Club Amiga de Montreal - CAM/CAM_CD_1.iso/files/569a.lha/MultiPlayer_v1.01/Player.doc.pp/Player.doc

Text File | 1991-11-10 | 35KB | 825 lines

                                MultiPlayer
                               Version 1.01
                       Copyright (C) 1991 Bryan Ford
                            All Rights Reserved



                                The Program
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~

    The unregistered version of MultiPlayer is freely redistributable as
long as it and its documentation is not modified in any way, and the
appropriate files are distributed with it.  (Look farther down in this
document to find out about registering MultiPlayer.) You may not charge
more for distributing it than a small fee to cover the disk copying
expenses.  The MultiPlayer version 1.01 distribution must contain the
following files:

    Player                     51392
    Player.info                  598
    Player.doc                 35460
    Formats.doc                25952

    MultiPlayer is a program to play Amiga music modules, such as
Soundtracker and MED.  (This program has no relation to Multi_Player by
Thomas Landspurg which I just recently found out about.) Before you get
disgusted with Yet Another Module Player, I would encourage you to read
through this document, or at least take MultiPlayer for a spin.  You will
find that MultiPlayer has almost all the important features you've seen
on other players, plus many features you haven't seen before.

    One of the goals of MultiPlayer is to be as system-friendly as
possible.  It multitasks well, it doesn't interfere with high-priority
interrupts such as serial port interrupts, and it properly allocates audio
channels so that the music doesn't conflict with other programs.  It was
made with Kickstart 2.0 in mind, and provides some extra features if you
are using 2.0, but it can still play the full set of module formats under
version 1.3.

    Another goal of MultiPlayer was to support a very diverse array of
music formats.  MultiPlayer currently supports over fifteen different
module formats, plus some special formats.  See the 'Other Info' section
near the end of this document for a list of the module types MultiPlayer
can play.

    If you have the xpkmaster.library (a freeware compression "supervisor"
standard by Dominik Mueller, Christian Schneider, and myself) installed in
your system, MultiPlayer can automatically unpack modules that are packed
using any format it can understand.  (This includes PowerPacker format, if
you have the powerpacker.library installed as well.)

    MultiPlayer is very easy to use.  You can just type 'player' from the
CLI or click on the icon from the Workbench and it will present the ASL or
ARP filerequester to select a module from, depending on which version of
the operating system you are using.  (If you are running 1.3, you must have
the arp.library version 39 or higher installed to get the file requester -
if you don't, you won't be able to load modules from the window.) Under
2.0, you can select multiple modules (as many as you want).  If you run
MultiPlayer from the CLI, it automatically detaches itself, so there is no
need to Run it.  See the section on "Startup" below for more information on
starting MultiPlayer.

    While MultiPlayer is running there is normally a small window in the
title bar displaying the name of the module that is currently playing (or
just "MultiPlayer" if nothing is loaded).  You can click the close gadget
to stop the music and terminate MultiPlayer.  To select a different module,
activate the window and click the right mouse button.  The filerequester
will then reappear so you can select another module.

    If you are running Kickstart 2.0, the MultiPlayer window will have a
zoom gadget near its right end.  If you click it, you will see a control
panel that allows you to load different modules and gives access to some of
MultiPlayer's more advanced features.  For a complete description of the
control panel user interface, see the "Control Panel" section below.  This
control panel (and the features only available through it) are not
available under 1.3.  Just one more reason to rush out and get an enhancer
kit today!  (I may add full 1.3 compatibility if I get enough demand and
-->support<--.)

    You may be skeptical about keeping a 50K program resident in memory.
Never fear - thanks to a custom memory management and overlay system,
MultiPlayer uses only the memory it needs to do its job.  All of the module
players are loaded only when needed, and any players not currently in use
are unloaded on demand if the system runs out of memory.  The parts of the
program used to control MultiPlayer's various windows are also only loaded
on when they are needed and are freed as necessary.

    For all you hackers (used in the positive connotation) that like to rip
out every form of music imaginable, when you come across some obscure
module format that nothing understands, don't despair.  There are three
special formats built into MultiPlayer that you can use to easily interface
it to any kind of module.  All you need is the module, some player code for
the module (if the module doesn't already have embedded player code), and a
little assembly language programming.  Details on all three formats are in
the separate file 'Formats.doc'.

