stella(6)

📦 version 7.0, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ NAME ✨

hey bestie, welcome to stella(6) from the Games Manual 💖 — it's giving Atari 2600 emulator and nothing less. stella is literally the name, and emulating the Atari 2600 is the whole game. 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

stella [options] <ROM file>

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so stella is a comprehensive emulator of the old Atari 2600 video-game console. It supports most Atari 2600 games and many peripherals. periodt. 👑

💅 OPTIONS 💅

stella accepts the following options:

  • -video <opengl|opengles2|opengles|software> — Use OpenGL, OpenGLES or SDL software rendering mode; the default is the best available mode detected. ✨
  • -vsync <1|0> — Synchronize screen updates to the vertical blank period. This can result in smoother updates, and eliminate tearing. 💅
  • -fullscreen <1|0> — Play the game in fullscreen mode (1) or in a window (0). 🪟
  • -center <1|0> — Center all windows (if possible). 🎯
  • -windowedpos <XxY> — Set the window position in windowed emulator mode. 📍
  • -display <number> — Set the display for Stella's emulator. 🖥️
  • -palette <standard|z26|user> — Sets the palette to either normal Stella, the one used in the z26 emulator, or a user-defined palette. 🎨
  • -pal.phase_ntsc <number> — Adjust phase shift of 'custom' NTSC palette. 🌈
  • -pal.phase_pal <number> — Adjust phase shift of 'custom' PAL palette. 🌈
  • -pal.hue <number> — Adjust hue of current palette (range -1.0 to 1.0). 💜
  • --pal.saturation <number> — Adjust saturation of current palette (range -1.0 to 1.0). 💖
  • -pal.contrast <number> — Adjust contrast of current palette (range -1.0 to 1.0). ⭐
  • -pal.brightness <number> — Adjust brightness of current palette (range -1.0 to 1.0). ✨
  • -pal.gamma <number> — Adjust gamma of current palette (range -1.0 to 1.0). 🦋
  • -speed <number> — Controls the emulation speed (as a percentage, between 10 and 1000, from one-tenth the native speed to ten times the native speed). 🔥
  • -turbo <1|0> — Enable 'Turbo' mode for maximum emulation speed. 💨
  • -uimessages <1|0> — Enable or disable display of message in the UI. Note that messages indicating serious errors override this setting, and are always shown. 🚨
  • -audio.enabled <1|0> — Enable or disable sound generation. 🔊
  • -audio.volume <number> — Set the volume (0 - 100). 🎚️
  • -audio.device <number> — Set the audio device (0 for the default device). 🎧
  • -audio.preset <1-5> — Set an audio preset. Numbers in sequence represent presets for 'custom', 'low quality, medium lag', 'high quality, medium lag', 'high quality, low lag' and 'ultra quality, minimal lag'. 🎛️
  • -audio.fragment_size <number> — Set the number of samples in a single fragment processed by the audio driver. number must be a power of two between 128 and 4096 inclusive. Under Debian the recommended value is 512. 🐧
  • -audio.sample_rate <44100|48000|96000> — Set sound sample output frequency. 📻
  • -audio.resampling_quality <1|2|3> — Set resampling quality to low (1), high (2) or ultra (3). ✨
  • -audio.headroom <1-20> — Set number of additional half-frames to prebuffer. 🫶
  • -audio.buffer_size <1-20> — Set maximum number of additional half-frames to buffer. 🫶
  • -audio.stereo <1|0> — Enable or disable stereo mode for all ROMs. 🎶
  • -audio.dpc_pitch <10000-30000> — Set the pitch of Pitfall II music. 🎵
  • -tia.zoom <zoom> — Use the specified zoom level (integer) while in TIA/emulation mode. 🔍
  • -tia.vsizeadjust <-5-5> — Adjust the display height of the TIA image. 📏
  • -tia.inter <1|0> — Use interpolation for the TIA image (results in blending/smoothing of the image). 🌫️
  • -tia.fs_stretch <1|0> — Stretch TIA image completely while in fullscreen mode, vs. keeping the correct aspect ratio. 📐
  • -tia.fs_overscan <0-10> — Add overscan to TIA image while in fullscreen mode. 🖼️
  • -tia.dbgcolors <r|o|y|g|b|p...> — Assigns the colours (r)ed, (o)range, (y)ellow, (g)reen, (b)lue and (p)urple to each graphical register P0/M0/P1/M1/PF/BL, respectively. Currently, these can be changed around to apply different colours to the respective register. 🌈
  • -tia.correct_aspect <1|0> — Enable aspect ratio correct scaling. 📐
  • -tv.filter <0-5> — Blargg TV effects, 0 is disabled, next numbers in sequence represent presets for "Composite", "S-Video", "RGB", "Bad Adjust" and "Custom" modes. 📺
  • -tv.sharpness <number> — Blargg TV effects 'sharpness' (only available in custom mode, range -1.0 to 1.0). 🔪
