WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr WOWII Version 2.0á Module Player for the PC "Introduction to the World Of Music" Contents: I. What the hell IS WOWII? II. What do I need to use WOWII properly? III. I want to know what it sounds like!!! IV. More information for the uninterested... (Or: How It Works) 1.) Commandline Options a) Short reference of commandline options b) In-depth description 2.) WOWII.INI - Optionsfile 3.) Keyboard commands V. Basic Information 1.) "Communication between WOWII and the soundcard" - The Audio DMA 2.) "WOWII dresses extravagant!!" - The 'Tweaked' Video Mode 3.) "Lovelife of Modules" - Portrait of a well-known format VI. WOWII 2.0á - "File Finder" - The menu 1.) Basic knowledge about the file selection menu 2.) Keyboard commands 3.) The totally unfinished pulldown menu 4.) Sightseeing tour - Background playing and the DOS shell ... VII. Copyrights and everything else I threaten with ... 1.) The Shareware Idea 2.) CrippleWare? What is that? 3.) What am I allowed to do exactly? 4.) What could I do more? Translation: T. Meyer Page 1 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr 5.) "Do I WANT to do more?" - Philosophical Excursions 6.) Copyrights and Restrictions in short! VIII. How To Register Easily 1. How to get a non-restricted version of WOWII 2. What if I registered already? Upgrade info! IX. Other things 1.) The All Important Address 2.) Acknowledgments 3.) Some history, sources and other blah X. Afterword All mentioned Trademarks and Copyrights are registered by their respective owners. This manual was formatted with PROFF written by Ozan S. Yigit & Steven Tress Translation: T. Meyer Page 2 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr I. What the hell IS WOWII? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ WOWII is a program that plays four-voice musicfiles on an IBM PC (or compatible). WOWII allows you to play any Soundtracker or ProTracker "Module" on the PC. These so-called "Modfiles" originate on the Commodore Amiga homecomputer and serve mostly as background or title tunes for games or demos. The modules owe their popularity to their excellent sound that is achieved by four independant digital channels. WOWII supports the following sound cards: Creative Technology Ltd. - Soundblaster 1.xx-2.xx (mono, 8 bit, max. 22 kHz) - Soundblaster Pro 3.xx (stereo, 8 bit, max. 22 kHz) - Soundblaster 16 ASP (stereo, 8 bit, max. 44 kHz) Mediavision - Pro Audio Spectrum Plus (stereo, 8 bit, max. 44 kHz) - Pro Audio Spectrum 16 (stereo, 8 bit, max. 44 kHz) AdLib Inc. - AdLib Gold 1000 (stereo, 8 bit, max. 44kHz) II. What do I need to use WOWII properly? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ One of the sound cards listed above is absolutely necessary in order for WOWII to work. Compatible sound cards will be supported, too, of course, given they are compatible with one of the cards listed above. Examples for compatible cards are the Sound Galaxy series or Thunderboard by Mediavision. Because the output of four digitized voices requires lots of processing power, the minimal configuration is a 80286 AT. You will be able to customize WOWII to the computing capacities of your specific computer. Additionally, a Standard-VGA graphics adapter is necessary. And last, but not least, you will need some modules. Soundtracker and ProTracker modules are available on many BBSes and at Public Domain dealers. "Modfiles" are very popular, so it should be no problem for you to put your hands on a few. If you still have problems getting them, you can contact me. For a few bucks I will browse through my collection of around 600 modules and copy a few of them for you. Translation: T. Meyer Page 3 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr III. I want to know what it sounds like!!! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ If all requirements mentioned under II. are fulfilled, you are absolutely ready to enjoy the pleasure of digitally reproduced music. The following recommendations should be followed: - The files WOWII.EXE and WOWII.PIC must be in the same directory. - The sound card has to be installed properly. Owners of Soundblaster Pro and 16 ASP cards may have to include the DMA channel for 8 bit sound with the /DMA:x argument. *WARNING* If you forget to include this parameter and your Soundblaster is configured to any other DMA channel than DMA 1, you will only be able to enjoy complete silence. Example: You want to play the module "AXEL-F.MOD". You should run WOWII from the DOS commandline as follows: WOWII axel-f The ".MOD" extension will be automatically appended. When you press the [Return]-key the screen blanks and after a brief moment you will see a display with 4 oscilloscopes and 4 peakmeters. If you do not see this, your system has no VGA compatible graphics card installed or you gave a wrong filename. To leave the program, you will have to press the [Esc]-key. A few informational texts appear and you will be returned to the DOS commandprompt. Translation: T. Meyer Page 4 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr IV. More information for the