    MultiPlayer is Shareware.  Although I detest the fact that humans must
prove their worth to society through an insubstantial and meaningless
medium known as money, the fact remains that today's society requires it -
without money you don't eat, and you don't buy Amigas.  I would like to
eat, and I would like to buy Amigas.  Therefore, for $15 or more you will
get the registered version of MultiPlayer which allows loading and saving
of programs (module lists), as well as the full-featured ARexx port
described later in this document (useful for playing modules with
AmigaVision and the like).  Of course, you also gain my favor - suggestions
for improvements will be taken much more seriously from registered users.

    The most reliable way of contacting me is at my parents' address.  It
may take a while for me to get something sent there, but it WILL get to me.
I tend to move around a great deal, so mail sent directly to me sometimes
has a hard time catching up.  Send mail to:

    Bryan Ford
    8749 Alta Hills Circle
    Sandy, UT 84093

    I can be reached more quickly (for the time being anyway) on the phone
or through one of the electronic mail addresses below:

    [phone]
    [e-mail]
    [e-mail]
    [e-mail]

    If you want to get something to me through the mail reasonably quickly,
FIRST call or E-mail me to make sure I'm still here, then send it to this
address:

    Bryan Ford
    27104 Ballif Hall
    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, UT 84112



                             The Control Panel
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    This section describes the main control panel that MultiPlayer makes
available under Kickstart 2.0 or later.  (Under 1.3, what you see is what
you get - a little title bar window you can click the right mouse button in
to bring up an ARP filerequester.)

    The main MultiPlayer window, in its "zoomed" state, displays a few
pieces of information about the module currently playing, as well as some
buttons.  These are described below:

Module box

    This box displays the filename of the module currently loaded
(essentially the same as what is displayed in the title bar).  Any 'mod.'
prefixes for Soundtracker/Noisetracker modules will not be displayed.

Type box

    Displays the type of the module currently loaded.

Author box

    Displays the name of the person who wrote this module, if known.  Most
current module formats don't have direct facilities for identifying the
author - in this case, the box will just display 'Unknown.'
Soundtracker/Noisetracker modules often have author names embedded in the
instrument list - in this case, MultiPlayer tries to make a good guess by
searching for keywords such as 'by' in the instrument list.  (If it screws
up for some reason, you can always TYPE the module HEX to find out for
sure.) MED modules have somewhat better support, but they still don't have
a convenient 'author' field - just a catch-all 'annotation' field.

Song gadget

    This gadget serves two purposes.  First, it displays the name of the
currently loaded module or song as recorded in the module itself.  For
example, with Soundtracker/Noisetracker modules this gadget will display
the song name as recorded in the first 20 bytes of the file.  Many
module formats don't have built-in name fields - in this case, the box
will just display 'Unknown.'

    For most types of modules, which support only one song per module, this
gadget will serve no purpose other than displaying the song name.  However,
some module formats allow several independent songs to be contained in a
single module (for example, to save memory by using the same instruments on
several songs).  In that case, this gadget will cycle through the available
songs in the module.

New button

    This button is equivalent to clicking the right mouse button while the
main MultiPlayer window is active.  It displays the file requester and lets
you select any number of modules.  The new list of modules replaces the
current program, if there was one.  The first module in the list (or a
random module, if you have selected random playing) will be started.  The
program will be created with the order in which the modules were displayed
in the file requester.  (At least this is how the current 2.0 file
requester works - it may change.)

Play button

    Starts or continues playing a module that was previously stopped but
not unloaded.  If the module type supports the continue feature, the module
will continue playing where it left off.  Otherwise it will start again
from the beginning.

Stop button

    Stops the current module without unloading it.  Audio channels and
interrupts are freed while a module is stopped, so you don't have to exit
MultiPlayer completely if you want to run some other program that needs the
audio hardware.  If the module type supports restart, you can restart it
where it left off by pressing the Play button.

Eject button

    Stops and unloads the currently loaded module, and frees all memory and
other resources that the module was using.

Next button

    Loads and plays the next module in the current program list.  If you
have selected random play, this button simply loads another module in the
list, at random.

