Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus

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Text File | 1994-04-25 | 21KB | 378 lines

====================================== B L A S T E R Master v6.0 for the Creative Labs Sound Blaster and most compatibles by Gary Maddox Copyright (C) 1990-1994 ====================================== Version 6.00 - 04/??/93 ----------------------- The biggest change with this release is the addition of a configuration file for calling external player/recorder programs. This should make BLASTER Master work with ANY soundcard that has a DOS based, textual utility for playing/recording files in native mode. Increased subdirectory array from 80 to 110 entries. Added support for the Creative Labs Omni CDROM drive and many others. Many people were having problems with write protected files taken from CDROM discs, added a check for this condition. Added a display for the original sound file name in the wave editor whenever UNTITLED is displayed. Removed the "/G" switch to force graphics mode. Added "/I" to skip initializing the SB and loading drivers. This may help some non-SB compatible cards use the external player configuration. Added ALT-D key command in the SAVE WORK FILE dialog to quickly select "Don't Save" option. Fixed a problem importing files across directories. Added support for importing .VOX files. Version 5.96 - 12/15/93 ----------------------- This is essentially v5.95 for shareware vendor distribution. Version 5.95 - 12/05/93 ----------------------- The biggest change this release was to completely remove the IMPORT screen. All supported files are now displayed in the main File Select Dialog screen. If you try to play a file that my player drivers don't support, a warning message pops up. Selecting the file for editing will automatically import it and it should be playable from there. Fixed a bug in choosing IMPORT and RECORD functions from the Vanishing Menu. Fixed problem with marking the first of a file not getting the first sample byte after the header. Fixed a bug in the SILENCE function that did not allow for the length of the header. Added the guage display to the INSERT function during sample rate adjustment. Fixed the TOOLS submenu in the Vanishing Menu. I guess I broke it last release. Fixed a problem with the ERROR OPENING FILE warning box not clearing the edit button screen always. Added ESC key quick exit from BLASTER Master and the File Select Dialog during the MIXER and INSERT Functions. Added support for converting 16bit WAVE and SB16 files. This is a filtered conversion so the resultant file should be quieter than just bit shifts. Added warning screen and code to avoid trying to import compressed WAVE files. Added support in the MakeMONO function to select either to mix the channel, left channel only or right channel only. Improved the filtering and speed of the NOISE GATE (aka HISS) Function. Added a new display function called FULL VIEW. It shows the full waveform with block highlighted. Updated the BLOCK mode HELP SCREEN. Changed the BLASTER Master XXX screen display from "ASP" to "16" when a 4.X DSP is detected. Version 5.9 - 11/05/93 ----------------------- Fixed a problem importing WAV files with imbedded text headers. Fixed a bug in the DELETE option of the IMPORT function. Added a new function I call OCTAVIA. OCTAVIA mixes in a new waveform that's either 1 octave above or below the current waveform. Fixed the flicker of the function buttons after a PLAY on the MORE screen. Added a display of the free disk space on the File Select dialog box. Updated SB 2.0 driver. The newer 'Deluxe' SB 2.0's would choke on the old one. Changed the name of the 'NO HISS' filter to 'NOISE GATE' which more accurately reflects the type of filter it is. Also tweaked the 'NOISE GATE' algorythmn to improve the clarity. Version 5.8 - 09/15/93 ----------------------- This release marks the third aniversary of BLASTER Master! It's hard to believe that it's been three years. Your support has made all the updates possible. I'll keep it up as long as you do! The biggest addition to this release is the TUTOR.DOC file. It is a tutorial text file for getting the most from BLASTER Master. I think alot of people will find it very helpful. Fixed a bug that caused a crash when accessing a directory with more than 500 VOC files. Added more checks to insure a valid file was selected. Improved the user interface quite a bit. Went to 10 buttons on the Wave Edit screen. This will allow PLAY and NEW to always be available, put 2 more options on the default MORE set and allow 2 more options from the TOOLS sub-menu to be available. Added CANCEL buttons to the FADE, VOLUME and RATE functions. You won't have to press ESC anymore to cancel these functions! Added a new BMDEFS environment to choose the secondary DSP functions as the defaults in the Wave Editor. Use MORE to start up with FAST, SLOW, MIXER, etc... Added