uninterested... (Or: How It Works) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1.) Commandline Options ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ WOWII has lots of commandline options and will interpret them correctly (most of the time). The order is not important, WOWII tries very hard to figure out what you mean. A quick reference of all options WOWII understands is printed when you call WOWII *without* any option. Example: C:\MODFILES>WOWII [RETURN] WOWII Version 2.0á Multiple Output Device MODPlayer Copyright 1993 JOS Usage: WOWII MODFile[.MOD] [/H:xxxxx] [/S] [/L] [/V:xxx] [/T:xxx] [...] /H:xxxxx sets the output frequency. /S starts WOWII with an (un)Realtime Spectrum Analyzer. /L loops the module. /V:xxx, /T:xxx, /B:xxx presets volume, treble and bass (0-100). /E for enhanced stereo (AdLib Gold or Pro Audio Spectrum). /O for setting the loudness switch (Pro Audio Spectrum only). /DMA:x specifies the DMA channel for the Soundblaster. /M:xxxxx defines the size of the DMA transfer buffer (2048-12288). /NOXMS disables the usage of the Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs). /MAX computes the maximum amount of memory available for a MODULE. /ADJ adjusts the frequency. C:\MODFILES> This reference can be displayed anytime this way, to ease the usage of WOWII. a.) Short reference of commandline options ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ /H:xxxxx specifies the output frequency. You should only use values from 8000 to 44000Hz. /S displays a "(un)RealTime Spectrum Analyzer" in the lower part of the display instead of the 4 oscilloscopes. /L will restart the module from the beginning when the end is reached. /V:xxx, /T:xxx, /B:xxx will set the volume, bass or treble level to 0-100 percent, respectively. Bass and treble can only be set on specific sound cards. These are the Soundblaster 16 ASP, AdLib Gold and Pro Audio Spectrum Plus or 16. Translation: T. Meyer Page 5 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr /E enables the Enhanced Stereo option of the AdLib Gold or Pro Audio Spectrum sound cards. A 3D-like sound will be created by using sophisticated algorithms. /O enables the Loudness option of the Pro Audio Spectrum card. /DMS:x specifies the DMA channel of the Soundblaster cards. Default is DMA channel 1. /M:xxxxx specifies the size of the DMA buffer. Default is 4096. /NOXMS disables usage of the "Upper Memory Blocks" between 640K and 1MB, which are provided by the XMS interface of some memory managers. /MAX calculates the maximum memory size available for a modfile. The demo version of WOWII also displays the memory which is available in the registered version. /ADJ tells WOWII to adjust the output frequency to the sound card. Most sound cards do not provide infinitely variable output frequencies. b.) In-depth description ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The option /H:xxxxx specifies the output frequency in Hertz. The higher the frequency, the more data must be output and of course calculated per second. A frequency of 44KHz requires a lot more processing power than a frequency of 16KHz. The default frequency is 22000Hz and should fit normal quality demands. When using the highest frequency of 44KHz, even fast computers like IBM 386DX with 40MHz are at the peak of their capacities. Specifying an output frequency too high for your computer results in off tune sounds during play. If you experience any of these problems, you will have to decrease the output frequency or use the "(un)Realtime Spectrum Analyzer" instead of the 4 oscilloscopes. The option /M:xxxxx specifies the size of the DMA-buffer. WOWII uses a variable sized memory area for the transfer of the audio data. Parts of the digital music are stored here and are being played by the soundcard itself. The bigger the buffer, the longer the delay after pressing special keys, e.g. Fast Forward, Rewind, or muting the channels. Default size is 4096 bytes. The option /S forces WOWII to display the "(un)Realtime Spectrum Analyter" right from the start of the program. This display uses less processing time than the 4 oscilloscopes, so you can squeeze some more Hertz out of a slower Translation: T. Meyer Page 6 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr computer. The /DMA:x option is only important to owners of Soundblaster Pro or 16 ASP cards. These cards do not provide a mechanism for a program to find out which DMA channel they are configured to. If your Soundblaster Pro or 16 ASP (in 8 bit mode) is configured to any other DMA channel than DMA 1, you have to use the /DMA:x option! The /NOXMS option should only be used if WOWII crashes without reason. 