Steem SSE 3.7.1 release notes
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Atari ST
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You may skip this part if you know what the Atari ST is, this is just
a point of view.

The Atari ST was the first 16/32 computer available at a reasonable price.
It was built around a Motorola 68000 microprocessor and made of cheap,
sometimes outdated, off-the-shelf components like the WD1772 floppy disk
controller (no side control!), the HD6301 "intelligent keyboard", or IKBD,
that also handles joysticks and mouse, the YM-2149, or "PSG" sound chip,
the infamous MC68901 MFP (Multi-Function Peripheral), and some custom
Atari chips, like the DMA (direct memory access), the GLUE, the MMU, the
video shifter... all hastily patched together and rushed to market, because
Commodore had just stolen the Amiga from Atari.

Considering the way it was designed, it did fairly well against the Amiga.
The machine had many downsides, yet some fantastic programs (apps, games,
demos) were made for it.
The most was drawn from each of its chips, which became almost legendary:
the video shifter, the Yamaha sound chip, later the blitter... the Atari
magic!

The system was run by a stable and intuitive graphic user interface (GUI)
controlled by mouse, the GEM.
Anybody with some competency could code in C and other languages some serious
applications for the ST (games were coded in assembly), that would be more
user-friendly (windows, menus, dialogs... like today) and powerful than on
the PC (stuck with poorer Intel microprocessor, text-mode display, keyboard
control).

It also featured a very good flicker-free monochrome display, which for
professional use was more important than fancy eye-killing Amiga high
resolutions.
It wouldn´t have taken so much to be a serious competitor to the Mac and
the PC.
Maybe Atari didn´t tackle the right market. Anyway it´s done, and now we
have thousands of great games not to mention the demos.
To run this all on your much faster PC, you need an emulator and files
containing images of the content (ROM, disks...).


Steem Engine, by Anthony & Russell Hayward
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Steem is a legendary Atari ST emulator, both accurate and easy to use thanks
to its great user interface.
Its development was stopped in 2004, at v3.2. The Steem authors probably got
sick of all the lamers.
In 2011 the Hayward bros released the source code for further development.


SSE
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Steem SSE is a new version of Steem based on that source release. It
incorporates new features and emulation improvements, some of them based on
the Hatari and SainT emulators (this "emulation" goes both ways), some on
various internet discussions technical documentation, like chip datasheets,
and tests on real hardware.

Steem SSE aims to be the #1 STF/STE emulator. There´s no limitation in
the original Steem code structure (in C++) that would make that goal
unreachable.

´SSE´ stands for ´Steven Seagal Edition´. Steven Seagal is a well known
Aikido grandmaster, action movie star, musician and playboy.
It is rumoured he has a shadowy past working for some secret agencies, and
that he learned the ancient secrets of emulation somewhere in the Far East.
This is also my silly handle at http://www.atari-forum.com (AF).


Installation
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Extract files to a folder of your choice, this may be Steem´s original
folder.
There´s no setup program. You´re responsible for any shortcut you wish.
HD6301V1ST.img is an image of the "IKBD" keyboard chip, it´s necessary
for ´C1´ option.
ym2149_fixed_vol.bin is used by option ´Sampled YM-2149´.
Both files must be inside the main folder.
Patches may be copied to your usual ´patches´ folder if you have any.
The PRG folder may be anywhere, provided you set it up in the disk manager.
Guess what´s the use of folder DriveSound, it should be in main folder too.
You don´t need to copy files Bugs or Hit List, but they´re quite informative.
steem.new goes into the main folder. Don´t miss the new brags!


3rd party
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Steem can work with various plugins, not included in the download.
You may check here:
http://ataristeven.t15.org/Other_downloads.htm
Or in the manual for other internet addresses.


Manual
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An up-to-date manual is included in the main download of Steem SSE.
This manual provides an extensive presentation of Steem (+SSE) and its
features.
Steem SSE manual, Steem SSE FAQ and Hints may be read from inside Steem.


v3.7.1 Features
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- Support for SCP disk images

This is the logical step after STW format, but we had to debug and improve
WD1772 emulation. At least the structure was OK.
Some code vaguely inspired by MESS and SPS projects for low level emulation
of the DPLL (inspection window) and sync timing ($A1 and $C2 marks).