  • -tv.resolution <number> — Blargg TV effects 'resolution' (only available in custom mode, range -1.0 to 1.0). 📺
  • -tv.artifacts <number> — Blargg TV effects 'artifacts' (only available in custom mode, range -1.0 to 1.0). 👾
  • -tv.fringing <number> — Blargg TV effects 'fringing' (only available in custom mode, range -1.0 to 1.0). 🌈
  • -tv.bleed <number> — Blargg TV effects 'bleed' (only available in custom mode, range -1.0 to 1.0). 💧
  • -tv.phosphor <always|byrom> — Determines how phosphor mode is enabled. If always, then the ROM properties entry is ignored, and phosphor mode is always turned on. Otherwise, the ROM properties determine whether phosphor mode is used for each ROM. ✨
  • -tv.phosblend <0-100> — Enable phosphor blending level; 0 implies no mixing, and 100 is full mixing (not recommended). Note that this doesn't actually enable phosphor mode; that is done for each ROM in the ROM properties. Higher blend values will intensify the phosphor effect. Depending on your display and personal preferences, the optimal default for you may vary. Slow LCDs (especially for office use) may only need a low blend of around 30, while fast switching gamer LCDs may need about 70 to look similar to a CRT. 👑
  • -tv.scanlines <0-100> — TV effects scanline intensity, where 0 means completely off. 📺
  • -cheat <code> — Use the specified cheatcode (see the Cheat section in the provided documentation for a description of cheatcodes). 😈
  • -loglevel <0|1|2> — Indicates level of logging to perform while the application is running. Zero completely disables logging (except for serious errors), while the remaining numbers show increasingly more detail. 📝
  • -logtoconsole <1|0> — Indicates that logged output should be printed to the console/commandline as it's being collected. An internal log will still be kept, and the amount of logging is still controlled by loglevel. 🖨️
  • -joydeadzone <number> — Sets the joystick deadzone area for analog joysticks. Accepts a number from 0 - 29, and uses the formula 3200 + number * 1000. So the possible deadzone values range from 3200 to 32200. 🕹️
  • -psense <number> — Sensitivity for emulation of paddles when using analog paddles. Valid range of values is from 1 to 30, with larger numbers causing faster movement. 🏓
  • -dejitter.base <0-10> — Strength of paddle input averaging. 🫶
  • -dejitter.diff <0-10> — Impact of fast paddle movement on input averaging. 💨
  • -dcsense <number> — Sensitivity for emulation of driving controllers when using a mouse. Valid range of values is from 1 to 20, with larger numbers causing faster movement. 🏎️
  • -autofirerate <0-30> — Automatic trigger rate of the fire buttons in Hz (0 = disabled). 🔫
  • -joyallow4 <1|0> — Allow all 4 directions on a joystick to be pressed simultaneously. Bumper Bash ignores this setting, and always allows all 4 directions. 🕹️
  • -modcombo <1|0> — Use modifier (Shift/Alt/Control)-x key combos. This is normally enabled, since the 'Quit' command is tied to 'Control-q'. However, there are times when you want to disable them. E.g. a 2-player game is using either the 'f' or 'r' keys for movement, and pressing Control (for Fire) will perform an unwanted action associated with Control-r or Control-f default keys. ⌨️
  • -saport <lr|rl> — Determines how to enumerate the Stelladaptor/2600-daptor devices in the order they are found: 'lr' means first is left port, second is right port, 'rl' means the opposite. 🔌
  • -avoxport <name> — Set the name of the serial port where an AtariVox is connected. 🗣️
  • -usemouse <always|analog|never> — Use mouse as a controller as specified by ROM properties in specific case. always and never are self-explanatory, analog means only for analog-type devices (paddles, trackball, etc.). 🖱️
  • -msense <number> — Sensitivity for emulation of paddles when using a mouse. number may range from 1 to 20, with larger numbers causing faster movement. 🐭
  • -tsense <number> — Sensitivity for emulation of trackball controllers when using a mouse. number may range from 1 to 20, with larger numbers causing faster movement. 🎱
  • -dsense <number> — Sensitivity for emulation of paddles when using a digital device (joystick digital axis or button, keyboard key, etc.). number may range from 1 to 20, with larger numbers causing faster movement. 🎮
  • -cursor <0|1|2|3> — Set mouse cursor state in UI/emulation modes. 🖱️
  • -grabmouse <1|0> — Keeps the mouse in the game window in emulation mode. 🖱️
