Stella

## A multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator

#### Release 3.0

## User's Guide

1. Introduction
2. What You Will Need
3. Installation
4. Games
5. Starting A Game
6. Changing Options
7. Keyboard Layout
8. Event Remapping / Input Devices
9. ROM Launcher
10. ROM Audit Mode
11. Stelladaptor Support
12. AtariVox/SaveKey Support
13. Developer Options/Integrated Debugger
14. Settings File
15. Cheatcode Manager
16. Game Properties
17. Palette Support
18. Acknowledgments
19. License and Disclaimer

February 1999 - September 2009
The Stella Team
Stella Homepage

# A Brief History of the Atari 2600

In the early 1970's, video arcade games gained commercial success for the first time. The American public was introduced to Pong, Tank, and other interactive video games which populated amusement parks, bars, and arcades. The games were successful enough to create interest for home versions, so in 1975 Atari released Home Pong and it was a smash hit. Other companies such as Magnavox and Coleco followed suit and released their own dedicated console games. Then in 1976, Fairchild Camera and Instrument introduced the Channel F system, the first cartridge based home video game system. The industry recognized that cartridge systems were the future of video gaming, and began development in that direction. In January 1977, RCA released the Studio II, another cartridge based system, although it only projected in black and white and seemed to be focused on educational titles. Then, in October 1977, Atari released the Atari VCS (Video Computer System) with an initial offering of nine games. This system, later renamed the Atari 2600, took the industry by storm and dominated the marketplace for years to come.

Because of oversupply, the Christmas season of 1977 was very rough on the video game industry, and the Atari 2600 was the only system that managed to emerge unscathed. Atari enjoyed strong sales in 1978 and a fantastic holiday season, as Atari released more games such as Outlaw, Spacewar, and Breakout. Internally however, Atari was at odds. Nolan Bushnell, the inventor of pong and founder of Atari, wound up leaving the company and purchased Pizza Time Theater, which later became the successful Chuck E. Cheese! In 1979 Atari continued their trend and released 12 more games which met with continued success. However, Atari was now facing some stiffer competition from the Mattel Intellivision and the Magnavox Odyssey2.

Atari needed a mega-hit in 1980 in order to squash the competition, and they found it in the home version of a game from Japan called Space Invaders. It was so popular that people were buying the Atari 2600 just so they could play Space Invaders at home. Following that, Atari released Adventure, which was the first video game to contain an Easter Egg - placing an object in a certain area revealed the programmer's name, Warren Robinett. 1980 was important for another reason - the creation of the first ever third party software producer, Activision. The company was formed by four Atari employees who were unsatisfied with the working conditions at the company. They released four games initially: Dragster, Fishing Derby, Checkers and Boxing. The games were very well received by the public, and revealed that the Atari 2600 was capable of better games than Atari themselves had been producing. Atari tried to prevent Activision from selling games, but they failed and Activision grossed $70 million that year.

By 1981, the video game industry was basically a horse race between the 2600 and the Intellivision. While the Intellivision was technologically superior in some respects, the 2600 continued to lead in sales. Atari released the home version of Asteroids, which was a huge success. Inspired by the success of Activision, another software development group called Imagic was formed. They would not release any games until 1982 however. Another company, Games by Apollo, was formed in Texas and released several games that year.

Coleco entered the market in 1982 with the release of the graphically superior Colecovision. To combat this new system, Atari produced the 5200, a technologically comparable system. The 2600 dropped $100 in price in order to remain competitive. Then a company called Arcadia released a peripheral called the Supercharger which played games in an audio cassette medium. This allowed for multiple loads and expanded the 2600's capabilities.

Atari released Pac-Man and E.T. that year, two incredibly hyped games which were critical flops. Although Pac-Man sold many copies, it was considered to be a poor translation of the arcade hit. However, there were many fantastic games produced for the 2600 during this period, and it was still selling strong.

Ever since the inception of Activision, Atari had been fighting to keep third parties from producing cartridges which they felt were stealing profits from them. Finally the issue was settled when Atari agreed to allow third party manufacturing in exchange for a royalty. Suddenly software companies began popping up all over, and 1982 saw releases from companies like Venturevision, Spectravision, Telesys, CBS, 20th Century Fox, US Games, M Network, Tigervision, Data Age, Imagic and Coleco. There was even a company that released a line of X-Rated games for the 2600 called Mystique. The year was financially successful for Atari, however there seemed to be a glut of software. Although there were many quality titles still produced, there was an increasing number of rushed games as manufacturers attempted to cash in on the craze.

More companies jumped on the band wagon in 1983. Zimag, Ultravision, Amiga, and others were also producing games and peripherals. It seemed as if there was just too much product to meet the demand, and as it turned out there was. By the end of the year, companies began folding. US Games, Data Age, Games by Apollo, Telesys and others all closed their doors from poor sales. A video game crash was occurring, and all companies were taking it on the chin.

1984 was a much more subdued year for the Atari 2600, and the price of the system had now dropped to $40-$50. Many were saying that the video game industry was dead. However, Atari surprised everyone by announcing the release of the 7800, and also promising more 2600 games with improved graphics and sound. Unfortunately, neither of these things happened in 1984 because Atari sold their home video game division to Jack Tramiel who believed that home computers would replace video game systems. No further mention of the 2600 or 7800 was made that year, and it appeared that they might be dead.

1985 was another very quiet year for Atari and video games in general, and only a few games were released for the 2600. Activision produced Cosmic Commuter and Ghostbusters, but with little fanfare or marketing, these games did not sell well. However, because of the huge game library and cheap price, Atari still sold over a million 2600 consoles in 1985.

There were very few plans for home video game systems by any company in 1986, since the market appeared to be dead. Then, to most people's surprise, Nintendo brought the NES to America and it was a smash hit, proving that video games still had a place in the US. Atari decided that maybe it would be a good idea to release the 7800 units it had in storage, and produce some more 2600 games. The 7800 was released with only 3 games initially available, although it was compatible with the 2600 library. They also redesigned the 2600 as the 2600 Jr., a machine with the same abilities, but a new look and marketing campaign. It was sold for less than $50.

Video games were once again selling phenomenally in 1987. Atari released several new titles, including Jr. Pac-Man, and also licensed a number of games from other companies such as Donkey Kong and Q*Bert. These new titles sold for $10-$15. Interestingly, a number of titles began appearing again from third part companies such as Epyx, Froggo, and Exus. It seemed that the 2600 was not dead yet!

In 1988, Atari rehired Nolan Bushnell and announced a number of new titles, including Secret Quest, a game written by Mr. Bushnell himself. Atari continued to manufacture these games even until 1989. However, it was apparent that the 2600, after its introduction over a decade ago, was finally at the end of its run. Although it was still produced and marketed outside of the US, the Atari 2600 finished its run in America. No other console has had such a long history or sold as many systems in the U.S.

Today, the 2600 still has a large number of fans who remember the countless games played over the years, and the years to come. There are even games being produced by hobbyists, some of them quite professionally, being released on newly burnt cartridges with labels and manuals. And the recent trend in retrogaming has brought many more video game fans to rediscover the 2600, and it continues to live on 22 years after its release!

Alexander Bilstein
February 1999

# 1. Introduction

Stella is a freely distributed multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator; originally developed for Linux by Bradford W. Mott. Stella allows you to enjoy all of your favorite 2600 games once again by emulating the 2600's hardware with software. Stella is written in C++, which allows it to be ported to other operating systems and architectures. Since its original release Stella has been ported to AcornOS, AmigaOS, DOS, FreeBSD, Linux, MacOS, OpenStep, OS/2, Unix, and Windows, as well as consoles such as Sega Dreamcast, GP2X, Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable (among others).

