Atari800Win An Atari 800/800XL/130XL/5200 emulator for Win32 Original Atari800 code by David Firth (david@signus.demon.co.uk) Win32 version by Richard Lawrence (rich@kesmai.com) http://www.cris.com/~Twist/atari800win/ ***YOU MUST READ THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT AND THE FAQ BEFORE MAILING ME WITH QUESTIONS*** DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES E-MAIL ME ASKING FOR EITHER SYSTEM ROMS OR DISK IMAGES. I WILL IMMEDIATELY DELETE ANY SUCH E-MAIL. START FROM THE WEB PAGE ABOVE AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND WHAT YOU NEED. Files shipped with Atari800Win: Atari800Win.exe The windows executable (Win 9X/Win NT) ZLIB.DLL Compression DLL (put in same location as Atari800Win) FAQ.TXT Frequently Asked Questions README.TXT This document WHATSNEW.TXT What's new this version, some version history TODO.TXT (Sometimes not included). Ruminations on future features. Contents of this README: REQUIREMENTS INTRODUCTION GETTING STARTED KEYBOARD LAYOUT KEYBOARD TEMPLATES RUNNING UNDER WIN NT RUNNING UNDER WIN 9X COMPRESSED IMAGES LOADING ATARI EXECUTABLES SCANLINE MODE REQUIREMENTS: P75+, Win95 with DirectX or Win NT 4.0, 4MB RAM available, a sound card supported by Windows (optional) and a joystick supported by DirectInput (optional). PLEASE SEE THE OS-SPECIFIC SECTION OF THIS DOCUMENT FOR WIN95 OR NT PARTICULARS. THEY ARE IMPORTANT. INTRODUCTION: Atari800Win will allow you to emulate an Atari 8-bit computer system on your Win32 based PC. It emulates all hardware aspects of the original Atari 8-bit (video, audio, and I/O devices), and can be configured to behave like any of several Atari models (the 800, 800XL, 130XE, 320 (modified 130) XE, or 5200 game console). It features a familiar Windows user interface for configurable options and takes full advantage of your hardware through DirectX. Although the code it emulates is 8-bit, everything here is pure 32bit Windows (Atari800Win contains C++, C and asm code). The original emulator code was written by David Firth, along with contributions by Ron Fries for the sound code. The Win32 specific code and some extensions are my own. Several additions have been made by other members of a loose team that is now working to improve the emulator. The current up-to-date source and home base of the team is at http://cas3.zlin.vutbr.cz/~stehlik/a800.htm. This product is FREE, but copyrighted (actually copylefted, in the GNU General Public License sense). I do not want money for this emulator, I consider it payment enough that many, like I do, will be able to enjoy their classic 8-bit stuff again without having to pay money for it. If you feel motivated, you can drop me an e-mail just telling me you're getting a kick out of your 8-bit again. Also, I am always on the lookout for original Infocom games (as in the boxes with the stuff in them) and would appreciate donations of those, or of Atari 8-bit/ST software on CD-ROM. This port is dedicated to the Nybbler Maniacs, when hacking was just for the hell of it. Anybody remember BLOC and Arcadium? Mike and Galen between them did some of the best AMS tunes made, too. Also check out http://www.cris.com/~Twist/WinFrotz/ if you are interested in playing the Infocom or other interactive fiction adventures on a modern Win32 interpreter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GETTING STARTED: The very first thing to do is obtain a set of Atari OS ROMs and a disk image to boot with. The ROMs are _not_ distributed with Atari800Win, and you may _not_ put Atari800Win in an archive with them included and re-post it. We all know the drill, right? You will find pointers on how to obtain the ROMs on the Atari800Win home page at http://www.cris.com/~Twist/atari800win/ At a minimum you will need one machine ROM (either OS rev A, OS rev B, XL, XE, or 5200) to boot Atari800Win. Probably you should have OS rev B (required for most picky games), XE (the later generation machine with more memory), and 5200. You will also need a disk image, as mentioned previously. A sensible one to start with is Atari DOS. The most prevalent Atari DOS versions are 2.0S, and 2.5. There are plenty of later versions from Atari, and also several versions from other manufacturers. Take your pick, but keep in mind maximum compatibility is an Atari 800 OS rev B running 2.0S DOS for most games and the like. After obtaining these, you can start. The default configuration will look for an Atari XL OS named atarixl.rom in the same directory as Atari800Win itself. If you boot without this image present a dialog box will appear telling you it couldn't be loaded, then the emulator screen will appear. You can change the OS selection/name using the