Module formats FAQ 1.2 by Pauli Porkka. (paporkka@freenet.hut.fi) This text is mainly for Amiga users and it is written accordingly. You may and SHOULD spread this text around so that as many as possible finds out about these things. Sorry about all the spelling and grammar errors. I am not very good in english. I just decided to do this since no one has done it yet and there has been so many questions hanging around. This FAQ concentrates on module formats that has originated in PC and has been ported to Amiga or are about to be/may be ported to Amiga. This text does not discuss about normal Amiga native module formats. Date: V1.0 08 July 94 V1.1 08 July 94 - Added FTP sites to get these modules from. V1.2 12 July 94 - Added some text and explanations. Fixed some spelling errors. Includes FAQ of following (musical) module formats: S3M - Scream Tracker III MTM - Multi Track Modules FT - FastTracker (6-8CH) FAR - Farandole Questions are in following order. Q: What is this? Q: How can I play them with my Amiga Q: Can I make modules myself using this format? Q: 14-bit playing in Amiga is it possible?? Explanations on certain expressions: Channel = Normal OCS/ECS/AGA Amiga has 4 x 8-bit Digital Audio channels. In this FAQ with Channel I mean virtual channels which are mixed together. If I am talking about 32 channels I am by no means trying to say that your Amiga has that many ACTUAL AUDIO CHANNELS. 14-bit = Method used to accomplish quality comparable to actual 14 bit samples. Two Amiga's 8 bit channels are joined and controlled with volume to accomplish this. (If someone has easier and better explanation, do send it to me.) Where to get these modules: There are several FTP places to get modules of these formats. I suggest that you start roaming around as I did and find out what these places have. Always use the nearest site to save bandwith. 1. /aminet/mods/8voic/ - Several dozens of S3M modules has been uploaded to aminet. All s3m modules are named like this: s3m_ - Also few MTM modules has been uploaded so far I named them like this: mtm_ So if you upload MTM or any other of these types, please attach appropriate prefix to them, it is much easier for the user to get them. 2. [*] pub/msdos/demos/music/ Which holds several sub directories such as "songs", "artists" and so on.. 3. [**] /pub/msdos/ultrasound/ [*] Mirror sites for /pub/msdos/demos.... ftp.eng.ufl.edu - pub/msdos/demos ?? ftp.uni-paderborn.de- pub/msdos/demos GERMANY (contact ?) ftp.uni-erlangen.de - pub/msdos/demos GERMANY (contact ?) ftp.luth.se - pub/msdos/demos SWEDEN (contact peppar@ftp.luth.se) ftp.sun.ac.za - pub/msdos/demos South Africa (contact ftp@ftp.sun.ac.za) ftp.uwp.edu - pub/msdos/demos USA 1 (contact datta@cs.uwp.edu) [**] Mirror sites for /pub/msdos/ultrasound/ Main N.American Site: archive.orst.edu pub/packages/gravis wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/ibmpc/ultrasound Main Asian Site: nctuccca.edu.tw PC/ultrasound European Callers ONLY: theoris.rz.uni-konstanz.de pub/sound/gus Submissions: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound/submit Newly Validated Files: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound Mirrors: garbo.uwasa.fi mirror/ultrasound [S3M] ********************************************************* Q: What is this? A: Scream Tracker III is PC module editor which saves its modules in S3M module format. This format supports up to 32 different channels of which 16 are actual digital sample channels, others are Adlib (or something like that) synth channels. Effects are mostly compatible with ProTracker effects. Q: How can I play them with my Amiga A: You will need appropriate module player. When I was writing this FAQ there were three different players which were capable of playing this module format. D.A.S.MP 3.x: With dasS3M0.library - MUI application. High-End player. - Requires KS2.04++ - By Pauli Porkka (yes, thats me.) PS3M 2.x : - Requester driven program - Requires KS2.04++ - By Jarno Paananen - J.P. Has done the mixing routines which are used in all of the players mentioned here. HippoPlayer 1.x : - Requires only kickstart 1.2++ - Normal Intuition GUI. There were talk about S3M player coming for DeliTracker, but I haven't seen one yet. Q: Can I make modules myself using this format? A: No unless you own an PC to play with. I am not sure if someone was doing a Editor for Amiga, but no such thing has yet appeared. Q: 14-bit playing in Amiga is it possible?? A: YES! Fortunately someone bright enough worked an easy way to accomplish this. All above mentioned players are capable of playing this format in 14 bit. [MTM] ********************************************************* Q: What is this? A: Multi Track Module Editor is a PC module editor capable of max. 32 channels and with 16 bit samples (V1.01b of the editor didn't support the 16-bit yet..) unlike with S3M all the 32 channels are digital. All effects compatible with ProTracker, internal layout completely different. Q: How can I play them with my Amiga A: You will need appropriate module player. When I was writing this FAQ there were three different players which were capable of playing this module format. Same as above with S3M but for D.A.S.MP you will need dasMTM.library. Q: Can I make modules myself using this format? A: No unless you own an PC to play with. I am not sure if someone was doing a Editor for Amiga, but no such thing has yet appeared. Q: 14-bit playing in Amiga is it possible?? A: YES! Fortunately someone bright enough worked an easy way to accomplish this. All above mentioned players are capable of playing this format in 14 bit. [FT] ********************************************************* Q: What is this? A: FastTracker supports up to 8 channels. This is exactly like protracker module but instead of four tracks per pattern there is either 6 or 8 of them. All effects compatible with ProTracker. These modules are little harder to get since they are usually not separated from normal 4 channel modules and have the same suffix (.mod). Q: How can I play them with my Amiga A: You will need appropriate module player. When I was writing this FAQ there were four different players which were capable of playing this module format. Same as above with MTM and S3M but for D.A.S.MP you will need das68CH.library. DeliTracker II: - Another High End player with normal GUI - by Peter Kunath & Frank Riffel Q: Can I make modules myself using this format? A: No unless you own an PC to play with. I am not sure if someone was doing a Editor for Amiga, but no such thing has yet appeared. Q: 14-bit playing in Amiga is it possible?? A: YES! Fortunately someone bright enough worked an easy way to accomplish this. All above mentioned players are capable of playing this format in 14 bit. [FAR] ********************************************************* Q: What is this? A: Farandole Tracker module format supporting up to 16 channels. Q: How can I play them with my Amiga A: At this time you have no means of playing modules in this format. There is hope though... Q: Can I make modules myself using this format? A: No unless you own an PC to play with. Q: 14-bit playing in Amiga is it possible?? A: Not with this one, since there isn't player capable of playing this module format in Amiga at all. ** END OF FAQ **