## Features

- High speed emulation using optimized C++ code
- Supports high quality sound emulation using code derived from Ron Fries' TIA Sound Emulation library, including stereo sound support
- Emulates the Atari 2600 Joystick Controllers using your computer's keyboard or joysticks
- Emulates the Atari 2600 Keyboard Controllers using your computer's keyboard
- Emulates the Atari 2600 Paddle Controllers using your computer's mouse, keyboard or joysticks
- Emulates the Atari 2600 Driving Controllers using your computer's keyboard or joysticks
- Emulates the CBS BoosterGrip Controller using your computer's keyboard or joysticks
- Emulates CX-22 / CX-80 style trackballs and Amiga Mouse using your computer's mouse
- Support for real Atari 2600 controllers using the Stelladaptor
- Support for the speech portion of a real AtariVox device connected to your PC using a USB adaptor
- Supports EEPROM emulation for AtariVox and SaveKey controllers
- Supports all known bankswitching schemes (let us know if there's one we missed)
- Supports cartridge autodetection for almost all bankswitching schemes
- Supports Supercharger single-load and multi-load games
- Supports property file for setting the properties associated with games
- Supports the NTSC, PAL, PAL and SECAM television standards in 50Hz and 60Hz mode
- Supports autodetection of display format for 50Hz vs. 60Hz modes
- Supports several "undocumented features" of the TIA graphics chip used by some games
- TIA emulation supports full collision checking
- Built-in extensive debugger
- Emulation of CRT TV systems with OpenGL shaders, including texturing, colour bleed, RF noise, and phosphor burn-off
- Built-in ROM database with information compiled by RomHunter

# 2. What You Will Need

The following sections outline the basic system requirements for running Stella under various operating systems.

Note that for this version of Stella, you are not required to have a stella.pro file. ROM properties are built in, and defaults will be used whenever necessary.

## General (required for all versions of Stella)

- Enough RAM for the OS + 16MB RAM for the emulation; 32MB highly recommended
- 15 bit color minimum; 16 bit color graphics card highly recommended
- SDL version 1.2.10 or greater, latest version highly recommended
- Zlib version 1.2.3 or greater
- CRT emulation effects require OpenGL 2.0 with GLSL (GL shading language) support
- Joysticks or gamepads are highly recommended
- Mouse or Stelladaptor with real paddles required for paddle emulation
- Some ROM images (See AtariAge for more information)

## Linux/UNIX

The Linux version of Stella is designed to work on a Linux Workstation with the following:

- Linux Kernel 2.4.x, Linux Kernel 2.6.x is highly recommended
- i386 or x86_64 class machine, with 32 or 64-bit distribution
- Other architectures (MIPS, PPC, PPC64, etc) have been confirmed to work, but aren't as well tested as i386/x86_64
- GNU C++ compiler version 4.x and the make utility are required for compiling the Stella source code

## Macintosh

The Mac version of Stella is designed to work on a Power Macintosh with the following:

- Mac OSX 10.3 or Above
- 500 MHz G4 PPC/Intel processor or above (Stella may work with a G3 processor, but no hardware is available for testing)
- OpenGL capable video card. Software rendering mode is still available, but as of OSX 10.4 is substandard compared to OpenGL.
- Xcode 3.0 is required to compile the Stella source code

## Windows

The Windows version of Stella is designed to work on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 with the following:

- Pentium class machine required; OpenGL accelerated video card highly recommended
- 64-bit port has been tested on Windows Vista/7 only; it may work on WinXP64 as well, but isn't a priority
- Visual C++ 2008 is required to compile the Stella source code

## Other

Stella is extremely portable, and in its lifetime has been ported to almost every platform where the SDL library exists. It is 32/64 bit clean in Linux/Unix and Windows (win32/x64), and is expected to be compatible with 64-bit OSX as well. The Stella team is interested in hearing about any problems you may encounter with diverse operating systems and CPU types.

# 3. Installation

Stella is distributed in both source and binary form. In general, you should always download and install the appropriate binary version. Compiling from source is only recommended for developers, or if the binary version doesn't work for some reason. Once you have a Stella distribution you should follow the instructions for your operating system given below.

If you have a supported joystick and driver installed and SDL can access the device, you can play games using joysticks.

Currently, sound is supported using SDL. As long as SDL can detect your sound card, Stella will be able to produce sound.

## Linux/UNIX

- Binary DEB (stella-release-1_arch.deb)
  1. Install the binary DEB with the following command:

            dpkg -i stella-release-1_arch.deb

- Binary RPM (stella-release-1.arch.rpm)
  1. Install the binary RPM with the following command:

            rpm -Uvh stella-release-1.arch.rpm

- Compressed tarball : building from source code (stella-release-src.tar.gz)
  - Debian-based distributions:
    1. Extract files from the distribution:

              tar zxvf stella-release-src.tar.gz

    2. Change directories to the stella-release directory
    3. Build the executable with the following command:

              dpkg-buildpackage

    4. Install the executable as indicated in the previous section
  - RPM-based distributions:
    1. Extract files from the distribution:

              tar zxvf stella-release-src.tar.gz

    2. Change directories to the stella-release/src/unix directory
    3. Build the executable with the following command:

              rpmbuild -ba stella.spec

    4. Install the executable as indicated in the previous section
  - Generic build:
    1. Extract files from the distribution:

              tar zxvf stella-release-src.tar.gz

    2. Change directories to the stella-release directory
    3. Configure the build with the following command:

              ./configure (--help for list of options)

    4. Build the executable with the following command:

              make

    5. Install the executable with the following command:

              make install

## Macintosh

- Binary DMG file (StellaOSXrelease.dmg)
  1. Mount the disk image, then copy the StellaOSXrelease folder to your hard drive.
- Compressed tarball : building from source code (stella-release-src.tar.gz)
  1. Extract files from the distribution using an archiving program that supports gzipped tar files
  2. Open the stella-release/src/macosx/stella.xcodeproj file using Xcode 3.0
  3. Make sure you have the SDL framework installed where Xcode can find it
  4. Build the 'Stella' project
  5. Copy the StellaOSX.app package somewhere on your system

## Windows

- Binary EXE installer (stella-release-arch.exe)
  1. Double-click on the installer and follow the onscreen instructions
- Binary ZIP file (stella-release-windows.zip)
  1. Unzip the binary ZIP file using Winzip or Total Commander
  2. Copy the contents of either 32-bit or 64-bit directory somewhere on your system
- Compressed tarball : building from source code (stella-release-src.tar.gz)
  1. Extract files from the distribution using Winzip, Total Commander, or some other archiving program that supports gzipped tar files
  2. Open the stella-release/src/win32/Stella.sln file using Visual C++ 2008
  3. Make sure you have library and header files installed for SDL and zlib for the correct architecture (32-bit, 64-bit or both), and that Visual Studio is properly configured to find them
  4. Build the 'Stella' solution, making sure to correctly select either 'Win32' or 'x64' mode (depending on the version of Windows you have installed)
  5. For installation:
     - Double-click on Create_builds.bat to generate ZIP and EXE files; you must have the 'flip' and 'zip' applications installed on your system. This will generate the EXE and ZIP files, which can be installed as explained above
     OR
     - Manually copy the Stella.exe, SDL.dll and zlibwapi.dll files somewhere on your system (they may be located in the 'Release' or 'x64\Release' directories)

# 4. Games

Stella allows you to play games using ROM images of cartridges and cassettes.

## Cartridges

Most games for the Atari 2600 came on cartridges. A cartridge usually consists of a single Read Only Memory (ROM) chip which contains the data and code for the game. Plugging a cartridge into the Atari 2600 allows the 2600's microprocessor to access the program stored on the cartridge.

In a similar way you must "plug" a copy of a cartridge into Stella when you want to play it. Having a ROM image, BIN file, of the cartridge allows you to do this. A ROM image is a file, which contains the actual data and code read from the cartridge. There are several ways to obtain a ROM image of a cartridge:

1. If you're handy with a soldering iron then you can design and build a device that plugs into the printer port of a PC and read the data from the cartridge
2. You can purchase the Atari 2600 Action Packs by Activision and use their ROM images
3. You can search around the internet and find ROM images to download

WARNING: It is illegal to use ROM images of games that you do not actually own since these games are still copyrighted.

## Supercharger Cassettes

Supercharger games were not stored on cartridges instead they were stored on cassette tapes. The Supercharger, which plugged into the Atari 2600's cartridge slot, loaded games into its 6K of Random Access Memory (RAM) using a standard audio cassette player. The Supercharger also supported multi-loading, which allowed games to be broken into several segments and loaded at different times. This was useful for large games which had distinct parts such as role playing games.

Most of the available Supercharger ROM images are stored in 8448 bytes files. However, ROM images of multi-load games are sometimes stored in a set of 8448 byte files. The names of these files have a two character sequence number in them which indicates what load they are. The sequence starts with zero, skips a few numbers and then increments by one.

