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1994-11-02
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7KB
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163 lines
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ The │
│ AmoebaSoft MOD Player │
│ for the │
│ Gravis UltraSound │
│ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FILES IN THIS ARCHIVE:
----------------------
Release 0.90 of The AmoebaSoft MOD Player includes the following files:
ASMOD.EXE - the MOD player itself
ASMOD.ASL - some resources that ASMOD.EXE must have
ASMOD.DOC - this file
Plus (in the SOURCE directory):
GUSMOD.PAS - MOD loading and GUS interface routines
GUSHEAP.PAS - GUS memory management routines
NEWCRT.PAS - keyboard and timer routines
TYPES.PAS - some global variables and error handler
GUSUTIL.ASM - assembly source for the MOD player
GUSUTIL.OBJ - the assembled version of GUSUTIL.ASM
KEY.ASM - assembly source for new keyboard handler
KEY.OBJ - the assembled version of KEY.ASM
TESTMOD.PAS - a short program to make sure the MOD player works
The source for compiling ASMOD.EXE has not been included.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
---------------------
To use the AmoebaSoft MOD Player your computer must meet the following
criteria:
386 or better processor
VGA compatible graphics card
Advanced Gravis UltraSound or UltraSound MAX (both with 256K or more RAM)
MS-DOS 3.1 or better
Some large modules may play incorrectly or not at all on UltraSounds with
< 512K of memory.
This software is designed to run on a 486DX/33Mhz or faster computer, so
slower machines may not be capable of reaching the default frame rates of
30 frames per second. Of course, slower computers may work great, but it
hasn't been tested.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
------------------
The AmoebaSoft MOD Player for the Gravis UltraSound plays 4, 6 and 8 channel
MOD files on computers equiped with a Gravis UltraSound or UltraSound MAX.
Obviously, there are already a LOT of MOD players around that support the
UltraSound, and though this MOD player may have a few unique features, it is
intended mainly as a demonstration of AmoebaSoft's UltraSound Interface for
Borland Pascal.
This is a BETA release of the MOD player, and therefore most MOD effects are
not yet implemented. Those which ARE implemented are listed below:
Effect # Effect Name
────────┬─────────────────
0Bh │ Position Jump
0Ch │ Set Volume
0Dh │ Pattern Break
0Fh │ Set Speed
Though this is a small number of the possible commands, they are by far the
most frequently used, and you should find that ASMOD plays about 95% of all
MODs correctly. The best way to find out is to try it yourself.
More effects will be implemented in the near future.
USING THE PROGRAM:
------------------
First of all, be sure that ASMOD.EXE and ASMOD.ASL are in the same directory.
This can be your current directory or a directory in the path.
There are two basic methods to using ASMOD. First, you can specify the name
of a MOD on the command line when you run ASMOD. For example:
ASMOD ODYSSEY.MOD
will play ODYSSEY.MOD if the file exists in the current directory. If the
MOD file has an End Jump Position of 127 ASMOD will exit back to DOS after
playing the last pattern in of the MOD. Otherwise it will loop until a user
exits the program with Alt-X.
The second method is to run ASMOD without specifying a filename. This will
cause ASMOD to enter directory mode and display a list of all files with the
extension .MOD. To play any MOD file listed, simply highlight it with the
arrow keys and press RETURN. To change to another directory, highlight that
directory's name and press return. To move back one directory, go to the
'..' directory at the top of the list and press RETURN. Both ESCAPE and the
Alt-X key combination will exit to DOS from the directory mode.
While the MOD is playing you can move backwards or forwards in the song with
PageUp and PageDown, which will move to the previous or next pattern. Using
the Up and Down arrow keys will move backwards or forwards one line in the
current pattern. Pressing ENTER will cycle through the display modes while
pressing the number of a channel will toggle the corresponding channel on or
off. Using the Left and Right arrow keys will scroll the pattern display
through the available channels. You can increase and decrease the master
volume of the MOD being played with the Plus and Minus keys located on the
keypad (the + and - above the letter keys will not work this way). To stop
playing the MOD and return to the diectory of files, press ESC. Of course
all of these keys are listed in the bottom right corner of the screen while
a MOD is playing.
ABOUT AMOEBASOFT'S ULTRASOUND INTERFACE:
----------------------------------------
The code used to produced ASMOD was written in Borland Pascal 7.0 and Turbo
Assembler 3.2. The routines for loading MOD files were written in Pascal
while the MOD playing routines are 100% assembler. Most of graphics routines
used to create ASMOD.EXE (except for those with limited applications) are
part of the AmoebaSoft Video Toolkit.
The source for loading and playing MODs is included in the SOURCE directory
of this archive. This source will also load and play sound effects while
MODs are playing (just don't use the voices the MOD player is using, always
1-4 and sometimes 5-8, depiding on how many channels are in the MOD).
The source is implemented with an IRQ handler which you can probably just
disable, since it only handles wave table IRQs and not ramp IRQs (which can
be used to remove clicks at the beginning and end of samples).
NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT:
--------------------
The program described in this document, its accompanying files, and the
source code which produced it are Copyright (c) 1994 by Jonathan E. Wright
and AmoebaSoft. The AmoebaSoft MOD Player for the Gravis UltraSound is
FreeWare and the author offers it on an as-is, use at your own risk basis.
Neither the author or AmoebaSoft will be held responsible for any damages
resulting from the use or modification of the files described herein.
Legal stuff aside, feel free to use this code as you wish as long as you
give credit to Nelno the Amoeba (me, the author, Jonathan E. Wright) where
it's due. If you make any significant improvements I'd like to hear about
it. See the .PAS files for information on contacting the author.
Borland Pascal and Turbo Assembler are trademarks of Borland International.
UltraSound and UltraSound MAX are trademarks of Advanced Gravis.