Go64!/Go64_1997-09_1997_CSW_Side_B.d64/notice1

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September 1, 1988 - 10:00pm

File NOTICE1

Stereo Player Version 10.0 & 11.0

Copyright 1988 Mark A. Dickenson


This program is COPYRIGHTED and made
available on a FREEWARE type of
basis.  This program can be freely
copied and distributed as long as it
is not SOLD or used as a give-away
with another product and this
documentation file must be included
with the program.

Documentation files included are:
  NOTICE1        NOTICE2
  NOTICE3        NOTICE.UPDATES

Personally I think ShareWare is a
bust, but if you feel an OVERWHELMING
need to part with something of
monetary value.  I would be more than
happy to help cure that need by
taking it off your hands.

If you have any gripes, complaints,
suggestions, COMPLIMENTS or anything
else you would like to send to me
then send them to:

 Mark Dickenson
 600 South West Street
 Nevada, Missouri  64772


-------------------------------------

Well, here it is.  Stereo Player
Version 10.0 & 11.0!  This is the
version you have been waiting for
(uh, well, maybe you haven't), it
fully supports all of the Enhanced
commands used by the NEW SID-EDITOR
(talked about later).  It has been
over one and half years since I came
out with the first player for SID
music and about one year since I came
up with the idea of turning it into
the Stereo Player.  During that time
it has gone through many changes,
cosmetic (remember the old WHITE
screen (shudder)) and in features.
Looking back, I now wonder how I was
able to get everything in the program
that everyone wanted.

And I never would have been able to
accomplish this feat if it wasn't for
many people.  First off, a BIG thanks
to Craig Chamberlain and Harry Bratt
for the BEST music program I have
ever used on the Commodore 64.  If
you want to be able to create music
for use on this player as well as
many others, then you should purchase
Compute!'s Music System for the
Commodore 64 and 128: Enhanced
Editor, by Craig Chamberlain and
published by Compute!.

I would like to thank Jerry Roth (Dr
J5) for being the biggest pain in the
behind...  actually if it wasn't for
him I would have overlooked many
bugs, and SOME enhancements never
would have been programmed into the
program.  I think his biggest wish is
to still be around when 12.0 comes
out).

Also, Nick Zelinski for making the
most obvious suggestion in the world.
At a time when I was looking for a
way to make a 6 voice player while
trying NOT to make a 6 voice editor
(would have taken too long to do), he
suggests "Why not make two three
voice songs and have the player play
both at the same time?"  DUH!!  You
could have knocked me over with a
feather.

And many other thanks to Jon, Bobbye,
Lyric, Jabba, Sylvia, DC and all the
others I missed, for your help and
suggestions (yep, I do listen).

Now, you are probably wondering why I
am calling it Stereo Player 10.0 &
11.0.  The reason is that I still do
not have the MIDI portion of the
program finished.  The SP looks for a
file called 'MIDI.MODULE' during
boot-up.  If the file isn't found
then the MIDI controls are disabled.
If the module IS found, the controls
are enabled and the program will
modify its version number to reflect
the change.  Yes, if the module is
there Stereo Player 10.0
automatically changes itself into
Stereo Player 11.0.  So don't go
looking for a SP V11 as there really
won't be a release of it all
combined, but only the addition of
the 'MIDI.MODULE'.  Who knows maybe
sometime way, WAY down the road I
will finally release a version 12
(that will signal the end).

One of the BIG fixes was the
inability to REALLY display a PICture
and the WorDS during a 6 voice piece
of music.  In version 8.0 you could
have PIC/WDS/MUS all at once and it
worked.  When you added STR to it
(PIC/WDS/MUS/STR) the screen would
flicker while the music was playing.
This made it unacceptable, so noone
used it.  On version 9 (may it rot in
a dark place, it was very buggy),
normal 3 voice (PIC/WDS/MUS) files
flickered and 6 voice
(PIC/WDS/MUS/STR) files were even
worse.  Well, I am glad to announce
that this problem has been COMPLETELY
CURED.  You will nolonger see any
flicker during 3 or 6 voice songs
that have a PICture and WorDS file.
NOW, you can use them.