Stella supports multi-load games, however, the set of ROM images must be combined into a single ROM image file. For example to create a multi-load ROM image file for Survival Island you would do the following under Unix:

       % cat survivl0.bin survivl6.bin survivl7.bin > survivl.bin

or to create it under DOS you would:

       % copy /b survivl0.bin+survivl6.bin+survivl7.bin survivl.bin

Once you have the multi-load ROM image file, survivl.bin in this case, you can play the game using it.

# 5. Starting A Game

Once Stella is installed and you have some ROM images you're ready to start playing.

## Integrated GUI

Stella contains an integrated GUI for all ports. Commandline support is also available for those who want to use it.

If you start Stella and do not specify a ROM image, it will start in 'ROM Launcher' mode:

If this is your first time starting Stella, you'll probably want to set the locations for ROM files, snapshots, and other external paths. These items are accessible by clicking the Options => Config Files buttons. Many other options can be set here, but for now we'll concentrate on Config Files only:

Config Files dialog:

Item | Brief description | For more information, see Commandline
--- | --- | ---
Rom path | specifies location of ROM files | -romdir
State path | specifies location of state files | -statedir
Cheat file | specifies location of cheatfile database | -cheatfile
Palette file | specifies location of user palette | -palettefile
Properties file | specifies location of external stella.pro database | -propsfile
Snapshot path | specifies where to load/save snapshots | -ssdir
EEPROM path | specifies location of EEPROM files | -eepromdir
Multiple snapshots | whether to overwrite old snapshots | -sssingle
Snapshot in 1x mode | save snapshot in 1x mode, without filtering | -ss1x

If you include the '~' character at the beginning of a path, it will be expanded to your home directory. For Linux/UNIX, this corresponds to your $HOME directory, but for Windows it means your 'My Documents' folder.

Selecting a new path for an item is done by clicking the appropriate button(s) (in this case, 'Rom path' was selected), which will show a browser as follows:

The browser should be self-explanatory. The 'Go Up' button moves to the parent folder (if it exists), and the 'Base Dir' button moves to the base directory where, by default, all Stella-related files are stored. Click 'Choose' to select an item, or 'Cancel' to exit the browser.

Once you've changed your settings, you can start emulation by selecting a ROM and pressing 'Enter' or clicking 'Select', or double-clicking a ROM. Note that some games require you to 'Reset' the console before you start playing. In this case, you need to hit the virtual reset switch, which by default is the F2 key. Also, some games may require that you press the joystick fire button to begin, which by default is the Left Control/Cmd or Space key(s). If a game uses a more complex controller, see Section 7 - Keyboard Layout for more information.

## Command Line

Stella can also be used from the commandline (assuming your operating system has a commandline).

To run Stella from the commandline, use the following format:

       stella [options ...] ROM_FILENAME

Options ('0' or 'false' indicates false, '1' or 'true' indicates true, others are self-explanatory):

Argument | Description
--- | ---

    -video <soft|gl>

Use SDL software or OpenGL rendering mode.

    -gl_lib <filename>

OpenGL mode only. Specify the OpenGL library to use (only use this if you know what you're doing). For OSX, this should probably be left blank.

    -gl_filter <nearest|linear>

OpenGL mode only. Use GL_NEAREST or GL_LINEAR filtering. GL_NEAREST results in a scaled, pixelated image, while GL_LINEAR introduces blurring.

    -gl_aspectn <number>
    -gl_aspectp <number>

OpenGL mode only. Specify the amount (as a percentage) to scale the TIA image width in NTSC and PAL mode. Since many video modes do not use square pixels, you can reduce width until the pixels appear square. Allowable values are 80 - 120; I find 85 - 90 gives the most authentic look for NTSC, and 105 - 110 for PAL.

    -gl_fsmax <1|0>

OpenGL mode only. Stretch TIA image while in fullscreen mode.

    -gl_vsync <1|0>

OpenGL mode only. Synchronize screen updates to the vertical blank period. This can result in smoother updates, and eliminate tearing.

    -gl_texrect <1|0>

OpenGL mode only. Enable GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE extension. This causes problems for some people using ATI video cards.

    -tv_tex <off|normal|stag>

OpenGL 2.0 mode only. Enable TV texturing. The GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE extension must be disabled for this to work correctly.

    -tv_bleed <off|low|medium|high>

OpenGL 2.0 mode only. Enable TV colour bleed emulation. A fast video card with at least 128MB RAM is required to use 'high'. The GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE extension must be disabled for this to work correctly.

    -tv_noise <off|low|medium|high>

OpenGL 2.0 mode only. Enable TV radio frequency noise emulation. A fast video card with at least 128MB RAM is required to use 'high'. The GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE extension must be disabled for this to work correctly.

    -tv_phos <1|0>

OpenGL 2.0 mode only. Enable phosphor effect of TV image. This is in addition to the currently emulated software phosphor effect. The GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE extension must be disabled for this to work correctly.

    -tia_filter <filter>

Use the specified filter while in TIA/emulation mode. Currently, this can be zoomZx, where Z={2..10}.

    -fullscreen <1|0|-1>

Play the game in fullscreen mode (1 or 0), or completely disable fullscreen mode (-1).

    -fullres <auto|WxH>

Use the given resolution in fullscreen mode. If 'auto', let Stella decide which resolution to use.

    -center <1|0>

Centers game window (if possible).

    -grabmouse <1|0>

Keeps the mouse in the game window.

    -palette <standard|z26|user>

Set the palette to either normal Stella, the one used in the z26 emulator, or a user-defined palette.

    -colorloss <1|0>

Enable/disable the PAL color-loss effect.

    -timing <sleep|busy>

Determines type of wait to perform between processing frames. Sleep will release the CPU as much as possible, and is the preferred method on laptops (and other low-powered devices) and when using GL VSync. Busy will emulate z26 busy-wait behaviour, and use all possible CPU time, but may eliminate graphical 'tearing' in software mode.

    -framerate <number>

Display the given number of frames per second. Normally, Stella will determine framerate based on number of scanlines. Setting this to 0 automatically enables auto-frame calculation (ie, framerate based on scanlines).

    -sound <1|0>

Enable or disable sound generation.

    -fragsize <number>

Specify the sound fragment size to use. Linux/Mac seems to work with 512, Windows may need 2048 (but newer versions work with 512 as well).

    -freq <number>

Set sound sample output frequency (0 - 48000). Default is 31400. Do not change unless you experience sound issues.

    -tiafreq <number>

Set sound sample generation frequency (0 - 48000). Default is 31400. Do not change unless you experience sound issues.

    -volume <number>

Set the volume (0 - 100).

    -clipvol <1|0>

Enable volume clipping (eliminates popping). Do not change unless you experience sound issues.

    -cheat <code>

Use the specified cheatcode (see Cheat section for description).

    -showinfo <1|0>

Shows some game info on the commandline while Stella is running.

    -joydeadzone <number>

Sets the joystick deadzone area for analog joysticks. Accepts a number from 0 - 29, and uses the formula 3200 + number * 1000. So the possible deadzone values range from 3200 to 32200.

    -joyallow4 <1|0>

Allow all 4 directions on a joystick to be pressed simultaneously. Bumper Bash ignores this setting, and always allows all 4 directions.

    -pspeed <number>

Speed for digital emulation of paddles (1-15).

    -sa1 <left|right>

Stelladaptor 1 emulates specified joystick port.

    -sa2 <left|right>

Stelladaptor 2 emulates specified joystick port.

    -autoslot <1|0>

Automatically switch to the next available save state slot after saving a ROM state file.

    -audiofirst <1|0>

Initialize the audio subsystem before video when emulating a ROM. This seems to be required when using ATI video cards in OpenGL mode in Windows. Since it doesn't hurt other systems, the default is 1.

    -fastscbios <1|0>

Disable Supercharger BIOS progress loading bars.

    -ssdir <path>

The directory to save snapshot files to.

    -sssingle <1|0>

Generate single snapshot instead of many, overwriting any previous snapshots.

    -ss1x <1|0>

Ignore any scaling applied to the TIA image, and save snapshot in unscaled (1x) mode.

    -rominfo <rom>

Display detailed information about the given ROM, and then exit Stella.

    -listrominfo

Prints relevant contents of the Stella ROM database, one ROM per line, and then exit Stella. This can be used for external frontends.

