MultiPlayer Version 1.11 Copyright (C) 1991 Bryan Ford All Rights Reserved Introduction ~~~~~~~~~~~~ MultiPlayer is a program to play Amiga music modules, such as Soundtracker and MED modules. (This program has no relation to Multi_Player by Thomas Landspurg which I just recently found out about.) Before you get disgusted with Yet Another Module Player, I would encourage you to read through this document, or at least take MultiPlayer for a test drive. You will find that MultiPlayer has almost all the important features you've seen on other players, plus some you haven't seen before. One of the goals of MultiPlayer is to be as system-friendly as possible. It multitasks well, it doesn't interfere with high-priority interrupts such as serial port interrupts, and it properly allocates audio channels so that the music doesn't conflict with other programs. It is fully functional on Kickstart 2.0 and 1.3 (although the control panels look nicer on 2.0), and isn't prone to "lose" notes on fast processors like most other players are. Another goal of MultiPlayer was to support a very diverse array of music formats. MultiPlayer currently supports over fifteen different common module formats, plus some special ones. See 'Supported Formats' near the end of this document for a list of the module types MultiPlayer can play. The unregistered version of MultiPlayer is freely redistributable as long as it and its documentation is not modified in any way, and the files listed below are distributed with it. (See the end of this file for details about registering MultiPlayer.) You may not charge more for distributing it than a small fee to cover the disk copying expenses. The MultiPlayer version 1.11 distribution must contain the following files: Player.doc MultiPlayer documentation (this file) Player MultiPlayer itself Player.info Icon for MultiPlayer Programmers/Formats.doc Specification of GMOD module format Programmers/GMOD.i Include file to help with GMOD's Programmers/DW_GMOD.asm Example GMOD header Programmers/DW_Convert.c Example program to write GMOD files Programmers/DW_Convert Executable version of same Programmers/LMKFile SAS/C makefile for DW_Convert ChipMunch ChipMunch/ChipMunch Useful Utility (for >512K chip RAM) ChipMunch/ChipMunch.info Icon for ChipMunch ChipMunch/ChipMunch.doc Documentation for ChipMunch ChipMunch/src/chipmunch.c SAS/C source for ChipMunch ChipMunch/src/makescript MakeScript for ChipMunch ChipMunch/src/sascopts SAS/C options General Usage To start MultiPlayer, just type 'player' from the CLI or click on the icon from the Workbench and it will present the ASL or ARP filerequester to select a module from, depending on which version of the operating system you are using. (If you are running 1.3, you must have the arp.library version 39 or higher installed to get the file requester - if you don't, you won't be able to load modules from the window.) Under 2.0, you can select multiple modules at a time (as many as you want). Under 1.3, you will have to select them one at a time (although you can still build programs). If you run MultiPlayer from the CLI, it automatically detaches itself, so there is no need to Run it. You can also start modules playing immediately when MultiPlayer starts up - see the section on 'Startup Options' for more information on starting MultiPlayer. While MultiPlayer is running there is normally a small window in the title bar displaying the name of the module that is currently playing (or just "MultiPlayer" if nothing is loaded). You can click the close gadget to stop the music and terminate MultiPlayer. If you are running Kickstart 2.0, the MultiPlayer window will have a zoom gadget near its right end. If you click it, you will see a control panel that allows you to load different modules and gives access to some of MultiPlayer's more advanced features. Since 1.3 doesn't know about zoom gadgets, you can get the control panel under 1.3 by pressing the right mouse button while the MultiPlayer window is active. If you have the xpkmaster.library (a freeware compression "supervisor" standard by Dominik Mueller, Christian Schneider, and myself) installed in your system, MultiPlayer can automatically unpack modules that are packed using any format it can understand. (This includes PowerPacker format, if you have the powerpacker.library installed as well.) You may be skeptical about keeping a 50K program resident in memory. Never fear - thanks to a custom memory management and overlay system, MultiPlayer uses only the memory it needs to do its job. All of the module players are loaded only when needed, and any players not currently in use are unloaded on demand if the system runs out of memory. The parts of the program used to control MultiPlayer's various windows are also only loaded on when they are needed (when the windows are open) and are freed as necessary. For all you hackers (used in the positive meaning) that like to rip out every form of music imaginable, when you come