Mauvila

OK, I did that. Below are two sound comparisons. Wow...that's very professional looking for a rough test... I notice that the JStella sound gargles on your system...it doesn't do it on mine. But I suppose the the performance could be tweaked... JLA P.S. I fixed a bug in the M6502 class, so now Thrust works. I haven't posted the most recent build yet, but the code is in CVS for anyone interested. If you upgrade, note the different Applet calling convention. I recommend checking out the Medieval Mayhem page at SpiceWare for an example of how to set up the html.

I can't do that first stuff with the CRT/LCD, but I can record a bit of E.T. and Tone Toy 2008 on a real Atari 2600, Stella, and JStella. That's a good idea about mentioning the OS, memory, cpu, and program version. I'll make the video tonight if there are no storms in the area. Another thing to do would be to run JStella in console mode (straight from the JAR...double click on the JAR file) and compare it to that sound...that might help in figuring out whether it's the browser or the inherent JStella sound apparatus. JLA

I would like to see this fixed. Any way I can help yo there? As far as Thrust is concerned, I spent a good amount of time a few months ago trying to figure out what the problem was, specifically, what was different about Thrust when compared to other games...I wasn't successful...I'd be happy to work with you to see what changes in JStella need to be made in order to get the game working. If I'm not mistaken, it is mainly the controls... If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Otherwise, things aren't likely to be changed...I've mostly been working on iPhone stuff, so I haven't put much thought into JStella in the past 6 months. And if any Java person (and/or TIA expert) wants to help out, please let me know and I can add you to the project. JLA

The games won't play unless you are running a browser with Java 5 or newer. The flickering is because the website maintainer didn't bother to turn anti-flicker mode on for certain games, which is usually done on a per-ROM basis via the HTML applet config parameters. Whereas Stella (last time I checked) had the config info for each ROM built into the actual program, JStella requires that the website maintainer specify certain things, and other things are auto-detected. It's also a fairly large screen for a Java applet, which may hurt performance on some machines. Certain ROMs just don't work for reasons unknown to me (e.g. Thrust), but most of them have decent performance, assuming you have a decent implementation of Java, etc. I want to say that it is very browser dependent as well...at least I remember IE giving relatively terrible results on PF2, almost as if they were crippling Java.

Which roms specifically? The thing I've noticed is that sounds vary from system to system...JavaSound perhaps isn't very consistent. I get a decent sound on my desktop with a terrible sound on my laptop. That being said, there is probably room for improvement, but I would need to know exactly what the differences were between Stella and JStella...how the quality differs...

I was actually hoping to fix JStella's emulation. But I need to figure out where the problem is first. Thanks though. -JLA

I've noticed that on Stella (and JStella by inheritance), G.I. Joe - Cobra Attack (Action Force) looks odd...the snake is all bendy and stuff. Did it look this way on the 2600, or is this an emulation error? Thanks, JLA

Hey guys, the new desktop version of JStella 2600 emulator is up. (Java Web Start launcher: http://jstella.mauvila.com/launch.jnlp. ) Anyway, the metadata is the information that accompanies each game, e.g. the icon (cart scan), the year published, etc. I have only included icons for those that I half-assedly guessed would be the most liked, but I could have easily left out good ones. So if you believe any of the metadata is inaccurate, or you think that icons for some of the good games were omitted, please post a message here. Otherwise, I'm going to assume that nobody is angered by the fact that winners like "Pac Kong" don't have an icon. Thanks, JLA

