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******************************************************************************* ********************** FlaySID (Falcon Plays SID) *********************** ******************************************************************************* * A C64 soundchip emulator for Atari Falcon 030 computers. * * Version 3.01. Release date: November 29th, 1998. * ******************************************************************************* * (c) 1995-1998 by David Carrère and Mikhaël Myara. * ******************************************************************************* { (Berlin, Germany - Wednesday, 9. Dec 1998) A Little Note on the Beginning: Hi SID & F030 Fans, this is Jo' speaking. I've took the liberty to ZIP FlaySID3.01 which is still be to considered as a kind of Beta Version - as David hadn't had much time the recent months doing his civil-service. Ok, I've had a short look on V3.0 and snail-mailed David 1-2 bugs I've discovered. Pitily we do expect some more. But to show the audience some improvements and going ons "we've" decided to put this version on FTP servers. At the time being and to my actual knowledge David is NO longer reachable by email. instead please feel free to either send David a personal snail-mail to: David CARRERE, Mas du Cres, F - 30140 BOISSET ET GAUJAC, FRANCE or: I try to keep in contact with him so you can also send easier emails to: juergen@tcpip-gmbh.de maybe I'll take also some time to put some more infos on: http://www.artpages.de/joogn Furthermore we'd like to finish a HVSC-Tool making the HVSC found on: http://users.dhp.com/~shark/c64music/hv_sids/ also maintainable on Atari Systems. So HV-Tools certainly will be available at the beginning of 1999 containing a ZIP-to-8.3 filenames conversion etc ... Anyways, now have fun with your "new improved" FlaySID ! } ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY / SOMMAIRE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please, look at the end of the english section, the chapter called "What's new in this version ?" / Une version française de cette documentation n'est absolument pas présente dans la seconde partie de ce fichier, car Mikhaël et moi même partons à l'armée, donc c'était ça ou pas de FlaySID avant plusieurs mois ! Désolés. C'est l'occasion de perfectionner votre anglais ! A- ENGLISH VERSION / VERSION ANGLAISE I- What is FlaySID ? II- Some information about system compatibility III- How to use FlaySID ? IV- Known bugs and technical information V- Possible questions you may have... VI- How to contact authors ? VII- Thanks VIII-What's new in this version ? IX -For future versions... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENGLISH SECTION / VERSION ANGLAISE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I - What is FlaySID ? --------------------- FlaySID is a musicplayer, but not a simple musicplayer : it is able to play musics from the famous Commodore 64, a little but powerful computer developped in the beggining of the 1980's. To play such music-files, FlaySID has a C64 emulator that executes original C64 music routines (ripped from games, or demos) in real time. The DSP is widely used to emulate the SID (C64's Soundchip processor). More than 6000 SID files are available ! If you know somebody who uses PlaySID on Commodore Amiga computers, or SIDPlay on PC Computers, you can replay their datafiles : FlaySID is able to load them. II - Some informations about system compatibility ------------------------------------------------- FlaySID is a GEM application, Magic, NVDI and MinT compatible (Warning: To be MinT compatible, you must remove the memory protection, changing the filename MINT.PRG into MINTNP.PRG). It can be launched as a GEM application (.PRG) or as a desk accessory (.ACC). FlaySID shares system-ressources with others applications but slows down the computer, because of the C64 emulation. FlaySID works on Falcon 030 and should work on compatible computers (with a DSP56001). FlaySID works fully with high-speed CPU card (Contact us if you have problems) even if you change CPU speed when playing. FlaySID takes about 450Ko of ST RAM when loaded. FlaySID works with any graphic resolution, but it looks better with 16 colors standard GEM palette, and 80 col. graphic modes (>640 pixels wide). You should not use FlaySID in Truecolor modes, because they are too slow... III - How to use FlaySID ? -------------------------- ----------------- |To load FlaySID| ----------------- You must have the executable file (FLAYSID.ACC OR FLAYSID.PRG) and the ressource file (FLAYGEM.RSC) placed in the same directory. To use FlaySID as a desk accessory, just rename FLAYSID.PRG as FLAYSID.ACC and copy it (with FLAYGEM.RSC) at the root of your bootdisk (C:\ most of the time). ----------------- |The main window| ----------------- This is the first window you have when FlaySID is loaded (or when you call FlaySID using the Desk Accessory menu). FlaySID works like many CD players, so you have buttons to : - Load a file (EJECT button) - Stop playing a music (STOP button) - Start playing a music (PLAY button > ) - Pause the music when playing (PAUSE button || ) - Forward the music faster (FAST FORWARD button >> ) - Save music datas (SAVE button (*)) [Not available in v 3.0] - Change for next (>>|) or previous (|<<) music Click on the FlaySID logo to have informations about authors and program. Click on the "Opt." Button to change some play-parameters Click on the "Osc." button to display SID's waveforms and registers. Click on the "Log." button to display a text window with informations and error messages about FlaySID. Click on the ">>|" or "<<|" icon to change the number of the tune you want to play (a SID file often includes several tunes). A status line is in the lower border of the main window, it gives you information about the selected operation or about internal errors. The "Name", "Author" and "Copyright" fields give information about the Author, the name of the music, and the copyright (if available in the music file, else you will have something like " <?