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readme.txt
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1992-12-09
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Tandy Gryphon Audio drivers 19.10.92
(c) 1992 Tony Williams / Sound Images
LEMMINGS
--------
David ,
I have tried to make the drivers for the Gryphon version identical to
the ordinary PC ones , but there are some major differences - CD audio for
instance . This means that I have allowed for any audio CD to be inserted ,
and tracks played from it . The problem with this is that the CD-rom device
driver ( I wish I could do it at low level , but I can't ) takes a pretty
hefty amount of processor time to read the Table of Contents from the disk .
This is where the start of each track is stored , and I read them into a
table and calculate the lengths . It is obvuiously nice for the punter to
be able to put his favourite CD in to accompany the game , but there are some
drawbacks - The Lemmings tunes all loop after about one or two minutes , so
when the track ends , I have to start it again . This will also happen on any
other audio CD . Also , there are two versions of the Lemmings title tune on
the disc , and I only use one of them , making it necessary to use a lookup
table ( especially as the title tune wasn't used on the Adlib+Tandy versions .)
I decided to add a function whereby you could pass the driver a lookup table if
necessary , so Motorhead or The Carpenters could be played if the punter desired .
The will mean a small menu program , asking the player which track should
accompany each level , and whether it should loop .
before calling the functions ( blindingly obvious ) , load the driver -
gryphsnd.dat at offset 0 within a segment . The entry point is at 0 and
Russell preferred to use a software interrupt , so all routines end with an
IRET instruction . The sample file - lemsamp.bin also needs to be loaded at
offset zero within a segment , and that segment address is passed to the driver .
There now follows a list of the driver functions . You will notice ( I hope )
that the first six functions correspond to those in the Adlib/Tandy drivers
and the rest are added just for the CD audio .
WARNINGS :-
Do not try and start a sound effect before 1) initialising the driver or
2) loading the sample file , which is a separate file . The sample file needs
to be loaded at offset 0 within any segment , the address of which is passed
to the driver on initialisation .
In all cases , expect ax to be corrupt , except where values are returned .
Function 0 - Refresh
--------------------
entry : ah = 0
exit : nothing much of importance
On most drivers , this function needs to be called by a vbl or timer , but due
to the CD audio and samples , an irregular call at any reasonable rate should
suffice ( 50-60 hz maybe ) The refresh handles looping of tunes and a perculiar
twist to the sample playback which is needed where a sample crosses a 64k page .
Most processing is done within this routine , and in the case of the Gryphon ,
it can take a hell of a long time , because it has to be done via the device
drivers .
Function 1 - Initialise
-----------------------
entry : ah = 1
dx = segment address at which samples file is loaded(offset 0)
exit : al = 1 if CD audio present , else 0
ah = 1 if sample playback available , else 0
Function 2 - Kill all sound
---------------------------
entry : ah = 2
exit : none
Function 3 - Start a tune
-------------------------
entry : ah = 3
al = tune number 1-22 ( corresponding to keys a-v on demo )
exit : none
This function only 'cues up' a tune to start , the processing is done during
the next refresh .
Function 4 - Start an effect
----------------------------
entry : ah = 4
al = effect number 1-21 ( corresponding to keys A-U on demo )
exit : none
This function only 'cues up' an effect to start , the processing is done during
the next refresh .
Function 5 - Get tune
---------------------
entry : ah = 5
exit : al = number of current tune
Function 6 - Get effect
-----------------------
entry : ah = 6
exit : al = number of current effect
Function 7 - Set track table
----------------------------
entry : ah = 7
ds:si = segment:offset of track table
format of track table is simple :
db CD track number for each tune number
as used by the driver ( e.g. tune 1 - awesome )
bit 7 is set if tune needs to be looped
N.B. entry zero is NEVER USED
exit : not a lot
Function 8 - Play next track
----------------------------
entry : ah = 8
exit : nothing
This function has been added after today's conversation ( Mon 19th ) and all
track play lengths have been extended , so basically they will play until the
end or until you stop them . The device driver function which is supposed to
read the current track number and CD play position randomly gives back crap
and if the track number is greater than the number of tracks , I go back to
the beginning . As usual this isn't desirable , but it's getting late and I've
arrange for the machine to be picked up in the morning ............