file_id.diz
GUSTRACK 1.03
---------------
Made By
EJ Botterman jr.
Uranuslaan 26
3318 EV Dordrecht
The Netherlands
1 ............ Introduction
2 ............ Legal Stuff
3 ............ Keys and Buttons
4 ............ Special Effects
5 ............ File Formats & Bugs
6 ............ Thanks
7 ............ Trouble Shooting
8 ............ Technical Info
Introduction:
Welcome to gustrack. Gustrack is a ProTracker compatible
4 track mod editor for the Gravis UltraSound music card.
This means you can load, save and edit standard modfiles.
Its also possible to load and play 8 track mod's but it is
NOT possible to save or edit one.
To use gustrack you'll need atleast a 286 computer but a 386
is recommended.
You need a MicroSoft compatible mouse.
You need a Gravis UltraSound card.
You need a VGA card and monitor.
Legal Stuff:
Disclaimer:
EJ Botterman specifically disclaims all warranties, expressed or
implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect
to defects in the software and documentation.
In no event shall EJ Botterman be liable for any loss of profit
or damage, including but not limited to special, incidental,
or consequential damages.
CrippleWare:
Gustrack is not cripple ware. What you see is what you get.
all functions in the registered version perform the same way
as in the not registered version.
You may use this program for 30 days after that you MUST register !!
You will then receive you personal copy.
Shareware programs lacking so many features that they
become useless to the user are called CrippleWare.
Since i do not believe in the idea of CrippleWare i distribute
the complete version. You may call it stupid but atleast its fair !!
GusTrack is a Shareware program. This yields the following
rules:
You are allowed to test GusTrack for a period of 30 days
after receipt, to see if it fits your needs. After
this period you are not allowed to use the program any
further.
Whomever gets himself another version of GusTrack to get
himself another 30 days of testing incurs penalty ( ever
seen a HardDisk disintegrating to stardust? ).
GusTrack may be freely distributed, even after expiration of
the testing period.
Even Shareware-Distributors or dealers, who are
distributing Shareware by mail, may put GusTrack in their
collection. The same is valid for other distribution
channels.
If you do it please send me a note so i know.
GusTrack may not be used commercially in the testing period.
This includes single sale and bundling with other soft- or
hardware. Exceptions may be granted after contacting me. If
I agree, I will send you a written permission.
GusTrack may be used for display purposes, as long as the
source of the program can be recognized unmistakably.
GusTrack may not be modified and this is valid for the
distribution archive, too. This includes adding advertising
textfiles for BBS or something like that to the archive.
Disassembling GusTrack does *not* incur penalty. But when
using my routines, please state the original author.
Saying this i have to be fair and say i took a big look on some
of the GUS hardware routines made by Joshua Jensen.
And that the above text was written by the author of WOWII,
a great modplayer for the SB(pro) and DACS.
( Not for the GUS though :-( )
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How do I register you ask ?
To register send me $20, or the same amount in your
currency (NO COINS !!!) and a self-addressed envelope including a
disk but without a stamp to me.
Also include a piece of paper stating your name, address and GusTrack
version so if you ever ask for an update i'll now its you.
You'll then receive a personal copy of GusTrack and you are entitled to
upgrades for a minimal price, this means for free when you
pick it up by modem or for the costs of sending it by mail.
Dutch users: speciale prijs, maar f25,- !
You can also send me the money only and then download the program
from MultiByte BBS.
If you want this, include in your letter the password and name
you want to use to login, and as soon as i have received your money
GusTrack is ready for you to download.
You must login to the BBS, this means you can't request it with a
Fido Mailer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address:
EJ Botterman jr.
Uranuslaan 26
3318 EV Dordrecht
The Netherlands
Fido Address: 2:285/306.4
Multi-Byte BBS: +31-78-190355
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you don't send me the right amount of money you will receive nothing
and you are never entitled to a refund. I will let you know though.
Newest Version:
You can find the newest version of this program on MultiByte BBS and
on BBS Geniaal II both are in the Netherlands.
Phone Numbers:
Multi-Byte BBS +31-78-190355 ( V32bis )
Geniaal II +31-2290-43038 ( V32bis )
+31-2290-45816 ( V32bis )
Keys and Buttons:
If you are familiar with another tracker you'll have no
problem using GusTrack.
