┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ FairPlay v1.1 ....................... FREEWARE player by Jens-Christian Huus │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ │ │ INTRODUCTION │ │ ──────────── │ │ │ │ Welcome to an update on my MOD player - there is a revision list │ │ in the end of this DOC file. As you may have noticed already, I │ │ decided to cut out a lot of crap in it this time; you won't find │ │ greetings or lists of bugs anymore. I hope my work on this minor │ │ update was worth my while - have fun nonetheless! │ │ │ │ This GUI player is freeware only - if you have been paying money │ │ for this, you have been cheated! │ │ │ │ │ │ REQUIREMENTS │ │ ──────────── │ │ │ │ The player requires a PC with at least a 386SX processor, a VGA │ │ card and a mouse (with a mouse driver installed). And of course │ │ a Sound Blaster (or compatible) or a Gravis Ultrasound. Enhanced │ │ Keyboard is optional (F12 can be used for loading). │ │ │ │ I recommend using a 486 with Gravis Ultrasound for best effects, │ │ as only the GUS may use the effect sliders. │ │ │ │ │ │ FILES │ │ ───── │ │ │ │ The following files should be present in the archive. If they're │ │ not, the archive has been tampered with and should be replaced │ │ by a new copy. │ │ │ │ │ │ FP.EXE 46176 The FairPlay program │ │ FP.DOC 26404 This documentation │ │ │ │ │ │ This version does not contain any MOD files. FairPlay plays most │ │ 4-voice MOD files with 99% full ProTracker support. │ │ │ │ │ │ FEATURES │ │ ──────── │ │ │ │ Now, before I get on with some brief instructions I better wet │ │ your appetite by telling you WHY you just HAVE to take a look at │ │ this marvellous MOD player... │ │ │ │ │ │ - Nice GUI in 640x480x16 with everything controlled by the mouse │ │ or optionally the keyboard. The file requester makes sure you │ │ don't have to mess around at the DOS prompt. :) │ │ │ │ - ECHO, REVERB and CHORUS for Gravis Ultrasound. Dividing the 4 │ │ voices into 4 parts giving 16 voices, it sounds really amazing │ │ to say the least. A switch in the GLOBAL requester makes it │ │ possible to adjust the MOD according to the song speed every │ │ time a new MOD file is loaded. HINT: The echo effects works │ │ best on chiptunes and songs with slowly releasing samples. │ │ │ │ - The samplename window introduces something new and exciting, a │ │ samplebar for each samplename. The green bar shows the entire │ │ sample and the red within it shows the part that loops. If you │ │ press the BARS/INSTR buttons you can flip between both names │ │ and bars, or just bars. And you can even see the samples PLAY │ │ with small white pointers on the playing instruments! Suddenly │ │ all your old MOD files becomes interesting again! :) │ │ │ │ - Cute SETUP requester with full configuration saved in the path │ │ as "FP.CFG". When you start the player for the first time this │ │ requester automatically appears so that you can adjust all the │ │ settings for your card. Remember to enter the GLOBAL requester │ │ where you can specify a PATH to your MOD files - amongst many │ │ other things. │ │ │ │ - Scopes are divided up into left and right for easy loudspeaker │ │ placement. By using the SWAP button you can switch places on │ │ screen graphically. This way you don't have to fumble around │ │ on the back of your computer trying to match the player. :) │ │ │ │ - The file requester is very user friendly. You can use the path │ │ strings in the top or browse around with the mouse. │ │ │ │ - Tape recorder-like PLAY, STOP, SKIP and PAUSE buttons placed │ │ in the bottom of the screen. │ │ │ │ - Patternslide showing the entire MOD. This is one of the strong │ │ features of FairPlay - simply drag the slideblock to the new │ │ position and the MOD will play from there. By observing the │ │ speed and granularity of the slideblock you immediately get an │ │ impression of the the songs complexity. │ │ │ │ - Nice global information window showing MOD size, pattern- and │ │ event counters, soundcard, speed and rate. The speed shows the │ │ normal speed and BPM at the same time. │ │ │ │ - A really good support of ProTracker commands. Only Glissando, │ │ Loop Pattern