Native .mod, .s3m, .xm, and .it support for Graal

[G_yoshi]

I think it would be neat if Stefan would add support of .mod music.
I don't know that much about the formatting and things, but I do know that .mod, .s3m, .xm, and .it are better than midi. Plus, with mod formats, you can do internal looping of songs and effectively, have 3 songs in 1 file all useing the same samples.

http://www.modplug.com <--go there to get ModPlug Player which is specifically designed to play module music formats.

I have a few mods on my ftp that do what I explained earlier, as far as internal looping and so forth. However, .it and .xm formats are closer to midi but like .mod and .s3m, you can still define your own instrument samples...but you can do extra stuff to the samples in the tracker for .it and .xm

It would be great to have an npc command to jump to different positions in a mod so that if you are in one room, the music is a certain loop then when you go to a new room, the position is jumped to a new loop.

Mods do get big, however, depending upon the number of samples and the quality of the samples used. Probably the largest mod I have is roughly 900k in size, but that is about it.

Btw, ModPlug central also has ModPlug Tracker which is used to track (make) mod, s3m, it, and xm formats.

Nothing wrong with midis, but sometimes, they just plain suck

Oh, and here are links to a few of my mods:
http://home.earthlink.net/~skittles00/CV_MAGIC.MOD
http://home.earthlink.net/~skittles00/frcremix.it
http://home.earthlink.net/~skittles00/CANYOUFL.S3M
http://home.earthlink.net/~skittles00/mcintyre.xm

one more thing, with these formats, you can also add voice effects that are better than the simple oohs and ahhs that midis have even actual lyrics.

Winamp is okay, but sucks at playing mods, so use modplug player

[Faheria_Admin5]

Originally posted by G_yoshi
*Lots of text here*

Yes

[G_yoshi]

being able to use mods along with midis (preferablly no midi support ) would allow the music to go better with certain levels. Not everyone has access to wave tables for their midi support, and the XG software synth isn't the best substitute either. Mods are best because you don't need anything like a synthesizer to decode them

[Tyhm]

I think it runs off Media Player by default, and you can select run off winamp as an option, that should cover your .mods, but as for sending stuff like that...it's just too big for a video game. Imagine the lag....

[Faheria_Admin5]

not download support. Play support. Or would that lag?

[G_yoshi]

Originally posted by Tyhm
I think it runs off Media Player by default, and you can select run off winamp as an option, that should cover your .mods, but as for sending stuff like that...it's just too big for a video game. Imagine the lag....

as I said, Winamp sucks for playing mods

All that I am asking is that commands for mods be added which would allow people to jump positions in the mods.

about lag...what do you mean? As I understand it, music is all done clientside, and if the player doesn't have to music file, they don't hear it. Also, ModPlug supports compressed module formats (.mdz, .smz, .xmz, .itz, .zip, .rar) so downloading wouldn't be as bad.

[G_yoshi]

*BUMP*

[G_yoshi]

*bump*

You don't know what you're missing adding MOD support directly to the Graal engine would have nice effects for PWs

Btw, most MODs are stereo so, you can have some nice panning and ambient effects with music.

[RawPower]

YES

[lordhelmut]

...SPC SUPPORT!

oh yah, mod too

[G_yoshi]

Originally posted by lordhelmut
...SPC SUPPORT!

oh yah, mod too

Um, why? That is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[G_yoshi]

Originally posted by lordhelmut
...SPC SUPPORT!

oh yah, mod too

btw, don't ever post anything like that again in this thread. I don't want some n00b to screw up what I am trying to do.

[lordhelmut]

Because SPCs own my ass...lol

[G_yoshi]

Originally posted by lordhelmut
Because SPCs own my ass...lol

Last chance. I am very serious about this. Don't talk about SPCs in this thread again. I like SPCs too, but this is not the place to be talking about them. The format, and music is pretty much illegal and adding them to Graal is only begging Nintendo to sue Stefan.

MODs are pretty much free domain, so using them would not cause any legal troubles...as long as you are not trying to sell them without the author's permission.

So, please, refrain from discussing SPCs or their format in this thread again.

[G_yoshi]

So that I can reduce the amount of traffic on my webspace, the mod files I linked in the Thread topic will not work anymore.

