diff --git a/src/engine/engine.cpp b/src/engine/engine.cpp
index 3a9563295..6a01ab758 100644
--- a/src/engine/engine.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/engine.cpp
@@ -757,6 +757,7 @@ bool DivEngine::init() {
       dispatch=new DivPlatformPCE;
       break;
     default:
+      logW("this system is not supported yet! using dummy platform.\n");
       dispatch=new DivPlatformDummy;
       break;
   }
diff --git a/src/log.cpp b/src/log.cpp
index ff0f222ad..20942b959 100644
--- a/src/log.cpp
+++ b/src/log.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #include "ta-log.h"
 
+int logLevel=LOGLEVEL_INFO;
+
 int logD(const char* format, ...) {
   va_list va;
   int ret;
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 43310e763..a3d2eba92 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -54,6 +54,22 @@ bool pView(String val) {
   return true;
 }
 
+bool pLogLevel(String val) {
+  if (val=="debug") {
+    logLevel=LOGLEVEL_DEBUG;
+  } else if (val=="info") {
+    logLevel=LOGLEVEL_INFO;
+  } else if (val=="warning") {
+    logLevel=LOGLEVEL_WARN;
+  } else if (val=="error") {
+    logLevel=LOGLEVEL_ERROR;
+  } else {
+    logE("invalid value for loglevel! valid values are: debug, info, warning, error.\n");
+    return false;
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
 bool pVersion(String) {
   printf("Furnace version " DIV_VERSION ".\n\n");
   printf("developed by tildearrow. copyright (C) 2021.\n");
@@ -95,6 +111,7 @@ void initParams() {
   params.push_back(TAParam("h","help",false,pHelp,"","display this help"));
 
   params.push_back(TAParam("a","audio",true,pAudio,"jack|sdl","set audio engine (SDL by default)"));
+  params.push_back(TAParam("L","loglevel",true,pLogLevel,"debug|info|warning|error","set the log level (info by default)"));
   params.push_back(TAParam("v","view",true,pView,"pattern|commands|nothing","set visualization (pattern by default)"));
 
   params.push_back(TAParam("V","version",false,pVersion,"","view information about Furnace."));
diff --git a/src/ta-log.h b/src/ta-log.h
index ee5a23b90..a33a7f996 100644
--- a/src/ta-log.h
+++ b/src/ta-log.h
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #define LOGLEVEL_INFO 2
 #define LOGLEVEL_DEBUG 3
 
-#define logLevel 3
+extern int logLevel;
 
 int logD(const char* format, ...);
 int logI(const char* format, ...);