MilkyTracker V1.02 for Amiga like OS

[Marlon_]

@Weaselrama There is ongoing development on the 68k version yes. Neoman and I have some plans for this.

Our plan so far:

• Native audio playback, direct channel out. Which means it will work like ProTracker/OctaMED, one channel per paula channel. There will also be direct audio for Vampire V4, which means up to 16 channels for "native" XM support. This is almost done already.
• A MilkyPlayer based on MUI, so you can play your favorite mod, xm, s3m, it etc files directly from the desktop without the full tracker ui. It will also support either AHI mixed playback or native direct out mentioned above
• Complete overhaul of the MilkyTracker UI so it uses native Intuition based UI, so we can support perhaps even 68030 based Amigas and perhaps even lower
• Better/Faster blitting of the original MilkyTracker UI so less performance is used to draw the screen, if the original UI is preferred.
• MIDI-in/out/sync implementation, to complement Paula with external synthesizers (like OctaMED)
• OctaMED .MED-file loading support, probably some extended version of .XM will be used for saving

Project board available here:
https://github.com/AmigaPorts/MilkyTracker/projects/1

Newer nightlies are located here:
https://www.amigadev.com/ports/MilkyTracker

Glad you enjoy it!

Regards,
Marlon Beijer
AmigaDev Team

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by Marlon_

[*]A MilkyPlayer based on MUI, so you can play your favorite mod, xm, s3m, it etc files directly from the desktop without the full tracker ui.

Thanks for the reply! So I'm understanding you, you're going to offer a MUI-based version *in addition* to a version that features the classic Milky UI? If the new version was MUI-only, I don't think I'd personally be interested in it any longer. Since I haven't written mods since around 1991 and am more interested in playing them, I gotta have the eye candy. However, *adding* a MUI-based version would be a boon for many users.

[daxb]

I think you misread. Intuition GUI beside Milky UI and a separate Milky Player what will use MUI as GUI.

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by daxb

I think you misread. Intuition GUI beside Milky UI and a separate Milky Player what will use MUI as GUI.

Good. I was hoping I didn't misread it. That's what I took it as, but wanted a confirm because...I'm paranoid like that.

[Marlon_]

Originally Posted by Weaselrama

Thanks for the reply! So I'm understanding you, you're going to offer a MUI-based version *in addition* to a version that features the classic Milky UI? If the new version was MUI-only, I don't think I'd personally be interested in it any longer. Since I haven't written mods since around 1991 and am more interested in playing them, I gotta have the eye candy. However, *adding* a MUI-based version would be a boon for many users.

So there's three things:

1. Improve blitting of the Regular SDL/chunky MilkyTracker UI + add AGA mode for those without RTG
2. Add Intuition based UI à la OctaMED to MilkyTracker (optional)
3. Create MilkyPlayer like HippoPlayer based on MUI for just playing tracks withouth all the extra fuzz (optional)

Neither of these are mutually exclusive. Which means there will be something for everyone.
For those that prefer the SDL based chunky pixelmode MilkyTracker UI, they can keep using that.
For those that want to create tracks on lower end Amigas there will be an optional Intuition based UI.
For those that want to listen to mods while doing something else (browsing web, writing emails, etc) there will be an optional player.

All 3 will have support for the native playback alongside the AHI playback.

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by Marlon_

Which means there will be something for everyone.

All 3 will have support for the native playback alongside the AHI playback.

Thanks for the confirmation. This is outstanding. I look forward to the release. I'll be checking out the latest nightlies from the updated link shortly.

[saimon69]

Originally Posted by Marlon_

Neither of these are mutually exclusive. Which means there will be something for everyone.
For those that prefer the SDL based chunky pixelmode MilkyTracker UI, they can keep using that.
For those that want to create tracks on lower end Amigas there will be an optional Intuition based UI.
For those that want to listen to mods while doing something else (browsing web, writing emails, etc) there will be an optional player.

