New Protracker - your input is welcome

[ruben]

Hi!

I'd like to let you know that I'm currently working on Protracker 5.0, which will be the next chapter in the Amiga tracker series that we all know. I already got the 'ok' from Thomas Beyer, author of Protracker 3.x/4.0.

I started this project because I have a strong emotional link to this (I composed a lot of tunes in the Noise/Pro trackers back in the 'good old days' (tm) ) and I simply can not let this program die.
Also I'm not completely happy with current tracker programs now available, even on Windows.

The program is beeing written from scratch, in C++, which means new ideas can be implemented and expanded easily.

So I was wondering if anyone has some ideas of what you'd like to see in a tracker and what should the new Protracker feature.
All ideas/suggestions are welcome (even the wild ones  ;-) )

[xeron]

Woo! Thats great! I still love protracker. OK, heres my wishlist for it:

* Make it OS friendly so it'll run on OS4, hey, why not a PPC native version if its all in C?
* Keep most of the controls in the same place so Protracker users won't get lost, BUT lose the custom file requester.
* Make the sample editor more useful
* Don't invent another mod format for multichannel mods! Use S3M, XM, or DBM (or all 3...)
* MP3 samples? Could be nice for long loops
* Plug in interface please! IE:

   - Sample editor plugins
   - Pre-mix plug ins (that operate on a channel)
   - Post-mix plug ins (that operate on the output)

[Rudei]

has to be able to play sample lengths longer than 5 seconds which I seem to remember was why I converted to Octamed - it`ll be great to see such a cool tracker back on the scene!

Good luck with it and let us know when it nearing completion!!!  :-D

[JoNty]

Don't forget sample disk saving, for burning and encoding purposes.

[xeron]

Oh wait.. i just figured out that some of my suggestions would require a new mod format.. so.. uhh... ignore the suggestion about formats  :-D

[Kaminari]

Yeah, MO3 support would be really cool (whatever the DeliPlayer authors may think of it).

Ruben, thanks for your immortal commitment to the Amiga ;-)

[Orgin]

@tickly

* MP3 samples? Could be nice for long loops

That would be a great way to reduce the module size. However they could be unpacked in memory when loading the module. (playing like 64 channels of realtime mp3 plus all effects would require quite a bit of raw cpu power , but not stored back again every time unless edited so that quality is not lost everytime.

Anyway, about the original query:

- Midi support (it's nice to use a real keyboard Perhaps some compabilities to existing real keyboard trackers? (Haven't followed that world for a while)
- Sample editor (mixing, volume fading, rescaling, chip tune to sample and so on)
- Chip sound generator
- Multichannel, XM/s3m support or similar.
- Keep the general look and feel of the classic protracker. Multicolored tracker lines. Colored output bars for each channel. Black (+optional) blackground behind the tracker lines. I just hate when a tracker uses the general WB look. A tracker must look a bit 3l33t IMHO
- Ability to fade single channels between right/left.
- Tracks with any length.

You could also think a bit about surround 5.1 (like front left/right, back left/right, center speakers) or better playback in the future. That would be nice as well.

(Edit: And yeah, Os4.x support  

/Björn

[ruben]

Thanks Tickly

Some of your ideas go right into what I had in mind as well.

A native OS4 version should indeed be just a recompile, unfortunately I can't afford an A1 myself, but I'm sure I'll find someone to do it, so it won't be a problem.

btw, the new gui is written in SDL and the loader/player engine is based on a modified MikMod library (that will be released under LGPL of course), so no new formats.

[ruben]

@Rudei

has to be able to play sample lengths longer than 5 seconds

Well that's for sure!
You can expect it to be able to cope with 16bit stereo samples with no restrictions.


@Orgin

I plan to keep the original look and feel, the gui can run full screen with it's very own sub-windows and gagdets like it always was, but now skinnable.

[Temal]

This sounds really great, if support for multichannel and 16BIT stereo-samples
will be included!!! Octamed Soundstudio is scrapped, so I guess
this little piece will be very much welcome!

Good luck with your work!

[blubbe]

Hi!

I'd like to let you know that I'm currently working on Protracker 5.0, which will be the next chapter in the Amiga tracker series that we all know. I already got the 'ok' from Thomas Beyer, author of Protracker 3.x/4.0.

I started this project because I have a strong emotional link to this (I composed a lot of tunes in the Noise/Pro trackers back in the 'good old days' (tm) ) and I simply can not let this program die.
Also I'm not completely happy with current tracker programs now available, even on Windows.

The program is beeing written from scratch, in C++, which means new ideas can be implemented and expanded easily.

So I was wondering if anyone has some ideas of what you'd like to see in a tracker and what should the new Protracker feature.
All ideas/suggestions are welcome (even the wild ones  )

YES! I hope you pull it threw. My wishes are quite
simple for a new tracker.
Take ProTracker, make GUI systemfriendly, make
audio use and take advantage of AHI, and a plus
would be MIDI-support.

I do NOT want a freekin multiwindow-tracker.


 :-D

[FuZion]

I'm kinda new to the music thing, I don't remember ProTracker. What it looks like, how it works etc.. I did have a dabble with OctaMed but all those numbers got on my nerves.

I am however currently stuck with an AtariST on my desk using CuBass (No 'e' ;-) ) & I really do wanna get rid of the machine.

Soooo.... at the risk of sounding stupid (I have a nasty feeling ProTracker is closer to OctaMed than CuBass) I hope ProTracker can replace CuBass with ALL the MIDI support I need because I have a separate sampler, mixing desk & keyboard so I have no use for AHI in this case (I know lots of people do want to use their computer for everything).

It really would need to be able to import & export files (*.song, *.arr etc..) to/from CuBass so that I can take my work to other studios without the worry of compatability.

That's ALL I want, to get rid of the ST :-D

[Lando]

Can you please include some easily implemented  source routines and examples for playing back mods in games/demos etc? (either in C or 68k / PPC asm). And if you could keep the replayer under about 4k that would be cool also.   P61 has bugs.

One word: Keyjazz!

I was also thinking about some sort of instrument editor (volume/panning envelopes, reso filters etc;)


Great to have a new Protracker comin' up!  :-)

Regards,
Rory
 

[Teemu]

Well, a lot of the important stuff has been mentioned already, but I'll add a couple of things.

- Effect plugins applicable to a single channel, an x number of channels, or the entire mix. Preferably with an open API, so that 3rd parties can also write new plugins.

- Disk writer supporting at least WAVE and AIFF, maybe even OGG (MP3 would probably bring licensing problems?). An extremely cool feature would be 24bit/96KHz quality support here.