> "). You can close the window by clicking on the upper-left button (cross). If you use FlaySID as a desk accessory, the window disapear but FlaySID stays in memory, and if necessary, continue to play a tune. If you use FlaySID as a normal executable program (.PRG file), the music will be stopped and you will quit it. You can also iconify FlaySID using the upper-right button of the window ("fuller" button). You have then a smaller interface with only the basic functions. To display again the full window(s), click on the same button. In 40 col. graphics modes (<=320 pixels wide) FlaySID will automatically set the main window to its smallest size, and you can not change this (because there is not enough room space to display the entire interface). These two buttons exist on all windows (The upper-left button quits FlaySID only with the main window, otherwise it simply close the window). Closing the main window will automatically close all the others windows of FlaySID that you may have opened. ------------------- |The Option window| ------------------- This window is very important and contains a lot of parameters for the SID Player, and for the general use of FlaySID. In the upper part of the window you have buttons called "Emulation", "Osc.", and "Misc". Clicking on a button will display the options corresponding, in the middle part of the window. In the lower part of the window there are three buttons: "Save" to save the complete actual configuration, "Cancel" to restore the old configuration of the current options, "Set" to use the new options choosen. In this version, the Save and Cancel options are not working. But FlaySID is able to manage configuration files. That is to say: if a FLAYSID.INF file is available in the same directory than FlaySID, it will be recognized and the player will be configured as you want. A ".INF" file is available with this version but you can create it easily (see elsewhere in this file). In fact, most of the time, you do not need to click on the SET button to use most of the options: their effect is instantaneous. But for emulation modes, or Time-space window configuration, you must press the "SET" button. It is not possible to switch from one to another emulator in realtime, because each of them requires different initialisations and uses different parts of code, so the new mode will be used the next time you play a music (pressing start button or changing music). The Emulation sub-window: ------------------------- This allows you to change some emulation options. There are two parts: 6502 emulator options: *"C64 Type" Allows you to change the frequency of the emulated C64. PAL for european C64 (0.9 MHz), NTSC for US C64 (1 MHz). The PAL/NTSC option must be used carefully: Use always the PAL option to play correctly most of the tunes (FlaySID then simulate an european C64). But if you know that a music was specially done for american C64, then (in this case ONLY) change for NTSC. *"Emulation modes" Allows you to change the emulator used. "PlaySID" is the default mode. This is an optimized 6502 emulator. (For programmers: memory overflow is not managed if the 6502's PC go below $0000 or beyond $FFFF, but the playroutine will be stopped - all PlaySID ripped musics should perfectly work). "SIDPlay PC" uses an enhanced 6502 emulation, wich is fully compatible with the famous PC SID Player (Bank switching emulation), but slower than the default mode. Use always the PlaySID mode first, and only if it does not works, try this mode. "Total C64 mode" let you... well, does it really worth the price that we explain the aim of this option ?! :) Of course, a 40Mhz Falcon is highly recommended... In FlaySID v3.0 the "SIDPlay PC" and "TOTAL C64 mode" are NOT yet working. We hope to make them available (at least, SIDPLAY mode) for next version. *"Save mode": This option is linked with the "save" icon of the main window of FlaySID. This option let you save SID music or SID datas into files, to analyse them ! In FlaySID v.3.0. The save mode is not active, be sure it will be ready for v3.1. *"Consider emulator crashed if execution time is greater than xx seconds". A playroutine usually lasts 0.02 seconds (50Hz interrupt). But, if something goes wrong, the 6502 emulator will never ends. And as FlaySID is based on an interrupt, it will never end, and so... your Falcon will be locked too ! Exactly like a real C64... What a wonderful and accurate emulation ! :-) But FlaySID is able to see that there is a problem and stops the interrupt. The problem for some tunes (ex: those ripped by "Helmond Cracking Service") is that the first routine FlaySID calls ("Init routine") lasts for some seconds (What did the program do ? Maybe unpacking...). So, you can parameters the maximum time a 6502 routine can last. The default time is 5 seconds. In FlaySID 3.0 you can change this parameter using the config file for FlaySID (FLAYSID.INF). DSP SID emulator options: *"Replay frequency": You can choose among several replay frequencies. The default frequency is 25Khz and plays 95% of tunes at correct speed on a standard 16Mhz Falcon. 33Khz frequency is for lucky owners of 40Mhz DSP. 20Khz frequency is really awful, but it is better than nothing if the DSP has not enough time to play a tune... *"Emulation of test bit": The test bit is often used to reset or stop immediately waveforms (well, to be accurate, the test bit was also used for "non direct musical reasons", because setting the test bit would increase the signal/noise ratio of the SID output). A lot of tunes use it, especially tunes from 1994-1998. The test bit emulation of FlaySID is not 100% correct, and this could lead to noisy clicks sometimes or even to excessive white noise reset, removing high frequencies (This was often the case in old versions of FlaySID !). This version 3.0 of FlaySID seems to have a correct emulation of test bit: The white noise is reseted only if test bit is set to one for more than $5000 C64 cycles. Others waveforms are immediately reseted. You should use always the test bit emulation, but you can choose to use it or no, if the emulation does not seems to be accurate. *"Emulation of filters": allows you to choose to emulate SID filters or no. You can choose wich filter emulate. In FlaySID v3.0, only the Low-Pass filter is available. Well, this is not so bad, because