Virtual Atari ST
I've spent recent years emulating an Atari ST and using a wonderful program called Hatari. Since I started AtariCrypt, I have been asked many questions about emulation: TOS, machine type, etc/etc.
So I thought it might be a good idea to create a help page. Nothing technical; I'll keep this information short and sweet for a general outline of what is needed. This should get you started with the awesome range of Atari ST games and programs on your Mac (PC/Linux should be the same, but I cannot confirm)
Firstly, there are many different models, but for this page we'll bundle them together into two basic groups of the 'ST computer'. The original model is the Atari ST, and the newer one is the enhanced Atari STe (Blitter, more colours, DMA audio, analogue controls, hardware scrolling, a newer version of TOS)
Generally speaking (for 95% of games), you need to know this...
1) If you want to play commercial games, then you should emulate the original Atari ST.
2) Beyond most commercial games, you may prefer to emulate the more powerful Atari STe. There are many programs and demos that support it's enhanced hardware.
3) Personally, I simply stick to the same machine and emulate a 2/4MB Atari STe with TOS 1.62 as this runs most games, demos, music, programs, etc/etc just fine.
For the most part, these settings will work well. Now, I tend to stick with a basic setup on an Atari STe with 2 MB of RAM and TOS 1.62 to play floppy disk games. (possibly 4MB for some hard disk-based demos).
1) For the ST, I would recommend you choose 1MB RAM and run with TOS 1.02 for all floppy disk games. (Increase the RAM and switch to TOS 1.04 if you're using a GEMDOS hard drive)
2) For the STe, I would recommend you choose 1MB RAM and use TOS 1.62 (rarely does that alter). Increase the RAM if planning to use a GEMDOS drive.
2) Download a copy of The Operating System (TOS), which is listed on ATARIWorld.
3) Many websites have lots of ST games to download, but the best is Atari Legend. Hard disk games are available from 8BitChip and D-Bug (use Gemdos as seen in the first pic below)
Screenshots of my Hatari settings!
Here are several screenshots of my Hatari preferences. There is nothing mind-blowing here; I simply hoped this might be useful for newcomers. Any questions? Then feel free to comment below and ask.
Enjoy using your virtual Atari ST :-)
Use the Drive A image option to load up MSA/ST disk images.
Untick the box for Fast Floppy Access if you get problems.
TOS 1.62 is the best and most compatible OS when emulating the Atari STe.
Basic stuff here... choose the monitor/TV and whether to show the borders.
Frame skip should be off, unless you have performance issues.
Certain games might lag with their controls compared to real hardware, so I set it to "1".
Sound options - I've not changed, so these are the defaults that can be left.
All ST/STe computers use a 68000 processor running at 8MHZ.
1-2MB RAM is best, unless a demo or something demands 4MB RAM.
ST's use joystick port 1 for one-player games. And you can use a USB stick/pad!
