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- New features in CD-Box v2.20:
-
- NOTE TO 386 AND 486 USERS: a nasty bug concerning mouse drivers and UMBs has
- been fixed in this version. If you have DOS and drivers loaded high, and
- previous versions of CD-Box hanged at startup, try this one!
-
- Major changes:
-
- - archives: .ARC & .ARJ support added
- - sound formats: .MDI & .WAV external support added
- - .VOC partial internal support added (as long as it fits in memory (no
- nonsense about a 64 KB limit) - I'm working on a homemade direct
- playing-from-disk technique to play sounds of any size. It works, but I
- want to test it really thouroughly before release; I'll put it in the next
- version).
- - improved graphics & mouse cursors
- - capability to swap all main memory into EMS, XMS or hard disk when calling
- an external player - useful for huge .MOD files. See Swap= parameter in
- part IV of CD-BOX.DOC.
- Also watch out for changes in CD-BOX.CFG, about .ARC & .ARJ & .ZIP
-
- Bug fixes:
-
- - SHARE.EXE locking file and preventing archiver from opening it - fixed
- - won't crash any more when title contains "unprintable" characters
-
- Small improvements:
-
- - impossible to click on a song button while a song is being played
- - buttons & sprites managers upgraded (song scrolling should be faster!)
- - auto-repeat for Rewind, Forward, Skip backward and Skip forward buttons
- - pilot lights flash corresponding format when a song is selected
- - better behavior on 386+ systems (I just upgraded)
- - "CD-BOX" on reader lights up instead of .ZIP pilot light (may change later)
- - .MOD bars are colored
- - CD-BOX/D made more readable (only songs with errors stay on the screen)
- - .VOC length (in seconds) directly computed from the file on disk
-
- Known but unfixed bugs: these are not bugs in CD-Box (otherwise I would have
- corrected them obviously) but in external players, that happened on 386+:
- I've found that the .MUS player (PLAY.EXE) plays a hideous cacophony of
- sounds, whatever the song, and the .ROL player (SPUTROL.COM) messes up the
- system clock completely: either it speeds it up like crazy or slows it down
- to a crawl. This happens even when running in plain vanilla DOS, so I know
- for certain it isn't CD-Box's fault. This is why CD-Box needs more internal
- support: to do away with these #&@$ external players altogether!
-
- Also:
-
- - CD-BOX.RSR doesn't exist anymore, and is merged into CD-BOX.EXE. You can
- remove your older copy of CD-BOX.RSR, if you have one. Note: do NOT use
- PKLITE or similar program on CD-BOX.EXE, or you'll reduce the memory
- available to CD-BOX, maybe crashing it!
- - I've added the French documentation (FRENCH.DOC).
- - I've removed the "unregistered copy" message at startup... and considerably
- increased the visual impact of the one when shutting down!
-
- Coming attractions:
-
- - I have an artist drawing a new title screen for me...
- - Support for .LZH and .ZOO archives when I get bored
- - maybe .MOD playing time extraction from the file on disk
- - "Direct-from-disk" or "double-buffering" or whatever-you-want-to-call-it
- technique to play .VOC files of any size (like Creative Labs' VPLAY
- does). This one is homemade, I'm rather proud of it, it works perfectly,
- just let me polish it and it'll be in the next version!
- - I have high hopes for internal .WAV support, tweaking it and making the SB
- think it's a .VOC file; it should be in the next version too!
- - Also I might fool around with .MDI... stay tuned!
- - Anybody out there got .MUS or .ROL routines I can use or get inspired by?
-