2.) WOWII.INI ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The WOWII.INI file can be used to store default options. All options mentioned under IV.1. may be used, but only *one* option on a line. WOWII.INI must reside in the same directory as WOWII.EXE and WOWII.PIC! Example for WOWII.INI: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ cut here ; WOWII.INI Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr ; Commands: ; modfile[.mod] Name of module. ; /H:xxxxx Output frequency in Hertz (14000-23000). ; /S Start-up WOWII with the "(un)Realtime Spectrum Analyzer". ; /L Repeat module forever. ; /V:xxx, /T:xxx, /B:xxx Specifies volume, bass or treble, respectively. ; /E Enables Enhanced Stereo (AdLib Gold and PAS). ; /O Enables Loudness (Pro Audio Spectrum). ; /DMA:x Specify DMA channel of Soundblaster cards. ; /M:xxxxx Specifies the size of the DMA-buffer (2048-12288). ; /NOXMS Disables usage of Upper Memory Blocks. ; /MAX Print maximum of available memory for module. ; /ADJ Adjust output frequency to sound card. /H:22050 /L /V:100 /B:90 /ADJ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ cut here again Please note that lines beginning with a semicolon (";") are interpreted as remarks. The example above sets the output frequency to 22050 Hz, enables looping, sets the volume to 100 percent, bass to 90 percent and enables adjustment of the output frequency to the sound card. Translation: T. Meyer Page 7 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr 3.) Keyboardcommands ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ WOWII allows the user to manipulate the reproduction of the music in many ways. You can activate many options that influence the music directly or indirectly. The keyboard routine was implemented in a way that even simultaneous keypresses are recognized correctly and are even handled simultaneously most of the time. WOWII 2.0á - Keystrokes - 28.06.1993 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Key: ³ Description: ³ [Esc] ³ quits WOWII. If you tagged a bunch of modfiles from the ³ menu then [Esc] jumps to the next modfile in the row. ³ [Ctrl] ³ quits WOWII even if there are some tagged modfiles up ³ to be played. ³ 1, 2, 3, 4 ³ enables and disables muting of channel 1-4. ³ R ³ forces the time display from forward to reverse counting ³ and vice versa. ³ [Home] ³ jumps to the beginning of a modfile. ³ Cursor right/ ³ fast forward or rewind. Cursor left ³ ³ Page up/down ³ jumps to the next/previous pattern. ³ Shift-[F1].. ³ stores the current position of the modfile in one of 10 Shift-[F10] ³ memories. ³ [F1]..[F10] ³ restores the saved position. ³ Cursor up/ ³ switches to the instrument page and back. Cursor down ³ ³ +, - on the ³ increases or decreases the output volume. Numeric Pad ³ ³ V, B, T ³ assigns the cursor right and left keys to the mixer ³ functions "set volume", "set bass" and "set treble". ³ The functions "set bass" and "set treble" are only ³ available on the following soundcards: ³ Soundblaster 16 ASP, AdLib Gold, Pro Audio Spectrum ³ 5,6,7,8,9,0 ³ Sets the volume, bass or treble to 30%-100%. ³ [Space] ³ re-assigns the cursor right and left keys to the function ³ of fast forward and rewind. Translation: T. Meyer Page 8 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr ³ E ³ switches from "Enhanced Stereo" (Pro Audio Spectrum) or ³ "Spatial Stereo" (AdLib Gold) to normal replay and vice ³ versa. ³ L ³ turns Loudness on/off (Pro Audio Spectrum). ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ V. Basic Information ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ "1.) "Communication between WOWII and SB" - DMA and other stuff ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ In difference to other Module-Players like MP (ModPlay by Mark J. Cox), WOW (oohh, from meeee) or SPP (Super Pro Play by Joshua C. Jensen), WOWII uses the DMA-Transfer of the soundcards for digital output. Most sound cards can only be used to their fullest (e.g. stereo, 44 kHz) by using the DMA. Additionally, DMA (Direct Memory Access) has some other important advantages: By using DMA, the processor is free to do other things, while the soundcard outputs the data by itself. Data-transfer from memory to the soundcard is almost transparent. This way, the processor can calculate the digital data, while the sound card reads the pre-calculated data from memory and writes it to the analog output. The new WOWII 2.0á does not use the double buffering method anymore. Instead, the DMA controller is told to provide the same memory area to the sound card all the time. Due to this method, some difficulties during the development of WOWII were encountered: If some graphical output corresponding to the audio output is desired, the visual representation of the music must be synchronized to the previously calculated audio data. For this purpose WOWII uses a timer provided by your computer's hardware. After a certain amount of time has passed, the graphics are updated. Important! In version 2.0á, WOWII is not able to use any other DMA channel than 0, 1, 2 or 3. This is only a problem for owners of Pro Audio Spectrum cards, who configured their card to use DMA channel 4, 5, 6 or 7. As long as this problem is not solved, I advise you to re-configure your sound card. Translation: T. Meyer Page 9 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr 2.) "WOWII dresses extravagant!!" - The 'Tweaked' Video Mode ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ WOWII uses an undocumented videomode of the standard VGA graphics card for it's display. This mode supports a resolution