home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The Equalizer BBS
/
equalizer-bbs-collection_2004.zip
/
equalizer-bbs-collection
/
DEMOSCENE-STUFF
/
MUSIC1.ZIP
/
X-PLAY.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-04-01
|
16KB
|
207 lines
╔────-∙∙-∙-──-──--─-─-─-────────────────────────-─-─-─-─-─--─-──-∙ ∙∙──────╗
│ █▓ ▄█ █▓▀▀█▄ █▓ ▄▓▀▀█▄ █▓ ██ █▓▀▀██ █▓▀▀█▄ │
│ █▓ ██ ▄ █▓ ██ █▓ █▓ ██ █▓ ██ █▓ █▓ ██ │
│ ▀▓ ▄█▀ ▓█ █▓ ██ █▓ █▓ ██ █▓ ██ █▓▄ █▓ ██ │
│ ▄▓ ▀█▄ ▓█ █▓ ■██ █▓ █▓ ■██ █▓ ██ █▓▀ █▓ ■█▀ │
│ █▓ ██ ▓▀ █▓▀▀▀ █▓ █▓▀▀██ ▀▓███▀ █▓ ██ █▓▀▀▄ │
│ █▓ ██ ──── █▓ ─── █▓▄▄██ █▓ ██ ─ ██ ─ █▓▄▄██ █▓ ██ V2·99ß │
│-─-─-───────═════════════════════──═───════════════════─═══─══──-──-─-─-- │
│ PROGRAMMER ■ RAY^[RADiCAL RHYTHMS]^[BLANK] │
│ DESiGN ■ COSMiC^[RADiCAL RHYTHMS]^[D-LUSiON]^[K.L.F] │
│ (C)1994,95 ■ RAY & COSMiC │
│ PORTiONS (C) ■ ANGUiLLA SOFTWARE iNTL. & D-LUSiON iNTERACTiVE SOFTWARE │
│ DiSTRiBUTiON ■ UNDERCOVER & RADiCAL RHYTHMS │
│ RELEASE ■ VERSiON V2.99ß -/- 03/09/1994 │
│-─-─-───────═════════════════════──═───════════════════─═══─══──-──-─-─-- │
│ │
│ ■ X-PLAY ReQUiRES ■ │
│ [ FREE MEMORY, 4 MEGS OF RAM SHOULD WORK ] │
│ [ AT LeAST a 386SX/16 ] │
│ [ A SoUNDCARD (GUS/SB/SBPRO/SB16ASP/SBAWE32) ] │
│ │
│-─-─-───────═════════════════════──═───════════════════─═══─══──-──-─-─-- │
│ │
│ ■ X-PLAY - AN OVERViEW ■ │
│ │
│ What is X-PLAY? X-PLAY is a player for DMF files, created using the one │
│ and only tracker - X-TRACKER ( ;)) ). Playback is possible with nearly │
│ any soundcard and, to be exact, these are: SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster │
│ Pro, SoundBlaster 16 (ASP), SoundBlaster AWE 32 and the Gravis Ultra │
│ Sound card. You may also use any clone of the above, but we can't │
│ guarantee playback on these. As we can't guarantee playback on the │
│ original cards either, this should not matter <smile>. │
│ │
│ X-PLAY features a command line only interface for settings, but you may │
│ use its add-on, X-SHELL, to keep track of these. X-PLAY is also intended │
│ for quick and successful playback which means that no brilliant gfx have │
│ been included for your pleasure. │
│ │
│ X-PLAY normally (except for beta releases) is accompanied by X-SHELL, an │
│ easy-to-use, userfriendly shell. Please read its doc for more info! │
│ │
│-─-─-───────═════════════════════──═───════════════════─═══─══──-──-─-─-- │
│ │
│ DISCLAIMER: You use this software at your own risk. The authors can not │
│ be held reliable for any damage caused by this program. By using the │
│ program you state that you agree with the above. │
│ This program is copyrighted software. It is not free. You may use and │
│ copy it as long as the following restrictions are obeyed. │
│ The copyright and all other rights remain with the authors. │
│ You must not disassemble, manipulate or reverse engineer X-PLAY and its │
│ code. │
│ The program (X-PLAY) may NOT be distributed by any commercial company or │
│ person. You must NOT distribute this program on a CD-ROM. You may │
│ distribute this program on disk but NOT if this disk is sold for any │
│ price (it does not matter if the disk is sold or if the customer pays │
│ for copying the disk). This program must NOT be sold on any so called │
│ "PD", "FREEWARE" or "SHAREWARE" disk. │
│ By copying, distributing or using this program you agree with the above. │
