

Rainbow 95 - The Atari 8-Bit Emulator for Windows
=================================================


IMPORTANT: This new version requires either Windows 95 with
Direct X installed or NT 4.0 which (I believe) has the
Direct X software. Rainbow uses the DirectSound component
for its new 4 channel sound support. Since Direct X cannot
be installed on Windows 3.1, Rainbow no longer runs under
Windows 3.1.

Also see the new section on TROUBLESHOOTING below.



Demo version 1.36
-----------------

New features include:-


  * Rainbow 95 now 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 95 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 with Direct X installed.

Here's a quick list of key features in the full shareware
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, Alternate Reality, 
    Caverns of Mars, etc.


The demo has the full graphics emulation of the shareware version
except for vertical fine scrolling. Other features such as larger
screen displays and full 800XL/130XE emulation and 4 channel sound
are not active in this demo.



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?
--------------

The ZIP file unstuffs to give you the following items:-


  - Rainbow 95 Demo application

  - SOUNDDM.DAT file

  - Disk image DEMO.DSK containing 3 demos (Bounce, Robot and Swan)

  - README.TXT text file (this one)
 
  - APPENDIX.TXT text file for more notes

  - REGISTER.TXT text file on how to register for the full
    version




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 (limited) 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.

N.B. On this demo, 800XL emulation is 'limited', i.e. the 16K RAM
under the ROM cannot be activated. This is also true for the
130XE mode which also has the extra 64K inactive. The full
shareware version gives you complete 800XL and 130XE emulation.



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. 



Frame rate
----------

A real Atari 8-bit computer generates the playfield,
player/missile graphics and updates Player/Missile collision
registers every 60th of a second.

To make Rainbow run at an acceptable speed, you can alter the
frequency with which this takes place under the 'TV' menu.

With the lesser frame rates, collision registers are updated less
frequently and so occasionally your PacMan may pass through a
ghost with no ill effect! Increase the frame rate to avoid this. 

Some games like Jumpman, Caverns of Mars and Buried Bucks only
work with the 'Every' frame rate setting.



Disk drive
----------

Disk drive#1 is available to load single density images. Single
density images have 720 sectors at 128 bytes per sector ==> 92160
bytes in total. ATR images have a 16 byte header, i.e. 92176
bytes.

The full shareware version gives you 2 disk drives each capable
of single and enhanced densities together with a feature to save
images.



Keyboard
--------

In addition to the standard keyboard, some other important keys
are

 System Reset = F12  
 Option       = F1   
 Select       = F2  
 Start        = F3  

 Help         = F4  (XL/XE only)
 Pause        = F4  (5200 only)

 
 Break        = SHIFT ESC

 Caps/Lowr    = END  

 Atari Logo   = PAGE UP


The PC CAPS LOCK is not functional. A number of extra editing
keys are included, i.e. the cursor keys work and

 Insert Char  = INSERT
 Delete Char  = DELETE 
 Clr screen   = HOME.



Joystick
--------

Make sure that NUM LOCK is on!

Stick 0 (Player 1) is enabled. Use the keypad for this
(UP=8;LEFT=4;RIGHT=6;DOWN=5) and FIRE is Control or 0 on keypad.

Notebook users can use the L<>? keys for the joystick by checking
this item under the 'Joy' menu. These keys are then NOT
recognised as keystrokes. Uncheck the L<>? item to use these as
keystrokes.

I have been told that there is a free program called UPJOY which
will map a real joystick to keystrokes and that it works very
well with Rainbow. Check out 

  http://ns.nomius.com/~biggun/upjoy.htm 

for more details. Please do not direct any UPJOY questions to me
as I will not be able to help you.



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 SOUNDDM.DAT file. Don't.

Q: The keypad does not work as the joystick.
A: Make sure NUM LOCK is on.



5200 emulation
--------------

The 5200 is a curious machine with more or less the same hardware
as a 400/800 computer. It has only 16K RAM but can accept 16 or
32K ROMs. The full size keyboard is gone and has a simple numeric
keypad instead. Since the hardware chips are mapped to different
areas in the 5200, standard 400/800 software is incompatible but
5200 games *can* be converted to run on the 400/800 with some
programming know-how.

The monitor ROM is a tiny 2K OS which just sets up the 5200 for
operation and draws the pretty rainbow fuji logo. You can insert
either 16K or 32K 5200 ROM images in this mode. Once again,
400/800/800XL/130XE games will *not* work with the 5200 and vice
versa.

The 5200 # and * keys are at Z and X. The top fire button is
SHIFT, the lower fire is CTRL.



Registration
------------

To register and get the full version, check out the REGISTER.TXT 
file or see the website URL below!



This demo may be copied and freely circulated. However, all the
files must be included and they must not be modified in any way.
 


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Comments and suggestions (please say you are a PC user) to...

E-mail: chris@shenleyfields.demon.co.uk
WWW   : http://www.shenleyfields.demon.co.uk/

Rainbow (c) 1995-7 by Chris Lam.

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