VICE 2.2 has been released

[nojoopa]

VICE 2.2 has been released.

VICE is the Versatile Commodore Emulator, it emulates the Commodore C64,
C128, VIC20, PET, PLUS4 and the CBM-II, as well as the C64 DTV, and it
runs on Win32, Unix, DOS, RiscOS, OS/2, BeOS, QNX, SkyOS, AmigaOS and
GP2X systems.

VICE is *free* software released under the GNU General Public License,
and as such it comes with full source code.

The most important changes from the last version can be found at the end
of this posting.

For more information and download instructions check out the VICE home
page at:

http://www.viceteam.org/

=======================================================================
At the time this was written the VICE home page was not updated yet,
rest assured that it will be updated soon.

In the meantime, please use

http://vice-emu.sourceforge.net/
=======================================================================

The VICE team wishes you all a Merry Christmas!

The VICE team.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Most important changes since the last version include:

** General
----------

- On autostart, do not change true drive emulation (TDE) anymore by
default. The old behaviour can be switched on again by specifiying
-autostart-handle-tde on the command line.
There is one drawback of this behaviour: If TDE is switched on, an
image attached must fit to the drive type set. For example, when you
attach a .D81, you must have the drive type set to 1581, or the
autostart will fail.

- Added automatic Warp mode during autostart. If this resource is enabled then
VICE automatically enables the warp mode and then loads a file. After
loading the warp mode is disabled again and then the program is started.

- Autostarting a PRG file can now be done in three different ways:

* "Virtual FS": This mode mounts the directory where the file resides as a
virtual filesystem on drive #8 and then loads the PRG via virtual drive
traps. This was the only way of autostarting in previous VICE versions
and is still the default.

* "Inject to RAM": The PRG file is loaded from VICE directly into the RAM of
the emulated machine. Then the memory setup of a Basic LOAD is simulated
and the program is run. This is the fastest mode available but may lack
compatibility as no actual load operation was performed in the emulator.
However, no drive setup is altered during the operation.

* "Diskimage": VICE creates a temporary new disk image and copies the
contents of the PRG file onto it. Then this image is mounted in drive #8
and the program is loaded from there. If TDE is enabled then the load
operation is most compatible. The disk image stays attached until a new
image is mounted.

- Improved PAL emulation is now available for Unix/Xaw XVideo mode, and
AmigaOS. Only the YUV packed modes work, the planar modes still use the
old code paths, though.

- Sound core has been reworked to enable lower latency of operation.
Approximately 50 ms latency values are now routinely reached, and some
people have reported that as low as 30 ms still works for them.

- New SDL port. See ReadmeSDL.txt for details.

- New win64 ports, both amd64/x64 and ia64 are supported (msvc compile only).

- New SDL based armle, mipsle, ppcbe and shle QNX 6.x ports.

- New SDL based M68k and sparc SunOS ports.

- New SDL based Syllable port.

- New SDL based Dingoo port.

- Remote monitor (in other words: TCP/IP interface to VICE monitor) added.

- Fixed non-6502/6510 CPU handling in monitor.

** C64/C128 changes
-------------------

- ReSID's resampler has been optimized with MMX assembly. Some long-standing
bugs in resample-interpolate mode were also fixed.

- ReSID-FP has been optimized, too. It clocks the analog parts at half the
rate now, which saves CPU during filter emulation especially for 6581 modes.

- Added SFX Sound Sampler and SFX Sound Expander emulation.

- Added EasyFlash cartridge emulation.

- Added paddle emulation.

- Added lightpen/lightgun emulation, currently only available for the following
ports: SDL, GTK+, cocoa, win32/win64 and msdos.

- Added support for the following userport joystick adapters: CGA/Protovision,
DXS/HIT, PET (normally only used on the PET/CBM2), Hummer (normally only
used on the C64DTV) and OEM (normally only used on the VIC20).

** C128 changes
---------------

- Added RAM banks 2 and 3 support.

- Improved the VDC emulation.

- Stereo SID $D7xx range support.

