Mac OS X | Games | Arcade | Stella

Stella - 2.2

Atari 2600 emulator

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(File Size: 2.7M)

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All Time:	(4.7)
Version 2.2:	(4.0)
Selected Version:	2.2
Release Date:	2006-04-07
License:	Freeware
Downloads (version 2.2):	3,149
Downloads (all versions):	17,127

Information Related to Version:

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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:

Added new ROM browser option which works like a normal filesystem browser, allowing navigation throughout the filesystem. The old mode of browsing is still present, and can be toggled at runtime. Related to this, fixed bug whereby sorting in the ROM launcher sometimes didn't work.
Integrated stella.pro properties into the application, resulting in faster startup time. Now Stella can be redistributed as a single binary; no external files are needed, but they will still be used if present.
Reworked ROM properties files once again. The 'user.pro' file has been removed, and all user-defined properties are stored in 'stella.pro' instead. You should delete all properties files when upgrading to this version, to take advantage of the speed increases.
Reworked settings files once again. Removed all references to a global settings file. Each user now gets a user-specific settings file only. If that file doesn't exist, the built-in defaults are used.
Added 'conditional saving' of the cheatcode and settings files, so that these files are only written to disk when absolutely necessary. This doesn't really affect desktop systems, but is very useful for systems with flashram-based storage (GP2X, WinCE, etc).
Reworked Settings class, hopefully fixing a bug whereby settings weren't being saved in certain cases (most evident in the OSX port).
Added 'tiadefaults' commandline option, which can also be toggled from within the GUI. This option disables all TIA positioning 'tweaks' that typically make a game look better, and present the image exactly as it would appear on a real 2600.
Added jitter-detection code for the paddle emulation, which should eliminate an annoying 'jittering' effect when using paddles with a Stelladaptor.
Related to jitter-detection, added '-pthresh' commandline option and GUI entry, which sets a bound below which the emulation detects jitter.
Fixed crash when adding one-shot cheats.
Fixed bug in RAM comparitive searches in the debugger.
Fixed bug with setting snapshot naming type from the GUI (it was always being set to 'romname').
Re-added low compatibility CPU emulation mode, since it benefits some slower systems. This is activated with the commandline argument '-cpu low'.
For the OSX port, added Universal binary support.
For the OSX port, reworked the menu handling, so that certain menu options are only enabled when it makes sense to do so.
For the GP2X port, fixed joystick deadzone issues and scroll bug in ROM launcher.
For the GP2X port, fixed issue with PAL ROMs causing a crash because of screen size. A message is now shown indicating that PAL ROMs are not yet supported.

Operating System Requirements:

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

Mac OS X 10.4 Intel
Mac OS X 10.4 PPC
Mac OS X 10.3.9
Mac OS X 10.3
Mac OS X 10.2
Mac OS X 10.1
Mac OS X 10.0

Additional Requirements:

Universal Binary

Feedback Summary:

Version 2.2:
Overall Rating:	(4.0)	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.