Dude. This is amazing work mate! Keep it up. Pretty hypnotic to watch. Can't wait for some more devs from you :-)
17 Dec 17, 2014 4:24 pm
Re: Gradual Decline - A quick Gameboy glitch ROM (33 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
18 Oct 24, 2014 4:24 am
Re: Chaos Tracker (Open Source) (336 replies, posted in Sega)
Wow. Looks amazing guys! So much dev going on....
19 Oct 22, 2014 6:16 pm
Re: Acorn A3000 Chip tune software (7 replies, posted in Other Vintage Computers & Consoles)
21 Oct 21, 2014 1:12 am
Re: .. (147 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
We're working on writing stuff to the screen on the SNES side ;-) In other words, check out our winning entry to TSRAC!
This is a single 1MB (but actually smaller in mem) ROM and the tune is a single 64k tune running from the SPC700.
At the moment we're doing a tool rewrite to add a more effective UNDO / REDO feature plus did a heap of optimisation on the exported play routine. Basically, when we were hitting complex sections of songs the SPC would slow down. So that's another major fix!! Y'know... we're just here plugging away at each challenge making it tight :-)
See ya soon!
22 Oct 21, 2014 1:12 am
Re: .. (147 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
We're working on writing stuff to the screen on the SNES side ;-) In other words, check out our winning entry to TSRAC!
This is a single 1MB (but actually smaller in mem) ROM and the tune is a single 64k tune running from the SPC700.
At the moment we're doing a tool rewrite to add a more effective UNDO / REDO feature plus did a heap of optimisation on the exported play routine. Basically, when we were hitting complex sections of songs the SPC would slow down. Now it stays mostly fast!
23 Oct 14, 2014 3:44 am
Re: .. (147 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
CountSymphoniC wrote:
EDIT: Just saw the SNES tracker video. How long have you guys been working on it?
About a year. We both work full time and have additional commitments - so it's taking a while.
We're pretty close to having it work solidly now. Had some issues with timing on the re-player slowing down under playback pressure with lots of commands but it seems to be stable after a rewrite.
Something cool happening soon - standby :-)
24 Oct 14, 2014 3:31 am
Re: Chaos Tracker (Open Source) (336 replies, posted in Sega)
CountSymphoniC wrote:
I haven't thought about doing it that way yet, but now that you mention it. I'm trying to get started on the playback engine figuring out how to do the core timing, the way I'm understanding it, it seems simple to do different grooves per channel and sounds easy to implement. In code, every channel would be updated independently rather than all the channels at once. I'll keep this feature in mind for you my friend.
Yeah - we looked at something like this on the SNES tracker too. Play rountine logic and "play from position" goes out the window at this point!
This is a really exciting project :-) Looks like ultimate fun! Have you talked to Batsly Adams at all? I know he's got some amazing inside knowledge of how the Genesis ticks if you need more info. Also, on a YM level, little-scale is pretty on top of it too (he's giving a presentation at PAX next month about it).
Anyhoo - PM away or hmu on fbook if you want intro's, etc to more Sega dev's.
Keep up the rad work - and don't feel rushed to get builds with the YM-play-routine out until you are happy with it. *high five*
.... meanwhile... back to the SNES....
25 Oct 4, 2014 11:47 am
Re: .. (147 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
Glitch_King wrote:
Anything new, an update on the Tracker or anything?
Give us 3 weeks (hahaha). You won't see the track but you WILL see + hear something rad in a SNES ground brk-ing way. Still working on teh tracker!! Getting it functional enough to work. it's gonner be 2015 x
djDarkX wrote:
. I prefer using something like OpenMPT or Schism to make the tracks and then just converting. Combining the DSP Editor in SPCTool with SNESMOD allows you to get the values you need for the FIR filter and listening to how it affects the echo in real-time.
Yeah man - I love OpenMPT also. Segamusix (the lead dev) is one of my German drinking chip-bro's when I'm in EU. Also one of the best peeps in the universe.