** VIC20 changes
----------------

- New cycle exact emulation core. Handles accesses to unconnected
address space and in-line graphics data changes correctly.
(fixes "Impossiblator 3" and others)

- Improved VIC emulation (in-line color/reverse mode changes on half-chars).

- Cartridge handling rewritten.

- Added Mega-Cart cartridge emulation.

- Added Final Expansion cartridge emulation.

- Default memory configuration changed from full to unexpanded.

- Added paddle emulation.

- Added lightpen/lightgun emulation, currently only available for the following
ports: SDL, GTK+, cocoa, win32/win64 and msdos.

- Corrected the joystick support, since the VIC20 can only have one joystick
attached on the joystick port.

- Added support for the following userport joystick adapters: CGA/Protovision
(normally only used on the C64/C128), PET (normally only used on the
PET/CBM2), Hummer (normally only used on the C64DTV) and OEM.

** PLUS4 changes
----------------

- Added Digibooster SID Cart add-on emulation.

- Added SID Cart joystick port emulation.

- Fixed bug in tape recording.

- Improved graphics handling.

** C64DTV changes
-----------------

- Replaced old DTVSID emulation with ReSID-DTV.

- Minor bug fixes and emulation improvements.

- Added support for the following userport joystick adapters: CGA/Protovision
(normally only used on the C64/C128), PET (normally only used for the PET),
Hummer and OEM (normally only used on the VIC20).

** PET changes
--------------

- Corrected the joystick support, since the only way a PET can use a joystick
is by a userport joystick adapter, the following userport joystick adapters
are currently supported: CGA/Protovision (normally only used on the
C64/C128), PET, Hummer (normally only used on the C64DTV) and OEM (normally
only used on the VIC20).

** CBM2 changes
---------------

- Corrected the joystick support, since the only way a CBM2 can use a joystick
is by a userport joystick adapter, the following userport joystick adapters
are currently supported: CGA/Protovision (normally only used on the
C64/C128), PET, Hummer (normally only used on the C64DTV) and OEM (normally
only used on the VIC20).

** Unix changes
---------------

- Rudimentary PulseAudio sound driver has been added.

- Added support for dynamic loading of FFMPEG libraries.

- Added support for dynamic loading of OpenCBM and Lame library

** MS-Windows changes
---------------------

- New video driver using DirectX9 if possible. This allows free window scaling
and fullscreen mode covering the whole screen. Using a fixed aspect ratio
is optional.

- New Danish and Turkish translations of the UI elements and
command-line options.

- Added support for dynamic loading of FFMPEG libraries.

- Added support for dynamic loading of OpenCBM and Lame library

- New Italian kaymap.

** AmigaOS changes
------------------

- New Danish and Turkish translations of the UI elements and
command-line options.

- Added experimental PCI HardSID and Catweasel support.

- Used AROS (x86, ppc, amd64) new lowlevel libraries which should make USB
joysticks and joypads usable.

** Mac OS X changes
-------------------

- Cocoa port now supports all emulators

- Support for Mac OS X versions 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6 and PowerPC, Intel 32,
and 64 Bit Support.

- Cocoa UI redesign. Emulator window is reduced to emulation display only.
Emulator is controlled with the new control window. There disk and tape
images can be attached by clicking on the image or dragging files there.
Added the tape controls for the datasette and the status bar.
Added a master volume slider.

- Added SyncDraw display mode that does temporal filtering of the frames
generated by the machine (motion blur). This enhances the display quality in
moving scenes if the machine frame rate does not match the display refresh
rate (e.g. a 50 Hz C64 is shown on a 60 Hz LCD display)

- Added FLIcker Fixer to SyncDraw mode that does full frame reconstruction,
i.e. two half frames are buffered and displayed as a full frame. This helps
to reduce flicker in FLI modes but might introduce too much blur in other
modes.

- Attach image file dialogs now show the contents of the selected disk/tape
image and allow to pick a program to load from there.

- Emulator is now paused if Mac OS X goes to sleep.

- The CoreAudio sound driver was completely rewritten to support the updated
sound APIs found in the new Mac OS X versions.

