Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions, which you would like to be answered here, please email to Teijo.Kinnunen@oulu.fi!

Generic questions:

Are there plans to port OctaMED for Mac/PPC/Linux/A\Box/whatever?

No. OctaMED will only be ported for and developed further on the PC platform.

Why not?

The author happens to be a very busy student, so there are definitely no resources (time) to develop actively for more than one platform. The PC/Windows platform is the best choice considering its market dominance and future prospects.

Amiga-specific questions:

Why doesn't OctaMED play samples longer than 131072 bytes?

This is a hardware restriction of audio DMA, and has been existed in (Octa)MED since beginning. OctaMED Soundstudio has options that remove this restriction.

OctaMED V6 can't save Protracker modules, why?

To encourage using the OctaMED player routines. OctaMED has been used for e.g. composing game music, but if the music is incorporated in MOD format, the company didn't have to pay for OctaMED licence. So, this is mostly commercial decision. (Though, it may also encourage one to use OctaMED-specific features instead of restricting to Tracker-functions only.)

Where can I get the documentation of OctaMED's file format?

It's part of the OctaMED developers' support files. These are available on Aminet.

Can I use the OctaMED player routines in my own programs?

Yes, that's what they are for. OctaMED routines may be freely used, without a licence/payment etc., in public domain, freeware and shareware programs. Only if OctaMED routines are used in commercial software, a licence is required (see the documents accompanying the developer support files).

What about the future of OctaMED?

OctaMED Soundstudio V1 is the last OctaMED version on the Amiga. Since the tale of the incredible Amiga computer is now approaching its end, it makes no sense (either technically or financially) to continue the development on the Amiga and let the program die with its platform.

OctaMED will continue to evolve, and it will be better than ever. This will happen on the PC.

But the Amiga is far from dying...!

Sorry, that's just wishful thinking... although it still has an active and pretty large fan base, the Amiga is no longer a viable commercial platform.

Is Amiga support now abandoned?

Not completely. Maintenance revisions to fix bugs etc. will be released as required.

However: If you are an experienced Amiga developer and would be interested in developing OctaMED further on the Amiga, please contact either Teijo Kinnunen or Ray Burt-Frost about it. It is not completely out of question that the development of OctaMED Amiga could be continued, if a suitable developer is found.

PC-specific questions:

OS and hardware requirements, please.

The PC version of OctaMED Soundstudio is written for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 platforms. For proper operation, Windows 95 and a DirectSound supported sound card will be required. While OctaMED will run under NT 4.0 and Windows 95 with DirectSound emulation, there are big latency times which will make it uncomfortable to use and MIDI output doesn't work properly. The situation with NT may change if/when Microsoft enhances NT to support native DSound drivers instead of emulation.

The exact hardware requirements have not yet been defined, but here's an estimated outline:

Can't you say when it will be available?

The development of the PC version is still in pretty early stages, and the completion of the program depends on many factors. So, I'm sorry, I can't give any accurate release date at the moment. I can only give a very rough guess: the first PC version will be ready near the end of year 1997.

Here is a short list of what is currently working (12-Apr-97):

Currently under work: Synthsound editor...

How will the PC version differ from the Amiga version?

In short, it will be practically rewritten from scratch. It will look different, and also feel quite different, but I hope it will be better than the Amiga version. The basic functionality of tracker editing will be more or less the same, but some functions will be removed, some added, some considerably modified. It should be better judged as a completely new program than a "port" from the Amiga.

What does it look like?

OK... you asked for it! :-) Here's an early screenshot, and the outlook may change much from this, but here it is.

Will the PC version of OctaMED support the existing Amiga OctaMED files (MMD0/MMD1/MMD2/ST etc) and IFF samples, with simple 'CrossDOS'ing?

Yes. The PC version will load existing OctaMED modules directly. It will also load MODs, S3Ms and MIDI files. Probably also XMs, sooner or later. All significant sample formats will be supported as well.

OctaMEDPlayer?

Yes, it is already available for the PC. You can download it from this page, it is freeware. Any feedback about it is welcome.

OctaMEDPlayer looks nice, couldn't you add MOD, S3M, XM... support for it as well as extend it to a complete player program?

Yes, I could. But my main task is to develope OctaMED the music editor, and if I were to make OctaMEDPlayer a complete player program with multi-format support, I could say goodbye to OctaMED... I think there's also need for a very compact, simple single-format players like OctaMEDPlayer, and OctaMEDPlayer shall remain as such.

However, look at it this way: once the main OctaMED program is ready, it will be able to import a multitude of module formats, and besides being a music editor, it can be used as a player program, too.

This Info Page is maintained by Teijo, if you have any further questions, email him on:

Teijo.Kinnunen@oulu.fi

If your browser does not support the above mailto protocol or the Your Questions Answered Requester, then use your mail program and send enquiries to: Teijo.Kinnunen@oulu.fi


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