  • -autoslot <1|0> — Automatically switch to the next available save state slot after saving a ROM state file. 💾
  • -saveonexit <none|current|all> — Automatically save no, current or all states when exiting emulation. The latter also loads all states when entering emulation. 💾
  • -fastscbios <1|0> — Disable Supercharger BIOS progress loading bars. ⏩
  • -threads <1|0> — Enable multi-threaded video rendering (may not improve performance on all systems). 🧵
  • -snapsavedir <path> — The directory to save snapshot files to. 📸
  • -snaploaddir <path> — The directory to load snapshot files from. 📸
  • -snapname <int|rom> — When saving snapshots, use either the internal database name or the actual ROM filename. 🏷️
  • -sssingle <1|0> — Generate single snapshot instead of many, overwriting any previous snapshots. 📸
  • -ss1x <1|0> — Ignore any scaling applied to the TIA image, and save snapshot in unscaled (1x) mode. 📸
  • -ssinterval <number> — Set the interval in seconds between taking snapshots in continuous snapshot mode (currently, 1 - 10). ⏱️
  • -rominfo <rom> — Display detailed information about the given ROM, and then exit Stella. ℹ️
  • -listrominfo — bestie, this one just dumps the relevant contents of the Stella ROM database, one ROM per line, and then bounces out of Stella entirely. Made for external frontends, so they can vibe-check your library. ✨
  • -exitlauncher <1|0> — makes Stella always exit to the ROM launcher when you exit a ROM. Normally that only happens when you started with the launcher in the first place, so this is the "no, I want it EVERY time" button. 💅
  • -launcherpos <XxY> — sets the window position in windowed ROM launcher mode. Put it where you want it. 🎀
  • -launcherdisplay <number> — picks which display the ROM launcher shows up on.
  • -launcherres <WxH> — sets the size of the ROM launcher. Width x Height, iconic.
  • -launcherfont <small|medium|large> — sets the size of the font in the ROM launcher. Choose your era.
  • -launcherroms <1|0> — do you want to see ROMs only (that's the default, periodt) or literally all the files in the ROM launcher? Your call.
  • -romviewer <0|1|2> — hides the ROM info viewer in ROM launcher mode (0), or uses the zoom level you give it (1 or 2). Zoom zoom.
  • -uipalette <standard|classic|light> — use the specified palette for UI elements. Aesthetic choice, lowkey important.
  • -dialogfont <small|low_medium|medium|large|large12|large14|large16> — sets the size of the font in the dialogs. Yes bestie, there are seven whole options here, pick your fave.
  • -dialogpos <0-4> — sets the position of dialogs within Stella windows, where 0 = center. Main character dialogs go center, obviously.
  • -hidpi <0|1> — turns on HiDPI mode, which scales the UI by a factor of two. Crispy.
  • -confirmexit <0|1> — shows a popup when emulation is exited. Your "are you SURE bestie" safety net. 🫶
  • -listdelay <delay> — how long to wait between treating successive keypresses as a single word in list widgets. Value can range from 300-1000. Use 0 to disable list-skipping completely. 😭
  • -mwheel <lines> — sets the number of lines a mousewheel will scroll in the UI. Scrolling should feel right, fr fr.
  • -mdouble <speed> — sets the mouse double click speed in the UI, 100-900 ms. So your double-clicks actually register.
  • -ctrldelay <delay> — sets the delay before controller input will start repeating in the UI, 200-1000 ms.
  • -ctrlrate <rate> — sets the controller repeat rate in the UI, 2-30 repeats/s. Hold it down and let it rip. 🔥
  • -romdir <dir> — sets the directory where the ROM launcher will start. Point it home. 🏠
  • -followlauncher <0|1> — makes the start path follow ROM launcher navigation. It's giving "wherever you go, I go". 🦋
  • -maxres <WxH> — useful for developers, this sets the maximum size of window that can be created, letting you simulate testing on 'smaller' systems. Tiny screen cosplay. 🙈
  • -basedir <dir> — overrides the base directory for all config files. Big power, use it wisely.
  • -baseinappdir — overrides the base directory for all config files by attempting to use the application directory. For now this is only supported in Windows.
  • -help — prints a help message describing these options, and then exits Stella. The classic "explain yourself" move. 💜
The following are useful to developers. Only use them if you know what you're doing! Note that in all cases, the values supplied to the arguments are not case sensitive. 👑