Prev button

    Loads and plays the previous module in the program list.  If you have
selected random play, this button does basically the same thing as the Next
button - picks another module at random.

Program button

    Opens the 'Module Program' window, described below.

Prefs button

    Opens the 'MultiPlayer Preferences' window, described later.



                           Module Program Window
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    This window displays a list of all the modules in the current module
program.  You can also select a module from the list, and it will load and
play immediately.  If sequenced play is selected (the default), when one
module is finished, the next lower one on the list is loaded and played.
(This only applies on modules that can detect repeat - most do, but on
those that don't, the module will just play forever until you explicitly
tell MultiPlayer to go to the next module.) Also, modules in the program
can be located in any number of different directories - MultiPlayer will
remember the location of each.

    The program window can be brought up with the 'Program' button from the
main window, or by pressing the 'Help' key while the main window is active.
(This window is only available under 2.0, but see the note for the 'Add'
button if you're using 1.3.)

    The program window also contains several buttons that allow you to
manipulate the module list.  These are described below:

Top, Up, Down, and Bot buttons

    These buttons allow you to rearrange the modules in the program.  They
work on the currently selected (probably currently playing) module, and
their meanings should be obvious.

Add button

    This button works basically the same way as the 'New' button on the
main window - it brings up the file requester and allows you to select
modules.  However, it doesn't cause the previous program to be cleared when
you finish, and it doesn't start playing a new module.  For 1.3 users
without access to the program window, the 'Help' key is the same as
pressing the 'Add' button, so you can still select multiple modules for a
program, even though you can't see them.  (Remember that you may need to
press the up or down arrow key to actually get the program running, since
the Add feature doesn't automatically start anything.)

Del button

    This button deletes the currently selected entry in the program list.
If this entry is currently playing, it lets it continue playing - it does
not stop or unload it immediately.

Clear button

    Clears the entire current program list.  As with the 'Del' button, it
does not stop any currently playing module.

Sort button

    Sorts the entire current program list alphabetically.  Handy if you
like to use random play (and thus don't really care about the play order)
but you'd like a nice neat module listing.

Load button

    Brings up the file requester so you can load a previously saved program
from disk.  (This button will only work on the registered version of
MultiPlayer.) The newly loaded program will replace the current program.
Note that you can also load saved programs from the regular module
requester - programs are recognized just like modules, and programs
selected this way will automatically be loaded and run.  (You could even
put the name of another program at the bottom of it, to chain program lists
together.)

Save button

    Brings up the file requester and lets you save the current program to a
disk file.  (Also only works on the registered version.) You can then load
it again later using any method normally used to select modules - the file
requester, Workbench extended-select when starting MultiPlayer, or CLI
arguments.  (See the 'Startup' for details on starting MultiPlayer.)

    If you want to create or modify module program files yourself, just
take a look at one of the files MultiPlayer generates - it's just a simple
text file.  Lines starting with 'DIR' denote changes of directory - all
filenames after that until another 'DIR' keyword will be looked for in that
directory.



                            Preferences Window
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    This window can be opened by clicking on the 'Prefs' button in the main
MultiPlayer window.  It contains a few options (there will be more in
future versions) which you can use to tailor MultiPlayer to your own
preferences.  (This window is not available under 1.3, but you can still
set MultiPlayer's preferences - see the end of this section.)

    The gadgets are described below:

Play gadget

    Use this to select between sequenced play, random play, and 'over and
over' mode.  In sequenced play, the modules in the program list are played
one after another, from beginning to end, in the order they appear in the
program list.  In random play, the modules play once and then another
module is randomly selected.  In 'over and over' mode, anything you select
is played forever until you tell MultiPlayer to start a different module.
(You can still use the 'Next' and 'Prev' buttons in the main window to
change modules, but MultiPlayer doesn't do it automatically in this mod.)

Show gadget

    This cycle gadget allows you to select the type of display you want to
appear in the main window's title bar while a module is playing.  In clock
mode, a clock appears displaying the amount of time this module has been
playing in minutes and seconds.  In sequence mode (this has no relation to
the sequence mode in the 'Play' gadget), on NoiseTracker or similar modules
that play sequences of blocks, the current sequence number and the number
of sequences in the song is displayed.  (On modules that don't support
this, the clock is displayed.) In sequence mode, you can tell MultiPlayer
to display the current number either starting from 0 and ending at
(length-1), as most trackers display sequence numbers, or starting from 1
and ending at (length).