│ If you want to do anything apart from the above you need the written │
│ permission of the authors. │
│ And just to let you know: "We don't make money with this stuff, so we │
│ do not want other people making money of it either!" │
│ A word of warning: "We already got some people selling our stuff. Now we │
│ got more than we would have taken if they had asked us before." │
│ │
│-─-─-───────═════════════════════──═───════════════════─═══─══──-──-─-─-- │
│ │
│ ■ HOW TO CONTACT THE AUTHORS ■ │
│ │
│ You can contact the authors at the following address: │
│ │
│ RAY^RADiCAL RHYTHMS │
│ c/o Christian Bartsch │
│ Flottmannstr. 117 │
│ 44625 Herne │
│ Germany │
│ │
│ Tel.: from Germany - 0 23 23 460 525 │
│ from other countries - +49 23 23 460 525 │
│ │
│ Please do call between 10 am and 11 pm. │
│ When you're calling from the other side of the globe, our local time is │
│ different from yours - please check! I love American dudes calling, but │
│ not at 4 am! ;) │
│ │
│ Mailbox: Germany - 0 23 23 460 094 │
│ other countries - +49 23 23 460 094 │
│ │
│ You may call this number 25 hours a day (hm?). Leave a mail to COSMIC or │
│ RAY. Call the UNDERCOVER! │
│ │
│-─-─-───────═════════════════════──═───════════════════─═══─══──-──-─-─-- │
│ │
│ ■ HOW TO USE THE PLAYER ■ │
│ │
│ As we already stated, X-PLAY works by using the command line. The syntax │
│ is: │
│ │
│ X-PLAY filename.DMF <parameter1 parameter2 ...> │
│ │
│ "filename" can be any valid DMF file. If no file is found, ".DMF" is │
│ added as its extension. If the file can't be located hereafter, the │
│ the execution of X-PLAY is aborted. │
│ │
│ "parameter1" and so on are additional, optional parameters. They are │
│ single words, separated by a space (" "). You may add as many of them as │
│ you like. │
│ │
│ Valid key words are: │
│ │
│ "/Cx" - sets color │
│ "/O" - overrides .INI file sound card settings. │
│ "/V:xxx" - sets the output volume (ranges from 1-255). │
│ "/W" - waits for a keypress before starting / stopping the music. │
│ "/NF" - turns off fading. │
│ "/NSB" - turns off ShowBeat(tm). │
│ "/NSH" - turns off internal "Shell to DOS" function. │
│ │
│ Running X-PLAY without parameters will pop up an info screen: │
│ │
│ ───-∙∙-∙-──-──--─-─-─-───────────────────────-─-─-─-─-─--─-──-∙ ∙∙───── │
│ █▓ ▄█ ▄ █▓▀▀█▄ █▓ ▄▓▀▀█▄ █▓ ██ █▓▀▀██ █▓▀▀█▄ │
│ ▀▓ ▄█▀ ▓█ █▓ ██ █▓ █▓ ██ █▓ ██ █▓▄ █▓ ██ │
│ ▄▓ ▀█▄ ▓█ █▓ ■██ █▓ █▓ ■██ █▓ ██ █▓▀ █▓ ■█▀ │
│ █▓ ██ ▓▀ █▓▀▀▀ █▓ █▓▀▀██ ▀▓███▀ █▓ ██ █▓▀▀▄ │
│ █▓ ██ ──── █▓ ─── █▓▄▄██ █▓ ██ ─ ██ ─ █▓▄▄██ █▓ ██ Version │
│ ─-─-───────═════] featuring ShowBeat (tm) technology [═──════─══───-─-- │
│ X-PLAY Version / Date - (c) 1994, 1995 by RAY & COSMIC │
│ │
│ PROGRAMMiNG ■ RAY^[RADiCAL RHYTHMS]^[BLANK] │
│ DESiGN ■ COSMiC^[RADiCAL RHYTHMS]^[D-LUSiON]^[K.L.F.] │
│ (C)1994,95 ■ RAY & COSMiC, REPLAY ROUTiNES BY D-LUSiON │
│ │
│ USAGE: X-PLAY <MusicFile.DMF> [/Cx] [/NF] [/NSB] [/O] [/V:xxx] [/W] │
│ e.g.: X-PLAY RAN-JUST.DMF /W /V:222 │
│ │
│/Cx sets color: /C0 = normal, /C1 = red, /C2 = green, /C3 = blue, /C4 = ..│
│/O overrides .INI file sound card settings. │
│/V:xxx sets the output volume (ranges from 1-255). │
│/W waits for a keypress before starting / stopping the music. │
│/NF turns off fading. /NSB turns off ShowBeat(tm). │
│ │
│ After checking the file, X-PLAY sets up the memory manager and will look │
