Coming soon! Steem SSE 3.5

[npomarede]

There's still one possibility though, that it's different on a STE (don't see why).
Anyway I removed the delay as it could break something else.

No, I don't think it's different on STE ; I had a look at the demo and there's in fact a huge race condition, where the code sends the correct Y byte for set mouse position, then immediately set SR to 2300, which triggers a pending VBL. But the VBL write $d to fffc02 without checking for TDRE and overwrites the $58 byte waiting to be sent by the ACIA. So you can safely remove this patch, there's no chance it works better on STE, the whole demo's logic on this point is flawed.

[Steven Seagal]

Steem SSE 3.5.2 has been released on 04/08/2013.
Bugfixes, shameless lifting of Hatari insights, and some improvements of my own.
Especially the problems with new options not being updated were annoying, this explains the short delay.
Both the Windows and the Unix (XSteem) builds were released.

Improvements of v3.5.2

- Bugfix options 'Drive track info', 'Pasti only for STX' on/off (Win32)
- Drive track info: no sector when fast mode
- Infobox will display SSE readme and FAQ; new font and size
- More screenshots (100,000 instead of 1,000)
- Bugfix CPU: Aladin, Fuzion 77 78 84
- MFP: some improvements/refactoring inspired by Hatari (IACK, IRQ delay)
- Blitter: writing 0 in #lines register translates into 65536.
- Bugfix line -106 bytes shifter trick threshold (Just Buggin')
- Shifter trick STE line +20, shift display (Riverside)
- Bugfix read SDP: Mindbomb/No poo (vs. SNYD/TCB)
- Internal: new method for demos that destablise the shifter (option
"STF wake-up state 2")
- Some ACIA bugfixes and improvements (High Fidelity Dreams, Overdrive Demos,
Brataccas)
- Floppy disk: handle when there's no disk in drive (European Demos)
- Sound: renounce for now anti-aliasing attempts


This is where you can get it:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/steemsse (where the source is also available)

or

http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem.htm

[Avanze]

Another awesome release, and as always, thanks for the continued hard work on Steem.

[Steven Seagal]

Coming soon! Steem SSE 3.5.3

http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem_35_coming_soon4.htm

Well it's more a following of the "horizontal scrolling" discussion, but by posting here I don't pollute that thread with all my brags.

Revisiting Dragon by Ghost (STF)



This is the method: first scandalous hacks without really understanding, but the demo runs (v3.4.1, STF2), then come back later. This demo screen is part of the Overdrive Demo (slow disk drive). It runs only on a STF.

In previous versions, the top of the screen was wrong, like this:



Thanks to progress in shifter understanding, we now can try to explain it:

At the end of the frame there's a savage and useless removal of the left border, not followed with a "stabiliser" switch. The effect is dramatic! When the left border is removed, the MMU fetches 26 more bytes than in a regular scanline. As the 4 shifter IR input registers are 16bit, they hold 8 bytes max. A scanline divisible by 8 will empty the shifter registers.The scanline without the left border has 160+26 bytes, or 160+24+2. Two bytes remain in the shifter by the end of the scanline, and the frame. They're still there at the start of next frame, and as long as there's no border effect, in the top part.

The effect that must be emulated is that each of those scanlines is shifted, both the planes and the pixels. The shift in pixels is exactly 4, just like in the bottom lines, that are shifted because of the left border removal. Those lines are stabilised.

The nice thing: the shifts are compatible with those we use for the bee (see site), so it all holds up together. And it is a nice demo.

Option wake-up state. If set to "ignore", no shifter "preload" (still hesitant how we must name this) is emulated.

Update: ha ha, later on I reintroduced some dirty hacks to have the demo menu screen display correctly in WU1.

[Steven Seagal]

Revisiting Omega Full Overscan (STF)


Remember this?



Depending on the WU state and other factors, overscan without a stabiliser may produce that result, where the shifter displays 16 pixels bitmap followed with 16 pixels of "border".

I stated: One day we could try to emulate this behaviour (as an option)

The day has come!



See, I even managed to stop emulation at the exact same point in the scroller. What's still missing is the bending of top lines, maybe another version.

[Steven Seagal]

Steem, the biggest emulator



Literally. In very large display size mode, Steem will be the most revealing of all Atari ST emulators. It will display 35 "top border" lines instead of 30. This is because some palette effects target those lines, like obviously here:

The Musical Wonder 1990

In any smaller resolution, the 'Offbeat' is cut.

[Steven Seagal]

Here's the new option set up:



You may notice:
- Option 'Interpolated scanlines' moved to SSE option page
- Option 'Slow disk' duplicated in SSE page

I also added a 'manual' page on the site, because there was a complaint that Steem is confusing for the newcomer, SSE version even more so.

http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem_manual.htm

This page is based on Steem's original readme.txt. Some pictures and some SSE-specific info have been added.

