path: root/games/stella/stella.6

.TH stella 6 "June 14, 2011" stella
.SH NAME
stella \- Atari 2600 emulator
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B stella
[\fIoptions\fP] <\fIROM file\fP>
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B stella
is a comprehensive emulator of the old Atari 2600 video-game
console. It support most Atari 2600 games and many peripherals.
.PP
.SH OPTIONS
.B stella
accepts the following options:
.TP
.BR \-video " <" opengl | opengles2 | opengles | software >
Use OpenGL, OpenGLES or SDL software rendering mode.
.TP
.BR \-vsync " <" 1 | 0 >
Synchronize screen updates to the vertical blank period. This can
result in smoother updates, and eliminate tearing.
.TP
.BR \-fullscreen " <" 1 | 0  >
Play the game in fullscreen mode (\fB1\fP) or in a window (\fB0\fP).
.TP
.BR \-center " <" 1 | 0 >
Centers game window (if possible).
.TP
.BR \-palette " <" standard | z26 | user >
Sets the palette to either normal Stella, the one used in the \fBz26\fP
emulator, or a user-defined palette.
.TP
.BR \-colorloss " <" 1 | 0 >
Enable/disable the PAL color-loss effect.
.TP
.BR \-framerate " <\fInumber\fP>"
Display the given number of frames per second. Normally, Stella will
determine framerate based on number of scanlines. Setting this to
\fB0\fP automatically enables auto-frame calculation (ie, framerate
based on scanlines).
.TP
.BR \-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 \fBz26\fP busy-wait behaviour, and use all
possible CPU time, but may eliminate graphical 'tearing' in software
mode.
.TP
.BR \-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.
.TP
.BR \-sound " <" 1 | 0 >
Enable or disable sound generation.
.TP
.BR \-fragsize " <\fInumber\fP>"
Specify the sound fragment size to use. Under Debian the recommended
value is 512.
.TP
.BR \-freq " <\fInumber\fP>"
Set sound sample output frequency (0 - 48000). Default is 31400. Do
not change unless you experience sound issues.
.TP
.BR \-volume " <\fInumber\fP>"
Set the volume (0 - 100).
.TP
.BR \-tia.zoom " <\fInumber\fP>"
Use the specified zoom level (integer) while in TIA/emulation mode.
.TP
.BR \-tia.inter " <" 1 | 0 >
Use interpolation for the TIA image (results in blending/smoothing of
the image).
.TP
.BR \-tia.aspectn " <\fInumber\fP>"
.BR \-tia.aspectp " <\fInumber\fP>"
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; the author finds 85\-90 gives the mos authentic look for
NTSC, and 105\-110 for PAL.
.TP
.BR \-tia.fsfill " <" 1 | 0 >
Stretch TIA image completely while in fullscreen mode (vs. an integral
stretch which won't necessarily completely fill the screen).
.TP
.BR \-tv.filter " <" 1 \- 6 >
Blargg TV effects, 0 is disabled, next numbers in sequence represent
presets for "Composite", "S-Video", "RGB", "Bad Adjust" and "Custom"
modes.
.TP
.BR \-tv.scanlines " <" 0 \- 100 >
Blargg TV effects scanline intensity, where 0 means completely off.
.TP
.BR \-tv.scaninter " <" 1 | 0 >
Blargg TV effects scanline interpolation, resulting in
blending/smoothing of the scanlines.
.TP
.BR \-tv.contrast " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'contrast' (only available in custom mode, range
\-1.0 to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.brightness " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'brightness' (only available in custom mode, range
\-1.0 to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.hue " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'hue' (only available in custom mode, range \-1.0 to
1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.saturation " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'saturation' (only available in custom mode, range
\-1.0 to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.gamma " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'gamma' (only available in custom mode, range \-1.0
to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.sharpness " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'sharpness' (only available in custom mode, range
\-1.0 to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.resolution " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'resolution' (only available in custom mode, range
\-1.0 to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.artifacts " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'artifacts' (only available in custom mode, range
\-1.0 to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.fringing " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'fringing' (only available in custom mode, range
\-1.0 to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-tv.bleed " <\fInumber\fP>"
Blargg TV effects 'bleed' (only available in custom mode, range \-1.0
to 1.0).
.TP
.BR \-cheat " <\fIcode\fP>"
Use the specified cheatcode (see the \fICheat\fP section in the
provided documentation for a description of cheatcodes).
.TP
.BR \-loglevel " <" 0 | 1 | 2 >
Indicates level of logging to perform while the application is
