Getting Started

Getting Started

Rusty2600 is a cycle-accurate Atari 2600 (VCS) emulator written in pure Rust. It's available as a desktop app, a WebAssembly build that runs in the browser, and mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Quick Start (Desktop)

Downloading the App

Pre-compiled binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows are published on the Releases page for every tagged release.

First Launch

Rusty2600 opens to an always-on egui shell: a menu bar and status bar framing a blank screen.

1. Load a ROM: File → Open ROM. Select your .bin/.a26 file (.zip archives containing a ROM are also supported). You can drag-and-drop a file directly into the window.
2. Play: the game starts immediately.
3. Save/Load State: File → Save State / Load State opens a numbered-slot picker (8 slots per ROM, keyed by a content hash so different ROMs never collide).

Default Controls

Input	Key
Joystick (P0) D-pad	Arrow keys
Joystick (P0) fire	Z
Joystick (P1) D-pad	W A S D
Joystick (P1) fire	Q
Console: Select / Reset	F1 / F2
Console: Color ↔ B&W	F3
Console: Left / Right difficulty A↔B	F4 / F5
Toggle debugger overlay	`
Open ROM / Quit	F12 / Esc

Paddles (INPT0–INPT3, analog) bind to the mouse or a gamepad axis. USB gamepads auto-bind to P0. All bindings live in config.toml — see Frontend-Architecture.

Debugger

Press the backquote key ` to toggle the debugger overlay: live 6507/TIA/RIOT/Memory panels, breakpoints, watch expressions, a call stack, an event log, a standalone disassembler, and more. See Frontend-Architecture for the full panel list.

Try It in the Browser

No install required: doublegate.github.io/Rusty2600 runs a real winit + wgpu + egui build compiled to WebAssembly.

Supported ROM Formats

Rusty2600 auto-detects all 26 catalogued bankswitch schemes by size and, where sizes collide, hotspot-pattern heuristics — no manual mapper selection is needed. .zip archives containing a single ROM image load transparently on both native and WebAssembly. See Cart-Catalogue for the full scheme list.

You must provide your own ROMs, legally obtained from your own cartridges or from homebrew developers. Commercial Atari ROMs are never bundled with Rusty2600.