of 320x240 pixels in 256 colors with a pixelresolution of 1:1 and is an improvement over the standard 256 color mode with 320x200 pixels. Another advantage is the availability of more than one screen page. Although this videomode is undocumented, all standard VGA graphics cards should support it. Multitaskingsystems like Windows, DesqView (/X) or OS/2 do not store the attributes of the videomode correctly when switching to another application. This is not WOWII's fault of using an "undocumented" videomode, but the programmers' of these systems who seem to be uncapable of storing the visual environment of the tasks correctly. WOWII has been released over a year ago and still there is no update for Windows, OS/2 or DesqView, which fixes the problem, so I have to get to the conclusion that the big software companies are ignoring me! 3.) "Lovelife of Modules" - Portrait of a well-known format ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Sadly this STILL has not been a very investigated topic yet... Translation: T. Meyer Page 10 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr VI. WOWII 2.0á - "File Finder" - The menu ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1.) Basic knowledge about the file selection menu ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The file selector consists of two programs: MENU.EXE and INTERNAL.EXE. MENU.EXE is the file selector program itself, which will run INTERNAL.EXE and WOWII.EXE. INTERNAL.EXE cannot be run directly from DOS. After running the file selector, you will see a pulldown menu at the top, and a status line at the bottom, and the file selection area in the middle of your screen. In this area, all modfiles, directories and drives are listed in different colors. Modfiles are listed in yellow, directories in magenta and drives in light cyan. To select an entry in the file selector, use your cursor keys, which will move the blue selection bar in the direction of the key press. Press Return to play the modfile the selection bar is on via WOWII. If you select a directory or drive by pressing Return, the file selector will read that directory or switch to the selected drive. You can use the space bar to select a few modfiles, which will be played using WOWII when you press Return. The modules are played in the order of selection: the first selected file at the beginning, the last selected at the end. Translation: T. Meyer Page 11 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr 2.) Keyboard commands ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MENU.EXE "File Finder" - Keystrokes - 28.06.1993 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Key: ³ Description: ³ [Alt]-X/-Q ³ exits the menu and returns to DOS. ³ Cursor right/ ³ moves the highlighted bar, left, up or down. left/up/down ³ ³ [Space] ³ tags or untags a modfile. ³ [Home] ³ jumps to the first entry in the list of modfiles. ³ [End] ³ jumps to the last entry in the list. ³ [Enter], ³ - if there are any tagged modfiles, then they will be [Return] ³ played by WOWII. ³ - if the the highlighted bar points to a directory or a ³ disk drive then the directory will be opened or the ³ disk drive will be changed. ³ - if the highlighted bar points to a modfile then this ³ file will be played by WOWII. ³ R ³ re-reads the list of modfiles. ³ F ³ turns the reading of the information of the modfiles ³ (titel, instruments and patterns) on or off. ³ I ³ reads the information of a single modfile. ³ B ³ background replaying of a modfile. ³ D ³ jumps to a DOS-shell. ³ [F10] ³ activating the pulldown-menu. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 3.) The totally unfinished pulldown menu ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ To enter the pulldown menu, press the [F10] key. Use the cursor keys to navigate through the pulldown menu. At the moment, you are only able to select the menu items "Configuration of WOWII 2.0á" and "Print List". A dialog window will appear in either case, in which you can adjust a few parameters. Translation: T. Meyer Page 12 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr 4.) Sightseeing tour - Background playing and the DOS shell ... ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Press 'B' to play a modfile in the background. This will only be possible, when enough memory is available. The status line will display the current position in the modfile during play. Press 'D' to enter a DOS shell. Sadly, the shell will only have limited memory available. You can enter the DOS shell when playing a module, of course. [ And Now For Something Completely Different ] VII. Copyrights and everything else I threaten with ... ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1.) The Shareware Idea ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Shareware are programs that were put together by hobby programmers and that are not distributed via commercial channels (e.g. a Software Publisher). Due to this, most authors release versions of their programs that are more or less usable and may be freely distributed. These versions are spreading very fast most of the time and make the program known to a lot of users. By 'registering' the program, the user will get a fully functional version of the program. To do this, the user has to send the author some money. If a programmer receives lots of registrations he will be convinced to put a lot more effort into the program, in order to satisfy the users who registered. Should the programmer receive very few registrations he will most likely get deep depressions which can result in a very strange behaviour. Some authors have even gone commercial. 2.) CrippleWare? What is that?? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Shareware programs lacking so many features that they become useless to the user are called CrippleWare. The crippling of his software is the programmer's only way of guaranteering it's protection from being copied like hell with him not getting any rewards. The distance from bearable to unbearable restrictions is very narrow. But think of the programmer who is getting word of his program being used far more often than he has received registrations... Translation: T. Meyer Page 13 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr 3.) What am I allowed to do exactly? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ WOWII is a Shareware program. This yields the following rules: You are allowed to test WOWII for a period of 4 (four) weeks after receipt, to see if it fits your needs. After this period you are not allowed to use the program any further. Whoever gets himself another testversion of WOWII to get himself another four weeks of testing incurs penalty ( ever seen a PC disintegrating to star dust? ). WOWII may be freely distributed, even after expiration of the testing period. Even Shareware-Distributors or dealers, who are distributing Shareware by mail, may put WOWII in their collection. The same is valid for other distribution channels, e.g. 'Bildschirmtext' or 'Channel Videodat' and other electronic online services. I insist on getting notified if WOWII is distributed on such channels. Additionally, the costs for getting the demo version of WOWII may not exceed 10 DM (7 US-Dollars). WOWII may not be used commercially in the testing period. This includes single sale and bundling with other soft- or hardware. Exceptions may be granted after contacting me. If I agree, I will send you a written permission. WOWII must not be used for any purpose of commercial advertising. You are not allowed to run the demoversion of WOWII on your computer on an exhibition or in a computer store for any purpose of advertising your hardware. Exceptions may be granted after contacting me. WOWII may not be modified and this is valid for the distribution archive, too. This includes adding advertising textfiles for BBS or something like that to the archive. Disassembling WOWII does *not* incur penalty. But when using my routines, please state the original author. I would be very grateful, if all hackers and crackers refrain from WOWII. It is not very honourable to crack a USD ShareWare product, is it? 4.) What could I do more? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ If you register WOWII, you will receive a fully Translation: T. Meyer Page 14 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr functional and unrestricted version. I offer an "updateservice" free of charge, which guarantees free new versions to the original registrator. It is for the user to get himself the new version, either by mail or modem. I am planning to implement many new features into WOWII. The most important is an interactive interface, which allows easy selection of modules instead of one at a time by commandline. The development of these features depends on the number of registrations I will receive. Also, I'm very interested in ideas you may have. 5.) "Do I WANT to do more?" - Philosophical Excursions" ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ "I would like to express my deepest admiration to anyone, who can live without WOWII after testing it for four weeks. This leads me to the conclusion that there are still some persons out there who can pull themselves together and keep their most inner feelings and natural desires for play, fun and suspense (version 2.0 in the handy chocolate egg - doesn't melt in the hand, but on the modem's power supply) under total control." - Jan Ole Suhr, 1992 Not everyone is into registering Shareware, but nonetheless I would like to explain what my reception of the Shareware idea is. There are loads and loads of Shareware authors, who are scattered all over the world. They deliver high-quality software to a wide range of users and many of their products reach the quality standard of commercial products and some are even better. Most of these programming ideas could not be realized by the 'big' software companies, but a corresponding market for the Shareware is non-existant. The Biggies are busy enough handling their own brand products and are scared of investing into other projects. On the other hand, the small software companies do not have the appropriate distribution channels and so they specialise on individual solutions, that are paid for very good. When a Shareware author takes the role of a 'lifeguard' of innovation and does not get support from the *users*, it is very frustrating. It is getting especially annoying when one has to argue about absolutely rediculously low fees, whose value often only cover the author's expenses. Translation: T. Meyer Page 15 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr 6.) Copyrights and Restrictions in short! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The program WOWII Version 1.xx and 2.xx is copyrighted and was evidently developed by Jan Ole Suhr. Who ever spoils his soup by taking my code without credit will get his stomach emptied by me, ok? All rights regarding WOWII are reserved by me. All restrictions in the WOWII demo version in a nut shell: - limited testing period of 4 weeks - a colorful logo laid over the oscilloscopes and the sample list - no "Spectrum Analyzer", not even a little peak - 2 nice ending screens - only a maximum of 50 modfiles in the file selector (2000 in the registered version!) VIII. How To Register Easily ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1.) How to get a non-restricted version of WOWII ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Those who want to get WOWII without a timelimit and nerving texts, should contact the nice and needy author. Please complete the ORDER.DOC form and mail it, together with a stamped and self-addressed envelope, a disk of current format and 20 US Dollars (or the equal amount in your currency) in notes or a collection-only check, to the author: Jan Ole Suhr Bockhorster Weg 28 28876 Oyten Germany 2.) What if I registered already? Upgrade info! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ I decided, against the original statement that all updates are for free, to set up a special arrangement for the upgrade from WOWII 1.xx to WOWII 2.0á: Everyone, who has a registration number (the last four Translation: T. Meyer Page 16 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr digits) of greater or equal 400, will receive a free update from WOWII 1.xx to WOWII 2.0á. Anyone with a registration number less than 400 is urged to send me a letter with 10 DM (6 US-Dollars), stating that he wants an update of WOWII (no SASE or diskette!). I will provide the costs for the disk, packaging and shipping myself. Short addendum: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Of course I am very pleased when I receive disks with new modfiles. But please, if you do, just send *one* disk. If the resonance is as huge as it was with WOW, I will have all my hands full handling the registrations and cannot fill all those disks with modules again. Also, I am very interested in any new innovations in music reproduction. Those who program stuff like this themselves are encouraged to send it to me, too. Translation: T. Meyer Page 17 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr IX. Other things ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1.) The All Important Address ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The author's address: Jan Ole Suhr Bockhorster Weg 28 28876 Oyten Germany Tel.: 04207/801033 Fido: Jan Ole Suhr, 2:241/2302.8 2.) Acknowledgments ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ At first, let me thank my betatesters Michael Baekow, MnemoTroN (Thomas Meyer), Mogwai (Roger B”hmermann), Harald Zappe, Daniel Hesse, Daniel Meer and Markus Schwarz. I am especially indebted to Michael Baekow for testing WOWII in a very hard and intensive way (OS/2 2.0, Soundblaster Pro). WOWII's almost perfect emulation of most of the effects from the original Amiga ProTracker is due to the information provided by MnemoTroN (Thomas Meyer). He also gave me the opportunity of listening to WOWII on the Soundblaster Pro, thus awakening tremendous euphoria. "The World Is Waiting" (tm) - MnemoTroN, 1992. Another "Thank you" to Boris Ottlewski, who lent me a Pro Audio Spectrum 16 and is now working on the new WOWIII with me. Two other persons I would like to thank very deeply are Harald Zappe, who spared no expenses in order to provide me with information regarding the programming of the Soundblaster Pro and Jim Chun Wah, Software Engineer at Creative Labs, Singapore, who helped me with a few very difficult problems. I must not forget my friend Sven Rohde, who often bursted my illusions with almost unsolvable suggestions and improvement ideas. His criticism is appalling, but that's how it goes with "non-computing" friends. Translation: T. Meyer Page 18 July 4th, 1992 WOWII V2.0á Copyright (c) 1993 Jan Ole Suhr 3.) Some history, sources and other noteworthy stuff ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ to be continued ... X. Afterword ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ I would like to wish you much fun while testing WOWII and may no bugs be with you! "I'm a man on a mission! - WOWII 2.0á" - Jan Ole Suhr, 1993. Bye, bye and don't forget to register ;-) Jan Ole Suhr P.S.: Many thanks to Thomas Meyer for translating the whole document into English *AND* formatting it with PROFF! Translation: T. Meyer Page 19 July 4th, 1992