    -uselauncher <1|0>

Use the built-in ROM launcher. If disabled, launching Stella will simply print a help message, and exiting a ROM will completely exit the program.

    -launcherres <WxH>

Set the size of the ROM launcher.

    -launcherfont <small|medium|large>

Set the size of the font in the ROM launcher.

    -launcherexts <allfiles|allroms|LIST>

Specifies which files to show in the ROM launcher ('allfiles' is self-explanatory, 'allroms' is all files with valid rom extensions (currently: a26, bin, rom, gz, zip), 'LIST' is a ':' separated list of valid rom extensions.

    -romviewer <0|1|2>

Hide ROM info viewer in ROM launcher mode (0), or use the given zoom level (1 or 2).

    -uipalette <1|2>

Used the specified palette for UI elements. This isn't yet complete.

    -listdelay <delay>

Set the amount of time to wait between treating successive keypresses as a single word in list widgets (value can range from 300-1000).

    -mwheel <lines>

Set the number of lines a mousewheel will scroll in the UI.

    -romdir <dir>

Set the directory where the ROM launcher will start.

    -statedir <dir>

Set the directory in which to save state files.

    -cheatfile <file>

Set the full pathname of the cheatfile database.

    -palettefile <file>

Set the full pathname of the user-defined palette file.

    -propsfile <file>

Set the full pathname of the ROM properties file.

    -eepromdir <dir>

Set the directory in which to save EEPROM files.

    -avoxport <name>

Set the name of the serial port where an AtariVox is connected.

    -help

Prints a help message describing these options, and then exit Stella.

The following are useful to developers. Only use them if you know what you're doing! Note that in all cases, the values supplied to the arguments are not case sensitive.

Argument | Description
--- | ---

    -debuggerres <WxH>

Set the size of the debugger window.

    -break <address>

Set a breakpoint at specified address.

    -debug

Immediately jump to debugger mode when starting Stella.

    -holdreset

Start the emulator with the Game Reset switch held down.

    -holdselect

Start the emulator with the Game Select switch held down.

    -holdbutton0

Start the emulator with the left joystick button held down.

    -stats <1|0>

Overlay console info on the TIA image during emulation.

    -tiafloat <1|0>

Set unused TIA pins to be floating on a read/peek.

    -bs <type>

Set "Cartridge.Type" property. See the Game Properties section for valid types.

    -type <type>

Same as using -bs.

    -channels <Mono|Stereo>

Set "Cartridge.Sound" property.

    -ld <A|B>

Set "Console.LeftDifficulty" property.

    -rd <A|B>

Set "Console.RightDifficulty" property.

    -tv <Color|BlackAndWhite>

Set "Console.TelevisionType" property.

    -sp <Yes|No>

Set "Console.SwapPorts" property.

    -lc <type>

Set "Controller.Left" property. See the Game Properties section for valid types.

    -rc <type>

Set "Controller.Right" property. See the Game Properties section for valid types.

    -bc <type>

Sets both "Controller.Left" and "Controller.Right" properties. See the Game Properties section for valid types.

    -cp <Yes|No>

Set "Controller.SwapPaddles" property.

    -format <format>

Set "Display.Format" property. See the Game Properties section for valid formats.

    -ystart <number>

Set "Display.YStart" property (0 - 64).

    -height <number>

Set "Display.Height" property (210 - 256).

    -pp <Yes|No>

Set "Display.Phosphor" property.

    -ppblend <number>

Set "Display.PPBlend" property, used for phosphor effect (0-100). Default is 77.

## Command Menu

Normally, one would use the keyboard shortcuts for controlling the 'virtual' switches in Stella (ie, the commands associated with the function keys as described in Section 7 - Keyboard Layout. However, another alternative is available. Pressing the '\' key toggles a command menu dialog as follows:

This dialog contains a set of buttons that represent the same functionality as the function keys. You may find this useful if you cannot remember all the function key events, or you wish to use Stella without a keyboard (ie, in a standalone gaming system).

# 6. Changing Options

All settings can be changed within the integrated Options UI while Stella is running (unless otherwise noted - some settings require an application restart). The Options menu can be accessed from the ROM launcher by clicking the Options button, or in-game by pressing the 'Tab' key.

Options Menu dialog:

Video Settings dialog:

Item | Brief description | For more information, see Commandline
--- | --- | ---
Renderer (*) | use specified rendering mode (requires restart) | -video
TIA Filter | filter for emulation mode | -tia_filter
TIA Palette | palette for emulation mode | -palette
FS Res | resolution for fullscreen mode | -fullres
Timing (*) | how to wait between frames (requires restart) | -timing
GL Filter | OpenGL filter mode | -gl_filter
GL Aspect (N) | OpenGL width of TIA image in NTSC mode | -gl_aspectn
GL Aspect (P) | OpenGL width of TIA image in PAL mode | -gl_aspectp
Framerate | frames per second in emulation mode | -framerate
Fullscreen mode | self-explanatory | -fullscreen
PAL color-loss | use PAL color-loss effect | -colorloss
GL FS Stretch | stretch fullscreen OpenGL in emulation mode | -gl_fsmax
GL VSync | enable OpenGL vertical synchronization | -gl_vsync
Grab mouse | keep mouse in SDL window | -grabmouse
Center window (*) | attempt to center SDL window (requires restart) | -center
Fast SC/AR BIOS | Skip progress loading bars for SuperCharger ROMs | -fastscbios

Video Settings dialog (TV Effects):

Item | Brief description | For more information, see Commandline
--- | --- | ---
TV Color Texture | emulate TV pixel texturing | -tv_tex
TV Color Bleed | emulate TV color bleed | -tv_bleed
TV Image Noise | emulate TV RF image noise | -tv_noise
TV Phosphor Burn-off | emulate TV phosphor mixing | -tv_phos

Audio Settings dialog:

Item | Brief description | For more information, see Commandline
--- | --- | ---
Volume | self-explanatory | -volume
Fragment size | set size of audio buffers | -fragsize
Output freq | change sound output frequency (advanced) | -freq
TIA freq | change TIA output frequency (advanced) | -tiafreq
Clip volume | Eliminate popping in sound generation (advanced) | -clipvol
Enable sound | self-explanatory | -sound

Input Settings dialog:

|  | This dialog is described in further detail in Section 8 - Event Remapping.

UI Settings dialog (3 tabs):

|  | This tab is described in further detail in Section 9 - ROM Launcher.

Item | Brief description | For more information, see Commandline
--- | --- | ---
Debugger Width/Height | self-explanatory (requires restart) | -debuggerres

Item | Brief description | For more information, see Commandline
--- | --- | ---
Interface Palette | palette to use for UI elements | -uipalette
List quick delay | time to wait between keypresses in listwidget | -listdelay
Mouse wheel scroll | number of lines mouse scroll will move in listwidget | -mscroll

Audit ROMs dialog:

|  | This dialog is described in further detail in Section 10 - ROM Audit Mode.

Game Properties dialog:

|  | This dialog allows you to change all ROM properties as described in Section 16 - Game Properties.

# 7. Keyboard Layout

The Atari 2600 console controls and controllers are mapped to the computer's keyboard as shown in the following tables. However, most of these events can be remapped to other keys on your keyboard or buttons on your joystick (see Section 8 - Event Remapping). The tables below show the default settings.