across some obscure module format that nothing understands, don't despair. There are several special formats built into MultiPlayer that you can use to easily interface it to any kind of module. All you need is the module, some player code for the module (if the module doesn't already have embedded player code), and a little assembly language programming. Details on all three formats are in the separate file 'Formats.doc'. If you are the author of a music composer program, you should also read this document and consider supporting the GMOD embedded-player module format in your program. Control Panel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The main MultiPlayer window normally sits quietly in the title bar. However, if you click the zoom gadget under 2.0 or click the right mouse button under 1.3, it will become a small control panel. Under 2.0, if you have a 3-button mouse, the middle button will act the same as the zoom gadget. This panel displays a few pieces of information about the module currently playing, and has some buttons you can use to control MultiPlayer. When running under Workbench 2.0, the MultiPlayer control panel is an AppWindow, so you can play modules by simply dropping their icons into the MultiPlayer window. When you do, the new module (or several modules, if you extended-select them) replaces the current program, and MultiPlayer starts playing the first module immediately. This works basically like selecting modules with the New button. Module box This box displays the filename of the module currently loaded (essentially the same as what is displayed in the title bar). Any 'mod.' prefixes for Soundtracker/Noisetracker modules will not be displayed. Type box Displays the type of the loaded module (as MultiPlayer sees it). Simple enough? Author box Displays the name of the person who wrote this module, if MultiPlayer can glean this information from the module. Most current module formats don't have direct facilities for identifying the author - in this case, the box will just display 'Unknown'. Soundtracker/Noisetracker modules often have author names embedded in the instrument list - in this case, MultiPlayer will try to make a good guess by searching for keywords such as 'by' in the instrument list. (If it screws up for some reason, you can always TYPE the module HEX to find out for sure.) MED modules have somewhat better support, but they still don't have a convenient 'author' field - just a catch-all 'annotation' field, which MultiPlayer processes much the same way as with Soundtracker modules. GMOD modules are the only types I know of that directly support author identification, but they are at the moment few and far between. (Let's get with it, OK? Don't all you wonderful musicians want to be recognized?) Song gadget This gadget serves two purposes. First, it displays the name of the currently loaded module or song as recorded in the module itself. For example, with Soundtracker/Noisetracker modules this gadget will display the song name as recorded in the first 20 bytes of the file. Many module formats don't have built-in name fields - in this case, the box will just display 'Unknown.' For most types of modules, which support only one song per module, this gadget will serve no purpose other than displaying the song name - clicking on it will do nothing. However, some module formats such as (GMODs) allow several independent songs to be contained in a single module (for example, to save memory by using the same instruments on several songs). In that case, this gadget will cycle through the available songs in the module. You can also change songs using the left and right arrow keys. New button This button is equivalent to clicking the right mouse button while the main MultiPlayer window is active. It displays the file requester and lets you select any number of modules. The new list of modules replaces the current program, if there was one. The first module in the list (or a random module, if you have selected random playing) will be started. The program will be created with the order in which the modules were displayed in the file requester. (At least this is how the current 2.0 file requester works - it may change.) Play button Starts or continues playing a module that was previously stopped but not unloaded. If the module type supports the continue feature, the module will continue playing where it left off. Otherwise it will start again from the beginning. Stop button Stops the current module without unloading it. Audio channels and interrupts are freed while a module is stopped, so you don't have to exit MultiPlayer completely if you want to run some other program that needs the audio hardware. If the module type supports restart, you can restart it where it left off by pressing the Play button. Eject button Stops and unloads the currently loaded module, and frees all memory and other resources that the module was using. Next button Loads and plays the next module