running. Zero completely disables logging (except for serious errors),
while the remaining numbers show increasingly more detail.
.TP
.BR \-logtoconsole " <" 1 | 0 >
Indicates that logged output should be printed to the
console/commandline as it's being collected. An internal log will
still be kept, and the amount of logging is still controlled
by \fBloglevel\fP.
.TP
.BR \-joydeadzone " <\fInumber\fP>"
Sets the joystick deadzone area for analog joysticks. Accepts a number
from 0 - 29, and uses the formula 3200 + \fInumber\fP * 1000. So the
possible deadzone values range from 3200 to 32200.
.TP
.BR \-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.
.TP
.BR \-usemouse " <" always | analog | never >
Use mouse as a controller as specified by ROM properties in specific
case. \fBalways\fP and \fBnever\fP are self-explanatory, \fBanalog\fP
means only for analog-type devices (paddles, trackball, etc.).
.TP
.BR \-grabmouse " <" 1 | 0 >
Keeps the mouse in the game window in emulation mode.
.TP
.BR \-hidecursor " <" 1 | 0 >
Always hide the cursor, or show it when appropriate.
.TP
.BR \-dsense " <\fInumber\fP>"
Sensitivity for emulation of paddles when using a digital device
(joystick digital axis or button, keyboard key, etc.). \fInumber\fP
may range from 1 to 10, with larger numbers causing faster movement.
.TP
.BR \-msense " <\fInumber\fP>"
Sensitivity for emulation of paddles when using a mouse. \fInumber\fP
may range from 1 to 15, with larger numbers causing faster movement.
.TP
.BR \-saport " <" lr | rl >
Determines how to enumerate the Stelladaptor/2600-daptor devices in
the order they are found: 'lr' means first is left port, second is
right port, 'rl' means the opposite.
.TP
.BR \-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.
.TP
.BR \-autoslot " <" 1 | 0 >
Automatically switch to the next available save state slot after
saving a ROM state file.
.TP
.BR \-stats " <" 1 | 0 >
Overlay console info on the TIA image during emulation.
.TP
.BR \-fastscbios " <" 1 | 0 >
Disable Supercharger BIOS progress loading bars.
.TP
.BR \-snapsavedir " <\fIpath\fP>"
The directory to save snapshot files to.
.TP
.BR \-snaploaddir " <\fIpath\fP>"
The directory to load snapshot files from.
.TP
.BR \-snapname " <" int | rom >
When saving snapshots, use either the internal database name or the
actual ROM filename.
.TP
.BR \-sssingle " <" 1 | 0 >
Generate single snapshot instead of many, overwriting any previous
snapshots.
.TP
.BR \-ss1x " <" 1 | 0 >
Ignore any scaling applied to the TIA image, and save snapshot in
unscaled (1x) mode.
.TP
.BR \-ssinterval " <\fInumber\fP>"
Set the interval in seconds between taking snapshots in continuous
snapshot mode (currently, 1 - 10).
.TP
.BR \-rominfo " <\fIrom\fP>"
Display detailed information about the given ROM, and then exit
Stella.
.TP
.BR \-listrominfo
Prints relevant contents of the Stella ROM database, one ROM per line,
and then exit Stella. This can be used for external frontends.
.TP
.BR \-exitlauncher " <" 1 | 0 >
Always exit to ROM launcher when exiting a ROM (normally, an exit to
launcher only happens when started with the launcher).
.TP
.BR \-launcherres " <\fIW\fP" x \fIH\fP>
Set the size of the ROM launcher.
.TP
.BR \-launcherfont " <" small | medium | large >
Set the size of the font in the ROM launcher.
.TP
.BR \-launcherexts " <" allfiles | allroms | \fIlist\fP >
Specifies which files to show in the ROM launcher (\fBallfiles\fP is
self-explanatory, \fBallroms\fP is all files with valid ROM extensions
(currently: a26, bin, rom, gz, zip), \fIlist\fP is a ':' separated
list of valid ROM extensions.
.TP
.BR \-romviewer " <" 0 | 1 | 2 >
Hide ROM info viewer in ROM launcher mode (0), or use the given zoom
level (1 or 2).
.TP
.BR \-listdelay " <\fIdelay\fP>"
Set the amount of time to wait between treating successive keypresses
as a single word in list widgets (value can range from 300-1000).
.TP
.BR \-mwheel " <\fIlines\fP>"
Set the number of lines a mousewheel will scroll in the UI.
.TP
.BR \-romdir " <\fIdir\fP>"
Set the directory where the ROM launcher will start.
.TP
.BR \-statedir " <\fIdir\fP>"
Set the directory in which to save state files.
.TP
.BR \-cheatfile " <\fIfile\fP>"
Set the full pathname of the cheatfile database.
.TP
.BR \-palettefile " <\fIfile\fP>"
Set the full pathname of the user-defined palette file.
.TP
.BR \-propsfile " <\fIfile\fP>"
Set the full pathname of the ROM properties file.
.TP
.BR \-nvramdir " <\fIdir\fP>"
Set the directory in which to save EEPROM files.
.TP
.BR \-cfgdir " <\fIdir\fP>"
Set the directory in which to access Distella config files.
.TP
.BR \-avoxport " <\fIname\fP>"
Set the name of the serial port where an AtariVox is connected.
.TP
.BR \-maxres " <\fIW\fP" x \fIH\fP>
Useful for developers, this sets the maximum size of window that can
be created, allowing to simulate testing on 'smaller' systems.
.TP
.BR \-help
Print a help message describing these options, and then exit Stella.