If you have never used a tracker before try to get hold of a
program called ModEdit ( written by Mark J. Cox ).
It will probably not run on your GUS but it has a great
manual describing all facets of MOD files.
Buttons:
Buttons are used by moving the mouse onto them and click the
left mouse button.
Most buttons explain themselves so i won't go into them.
Also read the GusTrack.Rev file for some features.
Just follow a few general 'rules'.
The left mouse button is used to press and release the
buttons on the screen.
Everywhere there is something to be typed, a filename, the
names of samples or the song name, click the right mouse button onto
it and a cursor will appear.
While playing the right mouse button will stop the playing.
Notes:
Samples must have the extension .SMP to appear in the
diskwindow. It is possible to load a sample with a different
extension by typing in the filename of the sample. The same
goes for MOD files and the extension .MOD
The loading of a sample may take some time because other
samples might have to be shifted inside the GUS memory to
make some space. This takes some time. As soon as the
loading is finished you can move the mouse arround and the
name appears in the sample window.
Gustrack does not check if there's enough memory on the GUS left
to load the sample, so if there is'nt the result will probably be
that you can't hear the sample.
Also for GUS owners who are still working with 256K DRAM i would like
to advice you to update the memory to 1 Meg since alot of Mod files
exceed the 256K border in samples.
Also do yourself a favor and save your mod file after
changing samples because the memory on the GUS might be
fragmented. This means that a sample could take much more space
than it needs.
After saving it reload it and continue editting your MOD file.
Configuration File:
Version 1.03 and up use a configuration file called GusTrack.Cnf
This file will be made when you press the Save Cnf button.
Inside this file will be saved :
- The current Module Directory
- The current Sample Directory
- The Master Volume
- The Panning settings
On startup GusTrack will search for this file. If it cant find it
GusTrack will default to the current directory as Module and Sample
directory, the master volume will be 50 and the panning for channel 1
till 4 will be in the middle.
Keys:
With the keyboard you can play notes. You won't hear a note
if the cursor is not on a note position inside a track.
A track looks like this :
Note
\_ Sample
| | ||
C-3 01234
|||
Effect
Special Keys:
Escape - Will get you out of most windows also used to quit
the program and stop playing.
Space Bar - When playing it will stop the playing. When not
playing it will toggle Edit.
The key left to the 1 (`) is used to shell to DOS. It is possible to
shell while playing. It is not possible to shell when you are in the
Disk or Mixer window.
F1 - Low Octave
F2 - High Octave
F5 - After editting a note or command the cursor will
not advance to the next line in the pattern.
F6 - Cursor will advance 1 line.
F7 - Cursor will advance 2 lines.
F8 - Cursor will advance 4 lines.
Tab - Advance cursor to next track.
Shift+Tab - Advance cursor to previous track.
Arrow keys - Move the cursor arround.
Page Down - Advance cursor 8 lines.
Page Up - Go 8 lines up.
Home - Go to line 00.
End - Go to line 63.
L.Shift + Arrows - Go forward or backwards in the song.
L.Ctrl + Arrows - Go to next or previous pattern.
Right Alt - Play Pattern.
Right CTRL - Play Song.
It is possible while playing to change from play pattern to play
song and vice versa. (buttons will not be updated !)
Right Shft - Record Pattern. ( not very accurate )
Editing keys:
Insert - Insert position.
Delete - Clear position.
Back Space - Move track up 1 row deleting the row above.
Shift F3 - Cut Track (copy track to buffer and clear)
(track. )
Shift F4 - Copy Track (to buffer)
Shift F5 - Paste Track (from buffer)
Ctrl F3 - Cut Pattern
Ctrl F4 - Copy Pattern
Ctrl F5 - Paste Pattern
Special Effects:
Protracker V1.1b Effect Commands
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 - Normal play or Arpeggio 0xy : x-first halfnote add, y-second
1 - Slide Up 1xx : upspeed
2 - Slide Down 2xx : downspeed
3 - Tone Portamento 3xx : up/down speed
4 - Vibrato 4xy : x-speed, y-depth
5 - Tone Portamento + Volume Slide 5xy : x-upspeed, y-downspeed
6 - Vibrato + Volume Slide 6xy : x-upspeed, y-downspeed
7 - Tremolo 7xy : x-speed, y-depth
8 - NOT USED
9 - Set SampleOffset 9xx : offset (23 -> 2300)
A - VolumeSlide Axy : x-upspeed, y-downspeed
B - Position Jump Bxx : songposition
C - Set Volume Cxx : volume, 00-40
D - Pattern Break Dxx : break position in next patt
E - E-Commands Exy : see below...
