stella-2.0.1

• Added 'dirtyrects' support, which speeds up rendering for some Windows users.
• Fixed bug where taking snapshots would fail if the snapshot directory wasn't specified.
• Made ROM launcher case-insensitive, so upper and lowercase names are now mixed in the correct order.
• Fixed ZIP ROM support to search the archive for ROMs ending with either .bin or .a26 (case insensitive).
• ROMs which don't have an associated properties entry are no longer named 'Untitled' in the Stella window or when taking snapshots. The actual ROM name is now used.
• Changed minimum height of debugger to be 27 lines in the prompt, or approx. 700 pixels high. This should make using the debugger easier for users with lower resolution monitors. Related to this, the RomWidget now uses all possible vertical space when changing the debugger height.
• Fixed bug related to upgrading Stella and event mappings being incorrect. Stella now detects this, and uses the default mappings. So upgrading to version 2.0.1 means your event mappings will be reset.
• Fixed bug in loading debugger symbol files generated on different operating systems.
• For the Windows port; added exe installer based on InnoSetup.
• For the Windows port; compiled icon into Stella, so it now looks like a real Win32 application.
• For the OSX port, reverted window resize key combos back to 'Cmd =' and 'Cmd -' to match the 1.4.2 release.

stella-2.0

• Added integrated GUI. Stella is now a fully graphical application, and all settings can be changed dynamically while the application is running. That means the commandline is no longer required (but support is still there for those who want to use it).
• Added ROM launcher. You can now exit a game and start playing another one from directly within Stella (you no longer have to quit Stella and restart it).
• Because of the integrated GUI and ROM launcher, StellaX and KStella (the Windows and Linux frontends) have been discontinued. The OSX port now uses the launcher as well.
• Added an integrated debugger for game developers. This is currently the first version of a debugger in Stella, but it's already quite usable.
• Added new sound subsystem, which is much faster and more accurate. Related to this, added stereo sound output (used by some homebrew games).
• Added ZIP support. Stella can now open ROM's compressed in zip format.
• Added cartridge 'frying', thanks to Fred "batari" Quimby. This emulates the action of turning the power button on and off on a real Atari, often resulting in some strange effects.
• Added ability to edit current ROM properties from directly within Stella, which can then be saved directly into the 'user.pro' file. So creating a properties entry for a new ROM can be done without any external tools.
• Added initial support for using Stella in an 'arcade-box' environment without a keyboard. This consists of an in-game menu for choosing common actions in Stella, as well as using the joystick navigate the mouse pointer.
• Reworked properties system to use both a system-wide 'stella.pro' and a per-user 'user.pro' properties files. Changes made by the user and stored in 'user.pro' are no longer erased when upgrading Stella.
• Added support for cartridges with 3E bankswitching format.
• Added preliminary Cheat support.
• Added 'Alt/Shift-Cmd' z, x, c, v, b, n keys to enable/disable the P0, P1, M0, M1, BL, PL bits in the TIA, respectively.
• Added 'Alt/Shift-Cmd .' key to disable all bits in the TIA.
• Added 'Alt/Shift-Cmd /' key to enable all bits in the TIA.
• Added 'Alt/Shift-Cmd g' key to switch dynamically switch between software and OpenGL modes while Stella is running.
• Added 'Ctrl/Cmd r' key to reload the ROM currently being emulated.
• Added 'Alt/Shift-Cmd s' key to merge the current game properties into the properties file.
• Added 'help' commandline argument. Launching Stella from the commandline with no options now starts Stella in ROM launcher mode, instead of showing help (as in previous versions).
• Added the following commandline arguments for developers: "pro, type, ld, rd, tv, lc, rc, bc, format, xstart, ystart, width height, cpu, hmove". Developers can consult the manual for further details.
• Removed 'mergeprops' commandline argument, since there are now dedicated keys to either save or merge game properties.
• Removed 'hidecursor' commandline argument. Stella will now automatically decide when to use this setting.
• Fixed framerate when switching between NTSC and PAL modes. Stella now uses the correct framerate based on the format of the ROM, in terms of both video and audio.
• Added 'configure' support to the build process for both Linux and Win32 (using MinGW). Developers can now use the familiar 'configure; make; make install' commands to compile Stella.
• Further consolidation and integration of SDL. This should lead to faster operation and a more consistent look for all ports.
• Fixed some 64-bit issues. Stella now compiles and runs correctly on AMD64 and PPC64 Linux systems.
• Updated the Stella manual with pictures of the new integrated GUI.