So like, if you're not a dev, maybe don't touch these?? But if you ARE — welcome to the lab, bestie. 🧪

  • -dis.resolve <1|0> — tries to differentiate between code vs. data sections in the disassembler. See the Debugger section in the provided documentation for more info.
  • -dis.gfxformat <2|16> — sets the base to use for displaying GFX sections in the disassembler.
  • -dis.showaddr <1|0> — shows/hides opcode addresses in the disassembler.
  • -dis.relocate <1|0> — relocates calls out of address range in the disassembler.
  • -dbg.pos <XxY> — sets the window position in windowed debugger mode.
  • -dbg.display <number> — sets the display for the debugger.
  • -dbg.res <WxH> — sets the size of the debugger window.
  • -dbg.fontsize <small|medium|large> — sets the font size in the debugger window.
  • -dbg.fontstyle <0|1|2|3> — how to use bold fonts in the debugger window. 0 means all normal font, 1 is bold labels only, 2 is bold non-labels only, 3 is all bold font. Pick your boldness era. 💅
  • -dbg.ghostreadstrap <1|0> — the debugger considers/ignores 'ghost' reads for trap addresses. Spooky. 👻
  • -dbg.uhex <0|1> — lower/uppercase hexadecimal display. Case matters, apparently.
  • -break <address> — sets a breakpoint at a specified address. Pause right there, ma'am.
  • -debug — immediately jumps to debugger mode when starting Stella. No waiting, we're going straight in. 🚀
  • -holdjoy0 [UDLRF] — starts the emulator with the specified left joystick direction and button held down (UF for up and fire). After entering the emulation, you'll have to press and release the direction again to release the event. Sneaky but useful.
  • -holdjoy1 [UDLRF] — same deal but for the right joystick. Start with the direction and button held down (UF for up and fire). After entering the emulation, you'll have to press and release the direction again to release the event.
  • -holdselect — starts the emulator with the Game Select switch held down. After entering the emulation, you'll have to press and release Select to release the event.
  • -holdreset — starts the emulator with the Game Reset switch held down. After entering the emulation, you'll have to press and release Reset to release the event.
  • -bs <type>, -type <type> — sets the "Cartridge.Type" property. See the Game Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -startbank <fIbank> — sets the "Cartridge.StartBank" property.
  • -channels <Mono|Stereo> — sets the "Cartridge.Sound" property. Stereo girlies rise up. 🎧
  • -ld <A|B> — sets the "Console.LeftDifficulty" property.
  • -rd <A|B> — sets the "Console.RightDifficulty" property.
  • -tv <Color|BlackAndWhite> — sets the "Console.TelevitionType" property. (Yes bestie, that's the spelling, I'm not fixing it, I literally cannot.) 🌈
  • -sp <Yes|No> — sets the "Console.SwapPorts" property.
  • -lc <type> — sets the "Controller.Left" property. See the Controller Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -lq1 <type> — sets the "Controller.Left1" property for QuadTari. See the QuadTari Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -lq2 <type> — sets the "Controller.Left2" property for QuadTari. See the QuadTari Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -rc <type> — sets the "Controller.Right" property. See the Controller Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -rq1 <type> — sets the "Controller.Right1" property for QuadTari. See the QuadTari Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -rq2 <type> — sets the "Controller.Right2" property for QuadTari. See the QuadTari Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -bc <type> — sets both the "Controller.Left" and "Controller.Right" properties. See the Controller Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types. Two birds, one slay. 🎀
  • -aq <type — sets the "Controller.Left1", "Controller.Left2", "Controller.Right1" and "Controller.Right2" properties for QuadTari. See the QuadTari Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types. (Also yes, the original really is missing the closing >, I'm keeping it exactly as-is. 💀)
  • -cp <Yes|No> — sets the "Controller.SwapPaddles" property. See the Controller Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -pxcenter<-10..30> — sets the "Controller.PaddlesXCenter" property.
  • -pycenter<-10..30> — sets the "Controller.PaddlesYCenter" property.
  • -ma <Auto|XY> — sets the "Controller.MouseAxis" property. See the Controller Properties section in the provided documentation for valid types.
  • -format <format> — sets the "Display.Format" property. See the Emulation Properties section in the provided documentation for valid formats.
  • -vcenter <number> — sets the "Display.VCenter" property, range -5..5.
  • -pp <Yes|No> — sets the "Display.Phosphor" property. Glow-up, literally. ✨
  • -ppblend <number> — sets the "Display.PPBlend" property, used for the phosphor effect, range 0-100. Default is whatever is specified for tv.phosblend.
The following are available in two sets, one for players (prefixed by plr.) and one for developers (prefixed by dev.). Only use them if you know what you're doing! Note that in all cases, the values supplied to the arguments are not case sensitive.