Save button

    Saves the current preferences to the disk file ENV:MultiPlayerPrefs, as
well as the same file in ENVARC:.  (With preferences as simple as this,
there's no real need for separate 'Save' and 'Save Default' options.)

OK button

    Does exactly the same thing as the close gadget on the window - closes
the window.  It does NOT cause the new preferences to be activated - they
are activated the moment you select them.  (Isn't multitasking wonderful?)
There is no 'Cancel' gadget because I figure it's not too difficult to
change back any buttons you accidentally hit, since there are so few...

    For you poor ol' 1.3 users that can't access this window, you can still
set MultiPlayer's preferences.  Just go into a text editor or something and
create a 'MultiPlayerPrefs' in your ENV:  directory (make sure it gets put
there every time you reboot - i.e.  also put it in your ENVARC:  directory
if you have one).  The file needs only two characters.  First, the play
mode - 'S' for sequenced, 'R' for random, 'O' for over and over.  Second,
the show mode - 'C' for clock, '0' for sequence (starting from 0), and '1'
for sequence (starting from 1).  Unfortunately, you can't change
MultiPlayer's preferences while it is loaded.



                            Keyboard Shortcuts
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Several keyboard shortcuts are available from the main MultiPlayer
window.  (They won't work in the other windows.) These are available under
1.3 as well as 2.0, and thus can be used to use some of the features
otherwise only available through the control panels.  These keys are listed
below:

ESC

    Terminates MultiPlayer immediately (a shortcut for the close gadget on
the main window.

Help

    Under 2.0, brings up the module program window (a shortcut for the
'Program' button on the main window).

Spacebar

    If a module is currently playing, stops (or pauses it) without
unloading, like the 'Stop' button.  If a module is loaded but NOT playing,
it restarts it, just like the 'Play' button.

Delete

    Unloads (ejects) the currently loaded module.

Up/down arrows

    These switch to the previous or next modules in the program list,
respectively.  In random play, these simply select another module at
random.  (These are shortcuts for the 'Next' and 'Prev' buttons.)

Left/right arrows

    In modules that contain more than one song, these select the previous
or next song, respectively (shortcuts for the 'Song' cycle gadget).



                                  Startup
                                  ~~~~~~~

    When starting MultiPlayer from Workbench 1.3 or 2.0, you can
extended-select the icons of as many modules as you want when you start
MultiPlayer.  It will immediately start playing the first one (or a random
selection, if you have selected random play in your saved preferences).

    If you're running Kickstart 1.3, MultiPlayer will accept a single
argument from the CLI (don't use quotes, even if there are spaces).  If
this argument ends in a ':' or '/', MultiPlayer will change to that
directory before displaying the ARP file requester.  If it doesn't end in
one of these characters, MultiPlayer will try to load the specified file as
a module and start it playing rather than displaying the file requester
immediately.

    If you're running Kickstart 2.0, MultiPlayer supports some extra
command-line options:

    DIR=DIRECTORY,MODULES/M,NOREQUEST/S,NOWINDOW/S,NOREXX/S

    (On the unregistered version, the NOREXX option will not appear.)
Following is a description of these arguments:

DIRECTORY

    The first argument on the command line (or an argument preceded by this
keyword) tells MultiPlayer what directory to go to the first time it
displays the file requester.  This is also where it will look for modules
you specify on the command line (see below) if you don't specify full
pathnames for them.

MODULES/M

    The second argument (if you don't explicitly use the DIRECTORY or
MODULES keywords) begins a list of modules to put into MultiPlayer's
program list on startup.  MultiPlayer imposes no limitations on the number
of modules you can specify using this keyword, although command lines are
limited to 256 characters.  After MultiPlayer starts up, instead of showing
the file requester immediately, it will load and begin playing the first
module in the program list (or a randomly selected module, if you have
selected random playing).  With the registered version of MultiPlayer, you
can specify a program file to load and start initially instead of a list of
modules.

NOREQUEST/S

    If you specify the switch, MultiPlayer will not display the file requester
immediately after it loads, even if you don't specify any modules to start
playing.  If you don't specify any modules, MultiPlayer will simply sit
idle until you tell it to do something.