stella-1.4.2

• Updated the sound system. All popping and cracking sounds that previously occurred at program start/stop and when entering/exiting menu or pause mode have been eliminated.
• Fixed the gl_fsmax argument to mean "switch to desktop resolution on fullscreen OpenGL", instead of to the maximum possible resolution (the two are not always the same).
• Added Alt [ and Alt ] keys to dynamically adjust the sound volume during emulation.
• Added Control 0, Control 1, Control 2, Control 3 keys to dynamically change which paddle the mouse should emulate.
• Added video_driver argument. This accepts the different options that can be specified for SDL_VIDEODRIVER (see SDL homepage for more information). Basically, it eliminates the need to set the SDL_VIDEODRIVER environment variable.
• Made sure screen is refreshed before taking a snapshot. This eliminates the problem with new snapshots containing the text "Snapshot saved".
• For the Windows port; added windib and directx as options for 'video_driver' when using software rendering. The 'windib' option is now the default, and in many cases it's up to 10 times faster than using 'directx'.
• For the OSX port:
  • Added 'Cmd-R' key to reload the currently loaded ROM.
  • Added fix to mute sound while user is loading a new cartridge, or using the Preferences window.
  • Fixed problem in timing loop which was causing crashes after 15-30 minutes.
  • Turned optimization on in compiler settings, which had somehow gotten turned off.

stella-1.4.1

• Fixed PAL sound issues. PAL games now should sound correct (no distortion or missing sounds), but some games may still run too fast. This is still a work-in-progress, and will be fixed in Stella 1.5.
• Cleaned up the SDL event gathering loop. This should hopefully fix the problems with "double-pumping events" reported by some Windows users. Event gathering and dispatching is now much faster as well.
• Fixed a bug where the Control or Alt keys could be assigned to some event, but they could never be used. Control/Alt can now be used for any event.
• Updated stella.pro file to work with the latest Good2600 ROMset release (Thanks go to Voch for helping to maintain the stella.pro file).
• For the Windows port; removed requirement for ROM files to be named *.bin in the StellaX frontend. The ROM's can now have any name, but ZIP-files are not yet supported.
• For the Windows port; fixed the problems with the included modified SDL library and Windows 98 users. Stella should now run in Windows 98.
• For the OSX port; added preference to allow user to select the directory in which ROM images are stored. This sets the default directory to start the browsing for a ROM in, and doesn't preclude the user from selecting a file outside that directory.
• For the OSX port; fixed preferences bug where Preferences changed before a game was opened were not being saved.
• For the OSX port; fixed an issue which would prevent the program from working with OSX 10.1.

stella-1.4

• Codebase ported to SDL. The DOS and X11 ports have been discontinued.
• Sound code ported to SDL. For the Linux versions, ALSA and OSS sound support has been discontinued.
• The Linux, MacOSX and Windows ports are now based on the same codebase and are actively maintained. That means simultaneous (and hopefully more frequent) releases.
• A new Windows port has been created, with the GUI based on StellaX. This is the first new release for Windows since Stella 1.2. (software mode is not yet optimized; OpenGL mode works much better)
• A new Mac OSX port has been created by Mark Grebe. This is the first new release for Mac OSX since Stella 1.2.
• Added OpenGL rendering support.
• Added more refined in-game GUI.
• Added event remapping. Emulation keys can now be remapped to the keyboard or up to 4 joysticks.
• Added native Stelladaptor support. Joysticks, paddles, and driving controllers have been tested.
• Digital sound support (used in games like Quadrun and Pitfall2) has been greatly improved. Sound generation is now more tightly synchronized with video updates.
• Added support for switchable palettes. Currently you can switch between the current Stella palette, original Stella palette (pre-1.2 versions), and the z26 palette.
• Added support for UA Limited style bankswitching (Funky Fish and Pleiades).
• Switched to using high compatibility M6502 mode by default. This means old state saves from previous Stella versions will no longer work.
• The meaning of the "-sound" command line option has been changed. This option now accepts either 'true' or 'false (1 or 0) to enable/disable sound.
• Changed sound mixer functionality. The system volume/mixer settings will never be changed; volume changes in Stella will only affect the emulation itself.
• Added "-video" command line option. This option accepts either 'soft' or 'gl', to use software/OpenGL rendering.
• Added "-gl_filter" command line option. This option accepts either 'nearest' or 'linear', to use GL_NEAREST or GL_LINEAR filtering.
• Added "-gl_aspect" command line option. This option accepts a decimal value specifying how much to scale the width of the emulation image (useful for giving an authentic 'square-looking' 4:3 mode).
• Added "-gl_fsmax" command line option. This option accepts either 'true' or 'false, and specifies to use the maximum possible resolution when in fullscreen OpenGL mode (useful for Linux and for Windows on laptops).
• Added "-fragsize" command line option. This option accepts the size to use for sound fragments. Linux/MacOSX works well with 512, Windows seems to need 2048. This value must be a power of two.
• Modified "-volume" command line option. If you specify '-1', Stella will use the system volume.
• Renamed the "-pro" command line option to "-altpro".
• Renamed the "-fps" command line option to "-framerate".
• Removed the "-center" command line option. Stella now automatically centers the window when possible.
• Removed the "-paddle real" command line option, since it never really worked correctly (and Stelladaptor support adds that functionality anyway).
• Removed all command line options relating to the X11 port (owncmap, display).