in the current program list. If you have selected random play, this button simply loads another module in the list, at random. This is the same as pressing the down arrow key in the MultiPlayer window. Prev button Loads and plays the previous module in the program list. If you have selected random play, this button does basically the same thing as the Next button - picks another module at random. This button does the same thing as pressing the up arrow key in the MultiPlayer window. Program button Opens the Program window, described below. Under 2.0, you can also do this by clicking the right mouse button while the main MultiPlayer window is active. Prefs button Opens MultiPlayer's Preferences window, described later. Program Window ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The program window displays a list of all the modules in the current module 'program'. You can select modules from the list to load and play immediately. You can also build and rearrange your program using this window. (Under 1.3, this window provides the only way to build programs from within MultiPlayer, since the ARP file requester doesn't support multiselect.) You get this window by pressing the 'Program' button on the main window's control panel, or by pressing the Help key in the MultiPlayer window, or, under 2.0, by simply clicking the right mouse button while the main window is active. Note that this window doesn't cause the main control panel to "freeze" - you can still watch and use it while this window is open. In fact, all of MultiPlayer's windows (even the file requester) are asynchronous. If sequenced play is selected (the default), when one module is finished, the next lower one on the list is loaded and played. (This only applies on modules that can detect repeat - most do, but on those that don't, the module will just play forever until you explicitly tell MultiPlayer to go to the next module.) With random play, a different module will be randomly chosen. There is no limit to the number of modules you can have in a program, and modules in the program can be located in many different directories - MultiPlayer will remember the location of each module. When running under Workbench 2.0, the Program window is an AppWindow, so you can add modules by simply dropping their icons into this window. This window works slightly differently from the main Multiplayer window, however. When you drop icons into this window, the behavior is the same as if you had selected the modules with the 'Add' button: The new modules are added to the end of the current program list, and whatever is currently playing remains unaffected. Besides the module listing, this window contains several buttons that allow you to manipulate the module list. These are described below: Top, Up, Down, and Bot buttons These buttons allow you to rearrange the modules in the program. They work on the currently selected (probably currently playing) module, and their meanings should be obvious. Add button This button works basically the same way as the 'New' button on the main window - it brings up the file requester and allows you to select modules. However, it doesn't cause the previous program to be cleared when you finish, and it doesn't start playing a new module immediately. Under 1.3, you'll have to use this button to repeatedly bring up the file requester in order to build programs. However, with the registered version of MultiPlayer you only have to build a program once, save it, then tell MultiPlayer to reload it whenever it starts up. (Hint, hint...) Del button This button deletes the currently selected module in the program list. If this module is currently playing, the module continues playing - it only removes the module from the program, not immediately from memory. Clear button Clears the entire current program list. As with the 'Del' button, it does not stop any currently playing module. Sort button Sorts the entire current program list alphabetically. Handy if you like to use random play (and thus don't really care about the play order) but you'd like a nice neat module listing. Load button Brings up the file requester so you can load a previously saved program from disk. (This button will only work on the registered version of MultiPlayer.) The newly loaded program will replace the current program. Note that you can also load saved programs from the regular module requester - programs are recognized just like modules, and programs selected this way will automatically be loaded and run. (You could even put the name of another program file at the bottom of the first one, and chain programs together!) Save button Brings up the file requester and lets you save the current program to a disk file. (Also only works on the registered version.) You can then load it again later through the Load gadget or using any method normally used to select modules - the file requester, Workbench extended-select when starting MultiPlayer, or CLI arguments. (See