Console Controls (can be remapped)

Function | Key (Standard) | Key (OSX)
--- | --- | ---
Exit emulator | Control + q | Cmd + q
Exit game mode/enter launcher mode | Escape | Escape
Enter/exit options mode | Tab | Tab
Enter/exit command mode | Backslash (\) | Backslash (\)
Enter/exit debugger | Backquote (`) | Backquote (`)
Select Game | F1 | F1
Reset Game | F2 | F2
Color TV | F3 | F3
Black/White TV | F4 | F4
Left Player Difficulty B | F5 | F5
Left Player Difficulty A | F6 | F6
Right Player Difficulty B | F7 | F7
Right Player Difficulty A | F8 | F8
Save state to current slot | F9 | F9
Change current state slot | F10 | F10
Load state from current slot | F11 | F11
Save PNG snapshot | F12 | F12
Pause/resume emulation | Pause | Pause

Joystick / BoosterGrip Controller (can be remapped)

Left Joystick (Joy0) | Right Joystick (Joy1)
--- | ---

Function | Key
--- | ---
Joystick Up | Up arrow
Joystick Down | Down arrow
Joystick Left | Left arrow
Joystick Right | Right arrow
Fire Button | Space
Trigger Button | 4
Booster Button | 5

Function | Key
--- | ---
Joystick Up | Y
Joystick Down | H
Joystick Left | G
Joystick Right | J
Fire Button | F
Trigger Button | 6
Booster Button | 7

Paddle Controller digital emulation (can be remapped independently of joystick controller)

Left Paddles | Right Paddles
--- | ---

Function | Key
--- | ---
Paddle 0 decrease | Same as 'Joy0 Left'
Paddle 0 increase | Same as 'Joy0 Right'
Paddle 0 Fire | Same as 'Joy0 Fire'
Paddle 1 decrease | Same as 'Joy0 Up'
Paddle 1 increase | Same as 'Joy0 Down'
Paddle 1 Fire | Same as 'Joy0 Booster'

Function | Key
--- | ---
Paddle 2 decrease | Same as 'Joy1 Left'
Paddle 2 increase | Same as 'Joy1 Right'
Paddle 2 Fire | Same as 'Joy1 Fire'
Paddle 3 decrease | Same as 'Joy1 Up'
Paddle 3 increase | Same as 'Joy1 Down'
Paddle 3 Fire | Same as 'Joy1 Booster'

Driving Controller (cannot be remapped, always associated with joystick controller)

Left Driving | Right Driving
--- | ---

Function | Key
--- | ---
Left Direction | Same as 'Joy0 Left'
Right Direction | Same as 'Joy0 Right'
Fire Button | Same as 'Joy0 Fire'

Function | Key
--- | ---
Left Direction | Same as 'Joy1 Left'
Right Direction | Same as 'Joy1 Right'
Fire Button | Same as 'Joy1 Fire'

Keypad Controller (can be remapped)

Left Keypad | Right Keypad
--- | ---

Pad Button | Key
--- | ---
1 | 1
2 | 2
3 | 3
4 | Q
5 | W
6 | E
7 | A
8 | S
9 | D
. | Z
0 | X
# | C

Pad Button | Key
--- | ---
1 | 8
2 | 9
3 | 0
4 | I
5 | O
6 | P
7 | K
8 | L
9 | ;
. | ,
0 | .
# | /

Developer Keys in TIA mode (cannot be remapped)

Function | Key (Standard) | Key (OSX)
--- | --- | ---
Set "Display.YStart" to next larger value | Alt + PageUp | Shift-Cmd + PageUp
Set "Display.YStart" to next smaller value | Alt + PageDown | Shift-Cmd + PageDown
Set "Display.Height" to next larger value | Control + PageUp | Cmd + PageUp
Set "Display.Height" to next smaller value | Control + PageDown | Cmd + PageDown
Toggle frame stats (scanline count/fps/bs type/etc) | Alt + l | Shift-Cmd + l
Toggle TIA Player0 object | Alt + z | Shift-Cmd + z
Toggle TIA Player1 object | Alt + x | Shift-Cmd + x
Toggle TIA Missile0 object | Alt + c | Shift-Cmd + c
Toggle TIA Missile1 object | Alt + v | Shift-Cmd + v
Toggle TIA Ball object | Alt + b | Shift-Cmd + b
Toggle TIA Playfield object | Alt + n | Shift-Cmd + n
Toggle TIA HMOVE blanks | Alt + m | Shift-Cmd + m
Toggle TIA 'Fixed Debug Colors' mode | Alt + Comma | Shift-Cmd + Comma
Turn all TIA objects off | Alt + . | Shift-Cmd + .
Turn all TIA objects on | Alt + / | Shift-Cmd + /

Other Keys (cannot be remapped, except those marked with '*')

Function | Key (Standard) | Key (OSX)
--- | --- | ---
Switch to next larger zoom level | Alt + = | Cmd + =
Switch to next smaller zoom level | Alt + - | Cmd + -
Toggle fullscreen/windowed mode | Alt + Enter | Cmd + Enter
Decrease volume (*) | Alt + [ | Shift-Cmd + [
Increase volume (*) | Alt + ] | Shift-Cmd + ]
Grab mouse (keep mouse in game window) | Control + g | Cmd + g
Toggle display palette (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) | Control + f | Cmd + f
Save current properties to a new properties file | Control + s | Cmd + s
Set mouse to emulate paddle 0 | Control + 0 | Cmd + 0
Set mouse to emulate paddle 1 | Control + 1 | Cmd + 1
Set mouse to emulate paddle 2 | Control + 2 | Cmd + 2
Set mouse to emulate paddle 3 | Control + 3 | Cmd + 3
Reload current ROM (singlecart ROM, TIA mode) Load next game in ROM (multicart ROM, TIA mode) | Control + r | Cmd + r
Reload ROM listing (ROM launcher mode) | Control + r | Cmd + r
Emulate 'frying' effect (TIA mode) (*) | Backspace | Backspace
Go to parent directory (UI mode) (*) | Backspace | Backspace
Toggle 'phosphor' effect | Alt + p | Shift-Cmd + p
Toggle palette | Control + p | Cmd + p
Toggle PAL color-loss effect | Control + l | Cmd + l

UI keys in Text Editing areas (cannot be remapped)

Key | Editor Function
--- | ---
Home | Move cursor to beginning of line
End | Move cursor to end of line
Delete | Remove character to right of cursor
Backspace | Remove character to left of cursor
Control-a | Same function as 'Home'
Control-e | Same function as 'End'
Control-d | Same function as 'Delete'
Control-k | Remove all characters from cursor to end of line
Control-u | Remove all characters from cursor to beginning of line
Control-w | Remove entire word to left of cursor
Control-Left | Move cursor to beginning of word to the left
Control-Right | Move cursor to beginning of word to the right
Control-c | Copy entire line to clipboard (not complete)
Control-v | Paste clipboard contents (not complete)

# 8. Event Remapping / Input Devices

Almost every event in Stella can be remapped to another key on the keyboard or to buttons on up to eight joysticks/gamepads (see Section 7 - Keyboard Layout for those events which can/cannot be remapped).

Note that there are currently two separate event modes in Stella; emulation mode and user-interface (UI) mode. Each mode has separate mappings, so (for example) while in emulation mode, the left arrow could mean 'joystick 0 left', while in UI mode it could mean 'move cursor left'. Emulation mode occurs whenever you're actually playing a game. UI mode occurs whenever a user interface is present (ROM launcher, debugger, settings menu, etc). Because of these different modes, there are two separate mapping areas.

To remap an event:

1. Enter Options menu and click the Input Settings button.
2. If you wish to remap emulation events, click the 'Emul. Events' tab. Otherwise, click the 'UI Events' tab for user interface events.
3. Select event you want to remap and click the 'Map' button.
4. Press a key or a joystick button, and that key/button will be bound to the selected event. If nothing seems to happen, either Stella can't see the input device, or the selected event doesn't support being remapped to the input device.
5. Erase a mapping by clicking 'Erase', or cancel a remap in progress by clicking 'Cancel'.
6. Reset default mappings by clicking 'Defaults'.

The following screenshots illustrate the event remapping process:

Virtual devices can be configured under the 'Virtual Devs' tab, shown below:

Item | Brief description | For more information, see Commandline
--- | --- | ---
Stelladaptor X is | Specifies which virtual port each Stelladaptor uses (See Section 11 - Stelladaptor Support) | -sa1 & -sa2
Joy deadzone | Joystick deadzone area for analog joysticks | -joydeadzone
Mouse is paddle | The mouse can emulate either paddle 0, 1, 2, or 3. |
Paddle speed | Speed used when emulating a paddle using a digital device | -pspeed
AVox serial port | Described in further detail in Section 12 - AtariVox/SaveKey Support | -avoxport
Allow all 4 ... | Allow all 4 joystick directions to be pressed simultaneously | -joyallow4

# 9. ROM Launcher

Several options are configurable in the ROM launcher. The size of the launcher and fonts, as well as the 'ROM info viewer' can be changed in UI Settings => Launcher dialog, as shown below:

Most of the options are self-explanatory, except for the 'ROM Info viewer', which is described below.

