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- What modules am I looking for?
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- You don't look for anything, the computer does it all for you. You must
- type in commands for the computer to begin searching etc. The most common
- form of modules used in games, are Noise, Pro and Soundtracker modules, as most
- programming languages can accept these in some for or another. If the memory
- counter detects one of these, or a Jam Cracker, Delta Music, Startrekker,
- SIDmon, plus a couple of other types of module, then a small piece of writing
- is displayed on the screen telling you so. Extremely basic commands allow you
- to save this, or listen to it. See below on using the commands.
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- What else can it do?
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- Although only a demo, Multiripper can do a heck of a lot. It can also
- search any DOS disk, and a lot of Workbench NDOS disks for music modules, and
- decrunchers, which you would not be able to see in WB. All this information is
- displayed on the screen as it is found.
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- You can also display memory dumps on the screen, as well as save large
- chunks of memory directly to the disk just by specifying the address of the
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- start and finish point.
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- As I said above, you can also play around with decrunchers. Decrunchers
- are like archivers, they store information in a compacted form, for use mainly
- when a program starts. These decrunchers must not be wiped whilst unpacking,
- or it won't know what to unpack. The ripper finds these, and you can sometimes
- change the unpack address to a safe place where it won't crash with anything
- you are currently working on. You can then decrunch it, and use the various
- module hunting commands to look for any modules that might have be there.
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- The powers of this ripper are amazing, and don't be too surprised if it
- takes you a few weeks to seriously get the proper hang of it.
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- Commands
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- The commands that you will most likely use, are HUNT, HUNK, DUMP, FIND,
- TEXT, SAVE, RS, RI, WI, CLR, PLAY and SCAN. I shall now describe each of the
- commands in detail :
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- HUNT - This is the main module hunting command. It will look through memory
- in the given set range, looking for any of the compatible music
- modules.
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- For serious use of this command, look at the section on FINDING
- MODULES.
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- HUNK - This is the same as HUNT, but looks through memory to find decrunchers.
- Sometimes, the decruncher can be moved to decrunch in another part of
- memory. To do this, hit M, and type in the new address, followed by D
- to decrunch it there.
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- DUMP - Displays an ASCII dump of the memory, starting from 0, or from the
- address you give after the command. Pressing ESC will exit you from it,
- and the cursor keys will move you up and down in memory.
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- FIND - Allows you to hunt for a string in memory. The address for all strings
- mentioned after the command will be placed on-screen. The program will
- find your string 5 times anyhow, on A600 + A1200 anyway.
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- TEXT - Displays all ASCII text in the search range on the screen, a bit like a
- typewriter. Pressing the mouse button will exit.
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- SAVE - If you have found a module with HUNT, then the program will SAVE it to
- the path given after the command.
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- RS - Read sectors into memory. Enter the command followed by the first
- sector, then the last sector, followed by the address you want them
- loaded into.
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- RI - Reads the file given after the command, into the address given after
- the path of the file. This is like a LOAD command, but you have more
- control over it.
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- WI - Writes a file to the disk. Specify the start and finish adress's,
- followed by the path to save it to. This can then be loaded into
- anything you want. Note, that I am unsure about executables here, as I
- think it just saves as DATA files.
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- CLR - Clear the computers memory from the first address given, to the last
- address given. It is ideal to do this when looking for new modules,
- before you load the actual game, that way the only DATA there has to
- be from the game, and you don't get infections from other programs.
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- PLAY - This command on it's own will attempt to play a music module found
- by HUNT. You can have this module playing, and work on other parts
- of the ripper. STOP will turn the music off, and FILTER will switch
- the LED on and off.
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- SCAN - This scans the disk currently in the internal drive, for modules and
- decrunchers. All information found is displayed on the screen, along
- with the sector number it was found at, so it is a good idea to write
- them down if you want them, as the process of scanning is slow.
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- It is a good idea to read sectors into memory, and add a few to them,
- to make sure that you have got all the information for the
- module/decruncher.
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- If you are unsure about any command, then typing it on it's own in the
- program will give you a brief description on how to use it. Pressing HELP will
- bring up all possible commands available.
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- How to rip a module
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- OK then, here is the main nitty gritty on ripping out a good module. Whilst
- ripping modules, you will come across 4 different types of module:
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- 1) THE PATHETIC MODULE
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- The pathetic module, is when the computer starts displaying module names,
- as things such as NOT ENOUGH CHIP MEM, or a long sentence seen in a game or a
- program. These modules must not really be played, but too check if a module is
- true or not, type in INFO, which will list all the samples in the found module,
- if they are available. If this is filled with rubbish as well, then you
- definately know that the module is a dud.
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- 2) THE COMPLETELY INSANE MODULE
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- This is where the computer finds a module, either a true, or a possible,
- and displays it's length at a ridiculous length. The maximum position in memory
- on a 2Mb machine is 1FFFFE, and sometimes it shows modules as even longer than
- this.
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- These modules are duds, and should not be played, or a crash could result.
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- 3) POSSIBILE MODULES
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- Possible modules are when the computer stumbles on what could be a module.
- The easiest way to test this, is to attempt to PLAY the module, but this can
- result in a program crash.
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- If you want to make sure, then you can use the DUMP command, to look in
- memory for ASCII, for the sample names. If it comes up as complete rubbish,
- then the module is a dud, and should not be played.
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- If you do get words from the DUMP, then you can now try and PLAY the
- module, or SAVE it to the disk. If it sounds a mess, then try and enter STOP
- as soon as possible, or the system could reset. If it does, then just load
- in the program again, and carry on from where you left off.
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- 4) PROPER MODULES
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-
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- This is where the computer comes up with a sensible name for a module,
- which should NEVER be more than 20 characters in length. You can play this,
- and save it to the disk for future usage.
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- Typing in INFO will let you look at the samples used, with a brief length
- of each one. Any ripped modules can be edited in most Tracker editor programs
- available, providing the module is of the same format.
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- Working Example
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- You have heard me explain about the program, so it is now time for a
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- working example. Everybody has got the game LOTUS 2, so I shall now tell you
- how to rip out the main tune:
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- 1) Load up LOTUS2, and wait for the music to start playing. Wait a few moments,
- and then re-boot your machine, unplugging the HD, otherwise the module is
- un-rippable.
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- 2) Load up your ripper program, and type in HUNT.
-
- 3) If the memory is not cluttered, then it should eventually say:
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- Module located at $4E5D6
- Module name : Bootup
- Module Length $14566
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- Type in PLAY to listen to the module. You can save it to the disk now, and
- buzz from ripping your first game tune !!
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- Well, it's that simple !!! Now, read the other part of the tutorial, where
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- I give you instructions for ripping other tunes, as well as how to extract from
- decrunchers stored on disk.
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- Also remember, that it is ILLEGAL to rip music from any commercial
- game, and to try and sell it to make you some profit. It is also
- illegal for you to claim ownership of any modules ripped.
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- This tutorial is designed to help you rip modules for your own
- personal listening pleasure, and if you do distribute any of the
- modules you rip, then the project they are included in must be
- FREEWARE, meaning you make no money from it!!
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- EOF
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