.P
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 \fBnot\fP case sensitive.
.TP
.BR \-dis.resolve " <" 1 | 0 >
Try to differentiate between code vs. data sections in the
disassembler. See the \fIDebugger\fP section in the provided
documentation for more information.
.TP
.BR \-dis.gfxformat " <" 2 | 16 >
Sets the base to use for displaying GFX sections in the disassembler.
.TP
.BR \-dis.showaddr " <" 1 | 0 >
Shows/hides opcode addresses in the disassembler.
.TP
.BR \-dis.relocate " <" 1 | 0 >
Relocate calls out of address range in the disassembler.
.TP
.BR \-dbg.res " <\fIW\fP" x \fIH\fP>
Set the size of the debugger window.
.TP
.BR \-dbg.fontstyle " <" 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 >
How to use bold fonts in the debugger window. \fB0\fP means all normal
font, \fB1\fP is bold labels only, \fB2\fP is bold non-labels only,
\fB3\fP is all bold font.
.TP
.BR \-break " <\fIaddress\fP>"
Set a breakpoint at a specified address.
.TP
.BR \-debug
Immediately jump to debugger mode when starting Stella.
.TP
.BR \-holdjoy0 " [" UDLRF ]
Start the emulator with the specified left joystick direction and
button held down (\fBUF\fP for up and fire).
.TP
.BR \-holdjoy1 " [" UDLRF ]
Start the emulator with the specified right joystick direction and
button held down (\fBUF\fP for up and fire).
.TP
.BR \-holdreset
Start the emulator with the Game Reset switch held down.
.TP
.BR \-holdselect
Start the emulator with the Game Select switch held down.
.TP
.BR \-tiadriven " <" 1 | 0 >
Set unused TIA pins to be randomly driven high or low on a read/peek.
.TP
.BR \-ramrandom " <" 1 | 0 >
On reset, either randomize all RAM content, or zero it out instead.
.TP
.BR \-bs " <\fItype\fP>, " \-type " <\fItype\fP>"
Set "Cartridge.Type" property. See the \fIGame Properties\fP section
in the provided documentation for valid types.
.TP
.BR \-channels " <" Mono | Stereo >
Set "Cartridge.Sound" property.
.TP
.BR \-ld " <" A | B >
Set "Console.LeftDifficulty" property.
.TP
.BR \-rd " <" A | B >
Set "Console.RightDifficulty" property.
.TP
.BR \-tv " <" Color | BlackAndWhite >
Set "Console.TelevitionType" property.
.TP
.BR \-sp " <" Yes | No >
Set "Console.SwapPorts" property.
.TP
.BR \-lc " <\fItype\fP>"
Set "Controller.Left" property. See the \fIGame Properties\fP section
in the provided documentation for valid types.
.TP
.BR \-rc " <\fItype\fP>"
Set "Controller.Right" property. See the \fIGame Properties\fP section
in the provided documentation for valid types.
.TP
.BR \-bc " <\fItype\fP>"
Sets both "Controller.Left" and "Controller.Right" properties. See the
\fIGame Properties\fP section in the provided documentation for valid
types.
.TP
.BR \-cp " <" Yes | No >
Set "Controller.SwapPaddles" property. See the \fIGame Properties\fP
section in the provided documentation for valid types.
.TP
.BR \-ma " <" Auto | XY >
Set "Controller.MouseAxis" property. See the \fIGame Properties\fP
section in the provided documentation for valid types.
.TP
.BR \-format " <\fIformat\fP>"
Set "Display.Format" property. See the \fIGame Properties\fP section
in the provided documentation for valid formats.
.TP
.BR \-ystart " <\fInumber\fP>"
Set "Display.YStart" property (0 - 64).
.TP
.BR \-height " <\fInumber\fP>"
Set "Display.Height" property (210 - 256).
.TP
.BR \-pp " <" Yes | No >
Set "Display.Phosphor" property.
.TP
.BR \-ppblend " <\fInumber\fI>"
Set "Display.PPBlend" property, used for phosphor effect
(0-100). Default is 77.
.TP
.BR \-thumb.trapfatal " <" true | false >
The default of \fBtrue\fP allows the Thumb ARM emulation to throw an
exception and enter the debugger on fatal errors. When disabled, such
fatal errors are simply logged, and emulation continues. Do not use
this unless you know exactly what you're doing, as it changes the
behaviour as compared to real hardware.