Two sets, two vibes. Player set for the chill gamer era, dev set for the "I read hex for breakfast" era. 🫶

  • -dev.settings <1|0> — selects the developer (1) or player (0) set. Pick your lane, bestie.
  • -<plr|dev>.stats <1|0> — overlays console info on the TIA image during emulation. Stats on the screen, main character energy. 👑
  • -<plr|dev>.detectedinfo <1|0> — displays detected settings info when a ROM is loaded.
  • -<plr|dev>.console <2600|7800> — selects the console for B/W and Pause key handling and RAM initialization.
  • -<plr|dev>.bankrandom <1|0> — on reset, randomizes the startup bank (only for selected bankswitch types).
  • -<plr|dev>.ramrandom <1|0> — on reset, either randomizes all RAM content, or zeroes it out instead. Chaos or calm, your choice.
  • -<plr|dev>.cpurandom [SAXYP] — on reset, randomizes the content of the specified CPU registers. Give it the letters, get the chaos.
  • -dev.tiadriven <1|0> — sets unused TIA pins to be randomly driven high or low on a read/peek.
  • -dev.rwportbreak <1|0> — so the 2600 has no dedicated R/W line, meaning different addresses are used for RAM read or write access. If the code reads from such a write address, this causes an unwanted, semi-random write to that address. When this option is enabled, such reads interrupt emulation and the debugger is entered. Gotcha detected. 🚨
  • -dev.wrportbreak <1|0> — same as above. If the code writes to such a read address, nothing happens. But a developer should be made aware of it, because this indicates a problem with the code. When this option is enabled, such writes interrupt emulation and the debugger is entered. Also a gotcha, also caught.
  • -plr.thumb.trapfatal <true|false> — the default of true allows the Thumb ARM emulation to throw an exception and enter the debugger on fatal errors. When disabled, such fatal errors are simply logged, and emulation continues. Do not use this unless you know exactly what you're doing, as it changes the behaviour as compared to real hardware. 😭 Real hardware said "stay in your lane".
  • -<plr|dev>.eepromaccess <1|0> — when enabled, each read or write access to the AtariVox/SaveKey EEPROM is signalled by a message.
  • -dev.tia.type <standard|koolaidman|cosmicark|pesco|quickstep|heman|custom> — sets the emulated TIA type. Yes, koolaidman is a real option and honestly? Iconic. 🍓
  • -dev.tia.plinvphase <1|0> — enables/disables inverted HMOVE clock phase for players (Kool Aid Man glitch).
  • -dev.tia.msinvphase <1|0> — enables/disables inverted HMOVE clock phase for missiles (Cosmic Ark stars glitch). ⭐
  • -dev.tia.blinvphase <1|0> — enables/disables inverted HMOVE clock phase for the ball.
  • -dev.tia.delaypfbits <1|0> — enables/disables playfield bits delayed by one color clock (stray playfield pixels in Pesco).
  • -dev.tia.delaypfcolor <1|0> — bestie, this one turns playfield color delay by one color clock on or off. It's giving colored step borders in Quick Step! 💅
  • -dev.tia.delaybkcolor <1|0> — enables/disables background color delayed by one color clock. stray pixels in Indy 500 menu hack, iykyk.
  • -dev.tia.delayplswap <1|0> — enables/disables player swap delayed by one color clock. He-Man title glitch energy.
  • -dev.tia.delayblswap <1|0> — enables/disables ball swap delayed by one color clock. periodt.
  • -<plr|dev>.tv.jitter <1|0> — enables the TV jitter/roll effect when there are too many or too few scanlines per frame. not me tweaking this 😭
  • -<plr|dev>.tv.jitter_recovery <1-20> — when TV jitter/roll is enabled, this says how long to delay recovery time. recovery spread over multiple frames, fr fr.
  • -<plr|dev>.colorloss <1|0> — enable/disable the PAL color-loss effect. PAL girlies know.
  • -<plr|dev>.debugcolors <1|0> — enable/disable the fixed debug colors. debug aesthetic ✨
  • -<plr|dev>.timemachine <1|0> — enables the Time Machine. iconic.
  • -<plr|dev>.tm.size <20-1000> — defines the Time Machine buffer size. big brain 🧠
  • -<plr|dev>.tm.uncompressed <0-1000> — defines the uncompressed Time Machine buffer size. must be less than the Time Machine buffer size, bestie. don't get it twisted.
  • -<plr|dev>.tm.interval <1f|3f|10f|30f|1s|3s|10s> — defines the interval between two save states. choose your timing 💅
  • -<plr|dev>.tm.horizon <3s|10s|30s|1m|3m|10m|30m|60m> — defines the horizon of the Time Machine. how far back we going? 🕰️

