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Stella - 3.0

Atari 2600 emulator.

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(File Size: 2.7M)

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All Time:	(4.7)
This Version:	Not rated (0.0)
Current Version:	3.0
Release Date:	2009-09-11
License:	Freeware
Downloads (this version):	774
Downloads (all versions):	17,103

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Product Description:

For many years, the Atari 2600 reigned supreme as the most popular game console on the market. Years later, Atari's stranglehold on the market would dissipate as the Nintendo Entertainment System redefined 8-bit gaming, but die-hard fans and collectors still continue to support the Atari.

One would think that the weak Atari 2600 should be simple to emulate, because of its primitive architecture. However, the Atari programmers employed many devious tricks to get such an early machine to run; therefore, a working, efficient emulator is very difficult to write.

What's new in this version:

Huge updates to the TIA emulation system. Illegal HMOVEs are now handled correctly, resulting in improvements to many ROMs (thanks to Wilbert Pol for many ideas and code for these improvements). All HMOVE emulation 'cheats' were removed; the emulation is now cycle-exact in this area.
Improved emulation of the Cosmic Ark 'starfield effect', also used in Stay Frosty; the emulation now looks very accurate.
Many improvements to the normal TIA rendering code, fixing problems when disabling certain graphical objects (certain objects were being misdrawn when others were enabled/disabled).
Improved TIA collision handling in the non-displayable area of the screen; this fixes problems in RAMRacer ROM.
Improved TIA redraw problems/graphical garbage when ROMs generate many more scanlines than a real TV would allow; this fixes problems in Q-Bert and the recent Playaround demo.
Added 'Fixed Debug Colors' option similar to the no$26k emulator. This allows each graphical object to be drawn in a fixed color, more clearly showing how the objects interact. HMOVE blanks are also shown in a different color. The TIA now emulates a 7-color register model, allowing even shared objects to show different colors. This is toggled with the 'Alt Comma' key.
Related to 'Fixed Debug Colors', HMOVE blanks can now toggled during TIA display with the 'Alt-m' key.
Added rewind functionality to the debugger, where states are saved after each step/trace/scanline/frame advance. Pressing 'Alt-r' or clicking the new rewind button will undo up to 100 previous operations.
Added 'electron beam indicator' to the debugger TIA output. Basically, this is a visual pointer indicating the position of the electron gun when scanning the display.
Added ability to completely disable fullscreen mode, which fixes problems for some people where fullscreen mode was being entered even if it wasn't enabled.
Added '-joyallow4' commandline argument and associated UI item to allow all 4 directions to be pressed simultaneously on a joystick.
Improvements made to the ROM launcher: the backspace key now goes to the parent directory (this key can be remapped), and previously selected directories are now automatically selected.
Added support for 2IN1 bankswitching scheme, where two ROMs are present in one binary. Currently supported are 2, 4, 8, and 16K ROMs.
Added bankswitch support for the 6K version of Starpath/Supercharger ROMS. This allows the 6K version of Cubis to run.
Updated bankswitching schemes FASC and MB; they are now known as FA and F0, respectively. This naming brings Stella in line with other emulators and programming utilities.
Fixed editing of cheats in the Cheat Dialog; the old cheat wasn't being removed.

Operating System Requirements:

This product is designed to run on the following operating systems:

Mac OS X 10.5 Intel
Mac OS X 10.5 PPC
Mac OS X 10.4 Intel
Mac OS X 10.4 PPC

Feedback Summary:

This Version:
Overall Rating:	Not rated (0.0)	Features:	Not rated (0.0)	Support:	Not rated (0.0)
Ease of Use:	Not rated (0.0)	Quality / Stability:	Not rated (0.0)	Price:	Not rated (0.0)

Key to Types of Feedback:

Reviews Reviews Troubleshooting Usage Tips Developer Notes Commentary Featured Reviews

Frustrating - Version: 2.2, 12/8/2007 05:31AM PST

nout72

I first tried the version 2.2 but didn't work on OSX Leopard, then I tried the latest version, 2.4.2 and it seemed to work very well.
If I couldn't control a certain game I just went to the game-properties and chose keyboard and everything worked fine.
I loved it!
Every game worked fine until I loaded Frogger, which I couldn't get to response in any way, from then on things no longer worked.
River Raid for instance: when I start a new game the plane steers right and crashes, I cannot control it. Very weird because I hadn't changed any settings.
No matter what I do, nothing works.
Pole Position, I can press left or right as much as I like, the car can no longer be controlled.

I deleted Stella's preference file, got rid of Frogger and even downloaded a new River Raid en Pole Position Rom.
I cleaned all user cashes, repaired the permissions, I even did a virus check, restarted my iMac numerous times and re-installed Stella.
Nothing!!
It won't work.
Crap!

Most Recent Replies: View All 1 Replies

Frustrating

This is the wrong version! Version 2.3.5 is out - Version: 2.2, 1/27/2007 08:01AM PST

(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)

peterpayne

Go here and click the downloads link. Looks like this wasn't updated here.

http://stella.sourceforge.net/

Poor documentation - Version: 2.2, 11/22/2006 10:34PM PST

sinebubbleXL

I'm still not quite sure how to play a game with this emulator. I can load a ROM fine, and I mapped my reset to a key not being used, but I don't know where to go beyond that. Basically, the instructions for this software are not user friendly.