stella-1.3

• Improved TIA sound system so that games with digitized audio work
• Added saving and loading of game state to the core; X11, SDL, and DOS versions current support saving and loading game state
• Added support for F4 bankswitching method
• Pitfall II DPC sound emulation completed
• Fixed a bug which caused the difficulty switches to operate backwards
• Changed DPC auto-detection to use file size so that Pitfall II mods work
• Modified RIOT timer emulation so that startup values are random
• Added 3F bankswitching auto-detection routine so that homebrews and demos work without a stella.pro entry
• Updated the TIA message boxes so they look a little nicer
• Latest stella.pro file included in distribution
• Added some developer options to the core, and the ability to change game width, height, xstart, ystart, and others while the emulation is running. Added ability to switch between NTSC and PAL at runtime, and the ability to save the current properties to a file or to merge the changes into the stella.pro file; X11 and SDL versions supported for now (compile option)
• External sound server for the X11 and SDL versions no longer required, as all sound code is now integrated into the core
• Changed locations of the user's config files for the X11 and SDL versions; the user's stellarc file is now located in $HOME/.stella/stellarc, state files are located in $HOME/.stella/state/ and the stella.pro file is located in $HOME/.stella/stella.pro
• Changed the way options are supplied on the commandline for the X11 and SDL versions. Now all commandline options take exactly the same arguments as in the INI file.
• Added "-accurate" command line option to choose between accurate (CPU-intensive) timing or less accurate (CPU-friendly) timing to X11 and SDL versions. This is the final version of what was considered experimental timing code in Stella 1.2.
• Added "-sound" command line option to choose which sound backend to use (alsa, oss, sdl) with the X11 and SDL versions.
• Added the developer command line options to the X11 and SDL versions, which are only activated in developer builds: -Dformat, -Dwidth, -Dheight, -Dxstart, -Dystart, -Dmerge
• Fixed window resize bug in the X11 port
• Added "-nosound" command line option to the DOS port to disable audio
• DOS port supports a "-vsync" option to synchronize emulation with the video blank of the video card
• Changed VGA code in the DOS port to use a 60Hz 320x200 and a 60Hz 320x240 graphics mode
• DOS port has been updated to run better under Windows NT, 2000, and XP. There are still issues with the sound, however, it is usable.
• DOS port is using a new Sound Blaster driver created by Matt Conte which supports auto-detection of sound cards.
• DOS port supports a STELLA_HOME environment variable that defines the location of config files.
• In the DOS port the stella.pro file is searched for first in the current working director and then in the $STELLA_HOME directory
• In the DOS port the ROM image is searched for first using the specified path, then in $STELLA_HOME/ROMS, and finally in $STELLA_HOME

stella-1.2.1

• Cyberstella: Removed the built-in games until some legal stuff is sorted out
• DOS:
  • Fixed a bug with control keys being confused with the pause key
  • Fixed a bug with the pause key causing the application to lockup

stella-1.2

• Improved illegal CPU instruction support. Thrust and Qb will now operate correctly.
• Improved emulation of undefined TIA reads. The ball in Video Pinball finally bounces off of the paddles!
• More accurate NTSC and PAL palettes. These palettes should be much more like the colors displayed on a real TV.
• PAL color loss is now emulated. If a PAL game displays an odd number of scanlines then the next frame will be displayed in black & white.
• TIA emulation improved to fix some problems with Pole Position, Fatal Run, Dolphin, Decathlon, Robot Tank, and Hole Hunter.
• Support for Pitfall II has been added, however, the enhanced sound provided by the DPC chip found in the Pitfall II cartridge isn't currently emulated.
• Support added for the Commavid (CV) bankswitching method.
• Support added for the Megaboy cartridge.
• Improved Supercharger emulation including a new BIOS that shows the vertical blue progress bars like the real thing.
• Code for the emulation core has been updated to work with newer C++ compilers compliant with the C++ standard.
• Basic message support added to the TIA emulation. This allows a short message to overlay the TIA frame. Currently, it's used when switching color modes and difficulty settings.
• The internal data structure for the stella.pro file was changed from a resizable array to a binary search tree. This results in quicker startup times.
• An SDL port of Stella is available (requires SDL 1.2.0 or greater)
• Added option to not load in the whole stella.pro file when starting Stella. This option is enabled on the X11, SDL, and DOS versions. Win32 version is left alone since it's needed for loading multiple games from the UI. Saves on memory usage.
• Added INI file option to the X11 and SDL versions. Options can be specified in this file instead of entering them on the commandline. Any options entered on the commandline override options in the INI file. File is called stellarc. For the X11 and SDL versions, it can be in either $HOME (as $HOME/.stellarc) or in /etc (as /etc/stellarc). The one in $HOME has higher priority than the one in /etc.
• Added snapshot support to the X11 and SDL versions. Pressing F12 saves the current screen in PNG format. Requires PNG library.
• Removed stella.pro file from the binary, resulting in large space savings. The stella.pro file is no longer optional. For the X11 and SDL versions, it can be in either $HOME (as $HOME/.stella.pro) or in /etc (as /etc/stella.pro). The one in $HOME has higher priority than the one in /etc. For DOS and Win32 versions, the stella.pro file must be in the same directory as the executable.
• Added pause functionality to the core. Implemented in DOS, X11, and SDL versions for now.