Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!wuarchive!uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!alchemy!jjverkui From: jjverkui@cs.ruu.nl (Hans Verkuil) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.audio Subject: To all mod player programmers, my personal wishlist Keywords: Intuition, modules players, Amiga, Programmers, Powerpacker Message-ID: <1991Apr24.110733.22225@cs.ruu.nl> Date: 24 Apr 91 11:07:33 GMT Organization: Utrecht University, Dept. of Computer Science Lines: 82 To all module player programmers in the Amiga world: I want to have a module player that has the following features: o Supports (at least) Sound/NoiseTracker and MED (up to 3.0) modules o Supports crunched (PowerPacked) modules o Runs on a PAL and NSTC Amiga o Handles modules written for PAL/NTSC on a NTSC/PAL Amiga correctly o Has no trouble multitasking while playing o For a fairly good user interface: take a look at IntuiTracker 1.2, your module player should look like this (but at least it should also have a button to select all modules in a directory at once). o Should have non-stop music, i.e. loading the next module while the first is still playing. Note: your player should be smart enough to wait with loading if there is insufficient memory to handle both modules at once. o When called from CLI it should detach itself, so that 'runback' doesn't need to be used. o It should have some way to give it a predefined module list it has to play (for slides shows for example). o It should be able to load modules from any device (harddisk, ramdisk, floppydisk, etc.) and, if possible, you should support an environment variable that gives several directories you should search for modules. Like the Path command: setenv MODS "dh0:music/modules!df0:modules!dh0:music/modules2" o I would appreciate an equalizer like IntuiTracker has and a control panel like IntuiTracker is a must! o It should be able to handle more than X modules (where X is the munber of lines that fit on your screen when using menus to access the modules). Maybe you should use a requester instead of a menu. o It should work properly with modems (I haven't one, but I heard that often there were troubles when using a modem) Why this wishlist? Well, I have tested several players, but all lack features I consider important. Module Master won't run properly: apparently it doesn't support PAL. It does support Powerpacker, but its interface is not so good and MED is also not supported. IntuiTracker has the best user interface of all players. However, IntuiTracker 1.1 is buggy and the equalizer and the scrolling message when you select ABOUT of IntuiTracker 1.2 are very slow for some strange reason (maybe PAL/NSTC problems?). The only player that plays MED modules is MEDPlayer itself. Since this player has no user interface to speak of, I don't need to explain why I want another player that supports MED. So, I hope someone out there is able to make a good player. If I knew how to handle the modules and play them, I would try to make a good interface myself. But I have no idea how to handle modules and I haven't the time to delve into the subject. So, my question is: anyone out there who wants to program such a player or who wants to change an existing player to support the above features? If so, and if you have access to Internet, I'd be happy to beta test it for you, or to receive a copy of your player. Finally: I have assumed in the above wishlist that you would add at least all the features of IntuiTracker. As I have said: this program has the best interface of all players I've seen. Also, are there any useful features I've missed? Happy programming! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Verkuil, Toendra 115, 2904 TK Capelle a/d IJssel, The Netherlands Student Computer Science - Utrecht University - (jjverkui@praxis.cs.ruu.nl) "...and the princesses were beautiful as the day is long and so noble they could pee through a dozen mattresses --" (Terry Pratchett) -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Verkuil, Toendra 115, 2904 TK Capelle a/d IJssel, The Netherlands Student Computer Science - Utrecht University - (jjverkui@praxis.cs.ruu.nl)