it is the most often used ! The Osc. sub window: -------------------- This window is only for the time-space viewer. *"Display SID waveforms": Allows you to see the waveforms of the SID on each voices, plus the sample voice used sometimes (this sample voices was created changing quickly the general volume level, but ripped musics play them in a different way, so that it is possible do display the waveform). *"Display SID Registers": Allows you to see the main registers of the SID (so you can understand why some tunes are so wonderful ?!). On the time-space viewer, below waveforms, you have the names of internal registers followed with a button. A coloured button means that the register is selected. The time-space viewer is refreshed as soon as the system has time to do it. With tunes wich use a lot of CPU time, the refresh rate may become absolutely unbearable ! If you have NVDI, this window will be more interesting because more acurate. In FlaySID v.3.0. display routines have been greatly improved. NB: To have a maximal speed, close the Log window (it slow down the time-space viewer because of its own management). *"Waveforms redraw routines": You can choose among two drawing routines: -Pure GEM: Only standard GEM routines are used. The main advantage is that this will probably work on any thinkable configuration, with any graphic resolution. The main default is that it is so slow that you will forget it for the next button: -Gem Compatible: Assembler routines draw waveforms, and a GEM routine copy them onto the screen. It is fast, and system friendly. It should work with most of the graphic configurations. nb: This option is valid only for waveforms, not for SID registers. The display of the internal registers is always refreshed using standard GEM routines. *"Linked points": You can link or not the points of the waveform display windows, so that square waveforms will be really square, and will not be only two parallel lines ! nb: In Pure GEM mode, the points are never linked (...and there is even a redraw bug ! f**k ! No time to remove it in this v3.0 !). *"Colors for oscillators": Just for the fun ! The "Sound" sub-window: ----------------------- *"SID Emulation processor" Here, you can choose to use the Yamaha (soundchip processor of the Atari ST and Falcon) instead of the DSP to play the music. IN THIS CASE, IT IS NOT REAL SID EMULATION !! This option is here for the fun. The only way to do real SID emulation is the use of the DSP Output. You can also choose "Hardware SID". This is for a SID harware card that you plug into the cartridge extension port of your Falcon. The way to make it will be given in next versions of FlaySID, but we are currently debugging this card, made by Jo'ogn Opperman. You can contact him for further informations (his email: juergen@tcpip-gmbh.de) This card maps the SID registers as follow: Atari a1-a7 = SID d1-d7 Atari a8-a12 = SID a0-a4 Atari a15 = starts a Monoflop that draws SIDs -RES for more than 10 clockcycles a 1us to low (Reset SID). *"ASCII conversion" let you convert the ASCII text of the NAME, AUTHOR, and COPYRIGHT of a SID file. It is interesting for special ASCII characters (>128). You can convert AMIGA/Windows95/98 -> Atari, or PC MS-DOS->Atari. *"Display SID infos": this option will display in the Log window some internal parameters of the SID file (loading adress, ...). These datas could be wrong if the player does not play the music when asking for them. Some or them will be displayed only when FlaySID is playing the music. Why ? Because some parameters could be known only when the C64 routines have been called ! "Give now" gives you these datas as you want (the interest is to ask for them when FlaySID is playing). *"Unlock sound-system" If an application wich use the sound system has a problem (the kind of EXPLOSIVE one !) it can not end properly, and this could make the sound-system unavailable for other applications. Clicking on this option will force the sound system, even if it seems not to be available. Warning: never use it "just to see" the result ! If another application is currently using the sound system in a normal way, you will also have a kind of explosive problem ! ----------------------- |The Oscillator window| ----------------------- Opening this window, you will have the digital output of the SID (Three synthetized voices + the optional digitized voice), and the content of some SID registers in something we can name "realtime" for an human being (...but certainly not for a computer !). You can also display SID registers and/or SID waveforms. To change these parameters, look at the "Osc." button onto the options window. You can cut off each voice separately, by clicking on the buttons "voice 1", "Voice 2", "Voice 3", and "Voice 4". IV - Known bugs and technical informations: ------------------------------------------- We need your opinion to make FlaySID sound (... or look) better. So, please, tell us all the bugs you could have noticed. This is very important we can not test the program on every possible configuration ! Some users do that, and so help us a lot. For SID Emulation/C64 emulation bugs, please, write to David, and give the name of the musicfile and describe precisely the bug or the problem. If you are a C64 music coder, and if you think your playroutine doesn't works correctly, please let me know ! For GEM Interface bugs, write to Mikhael, give your hardware configuration, the operating system you use (Magic, GEM, ..), the name of the programs you have in your AUTO folder (same for desk accessories), and of course, tell your problem ! YOU ARE ALSO ALLOWED TO WRITE US JUST TO TELL THAT IT WORKS FINE ! :-) *6502 emulator v 1.2: - Full cycle-based emulation - PlaySID emulation mode - Emulation of all legal instructions - Emulation of some undocumented instructions - Emulation of PlaySID's CIA-IRQ/TIMER-A - Memory managment 100% PlaySID compatible - Managment of PlaySID extended registers (for Sample & Galway fixed routines). - In this version, if the emulator find an illegal (undocumented) instruction, wich is not yet emulated, the playroutine is imediately aborted. *DSP SID emulator v 2.0: - REALTIME synthesis at 33, 25 or 20Khz, 16 bits mono, calculated