Cabinet Friendly Stella Build

[ryckster]

Hi there

http://www.geocities.com/usefulhere/stella_customres.zip

I have compiled a custom version of Stella 1.4.1. that allows the user to set custom screen resolutions under opengl. Unlike Z26, Stella allows you to map all of the atari buttons (including the reset and difficulty ones) to input from your keyboard or joystick. In my opinion, this makes Stella more attractive to arcade cabinets. However Stella has limited resolution settings. By default, Stella will switch to 320 by 240 res. If you are using your video card's TV output this will certainly give you trouble as most cards these days only go as far down to 640 by 480. Stella also has an "fsmax" parameter which will switch your resolution to the maximum fullscreen possible. If you want something in between however, then you are out of luck. This custom version of Stella will default to 640 by 480 and will let you specify your own "middle" resolutions.

To use this custom build of Stella, first you need to have the official binary distribution of stella version 1.4.1. Unzip this file on stella's main folder. Make a backup of the original stella.exe file. Use the executable provided in this zipfile instead.

To specify your own resolution you need to add the following parameters:

-gl_customres 1    <--- this will tell stella you are going to set your own res.
-gl_resx <number>   <--- this will tell stella the width
-gl_resy <number>   <--- this will tell stella the height

For example:

stella_customres.exe -sound 1 -fullscreen 1 -video gl -gl_customres 1 -gl_resx 640 -gl_resy 480 mc.bin

The previous command tells stella to fire up rom "mc.bin" with sound and in fullscreen, using opengl and with a custom resolution of 640 by 480.

NOTE: Custom resolution settings will only work in opengl mode. This means you *have* to include the "-video gl" switch for it to work.

NOTE: If you specify "-gl_customres" without using the "-gl_resx" and "-gl_resy" parameters, then stella will default to 640 by 480 resolution.

As always, I am not responsible if your computer explodes . Your comments are appreciated.

[jcrouse]

For what it's worth there is a version of Z26 that has been hacked by jfath. It has an external INI file that allows you the set ANY of the inputs to anything you like. It also has a toggle input for difficulty and player modes. You can get it on my downloads page at http://home.comcast.net/~cpviewer if you wish to give it a try.

Enjoy,
John

[arcadecab]

jcrouse,

I tried the link from your website to the modified Z26, but the page was down and I was unable to get the modified Z26 version you talked about.  Is there another possible way to get that version of Z26 or to fix the link?
Thanks.

[ryckster]

For what it's worth there is a version of Z26 that has been hacked by jfath. It has an external INI file that allows you the set ANY of the inputs to anything you like. It also has a toggle input for difficulty and player modes. You can get it on my downloads page at http://home.comcast.net/~cpviewer if you wish to give it a try.

Enjoy,
John

Sure man, that sounds great. Wish I had found your version sooner. After going through the trouble of recompiling Stella I am obviously biased

[Minwah]

So stella can work at 320x240...can it do 321x240, ie for the ArcadeVGA?  Presumably with -gl_customres 1 -gl_resx 321 -gl_resy 240

Does Z26 have low-resolution support?  I'd like to see this in more emulators....

[ryckster]

Good question. I am not sure if (when using opengl) you can go down to 320 by 240. Stella displays an SDL window and SDL+OpenGL (depending on the -video switch). My guess is it will take the numbers and scale down accordingly (maybe it will stay in 640 x 480?). Stella does some scaling calculations before initializing the SDL window. I am not that familiar with the code to answer further.

Just checked the Z26 readme and it does support low resolutions (320x200, 320x240, 400x300).

[jcrouse]

jcrouse,

I tried the link from your website to the modified Z26, but the page was down and I was unable to get the modified Z26 version you talked about.

[arcadecab]

jcrouse,

I just noticed the history viewer that you have listed on your site as well.  I tried to get it working with my setup and by looking at your .ini file, but was unsuccessful.  What exactly happens with the history viewer?  I already have CPviewer loading after I select a game and when I exit, it automatically loads the rom.  When does the history viewer launch? After the CPviewer in a separate application? Fullscreen?  I dont know much about it, but it seemed interesting.  Any further ideas on how to make sure it works properly?  I used the same settings as I found in your .ini files. 
Thanks.

[jcrouse]

jcrouse,

I just noticed the history viewer that you have listed on your site as well.