Edit: also forgot this, it's not very important but since I took the trouble:



File associations:
- Can now create and remove association in options
- Now uses registry part HKEY_CURRENT_USER, not HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT so you
don't need to run as administrator.
- Simplistic: when you associate, Steem takes the extension for itself,
disregarding other programs. When you remove the association, Steem deletes
the extension from the registry.
- No auto-association at startup, including .PRG,.TOS,.APP,.GTP,.TTP.
- No association with .STC (cartridge) possible
- Removing previous Steem associations is up to you.
- You must reassociate with subsequent versions. It's because the name of the
executable changes.
Those changes also reduce the executable file size by 4KB.

[Steven Seagal]

Well, wasn't it your dream, ACopy reporting the correct interleave on a 11 sectors disk? Now it's reality:



One little thing I did, invert the mouse buttons action on the 'reset/power' switch. Left click for "warm reset":



Support for the recent "LoSTE screens", you can also see the nicer "Steem SSE" logo:



In fact I've never been able to edit the graphics of the previous "Steem 3.2" logo, but since the version number is on the window title bar it doesn't matter anymore. The plasma and the "fuji" animation are very nice, it's not my doing but Steem author's.

Support for all those Bee programs by ljbk discussed in the "horizontal scrolling" thread:



And, of course, 3615 GEN4 by ULM is now emulated 100%! I already bragged about this one but there was a glitch in the left border in previous versions.



Coming so soon!

[Dal]

Cheers Mr Seagal!

Steem has definitely come a long way thanks to all your effort.

[Steven Seagal]

Cheers Mr Seagal!

Steem has definitely come a long way thanks to all your effort.

Certainly this is the ACopy improvement that brought tears to your eyes.
If that's the case you really should check the ProCopy screens at the end of this page:

http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem_35_coming_soon5.htm

[Steven Seagal]

And there it is, v3.5.3 of the kick-ass ST emulator has been uploaded on the usual places:

Sourceforge:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/steems ... SSE%203.5/

My ST site:
http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem.htm

Only the Win32 build and the Boiler are available for the moment.

Improvements of v3.5.3
------------------------

- Reset button inverted: left click for reset, right click for switch off
- On Screen Display: 'Steem SSE' in former plasma, no version number, which
is in the window title. In fact 'SSE' fits in the space reserved
for two digits version number ('3.2'). Nice-looking, original work by Steem
authors.
- Option 'Interpolated scanlines' moved to SSE option page
- Option 'Slow disk' duplicated in SSE page
- File associations:
Can now create and remove association in options.
Now uses registry part HKEY_CURRENT_USER, not HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT so you
don't need to run as administrator.
Simplistic: when you associate, Steem takes the extension for itself,
disregarding other programss. When you remove the association, Steem deletes
the extension from the registry.
No auto-association at startup, including .PRG,.TOS,.APP,.GTP,.TTP.
No association with .STC (cartridge) possible, by design.
Removing previous Steem associations is up to you.
You must reassociate with subsequent versions. It's because the name of the
executable changes.
Those changes also reduce the executable file size by 4KB.
- 'Very large' display size increased to 412x285: The Musical Wonder 90
- 'Large' display size: correct On Screen Display alignment
- TOS STE faster boot (from hatari) (option 'Hacks')
- Better video RAM check on some writes: mmuupd0, 3615 GEN4 by ULM 100%
- Top and bottom borders depend on Wake-up state: wakeup.tos, Decade title, ...
- Shifter destabilisation: 'Bee' demos by LJBK
- Shifter panic: Omega Full Overscan (for fun)
- Shifter tricks fixes for 0 byte lines, lines +2, lines -106, new line +24:
The LoSTE screens by Sync (STF/STE), SNYD/TCB (WU1,2)
- Hardscroll in high resolution (please code some demos!)
- Bugfix ACIA: Nightdawn
- Bugfix MFP: ST Magazine STE Demo
- FDC: 'Force Interrupt' better handled (Panzer)
- Drive: Slow boot to GEM when no disk; Interleave in 11 sectors disks


There are no bugs. Should you find some bugs, here's the thread where I'd like reports to be centralised:
viewtopic.php?f=94&t=25093

[Greyfox™]

Wow another great Release Steven! I can't thank you enough for all your hard work making this the best Atari ST emulator with all these amazing new features.

You sir, are Legend !

[AtariZoll]

Great news. Too bad that no time currently for enjoying in it

[Avanze]

Great stuff. Always nice to wake-up to a new release on a Sunday.

[Steven Seagal]

Unfortunately there are some bugs in v3.5.3, v3.5.4 will soon be released, but I give it one more week or so for testing.
As you will see below, I suddenly added some new feature.

http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem_35_coming_soon6.htm


Basic Emulation Info



New status info in the tool bar, pretty handy too: ST model, TOS version, available memory.