on 24 bits. - Full cycle based emulation - SID emulation accuracy: 30, 40 or 50 6502 cycles (depending on replay frequency). SID registers are read each 30 (or 40 or 50) cycles. (A modification of SID registers in an interval lower than 30 (or 40 or 50) cycles will be take in count but not hearable). - Emulation of the 4 waveforms and their parameters, with the same resolution than the SID (However, waveforms are slightly different compared to the real SID, because FlaySID does not emulate its analogical output). Correct emulation of special waveforms (mixed waveforms), but not realtime synthesis (cycle based, but waveforms are taken from original C64's samples). - Emulation of white noise waveform. It should be close to the original one, but does not seems to be the same as expected. - Emulation of ADSR registers and volume enveloppes. - Emulation of Synchronization and Ring-modulation (FlaySID use the same algorithms than those in hardware into the SID) - Good emulation of "Test bit", but not yet perfect ! - Emulation of Low Pass, High Pass and Band Pass filters, at 6dB/Octave, with resonancy. Resonancy emulation is rough but... it sounds not so bad ! - Emulation of read-only registers ($d41b, $d41c) but not accurate. - Emulation of Samples/Galway-noise (PlaySID fixed routines) accuracy: 30, 40 or 50 C64 cycles, depending on replay frequency. *YM-2149 Yamaha soundchip processor SID emulator V1.0β: -Realtime conversion of SID datas into YM datas. -Only one waveform instead of the three of the SID, plus White noise -No Ring Modulation -No Hard Sync but an ugly pseudo-sync effect instead. -Full emulation of ADSR (using the 68030 to control the YM in realtime) -Emulation of read only registers -Emulation of Sample/Galway Noise (PlaySID fixed routines) using the 68030. -Full emulation of "Windows98's CNN bugs" ! :) *GEM Interface v 1.0 : - Full XFormDo (Window-based Formulars) - Contextual Mouse Cursors - One UserDefined Object has been Defined (200) - Accessory Messages supported - Objects Redraw in background windows available. - Faster and optimized routines Comments and known bugs: ----------------------- *To play at 33Khz you MUST use a hi-speed card. Maybe later this option will work on a standard falcon...[In fact, sometimes the 33Khz option works on a standard Falcon, but you have to try it...]. *Some tunes use simultaneously 2 or 3 filters: a 32Mhz DSP seems to have problems playing musics at correct speed ! Next version of FlaySID will let you use a "fast mode" with less parameters. *There are a LOT of new features on this version of FlaySID. It seems to work fine, but we can not test the program on every thinkable configuration. If a crash occurs on your Falcon using FlaySID, check first if there is not a problem of compatibility with another resident program. If it always crash the OS, then write us ! Warning: sometimes, when FlaySID's internal 6502 emulator crash, it could take some seconds for the "security routines" to stop it, so your system seems to be halted for some seconds, but in fact, it is not crashed ! *FastForward routines speed up the 6502 and SID frequency. But, as the emulator is splitted between the 68030 and the DSP, if one of the two processors have not enough time to complete the emulation, of the tempo or the frequency, only one will be higher creating strange effects ! ...Buy a 40Mhz card ! *Sometimes you could have some noisy bugs in the synthetised sound (a kind of "click"). This could be normal, and a C64 would also play these clicks (this is the case for "Danger Freak Intro" by C.Huelsbëck), but it could be that FlaySID imitates the numeric "output" instead of the analogical output of the SID. We have to lead further analyses on the SID's analogical output before emulating it. *Under Magic, no 3D Look Support in Monochrom Modes. *Some display bugs in the time space viewer using some graphic resolutions *Sample routines for the Yamaha player are not stable... they could lock your computer with some tunes... avoid to use YM when you do important work with your Falcon. *Even if the 6502 emulator has been optimized, FlaySID is not yet able to play all musics at their real tempo (~ 5% of all available musics) on a basic Falcon 030 running at 16Mhz. This is because the 68030 has not enough time to do the emulation ...or because the emulator is not perfect :). In this case, FlaySID slow down the tempo (/2) to let the 68030 complete the emulation. If this problem occurs with samples, they will be distorted (DSP Player only). Happy owners of Hi-Speed CPU card will never have this problem ! If you have only a standard Falcon with 16Mhz 68030 (...like us !) try to decrease the number of colours of your GEM desktop, so that the graphic processor ..VIC... hmmm no, VIDEL ;) of the Falcon will steal less memory read cycles to the 68030 (the best solution is to use a screen saver wich completely stops the VIDEL, such as TURBO VEILLE). Also, avoid moving the mouse, because mouse system routines take HUGE time ! V- Possible questions you may have... --------------------------------------- Q: Why does FlaySID takes so much memory in the new version ? (450 Kbytes) A [David]: There are obvious answers: the new version includes C64 ROM (20Ko) (for future MMU emulation) and there is a lot of new code (for the emulator and for the interface management). Q: Why the DSP isn't able to do SID emulation at 33Khz on my standard 16Mhz Falcon ?! All soundtrackers play at 50Khz ! A [David]: I am a 68030 coder. The DSP Player is the first and the only one DSP program I ever did. I learn a lot of things about DSP programming each new week, and it takes time to re-do all the old routines. Some of them are really awful... I know it, but I can't make about 2500 lines of DSP code in a single week (My brain is older than this good old 6502 processor !). I must also keep in mind to improve the 68030 source code (6502 emulators, Yamaha player, and more). I think the synthesis program will fully work at 33Khz on standard Falcon one day. I could do a faster program using general synthesis algorithms. But I don't want it. It is not interesting for me: I don't want "a" SID synthesis, but THE SID synthesis (...if possible !). This entails a lot of precalculated tables (illegal waveforms, ADSR "sound enveloppes", filters parameters), and a lot of special tests (for test bit, for special ADSR programming, for SID registers refresh delays). The SID synthetizer also use some original SID algorithms for waveform generation. And the problem is that these features use a lot of memory moves and tests, but not a lot of computing instructions...and the DSP is really not at ease with this kind of programming... and I am not at ease with the DSP ! :) To conclude: I choosed MAXIMAL SID FIDELITY instead of MAXIMAL REPLAY QUALITY. Q: Why is your YM so poor ?! There are plenty of bugs ! A [David]: When I did FlaySID, and when I didn't know how to code the DSP, I need to test the emulator to see if it worked correctly. I decided to use the Yamaha to make a fake SID emulation. When the DSP synthesis program was finished, I decided to let the Yamaha player, because... it was really funny ! So the YM player is very rough, because it was for my own tests... The interrupt reproducing the ADSR runs at 200Hz only, even if it is enough most of the time (the fastest attack rate would need a 8000Hz interrupt to be correctly reproduced but it takes too much CPU time). The way I do ADSR is not really clever, I think there is another way to do them. There is no hard sync emulation, but the hard sync is replaced by... something completely different but wich could give... well... an idea of what the sound could be... (even if most of the time it sounds awful :-) ). Concerning the ADSR, I found why it sounds so poor, I need time to re-do all the ADSR routines ! Argh ! %-) Comparing the YM player and the DSP player is useful to check if a bug come from the 68030 emulator (The bug could be heard in the two modes), or from the DSP (the bug is here only using DSP, but not with the YM). If users ask for it, I will improve the YM player... Q: Why Flay uses a cycle-based emulation of the C64 ? Does it really worth the price and doesn't it slow down the system ? A [David]: Flay uses a cycle based emulation because it contributes to improve the fidelity of the SID emulation. The SID create sounds, but a clever "musician-programmer" can create highly complex sounds changing SID registers at small and/or regular space of time. Furthermore, if FlaySID adresses the SID using the same timing than a real C64, I think you will agree that the result will be probably closer to the reality - (even if you can't often hear the difference...) So, I think that it worth the price all the more that it doesn't takes extra CPU time for emulation (except for samples). Having or not the cycle based emulation will change nearly nothing for the 68030 processor, because it is the DSP wich do all the required synchronizations. Concerning samples, this is true that the method used take (not so) much time than an ordinary 68030 interrupt based routine but I had reasons to choose it: *I never succeed in playing a sample using a 68030 interrupt and DMA without having sample distorsion when you move the mouse. *Using a 68030 interrupt decrease the quality of samples, because you lost cycle-based emulation for them, and furthermore, all the MFP rates (MFP = Falcon's interrupt controller) does not cover exactly all the sample rates of the C64. *With the actual method, FlaySID play the samples exactly like the original C64 and is -theorically- also able to replay ORIGINAL C64 sample routines. I wrote "theorically" because in fact, as FlaySID does not emulate the C64's CIAs (=C64's interrupt controllers) it cannot execute original samples routine yet, but when CIAs emulation will be complete, be sure that it will work ! Q:... And why did samples slow down a bit FlaySID ? A: Curious user ! to sum up, FlaySID convert PlaySID sample datas into a a new latice: it re-create the data stream of the original NMI sample interrupt... Q: When I use the fast forward mode, I suppose this is a trick, and that the synthetised sound loose accuracy ? A: No. When you press the fast forward button, it is exactly as if you have a C64 running at 2Mhz, instead of 1 Mhz. The entire emulator (6510 & SID) runs twice as fast. There are no losses. Q: Do you know the HV-SIDs collection ? I cannot use the v2.0 because it is in long names fileformat ! A: Yes, of course, we know HV-SIDs. This is the most comprehensive SID tune collection ever done. Until the v2.0, ZIP files were in MS-DOS fileformat. But, for the v2.0, authors choosen long name fileformat (Unix, Amiga, Mac OS), we can not blame them for this choice, it is a normal evolution. So, there is a problem for TOS Falcon users. If you use MagX! 5.0 you will not have this problem, because MagX! use the Windows95's FATname system, and FlaySID "loves" MagX! ! For TOS users we would like to let FlaySID use directly the .ZIP files, so they will not have to unpack them on their harddisk, and they will have long filename, like everybody ! Jo'ogn Oppermann also make programs to run HV-SID's update files on Falcon. Contact us if you are interested in. Q: Could Linux users have FlaySID one day ? A[David]: Yes. A user wrote me and asked me if I could give him FlaySID ASM sources to make a Linux version. The answer is: OK, no problem. I just would like that this user re-contact me via snail-mail, because I cannot send email to tell him that it was a very good idea ! :-( Q: What ?! You talked about a Total C64 Mode ? A: Yes. Q: Does it means that I will see on the screen of my Falcon "C64 Basic... Ready" with a typical blue background ? A: Wait and see... It depends on the number of FlaySID users, and on the will David have to make a C64 emulator for Falcon... If others coders want to take part to this project, it will speed-up things ! VI- The authors: ---------------- FlaySID is POSTCARDWARE ! You can copy it freely, but you MUST NOT change the contents of the program/data files/original archive. ...We received 2 postcards until now, and we think we have more than two users (one in Germany, the other in Poland) in the world. Show us you like our work, send us a postcard ! Or a photograph of your dog using FlaySID, or... whatever you want ! Ideas, or questions are welcome !! *To discuss about 6502 