All 3 will have support for the native playback alongside the AHI playback.

As long as you keep the multithread (read: possibility to keep more songs open at once) and a working clipboard for sounds and score am fully on!

Ah, improved downsampling on Amiga and PC would be VERY appreciated, sometimes pretty often downsamples come ugly

[Weaselrama]

I have some results testing nightlies. My config: FS-UAE 68060 FPU OS 3.9 KS 3.1 JIT enabled.

Nightly #81 seems to be the most stable of 2020 nightlies. I can run it and close it without it dumping. Caveat: You must close the main window before the Output Window. If you even iconify the Output Window, you get a CON error, suspend/reboot. However, closing the main app then Output gives good results.

Curiously, this is a "run once" app. Whether you play some Mods or change the screen resolution (I'm using 800 x 600 currently), if you try to re-run it, it dies with a suspend/reboot message. The error code is #80000008 or the entire Workbench freezes.

These are better results than I get with the "stable" release. I have a question: Where does Milkytracker store it's config file?

Thanks!

[Marlon_]

Hmm, that is a regression bug. Need to find what's causing that. It used to happen before, but was fixed, but it seems like the issue is reintroduced. Thanks for letting us know.

[Weaselrama]

@Marlon,

Forgive me if I missed the explanation, but I have a FB group member asking why it takes a 68060 to run the app as it stands today. I have a few good ideas as to why, but could you explain it in terms a less-experienced user would read and understand?

Given the options I see and the defaults for how it handles audio, not mention the graphics and animations, it doesn't surprise me it needs a lot of processing power at all.

Also - how/where does it store its configuration settings?

Thanks!

[Marlon_]

Originally Posted by Weaselrama

Forgive me if I missed the explanation, but I have a FB group member asking why it takes a 68060 to run the app as it stands today. I have a few good ideas as to why, but could you explain it in terms a less-experienced user would read and understand?

Essentially, the CPU is tasked with:

1. Drawing the graphics
2. Mixing multiple channels, with multiple samples down to two channels

None of the drawing or audio tasks are being offloaded from the CPU, and frankly 040 is not enough for that. Especially because some of the drawing functions in MilkyTracker are very poor. We aim to improve that with the previously mentioned updates.

It's barely enough with an overclocked 060 cpu.

Originally Posted by Weaselrama

Given the options I see and the defaults for how it handles audio, not mention the graphics and animations, it doesn't surprise me it needs a lot of processing power at all.

Originally Posted by Weaselrama

Also - how/where does it store its configuration settings?

It currently stores the settings in the folder it's run from. Will probably move that to ENVARC: & ENV: at a later stage

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by Marlon_

It currently stores the settings in the folder it's run from. Will probably move that to ENVARC: & ENV: at a later stage

Ok...the Nightly #81 isn't dropping a config file and it's also not saving settings except screenmode - I switched from 640 x 480 to 800 x 600.

[neoman]

For anyone who's interested, here you can download builds of this native Amiga version:

http://www.codeamiga.org/milkytracker/

Work is still in progress. But it's running nicely already.

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by neoman

For anyone who's interested, here you can download builds of this native Amiga version:

http://www.codeamiga.org/milkytracker/

Work is still in progress. But it's running nicely already.

Thanks for the update. The last time I checked the link posted from June 12, the original devs hadn't published an update for a while. This is an interesting fork, reading through the blurb on the page. I'll definitely be checking this out.

[Marlon_]

Originally Posted by Weaselrama

Thanks for the update. The last time I checked the link posted from June 12, the original devs hadn't published an update for a while. This is an interesting fork, reading through the blurb on the page. I'll definitely be checking this out.

This is a collaboration between us. New builds will come frome previous link as well, when it's all synced up

[spotUP]

Cool project!

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by Marlon_

This is a collaboration between us. New builds will come frome previous link as well, when it's all synced up

That's awesome, Marlon. Good to see this project is still moving forward.