We (ferris & I) looked at doing XM import or something like that, but we are more focused on making a tool which is a good tracker from the outset... uses standard command sets (like OpenMPT) but gives WYHIWYG access to all the SNES internals. We are working on our own UI for Envolopes and DSP.
You'll love this shiz man - trust me! There's just lots of data mashing to deal with - the SNES does some wierd shit. And also not launching without a live mode so people can rock out on stage with it. All very well opening up the "SNES wave"... be we want to open up "the SNES wave which rocked"
Also, Welcome to the community :-)
26 Jul 11, 2014 8:45 pm
Topic: Amiga Protracker Intro / Behind the scenes (1 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)
Don't think I ever posted this one here?
It's just a behind the scenes on the Protracker programming behind A for Amiga and a comparison of the studio mix downs vs. the RAW MOD files. It's a bit long - but probably a good into the Protracker if anyone is interested.
27 Jul 11, 2014 8:38 pm
Re: [MEL,AU 12.07] SoundBytes 15 (1 replies, posted in Past Events)
I can confirm I have pulled an all nighter to try and finish new tracks for this event!
28 Jul 11, 2014 8:14 pm
Re: 9/27 - 28 : Square sounds Tokyo 2014 (28 replies, posted in Past Events)
*tear rolls down my cheek* Unless I get a ton more work in the next 3 months, I'm going to be stuck at home for this one. Maybe in 2015! Then I'll have the SNES tracker done... mmmwwaahhhaaahaaaaa.
ps. Anyone thinking of going. GO! I've gone 3 years in a row now and it's bliss. Stay at the Khaosan Ninja. Drink the machine out of beer on the night before the fest... it's a tradition ;-)
29 Jul 11, 2014 8:05 pm
Re: .. (147 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
Seeing there seems to be interest... (thanks guys!) I've just whipped this little video up of a track I've been working on tonight. (and a second track on the credits I made previously in an earlier build)
Was testing : Pitch bends, note slides, ASDR fine details, tuning checks with short cycle samples and data packing ratios on export. Everything worked mostly as planned - although just submitted a major bug report surrounding the arpeggiator command (hehehe, I broke it bigtime ferris!!) But it's a fun little test tune this one... might finish it one day :-)
30 Jul 11, 2014 6:15 pm
Re: .. (147 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
potato-tan wrote:
Thank you for the update! It's a shame to hear about the difference in sound, but I'm glad to see the project in full motion. Good luck with the remainder of the project, and I hope your show goes well!
Cheers mate. Don't worry about the difference in sound. That's the whole reason you run it on the real console! I'm just listening to some stuff I've done and it sounds exactly as I expected it. It's just on the low notes at low sample rates - this strange magical breath kinda carries the notes and rubs off the shiny edge on the actual console. But it sounds near spot on in both environments. Put it this way - you put it in BSNES or an SPC replayer and it sounds slightly different again! As I mentioned before, it's on the cards to profile the output on a few SNES revisions and do an FFT or something on the output pin. We might even add the shitty hum in as an option :-P But we'll get to that part post-beta.
31 Jul 11, 2014 10:10 am
Re: .. (147 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
Hey guys - update: I'm playing a show on the weekend with a SNES using tunes built with the Alpha 0.0.7. It's only going to be an 8 minute section of the show - but I'll see if I can record it so you can hear the SNES in replay.
For all the technical questions - esp about ADSR and BRR techniques, etc - by all my accounts, the tracker and SNES output are very similar right down to the glitches in BRR looping to the ramping on the ADSR being spot on. There is a slight difference in the brightness of the DAC .... everything in the tracker space is (at this point) slightly brighter. However, with a treble boost on the SNES side... it sounds fine and very similar on real hardware. We've been discussing implementing a modelled filter in the tracker replayer - but then again, every gen of SNES sounds slightly different (and also hums differently!). Put it this way if perfect emulation worries you : our tracer is close enough that I'd happily play tunes live on a SNES even if I didn't have the chance to test the binary on real hardware before a show. And if all else fails, fist pump and the crowd won't notice it sounds a bit muffled.