⌨️ KEYBOARD CONTROLS ⌨️

okay so the Atari 2600 console controls and controllers? They're mapped to the computer's keyboard as shown in the following sections. But most of these events can be remapped to other keys on your keyboard or buttons on your joystick. slay.

🎮 Console controls (can be remapped)

  • Control + q — exit emulator. bye bestie 👋
  • Escape — exit game mode / enter launcher mode.
  • Tab/Escape — enter/exit options mode.
  • Backslash (\) — enter/exit command mode.
  • Backquote (`) — enter/exit debugger. debugger era
  • F1 — select Game.
  • F2 — reset Game.
  • F3 — color TV.
  • F4 — black/white TV.
  • F5 — left Player Difficulty A.
  • F6 — left Player Difficulty B.
  • F7 — right Player Difficulty A.
  • F8 — right Player Difficulty B.
  • F9 — save state to current slot.
  • Alt + F9 — save all Time Machine states.
  • Shift + F10 — change to previous state slot.
  • F10 — change to next state slot.
  • Alt + F10 — automatically change state slot.
  • F11 — load state from current slot.
  • Alt + F11 — load all states into Time Machine.
  • F12 — save PNG snapshot.
  • Pause — pause/resume emulation.

🕹️ Joystick / BoosterGrip Controller (can be remapped)

Left joystick:

  • Up arrow — joystick up.
  • Down arrow — joystick down.
  • Left arrow — joystick left.
  • Right arrow — joystick right.
  • Left Control, Space — fire button.
  • 4 — trigger button.
  • 5 — booster button.

Right joystick:

  • Y — joystick up.
  • H — joystick down.
  • G — joystick left.
  • J — joystick right.
  • F — fire button.
  • 6 — trigger button.
  • 7 — booster button.

🏓 Paddle Controller digital emulation (can be remapped independently of joystick controller)

By default the left paddles are mapped to the left joystick as follows:

  • Left — Paddle 0 decrease.
  • Right — Paddle 0 increase.
  • Fire — Paddle 0 fire.
  • Up — Paddle 1 decrease.
  • Down — Paddle 1 increase.
  • Booster — Paddle 1 fire.