the 'Startup' for details on starting MultiPlayer.) If you want to create or modify module program files yourself, just take a look at one of the files MultiPlayer generates - it's just a simple text file. Lines starting with 'DIR' denote changes of directory - all filenames after that until another 'DIR' keyword will be looked for in that directory. Preferences Window ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MultiPlayer's built-in Preferences window can be opened by clicking on the 'Prefs' button in the main MultiPlayer window. It contains a few options (there will be more in future versions) which you can use to tailor MultiPlayer to your own preferences. The gadgets are described below: Play gadget Use this to select between sequenced play, random play, and 'over and over' mode. In sequenced play, the modules in the program list are played one after another, from beginning to end, in the order they appear in the program list. In random play, a module plays once and then another is randomly selected. In 'once' mode, the song is played only once, then is unloaded and MultiPlayer becomes idle. In 'over and over' mode, anything you select is played forever until you tell MultiPlayer to start a different module. (In these last two mode, you can still use the 'Next' and 'Prev' buttons in the main window to change modules; MultiPlayer just doesn't do it by itself.) Show gadget This cycle gadget allows you to select the type of display you want to appear in the main window's title bar while a module is playing. In clock mode, a clock appears displaying the amount of time this module has been playing in minutes and seconds. In sequence mode (this has no relation to the sequence mode in the 'Play' gadget), on NoiseTracker or similar modules that play sequences of blocks, the current sequence number and the number of sequences in the song is displayed. (On modules that don't support this, the clock is displayed.) You can tell MultiPlayer to display the current sequence number either starting from 0 and ending at length-1, as most trackers display sequence numbers, or starting from 1 and ending at (length), which is the more 'natural' way of counting. Selecting the 'Nothing' option in this gadget will leave you with a simple, clean, unadulterated title bar. Save button Saves the current preferences to the disk file ENV:MultiPlayerPrefs, as well as to the same file in ENVARC:. (With a preferences window as simple as this, there's no real need for separate 'Save' and 'Save Default' options.) The preferences saved include, as well as the current settings of the above two gadgets, the positions of the three main MultiPlayer windows. The next time you run MultiPlayer, the windows will pop up wherever they were when you saved the preferences. Note that the position of the main control panel window can only be updated if the window is currently in the "zoomed" state when you save the preferences, so you can see the module information and gadgets. (This is due to a slight deficiency in 2.0.) OK button Does exactly the same thing as the close gadget on the window does - closes the Preferences window. It does NOT cause the new preferences to be activated, because they are activated the moment you select them. (Isn't multitasking wonderful?) There is no 'Cancel' gadget because I figure it's not too difficult to change back any buttons you accidentally hit, since there are so few... Keyboard Shortcuts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several keyboard shortcuts are available from any MultiPlayer window (except the file requester). Most of these have been mentioned before in this document, but they are listed all together here. All of these are available under 1.3 as well as 2.0. These keys are listed below: ESC key Terminates MultiPlayer immediately (a shortcut for the close gadget on the main window. F1 key Help key Opens the Program window, or closes it if it is already open. F2 key Opens the Preferences window, or closes it if it is already open. Help key Under 2.0, brings up the module program window (a shortcut for the 'Program' button on the main window). Spacebar If a module is currently playing, stops (or pauses it) without unloading, like the 'Stop' button in the main window. If a module is loaded but NOT playing, it continues or restarts it, just like the 'Play' button. Delete key Unloads ('ejects') the currently loaded module. Up/down arrows These switch to the previous or next modules in the program list, respectively. In random play, these simply select another module at random. (These are shortcuts for the 'Next' and 'Prev' buttons in the main window.) Left/right arrows For modules that contain more than one song, these select the previous or next song, respectively (shortcuts for the 'Song' cycle gadget). Startup Options ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When starting MultiPlayer from Workbench (either 1.3 or 2.0), you can extended-select the icons of as many