This is the 5th ALPHA VERSION of Retrocade for OS/2.
Use it at your own risk, though I appreciate your feedback on it.

NEW/FIXED THIS VERSION!:
   * Updated to work with SDD beta 32
   * Changed audio buffer size up to 2K rather than 1K.  This may work
     better for people who previously had audio problems.

Things to be aware of:
1] This version *requires* use of the TIMER0 device driver.
   Most people already have a working version of this on their systems
   but you should be aware that it can disrupt operations in concurrent
   DOS and Windows applications.

2] DART is *required* for now.  Your sound card must support DART otherwise
   this version of Retrocade will not have sound.

3] DART audio buffers are set to a minumum of 2K.  Some sound drivers may
   need a bigger audio buffer and may not work with this version of 
   Retrocade.  This will be adjustable in future releases.

4] This version requires the installation of SDDHELP.SYS build 101 or later.

5] OS/2 believes that it is in a full screen text mode while Retrocade is
   running.  If a fatal error is encountered, such as a SYS3175, a full
   screen popup error will appear.  Note however, that OS/2 is not aware
   that you are in a graphics mode and may not be able to display such
   popup messages correctly.  If Retrocade blanks out and you are left with
   a stagnant black screen with no sound playing, press ENTER a few times
   and then type "MODE CO80" to restore text mode.

6] If you need to break out of Retrocade in a hurry, you can try using
   CTRL-C.  It should exit immediately with the message "Unhandled
   exception."

7] If you wind up back at your desktop while Retrocade is running (by
   accidentally hitting CTRL-ESC or something), Retrocade will halt
   until you go back to the full screen session.

8] Due to a small problem I'm having with MGL, the PAUSE key is not
   functioning.  I have assigned the PAUSE key functionality to the
   F12 key until this issue is resolved.

9] Since Retrocade is now full screen, there is no more reliable console
   output.  All of the debug info that used to be displayed on the console
   of the PM version of Retrocade will now be recorded in a file named
   OS2Retro.Log located in the directory from which Retrocade was run.

10] This version will produce core files when a problem is encountered.

   IF YOU ENCOUNTER A PROBLEM:  First check the list of known deficiencies 
   below.  If your problem is listed, then there's obviously no need to tell
   me about it.  If your problem is not listed, e-mail me a *text message*
   describing the actions leading up to your problem and whatever you can
   read from the console window.  SAVE YOUR CORE FILES!  If you find a 
   problem and write to me about it, I may ask you to zip up the core file
   and e-mail it to me.  This will be extremely helpful in solving the problem.

11] Known deficiencies:
   * Some vector games don't work properly.
   * Dig Dug 2 and possibly other Mappy-based games are not properly 
     emulated -- this is a Retrocade core problem.
   * Williams games like Joust, Defender, and Blaster do not always work 
     properly -- this is also a Retrocade core.
   * Nintendo based games like Donkey Kong Jr. / Donkey Kong / Mario Bros.
     will cause a GPF or lockup -- again this is a Retrocade core problem.
   * Joystick is not currently supported.
   * I have seen an occasional SYS3175 on exitting.  If this occurs for you
     please try to describe *precisely* what took place during the 
     Retrocade session leading up to the problem.
   * Some of the performance statistics (F5 during a game) are slightly
     bogus.


Getting Started
===============

** YOU NEED EMX TO RUN RETROCADE **  Download it (EMXRT.ZIP) from Hobbes or 
your favorite OS/2 software archive.

Just unzip the main Retro.Zip file (which you've undoubtedly already done).
Then grab whichever PAK files you want to use and place them in the same
directory as the executable or a subdirectory named PAKS.  I suggest grabbing
all of the PAK files to get the full Retrocade experience.  ;-)

Make sure you have installed and booted up with the version of SDDHELP.SYS
from beta 32 or higher of the Scitech Display Doctor video drivers.  An
appropriate version is included in this archive, however, you should *NOT*
install it unless your version is older.  Also, do *NOT* install it if you are
using SDD as your main display driver.  If you are and have an older version of
SDDHELP.SYS you must update to a newer version of SDD itself.  This
version of Retrocade will not work with older versions of SDDHELP.SYS.

Next, you're ready to run Retrocade for the first time.  If you have a
directory with ROM files from other emulators, such as MAME, you can tell
Retrocade to use that directory as follows:

retro -romdir x:\rom_directory

(obviously replacing x: with the proper drive and rom_directory with the
proper directory)

From there, you'll be in the Retrocade GUI which is powerful and easy to use.
In the future I'll include more documentation on the Retrocade GUI itself, but
for now, you should be able to get around it without much difficulty.

If you find that Retrocade is having difficulty locating your games, you can
run Retrocade with the "-log" switch.  This will create a file named 
"GAME.TXT" which will contain a lot of information, but may give you a clue as
to why your ROM sets were not located or accepted.

Note that once you use the -romdir parameter once, you don't need to use it
again, as this information will be stored in the Retrocade registry 
(Retro.Reg).

Please give me feedback if you are having graphics compatibility problems.

I hope you all enjoy this!

Send your feedback and bug reports to mamedev@stny.rr.com.  Keep your eye on
http://emuos2.vintagegaming.com for the latest in Retrocade, SNES9x, and MAME
news.