support for skipping another CDROM or floppy to scan. Use ROMA: ROMF: to skip scanning the A: & F: drives in the File Select Dialog box. Special thanks go out this release to Kevin Kell for providing the settings to run BM under an OS/2 VDM. Users in Switzerland can register now with Software News! Version 5.7 - 06/25/93 ----------------------- Added drivers to support the Aria chipset cards in SB mode. Fixed IRQ display problem with some PAS-16 cards. Replaced the RYTHMN function with a very requested function to insert SILENCE. I will add the RYTHMN function back in when I have it working better. Added a "NO HISS" type filter due to the number of requests. Added a check for 16 bit files. Added a Volume Mixer under the Options Menu for the SBP and SB16. The SB16 mixer also has controls for setting Treble and Bass. Added an automatic function to convert New VOC format to the old format. Almost no software currently supports the new VOC format. Added 2 more distribution sites: The Pier and TeleGraFX Network. Version 5.6 - 03/15/93 ----------------------- Reduced the memory requirements for BLASTER Master to execute. Fixed a bug with escaping from the Volume dialog box from the MIXER function. Increased the MIXER volume selection to support upto a volume of 200 for boosting the file being mixed in. Tweaked several functions to work better with the SB16. Rewrote the SLOW function to use a variable slider like the FAST function. Added a switch to turn off the FM tones. (SET BMDEFS=NOFM to turns off FM tones.) Changed the drive verify routine to verify only drives above the current drive. This will be very helpful to users with more than 2 floppy drives. Added a function to remove the rythmn tracks from a stereo file. This function does the opposite of what the VOCALS function does. Added grid lines to the SCOPE feature. Added a function to convert stereo files to mono. Dropped support to EXPORT a file as .NTI and changed the extension to .SAM instead. SAM files are more common now than NTI. Added support in the IMPORT function to extract samples from MOD files. Added an "About" box that displays the curent version number, DSP version and BLASTER environment. Added highlights to the SB Pro mixer volumes. Version 5.5 - 12/15/92 ----------------------- The last two versions of BM hasn't circulated as well as earlier releases. I've been working on improving circulation this release. I have added a UNIX ftp site, Simtel-20. I will also send uploads to the Detroit Download Central and hatch it into the world-wide SBCNet. I have also added online registration via CompuServe. This is the easiest and fastest way to become a registered user. The registration is automatically charged to your CompuServe bill and you will receive your registration code within 24 hours or less. GO SWREG to take advantage of this handy service. I would also like to ask my users to help BM circulate better. The better it circulates, the easier it will be for you to find updates and for me to continue to support the program. I enjoy BM and I sincerely hope you do to. Added a much requested UNDO LAST EDIT function on the OPTIONS menu. Added Accelerator/Decelerator functions in the BLOCK Tools. Added hotkey menu selections for the FILE and TOOLS menu. Fixed a bug with inserting files where sample rate adjustment was required. Fixed problem tabbing through the FileSelect dialog. Fixed a bug in the mixer with selecting the left-most side by mouse. Version 5.4 - 11/01/92 ----------------------- This version is included only with The Official Sound Blaster Book, published by Osborne. It is essentially v5.3 renumbered for identification. Version 5.3 - 10/15/92 ----------------------- Added a Stereo Panning function. Added a checkbox to the RECORD dialog box to choose whether or not to edit the file just recorded. Enhanced the help screen function to support better help. Fixed problem with EXPORTING/IMPORTING stereo wave files. Added support with the MIXER function to specify the insert point from the marker, a time value or a sample point value. Tweaked the FAST and LOOP functions to better avoid channel swapping with stereo files. Cleaned up the LOOP function to smooth the joining edges better. Increased the size of the FILE SELECT listbox. Version 5.2 - 09/05/92 ----------------------- Because of the ever increasing memory requirements of BLASTER Master, I have gone to an uncompressed, overlayed EXE file. This should reduce the main memory requirements. It does cause the BMASTER.EXE to be 40% larger. Support for XT's was also dropped, an 80286 at least is required. Moved the MORE button to the lower right corner position. Added exiting the SCOPE by clicking any mouse button. Fixed the problem with deleting the last VOC file in a directory. The SB Pro Mixer functions are now active during playback from the File Select dialog box. Added a function to remove VOCALS from stereo files. Fixed