.SH 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.

.SS Console controls (can be remapped)
.IP "Control + q"
Exit emulator
.IP Escape
Exit game mode/enter launcher mode
.IP Tab
Enter/exit options mode
.IP "Backslash (\e)"
Enter/exit command mode
.IP "Backquote (`)"
Enter/exit debugger
.IP F1
Select Game
.IP F2
Reset Game
.IP F3
Color TV
.IP F4
Black/White TV
.IP F5
Left Player Difficulty A
.IP F6
Left Player Difficulty B
.IP F7
Right Player Difficulty A
.IP F8
Right Player Difficulty B
.IP F9
Save state to current slot
.IP F10
Change current state slot
.IP F11
Load state from current slot
.IP F12
Save PNG snapshot
.IP Pause
Pause/resume emulation

.SS Joystick / BoosterGrip Controller (can be remapped)
.P
Left joystick:
.IP "Up arrow"
Joystick up
.IP "Down arrow"
Joystick down
.IP "Left arrow"
Joystick left
.IP "Right arrow"
Joystick right
.IP Space
Fire button
.IP 4
Trigger button
.IP 5
Booster button
.P
Right joystick:
.IP Y
Joystick up
.IP H
Joystick down
.IP G
Joystick left
.IP J
Joystick right
.IP F
Fire button
.IP 6
Trigger button
.IP 7
Booster button

.SS Paddle Controller digital emulation (can be remapped independently of joystick controller)
.P
By default the left paddles are mapped to the left joystick as follows:
.IP Left
Paddle 0 decrease
.IP Right
Paddle 0 increase
.IP Fire
Paddle 0 fire
.IP Up
Paddle 1 decrease
.IP Down
Paddle 1 increase
.IP Booster
Paddle 1 fire
.P
The same mappings on the right joystick correspond to the right
paddles (paddles 2 and 3 respectively).

.SS 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.

.SS Sega Genesis Controller (cannot be remapped, always associated with joystick and booster-grip controllers)
Each pad is mapped to the correspondig joystick as follows:
.IP Up
Up
.IP Down
Down
.IP Left
Left
.IP Right
Right
.IP Fire
Button 'B'
.IP Booster
Button 'C'

.SS Keypad Controller (can be remapped)
.P
Left keypad (press the key on the left to emulate the key on the
right):
.IP 1
1
.IP 2
2
.IP 3
3
.IP Q
4
.IP W
5
.IP E
6
.IP A
7
.IP S
8
.IP D
9
.IP Z
\&.
.IP X
0
.IP C
#

.P
Right keypad:
.IP 8
1
.IP 9
2
.IP "0 (the digit)"
3
.IP I
4
.IP "O (the letter)"
5
.IP P
6
.IP K
7
.IP L
8
.IP ;
9
.IP ,
\&.
.IP .
0
.IP /
#

.SS CompuMate Controller (cannot be remapped)
.P
.IP 0-9
0-9
.IP A-Z
A-Z
.IP Comma
Comma
.IP Period
Period
.IP Control
Func
.IP Shift
Shift
.IP "; or Return/Enter"
Enter
.IP "/ or Space"
Space
.IP Backspace
Func-Space

.SH FILES
.IP ~/.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 <\fIcommand\fP> \fB=\fP <\fIvalue\fP>, where
\fIcommand\fP is the same as that specified on the command line,
without the '-' character, and \fIvalue\fP is the value given to the
setting.
.IP ~/.stella/atarivox_eeprom.dat
Default storage for the emulated EEPROM portion of an attached
AtariVox device.
.IP ~/.stella/savekey_eeprom.dat
Default storage for the emulated EEPROM portion of an attached SaveKey
device.
.IP ~/.stella/stella.cht
Default location of the cheat database file.

.SH SEE ALSO
\fB/usr/share/doc/stella/index.html\fP,
\fB/usr/share/doc/stella/debugger.html\fP.

.SH AUTHORS
\fBstella\fP was written by Bradford W. Mott, Stephen Anthony and the
Stella Team.

This manual page was adapted from the provided documentation by
Stephen Kitt <skitt@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but
may be used by others). It was last modified for \fBstella\fP version
3.8.