It doesn't waste any screen "real estate" where it is. Drive info stays as it was (OSD).

It's a hack but it does the job. I've already been "inspired" by Hatari for many things, but in this case I would say it's just natural for an emulator to display such information.

Display sizes



Here they are, the new display size options.
384 x 270 normal
400 x 278 max fullscreen
412 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 end of the borders, regardless of blanking or plane shifts introduced by the "stabiliser" overscan technique on a real ST.

Wake-up states



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 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 because it wasn't clear at once that
WS3 is closer to WU1 than WU2, and WS4 is closer to WU2.

The "Bee" demos by LJBK will recognise WS1-4, and the demos will behave as
expected in all WS.
Despite the nice table, it's still preliminary.
In effect we're using the new system only for some aspects, the rest still
using the "old" concept of only WU 1 and 2.
It's because testing takes time, those changes may break video rendering
of programs that run until now.

Needless to say, Steem is leading the way for this issue.

Other improvements

- Save WU state with snapshot, reset on switch STE/STF

- No line +2 when Shifter destabilised: Darkside of the Spoon STE
(choose one of the wake-up states to remove flicker)

- Omega 'Shifter panic': swap good/bad bands to be more like screenshot
Omega works in WS4, DOLB in WU1: compromise

- Internal:
0byte lines now handled in a state machine-like manner, not looking for
specific switches anymore => better emulation, more performant tests.

Beta:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/steems ... SE%20Beta/?

[Dizzy-WEWRF]

Hi

subjekt :
New status info in the tool bar, giving:
ST model, TOS version, available memory.

I am a fan of lovely details so ...

Therefore I asked myself
if regarding to your latest
improovement there is some optical
improovement possible ????

For example giving it some
frame and some more surrunding gray aswell
as a bit more centered vertically text ??

For better understanding
I have done some painting

Also it would be nice if
there would be a checkbox
in SSE option just
to give the opportunety
to make it visible
by choice or not


So long
Dizzy

[Steven Seagal]

OK, it will be a SSE option.
I added info for 6301 emu and pasti (if they're on).
For the aspect, beside white background of above, there's this one, the current candidate:

status_bar_grey.png

Or with a border:

status_bar_sunken.png

Let me know what you think.

[Dizzy-WEWRF]

Hi

I think your first suggestion is the one

The frame of
the second suggestion
would come to close to
the border which
doesent look that nice ...

So if background is totally
gray its one plane
aerea so it looks nicer

So i think we'll
take your first
and prefered
suggesetion

As always a great job

So Long Dizzy

[DrCoolZic]

yes first one is great

[Avanze]

Another vote for the first screenshot.

[Steven Seagal]

Because of some useful debugging we're still in beta mode
(https://sourceforge.net/projects/steems ... SE%20Beta/?)

For the status bar I would also include the game name:



The options have been rearranged. "Drive track info" in SSE page, when it's
checked the drive led of 'OSD' page is suppressed.
I think now all the 'SSE' options are on the 'SSE' tab.



Now we have space for more new options...

[Dizzy-WEWRF]

Hi

Well nice Job as usual


Regarding the new 'Status Info' I think that adding the Name to
the Status Info is not that good Idea .
The problem is if the names are long
they get out of display !!!
So I think this Info is better in the OSD
because there is no Limit due to
my opinion and not exclusively
there ....
Have a look at the screenshot to see
what I mean :

sc4.jpg

( really sad for Kan Dalglish here ...)

This exactly was the reason for requesting some
other Improovements especially the extra long
Diskname Text Lines (have a look
at the screenshot )

Disk manger big impro.PNG

Well while working with Steem you
realize that some improovement of
the Diskmanger is really nessecarry ...

So i request for
Name of the Image in an Own Textline,
Some Sorting Option,
Some Detail Option,
Some Show Style Option,


Requesting it exactly that way also for
optical reasos so ...

I tryed to point out what i mean
as always by doing a little
painting as you can see

So long Dizzy

[Steven Seagal]

Yes, I don't know really. Here you still can say what it is, but for some TOSEC titles, the important info may be at the end.
Notice that I always run with "borders on", and the option is adjusted for that, there's more room.
One thing I could do is not display the name when border are off.

[Dizzy-WEWRF]

Hi

Dispite this,
what do you think about
improoving the Diskmanager ?

So long Dizzy

[Steven Seagal]

Hi

Dispite this,
what do you think about
improoving the Diskmanager ?

So long Dizzy

To be frank I don't like it, too cluttered. The current disk manager is rather elegant.
When you click or hover on a disk you can read the full name.
But not for the inserted disks. I'll think about that.
I'm not against other options, but then among the existing ones, not apart buttons.
There's already 'large' and 'small' icons, we could work on this to remove the columns then it's fine, as they are they seem useless.