emulation, SID emulation, DSP and 68030 programming, system compatibility or about the C64, please contact David: email: one day probably ! Ordinary mail: David CARRERE, Mas du Cres, 30140 BOISSET ET GAUJAC, FRANCE. Minitel (For french people only): I threw my Minitel into the trash ! IRC: it is impossible for me to go on IRC. Sorry. *To discuss about GEM interface programming, C programming and about numeric filters, please contact Mikhaël: email: no email ! Maybe one day... Ordinary mail: Mikhael MYARA, 13, Impasse du Caroux 34500 BEZIERS, FRANCE. As you can see, snail mail is the only way to contact us from September 1998. Furthermore, we have 10 monthes of free "holidays", offered by the French Army ! So, we will be slower than before to answer (My God ! you will have to wait at least 152 years !). VII- Thanks ----------- 1- From David ------------- On the beginnig of 1995, I knew nothing about the C64. I was even not able to tell you the colour of the BASIC screen ! In three years, I had to learn (almost !) everything about this computer, same for the DSP 56001 included into the Falcon. I had also to improve my coding style wich was a bit rough ...haem...just a bit ;-) So, I would like to thank some people for their precious help: *David Virebayre, to make me discover C64's fabulous world, especially SID music, for supporting me in this project, to give me very good documentation about the C64, to make me share its wonderful ideas for optimizing and improving FlaySID. For all time we spent (and we will spend) in front of his C64 and Amiga, discussing about everything wich make computers exciting. I really hope that there will be in the future people wich will make computers as exciting as the C64 is, but I fear that something has changed for ever... *Mikhaël Myara to offer his services and join my project, to allow FlaySID to have a so beautiful and user friendly interface, to fill up all my lacks in mathematics and physics, for its wonderful formulas for filtering, for its good ideas, and for all our discussion about computers, around a table of the "Restaurant Universitaire de Montpellier" (Montpellier's students dining-hall). 'hope we will have again a lot of computer science projects to make together ! *PlaySID's authors for their precious help, particularly with PlaySID's sources wich helped me a lot to improve FlaySID, and to make it 100% PlaySID compatible. Also, I would like to thank them to be the firsts wich created the concept of the "Playmulator", I am not sure that they expected such a huge success for this concept on all computers ! I really regret that PlaySID Amiga has been halted, and I will be really happy to take part to a new version. *Juko VALTA to gave me a lot of technical informations about the SID, and other C64 processors. *"Alfatech" on IRC for his explanations about the basic functionment of ring-modulation ! *Michael Schwendt (SIDPlay's author on PC) for Decay and Release waveforms datas, for PlaySID 3.0 fileformat (better than the one I "computed" before !), and for .mus fileformat. *Andreas VARGA and Uwe SMITH. *Thanks to Atari for adding a DSP into the Falcon. *Thanks to Christian Huaux for its book about the DSP 56001. [Bon CH, tu deviens quoi, on te voit plus ?!] *Thanks to the authors of several text files about SID and C64, available on the net, for their long and hard work (especially NewsGroup comp.sys.cbm). *Thanks to (scarce) FlaySID users wich let me know bugs, and wich support FlaySID. Thank you ! And keep your Falcon ! *And, last but not least, thank to myself (...not Myselƒ !) for having the will to tell to David Virebayre, when he showed me PlaySID Amiga: "Wow, I really like this program, I convert it to the Falcon !", and he turned about me with a resolute look, puting two of his fingers into his nose (implying "Fingers in the nose !"). (Mikhaël has also a lot of thanks to tell, but he will do it in a future version. Won't you, Mikhaël ?! ... M..Mikhaël ? Are you here ?!) VIII -What's new in this version ? --------------------------------- **Version 3.1, November 1998. Wooow ! So fast ! -Bug removed from DSP filter emulation routines. The conversion of SID frequency into hertz frequency (what we could name something like "filter response curve") is now MUCH MORE close to the original. The Bandpass and hipass filters are now correct. The only problem is that the volume level of the filtered sound is sometimes a bit weak (maybe a little problem with resonancy emulation). -Bug removed from the Option/Emulation window ("Emulation of all filters" option) -Bug removed to the volume level slider (Option/Misc window) -Volume level of mixed waveform "Sawtooth+Triangle" was too weak. It has been increased. **Version 3.0, October 1998. What ?...Late ? You said we are LATE ?! How do you dare to tell... the truth ! :-) Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! ############################################################################# -Low Pass, High Pass, and Band Pass Filters added. This is a first try, the filters run at 6dB/Octave (unlike the real SID whom LP and HP filters are 12 db/Octave). The conversion of SID frequency (Reg. $D415/$D416) into Hertz frequency is rough. The resonancy should not sound so bad because FlaySID does not use a real accurate mathematical resonancy... What %-) ?! It uses another algorithm wich should be closer to the real SID resonancy and to the functionment of analogic components of this processor. Now take all yours favourite tunes, and ENJOY THEM ! Some tunes with cool filters effects, from HV SIDs collection: Martin Galway/; Jonhatan Dunn/; Chris_Huelsbëck/; Rob_Hubbard/; Tjelta/; Maniacs_of_noise/; Various/TBB/; Various/PVCF/; Various/AMJ/; Various/Agemixer/; Various/JEFF; ... And of course, all musics from your favourites games: Eliminator, Sanxion, Robocop 1, Lastninja, Yie Ar A Kung Fu 2, ... Please, tell us how accurate are these filters, according to your C64 musical memory... Be careful with the Band Pass and High pass filters, they have to be improved ! The filtered waveforms are NOT displayed in the time-space viewer, because waveforms are drawed before filtering. Furthermore, the SID filters the sum of voices, so, the result