Post by Ford Prefect on Jan 5, 2009 14:43:54 GMT -6
Hi folks,
I'm proud to present the first beta version of the Advanced Mario Sequencer. Download it here:
www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=b46c52f041c1b1f791b20cc0d07ba4d269ec631b362f1bdf
System Requirements:
Windows: WinNT 5.0 (=Win2000) or higher. DirectX required.
Mac: MacOSX Intel 10.4 or higher.
Installing:
Windows: Unzip the file using any unzipping application (eg 7zip) to your Program Files folder, or whereever you want it to be. There is no installer, simply start the Advanced Mario Sequencer from the folder. As the application doesn't do that, you may want to link the .mss file extention to the AMS yourself.
MacOSX: Unzip the file. Drag the AMS to your Applications folder or whereever you want to have it.
This is a beta version, please be aware that there is the possibility of a crash. Don't create long songs without saving often!
If you encouter a bug, please report it in this forum in a new thread (!) with as much information about it as you can collect. (If there are already bug reports, please check if the bug you encountered already was posted).
FAQ: (well, these questions weren't asked yet, but i believe they would be frequently asked )
Why isn't there a Mac PPC version?
Because I didn't compile the fluidsynth tool for PPC architecture yet. There will be a PPC version. If you have a PPC Mac and want to test the AMS, please contact me, I will then set this to a higher priority in my todo-list.
Why is this little application so damn big?
Well, this is the price I pay for using a programming language that can create cross-platform, native GUIs. I can do nothing about it.
Why does the window flicker so often?
That's because on Windows, window refreshing is a bit different from MacOSX, so this is mainly a porting issue which I will fix in the final version.
Why is the rum gone?
No idea.
How can I shorten a song?
You can't. For now. A chord adding / deleting tool is on my todo-list.
Why isn't the file format compatible to the MPC?
Because I used XML to store songs, as XML is very easily extensible, which makes it possible to add new features to the AMS very easily. The main lack of the MPC file format is that the songs have a fixed length, so there was no chance in using it anyway. There will probably a feature to import MPC files in the future.
I don't like the animation, can't it be smoother?
Well, not unless I use DirectX or OpenGL for graphical output, but I don't have any experience here, so I won't do that. However, as I'm not very satisfied with the animation myself, I intend to implement an alternative animation mode similar to the MPC: The screen won't scroll, new chords will be displayed as soon as all current chords have been played. Oh, and I know that this is an issue especially important for dickspeed users.
Why is the Undo menu item always disabled?
Because it is not implemented yet.
So why is it in the menu at all?
To provoke stupid questions.
Can I open the .mss files with a text editor, like I can with MPC files?
Of course you can. As I mentioned, the files are stored in XML format. I recommend Notepad++ for editing on Windows, TextMate on Mac.
Why is the manual so confusing?
Because I wrote it around 2am. I will redo it with a better structure somewhen. Thanks for looking at the manual anyway .
I don't like the AMS and I will stick to the MPC.
That's not a question.
I'm proud to present the first beta version of the Advanced Mario Sequencer. Download it here:
www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=b46c52f041c1b1f791b20cc0d07ba4d269ec631b362f1bdf
System Requirements:
Windows: WinNT 5.0 (=Win2000) or higher. DirectX required.
Mac: MacOSX Intel 10.4 or higher.
Installing:
Windows: Unzip the file using any unzipping application (eg 7zip) to your Program Files folder, or whereever you want it to be. There is no installer, simply start the Advanced Mario Sequencer from the folder. As the application doesn't do that, you may want to link the .mss file extention to the AMS yourself.
MacOSX: Unzip the file. Drag the AMS to your Applications folder or whereever you want to have it.
This is a beta version, please be aware that there is the possibility of a crash. Don't create long songs without saving often!
If you encouter a bug, please report it in this forum in a new thread (!) with as much information about it as you can collect. (If there are already bug reports, please check if the bug you encountered already was posted).
FAQ: (well, these questions weren't asked yet, but i believe they would be frequently asked )
Why isn't there a Mac PPC version?
Because I didn't compile the fluidsynth tool for PPC architecture yet. There will be a PPC version. If you have a PPC Mac and want to test the AMS, please contact me, I will then set this to a higher priority in my todo-list.
Why is this little application so damn big?
Well, this is the price I pay for using a programming language that can create cross-platform, native GUIs. I can do nothing about it.
Why does the window flicker so often?
That's because on Windows, window refreshing is a bit different from MacOSX, so this is mainly a porting issue which I will fix in the final version.
Why is the rum gone?
No idea.
How can I shorten a song?
You can't. For now. A chord adding / deleting tool is on my todo-list.
Why isn't the file format compatible to the MPC?
Because I used XML to store songs, as XML is very easily extensible, which makes it possible to add new features to the AMS very easily. The main lack of the MPC file format is that the songs have a fixed length, so there was no chance in using it anyway. There will probably a feature to import MPC files in the future.
I don't like the animation, can't it be smoother?
Well, not unless I use DirectX or OpenGL for graphical output, but I don't have any experience here, so I won't do that. However, as I'm not very satisfied with the animation myself, I intend to implement an alternative animation mode similar to the MPC: The screen won't scroll, new chords will be displayed as soon as all current chords have been played. Oh, and I know that this is an issue especially important for dickspeed users.
Why is the Undo menu item always disabled?
Because it is not implemented yet.
So why is it in the menu at all?
To provoke stupid questions.
Can I open the .mss files with a text editor, like I can with MPC files?
Of course you can. As I mentioned, the files are stored in XML format. I recommend Notepad++ for editing on Windows, TextMate on Mac.
Why is the manual so confusing?
Because I wrote it around 2am. I will redo it with a better structure somewhen. Thanks for looking at the manual anyway .
I don't like the AMS and I will stick to the MPC.
That's not a question.