modules as you want when you start MultiPlayer. It will add all of these modules to the program and immediately start playing the first one (or a random selection, if you have selected random play in your saved preferences). If you're running Kickstart 1.3, MultiPlayer will accept a single argument from the CLI (don't use quotes, even if there are spaces). If this argument ends in a ':' or '/', MultiPlayer will change to that directory before displaying the ARP file requester. If it doesn't end in one of these characters, MultiPlayer will try to load the specified file as a module and start it playing rather than displaying the file requester immediately. If you're running Kickstart 2.0, MultiPlayer supports some extra command-line options: DIR=DIRECTORY,MODULES/M,SCREEN/K,NOREQUEST/S,NOWINDOW/S,NOREXX/S (On the unregistered version, the NOREXX option will not appear.) Following is a description of these arguments: DIRECTORY The first argument on the command line (or any argument preceded by this keyword) tells MultiPlayer what directory to go to the first time it displays the file requester. This is also where it will look for modules you specify on the command line (see below) if you don't specify full pathnames for them. MODULES/M The second argument (if you don't explicitly use the DIRECTORY or MODULES keywords) begins a list of modules to put into MultiPlayer's program list on startup. MultiPlayer imposes no limitations on the number of modules you can specify using this keyword, although command lines are limited to 256 characters. After MultiPlayer starts up, instead of showing the file requester immediately, it will load and begin playing the first module in the program list (or a randomly selected module, if you have selected random playing). With the registered version of MultiPlayer, you can specify a program file to load and start initially instead of a list of modules. SCREEN/K You can use this parameter to tell MultiPlayer to open its windows on a screen other than the Workbench (or default) screen. Just supply the name of the public screen as this parameter, and MultiPlayer will try to use it for all its windows. The named public screen must already be open. NOREQUEST/S If you specify the switch, MultiPlayer will not display the file requester immediately after it loads, even if you don't specify any modules to start playing. If you don't specify any modules, MultiPlayer will simply sit idle until you tell it to do something. NOWINDOW/S This switch causes MultiPlayer to load and run without a window. If you specify modules to start playing, MultiPlayer will play them as usual, but you won't see any visual indication that MultiPlayer is running. You can still control the registered version of MultiPlayer through its ARexx port, assuming you haven't turned that off as well. Using this switch will save about 5K of memory, since the part of MultiPlayer that handles the window interface is never loaded (and of course the window itself is not occupying memory). NOREXX/S If you specify this switch (which only exists on the registered version), MultiPlayer will not open its ARexx port. Using this switch will save a little extra memory (not much though - less than 1K) if you don't need the ARexx port. If you specify both NOREXX and NOWINDOW, you will effectively have no way to control MultiPlayer apart from rebooting - it will go on playing modules as you instruct it to at first, and will not stop unless it encounters a major error of some kind. (If that happens, you basically "lose" it for good.) I don't recommend doing this without a good reason. ARexx Port ~~~~~~~~~~ If you have ARexx, either as an independent program in 1.3 or as part of the operating system in 2.0+, you can use it to control the registered version of MultiPlayer. Whenever MultiPlayer is running, there is an ARexx port available called "RXTRACKER" which you can send various commands to. MultiPlayer's ARexx port is designed to be (mostly) compatible with the program RxTracker by Dominic Giampaolo. In addition, it has several extended features, and of course you can use it to play all the different kinds of modules MultiPlayer understands. If MultiPlayer runs into an error when trying to load or play a module, it generally returns an error code of 10. When any error occurs, a pointer to a descriptive error string is saved and you can get it with the LASTERROR command to display for the user. A listing of the ARexx commands MultiPlayer understands follows: LOAD Loads a module into memory from disk. It is generally a good idea to supply a complete pathname, since MultiPlayer looks for the module starting at whatever directory the file requester last happened to be looking at. This command does not start the module playing. If you want to start playing immediately, you don't have to use this command at all - you can simply supply a filename on the PLAY command and it will load and start playing immediately. Note that unless you tell