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- ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ 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. │
- │ │
- └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
