Good news for ST emulation, bad news for sourceforge servers,
Steem SSE 3.5.4 has been released on 17/11/2013.
Improvements of v3.5.4- Bugfix crash in very large display size on some systems.
- Bugfix option 'Pasti only for STX' could make Steem treat pasti images as
native on loading a snapshot.
- Bugfix drive internal variable "motor on" (European Demos OVR V).
- Bugfix (useless) feature STE HIRES HSCROLL wasn't available (oops).
- Bugfix VBL jitter (Japtro).
- 'Cold reset & run': reset IKBD buffer (Transbeauce 2).
- Bugfix drive complete command on empty drive (European Demos "insert B").
- Bugfix ACIA timing when not using true 6301 emu (Sapiens).
- Bugfix display 400x278 interpolated scanlines shift.
- Safer behaviour for some options (6301, VSync...)
- New status info in the tool bar, giving:
ST model, TOS version, available memory, plus whether 6301 and pasti
or Caps, or accurate drive emulation (ADAT).
Also option for the name of current disk.
- New option "VSync".
This gives you the best display provided your monitor has the correct
refresh rate (50hz/100hz for most programs).
Combined with 'Interpolated Scanlines' this should give you the best
experience of the great game Goldrunner in window mode on LCD screen.
This should work in window mode as well as in fullscreen mode.
This consumes some CPU power (but not as much as Triple Buffering).
This could interfere with "Compositing" (Desktop Window Manager) in Windows
Vista and 7 in window mode. In Windows 8 you can't disable Compositing!
- New option "Triple Buffering".
This may be useful to eliminate "tearing" or "ghosting", at the price
of high CPU use.
This should work in window mode as well as in fullscreen mode (stretch
mode only).
"Compositing" (Desktop Window Manager) in Windows Vista and above makes
this option useful only in fullscreen mode, in window mode there's already
no tearing.
This illustrates that those display problems may also be handled at driver
or OS level.
- New display size options.
384 x 270 normal
400 x 278 max in fullscreen 800x600 mode
413 x 280 max overscan
416 x 286 max plasma
Depending on the program, one or the other size will be better.
Generally the smallest is sufficient.
The sizes count only for border effects in colour mode.
Steem displays what's inside the video RAM even at the extremities of the
borders, regardless of blanking or plane shifs introduced by shifter tricks
on a true ST. That's why 413 x 280 may be actually more faithful than the
max size. If option 'Hacks' is checked, the image will show 52 left
border pixels in 413 x 280 and 416 x 286 modes. If not, only 48.
I believe 52 is the right number, but am not sure. In order to avoid
rewriting the rendering system we also use tricks to obtain those 4 more
pixels. It may break in some yet unknown cases.
Note that internally 400 x 278 is emulated as 416 x 286, and a trick is used
to change resolution at rendering time (blit).
This trick will work in fullscreen mode with option 'straight blit'.
'Screen flip' will only work with 384 x 270.
This may cause the display to go black or be shifted or another kind of
bizarre when the emulator isn't running.
400 x 278 allows one to read the full text of Best Part of The Creation.
416 x 286 has recently been modified, so this mode and derived modes
400 x 278 and 413 x 280 could still be a bit buggy!
In short, all bigger than normal (384 x 270) display sizes use various
tricks, and may be trouble in fullscreen mode.
- Wake-up state:
Normally you'll use this option only if the display of some demo isn't
correct without. You don't need to understand all technical aspects
to use the option, of course.
The option has become much more complicated, with 4 states instead of 2.
It is that complicated on the ST.
Code: Select all
+------------------------------------------------------------+
| Steem option | Wake-up concepts |
| variable | |
+------------------+---------------+------------+------------+
| WAKE_UP_STATE | DL Latency | WU | WS |
| | (Dio) | (ijor) | (LJBK) |
+------------------+---------------+------------+------------+
| 0 (ignore) | - | - | - |
| 1 | 3 | 2 (warm) | 2 |
| 2 | 4 | 2 (warm) | 4 |
| 3 | 5 | 1 (cold) | 3 |
| 4 | 6 | 1 (cold) | 1 |
+------------------+---------------+------------+------------+
WAKE_UP_STATE is just the Steem option.
DL is a latency electronically measured by Dio (atari-forum) between two
signals, 'DE' and 'LOAD', in cycles.
WU are the two wake-up states first found by ijor.
WS are the more detailed "wake states" found by LJBK.
They're in a strange order for "historical" reasons.
The "Bee" demos by LJBK will recognise WS1-4, and the demos will behave as
expected in all WS.
The option may help for some flickering screens.
Emulation of those states is still not complete.
Needless to say, Steem is leading the way for this issue.
- Save WU state with snapshot; reset on switch STE/STF.
- Line +2 in STE mode: yet a new way.
- 'Shifter panic': swap good/bad bands to be more like screenshot of
Omega Full Overscan.
Shifter panic is only WU2, by choice, to limit options.
Omega works in WS2, Death of the Left Border in WU1 (at least, in
Steem).
- Rearrange some options, "drive track info" in SSE page, when it's
checked the drive led of 'OSD' page is suppressed.
- Disk manager: right click on name to read full name, useful for very
long names.
- MegaST4 option: preselect monochrome.
- Internal:
Reordering of shifter tricks analysis, refactoring.
Some tests for shifter tricks now handled in a state machine-like
manner, not looking for specific switches anymore => better emulation,
more performing tests.
Debugging and removing some hacks related to "wake-up" and "wake-state".
Download (Win32, regular + boiler):
https://sourceforge.net/projects/steems ... SSE%203.5/or
http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem.htmDevelopment screen:
http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem_35_coming_soon6.htmPlease read included doc if you have some doubt about any option. Some are advanced or it wouldn't be the SSE build, right?
There's also an online manual here (with pics!):
http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem_manual.htmOf course there are no bugs. If you find some, please report here:
Steem SSE 3.5 bug reports
viewtopic.php?f=94&t=25093 Or wherever, as usual!