Btw, thanks to the people that are supporting this small endeavour.

[Minoc]

Music on Graal is ghey =\

[Juron Pilo]

Silly Thyme! the only lag it would cause would be a one-time download.... that would all goto the setup.exe likely

[Wing]

Originally posted by Minoc
Music on Graal is ghey =\

Wrong. try playing a game like Final Fantasy with no sound, or well, Sonic R.

Music sets the tone for the game, without it games are just so bland.

[ZORG1986]

YES!!!!!
My sound card doesnt support MIDI cause of a driver i cant be botherd to download, but it does play MODs so yea MOD support would kick ass

[Minoc]

Originally posted by Wing


Wrong. try playing a game like Final Fantasy with no sound, or well, Sonic R.

Music sets the tone for the game, without it games are just so bland.

I said Graal, not other games =P

[G_yoshi]

Originally posted by Minoc
Music on Graal is ghey =\

I am sorry that you feel that way and I am also hurt that 2 people would want me to go away j/k

Anyway, music is important to any game be it old or new. Music help sets the atmosphere and tone. Music is what helps boss battles feel tense and uncertain. It also helps make places such as towns, castles, etc. come to life.

Midis are okay, but I personally feel they are insufficient for a game such as Graal. Graal has so much potential to be good that adding MOD support would give it that extra flair.

For those that cannot understand or do not see things the way I do, then I feel sorry for you

[Tyhm]

Midi's good enough for FF6, it's good enough for Graal....FF6 rox my sox.
We just need better midis is all. My ex girlfriend was gonna make us some until she realized she'd have to sign over all rights to cyberjouer.com and get no compensation for it, ie she'd have to get Unixmad's permission if she wanted to public-domain it or let her old marching band friends use it or sell it to Disney or whatever...that tends to scare off artists. Maybe if we had better rules, or at least visible rules, on the matter? Like get a midi-submission page, by submitting you grant Graal an unrevokable but nonexclusive license to use it, surrender any royalties for the music in game form in exchange for the assurance it won't be sold seperately as a compilation, you retain the original rights to it and Graal is just licensed to use it, then we might get some midi makers who won't mind letting Graal use their music.

That or we get a buttload of classicals. Night on Bald Mountain, like that.

*hums the OutNumbered theme song*

[G_yoshi]

Originally posted by Tyhm
Midi's good enough for FF6, it's good enough for Graal....FF6 rox my sox.
We just need better midis is all. My ex girlfriend was gonna make us some until she realized she'd have to sign over all rights to cyberjouer.com and get no compensation for it, ie she'd have to get Unixmad's permission if she wanted to public-domain it or let her old marching band friends use it or sell it to Disney or whatever...that tends to scare off artists. Maybe if we had better rules, or at least visible rules, on the matter? Like get a midi-submission page, by submitting you grant Graal an unrevokable but nonexclusive license to use it, surrender any royalties for the music in game form in exchange for the assurance it won't be sold seperately as a compilation, you retain the original rights to it and Graal is just licensed to use it, then we might get some midi makers who won't mind letting Graal use their music.

That or we get a buttload of classicals. Night on Bald Mountain, like that.

*hums the OutNumbered theme song*

I suppose that would be good. But still, Graal needs to support internal midi looping which I have failed to see it do

That is one of the nice things about MOD formats because you can create songs with songs that just loop repeatedly and then jump a few frames to the next one. Although they would all use the same samples, it shouldn't affect them too much

[Tyhm]

*blink* Err, you don't mean playlooped, right? You mean something like playlooped2 shadowstheme.mid,17.58; so it loops back to 17.58 seconds, or playlooped2 zoneeaterintro.mid,zoneeaterloop.mid; so it plays the first then loops the second?

[G_yoshi]

Originally posted by Tyhm
*blink* Err, you don't mean playlooped, right? You mean something like playlooped2 shadowstheme.mid,17.58; so it loops back to 17.58 seconds, or playlooped2 zoneeaterintro.mid,zoneeaterloop.mid; so it plays the first then loops the second?

no, I literally mean, internal looping. You can do that with midis, but the device that plays it back must support it. Unfortunately, WMP does not support internal midi looping. Winamp does, but it doesn't like it when I make it play midis....I get nasty blue screens >.<