TIATracker module for batari Basic and 7800basic

[+mksmith]

For those interested I have version of TIATracker working for 7800basic I'll package it up in the next few days into a generic module for both batari Basic and 7800basic.

[+Muddyfunster]

That's superb, I'm thinking of taking a look at 7800Basic in a few weeks.

 

on the Bb version, do you think it viable to have the music play "in-game" rather than on the title screen (or both) but with different tunes?

 

I've tried without success, may not even be possible.

[+mksmith]

@Muddyfunster Hey mate - sorry for the delay. I'll have to put the 7800 version up soon thanks for the reminder!  There was a minor change required to get it working in 7800basic but is back-compatible with bB.

 

To get multiple tunes I reckon we will need to update the code to use some pointers to select the different tunes - currently it is hardcoded to the specific tune. Let me take a look ?

 

 

 

[+mksmith]

I've updated the source to the latest and added a 7800basic example. 

 

For multiple tunes I think it is going to require a few vars to work (pointers mainly) which may not be great news for the 2600 but we'll see! 

[+Muddyfunster]

Yes, that might be a challenge. Let me know what you think, would be cool to get a version to support ingame music also.

 

Thanks mate!

[+mksmith]

@Muddyfunster I've spent a few hours on it today and it's probably a little above my knowledge unfortunately.  I tried setting up a pointer to just one if the tables to test and just couldn't get it to work - saying that i'm no expert but i've been using them a lot in Arkanoid.  There is also a lot of const type references which would need to be converted to vars or some other dynamically changing process and probably either a large amount of pointers (2 bytes each) or a pointer configurations added to the source (as required) to make this more dynamic.  The code just doesn't seem designed to consider multiple tunes

 

Sorry mate I don't think I can help here  ?

[+Muddyfunster]

No worries, appreciate you taking a look. ?

 

[RevEng]

I took a quick look here too, and I think it would be best to request an enhancement from @Kylearan. I think the 6502 code could be adapted for multiple songs without too much trouble (with a few extra limits imposed) but the problem with hacking support in is the various data structures generated by the utility for different songs would need to be manually merged, with each and every song update.

[+mksmith]

7 hours ago, RevEng said:

I took a quick look here too, and I think it would be best to request an enhancement from @Kylearan. I think the 6502 code could be adapted for multiple songs without too much trouble (with a few extra limits imposed) but the problem with hacking support in is the various data structures generated by the utility for different songs would need to be manually merged, with each and every song update.

Thanks Mike ?

[+Muddyfunster]

Thanks guys, appreciate you both taking a look. I'll shoot @Kylearan a message

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[ZippyRedPlumber]

Having trouble trying to add the tracker in my game, where in the initialization should I put it in the code?

[+mksmith]

Hey Zippy!

 

The best place to start might be taking the example, look at how it's configured and replacing that with your music - just so you get a feel for how it works.  Have you followed the instructions in the first post?

If your still having an issue, PM you project and I'll be happy to help out ?

[ZippyRedPlumber]

1 hour ago, mksmith said:

Hey Zippy!

 

The best place to start might be taking the example, look at how it's configured and replacing that with your music - just so you get a feel for how it works.  Have you followed the instructions in the first post?

If your still having an issue, PM you project and I'll be happy to help out ?

Yes, no matter where I put it in the code it refuses to compile..

[+saxmeister]

I tried setting this up and am having issues.

 

Since I'm using topscreenroutine and bottomscreenroutine my game logic isn't working for my title screen.

 

I set a variable called mainloop that is 0 for the title screen and 1 for the main loop. My topscreenroutine and bottomscreenroutine subroutines check like this:

topscreenroutine
  if mainloop=1 then WSYNC=1 : displaymode 320A : WSYNC=1 : BACKGRND=$84
  return

bottomscreenroutine
  if mainloop=1 then WSYNC=1 : BACKGRND=$C3 : WSYNC=1 : displaymode 320A
  return

But when I load the tracker it seems to bypass this and even my title screen now has the top and bottom areas when they shouldn't. Then the only sound I get is a stuck note.

 

So I went back and tried the included sample music (since I had created a song in TIATracker for the first time) to see if it was something with my export. With the sample tune I got no sound at all.

 

Any suggestions? Am I handling the topscreenroutine and bottomscreenroutine incorrectly? Is there a better way to turn that off and on on command and still have the tracker work?

 

Many thanks!

Edited January 28, 2022 by saxmeister