Rainbow - The Atari 8-Bit Emulator for Windows ================================================= Also see the new section on TROUBLESHOOTING below. Full version 1.36 ----------------- New features include:- * Rainbow now runs 70% faster than before! * Can now run in 256 colours or more * 100% CPU speed capping * Window frame added * Nicer font for FPS info * Still requires DirectX to be installed but if sound initialization fails, Rainbow will run without any sound (instead of just quitting) * Better error messages if sound/graphics fail. * Earlier versions of 1.35 had a bug which caused the default Windows sound to be continually played on some machines. This is now fixed. Welcome to the world of Rainbow! -------------------------------- Now you can run many of your favourite Atari 8 bit software on your PC under Windows 95 or NT. Here's a quick list of key features in the full version. - Emulates 400/800, 800XL, 130XE and 5200 machines - Has 48K RAM for 400/800 machines; full 64K RAM for 800XL; full 128K for 130XE - Large (2x) and medium (1.5x) screen displays - Accepts 8K and 16K cartridge images; accepts 16K and 32K ROMs for 5200 - Also runs Super Cartridges - True 256 Atari colours - Full ANTIC/GTIA graphics, namely all ANTIC modes, Player/Missile Graphics, fine scrolling and Display List Interrupts - Superb 4 channel sound using POKEY samples - Two virtual disk drives capable of reading single and enhanced density images - Transfer files between disk images and your PC hard disk - Four joysticks (via keypad) and four paddles (using mouse) - Plays many games such as PacMan, Defender, Joust, Qix, Eastern Front, Zaxxon, M.U.L.E., Montezuma's Revenge, Donkey Kong, Miner 2049er, Necromancer, Karateka, Drol, Kaboom, Pole Position, Star Raiders, BallBlazer, Caverns of Mars, etc. Congratulations! The full version has all the above features at your fingertips! System requirements ------------------- You need a speedy 486 PC system (preferably Pentium) running Windows 95 or NT with Direct X installed. You can find Direct X at Microsoft's website or on many free CDs which come with magazines. What's inside? -------------- Inside the Rainbow folder, there should be the following items:- - Rainbow application - SOUND.DAT file - DEMO.DSK disk image containing 3 demos - README.TXT text file (this one) - MANUAL.TXT text file - APPENDIX.TXT text file for more notes Atari ROM needed ---------------- IMPORTANT: Before you can run Rainbow you will need an image of one of the following:- - 400/800 10K Operating System ROM or - 800XL/130XE 16K Operating System ROM and 8K BASIC ROM or - 5200 2K monitor ROM. Due to copyright restrictions, Atari ROM images are not included. Let's go! --------- If you have the 400/800 10K OS ROM file on your PC, rename it as OP_400. If you have the 800XL/130XE 16K OS ROM file on your PC, rename it as OP_SYSXL and the 8K BASIC ROM file as OP_BASIC. If you have the 5200 2K monitor ROM file on your PC, rename it as OP_5200. Put these file(s) in the same folder as Rainbow. Set your monitor to 256 colours or more. Rainbow runs fastest in 256 colours. Now launch Rainbow :^) Rainbow looks for OP_400 first. If it's there, Rainbow enters 400/800 emulation mode. Otherwise it looks for OP_SYSXL. If it's there, 800XL mode is entered. Finally it will look for OP_5200 and if found, Rainbow impersonates the 5200 games console. If you have more than one set of OS files, choose the emulation mode under the 'System' menu. Try out the demos! ------------------ Insert the demo disk and re-boot (select 'Reboot' under the 'Reboot' menu), which is like switching your Atari off and on again. The mouse pointer changes into an hourglass which indicates that drive#1 is being accessed. N.B. In 800XL/130XE mode be sure to keep 'OPTION' (F1 key) pressed on re-booting to disable the BASIC ROM else the demos may not run properly (see 'Keyboard' below). This disk will present you with a menu of 3 demos to try out. Check the 'Show FPS' item under the 'Extras' menu. This will give you real-time statistics on how well Rainbow is performing on your PC. Adjust the frame rate in the 'TV' menu so that the CPU efficiency is just above 100%, i.e. normal 8bit speed. The 'fps' figure gives you the number of frames being generated every second. You can also force Rainbow to run no faster than 100% if you have the '100% Speed' item checked (leave it off for maximum speed!). After you've finished playing with the demos, select 'Re-Init' under the 'Reboot' menu. This removes all cartridges and disks from the drives and boots up as though you'd just launched Rainbow. BASIC and DOS ------------- If you're in 400/800 mode, try inserting a cartridge (under the 'System' menu), e.g. BASIC if you have the file. If successful, the system will automatically re-boot and present you with the READY prompt. Say you want to now boot up BASIC with DOS. Insert a disk image with DOS into drive#1. Rainbow will recognise standard images as well as ATR ones in either single or enhanced densities (standard images are carbon copies of the floppy disk image; an ATR image is a standard image with a 16 byte header). Now simply re-boot. After a few moments, you will be back in the BASIC but this time DOS is present. To check, just type DOS and you will go into the DOS utility menu. N.B. A quicker way to start up in BASIC with DOS booted is to first insert the disk image and then insert the cartridge. Troubleshooting --------------- Q: When I launch Rainbow, it says it can't find file DSOUND.DLL A: That file is part of Direct X and must be installed whether you want to hear sounds or not. Always install Direct X using its SETUP.EXE. Don't try installing it manually. Q: Some keys don't work or give the wrong character. A: You must choose the US or British keyboard layout in the Keyboard control panel. Some characters like # and @ will always be at different keys for technical reasons. Q: Rainbow seems sluggish. A: A Pentium at 100 MHz is the minimum system if you plan to use Rainbow a lot. A 256K second level cache card may improve speed. Always run Rainbow on its own with no other apps open. Q: It can't find the OS files. A: Make sure they are correctly renamed as OP_400, OP_SYSXL, OP_BASIC and OP_5200. That's an underscore not a hyphen. These files must be in the same folder as the Rainbow application. These Atari ROM files are *not* distributed with Rainbow for copyright reasons. Q: Rainbow reports problems with sound initialization. A: Be sure Direct X was installed properly. Otherwise, try another version. Many magazines distribute Direct X in their CDs but some are incomplete! If in doubt, download the latest version from Microsoft's website. Problems may occur if you tamper with the SOUND.DAT file. Don't. Q: The keypad does not work as the joystick. A: Make sure NUM LOCK is on. Please now refer to the MANUAL.TXT file for more details. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Comments and suggestions (please say you are a PC user) to... E-mail: chris@chrislam.co.uk WWW : http://www.chrislam.co.uk Rainbow (c) 1995-2000 by Chris Lam. ----------------------------------------------------------------