As far as when the public beta will be out - can't quite lock that down yet. Ferris been workin' hard on the codebase to add more of the vanilla essentials (think everyday features like select, delete, copy, paste, undo! Oh, and a labelled interface too.) It's been built backwards to what you'd expect - hardcore features first - basics last. Meanwhile, I've been working on breaking each of these. And I always seem to find odd ways to break the compiler because I'm trying to push each experimental build to it's limits :-P Once something is stable, includes most basic features, and has a finalized native save format that will remain forward compatible - we'll get it out there.
End goal in sight : just workin' around various day jobs and demo parties ;-)
32 May 27, 2014 1:47 am
Re: Project Endeavor - Homebrew 8-Bit VG Console (8 replies, posted in General Discussion)
BitCruncher wrote:
Writing games for this is surprisingly simple if you're comfortable with assembly and even if you're not, learning the language is not that difficult. As for selling this...yeah at this stage, I realize that what I'm trying to do is not going to be easy. I coming to grips with the possibility that I may not be as good at coming up with good ideas as I thought. I'm considering going into a partnership electronics venture, and I'll post a thread on that too.
G'day BitCruncher. Firstly - congratulations on your development so far! And for having the vision of tackling something that sits in a pretty daunting target market. You have my support - as long as there is something unique sound wise, I'd consider buying one (depending on price point and available example code).
I'm looking at the kinds of things I've bought and why - if you peal away the old stuff (C64, Spectravideos, Amigas, Microbee, Vectrex and many Consoles) the "new" 8-bit (ish) devices I have include the C64DTV (for it's extended graphics modes / hack-ability / demoscene support) the MiniMig (for portability and curiosity) and a Familcon clone handheld for it's slightly whacky audio implementation.
At the moment your preview specs the sound as "Sound - Monaural stereo". ??? (edit: can you expand on this?)
Audio wise it would be great if it had a basic little audio chip. Something a step up from DMG or C64.... my recommendation would be 6 full-noterange pulse/square/tri/sine/noise channels and 2 x 4 bit PCM channels (all with envelopes) . Have those split into 2 x LPF / HPF filters so 4 channels are locked to a filter each. Chip music wise, those specs look like a fun limitation to work with and have more flexibility than something like a Gameboy but keeps the simplicity without hitting the chaos of having to understand something like the SID chip (and it's variants) or the complexity of FM. Filters would just make it pop out for chip musicians (bit of a buzz word).
I'm not if you'd be prepared to add something like this to your build... but it would bring some iconically "expanded 8bit" sound. I say "Expanded" because a lot of the consoles only had 3 - 5 channels, BUT the arcade machines often had a ton more (as did the NES games with additional chips). We all secretly like the idea of more channels ;-)
I think the key for drumming up curiosity from chip musician scene is to actually make sure it ships with a usable tracker tool. Something using a similar system to LSDJ / piggy - even if it's a simple open-source version 1. Most people will want to buy it and use it "out of the box" as a music tool. I don't know many chip musicians who would buy a modern 8 bit computer clone if it didn't have audio features that put it ahead of their Gameboy / C64 / NES. Of course, the final failsafe for chip musicians is to also add (and I think this has been mentioned) a MIDI option - maybe as an additional cable - so you can play the notes directly. Again, if it was a 6-voice synth with 2 basic PCM channels (maybe write a simple host programm that can load up some sample banks too)... then you'd have something that would look good from a lot of angles.
Certainly a tricky mission to embark on... but that's my take on what would interest me from a modern 8-bit machine. As an aside, I'd probably never play a game on it... but I'm not a gamer, I'm a musician / demoscener. That's what I use all my consoles for.