The same mappings on the right joystick correspond to the right paddles (paddles 2 and 3 respectively). paddle party 🏓

🚗 Driving Controller (cannot be remapped, always associated with joystick controllers)

Each driving controller is mapped to the corresponding joystick, using the left, right and fire controls.

🎮 Sega Genesis Controller (cannot be remapped, always associated with joystick and booster-grip controllers)

Each pad is mapped to the corresponding joystick as follows:

  • Up — Up.
  • Down — Down.
  • Left — Left.
  • Right — Right.
  • Fire — Button 'B'.
  • Booster — Button 'C'.

⌨️ Keypad Controller (can be remapped)

Left keypad (press the key on the left to emulate the key on the right):

  • 1 — 1
  • 2 — 2
  • 3 — 3
  • Q — 4
  • W — 5
  • E — 6
  • A — 7
  • S — 8
  • D — 9
  • Z — .
  • X — 0
  • C — #

Right keypad:

  • 8 — 1
  • 9 — 2
  • 0 (the digit) — 3
  • I — 4
  • O (the letter) — 5
  • P — 6
  • K — 7
  • L — 8
  • ; — 9
  • , — .
  • . — 0
  • / — #

🧮 CompuMate Controller (cannot be remapped)

  • 0-9 — 0-9
  • A-Z — A-Z
  • Comma — Comma.
  • Period — Period.
  • Control — Func.
  • Shift — Shift.
  • ; or Return/Enter — Enter.
  • / or Space — Space.
  • Backspace — Func-Space.

📺 TV effects (can be remapped, only active in TIA mode)

  • Alt + 1 — disable TV effects.
  • Alt + 2 — select 'RGB' preset.
  • Alt + 3 — select 'S-Video' preset.
  • Alt + 4 — select 'Composite' preset.
  • Alt + 5 — select 'Badly adjusted' preset.
  • Alt + 6 — select 'Custom' preset.
  • Shift + Alt + 7 — select previous 'Custom' mode attribute (in 'Custom' preset mode).
  • Alt + 7 — select next 'Custom' mode attribute (in 'Custom' preset mode).
  • Shift + Alt + 8 — decrease 'Custom' selected attribute value (in 'Custom' preset mode).
  • Alt + 8 — increase 'Custom' selected attribute value (in 'Custom' preset mode).
  • Alt + p — toggle 'phosphor' effect.
  • Shift + Alt + 9 — decrease 'phosphor' blend in phosphor mode.
  • Alt + 9 — increase 'phosphor' blend in phosphor mode.
  • Shift + Alt + 0 — decrease scanline intensity.
  • Alt + 0 — increase scanline intensity.

🛠️ Developer Keys in TIA mode (can be remapped)

  • Alt + L — toggle frame stats (scanline count/FPS/BS type etc.).
  • Alt + z — toggle TIA Player0 object.
  • Alt + x — toggle TIA Player1 object.
  • Alt + c — toggle TIA Missile0 object.
  • Alt + v — toggle TIA Missile1 object.
  • Alt + b — toggle TIA Ball object.
  • Alt + n — toggle TIA Playfield object.
  • Alt + Comma — toggle all TIA objects.
  • Shift + Alt + z — toggle TIA Player0 collisions.
  • Shift + Alt + x — toggle TIA Player1 collisions.
  • Shift + Alt + c — toggle TIA Missile0 collisions.
  • Shift + Alt + v — toggle TIA Missile1 collisions.
  • Shift + Alt + b — toggle TIA Ball collisions.
  • Shift + Alt + n — toggle TIA Playfield collisions.
  • Shift + Alt + Comma — toggle all TIA collisions.
  • Alt + . — toggle TIA 'Fixed Debug Colors' mode.
  • Control + L — toggle PAL color-loss effect.
  • Alt + j — toggle TV 'Jitter' effect.