is not displayable for each voices separately. And as FlaySID's DSP routines try to work exactly like a real SID ... Registered users of "Megaplayer v1.13", you can see the synthesis's final result, changing the source for oscilloscopes to "DSP-XMIT". ############################################################################# Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! -Test bit emulation: bug removed ! On a real SID, when you set the Test bit to one, the white noise is locked and reset... but NOT imediately ! There is a delay of several cycles. Old versions of FlaySID did not emulate this delay, so that the white noise was too much reset, creating "special white noise effects" wich were absolutely NOT in the original musics. Most of the time, the result was huge loss in high frequencies. The problem is that this delay is not stable on a real SID: it vary from $2000 to $8000 6502 cycles ! FlaySID use a constant delay of $5000 cycles, wich seems to give satisfaying results. Please, tell to David your opinion about new white noise emulation. -Bug removed from DSP player: ring modulation was wrong using mixed waveforms (Triangle+other waveform) ! Technical explanation: this is because (We think that) the SID first creates a waveform from the triangle generator (but the rectangle generation unit disturb it) and computes the ring modulation, then it makes a logical AND with the rectangle waveform. Older version of FlaySID first computes the mixed waveform, make a logical AND with the rectangle waveform, and THEN do the ring with the result... -Sometimes, the waveforms were not drawed into the Time-Space viewer window. (ex: Sacred Armour of Antiriad). This bug has been removed. -DSP-68030's transfer routines are a bit faster. -Optimized time-space viewer. You can now see simultaneously SID registers and SID waveforms, without having a "turtle-like speed" ! :-) -Improved DSP player: better, FASTER, and cleaner computation algorithms. -New ! Muting of voices: you can now turn on or off any of the 4 voices of the SID, at any time. -New ! Filter emulation selection: You can also choose to turn on or off any of the 3 SID's filters. -New ! Test bit emulation selection: You can turn on or off SID's test bit emulation to see wether there is a difference or no. This option will be useful for curious users but not for others, that is why you should always emulate the test bit to have an accurate result ! -New ! Conversion of Amiga's and PC's special ASCII characters, wich will let you read correctly the name of North european SID composers ! -New ! Realtime volume level configuration: you can change the synthesis volume just moving a slider. -New ! Log window: This window give you informations about player's functionment and internal errors. Strange... it remembers me something, but I cannot see what ?! :-) -Smaller interface. -New ! FlaySID configuration file. You can now change the default configuration of FlaySID. You just have to change the parameters included into the "FLAYSID.INF" file. To change them, it is really easy: just take any ASCII text editor, and change the parameters ! FLAYSID.INF must be in the same directory than the executable program (FLAYSID.PRG or FLAYSID.ACC). If the INF file does not exist, FlaySID will take its own default configuration. **Version 2.0, December 1997. fifth update. Who said we are late ?!! ;-) -New ! Oscillator window wich displays SID waveforms on each voice (3 synthetic voices + 1 digital voice) and SID registers. You can choose among two display routines (system / assembler), you can view SID registers, choose color, ... -New ! Option window to change player's parameters. -Another awful bug removed from the emulator. This was again a bug in the C64 memory initialization routines (some bytes of the SID file were not loaded in C64 memory). Universe (by Drax), Chordian (by JCH), and a lot of tunes like this improvement !! -Bug removed from the emulation: bad flag refresh after "PLA" 6502 instruction. ex: "Knight games" (Martin Galway) works now correctly. -Completely new sample routines, now with 100% correct cycle count, and they should be 100% bug free (...we hope !). The following bugs have also been eliminated: -Bug removed from sample routines: with some parameters, the routines wich compute the samples and send them to the DSP could enter in a never ending loop ! This locked the Falcon... (ex.: 2400_AD) -Another bug removed from sample routines (DSP Player). Sometimes, they ended the playroutine too early. Next playroutines will then completely crash, causing wrong sound (ex: North&South) or... even worse (Falcon crash !). -Bug removed from file loading routines. Sometimes, with musics splitted in two file (*.* and *.INF, or *.DAT and *.SID) the info file wasn't loaded correctly, so that the emulator doesn't found essential information to run C64 routines. -The "tune number" buttons give now all the possible music numbers (0..255). In older versions, the number was limited to 99, wich was sometimes a problem (ex: Delta loader). [nb: there is again a bug for high numbers, sorry !] -According to the resolution of your screen, the icons of the interface will be converted so that it will look almost the same in any graphic mode. Welcome VGA users ! :) Note that the interface is a mess in VGA mode because the system do a bad conversion of objects position... We will try to improve things... -New interface features ! You can now iconify the main window of FlaySID to have just basic commands (load, play, pause, fast forward, Number of tune). Other very cool features are also available. Enjoy them ! -OPTIMIZED emulator. Now, most of replay routines work at correct speed on a standard Falcon (16Mhz 68030)... if you don't move the mouse ! If you stop VIDEL (Video processor) 99% of playroutines work at correct speed, even 500Hz playroutines. A lot of things changed in the emulator, we hope it will not be a new source of bugs for you ! There are two emulation modes in this version: FAST PlaySID and Normal PlaySID. The latest is here just to prevent some (very very hypotetic) bugs of the former and will probably disappear soon. -New management of the tempo of the routines. Now the 68030 depend