Okay, I have redone the desktop version of JStella in order to "dumb it down" as much as possible. For that reason, it is now launched via Java Web Start...the user presses one button, and should be confronted with instructions from then on out. The user specifies where the ROMs are by selecting either a directory, ZIP files, or the ROM files themselves, and the program will...should...automatically download the metadata, including cartridge scans. (I got the metadata from Stella and this web site, mainly...many thanks). The user then points that mouse cursor thing to the prettiest looking cartridge picture and double clicks...voila! A heavily compressed screenshot of the new dumbed-down menu system: Since I've only tested this thing on Windows Vista/XP (and it's pretty rough at this point), this isn't an official SourceForge release...feedback is desperately needed. I'm still not sure what SourceForge's policy on Web Start is...(it would bypass the whole mirror thing), so I've currently got the binary Web Start version on my site. To launch, click on the following link: http://jstella.mauvila.com/launch.jnlp. The source code on the SourceForge CVS is up to date. I recommend using Netbeans 6.0 if you want to build it yourself. Despite being dumbed down, the new repository system offers several advantages, including easy customization of any game. It also can sort by metadata, so by hitting "Sort by controller type", you have all the paddle games lined up in a row. These repository files (*.j26) can plug directly into the JStella applet, which is good because it carries its configuration inside the file itself...no more dealing with HTML. Also new on the Applet front is a much better JavaScript interface--e.g. if you host multiple ROMs, you can switch to another ROM without having to dynamically regenerate another webpage. I'll put an unsigned applet-specific JAR up on SourceForge in the near future. Java does support joysticks (via 3rd party extensions), but I don't own a computer joystick yet, so I haven't implemented that. But I imagine it will be in place by version 1.0. Again, please let me know of bugs (there are plenty), suggestions, etc., especially suggestions about how to "smooth" the user interface. And if anybody wants to help out with programming, graphics, website, etc., please send me a message. Thanks, --JLA

The new JStella will show game titles and pretty pictures. It'll be up on Sourceforge in about a week. JLA

To whom it may concern, I have put a sneak peak of JStella 0.9 up here. This is a Web Start link for playing the desktop version. (The applet version really hasn't changed too much since 0.8.) The desktop version is still under construction, so it is somewhat buggy. But please let me know of the bugs anyway...and let me know how the games repository functions on your system. It features a graphics driven menu system based on the metadata from the original Stella (and from cart scans from this site and others). This desktop version is aimed at the clueless user, and requires mostly clicking a few buttons to set it up, then double-clicking the picture of the game he or she wants to run. (I'll probably leave this version up for about a week, after which time I will put the official 0.9 up, probably on the Sourceforge JStella site.) JLA

If you build from the most recent code (JStella 0.83) via the CVS, you can use the following config item: jstella.stereomode=true Also, I made a getIntercessor() method, which should open up a whole lot to JavaScript. (There is now also a direct setStereoSound(boolean aEnabled) method that can be called directly on the applet from JavaScript). JLA

Not yet, but it may be possible to do right now using JavaScript...

Go back to jstella.mauvila.com and get the jstella_0_82.jar file, and also the jstella.cfg file. The cfg file can be edited with a text editor (should be self-explanatory), and should be placed in the same directory as your jar and ROM. In your HTML applet tag, add the following parameter : <param name="CONFIGFILE" value="jstella.cfg"> This is new as of 10 minutes ago (version 0.82). JLA

Good to know. I'll gladly update whenever you have the .jar ready. I went ahead and built 0.81. You can download it from the following link: jstella_0_81.jar JLA

Really? That's good news. If anyone sees any bugs that need to be quashed, please post 'em. JLA

Yes, that's what I was referring to. My suggestion is.... Player 1: Arrow keys, space bar. Player 2: (W, S, A, D), left control I've added some default keys for player B...since this is technically version 0.81, it isn't yet available as a JAR, but it is available in source code form on the CVS. Both space bar and enter will work as Player A buttons. Player B buttons are WSAD and Control to fire. Also, Y will fire as well. JLA