F - Set Speed Fxx : speed (00-1F) / *tempo (20-FF)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*E0- Set Filter E0x : 0-filter on, 1-filter off
E1- FineSlide Up E1x : value
E2- FineSlide Down E2x : value
E3- Glissando Control E3x : 0-off, 1-on (use with tonep.)
E4- Set Vibrato Waveform E4x : 0-sine, 1-ramp down, 2-square
E5- Set FineTune E5x : set fine tune value
E6- Jump to Loop E6x : jump to loop, play x times
E7- Set Tremolo Waveform E7x : 0-sine, 1-ramp down. 2-square
E8- NOT USED
E9- Retrig Note E9x : retrig from note + x vblanks
EA- Fine VolumeSlide Up EAx : add x to volume
EB- Fine VolumeSlide Down EBx : subtract x from volume
EC- NoteCut ECx : cut from note + x vblanks
ED- NoteDelay EDx : delay note x vblanks
EE- PatternDelay EEx : delay pattern x notes
*EF- Invert Loop EFx : speed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
All effects are implemented except the ones starting with a *. (E0 & EF)
File Formats:
GusTrack will read 4 track ProTracker files and also Star Tracker files.
( ID's M.K. and FLT4 )
And it will read 8 Track Mod files made with Tritons Fast Tracker the
Star Tracker or the Octalyzer.
( ID's 8CHN, FLT8 and OCTA)
( Does anyone know if the FLT8 format really excists ?)
If it can't find one of the ID's it will assume its an old 15 sample
mod file.
When an error is encountered while reading you'll see the border round the
screen turn red for a very short period of time.
It has then refused to read the patterns and samples from the so called
Mod file.
The header is read though and you'll see some strange ASCII characters
in the sample window as sample names.
Bugs:
Probably :-)
If you found one please write me a NetMail so i can correct it in future
versions.
Also try to describe the situation when the bug took place and what was
loaded in memory (TSR's Device drivers etc..)
Thanks:
- Special thanks go out to the Renaissance demo group for the info
on programing the GUS.
- Also to Gravis and Forte for giving out the excellent SDK
and for making the GUS itself ofcourse.
- To Joshua Jensen for the awesome mod player GUSMOD. (only BPM is missing)
- Mr. Triton for his Fast-Tracker, the best tracker there is.
(But it does'nt work on my GUS sniff! :-( )
Trooble Shooting:
- The edit window does'nt scroll smoothly with fast Mod's.
This is because your computer is too slow. Since GusTrack runs in
graphics mode it takes more time to put everything on the screen
then it would using text mode.
Try to solve it by turning off the bar's.
If it's still not running smoothly and your computer is not an 12 or 10Mhz
286 report it to me.
- GusTrack only displays a message saying :
Could Not Find A Gravis UltraSound.
This means you either don't have a gus in your computer or
GusTrack can't find it.
If you have this problem and you do have a GUS please report it to me
with your GUS setup ( IRQ DMA Port etc etc).
- GusTrack only displays a message saying :
This Program Needs a Mouse.
Means you don't have a mouse or a mouse not microsoft compatible.
- GusTrack only displays a message saying :
Sorry, this program requires a VGA card.
GusTrack could not find a VGA card. If you get this message please report
it with your brand and type of VGA card.
- When I switch of the bars, the window goes away but some of
the bars stay.
I know this problem and i haven'th been able to solve it (yet).
Try turning off the music and then push the Bars button.
- GusTrack won't save my MOD file !!!
You cannot save an 8 Track's mod file.
If you did'nt try to save an 8 Track mod file and GusTrack is
still refusing to save your Mod file it is likely that something
has changed the program itself.
Please send me the GusTrack.Exe file so i can see who or what has
messed up my program.
Techical Info:
GusTrack is made using - Borland C++ 3.0 (only C used though)
- TASM 3.2
- QEMM 6.02
- A 386SX 20Mhz computer.
- ñ 12003827482 cigarettes
- coffee !!!!
- a few months of time whitch should have
been used for my study.