MultiPlayer to load a program file, this command won't affect the program list at all - the ARexx port in general operates independently of the standard user interface. If you explicitly tell MultiPlayer to load a program file using this command, then the new program list will replace the old one. PLAY [] [] Starts playing a module. If you supply the filename, MultiPlayer stops any module currently playing and tries to load the specified module from disk, like the LOAD command. If you don't supply the filename, MultiPlayer plays (or re-plays from the start) an already-loaded module. (If no module is loaded and you don't specify a filename, MultiPlayer returns error code 5 and otherwise does nothing.) For modules with more than one song, you can supply the song number to play. Songs are numbered starting at zero. If you don't supply a song number, the first one (song zero) is assumed. STOP Stops playing any module that is currently playing without unloading the module. You can then restart it later with PLAY or CONTINUE. UNLOAD Stops and unloads any currently loaded module. CONTINUE Tries to restart a stopped module at the position it was at before the STOP command was given. If the module has never been started, it simply starts from the beginning. If the module was already playing, it does nothing. If the module type doesn't support restarting, MultiPlayer returns error code 5 and does NOT start the module - you can then use PLAY to start again from the beginning if you want, or else chew out the user for using weird module formats. OPENWINDOW Opens the main MultiPlayer window. It will be opened in the small title-bar zoom state, and none of MultiPlayer's other windows will be opened with it. If the window was already open, this command does nothing. It returns an error if the window can't be opened. Remember that while the window is open the user can use it to change modules and such, possibly messing up your perfectly organized and timed ARexx-controlled playing sequences. CLOSEWINDOW Closes the MultiPlayer window, if it was open. MultiPlayer remains active, but impervious to user interface (through Intuition anyway). Now only ARexx commands can affect MultiPlayer. LASTERROR Returns an error message describing the last error that occurred that had to do with the ARexx port. (Errors that the user causes by manipulating the window do not affect this.) You'll have to have 'options results' turned on for this to work, and the error will appear in the 'RESULT' variable. QUIT Causes MultiPlayer to terminate immediately. Messages ~~~~~~~~ This section lists most of the error or warning messages MultiPlayer can produce. Look here if you have trouble deciphering the meaning of one. "Not enough chip memory" Tracker-style modules generally must be loaded into one big continuous chunk of chip memory. Therefore, even if the Workbench (or some other program) says you have enough memory, it may not have one big enough chunk. Close some windows, exit some programs. If all else fails, reboot and try fresh. "Not enough memory" You really are getting low. MultiPlayer doesn't normally need too much non-chip memory, since modules are always loaded into chip memory. If you get this message, it means you don't have much memory of ANY kind available. Better free up something quick. "Required memory occupied" You will only get this message from non-relocatable AMOD or GMOD modules. It means that the module has a specific address it must be loaded into, but part or all of the required block of memory is already in use. Free up as much memory as possible and try again. If most of your memory is free and you still can't load it, chances are there's some little allocated fragment that some program has forgotten about that's still sitting in the required area. Your best bet is to reboot and try on a fresh system. If you have more than 512K of chip memory, try running my program 'ChipMunch' (included with MultiPlayer) just after you reboot to keep programs out of the commonly used areas. "Nothing selected" Not an error, this simply means that you pressed Cancel in the file requester without selecting any modules. MultiPlayer then happily goes on doing whatever it was already doing. "Unknown module type" MultiPlayer doesn't recognize the file you selected as one of the module types it knows. Either this isn't a music module, or it's one that it doesn't know how to handle. If it is a music module that MultiPlayer doesn't know about, send me the module and player/interface code, and it should make it into the next version of MultiPlayer. "Corrupt module" MultiPlayer recognized the module, but it didn't look right for some reason. Maybe it's a module written with an incompatible version of the music program, or maybe the module itself got munched somehow. "Error playing module" A general catch-all. This error usually is displayed as a result of error reports from initialization routines of individual players. It generally means that the