z26
The Atari 2600 (VCS) Emulator

z26 is a small, fast, easy to use Atari 2600 emulator that runs on a DOS platform, including a Windows 95 DOS box.  z26 supports full Atari 2600 sound emulation using a Sound Blaster.

z26 will run at full speed on virtually any Pentium class platform with a reasonable (PCI or better) video subsystem.  It also runs fine on most AMD 5x86 or Cyrix 5x86 machines (with VLB video), and even on some fast 486's.

     
Screenshots of Enduro, Jr. Pac-Man, Sky Diver, and Snoopy running under z26
Click on images to enlarge

z26 supports the use of a Sound Blaster card. It requires a Sound Blaster with at least version 2.00 DSP.  This includes SB 2.0, SB-PRO, SB-16, and SOME older Sound Blasters.  It should also run on more recent models of Sound Blaster, and many clones as well. I've heard it works on an Ensoniq PCI sound card.

If you don't have a Sound Blaster or a compatible sound card, z26 will make an attempt to use the PC speaker to generate sounds.  Try not to expect too much from the speaker though.

z26 automatically detects a PC joystick and uses it to emulate an Atari joystick if one is present.  Calibration is not required.  Just make sure the joystick is centered when the emulator is started.  Button 1 is the fire button.  The keyboard controls still work even if a joystick is present.  To force keyboard only mode use the -j0 command line switch.  Some games like raiders.bin use the "wrong" joystick.  To reverse the joysticks use the -j2 command line switch.

In order to provide good emulation of some of the Atari's more subtle graphics effects, z26 synchronizes game play with the refresh of the VGA screen.  The original VGA video mode refreshes at 70Hz which makes game play slightly faster than a real Atari.   By default, z26 uses a video mode that refreshes at 60Hz (Video Mode 3) to provide correct play speed.  If you have a problem with this mode you may select the original 70Hz mode or one of the other modes with the -v<n> command line switch.

If you have a modern multi-frequency monitor, one or more of these modes may require some adjustment to achieve a good appearance. Modern monitors often have the ability to save multiple settings for multiple video modes.  So it MAY be possible to adjust these modes without disturbing the adjustments for your other display modes.

If you run z26 and don't hear sound when you think you should, the first thing to check is to make sure the volume is turned up.  If you're running under Windows 95, use the system volume control and make sure the Mute box is not checked.  Also make sure the Wave Balance volume is turned up and that its Mute box is not checked.  If you're running under DOS, use the volume control (mixer) program that came with your sound card.

Failing that, try running z26 with the -s (show sound diagnostic messages) command line option.

If you get the message "Sound Blaster too old!", maybe it's too old. You need a Sound Blaster with at least version 2.00 DSP to run z26.

If you get the message "Sound Blaster not found." then either you don't have a Sound Blaster, or there's a problem with the environment string.  z26 expects you to have an environment string set with the configuration of your Sound Blaster.  If you're running under Windows 95, this usually is not a problem because Windows 95 seems to set up the environment string automatically.  If you're running under DOS, the environment string is usually set up during the Sound Blaster installation procedure.

z26 sound generation is based on the TIASound library by Ron Fries. According to Ron, the optimum playback sample rate is 31400 samples per second. This is the "natural frequency" of the Atari, the frequency at which the sound generator in the Atari originally ran.  So if your Sound Blaster is capable of playing sound at this rate (and most modern Sound Blasters are), we use this rate.  There are a few older Sound Blasters that z26 supports that won't run at this rate. These Sound Blasters are run at a rate of 15700 samples per second.  This causes only a small degradation in the quality of the sound.

We also generate sound in real time. This means we can use very small sound buffers.   This allows z26 to be more responsive to rapid changes in the sound that some games call for.  z26 currently uses a sound buffer of 128 bytes divided into two parts, giving it an effective buffer size of 64 bytes.

z26 supports digital signal processing (DSP) on the sound. This is to reduce distortion on some clone sound cards, but also causes the sound to more closely approximate the sound of an old TV set for those users that prefer a more "classic" sound.  To turn on DSP use the -d<n> command line switch. If n=1 the setting is low, if n=2 the setting is high.

z26 is copyrighted freeware and may not be sold. Please keep all copyright notices and other acknowledgements intact.  Thanks.

Due to copyright restrictions, Atari ROM images are not included.

z26
Go to the z26 homepage

This emulator can be downloaded directly from it's homepage.

NOTE: In order to run this emulator, you must have the emulator itself, and a copy of the ROM's from the original system.  The emulator itself is Freeware.  The ROM's are copyrighted by the programmer or the manufacturer. You are only legally entitled to do so if you own the actual game, or a PCB/ROM Cartridge from the game that you are emulating. If you decide to download ROM's to test out an emulator, you must delete the ROM's within 24 hours unless you own the equipment mentioned above.

ROM's may be found at many sites, including EMUCLASSICS. 

Z-Launch
Front end for z26

Sal Bugliarisi has created Z-Launch.  Z-Launch is a Windows 9x front end utility for the z26 emulator.  This should make the configuration and use of z26 much easier.  Sal currently does not have a home page for his front end, so I have mirrored the Z-Launch files here.  This program is worth checking out.  Be sure to download all three files.

Main Program
32k

Text Files
990k

Pictures
2.1mb