NOWINDOW/S

    This switch causes MultiPlayer to load and run without a window.  If
you specify modules to start playing, MultiPlayer will play them as usual,
but the user won't see any visual indication that MultiPlayer is running.
You can still control the registered version of MultiPlayer through its
ARexx port, assuming you haven't turned that off as well.  Using this
switch will save about 5K of memory, since the part of MultiPlayer that
handles the window interface is never loaded (and of course the window
itself is not occupying memory).

NOREXX/S

    If you specify this switch (which only exists on the registered
version), MultiPlayer will not open its ARexx port.  Using this switch will
save a little extra memory (not much though - less than 1K) if you don't
need the ARexx port.

    If you specify both NOREXX and NOWINDOW, you will effectively have no
way to control MultiPlayer apart from rebooting - it will go on playing
modules as you instruct it to at first, and will not stop unless it
encounters an error of some kind.  (If that happens, you basically "lose"
it for good.) I don't recommend doing this without a good reason.



                                ARexx Port
                                ~~~~~~~~~~
                (Only available in the registered version)

    If you have ARexx, either as an independent program in pre-2.0 or as
part of the operating system in 2.0+, you can use it to control
MultiPlayer.  Whenever MultiPlayer is running, there is an ARexx port
available called "RXTRACKER" which you can send various commands to.
MultiPlayer's ARexx port is compatible with the program RxTracker by
Dominic Giampaolo.  In addition, it supports several features that
RxTracker doesn't, and of course you can use it to play all the different
kinds of modules MultiPlayer understands, not just Soundtracker and MED.

    If MultiPlayer runs into an error when trying to load or play a module,
it generally returns an error code of 10.  When any error occurs, a pointer
to a descriptive error string is saved and you can get it with the
LASTERROR command to display for the user.

    A listing of the ARexx commands MultiPlayer understands follows:

LOAD    <filename>

    Loads a module into memory from disk.  It is generally a good idea to
supply a complete pathname, since MultiPlayer looks for the module starting
at whatever directory the file requester last happened to be looking at.
This command does not start the module playing.  If you want to start
playing immediately, you don't have to use this command at all - you can
simply supply a filename on the PLAY command and it will load and start
playing immediately.

PLAY    [<filename>] [<songnumber>]

    Starts playing a module.  If you supply the filename, MultiPlayer stops
any module currently playing and tries to load the specified module from
disk.  If you don't supply the filename, MultiPlayer plays (or re-plays
from the start) an already-loaded module.  (If no module is loaded and you
don't specify a filename, MultiPlayer returns error code 5.) For modules
with more than one song, you can supply the song number to play.  Songs are
numbered starting at zero.  If you don't supply a song number, song zero is
assumed.

STOP

    Stops playing any module that is currently playing without unloading
the module.  You can then restart it later with PLAY or CONTINUE.

UNLOAD

    Stops and unloads any currently loaded module.

CONTINUE

    Tries to restart a stopped module at the position it was at before the
STOP command was given.  If the module has never been started, it simply
starts from the beginning.  If the module was already playing, it does
nothing.  If the module type doesn't support restarting, MultiPlayer
returns error code 5 and does NOT start the module - you can then use PLAY
to start again from the beginning if you want, or else chew out the user
for using weird module formats.

OPENWINDOW

    Opens the MultiPlayer user interface window.  It will be opened in the
small title-bar zoom state.  If the window was already open, it does
nothing.  It returns an error if the window can't be opened.  Remember that
while the window is open the user can use it to change modules and such,
possibly messing up your perfectly timed ARexx-controlled playing
sequences.

CLOSEWINDOW

    Closes the MultiPlayer window, if it was open.  MultiPlayer remains
active, but impervious to user interface (through Intuition anyway).  Now
only ARexx commands can affect MultiPlayer.

LASTERROR

    Returns an error message describing the last error that occurred that
had to do with the ARexx port.  (Errors that the user causes by
manipulating the window do not affect this.)

QUIT

    Causes MultiPlayer to terminate immediately.



                                 Messages
                                 ~~~~~~~~

    This section lists most of the error or warning messages MultiPlayer
will produce.  Look here if you have trouble deciphering the meaning of
one.