As far as what future implementations of JStella could do, I was wondering about the possibility of a multiplayer (remote--via Internet) version of JStella. I know nothing about how remote multiplayer games work, but I began to wonder about a possible way in which a game on JStella (think COMBAT) could be done multiplayer. I'm curious whether the following would work: A server side Java program that a)establishes the framework of everything, initiates games, etc. and b)communicates input events from one applet to another. The actual emulator might be a modified JStella, running locally on two machines (as signed applets). Every local input event would be sent to both the local TIA object and the server-side program, which would relay it to the opposing JStella TIA class, to be interpreted as the other player's input event.... Of course, this assumes the event communication time is fairly brief, and that the program behavior is deterministic (that it would run on two almost-independent emulators the same). Once again, I know nothing of network programming, etc., but I'm sure a lot of you guys are familiar with this stuff...is this possible, and if not, would there be a better way that wasn't too ROM-specific? JLA

It's almost done, actually. SeaGtGruff and I just need to add AI and Sound. The red tank moves, if you press F5 as I documented with "press F5 to activate manual tank control", in that once AI is added it would technically be "manual" tank control. Maybe I need to re-word that. Oh, BTW, Is there a way allow 2-player support over the applet? Sorry, it works fine. I didn't read carefully. There will be support for 2 (local) players...it's actually almost there now, but there just isn't a convenient way to establish control config via Applet parameters. Assuming we are discussing 2 LOCAL players (using the same keyboard), what does everyone think the default keyboard arrangement should be for both player 1 and player 2? JLA

I have put up JStella 0.8 (arbitrarily labeled "beta") up at the Sourceforge site. I am wondering if a slightly modified graphics rendering technique will work on all systems...if anyone notices a dramatic change (bad or good) from the previous version, please post here. Some of the changes: -Support for FASC cartridges added -Saved games are now smaller (they were about 1000k, now around 15k - 100k) -Booster grip support (see 'known issues' item about Thrust) -A little more graphics optimization (for better or worse) Also please post any bugs/requests here, even if noted before. -Known issues/bugs [present in 0.8] --- * Emulator doesn't run Thrust correctly (need someone to fix this--I'm stumped) * Emulator doesn't run AIR_RAID.bin correctly (also stumped on this one too) * Letter-box mode buggy * Some systems slow down on Medieval Mayhem flashing sequence... * Pitfall II jumping sounds raspy...if I knew why this was, I could (perhaps) fix it. Thanks JLA

Yes, it works for me too, at least the whole combat motif comes up...I don't know what stage of development the ROM is, but it wasn't able to move the tanks... JLA

I'm thinking of using jstella on my site to get them running. I can't seem to get any of the Jimbogames games working? I just get color bars? I'd love to know why that is Possibly a browser thing...Firefox and Internet Explorer work. Safari (for Windows at least) will load the applet, but is buggy so its security won't allow file downloads from the same website (i.e. the ROM), and hence the television test screen. (Apple is starting to be very Java hostile...) Opera seems to be buggy as far as Java Applet keyboard focus is concerned. JLA

I think I know what you mean by the thrust being too strong...could this be CPU bug? Do you use "illegal" opcodes during this process? Maybe there are bugs in those, seeing as how most of the ROMs that don't use them work fine, and the illegal opcodes were added recently.

As soon as a Javascript/Java person volunteers, we can definitely do that.

Thanks for trying to support my game. But unfortunately it is still very buggy: 1. the normal fire button doesn't work anymore 2. thrusting with F seems to be way too strong and unrelated to the ships direction, making the game unplayable 3. wrong colors (right difficulty switch set wrong) And you are using a pretty old binary. You can get the lastest version here. 1. The normal fire button (space bar) works with mine...I don't know what would be causing it to stop working. 2. I'm not sure I know what you mean...I was told that Booster Grip's trigger was essentially a digital button...if it has analog values, then I will need to go in and alter the emulation. What I think it may mean is that when you hold down a button, some systems will cause it to "rapid fire"...is this what you are talking about? 3. The colors can be changed with the F7-F8, but I will add in a way to set the default difficulty settings. If anyone else notices that the fire button doesn't work, please let me know, and I can try to figure out why.