on to the DSP (before, it was the opposite !), so the tempo is now really accurate (cycle based). -New Fast Forward routines. Don't you think it sounds like a real one now ? -Huge bug removed from the DSP player: Bad cycle count and bad "synchronisation" with the 68030 wich could sometimes entails a loss of SID datas, resulting in lots of sonorous bugs such as what I [David] though to be an ADSR bug. Enjoy now all the marvellous tunes of Tim Follin and hundreds of other tunes ! **Version 1.2, 14 of April, 1997. Fourth update. Sorry for the release delay of this update. -Smaller interface (Useful if you use FlaySID with multitask OS !) -Bug removed from the player: register $d41c of the SID was always filled with $00 in DSP mode ! Cause: Silly bug from the DSP player. -After playing, FlaySID now restores the sound system in a STe compatible mode, so that STe applications or Falcon applications wich use the Falcon like a STe will work [Some SID Players will like this improvment... :) ]. -New DSP sound mixing-routines, the sound is now PCM coded, wich improves the quality (especially white noise) and prevent some little noises when very short attack/decay times are used. -FlaySID is now able to reproduce the mixed waveforms of the SID with a good fidelity: when choosing several waveforms simultaneously on a voice, the SID mix them in a very special way. So special that nobody knows the real algorithm to reproduce this output ! That is why, FlaySID use samples of theses waveforms (We hope to find the algorithm one day...). The output of the following combinations is exact: Square+Triangle, Square+Sawtooth, Sawtooth+Triangle. For the Sawtooth+Triangle+Square output, the fidelity is probably lower, because this output seems to be more complex than expected (Perhaps it vary for each new waveform ?!). When mixing with the white noise, most of the time the result is zero because it locks the SID. But in some cases, it could produce some very short sounds before the SID locks. In this version, the white noise is mixed with the 3 others waveforms using a logical AND, we will try to do a better emulation of this combination in a future version ! Examples of mixed waveforms: Storm Warrior or Kanguru. -33Khz replay option ! This is for lucky owners of CPU and DSP accelerators (68030 running at 33Mhz/DSP at 50Mhz). I (David) will do my best to make it works on standard Falcon ! -A lot of improvments and new code into the emulator, to add in a future version a SIDPlay PC Compatible mode, and a [VERY COOL] mode. Note also that the actual mode (PlaySID Compatible mode) has been greatly improved. FlaySID may be now really 100% PlaySID compatible for the memory management ! -Some undocumented instructions added into the emulator. -Awful bug removed from the emulator. Cause: When FlaySID loaded the SID File into the C64 memory, the last byte of the SID File was missing. And this byte was sometimes essential, because it was the $60 instruction (RTS) wich ended the playroutine !! As a consequence, the emulator executed more code than expected and furthermore, a random code wich could change the SID Values for exemple (or completely lock the emulator...), until an undocumented instruction was met wich ended the playroutine... The results was a lot of bugs, such as the muting of some voices, emulator crash, etc... -New security system: FlaySID is now able to detect a crash of the 6510 emulator in PlaySID mode (and in the future SIDPlay mode). Before, this kind of never-ending routine locked your Falcon (...like on a real C64 !). Now, if the emulator does not end a routine after 5 seconds, it stops. The "Play" icon will be selected, but there will not be any sound. -As you know (?) the InterNet ftp server "ftp.cnam.fr" /pub/Atari/ is dead :(((. Where could you find new versions of FlaySID ? Try ftp.funet.fi for exemple, we upload also the new versions here. **Version 1.1, 6th of January 1997. Third update. -Improved DSP player: Now, FlaySID plays samples with the same accuracy than synthesis, i.e. 40 or 50 6502 cycles. You can now MOVE THE MOUSE without any distorsion of samples ! -Samples are now correctly synchronized with synthetized sound (This was not the case before !). -Optimisation of the DSP Player. -Optimised 6502 emulator: Faaaaaaster emulation ! **Version 1.02β, 16th of December 1996. Second update. -Improved DSP Player. Now, FlaySID uses EXACTLY the same algorithms than the SID to make waveforms (except "illegal" waveforms), Hard sync and Ring modulation. -Optimisation of the DSP player, you will probably rarely use the 20Khz frequency... - Bug removed: Quality of sound improved. Cause: Bad synchronization of DSP and the DMA/CODEC (Bad "DSP mono=>DMA stereo" conversion). The sound has more high frequencies. Enjoy it ! **Version 1.01β, 2th of December, 1996. First update. - Bug removed with CIA/IRQ emulation. This bug could lock the computer with some musics wich use CIA/IRQ (ex: Antiriad). Cause: bad conversion of CIA/IRQ parameters for the MFP... IX- For next versions ----------------------- Some people though we stopped to improve FlaySID. This is, of course, perfectly wrong and we have not finished to add hundred of options ! Don't worry, you will not have to buy a PC to hear at your favourite tunes ! :-) Future improvements: *Full emulation of all filters *Emulation of SID's "analogical part" *SIDPlay emulation mode *Playlist to manage your SID files *Total C64 mode (what ?!) *A lot of options *Help window *...ideas ? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VERSION FRANCAISE / FRENCH SECTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vous n'avez pas lu le début du fichier bon sang ?!! Je [David] n'ai PAS EU LE TEMPS de mettre la doc à jour car le ministère de la défense m'acceuille bras ouverts pour un stage de 10 mois ! Enfin bon, votre curiosité est récompensée puisque je peux vous annoncer qu'il y aura encore plein de versions de FlaySID. C'est pas un scoop ça, hein ?! Bon d'accord, combien y-a-t il de français, possesseur de Falcon, interessé par la musique soundchip du C64, et persévérant au point de lire la doc en anglais jusqu'à la fin, hein ?! Non mais vraiment, je me demande pourquoi je me décarcasse !