│ for a file called "X-PLAY.INI". This file is stored in the same path │
│ where the X-PLAY executable is placed. If this file is present, X-PLAY │
│ will take all player information (soundcard and settings) from this │
│ file. If this file can't be found, X-PLAY will prompt you to enter the │
│ settings on the setup screen: │
│ │
│ First, you'll be prompted to enter the sound device you wish to use. │
│ Use the cursor keys (left&right) to choose the device. X-PLAY will check │
│ and see if this device is present lateron. │
│ If you choose "SB", "SBPRO" or "SB16" you will then be asked to choose │
│ the mixing frequency. This will affect the quality of the output and │
│ depends on the power of your processor. You can not play back a song on │
│ an ordinary "SB" with a 386 using a mixing frequency of "44000" Hz. │
│ Try - if you have any pops or drop outs, your processor is not fast │
│ enough. Delete the .INI file and try with a smaller mixing frequency. │
│ Use the cursor keys (up&down) to select the value. │
│ If you use the Gravis Ultra Sound or the SoundBlaster AWE 32 you will │
│ not be prompted to enter the value because the mixing is done by the │
│ hardware itself. Therefore, the mixing frequency is always the maximum │
│ the card can use. │
│ Enter the other functions as desired, using the cursor keys. │
│ │
│ SB 16 users please note: when selecting an 8-bit DMA channel (<5), you │
│ will loose your 16-bit features and will hear 8-bit mixed music. │
│ │
│ AWE Users please note: The replay routines on the AWE work without using │
│ any DMA or IRQ functions. X-PLAY will display IRQ 2 and DMA 1 when │
│ selecting the AWE 32 but will not use them. So: don't worry, you only │
│ need the correct base address. │
│ │
│ The main player screen will show some information about the song and │
│ a function overview. On the right, the 32 channels are shown with a peak │
│ meter, which is only updated when an instrument is played on a channel. │
│ If you want hot graphics, use other players. ;) │
│ │
│ You can leave the player at any time by pressing ESCape. │
│ │
│ Other functions can be activated by pressing the corresponding key and, │
│ as they are self explanatory, will not be discussed within this doc. │
│ │
│ Some general notes: │
│ │
│ If the cards memory is written in RED chars, double sound mem is active. │
│ This happens if the on board memory (only GUS&AWE) is to small to keep │
│ hold of the song's samples. In this case, all samples are recalculated │
│ to fit into half the memory they'd normally need. If your card's mem │
│ is still to small after this operation, X-PLAY will abort execution. │
│ │
│ The DOS Shell is not very safe to use - it is there, so use it on your │
│ own risk. If it crashes.. well, shit happens! │
│ │
│ Some modules contain Show Beat (screen flashing while playing). If you │
│ experience any loss in sound quality just disable this function and │
│ there you are. │
│ │
│ Greetings from RAY go to: everybody at RADiCAl RhYthMS, BlANk, │
│ D-lUSiON, lEGENd dESiGN, k.l.f. (Germany), klf (USA), CREW 242. │
│ Persona grata: MANhUNtER.CYbERdECk, RAP.CYbERdECk, ChiCkEN.ECR.S!P. │
│ Sorry, if I forgot your name in this list. Just let me know... │
│ │
│ Goodbye and keep on raving - yours RAY │
│ And remember: "Winners don't use drugs!" │
╚═════════════════════════════════──═───═══════════════════════════════════╝