menu "Atari" and submenu "Hardware". When you configure the OS settings to point to your files, and "OK" that dialog, Atari800Win will switch into a full-screen 800x600 256 color DirectDraw display. This mode is ideal because it displays the full area of the Atari screen, including overscan. You may however select a different mode at lower resolution if you are willing to sacrifice some of the overscan area. The actual display resolution of the Atari is 384x240, and for most PC resolutions this is doubled to 768x480. You can also select to run Atari800Win in a window, which works fine if a little slow. I do not recommend 768x480 in a window. It will be very slow no matter how fast your machine is. Talk to Bill Gates about it. SOME DirectX machines may handle it. SOME AGP cards will do it with no problems (do not assume AGP=performance, it is not so). From here you can configure your disk drives using the "Atari/Disk Drives" menu, change cartridges via the Atari/Cartridges menu, and select directories on your PC hard disk to act as Atari virtual "Hard Disks", accessed via the H1:, H2:, etc device names. But you'll probably want to type, so read below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KEYBOARD LAYOUT: The general philosophy in keyboard layout is to assign the functionality of the Atari key to the equivalent PC keyboard key. This differs from some other emulators - I am not aiming for the original key in the _same location_ as on the Atari keyboard, just trying to match the same functionality. The reason for this is it can be very confusing to have to hit "Shift-2" to get a doublequote character when there is sits staring at you from a key on the PC keyboard. So in general, look for it where it is on the PC keyboard, type that, and it will appear. However some keys that exist on the PC have no equivalence on the Atari and will do nothing, such as { and }. There are some non-obvious key combinations, so read through the list below. Atari Key Windows Key --------------- --------------- 0-9 0-9, keypad 0-9 with numlock (when keyboard joystick not on) Esc Esc Break Break Insert Insert (normal = char, Shift + Insert = line) Delete Delete (normal = char, Shift + Delete = line) Clear key Home key Atari key End key (or the Windows key :) ) Caps Toggle PageUp key Help key PageDown key (works only when Atari is an XL/XE model) Caps Lock Caps Lock Tab Tab Select F2 Option F3 Start F4 Restart F5 (shift-F5 is a Coldstart, same as turning on/off Atari) This is also Reset/Coldstart for the 5200. F1-F4 Shift+F1-F4 (works only when Atari is an XL model) Up, Down, Same as Atari up, down, right left arrow keys. Right, Left Special 5200 notes: the * key functions as the 5200 * key (either keypad or regular keyboard position), the - key functions as the 5200 # key (either keypad or regular keyboard). The keypad can do several things: with numlock on it is the 0-9 keys, unless you can configure it as a keyboard joystick, in which case it's a joystick. With numlock off it types the equivalent non-numeric key (4 is left, etc). Keypad as a joystick: Keypad 0 Joystick trigger (if numlock off and keyboard joystick) Keypad 8 Joystick Up (same as above) Keypad 4 Joystick Left (same, etc.) Keypad 6 Joystick Right Keypad 2 Joystick Down Keypad 7 Joystick Up/Left (note: Keypad8 + Keypad4 will also work) Keypad 9 Joystick Up/Right (or Keypad8 + Keypad6) Keypad 1 Joystick Down/Left (or Keypad2 + Keypad4) Keypad 3 Joystick Down/Right (or Keypad2 + Keypad6) Keypad 5 Joystick centered (if auto-centering is off in joystick menu) Note: The keypad, when working as a keypad, will ignore the status of shift, ctrl etc. In other words it will always type the atari 0-9 keys and /*-+. Since no keypad existed on the Atari, this seems fine - to get the effect of Shift-1, use shift-1 on the keyboard, as you would on an Atari). Ctrl+F1-F8 Insert disk in drive 1-8 depending on F key Alt-C Cartridge dialog Alt-D Disk dialog (floppies) Alt-G Graphics dialog (screen modes) Alt-H Hardware dialog Alt-J Joystick dialog Alt-K Keyboard dialog Alt-L Load Atari executable Alt-S Sound dialog Alt-R Rotate throw artifacting modes (including off) F8 Toggle between full/standard speed F9 Toggle between running/paused F11 Toggle SIO (fast disk) patch Ctrl-Space Activate built-in Atari800 user interface if available The following keyboard behavior may seem odd, but it is all entirely accurate to how a real Atari works and was purposefully coded that way: * If you try strange combinations, like ctrl+shift+a, in many situations (such as the BASIC screen) the key will click but nothing will happen. * With control and shift both held dow...
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