module loaded fine, but the player had trouble playing it. Sometimes it means the same thing as "Corrupt module", or it might mean that the player ran out of memory but was too stupid to tell MultiPlayer about it specifically. "Can't load module" The requested file was not found, or there was a disk error while reading it. If you get this message after selecting a file from the file requester, chances are the disk is corrupt (in this case AmigaDOS should have already given you a requester saying so), or the file may be open for writing from some other program. "Directory not found" Somehow you managed to tell MultiPlayer to load something from a directory that doesn't exist. Maybe you moved the directory somewhere else, or forgot an Assign somewhere. This usually only happens with ARexx commands or loaded program lists. "Audio hardware in use" MultiPlayer can't allocate the audio hardware through the audio.device. This probably means that some other music editor or player is currently running. Find the culprit program and close it. If all else fails, reboot and try again. "No CIAB timers available" MultiPlayer generally uses one of the two timers on CIA (Complex Interface Adapter) B for timing its music. However, other programs like to use these also. In particular, (I believe) one of the timers may be in use if the serial port is in operation. Other than that, music programs are generally the biggest consumers of CIAB timers. Make sure no other music player or composer programs are running, and try closing terminal programs or other programs that use the serial port. "Please decompress this module" It is unlikely that you will ever get this message, but if you do, it means that (a) the module MultiPlayer is trying to load is compressed somehow (MultiPlayer had to use the xpkmaster.library to decompress it), and (b) it is an AMOD or GMOD module that must load at an absolute address, and (c) MultiPlayer would have to re-load the module rather than just copying it to its final position because the memory the module occupied initally overlapped the required module address. If you don't quite follow, don't sweat - just decompress the module. Supported Formats ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MultiPlayer currently supports the following module types: 15-instrument SoundTracker modules (most anyway) 31-instrument SoundTracker V2.3-2.5/NoiseTracker V1.0-1.3D modules NoiseTracker 1.3D packed modules (with or without the embedded player) StarTrekker 1.2 AM/FM modules (Extra '.NT' file required) MED 3.xx modules (MMD0 modules only - not "Song&Samples" files) (no 2.xx modules anymore - use MED 3.xx to convert them!) SoundFX V1.3 executable modules (Player V2.2) (Will probably ONLY work with this version, since it does some run-time patching to get it to play under MultiPlayer.) Old Future Composer 'SMOD' modules (what version is this specifically???) Future Composer 1.4 ('FC14') modules JamCrackerPro 1.0a modules SoundMonitor 2.0 modules Dave Whittaker modules (Be careful - these aren't completely system friendly...) Delta Music modules (two versions) Oktalyzer V1.1 4-channel modules (untested) SidMon modules (untested) Mark II modules (untested) Generic embedded-player modules that start with something like jmp init(pc) jmp music(pc) jmp end(pc) (Such as NoiseTracker 1.3 packed w/player modules) AudioMaster III sequenced 8SVX sounds (mono only) 'XMOD', 'AMOD', and 'GMOD' formats described in 'Formats.doc' Some of the module types are marked as 'untested'. This means exactly what it says - I found out the appropriate methods to play these and easily added support into MultiPlayer, but I didn't have any modules to test it on. So if I made a stupid mistake, one or more of these may not work at all. If you try one of these formats and it doesn't work, send me a few modules in the appropriate format to test with, and if you're the first to do so, I'll register you for free and send you the new bug-fixed version of MultiPlayer. Although sequenced 8SVX sounds are technically only sampled sound files, they have some music capability and look promising. Besides, the player also plays non-sequenced 8SVX sounds, so you can also play your movie clips and such with MultiPlayer. (I'm not sure if AudioMaster III is the only program that currently supports sequenced 8SVX files, but it's the only one I've seen so far.) Stereo is currently not supported - sorry, I'll get to that eventually. History ~~~~~~~ 1.11a (12-Dec-91) Fixed bug in 8SVX player. Window positions are now saved with preferences. 1.11 (10-Dec-91) Repeat detection bug in ST/NT player fixed. Program and preferences windows now save their positions while closed. Enhanced author name detection. Added middle-mouse-button zoom feature. Added 'Nothing' option to the show mode in preferences. Improved Delta Music module recognition. 