Re: [Atari800-users] Removal of win32 (directx backend, not to be confused with SDL one)

[Steve B. <st...@at...>]

I think it would be a good idea add ‘retroarch core’ as a target. There is a win32 build of retroarch so dropping that target won’t impact the few users still on XP, we’d get support for an increased range of targets, the sdl2, ui and controller mapping issues could all be updated while creating the new core. 

Retroarch is now the most popular way to play emulation, Atari 8bit is severely underrepresented with the existing core (most don’t even list it as Atari 8bit, they just call it 5200) it is in need of a lot of love (it’s a modified 3.1.0 version of atari800) making it a supported target would help to get more active users.


> On Apr 22, 2024, at 2:39 AM, <zy...@po...> <zy...@po...> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> the discussion related to removal of outdated or non-maintained backends somehow provoked
> me to think about the future direction of the atari800 emulator, namely choice of the future
> features and enhancements.
> 
> When I am thinking of the current "market" with the emulators, I see the following (this is, of course, subjective).
> 
> Retro-Developers
> I would say, this piece of market is dominated by Altirra, because of the emulation accuracy, very capable debugging tools, and native GUI.
> I don't believe atari800 can compete here, not now, not in the future.
> 
> Windows Retro Gamers
> I would also say that this market is taken. Both by Altirra and the most recent versions of XFormer. Of course, since SDL has decent support for Windows,
> there is no reason to give the Windows-SDL port up. However, we have no reasons to believe that there is a high demand for win32 binaries of atari800.
> Not sure what the download statistics would say.
> 
> Non-Windows Retro Gamers.
> This is where atari800 has minimum or no competition and can excel, and in my opinion this is where the functions of the emulator should expand mostly.
> What is lacking (and that topic was discussed before) is good support for non-keyboard controllers (gamepads, joysticks etc.) and good ability to map non-keyboard controllers to both joystick and non-joystick input. Also, the main menu of the emulator doesn't appear to be simple to use.
> 
> That is not easy. The way I see it, the following would be needed.
> - Cut off targets that are no longer viable.
> - Keep the pace with the developments in SDL. Consider supporting targets such as sdl12, sdl12-compat, and SDL2.
> - Rethink how controls work in the emulator. Perhaps introduce a layer of virtual emulator controls, where one or more physical controls could be mapped to the virtual controls. This would allow mappings such as map JS button 4 and F1 both to the ENTER_MENU emulator virtual control, etc.
> - Rethink the structure of the main menu to be more friendly for gamers.
> 
> I know, a lot of words....
> 
> Michael
> 
> 
> 
> 
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