Handy V0.41 - Atari Lynx Emulator for Win32  

Brought to you by:
Snubber

Original Handy Code:
Keith Wilkins

What's New in Ver 0.41
----------------------
* Considerably faster
* The project is being continued

What's Lacking in ver 0.41
--------------------------
* DirectX
* Blazing fast emulation
* Support for .lyx files
* Full compatibilty

Game images:

NOTE: You need a .lnx file to run...  Use make_lnx.exe

You will need a proper lynxboot.img to play carts.

There are a numer of "homebrew" images...
http://www.gp.fht-esslingen.de/students/mt/elw5basc/


System Requirements

* PC capible of win32 execution.
* 16MB or more system memory.
* Pentium class processor or better (Recommended P133 or higher).
* A hard drive

I would not recommend enabling sound if you have anything less than a P133.

This progra works best in 16bit color mode.


Using Handy

The keys are mapped to:

Option 1 	: 1
Option 2 	: 2

Pause		: Q

Inside Fire	: Z
Outside Fire	: X

Joypad		: Arrow keys

Reset Lynx	: F3
Run/Pause	: F5
Sound on/off	: Ctrl-S
Load cart	: Ctrl-0
BMP Snapshot	: Ctrl-Alt-B
RAW Snapshot	: Ctrl-Alt-R
Exit		: Alt-F4

Joysticks are supported under W95 by selecting the Joystick label under the
options menu. 

Note: Enabling the joystick will slow the emulator slightly, hence the joystick
      defaults to off.


General Problems (affecting some carts)

. Flickering sprites
. Flickering backgrounds/colour changes (e.g Shadow of the Beast, Awseome Golf)
  this relates to IRQ timing which is unstable due to some of my optimisations.



Converting cartridges to LNX format with MAKE_LNX.EXE

Handy only reads .LNX formats files, any will not read raw (.LYX) cartridge
images. To convert from raw (.LYX/.040) to LNX format use the make_lnx
utility included in with the release.

make_lnx <infile> [options]

Optional arguments
------------------
   -o Output filename (Default=<infile>.lnx)
   -m Manufacturer    (Default=Atari)
   -g Game name       (Default=<infile>.lnx)
   -r Left/Right      (Default=no screen image rotation)
   -b0 Bank0 size     (Default=Automatic, options 0K,64K,128K,256K,512K)
   -b1 Bank1 size     (Default=0K, options 0K,64K,128K,256K,512K)

The default action (no optional params) is to convert the input filename
from raw format to LNX format with the default options given above. Options
can be mixed and placed in any order on the command line.

Example:
make_lnx cgames.lyx                  (Converts cgames.lyx to cgames.lnx)
make_lnx cgames.lyx -o calgames.lnx  (Converts cgames.lyx to calgames.lnx)

Part of the LNX header contains game and manufacturer information that may
be used in later versions of Handy, you can add this into the header using
the -g and -m options.

Example:

make_lnx cgames.lyx -g "California Games" -m Atari

(Converts cgames.lyx to cgames.lnx and sets the internal game/manufacturer
 fields within the LNX header. The quotes are important only if your game
 name has spaces within it.)



Patching files with ROTATE.EXE

Handy now supports automatic rotation of images on startup via a flag in the
LNX header of the cartridge. This new addition is completely compatible with
any existing files. One of the spare bytes in the header is now used to
indicate whether which way the screen image should be rotated. A utility has
been provided (ROTATE.EXE) to allow you to patch any existing files you may
have. This facility has also bee added to the MAKE_LNX.EXE utility.

Example:

   ROTATE LEFT GAUNTLET.LNX

This will cause the gaunlet cart header to be modified so that it will be
displayed correctly when starting handy.

You can undo the change with

  ROTATE DEFAULT GAUNTLET.LNX

Gauntlet will then revert back to the landscape style display.




SPECIAL THANKS TO KEITH WILKINS!