Atari++Android - Early WIP version for download

Very early WIP version for download. Few tips:

• After start it shows you the list of all the *.a++ config files it finds in /mnt/sdcard (main dir only, not subdirs). Also an option to create new one (<Create New Config>).
• When config file (or new) selected - you will be moved to the next form - with atr/xex/etc. image file browser (for drive1 and 2), whether to use 128k memory, sound, frameskip, etc.
• Start - to start emulation
• Then - touching the display area will show an overlay section of buttons (top row - Start/Select/Option... - etc - you know it :)). They will allow you to increase/decreas screen area, zoom in/out (for borders), trim top/bottom border, change buttons size.
• These settings are maintained over app restarts (as properties)
• On the keyboard - when touched control/shift ones - they will alter the very next key press, when hold control/shift ones - they will alter all the subsequent presses, until touched or hold again.
• Ctrl+alphanumeric keys will result in proper 'gfx' symbols :)
• Inverse key is there

Lot of stuff does not work yet:

• Load/Save state
• Dynamic keyboard layout (for optimal space use)
• 2nd disk drive mount (could not make it work)
• proper enable/disable of sound emulation - right now with sound set to no it will fallback to the configuration form.

So only for brave souls. At the moment it has no real advantage over Atari800 Android port, but I hope to make it better in terms of UI/usability. I'm also trying to reach Kostas - to contribute to Atari800, rather then keep this project in parallel (unless Laoo provides support for 65c816 and/or VBXE for Atari++).

Link to download

Playing with UI

I've started playing with UI, to be able to use conveniently the emulator on a keyboard less device. You can see preliminary layout (both landscape and portrait) from the actual device:

In the middle there is obviously the Atari display (with overlay buttons - like in the landscape view, for Atari function keys, and a second row for UI buttons - that let you to increase/decrease buttons size, zoomin/out - for border, make the screen area larger/smaller, make trimming (X/Y) larger/smaller, etc). The overlay buttons (yellow color) can be hidden/shown by tapping the middle of Atari screen area. Next to the screen there are red joystick emulation buttons, and below it there is a fully blown Atari keyboard layout. All stylized in Atari400 theme.

Dynamic keyboard layout
Now to be able to use as much of available space as possible for keyboard (a balance between the key size and screen area) I'm playing with more dynamic keyboard layout, basically dynamically filling all the available areas, with some priorities, scaling policies depending on key type, etc. I've done some prototyping in Processing (especially due its rapid change code/rebuild/start cycle):

As you may see - if screen becomes larger, number of bottom qwerty rows becomes smaller, and some buttons are move to the left or right part of the whole device screen. In the next few days i'm going to refine the prototype, and 'port' it to Android, leveraging RelativeLayout.

A++A WIP build 1901.2012

What works (as of 19.01.2012):
- basic emulation
- SDL GUI (with mouse cursor mockup)
- basic keyboard + joystick via dpad arrows
- Atari++ config files selector