- Added movie recording in QuickTime format (PowerPC and 32 Bit Intel only)

- Added support for dynamic loading of FFMPEG libraries installed via MacPorts

- Added support for dynamic loading of OpenCBM and Lame library

- Improved build scripts to support all current Mac OS X versions,
architectures, and compilers (gcc 4.0, gcc 4.2, clang)

- Libnet and libpcap updated to current versions

- Some keymap fixes in cocoa port

[carlsson]

Yay! Very good move to change the default from full to unexpanded. It has confused a lot of newbies over the years, in particular since a lot of developers strive towards unexpanded programs anyway.

[Jeff-20]

Word.

[Pedro Lambrini]

Sounds good. Looking forward to messing around with the FE3 and Mega Cart emulation.

[orion70]

Great version!
I think I'll read the help pages carefully, to understand and use all the new features.
I'm particulary interested in paddle emulation, cartridge handling (smart attach?), and fullscreen aspect ratio. BTW: which is the correct one for a standard PAL VIC-20?

Last note. If anyone's interested in emulating the (almost) correct PAL colours, use this palette (remember to turn PAL emulation on).

[Diddl]

Sounds good. Looking forward to messing around with the FE3 and Mega Cart emulation.

Simply use FE3 firmware file as a FE cartige in VICE.

Turn on write back (commandline switch +writeback) otherwise flashing works only up to the next start of VICE.

[tlr]

BTW: which is the correct one for a standard PAL VIC-20?

There is no absolute truth here as it depends on monitor adjustments. Personally I decided on 0.825.

[Boray]

- Added paddle emulation.

- Added lightpen/lightgun emulation, currently only available for the following

That could mean that it now is possible to make a mouse controlled interface in emulated vic-20 programs.

[gklinger]

Is anyone here using the Cocoa port under OS X? As odd as it sounds, I find VICE isn't giving me the option to attach a cartridge (the choices are greyed out in the menus). I must be overlooking something...

[rhurst]

Excellent job, VICE Team, on your 2.2 release... I have been particularly enjoying the new Mega-Cart emulation feature. Amazing!

[Boray]

BTW: which is the correct one for a standard PAL VIC-20?

There is no absolute truth here as it depends on monitor adjustments. Personally I decided on 0.825.

Well, at least some years ago, most countries national TV broadcasts displayed a test picture when there was no programs on. Displaying geometrical figures like this one:
http://fmsf.files.wordpress.com/2009/06 ... ld-svt.jpg

This way you could adjust the TV to get the correct aspect ratio. So, connecting a vic-20 to a TV set with the correct ratio would theoritically only give one value for PAL and one for NTSC? Or? Given that you have the correct aspect ratio of your computer monitor as well of course. But I guess both TVs and computer monitors do have the correct aspects nowdays... as long as you select an appropriate graphics mode on a monitor or the right aspect for the vic (4:3) of a modern TV...

[Boray]

- Added Mega-Cart cartridge emulation.

Where can I download megacart to try that?

[Diddl]

- Added Mega-Cart cartridge emulation.

Where can I download megacart to try that?

You only can dump your own MegaCart with this new dump utility and use this dump in VICE 2.2. It is very nice to use MegaCart at VICE caus its so simple and fast to run games.

[eslapion]

There is something really annoying about VICE ever since it passed V2.

On previous versions, I used to select a non-standard resolution of 856x480 with double size and no double scan. It looked real close to the real thing on my PC CRT.

Now with the new version, this effect doesn't work anymore because whatever resolution you choose, the emulator SCALES its output to fit the resolution display you have selected and I see nowhere an option that would turn this function off.

In the past, it just looked like the real thing but, slightly sharper and no display artefacting other than scanlines. Now, it just looks like a photoshop scaled up version of the low res emulation.

I tried using higher resolutions but the scanlines effect interacts with the scaling to cause a very unpleasant moiré like pattern that is extremely unpleasant.



Any suggestions?

[Boray]

Turn double size off and on again and it looks like before.