🌈 Other Keys (can be remapped)

  • Alt + = — switch to next larger zoom level in windowed mode, toggle stretching in fullscreen mode.
  • Alt + - — switch to next smaller zoom level in windowed mode, toggle stretching in fullscreen mode.
  • Alt + Enter — toggle fullscreen/windowed mode.
  • Shift + PageUp — increase overscan in fullscreen mode.
  • Shift + PageDown — decrease overscan in fullscreen mode.
  • Alt + PageUp — move display up (uses "Display.VCenter").
  • Alt + PageDown — move display down (uses "Display.VCenter").
  • Control + f — switch display format in increasing order (NTSC/PAL/SECAM etc.).
  • Shift + Control + f — switch display format in decreasing order (NTSC/PAL/SECAM etc.).
  • Control + p — switch palette (Standard/Z26/User).
  • Control + i — toggle display interpolation.
  • Control + ] — toggle sound on/off.
  • Alt + [ — decrease volume.
  • Alt + ] — increase volume.
  • Control + 0 — switch mouse between controller emulation modes (see Game Properties - Controller).
  • Control + g — toggle grab mouse.
  • Control + 1 — swap Stelladaptor/2600-daptor port ordering.
  • Control + r — reload current ROM (singlecart ROM, TIA mode), load next game in ROM (multicart ROM, TIA mode), reload ROM listing (ROM launcher mode).
  • Backspace — emulate 'frying' effect (TIA mode), go to parent directory (UI mode).
  • Alt + s — save continuous PNG snapshots (per interval defined in Snapshot Settings).
  • Shift + Alt + s — save continuous PNG snapshots (every frame).
  • Alt + t — toggle 'Time Machine' mode.
  • t — enter the Time Machine dialog.
  • t/Escape/Space — exit the Time Machine dialog.
  • Alt + Left arrow — rewind by one state (enters the Time Machine dialog).
  • Shift + Alt + Left arrow — rewind by 10 states (enters the Time Machine dialog).
  • Alt + Down arrow — rewind all states (enters the Time Machine dialog).
  • Alt + Right arrow — unwind by one state (enters the Time Machine dialog).
  • Shift + Alt + Right arrow — unwind by 10 states (enters the Time Machine dialog).
  • Alt + Up arrow — unwind all states (enters the Time Machine dialog).

✍️ UI keys in Text Editing areas (cannot be remapped)

  • Home — move cursor to beginning of line.
  • End — move cursor to end of line.
  • Delete — remove character to right of cursor.
  • Backspace — remove character to left of cursor.
  • Control + a — same function as 'Home'.
  • Control + e — same function as 'End'.
  • Control + d — same function as 'Delete'.
  • Control + k — remove all characters from cursor to end of line.
  • Control + u — remove all characters from cursor to beginning of line.
  • Control + w — remove entire word to left of cursor.
  • Control + Left — move cursor to beginning of word to the left.
  • Control + Right — move cursor to beginning of word to the right.
  • Control + c — copy entire line to clipboard (not complete).
  • Control + v — paste clipboard contents (not complete).

🗂️ FILES ✨

okay so here's where stella keeps all its little treasures, bestie. these are the default paths — write them down, screenshot them, tattoo them, whatever works 💖

  • ~/.config/stella/stellarc — your default options live here, and listen: any command line option you pass will override whatever's in this file. lines that start with ; are comments and get completely ignored, no thoughts head empty. every other line has to be shaped like <command> = <value>, where command is the exact same thing you'd type on the command line but with the - character taken off, and value is whatever you're setting it to. periodt.
  • ~/.config/stella/nvram/atarivox_eeprom.dat — the default spot where the emulated EEPROM part of an attached AtariVox device gets stored 🎀
  • ~/.config/stella/nvram/savekey_eeprom.dat — same energy, but for the emulated EEPROM part of an attached SaveKey device 💾
  • ~/.config/stella/stella.cht — the default location of the cheat database file. yes, cheating, iconic behaviour 🫶

👀 SEE ALSO

like, go read these too, they ate:

  • /usr/share/doc/stella/index.html
  • /usr/share/doc/stella/debugger.html

👑 AUTHORS

stella was written by Bradford W. Mott, Stephen Anthony and the Stella Team. absolute legends, no cap 🥹💜

This manual page was adapted from the provided documentation by Stephen Kitt <skitt@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others). It was last modified for stella version 6.1.

okay that's the whole page, we made it 🦋✨ this was stella(6) — section 6, if you're keeping track — and it's stamped May 21, 2020, the day this version of the manual was born. go play some Atari, bestie, you've earned it 💅🌸

📦 where this page comes from