Stella supports viewing snapshots and ROM properties of the currently selected ROM in the ROM launcher. Support is automatic, as long as your snapshot directory contains snapshots in the appropriate format. An archive of updated snapshots will be available on the Stella webpage. This archive may be updated periodically as new ROMs are found, and also for each new release of Stella. Note that the snapshots can be any size generated by Stella; they will be resized accordingly.

Currently, there are several restrictions for this feature:

1. The ROM info viewer can be shown in 1x or 2x mode only.
2. To view snapshots in 1x mode, the ROM launcher window must be sized at least 640x480. If the launcher isn't large enough, the functionality will be disabled.
3. To view snapshots in 2x mode, the ROM launcher window must be sized at least 1000x760. If the launcher isn't large enough, an attempt will be made to use 1x mode.

The following snapshots illustrate the various font sizes and rom info zoom levels:

ROM info viewer in 1x mode, UI sized 800x480, small launcher font:

ROM info viewer in 1x mode, UI sized 1000x760, medium launcher font:

ROM info viewer in 2x mode, UI sized 1400x900, large launcher font:

The text box in the upper right corner can be used to narrow down the results in the ROM listing. When this box is empty, all files are shown (subject to the restrictions from the filtering option, explained below). Typing characters here where show only those files that match that pattern. For example, typing 'Activision' will show only files that contain the word 'Activision' in their name. This is very useful for quickly finding a group of related ROMs. Note that the search is not case sensitive, so you don't need to worry about capital or lower-case letters.

The ROM launcher also contains a context menu, selected by clicking the right mouse button anywhere in the current window. This context menu contains the following items:

1. Override properties: Selecting this option shows a dialog whereby ROM properties can be temporarily overriden. Selecting options from this dialog will cause all ROMs launched after that to use those properties you specify. Clicking Default will disable its functionality, and use ROM properties as defined by the ROM itself. The dialog is as follows (See Section 16 - Game Properties for more information concerning ROM properties):

   Item | For more information, see Commandline
   --- | ---
   Bankswitch type | -bs
   Left Difficulty | -ld
   Right Difficulty | -rd
   TV Type | -tv
   Hold Select down | -holdselect
   Hold Reset down | -holdreset
   Hold Button 0 down | -holdbutton0

2. Filter listing: Selecting this option shows a dialog whereby one can filter the types of files shown in the listing. The dialog is as follows:

   Currently, the choices are as follows:

   - All files - self explanatory, show all files in the ROM listing. This is the default, and emulates the behaviour of all previous versions of Stella.
   - All roms - show only files with a valid ROM extension. Currently, this means extensions .a26, .bin, .rom, .gz, .zip.
   - ROMs ending with - show only files with a ROM extension as selected from the checkboxes.
3. Reload listing: Selecting this performs a reload of the current listing. It is an alternative to pressing the Ctrl/Cmd-R key combo.

# 10. ROM Audit Mode

Stella has the ability to rename all your ROMs according to the name specified in the properties database. This is useful if you've downloaded ROMs in DOS 8.3 naming format, and wish the filenames to be more descriptive, or the current filenames are too large to see in the launcher.

This feature is accessible from Options => Audit ROMs, and is only available while in ROM launcher mode. The dialog box for this feature is as follows:

Simply select the ROM path with the 'Audit path' button, and click the 'Audit' button. The ROMs will then be renamed according to their internal properties. When the operation is complete, the number of ROMs that were renamed (as well as ones that weren't) will be shown.

There are several items to take note of:

- THIS OPERATION CANNOT BE UNDONE. I cannot stress this enough; if you aren't completely sure you want to rename your ROMs, don't use this function. There is no undo feature, and one won't be added.
- Only filenames that Stella considers to be valid ROMs will be considered. Currently, this means files that end in '.a26', '.bin', '.rom', '.gz' and '.zip'. Files which don't have these extensions will be ignored.
- If a valid ROM doesn't have a properties entry, it will be ignored.

# 11. Stelladaptor Support

Stella supports real Atari 2600 joysticks, paddles and driving controllers using the Stelladaptor device.

Stella can use up to two Stelladaptors; any extra ones are ignored. Stelladaptor devices will be automatically detected and configured. Devices can be plugged/unplugged while the emulator is running, although you will need to restart the game currently being emulated.

The detection and configuration is as follows:

- The first Stelladaptor found will act as the left game port on a real Atari. Depending on the device, Stella will detect it as either the left joystick, paddles 0 & 1, or the left driving controller.
- The second Stelladaptor found will act as the right game port on a real Atari. Depending on the device, Stella will detect it as either the right joystick, paddles 2 & 3, or the right driving controller.
- Any other Stelladaptors will be ignored.
- The assignment ordering of Stelladaptor to port can be redefined with 'sa1' and 'sa2' (see description in 'Starting a Game').

# 12. AtariVox/SaveKey Support

Stella supports a real AtariVox device for the speech/SpeakJet portion of the controller. You will need a real AtariVox device, located here, as well as some means of connecting it to your computer (some sort of serial port/USB adaptor). There should be drivers for your serial convertor, which allow your particular operating system to 'see' the device (configuring this is outside the scope of this document). Once your operating system properly detects the AtariVox, you will need to tell Stella which serial port it is connected to. This is done by using the '-avoxport' commandline argument, or by setting it in the UI under the 'Virtual Devs' tab in 'Input Settings', as described in Section 8.

Note that you must use the entire name of the port as specified by your operating system. For example, in Windows this would be COM1, COM2, etc; Linux and OSX tend to use names similar to '/dev/xxxxxx'. For now, only Linux/UNIX, OSX, and Win32 are supported.

Support for the EEPROM portion of the AtariVox and SaveKey is currently emulated. That is, a file will be created on your computer simulating the EEPROM; the actual EEPROM hardware itself will not be accessed or modified. This is very useful in the testing stages of creating a new game, since writing to a real EEPROM many times will eventually wear it out.

The location of the EEPROM files are configurable through the '-eepromdir' commandline argument and within the application itself (see Section 5 - Starting a Game). If the path for these files hasn't been set, the default location will depend on the version of Stella, as follows:

Linux/Unix | $HOME/.stella/atarivox_eeprom.dat $HOME/.stella/savekey_eeprom.dat
Macintosh | $HOME/.stella/atarivox_eeprom.dat $HOME/.stella/savekey_eeprom.dat
Windows | %APPDATA%\Stella\atarivox_eeprom.dat %APPDATA%\Stella\savekey_eeprom.dat OR _BASEDIR_\atarivox_eeprom.dat _BASEDIR_\savekey_eeprom.dat (if a file named 'basedir.txt' exists in the application directory containing the full pathname for _BASEDIR_)

Note that these EEPROM files will be created when necessary, and initialized as a real EEPROM would be (containing all $FF). The files can be manually deleted, which is very useful in testing cases where a ROM is accessing the EEPROM for the first time.

# 13. Developer Options/Integrated Debugger

Many options are available for ROM developers, which are described in different sections of this manual, as follows:

- Developer key-combo shortcuts, used to change TIA state dynamically (ie, while the emulation is still running). See the Developer Keys in TIA mode options under Section 7 - Keyboard Layout for more information.
- Commandline options influencing emulation state. See the Command Line options under Section 5 - Starting a Game) for more information.
- Viewing TIA/console information overlaid on the TIA image. This option can be enabled from the commandline or using the Alt/ShiftCmd-L key combo, and is extremely useful for viewing the current scanline count and associated frames per second, bankswitch and display formats, etc. The following shows an example of this information:

  The two lines of output describe the following:

  1. Number of scanlines in current frame, associated framerate, and resulting display format. Note that the framerate shown is the internal, virtual framerate (it's calculated from the number of scanlines). If the '*' character is present, it means the display format was auto-detected as shown. For the given example, the format was auto-detected as 'NTSC'.
  2. Cartridge information. If the '*' character is present, it means the bankswitch format was auto-detected as shown. The item in round brackets indicates ROM size. For the given example, the bankswitch type was auto-detected as 4K, and the file size was 4K (4096 bytes).

Finally, Stella contains an extensive, built-in debugger. Have a look at this page for integrated debugger documentation.

# 14. Settings File

Stella will remember when you change a setting either at the command line or while the emulation is running, and use the settings the next time you start the emulator. The settings are saved in a text file which can be edited outside of Stella. This file can contain your default options, and eliminates the need to specify them on the command line. Any options specified on the command line will override those in the settings file.