All correctly imaged games loading!
Normally one rev is enough but some games may require 2 revs.
Weak bits (Dungeon Master) handled only if SSE option ´Hacks´ checked.

- CPU exception stack frame legit fix for Aladin instead of previous hacks
(he he)

- Bugfix RAM 14MB no display
- Bugfix sound volume sliders start at 0
- Bugfix PSG noise delays with ´Sampled YM-2149´ option (Dungeon Master)
- Bugfix PSG quantize for low periods (Union Demo text screens)
- Bugfix RAR5-compatible version of unrar.dll not recognised.
- Bugfix Microwire read data (Sleepwalker STE)
- Bugfix floppy disk gaps on READ TRACK (ProCopy on ST, MSA images)

- New patch: Gunship STX protection

- Links updated in general info; don´t forget to copy steem.new

Development screen
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http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem_371_coming_soon.htm


Bugs
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There are no bugs in this release.
If despite this fact you find bugs please report them here:

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=27687

You may also send an email to:
donmegacool at hotmail.com (new address)

I generally reply but I don´t always check daily so have some patience
before you send me insults.

Please read the ´Hints´, the answer to some questions is already in there.

Please try different settings before reporting, not all programs are supposed
to work with all versions of TOS, or on a STF, STE, etc.
Also try with slow (accurate) disk drive mode, or with drive B disabled;
real life STs generally had only one drive, non accelerated.
Some rare games want the disk to be write-protected... other rare games,
write-enabled!
You may try with or without options C1, C2, ´Hacks´.
Sometimes the "wake-up" option makes a difference (flicker in some demos).
It´s also helpful if you can compare with other versions of Steem and with
other emulators - normally they will fail too - or with harware.



Beta
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Want to be a beta tester of the glorious Steem SSE builds and make history?
Just send an email at donmegacool@hotmail.com (new address) or PM Steven
Seagal at AF.


Steem SSE Web sites
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http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem.htm (all builds, ST programs, pics, doc)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/steemsse/

http://code.google.com/p/steem-engine/ (source v3.3, Subversion)

http://steemsse.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/steemsse (source v3.4 & up,
Subversion, you can download a snapshot of the source)

If you want to contribute some code, you should have an account at
sourceforge, and use SVN. If you´re allergic to that, you may also
submit your changes and I´ll integrate them myself.


Release history
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Steem SSE V.3.3.0, 28/02/2012
Steem SSE V.3.4.0, 22/09/2012
XSteem SSE V.3.4.0, 06/10/2012
Steem SSE V.3.4.1, 14/11/2012
Steem SSE V.3.5.0, 27/02/2013
XSteem SSE V.3.5.0, 02/03/2013
Steem SSE V.3.5.1, 11/06/2013
XSteem SSE V.3.5.1, 13/06/2013
Steem SSE V.3.5.1 OPT, 15/06/2013
Steem SSE V.3.5.2, 04/08/2013
XSteem SSE V.3.5.2, 04/08/2013
Steem v3.2+, 27/08/2013
Steem SSE v.3.5.3, 13/10/2013
XSteem SSE v.3.5.3, 20/10/2013
Steem SSE v.3.5.4, 17/11/2013
Steem SSE v.3.6.0, 28/02/2014
XSteem SSE v.3.6.0, 28/02/2014
Steem SSE v.3.6.1, 13/04/2014
XSteem SSE v.3.6.1, 13/04/2014
Steem SSE v.3.6.2, 16/04/2014
Steem SSE v.3.6.3, 04/05/2014
XSteem SSE v.3.6.3, 04/05/2014
Steem SSE v.3.6.4, 15/06/2014
Steem SSE v.3.7.0, 28/02/2015
XSteem SSE v.3.7.0, 08/03/2015
Steem SSE v.3.7.1, 03/05/2015