"Not enough chip memory"

    Tracker-style modules generally must be loaded into one big continuous
chunk of chip memory.  Therefore, even if the Workbench (or some other
program) says you have enough memory, it may not have one big enough chunk.
Close some windows, exit some programs.  If all else fails, reboot and try
fresh.

"Not enough memory"

    You really are getting low.  MultiPlayer doesn't normally need too much
non-chip memory, since modules are always loaded into chip memory.  If you
get this message, it means you don't have much memory of ANY kind
available.  Better free up something quick.

"Required memory occupied"

    You will only get this message from non- relocatable AMOD or GMOD
modules.  It means that the module has a specific address it must be loaded
into, but part or all of the required block of memory is already in use.
Free up as much memory as possible and try again.  If most of your memory
is free and you still can't load it, chances are there's some little
allocated fragment that some program has forgotten about that's still
sitting in the required area.  Your best bet is to reboot and try on a
fresh system.  If you have more than 512K of chip memory, try running my
program "ChipMunch" just after you reboot - this should keep programs out
of the commonly used areas.

"Nothing selected"

    Not an error, this simply means that you pressed Cancel in the file
requester without selecting any modules.  MultiPlayer then happily goes on
doing whatever it was already doing.

"Unknown module type"

    MultiPlayer doesn't recognize the file you selected as one of the
module types it knows.  Either this isn't a music module, or it's one that
it doesn't know how to handle.  If it is a music module that MultiPlayer
doesn't know about, send me the module and player/interface code, and it
should make it into the next version of MultiPlayer.

"Corrupt module"

    MultiPlayer recognized the module, but it didn't look right for some
reason.  Maybe it's a module written with an incompatible version of the
music program, or maybe the module itself got munched somehow.

"Error playing module"

    A general catch-all.  This error usually is displayed as a result of
error reports from initialization routines of individual players.  It
generally means that the module loaded fine, but the player had trouble
playing it.  Sometimes it means the same thing as "Corrupt module", or it
might mean that the player ran out of memory but was too stupid to tell
MultiPlayer about it specifically.

"Can't load module"

    The file was not found, or there was a disk error while reading it.  If
you get this message after selecting a file from the file requester,
chances are the disk is corrupt (in this case AmigaDOS should have already
given you a requester saying so), or the file may be open for writing from
some other program.

"Directory not found"

    Somehow you managed to tell MultiPlayer to load something from a
directory that doesn't exist.  Maybe you moved the directory somewhere
else, or forgot an Assign somewhere.  This usually only happens with ARexx
commands or loaded program lists.

"Audio hardware in use"

    MultiPlayer can't allocate the audio hardware through the audio.device.
This probably means that some other music editor or player is currently
running.  Find the culprit program and close it.  If all else fails, reboot
and try again.

"No CIAB timers available"

    MultiPlayer generally uses one of the two timers on CIA (Complex
Interface Adapter) B for timing its music.  However, other programs
like to use these also.  In particular, one of the timers may be in use if
the serial port is in operation.  Other than that, music programs are
generally the biggest consumers of CIAB timers.  Make sure no other music
player or composer programs are running, and try closing terminal programs
or other programs that use the serial port.

"Please decompress this module"

    It is unlikely that you will ever get this message, but if you do, it
means that (a) the module MultiPlayer is trying to load is compressed
somehow, and (b) it is an AMOD or GMOD module that must load at an absolute
address, and (c) MultiPlayer would have to re-load the module rather than
just copying it because the memory the module occupied initally overlapped
the required module address.  If you don't quite follow, don't sweat - just
decompress the module.



                                Other Info
                                ~~~~~~~~~~

MultiPlayer currently supports the following module types:

    15-instrument SoundTracker modules (most anyway)
    31-instrument SoundTracker V2.3-2.5/NoiseTracker V1.0-1.3D modules

    NoiseTracker 1.3D packed modules (with or without embedded player)

    StarTrekker 1.2 AM/FM modules (Extra '.NT' file required)

    MED 3.xx modules (MMD0 modules only - not "Song&Samples" files)
        (no 2.xx modules anymore - use MED 3.xx to convert them!)

