[Attn Tom or Ben] Altirra Atari 8-bit Emulator

[Frankybabes]

Is there any chance that in the NEAR future that this 8bit Atari emulator (Altirra) could be added to the list of emulators as it an excellent emulator with lots of roms out there and other bits. This is one of the iconic first home computers that cost around £400/£600 pounds at the time. It was this system that got me into computing.I am still the proud owner of a Atari 800 but sadly not many games (Too Expensive) at the time. Regards an avid emulator fan.

[DazzleHP]

My early memories of gaming are very different from yours That being said an emulator doesn't need to have an explicit setup to work in GE - that's one of it's major plus points if it can be run/provoked using the command line it will work in GE mostly Merry Christmas to you!

[hansolo77]

If you just want games.. check out the Atari 800 GameBase. It's what I use. And it runs the Altirra emulator.

[Krakerman]

I have no issues at all running Altirra within GameEx.

[Draco1962]

If you just want games.. check out the Atari 800 GameBase. It's what I use. And it runs the Altirra emulator.

If you need some assistance with general GameBase setup, there is a good tutorial for GameBaseST here that should assist you with this recommendation as well.

[hansolo77]

You should update that URL Draco; doesn't work.

[Draco1962]

Now it does - thanks for the catch, Han!

[Frankybabes]

Its not the games that I want I have them ALL! its just setting Altirra up in GameEx that I need to Know, I am fairly new to GameEx so have no Idea how to start. I run all my games through Altirra ok, but would be nice to incorporate it into GameEx. Regards to all you who know GameEx inside out. Merry Xmas & a Happy New Year to all.

[hansolo77]

It's simple enough, if you have everything working in Altirra already, all you need to do is configure GameEx for the paths.

Create a new emulator config in the GameEx Wizard.

Point the ROMS path to your roms path (obviously).

Configure your command line (typically in the format of "Commandline.exe /whatever-flags [rompath/romfile]"

I'm not at my computer right now to give you a specific click-per-click walkthrough, but it's really not that difficult. And you can enable GameEx to run in debug mode so it pauses after putting in the command so you can see it in the prompt to make sure it's right, and make changes if needed.

[Krakerman]

Command line is: Altirra.exe /f "[ROMPath]\[RomFile]"

/f = fullscreen

*There are a few more command line options but can't remember them at the top of my head. The above thou should get you going.

[Draco1962]

Setup Wizard used to have selections for Atari 8-bit systems under the [PC] headings, either that, or I was hallucinating. It does not now. I am going to update the heading of this thread and ask the Authors for their opinion on this.

[Frankybabes]

How do I "Create a new emulator config in the GameEx Wizard." when its not listed?

[DazzleHP]

How do I "Create a new emulator config in the GameEx Wizard." when its not listed?

Go to Emulator Setup (not Emulator Selection) in the Setup Wizard, choose an empty slot from the Select Emulator drop-down menu, change Enabled to Yes then fill out all your paths and the command line Krakerman posted above, et voila

[Frankybabes]

So far so good got the emulator up and running in GameEx but have a similar problem I had with Dreamcast!,I select the game to play and it flashes to windows then goes back to play game? also in what file do I place the ATARI 400/800 LOGO?. Regards. PS. When I run Altirra I have to select "FILE" then "BOOT IMAGE" then select the rom and double click it to play, if this helps

[hansolo77]

GameEx is just a launcher. You build the command line in the Setup Wizard, pick the game in GameEx, then it sends the command line to the command prompt. When the emulator is finished, the command prompt closes and GameEx returns. If there is a problem with the command line, the emulator won't run, and GameEx simply returns. Double check your spelling. You can also try and enable the "Debug" feature for that emulator. It will pause the command prompt before launching the emulator so you can make sure everything looks right. You can also run the file "Run Last Game" from Start->GameEx->Utilities. That will simply bypass GameEx and give you the last command prompt it generated so you can see what's going on.

Something else.. if your roms have spaces in them, you'll need to include " quotations around the [rompath]\[romfile] part so they are spelled out entirely.

[Frankybabes]

Hooray its up and running, just 1 problem when I press escape to exit the game it gives me the high score table of the game in progress, even though esc is set for global exit.In the stand alone emulator you have to select EXIT from a drop down menu under FILE.

[Frankybabes]

If any body out there is running this "Altirra" emulator I would be glad to receive an answer to the above question as I am stumped. Regards a novice but full time user of GameEx and very avid fan

[Tempest]

If the process can be closed using {Alt}F4 try using
[Mapping Off] Exit (ALT+F4)
as an advanced config in your emulator setup.
Otherwise try
[Mapping Off] Exit (Process Close)

[Draco1962]

If any body out there is running this "Altirra" emulator I would be glad to receive an answer to the above question as I am stumped. Regards a novice but full time user of GameEx and very avid fan

Patience! No need to bump the thread less than 24 hours from your last post! Most of us trying to assist you have jobs and families to tend to in real life so we may not always be "johnny on the spot" to give you an answer! Thanks!

[Frankybabes]

I apologize for my lack of patience and thank all that help which is phenomenal!, I spend an inordinate time on my PC where I have no idea of the time (20hrs) sometimes and forget that other users are probably asleep being there is a 5/6 hours time difference, once again my apologies.

[Draco1962]

No harm - no foul. We want you to have a positive experience with GameEx and it is sometimes a good thing to step away from the keyboard for a bit when you get into a jam, or at least it is to me, so you can clear your mind and refocus on whatever issue you have before you. We won't leave ya hangin'!

[Tempest]

Did you try my suggestions?

[hansolo77]

If the process can be closed using {Alt}F4 try using

[Mapping Off] Exit (ALT+F4)

as an advanced config in your emulator setup.

Otherwise try

[Mapping Off] Exit (Process Close)

I would also suggest this. You'll just have to press ALT+F4 to close the emulator rather than Escape. This is because Atirra emulates an actual PC (if you wanna call the Atari 800 a PC). The Atari had an Escape key, so that's why it doesn't work to exit the emulator. MESS has a similar lockout, where you have to press (i believe) Scroll Lock to temporarily disable the keyboard emulation so you can use TAB and Escape, etc.

I am glad though that you were able to get it to load up through GameEx. You're 90% there! And once you've got it configured manually and you know what you did and how you did it, you can pretty much do it for any other system out there!