and Funk Invert has not been included - you can │ │ live with that, can't you!? The player has been tested with │ │ over 1000 MOD files. It isn't perfect - but it sure is above │ │ average! The BPM may wobble on SB at times, though. │ │ │ │ - Sound Blaster player uses autoinitializing DMA, thus expanded │ │ memory is allowed. │ │ │ │ - The GUS player allows up to 1 Mb MOD files (if the memory is │ │ present), and is free of GUS clicks. :) │ │ │ │ - Most Sound Blaster cards are fully supported; SB v1.0-v1.5, SB │ │ v2.0, SB Pro and SB 16 in 8- or 16 bit mode! │ │ │ │ - Option exists which checks for the "M.K." signature in a file. │ │ This makes it possible for you to search your demo directories │ │ for MOD files without playing garbage. │ │ │ │ - Entire player and GUI was written in 100 % assembler. No high │ │ level crap! ;) │ │ │ │ │ │ KEYS │ │ ──── │ │ │ │ Although a mouse is required, you can also use the shortcut keys │ │ to access most functions. The main program accepts these keys: │ │ │ │ │ │ Enter Restart the song │ │ Cursor right Skip one pattern │ │ Cursor left Rewind one pattern │ │ 1-4 Voices ON/OFF │ │ Space Pause the song │ │ L or F12 FILE requester │ │ S or F9 SETUP requester │ │ B Show bars only │ │ I Show both bars and names │ │ P Swap the scopes graphically │ │ A About the creators │ │ Esc or F10 Quit the player │ │ │ │ │ │ The SETUP requester accepts these keys: │ │ │ │ │ │ G GLOBAL requester │ │ O or Enter OK button │ │ S SAVE button │ │ C, F10 or Esc Quit SETUP requester │ │ │ │ │ │ The GLOBAL requester accepts these keys: │ │ │ │ │ │ O or Enter OK button │ │ C, F10 or Esc Quit the GLOBAL requester │ │ │ │ │ │ THE FILE requester is a function called directly in the GUI, all │ │ keys available on the buttons are underlined. Other keys: │ │ │ │ │ │ Cursor up/down Move one line up or down │ │ PgUp/PgDn Move one page up or down │ │ Home Go to the top of list │ │ End Go to the end of list │ │ Enter Select the file or directory │ │ Esc Quit the FILE requester │ │ │ │ │ │ INSTRUCTIONS │ │ ──────────── │ │ │ │ This player was designed to play the standard 32 instrument MOD │ │ files in 4 voices, which originated on the Commodore Amiga. When │ │ such a file has been loaded you can watch the information or you │ │ can play around with the effect sliders provided that you have a │ │ Gravis Ultrasound. │ │ │ │ I will not write instructions on how to use the entire player. I │ │ rely on you being able to figure THAT out - what I WILL briefly │ │ discuss though is the use of the effect sliders. │ │ │ │ The effect sliders are in fact three sliders; DELAY, DEPTH and │ │ CHORUS. The DELAY and DEPTH sliders must be used together to get │ │ the desired effect. As I already mentioned earlier the MOD files │ │ use 4 voices. By quadrupling this to 16 voices totally, I get up │ │ to 4 parts of 4 voices each. Each part is an exact copy of the │ │ other part, with the exception of a time delay and a new volume, │ │ and THIS is what you can define with DELAY and DEPTH. │ │ │ │ DELAY (00-1F) controls the number of frames between the 4 parts. │ │ A value of 00 triggers all parts at the same time. Good values │ │ are usually 01-05, but matching the songspeed can often be a │ │ good idea. Eg, if the songspeed is 03, try values 03, 06, or 09. │ │ │ │ DEPTH (00-1F) defines the release of the volumen for the 4 parts │ │ in the echo effect. A value of 00 keeps all 4 parts at the same │ │ level (maximized), while 1F releases the parts almost instantly. │ │ Good values are 01-04. Most of the time it sounds good if you │ │ match the DELAY value, or double it. │ │ │ │ DELAY and DEPTH used together can create ECHO and REVERB on MOD │ │ files with an astonishing effect. However, the result may differ │ │ from MOD to MOD - the effect works best on chiptunes and songs │ │ with long and slowly releasing instruments. Short and staccato │ │ drums often tend to sound messy. │ │ │ │ CHORUS is an effect that is best used when both DELAY and DEPTH │ │ has been set to 00. When this is done, the 4 parts are triggered │ │ at the same time with maximized volume. If the CHORUS effect is │ │ set at 01 at this time, the notes will be detuned