Author: Harry (surfer.prokom.pl)
Date: 06-17-2001 15:37
Unfortunately, there is no a new release version of the emulator available for download yet. It should be ready in one or two weeks.
Moreover, the PLus 2.8 is still based on the kernel version 1.0.6. It means that the Daniel Noguerol's extensions and the Diamond, Sparta Dos X and XEGS cartridges support have not been implemented yet (these changes are depended on the incomming kernel 1.1.0 improvements).
Here is what is new in this version:
Added:
1) The Setup Wizard is used to perform installation of the emulator in the Windows environment (see the "Help/Setup Wizard" (Alt+W) menu option).
2) The "Input" menu has been added. It provides a comfortable way for accessing all the emulator's input configuration options.
3) There is the ability to save video stream to an AVI file (only for GDI display modes and without the sound at the moment, see the "View/Save video" menu option).
4) Some state indicators displayed on the status bar have been introduced. The indicators show and allow to change (via mouse double-clicks) some emulation parameters. There is also the possibility to turn them off by using the "View/Show/State indicators" (Alt+I) menu option.
5) The stretched graphics modes can be built using interpolation algorithm that gives "smooth" graphics like on an old TV set (vide the View/Stretching/Smooth" option). Unfortunately, the interpolation routines are very slow at the moment.
6) A new full-screen mode (320x400 DirectDraw). This mode allows achieving a pretty fast emulation with scan lines or interpolation (though vertical only) turned on.
7) The emulator can now work in the background (it means without the focus, see the "Misc/Process control/Stop when inactive" menu option). There is also the possibility to run it at higher priority level ("Misc/Process control/Run at high priority"). The user may find these features useable especially during listening to music played by the emulator run in the background.
8) The possibility to press simultaneously two keys that are used for emulating the opposite joystick's directions is blocked by default now but may be turned on (see the "Allow to use opposite direction keys" option in the Joystick Options dialog box dialog box).
9) The standard system colors may be optionally used for GUI in full-screen modes (see the "Use system colors" option in the Graphics Options dialog box). Unfortunately, they are visible only in the case when there is standard color schema used by the Windows.
10) The Performance Options dialog box that groups all the kernel options that the speed of the emulator depends on (see the "Atari/Performance" menu option).
11) Conversion from .XFD to .ATR files (see the "Misc/Convert/XFD to ATR" (Alt+I) menu option). Thanks to Piotr Fusik for sending me the conversion routines.
12) The Arabic OS image is automatically recognized by the emulator.
13) Some new icons (Atari XE and new ones for associating Atari images).
14) The emulator help file has been revisioned and large parts of it have been rewritten by Piotr Fusik.
Changed:
1) Some drawing routines written in assembler have been improved by Piotr Fusik. With new compilation schema, which has been used for this release of the emulator, it should give about 10-15% boost in performance. There is also the possibility to use MMX and/or Pentium Pro core optimized routines (see the Advanced Graphics Options dialog box).
2) The Palette Options dialog box has been reconstructed. All the palette options are grouped in the one window.
3) The Joystick Options dialog box has been modified. Assigning devices to Atari's stick ports should be much easier now.
4) The Keyboard Options dialog box is now invoked via the "Input/Keyboard" (Alt+K) menu option instead of the "Keyboard Template" window. The second one is still available but can be opened only by the "Edit" button in the "Keyboard Options" dialog.
5) The emulator recognizes now maximum 32 joystick buttons instead of 4.
6) The Extra Options window has been removed. I hope this one won't be needed anymore.
7) The "Graphics" menu has been renamed to "View".
Fixed:
1) The Atari screen contents is properly redrawn when the user moves the main emulator window around and parts of the window are not visible on the screen. Also the Atari screen repairing in full-screen modes has been finally implemented. The user can move dialog windows around without destroying the screen contents.
2) A key assigned in a keyset to center Atari stick should work properly when the "Recenter keyboard stick when key is released" option is unchecked.
3) The mouse double-clicks are captured by the emulator when a mouse is emulated.
4) A lot of serious problems under Windows 2000 have been fixed. The emulator should not crash anymore after loading executable, changing video system etc., popup menus are properly erased, Ctrl+Esc keystrokes are captured and much, much more.
5) Some annoyed errors when initializing the Registry under Windows NT have been removed.
6) The speed indicator on the status bar is finally independent from the user's actions performed via GUI.
7) Changing the emulator display modes has been slightly improved.
8) Some errors in the multimedia sound initialization have been removed.
9) A bug in the small file selector causing some problems with displaying contents of the desktop folder.
10) A lot of other errors.
Have a nice day,
Harry
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