problem with Import/Export of stereo WAVE files. Added FM based chimes and warning sounds. Added F10 key color change for the wave graph background color. Added control-F2 key color change for the actual wave graph. Added a /PXXXXX.PAL command line switch to use a color palette file. (Where XXXXX.PAL = the PAL file name.) Added CD player controls for users with the MultiMedia kit. These controls WILL NOT work with other CDROMs. Added an environment parm to set some defaults for sampling with the SBP: Input Source Input Mode Filter Rate CDROM SET BMDEFS= {CD/MIC/LINE} {STEREO/MONO} {LO/HI} {NN} {ROMx:} Added the ability on the Import dialog box to double-click on a file to select it for importation. Added support with the INSERT function to specify the insert point from the marker, a time value or a sample point value. Fixed problem with cutting very small files. Added a playback time display to the Edit screen during play. Version 5.1 - Unreleased ------------------------- My hard disk crashed and I lost one months work on this version. All I have left is a BETA version. Oh well... Version 5.0 - 04/17/92 ----------------------- The biggest enhancement to v5.0 is full support for the Sound Blaster Pro. Added vanishing drop down menus with SAVE and SAVE AS functions. Added a COPY BLOCK function on the BLOCK menu. Added an infinite echo option to ECHO. Finally added the option to select a point in the file to begin Mixing. Fixed bug in 2 bit packing of very small files. Fixed problem upsampling. Added online help. Added options for loop playing, block or all playing and saving screen colors. Added EMS memory support for screen memory saves. Changed to BMASTER.Dxx external sound drivers. Version 4.8 - 02/01/92 ----------------------- Fixed problem with LOOP adding a pop when selecting the far right side of a sound file. Improved the File Select Dialog box to support drives and paths, double-click file selection and to display more files. Added VOLUME function to Tools. Fixed a pop that sometimes occured when reversing a very small file. Added support to Import Wired for Sound .SND files. Improved ECHO algorythm to be faster and more stable. Improved formatting and content of BMASTER.DOC file. Added support for the Sound Blaster 2.0. Improved the sensitivity of the oscilloscope. Changed the CANCEL button to QUIT. Improved the RATE function to be faster. Version 4.75 - 12/10/91 ----------------------- Added Import function to support Amiga IFF sample files. Added the F-10 "Surprise Key". The BMPORT environment variable will work better on some machines. Added a /G command line switch to force graphics mode. This effectively bypasses the graphics card scanning. Fixed a problem with importing files not saving the file. Version 4.7 - 12/01/91 ---------------------- Added a 64 level UnZoom stack to redisplay the last Zoom. Added an Echo tool to the BLOCK EDIT section. Added a check for files that BM currently can't do, i.e., stereo, etc... Since the newer versions of Voxkit always records a Multi-Blocked file, I added a conversion function that will convert to RAW files. It also support silence encoding. If a Multi-Blocked file is selected, a dialog box pops up and you have the option to convert to a RAW file. The original file is left intact. Replaced the RECORD LEVEL from the Recording dialog box and replaced it with the SCOPE function. Added a Block Move function to move a block from one point in a file to another. Added Import/Export functions to load/save .WAV, .NTI & .SND files. Added a guage to show how much remains to be processed. Finally added a function to set a marker. Pressing the right mouse button sets a white arrow on the blue bar just below the wave graph. Added support for the ATI Stereo F/X card. (Use "/SFX" on the command line) Added support for editing soundfiles without having a soundcard. Added an ENVIRONMENT parameter to set the Base Address. Some PC's lock up when BM tries to scan for the Port. Version 4.6 - 10/15/91 ---------------------- Skipped versions 4.3-4.5 because somebody circulated a hacked v4.5. Fixed bug that wouldn't allow NEW to be selected after packing a file. Added Volume controls and a monitor control for SB Pro users. Added a TOOLS button to the BLOCK EDIT section. Now you can cause a Block to loop, i.e., repeat itself upto 10 times, adjust the pitch of a block and reverse a block. Fixed the problem with ZOOM after a 1:1 ZOOM/UNZOOM. Removed the click from Inserting that sometimes occured. Dropped the VOC compiler from lack of interest and dropped the Hi-Res Sampler because it should be very well distributed by now. Version 4.2 - 09/15/91 ---------------------- Added Sound Blaster Pro and Thunder Board support. "Pro" support will increase as I can get more information. No one seems to know very much about the Pro yet. Added a Fade in/Fade out function. Added a REVERSE function in the block edit section. Extended