1.10 (18-Nov-91) Right mouse button in the main window has changed functions: Under 1.3, it zooms the window (since there's no zoom gadget) Under 2.0, it shows the program window (like the Help or F1 key) File requester is now asynchronous (other windows remain active). Control panels are now fully 1.3 compatible. (Although they still don't look as nice as in 2.0...) Keyboard shortcuts now supported in all control panels. Added public screen support. Added "play once" feature. DMA delays now use scanline waits instead of delay loops. Re-opening sub windows now closes them rather than bringing them to the front. Added AppWindow support for 2.0. 1.01 (8-Nov-91) Added 'Sort' button in program window. Fixed a serious bug in GMOD player. (Only serious if you have GMOD modules...) Enhanced author name recognition for ST/NT modules. 1.00 (5-Nov-91) This is basically a rewrite of most of the program. (I'm not listing all the additions - there are way too many.) Major changes and additions to Formats.doc. Music no longer cuts off when file requester is displayed. Removed built-in code compression. (Maybe I'll put it back in later.) Audio device now allocated while playing music. Fixed SoundFX player bug which caused crashing on advanced processors. Players now use longer DMA delays (normally 300) only on fast processors. (Wouldn't want to bog down you poor ol' 68000 users would we?) Major rewrite of player selection code. CIAB interrupts now defer to software interrupts to avoid hogging CPU time in a high-priority interrupt. 0.95A (6-Sep-91) Fixed bug where song position appeared when no module was playing. Fixed ST/NT player bug for modules with negative song repeat positions. 0.95 (27-Jul-91) Added song position indicator for ST/NT and MED modules. Added code to turn low-pass filter off by default (will soon be selectable). Added Messages section to the documentation. Fixed window position so it snuggles right up next to the screen gadgets. 0.94A (26-Jul-91) Fixed player window height on pre-2.0 operating systems. Increased delay loop (ugh!) in NoiseTracker player for faster processors. Fixed song repeat bug in NoiseTracker player. Hacked NoiseTracker player to play old 15-instrument modules. Fixed memory trashing bug in NoiseTracker player. (I hate cleaning up someone else's code!) 0.94 (23-Jul-91) Uses one of the CIAB timers for timing rather than the VBlank interrupt. Finally uses Workbench 2.0 ASL file requester if available. Added MED 3.xx modules, removed MED 2.xx songs. 0.93 (3-Jul-91) Workbench 2.0 compatible (although some modules may not be). 0.92 (7-Jun-91) Added 'AMOD' absolute loading module format described in 'Formats.doc'. Added 'GMOD' general module format described in 'Formats.doc'. Added NoiseTracker 1.3D packed (with player) modules. Added StarTrekker 1.2 AM synthesized modules. Updated the SoundTracker/NoiseTracker player. (New player comes from NoiseTracker 1.3D) 0.91 (29-Apr-91) Added 'XMOD' format described in 'Formats.doc'. Removed "unknown" module formats (turned those modules into XMOD's) 0.90 (27-Apr-91) First preliminary release. Nothing fantastic. Registration ~~~~~~~~~~~~ MultiPlayer is Shareware. Although I detest the fact that humans must prove their worth to society through a meaningless medium known as money, today's society requires it - without money you don't eat, and you don't buy Amigas. Therefore, for $15 or more you will get the registered version of MultiPlayer which allows loading and saving of programs (module lists), as well as the full-featured ARexx port described later in this document (useful for playing modules with AmigaVision and the like). Of course, you also gain my favor - suggestions for improvements will be taken much more seriously from registered users. I'm planning to release the source code to MultiPlayer. However, it uses many of my library routines that I have not released yet (though I'm planning to when I have the chance), so it will have to wait a while. The source code will probably be available with a $30 registration fee (or an additional $15 for users who have already paid the $15 registration fee). How hard I work on getting my library routines cleaned up and released, and therefore how soon I get MultiPlayer's source code released, depends a great deal on how much support I get for MultiPlayer. Contact Address ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I tend to move around a great deal, so mail sent directly to me sometimes has a hard time catching up. If you want mail to reach me (it may take a while, but it WILL reach me), send it to this address: Bryan Ford 8749 Alta Hills Circle Sandy, UT 84093 I can be reached more quickly (for the time being anyway) on the phone or through one of the electronic mail addresses below: (801) 585-4619 bryan.ford@m.cc.utah.edu baf0863@cc.utah.edu baf0863@utahcca.bitnet If you want to get something to me through the mail more quickly, FIRST call or E-mail me to make sure I'm still here, then send it to this address: Bryan Ford 27104 Ballif Hall University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 84112