This version of the player also
supports the Extended WorDS files as
well as the standard WorDS files.
There has even been an addition and
upgrade to the Extended WorDS files.
Look for version 3 of the Extended
WoRDS Editor sometime in September.
The player now supports FULL screen
animated character graphics.  Here is
how it works.  You MUST use Extended
WoRDS V3 to create your graphics.
Now, it will be a little odd to have
keys, colors, notes and other odd
things happening on the screen while
you are trying to display graphics.
What you must do is put a FLaG 255 in
your MUSic file.  This tells the
player to turn off all the screen
updates for the keyboard.  To turn
them all back on send a SECOND FLaG
255.  You can use other FLaGs for
animating the screen just like you
would for a normal WorDS file.  If
the WorDS file isn't Extended, the
player will treat a FLaG 255 just
like a normal FLaG and leave the
keyboard on.  To be on the safe side
it is always best to use only FLaG 1
to work with WorDS files.  This will
allow programmers to make addtions
like the one here without worrying
about odd things happening.

Now on to how this puppy works.

------------------------------------

Once you have loaded the program, you
will hear some music start to play
and the main screen will start to
rise up from the bottom of the
screen.  You can abort this at any
time by pressing the RETURN key.  Be
sure to have your music disk in the
drive, as the program will start to
look for MUS files as soon as the
RETURN key has been pressed.  There
is a way to by-pass the opening
completely and it will be discussed
later.

After the directory has been read
from the disk you will be presented
with the Main Screen which is divided
into two halves.  The left half will
always display a list of availible
songs, ten maximum at any one time.
You can use the Cursor Keys to scroll
the listing up or down on the screen.
The program will support upto 220
songs, anymore than that will be
ignored.  Just below the song list is
a window that will indicate what
associated files are with the song.
These are:
P - Picture File, A - Animation File,
S - Stereo File and W - Word File.

The right side of the screen will
present a list of availible commands.
If you press the COMMODORE KEY the
right side of the screen will change
to a second list of commands.  You
may continue to toggle back and forth
between the two command screens by
pressing the COMMODORE KEY.  Commands
that can be changed like ADDRESS,
REPEAT and ect. can only be changed
IF they are visable.

The following is a Table of the
availible commands with a description
of each one.

------------------------------------


Main Screen - Commands Screen #1
--------------------------------

F1 - PLAY SONG
This will immediately play the song
that is currently highlighted in
WHITE on the song list.  You do not
need to press the 'RETURN' key to
select it before pressing the 'F1'
key.

F2 - PLAY SELECTE
All songs that have been selected
(displayed in REVERSED text) will be
played in the order they were
selected.  If the order of play is
STOPPED before it has completed, the
song list will display the last song
loaded.

F3 - PLAY ALL SONGS
This will start playing every song on
the disk starting with the first
song.  If the playing is stopped
before the player has completed the
list, then the player will display
the name of the last song loaded.

F7 - PLAY ALL FROM SELECTED
This functions identically to F3
except it will start playing at the
highlighted (in white) song in the
list instead of beginning at the
start of the list.

RETURN - SELECT
This will select a song to be played
when using the F2 command.  All
selected songs will be displayed in
REVERSE TEXT in the song list.
Pressing the RETURN key a second time
will UN-select a song.

R or P - REPEAT LAST SONG
You may use either of these keys to
replay the last song loaded WITHOUT
having to reload the song.

F4 - REPEAT (OFF)
This command will toggle the repeat
feature ON and OFF.  If the repeat is
ON then all of the PLAY commands will
continuously repeat the same group of
songs until you stop it.

F5 - CHANGE DISK
This will read in the directory of
the current disk in the drive and
look for MUSic files allowing you to
play music from any disk.

F6 - CLEAR SELECTED
This will clear or UN-select all
selected songs in the Song list.

F8 - EXIT PLAYER
Probably self-explanatory.  You are
allowed to backout if you press this
key by mistake.

, - PLAY LEFT SIDE
This will play the Left side of any
stereo file on BOTH the left and
right channels.  This command is
disabled if you do not have the
second SID chip installed.

. - PLAY RIGHT SIDE
This is functionaly the same as
playing the left side except it is
playing the Right Side.

C - DOS COMMANDS
With this command you have access to
all of the normal dos commands, such
as S0 - Scratch, V0 - Validate and
ect.

D - DISK DIRECTORY
This will display ALL files on the
disk currently in the drive.  You can
use the SPACEBAR to pause the listing
and RETURN will resume it.  You can
also abort the listing by pressing
the RUN-STOP key.

HOME - TOP OF LIST
This will move you to the TOP of the
song list.

CLR - BOTTOM LIST
This moves you to the BOTTOM of the
song listing.

SPACE - PARAMETERS
This command will display the Stereo
Modifier screen (discussed later) and
allow you to make changes in how the
highlighted 3 voice mono song will be
played.


This file is continued in NOTICE2.

Mark A. Dickenson