The syntax for the settings file is very straightforward. Any line starting with a ';' character is considered a comment and is ignored. Other lines must be of the form: command = value, where command is the same as that specified on the command line (without the '-' character), and value is dependent on the command.

For example, the following table illustrates how command line and settings entries are similar:

Command Line | Settings File
--- | ---
-video gl | video = gl
-volume 75 | volume = 75
-showinfo 1 | showinfo = 1 (or showinfo = true)

The settings file has a special name/location depending on which version of Stella you use, which is currently not configurable:

Linux/Unix | $HOME/.stella/stellarc
Macintosh | Not applicable; settings are saved in $HOME/Library/Preferences/StellaOSX.plist
Windows | %APPDATA%\Stella\stella.ini OR _BASEDIR_\stella.ini (if a file named 'basedir.txt' exists in the application directory containing the full pathname for _BASEDIR_)

# 15. Cheatcode Manager

Stella contains support for Bob Colbert's Cheetah cheat codes, as well as an extended Stella-specific type of cheat code that works on bankswitched ROMs.

To add/remove/edit a cheat code, enter the 'Cheat Code' dialog:

Currently, there are three types of cheatcodes available, all of which must be entered in hexidecimal format:

- Per-frame RAM cheats:
  Evaluated each frame, and apply to RAM only. Format as follows:

         4-digit code: c041
         c0 = address
         41 = data

- Cheetah codes, which are explained in detail on Bob Colbert's web page, along with a list of codes for various games. Cheetah codes don't support bankswitched ROMs, so they only work for 2K or 4K ROMs. Format as follows:

         6-digit (cheetah) code: aaaddc
         aaa = address - $f000
         dd = data
         c = count - 1

- Stella extended cheats are similar to Cheetah codes, except that they can be 7 or 8 digits long, with the extra digits used for the bank number:

         7-digit (stella) code: baaaddc
         b = bank (0 to $f)
         aaa = address - $f000
         dd = data
         c = count - 1

         8-digit (stella) code: bbaaaddc
         bb = bank (0 to $ff)
         aaa = address - $f000
         dd = data
         c = count - 1

There's also the concept of one shot codes. These codes work exactly the same as above, except they aren't saved. They are evaluated once and immediately discarded.

Here are a few cheat codes we've found:

    Pitfall (standard Cheetah codes):
       5b0ea1 - infinite lives
       723ea1 - infinite time
       aa5??0 - set starting level, ?? = 01 to ff (d0 is kinda neat)

    Battlezone (Stella extended codes):
       1236ea1 - infinite lives

    Ms Pac-Man (Stella extended codes):
       108fea1 - infinite lives

The name of the cheat database file is configurable through the '-cheatfile' commandline argument and within the application itself (see Section 5 - Starting a Game). If the path for this file hasn't been set, the default filename will depend on the version of Stella, as follows:

Linux/Unix | $HOME/.stella/stella.cht
Macintosh | $HOME/.stella/stella.cht
Windows | %APPDATA%\Stella\stella.cht OR _BASEDIR_\stella.cht (if a file named 'basedir.txt' exists in the application directory containing the full pathname for _BASEDIR_)

Stella will require a restart for changes to this file to take effect.

# 16. Game Properties

Stella uses game properties to specify the "best" emulator settings for a game. As of version 2.2 of Stella, a default database of properties are built-in, but you may modify these through the use of a stella.pro file. This per-user file will contain all properties modified by the user. So this means that when you upgrade Stella, your personal properties settings are preserved.

## Property File

A property file consists of some number of blocks. Each block in the file contains the properties for a single game. For example the general format of a property file is:

       ; Comments
       "Cartridge.MD5"      "Value"
       "Property"           "Value"
       ""

       ; Comments
       "Cartridge.MD5"      "Value"
       "Property"           "Value"
       ""

       . . .

       ; Comments
       "Cartridge.MD5"      "Value"
       "Property"           "Value"
       ""

Every block in the property file must have a unique value for the Cartridge.MD5 property.

## Properties

Each block in a property file consists of a set of properties for a single game. Stella supports the properties described below:

Cartridge.MD5:

Indicates the MD5 checksum of the ROM image as a string of hexadecimal digits. Stella uses this property while attempting to match a game with its block of properties. If the value of the property matches the MD5 checksum of the ROM image then Stella uses that block of properties for the game. You can use the GNU md5sum program, which is included with most Linux distributions, to calculate the MD5 checksum of a ROM image.

Cartridge.Manufacturer: | Indicates the game's manufacturer.
Cartridge.ModelNo: | Indicates the manufacturer's model number for the game.
Cartridge.Name: | Indicates the actual name of the game. When you save snapshots, load/save state files, or use the 'ROM Audit' functionality, this is the name that will be used for the respective file(s).
Cartridge.Note: | Contains any special notes about playing the game.
Cartridge.Rarity: | Indicates how rare a cartridge is, based on the scale described on AtariAge.
Cartridge.Sound: | Indicates if the game should use 1 or 2 channels for sound output. All original Atari 2600 machines supported 1 channel only, but some homebrew games have been written to take advantage of stereo sound. The value must be Mono or Stereo.

Cartridge.Type:

Indicates the bank-switching type for the game. The value of this property must be either Auto-detect or one of the following (for more information about bank-switching see Kevin Horton's 2600 bankswitching document or the documentation in each cartridges source code file). Types marked as (¹) do not currently have reliable auto-detection, those marked as (²) are not fully supported in the debugger:

Type | Description
--- | ---
0840 | 8K ECONObanking
2IN1 ¹ | 4-32K Multicart (2 games)
4IN1 ¹ | 8-32K Multicart (4 games)
8IN1 ¹ | 16-64K Multicart (8 games)
32IN1 ¹ | 64-128K Multicart (32 games)
2K | 64-2048 byte Atari
3E | 32K Tigervision
3F | 512K Tigervision
4A50 ¹² | 64K 4A50 + ram
4K | 4K Atari
AR ² | Supercharger
CV | Commavid extra ram
DPC ² | Pitfall II
E0 | 8K Parker Bros
E7 | 16K M-network
EF | 64K Homestar Runner
EFSC | 64K Homestar Runner + ram
F0 | Dynacom Megaboy
F4 | 32K Atari
F4SC | 32K Atari + ram
F6 | 16K Atari
F6SC | 16K Atari + ram
F8 | 8K Atari
F8SC | 8K Atari + ram
FA | CBS RAM Plus
FE | 8K Decathlon
MC ¹² | C. Wilkson Megacart
SB | 128-256k SUPERbanking
UA | 8K UA Ltd.
X07 ¹² | 64K AtariAge

Console.LeftDifficulty: | Indicates the default difficulty setting for the left player. The value must be A or B.
Console.RightDifficulty: | Indicates the default difficulty setting for the right player. The value must be A or B.
Console.TelevisionType: | Indicates the default television setting for the game. The value must be Color or BlankAndWhite.
Console.SwapPorts: | Indicates that the left and right ports should be swapped internally. This is used for ROMs like 'Raiders' where the Player 0 joystick is plugged into the right joystick port. The value must be Yes or No.
Controller.Left: | Indicates what type of controller the left player uses. The value must be BoosterGrip, Driving, Keyboard, Paddles, Trackball22, Trackball80, AmigaMouse or Joystick.
Controller.Right: | Indicates what type of controller the right player uses. The value must be BoosterGrip, Driving, Keyboard, Paddles, Trackball22, Trackball80, AmigaMouse, AtariVox, SaveKey or Joystick.
Controller.SwapPaddles: | Indicates that the left and right paddles in a particular port should be swapped. This is used for ROMs like 'Demons to Diamonds' where the default paddle is paddle 1, not paddle 0. Other ROMs such as 'Tac-Scan' default to paddle 3, which can be set using both 'Controller.SwapPaddles' and 'Console.SwapPorts'. The value must be Yes or No.
Display.Format: | Indicates the television format the game was designed for. The value must be Auto-detect, NTSC, PAL, SECAM, NTSC50, PAL60 or SECAM60.
Display.YStart: | Indicates the scan-line to start displaying at. The value must be n such that 0 <= n <= 64.
Display.Height: | Indicates the number of scan-lines to display. The value must be n such that 210 <= n <= 256.
Display.Phosphor: | Indicates whether the phosphor effect should be emulated or not. The value must be Yes or No.
Display.PPBlend: | Indicates the amount of blending which will occur while using the phosphor effect. The value must be n such that 0 <= n <= 100. The default value is 77.