the time grid to zoomed blocks and added a playing time and data size display for blocks. Version 4.1 - 08/02/91 ---------------------- Fixed the VOLUME function problem. Added PACK/UNPACK and PITCH. Improved the user interface to better support the keyboard and to no longer require a file name after each function. Added a warning message when disk space is low. Dropped the EQ program until I can incorporate it into the main program. Added VCOMP which will convert a .VOC file into a self-playing .EXE file. Fixed a problem with the ECHO aborting on certain files. Made too many little improvements to mention. Version 4.0 - 07/04/91 ---------------------- This version represents the most significant enhancements to BLASTER Master yet. The individual modules were imbedded into the editor for a much better user interface and an over-all reduction of about 400K in file size. New functions like INSERT and MUTE were added. All of the limited functions were extended to a 30 second maximum and the Hi-Res Sampler was completely un-crippled. A great deal of debugging and re-programming went into v4.0. Most of the problems with process- ing small VOC files should be fixed. I would also like to thank all of the folks at Paul Mace Software and Media Vision for their support! Version 3.1 - 05/20/91 ---------------------- Dropped the old CGA Scope program and added a "new" real mode scope program. Added the DELETE option on the BMASTER program. Added an error message screen to most of the functions. Added a choice of which file to edit after a CUT or a SAVE to the editor. Added a recording module with a volume level graph. Version 3.0 - 03/30/91 ---------------------- Fixed problem with recorder. Version 2.8 had a corrupted EXE file. When I started "fixing" what I thought was a bug, I broke it for real!!! Fixed problem with down sampler not processing the last segment of each file. Added an /EGA switch to BMASTER and SBEDIT to support older 64K EGA cards. Incorporated SBCOPE into SBEDIT to make the over-all package smaller. Added the much asked for "ZOOM" feature in the editor. Dropped the "Mark" or "Cut" button from the editor. Dropped the SBGRAPH program from the package. The "ZOOM" feature of the editor should handle this now. Updated the Hi-Res Sampler to work better in 33mhz mode. Version 2.9 - 02/15/91 ---------------------- Quick bug fix version. I recently rewrote the record function to work with my '486 and to make it a bit more reliable. Someone was having lock ups on their machine. The version 2.8 recorder would probably ONLY work on a '486! Version 2.8 - 02/15/91 ---------------------- Improved the digital delay program. Dropped the SBFILTER program and added an FFT based graphic equalizer. Made several enhancements to the editor, including a file selection dialog box and a playback position index. Fixed some in-compatiblity problems with certain graphics cards in the scope programs. Added a Range Bar to the Sound Graph. Added Radio buttons to the shell to Exit & Shell to DOS. Fixed minor bugs reported to me by my users. Version 2.7 - 12/15/90 ---------------------- More bugs! Fixed several problems including problems with the Mixer program. Added a speed up program to go along with the slow down program. Added an Auto-Desk Animator/VOC file player for multi-media presentations. Added a command line switch to BMASTER.EXE to select the Sound Blaster port instead of scanning for it. Added a command line switch to SBEDIT.EXE to allow the passing of a file name, and made the temporary edit file function much faster. Added automatic detection of math co-processor chip and support. Tried to improve the documentation and also increased some of the time-outs to 25 seconds. Version 2.6 - 11/17/90 ---------------------- Bug fix release. I found a very esoteric bug in an updated compiler I switched to that caused an error message when aborting a file. This error didn't cause any damage, but it was totally unacceptable. Version 2.5 - 11/15/90 ---------------------- Added a graphic sample editor (EGA/VGA/Mouse Req.), Hi/Lo-Pass Filter module and a CGA version of the oscilloscope. Added an improved math function library to all modules that speeded up calculations. Reduced the size of all modules by 7-10K each. Version 2.0 - 10/15/90 ---------------------- Added Down Sampling, BLASTER Scope and integrated playback and recording. Included the sample Reverser on the BMASTER.EXE shell. Also included a stand-alone "hi-res" sample module for fast PC's. Fixed bug that would not allow File Select to read root directories from floppy drives. Fixed a bug in Slow it Down! that caused certain files to "get stuck". Added support for small files with Digital Delay. Generally improved the speed of most functions. Version 1.0 - 09/01/90 (officially released 09/15/90) ----------------------------------------------------- First version, first release. Very well received and supported.