in each of the │ │ 4 parts and this will give the illusion of CHORUS. Even though │ │ the CHORUS accepts values up to 03, the value of 01 is all you │ │ need for most purposes. By experimenting with a higher DEPTH and │ │ perhaps DELAY you can achieve some truly stunning effects. │ │ │ │ In the GLOBAL requester you can set a switch which automatically │ │ chooses a DELAY and DEPTH combination suiting the speed of the │ │ MOD file you choose in the FILE requester. │ │ │ │ If you want to turn off all the effects, set DELAY to 00, DEPTH │ │ to 1F and CHORUS to 00. │ │ │ │ │ │ CONTACT ADDRESS │ │ ─────────────── │ │ │ │ If you want to contact me for some (legal only!) reason, you can │ │ write to the following snail mail address: │ │ │ │ │ │ Jens-Christian Huus │ │ Tranegaardsvej 71 a │ │ 2900 Hellerup │ │ Denmark │ │ │ │ │ │ FidoNet: 2:236/86.22 (Kilroy BBS) │ │ │ │ │ │ THE BORING STUFF │ │ ──────────────── │ │ │ │ All files in the archive should be distributed in their original │ │ form - it is forbidden to modify anything. The player may not be │ │ used commercially in any way without permission from the author. │ │ │ │ The names Vibrants, SirFace System and FairPlay are trademarks │ │ of Jens-Christian Huus. Other product and company names are the │ │ trademarks of their respective owners. │ │ │ │ All warranties are disclaimed, including damage to your hardware │ │ and/or software from use of this product. In no event will I be │ │ liable to you for any damages - including any lost profits, lost │ │ savings or other incidental or consequential damages arising out │ │ of your use or inability to use the program, or any other claim │ │ by any other party. │ │ │ │ │ │ LAST WORDS │ │ ────────── │ │ │ │ Well this concludes the DOC file for my MOD player. I hope you │ │ can forgive my terrible english, I know the grammatics may leave │ │ something to be desired at times... ;) │ │ │ │ Have fun, │ │ │ │ Jens / Vibrants │ │ │ │ │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ 20/11-1994; Version 1.1: │ │ ──────────────────────── │ │ │ │ - 13/11-1994: Adjusted existing functions to support the new syntax in the │ │ SirFace System v1.04ß (my 640x480x16 GUI). FairPlay now also makes use of │ │ the new file requester which allows <DIR> and files to be combined! :) │ │ │ │ - Swapped the "Swap" setting in LeftRight/LeftRightRes. They were connected │ │ the odd way round. │ │ │ │ - Now the mouse pointer is in "wait mode" (timeglass image) when loading a │ │ module to be played. │ │ │ │ - FairPlay uses improved versions of the players which now works on sound │ │ cards such as the 16-Bit soundcard from Trust. │ │ │ │ - 14/11-1994: Made limitation routines for the mouse. Now the mouse will not │ │ enter the areas belonging to the scopes. However, whenever the file │ │ requester or the setup requester is wanted, the mouse will move all over │ │ the screen again. │ │ │ │ - The sample bar window used to force itself into "bars only"-mode whenever │ │ an error appeared while loading. Fixed. │ │ │ │ - If quitting the file requester with an empty grey mode window, the window │ │ will now default to bars and sample text when the moduled is played again. │ │ │ │ - Adjusted the design in the bottom of the screen and added "Left/Right" │ │ indicators for the scopes. These will be adjusted when swapping too. │ │ │ │ - 16/11-1994: The MOD players has been updated with main volumen. Because │ │ of this I felt it necessary to implement this in FairPlay as well. Added │ │ a slide in the bottom of the screen and made sure it stays at the volume │ │ chosen, even if a new MOD is loaded. Main volume ranges from 00h-3Fh. │ │ │ │ - 19/11-1994: Inserted an "About" requester with credits to the creator of │ │ the wonderful fonts, the betatesters of my GUI - and of course myself! :) │ │ Also added key "A" to get this requester from the keyboard. │ │ │ │ - Added extensive commandline support. Apart from filename, there is -B for │ │ bars without samplenames, -F to enter file requester at startup, -P to use │ │ the current path, -S to swap the scopes and -vXX for main volume where XX │ │ is 00h-3Fh. │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