The name of the properties file is configurable through the '-propsfile' commandline argument and within the application itself (see Section 5 - Starting a Game). If the path for this file hasn't been set, the default filename will depend on the version of Stella, as follows:

Linux/Unix | $HOME/.stella/stella.pro
Macintosh | $HOME/.stella/stella.pro
Windows | %APPDATA%\Stella\stella.pro OR _BASEDIR_\stella.pro (if a file named 'basedir.txt' exists in the application directory containing the full pathname for _BASEDIR_)

Stella will require a restart for changes to this file to take effect.

# 17. Palette Support

An Atari 2600 palette consists of 128 colours, which are different for the three major television standards (NTSC, PAL, SECAM). Stella supports two built-in palettes and one user-defined palette for each format. These are set using the '-palette' option, and are described as follows:

standard | The default palette from Stella 1.4 onwards.
z26 | The palette from the z26 emulator.
user | An external palette file, supplied by the user.

Support for a user-defined palette is a new feature for Stella 2.3, and is further described as follows:

- The palette file must be at least 792 bytes long. Colours are stored in 24-bit RGB, with the first byte for red, the second for green, the third for blue, for a total of 3 bytes per colour.
- The first 384 bytes of the file (128 * 3) will be used for the NTSC palette. The next 384 bytes (128 * 3) will be for the PAL palette. The next 24 bytes (8 * 3) will be for the SECAM palette, which consists of eight distinct colours. Any extra data in the file will be ignored.
- The PAL colour-loss effect is calculated within Stella. You do not need to specify those colours in the palette file.

The name of the palette file is configurable through the '-palettefile' commandline argument and within the application itself (see Section 5 - Starting a Game). If the path for this file hasn't been set, the default filename will depend on the version of Stella, as follows:

Linux/Unix | $HOME/.stella/stella.pal
Macintosh | $HOME/.stella/stella.pal
Windows | %APPDATA%\Stella\stella.pal OR _BASEDIR_\stella.pal (if a file named 'basedir.txt' exists in the application directory containing the full pathname for _BASEDIR_)

Note that to actually use the external palette, the palette file must exist and be valid, and the palette option should be set to user (in Video Settings dialog). The current ROM will have to be reloaded for changes to this file to take effect.

# 18. Acknowledgments

Bradford W. Mott started developing Stella during the fall of 1995 and since then a number of people from around the world have contributed to the project. Some people have provided technical help while others have offered suggestions and praise. The Stella Team is grateful for all the help and support it has received over the years. The following is an incomplete list of the people who have played a part in bringing Stella to you. If I've missed someone, please let me know.

Ant (http://aqfl.net) | Provided much feedback and testing which eventually led to a fix for the infamous ATI OpenGL 'red screen' issue
Stephen Anthony (http://minbar.org) | Ported Stella 1.1 to SDL. Added extra command line options to X11/SDL versions. Added INI file support, faster startup, snapshot support, and pause functionality to core. Converted Stella 1.1 manual to HTML. Ported codebase to SDL for Windows/MacOSX. Added OpenGL support and Stelladaptor support. Current maintainer for the Linux, OSX and Windows versions.
David Aspell | Ported release 0.7 of Stella to Java
Christopher Bennett | Helped discover a Superchanger emulation bug in release 1.0 of Stella
Alexander Bilstein | Provided "A Brief History of the Atari 2600" for this manual
Ian Bogost and the Georgia Tech Atari Team (CRT Simulation Project) | Contributed code for the 'CRT simulation' OpenGL filters. The Winter 2009 team members are Edward Booth, Michael Cook, Justin Dobbs, William Rowland and Prince Yang.
Dan Boris | Provided technical information on the Supercharger
Piero Cavina | Allowed "Oystron" to be included in the Stella distribution
Bob Colbert | Allowed "Okie Dokie" to be included in the Stella distribution
Joe D'Andrea | Author of the IRIX port of Stella until release 1.2
Renato Ferreira | Provided code to support private colormaps under Unix
Ron Fries | Author of the awesome TIA Sound library
Aaron Giles | Author of the Power Macintosh version of Stella until release 1.1
Mark Grebe (http://www.atarimac.com) | Author of the Macintosh OSX version of Stella starting with the 1.4 release until release 2.4. Helped with Stelladaptor support.
Alex Herbert | Provided much information on AtariVox and SaveKey functionality
Richard Hutchinson | Provided an AtariVox USB adaptor to help with AVox development
Mark Hahn | Allowed "Elk Attack" to be included in the Stella distribution and provided help with the TIA HMOVE blank bug
Kevin Horton | Author of the definitive Atari 2600 bank-switching document
Thomas Jentzsch | Provided updated NTSC palette and many ideas
Andrew Kator (http://www.katorlegaz.com) | Provided PHP and CSS code for a major update to the Stella website
Kostas Nakos | Author/maintainer of the WinCE version of Stella starting with the 2.0 release
Erik Kovach | Author of the property file for release 0.7, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 of Stella
Daniel Marks | Provided improved keyboard joystick support for Stella release 0.1
James Mcclain | Provided patches for the 1.2 release to get Stella to compile with GCC 3.0
David McEwen | Author of the Acorn version of Stella
Jeff Miller | Author of the Windows version of Stella until release 1.2
Dan Mowczan | Provided a Supercharger to help with Stella's development
Jack Nutting | Author of the OpenStep version of Stella
John Payson | Provided EEPROM emulation code for AtariVox and SaveKey support
Manuel Polik | Author of the Windows version of Stella starting with the 1.2 release
Jim Pragit | Author of the "Game Menu" emulator game shell
RomHunter (RomHunter ROMs) | Provides an updated database of ROM information on a regular basis
John Saeger | Participated in a helpful discussion on understanding the TIA's RESPx multi-sprite trick
Chris Salomon | Provided information and code to help implement Supercharger support
Glenn Saunders | Provided a Supercharger to help with Stella's development
Jason Scott | Organizer of the property file archive for early versions of Stella; now he's helping with the web site
Seagtgruff | Provided test ROMs which finally fixed all remaining issues with ADC/SBC opcode decimal mode emulation
David Shaw | Provided make targets for the BSDI platform
Raul Silva | Helped with design and graphics for an early version of the Stella web site
Chris Snell | Maintained a mirror of the Stella FTP site
Darrell Spice Jr. | Author of the OS/2 version of Stella
John Stiles | Maintained the Macintosh version of Stella until release 1.2
Eckhard Stolberg | Provided a description of the TIA bug that produces the star field effect in Cosmic Ark, provided the PAL television palette, and participated in a helpful discussion on understanding the TIA's RESPx multi-sprite trick. Provided the Commavid, Megaboy, 4A50 and X07 support for Stella as well as some improved Supercharger BIOS code.
Matthew Stroup | Author of the Amiga version of Stella
Joel Sutton | Author of the FreeBSD version of Stella
Greg Troutman | Allowed "This Planet Sucks" to be included in the Stella distribution
Robert Tuccitto | Provided valuable bugtesting and feedback which finally helped in fixing a long-standing lockup which occurred after Stella has been running for 71 minutes.
Curt Vendel | Provided schematics of the TIA which are being used to improve the TIA emulation.
David Voswinkel | Maintainer of the PSP version of Stella starting with the 2.0 release
Brian Watson | Helped with getting the illegal CPU instruction support working with Stella. Brian also submitted a number of other changes, such as debugger support, which have been finally integrated into the 2.0 release of Stella. Without a doubt, there would be no debugger support in Stella if not for the tireless work of Brian.
Keith Wilkins | Maintained the DOS version of Stella until release 0.7
Jeff Wisnia | Provided technical data sheet for the 6532 RIOT chip
Albert Yarusso (aka Al from AtariAge) | Provided helpful feedback for the OSX port, and generously donated an AtariVox device to help with development
Alex Zaballa | Maintainer of the GP2X version of Stella starting with the 2.1 release

# 19. License and Disclaimer

## GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

Version 2, June 1991

    Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA

    Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
    of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

## Preamble

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When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

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## TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

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