the emulator - I brough right back to the Game Launcher Menu with all my ROMS (With screenshots in the background to select from).

 

Again, Steve, fantastic work on an excellent emulator. I am still drolling over the auto-centering too - I love it! It was my biggest gripe with any Atari 2600 emulator - Even going back to my DOS days. Great job!

 

-Trebor

 

-Trebor

[+Nathan Strum]

First - thanks for all the hard work on Stella! I was blown away by 1.4, and it's great to see this emulator updated again.

 

That said...

 

I'm running the OS X version (in 10.3.5) and for the life of me, can't get any ROMs that use the keypad controllers to work. Paul Slocum's Test Cart, for example, doesn't register them at all when pressing the assigned keys. Nor does Synthcart or Star Raiders.

 

The keys appear to be assigned properly... but none register. Even if I try remapping them to other keys, nothing.

 

Also, one feature request... when in the event mapping menu, it'd be nice that if you held the arrow keys down, the list would scroll. Minor thing.

[+Nathan Strum]

Man... I hate not being able to edit posts.

 

What I meant to say is - the ROMs work, but the keypad controllers do not.

[+stephena]

First - thanks for all the hard work on Stella! I was blown away by 1.4, and it's great to see this emulator updated again.

 

That said...    

 

I'm running the OS X version (in 10.3.5) and for the life of me, can't get any ROMs that use the keypad controllers to work. Paul Slocum's Test Cart, for example, doesn't register them at all when pressing the assigned keys. Nor does Synthcart or Star Raiders.

 

It works fine for me in Stella for Linux, so I'll have to forward this message to the OSX maintainer.

 

Also, one feature request... when in the event mapping menu, it'd be nice that if you held the arrow keys down, the list would scroll. Minor thing.

 

Not as easy as you might think Right now, Stella is set up to accept one key event per keypress/release. I experimented with adding key repeat (which is really what your asking for), but my preliminary results were not good. I think the event handler may need a partial re-write for this. It is something I'm considering, though. In the meantime, you can still use PageUp/PageDown to scroll 5 lines at a time. A nice compromise for now.

 

Steve

[hal2k1]

Would be nice if stella support kaillera, so we could play on internet

[Qun Mang]

Yes I joined this forum just to ask a dumb question. I am using StellaX (1.41). The manual says to press the TAB key to go to event mapping, but when I press it all that happens is cycling through the active button or area in the window. I tried it on both the main screen and the options screen. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.

[+stephena]

Yes I joined this forum just to ask a dumb question.  I am using StellaX (1.41).  The manual says to press the TAB key to go to event mapping, but when I press it all that happens is cycling through the active button or area in the window.  I tried it on both the main screen and the options screen.  What am I doing wrong?  Thanks.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, you tried pressing Tab while actually in the GUI part of Stella? Is this correct?

 

I guess the manual could be a bit clearer on this; you have to start playing a game (ie, actually have the emulation running) and then press Tab and follow the instructions in the manual.

 

This unfortunate mismatch is because some options are set from the Windows GUI, and others are set from within the emulation itself.

 

Eventually, the various frontends will be discontinued, and everything will be integrated into the main Stella program. This will make it even easier to port to other systems, because there will need to be less and less platform-specific code.

 

So, to make a long story short and answer your original question; start the emulation (play a game) and then press Tab.

 

Steve

[Qun Mang]

Ah. I see now. I didn't realize StellaX was just a front end- I had assumed it was a GUI version of Stella while stella.exe was command-line, like Mame32 vs. Mame. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Qun Mang]

No edit function on this forum? Ah, well. I just wanted to add that I guess the file sizes (208k vs. 945k) should have been an obvious clue that I didn't know what I was thinking. And me, an emulation veteran...

[Sharky]

Something has gone seriously wrong with updated version.

 

On PAL Games, the colours are all wrong and it plays too fast.

 

And whatever happened to Pitfall 2, it sounds awful.

 

[+stephena]

On PAL Games, the colours are all wrong and it plays too fast.

 

The colors being wrong are still a WIP, since all my experience is with NTSC games. Similarly, I've already acknowledged the timing problems with PAL ROMs, but I really need to get a hold of one to see how it really looks and sounds. Anyone willing to donate one?

 

And whatever happened to Pitfall 2, it sounds awful.

 

All that happened (wrt this) from 1.4 to 1.4.1 is that the stella.pro file was tweaked. Maybe you were using a ROM that was mislabeled as being NTSC/PAL.

 

Please provide more info on the exact name of ROM in question. While playing, press 'Ctrl s' and forward the resulting *.pro file to me.

 

Steve

[leearco]

Hello i just downloaded the stella emu. i have got some roms for it, which i have the original games for so its legal. anyway i put the roms in the rom folder and they show up in the gui of stella but when i click on them the box comes up which says Stella "untitled". how can i play these roms and get them to work???

[+stephena]

Hello  i just downloaded the stella emu. i have got some roms for it, which i have the original games for so its legal. anyway i put the roms in the rom folder and they show up in the gui of stella but when i click on them the box comes up which says Stella "untitled". how can i play these roms and get them to work???

 

If they come up as 'Untitled', that means that there aren't any entries in the included stella.pro file for those ROMs. They can still be used, though.

 

If you mean how do you play an actual game, F1 is Select and F2 is reset. The other controls will depend on the game. Have a look at the included manual for more info.

 

One other thing; the ROMs must not be zipped. If they are, unzip them first and do a 'Reload' from the GUI.

 

Steve

[leearco]

thank you for your help. i unzipped the roms and everything works fine. something so simple..............