NAME
stella - Atari 2600 emulator
SYNOPSIS
stella [options] <ROM file>
DESCRIPTION
stella is a comprehensive emulator of the old Atari 2600 video-game
console. It support most Atari 2600 games and many peripherals.
OPTIONS
stella accepts the following options:
-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).
-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. Strech 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 is between 2 and 10 inclusive.
-fullscreen <1|0|-1>
Play the game in fullscreen mode (1), in a window (0), or
completely disable fullscreen mode (-1).
-fullres <auto|WxH>
Use the given resolution (WxH) 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>
Sets 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.
-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).
-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.
-uimessages <1|0>
Enable or disablEnable or disable display of message in the UI.
Note that messages indicating serious errors override this
setting, and are always shown.
-sound <1|0>
Enable or disable sound generation.
-fragsize <number>
Specify the sound fragment size to use. Under Debian the
recommended value is 512.
-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 the Cheat section in the
provided documentation for a description of cheatcodes).
-showinfo <0|1|2>
Shows some application & game info on the commandline while
Stella is running. Zero completely disables output (except for
serious errors), while the remaining numbers show increasingly
more detail.
-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.
-usemouse <1|0>
Enable using the mouse for various controllers (paddle, driving,
etc).
-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.
-ctrlcombo <1|0>
Use control-x key combos. This is normally enabled, since the
Quit command is tied to 'Control-q'. However, there are times
when a 2-player game is using either the 'f' or 'r' keys for
movement, and pressing Control (for Fire) will perform an
unwanted action associated with Control-r or Control-f.
-autoslot <1|0>
Automatically switch to the next available save state slot after
saving a ROM state file.
-stats <1|0>
Overlay console info on the TIA image during emulation.
-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>
Ignore any scaling applied to the TIA image, and save snapshot
in unscaled (1x) mode.
-ssinterval <number>
Set the interval in seconds between taking snapshots in
continuous snapshot mode (currently, 1 - 10).
-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>
Use 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.
-maxres <WxH>
Useful for developers, this sets the maximum size of window that
can be created, allowing to simulate testing on 'smaller'
systems.
-help Print 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.
-resolvedata <never|always|auto>
Try to differentiate between code vs. data sections in the
disassembler. See the Debugger section in the provided
documentation for more information.
-debuggerres <WxH>
Set the size of the debugger window.
-break <address>
Set a breakpoint at a 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.
-tiadriven <1|0>
Set unused TIA pins to be randomly driven high or low on a
read/peek.
-bs <type>, -type <type>
Set "Cartridge.Type" property. See the Game Properties section
in the provided documentation for valid types.
-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.TelevitionType" property.
-sp <Yes|No>
Set "Console.SwapPorts" property.
-lc <type>
Set "Controller.Left" property. See the Game Properties section
in the provided documentation for valid types.
-rc <type>
Set "Controller.Right" property. See the Game Properties section
in the provided documentation for valid types.
-bc <type>
Sets both "Controller.Left" and "Controller.Right" properties.
See the Game Properties section in the provided documentation
for valid types.
-cp <Yes|No>
Set "Controller.SwapPaddles" property.
-format <format>
Set "Display.Format" property. See the Game Properties section
in the provided documentation 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.
KEYBOARD CONTROLS
The Atari 2600 console controls and controllers are mapped to the
computer's keyboard as shown in the following sections. However, most
of these events can be remapped to other keys on your keyboard or
buttons on your joystick.
Console controls (can be remapped)
Control + q
Exit emulator
Escape Exit game mode/enter launcher mode
Tab Enter/exit options mode
Backslash (\)
Enter/exit command mode
Backquote (`)
Enter/exit debugger
F1 Select Game
F2 Reset Game
F3 Color TV
F4 Black/White TV
F5 Left Player Difficulty B
F6 Left Player Difficulty A
F7 Right Player Difficulty B
F8 Right Player Difficulty A
F9 Save state to current slot
F10 Chaneg current state slot
F11 Load state from current slot
F12 Save PNG snapshot
Pause Pause/resume emulation
Joystick / BoosterGrip Controller (can be remapped)
Left joystick:
Up arrow
Joystick up
Down arrow
Joystick down
Left arrow
Joystick left
Right arrow
Joystick right
Space Fire button
4 Trigger button
5 Booster button
Right joystick:
Y Joystick up
H Joystick down
G Joystick left
J Joystick right
F Fire button
6 Trigger button
7 Booster button
Paddle Controller digital emulation (can be remapped independently of
joystick controller)
By default the left paddles are mapped to the left joystick as follows:
Left Paddle 0 decrease
Right Paddle 0 increase
Fire Paddle 0 fire
Up Paddle 1 decrease
Down Paddle 1 increase
Booster
Paddle 1 fire
The same mappings on the right joystick correspond to the right paddles
(paddles 2 and 3 respectively).
Driving Controller (cannot be remapped, always associated with joystick
controllers)
Each driving controller is mapped to the corresponding joystick, using
the left, right and fire controls.
Sega Genesis Controller (cannot be remapped, always associated with
joystick and booster-grip controllers)
Each pad is mapped to the correspondig joystick as follows:
Up Up
Down Down
Left Left
Right Right
Fire Button 'B'
Booster
Button 'C'
Keypad Controller (can be remapped)
Left keypad (press the key on the left to emulate the key on the
right):
1 1
2 2
3 3
Q 4
W 5
E 6
A 7
S 8
D 9
Z .
X 0
C #
Right keypad:
8 1
9 2
0 (the digit)
3
I 4
O (the letter)
5
P 6
K 7
L 8
; 9
, .
. 0
/ #
FILES
~/.stella/stellarc
Default options (command line options override these). Lines
starting with ';' are considered comments and are ignored. Any
other line 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 the value given to the
setting.
~/.stella/atarivox_eeprom.dat
Default storage for the emulated EEPROM portion of an attached
AtariVox device.
~/.stella/savekey_eeprom.dat
Default storage for the emulated EEPROM portion of an attached
SaveKey device.
~/.stella/stella.cht
Default location of the cheat database file.
SEE ALSO
/usr/share/doc/stella/index.html, /usr/share/doc/stella/debugger.html.
AUTHORS
stella was written by Bradford W. Mott, Stephen Anthony and the Stella
Team.
This manual page was adapted from the provided documentation by Stephen
Kitt <steve@sk2.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used
by others). It was last modified for stella version 3.1.2.