    SoundFX V1.3 executable modules (Player V2.2)

    Old Future Composer 'SMOD' modules
    Future Composer 1.4 modules

    JamCrackerPro 1.0a modules

    SoundMonitor 2.0 modules

    Dave Whittaker modules (Be careful!  These aren't completely friendly...)

    Oktalyzer V1.1 4-channel modules (untested)

    Delta Music V2.2 modules (untested)

    SidMon modules (untested)

    Mark II modules (untested)

    Generic embedded-player modules of the form
            jmp init(pc)
            jmp music(pc)
            jmp end(pc)
        (Such as NoiseTracker packed w/player modules)

    AudioMaster III sequenced 8SVX sounds (mono only)

    'XMOD', 'AMOD', and 'GMOD' formats described in 'Formats.doc'

Some of the module types are marked as 'untested'.  This means exactly what
it says - I found out the appropriate methods to play these and easily
added support into MultiPlayer, but I didn't have any modules to test it
on.  So if I made a stupid mistake, one or more of these may not work at
all.  If you try one of these formats and it doesn't work, send me a few
modules in the appropriate format to test on, and if you're the first to do
so, you'll be automatically registered and will receive a new version of
MultiPlayer as soon as I get the bug fixed.

Although sequenced 8SVX sounds are technically only sampled sound files,
they have some music capability and look promising.  Besides, the player
also plays non-sequenced 8SVX sounds, so you can also play your movie clips
and such with MultiPlayer.  (I'm not sure if AudioMaster III is the only
program that currently supports sequenced 8SVX files, but it's the only one
I've seen so far.) Stereo is currently not supported - sorry, I'll get to
that eventually.



                                  History
                                  ~~~~~~~

1.01    (8-Nov-91)
    Added 'Sort' button in program window.
    Fixed a serious bug in GMOD player.
    Enhanced author name recognition for ST/NT modules.

1.00    (5-Nov-91)
    This is basically a rewrite of most of the program.
        (I'm not listing all the additions - there are way too many.)
    Major changes and additions to Formats.doc.
    Music no longer cuts off when file requester is displayed.
    Removed built-in code compression.  (Maybe I'll put it back in later.)
    Audio device now allocated while playing music.
    Fixed SoundFX player bug which caused crashing on advanced processors.
    Players now use longer DMA delays (normally 300) only on fast processors.
        (Wouldn't want to bog down you poor ol' 68000 users would we?)
    Major rewrite of player selection code.
    CIAB interrupts now defer to software interrupts to avoid hogging
        CPU time in a high-priority interrupt.

0.95A    (6-Sep-91)
    Fixed bug where song position appeared when no module was playing.
    Fixed ST/NT player bug for modules with negative song repeat positions.

0.95    (27-Jul-91)
    Added song position indicator for ST/NT and MED modules.
    Added code to turn low-pass filter off by default (will soon be selectable).
    Added Messages section to the documentation.
    Fixed window position so it snuggles right up next to the screen gadgets.

0.94A    (26-Jul-91)
    Fixed player window height on pre-2.0 operating systems.
    Increased delay loop (ugh!) in NoiseTracker player for faster processors.
    Fixed song repeat bug in NoiseTracker player.
    Hacked NoiseTracker player to play old 15-instrument modules.
    Fixed memory trashing bug in NoiseTracker player.
        (I hate cleaning up someone else's code!)

0.94    (23-Jul-91)
    Uses one of the CIAB timers for timing rather than the VBlank interrupt.
    Finally uses Workbench 2.0 ASL file requester if available.
    Added MED 3.xx modules, removed MED 2.xx songs.

0.93    (3-Jul-91)
    Workbench 2.0 compatible (although some modules may not be).

0.92    (7-Jun-91)
    Added 'AMOD' absolute loading module format described in 'Formats.doc'.
    Added 'GMOD' general module format described in 'Formats.doc'.
    Added NoiseTracker 1.3D packed (with player) modules.
    Added StarTrekker 1.2 AM synthesized modules.
    Updated the SoundTracker/NoiseTracker player.
        (New player comes from NoiseTracker 1.3D)

0.91    (29-Apr-91)
    Added 'XMOD' format described in 'Formats.doc'.
    Removed "unknown" module formats (turned those modules into XMOD's)

0.90    (27-Apr-91)
    First preliminary release.  Nothing fantastic.