Author Topic: Amiga MODs in Cheapo? Now you can! (Read 15294 times)

ccexplore · « **on:** November 04, 2005, 08:42:18 AM »

I don't know how many people would care about this, but I've finally managed to hack Cheapo so that it is no longer restricted to MIDIs for music playback!

You can download the hacked version of wledit2 and wlem2, as well as various support files, here:

http://www.geocities.com/guestlevels/MCIChMus/MCIChMus_v1.0.zip

Included in the zip file is a readme, but installation is very simple, just unzip the contents into your Cheapo folder and you're done! The hacked versions of the game and level editor are named wlem2x and wledit2x.

So that you can try them out, I included two styles for you to experiment with.

http://www.geocities.com/guestlevels/MCIChMus/AmigaCrystal.zip
http://www.geocities.com/guestlevels/MCIChMus/SNESCrystal.zip

Think of them as the CrystalLemmus style except with Amiga and SNES versions of the Lemmings/ONML music. AmigaCrystal contains music from the Amiga version of Lemmings, ONML and Lemmings 2. SNESCrystal contains music from the SNES version of Lemmings and Lemmings 2.

In case you want them for your own styles, you can go here to get the music I incorporated into those styles:

http://www.geocities.com/guestlevels/MCIChMus/lem1_lem2_SPCs.zip
http://www.geocities.com/guestlevels/MCIChMus/L2MEDs.zip

You can get the MODs for Amiga Lemmings and ONML from Mindless's portal.

You can get SPCs (SNES music rips) from many, many SNES games at http://www.snesmusic.org/v2/

Keep in mind that these new music formats will be quite a bit larger than MIDIs, so including them in your styles will increase the style's size, as you may notice when comparing the size of CrystalLemmus to AmigaCrystal and SNESCrystal. And people without the hacked version of Cheapo will only hear silence when playing the non-MIDI music. Remember that MIDIs still work in the hacked versions of the game and editor, and you can have a mix of all the supported music formats in a single style.

Oh yeah, btw, unlike MIDI playback, the non-MIDIs formats supported so far will playback with seamless looping.

DragonsLover · « **Reply #1 on:** November 04, 2005, 06:12:09 PM »

Very awesome!

I've also MODs of Lemmings 2 : The Tribes.

Thank you very much, ccexplore!

Isu · « **Reply #2 on:** November 04, 2005, 07:26:05 PM »

Wow, Like Wow.

There are so many MODs I wanted to put in styles, and now it's possible.

I'm in awe!

EDIT: And now the bandwidth has been exceeded, what luck.

Conway · « **Reply #3 on:** November 04, 2005, 10:07:23 PM »

Er . . . Maybe I'm just a little slow, but what's the advantage to using MODs (a format I hadn't even heard of, btw) over MIDIs?

Jazzem · « **Reply #4 on:** November 04, 2005, 10:13:31 PM »

MOD's are the original music type used, MIDI's aren't. MIDI's are of much lower quality (Unless the MIDI maker is amazing/the MOD maker is dreadful

) and are usually a remade version of the original music piece.

Kudos to you cc, I haven't got around to getting Cheapo yet, but you sure know your onions when it comes to this kind of thing!

DragonsLover · « **Reply #5 on:** November 04, 2005, 10:59:13 PM »

Yes, MODs are better than MIDIs even if I like sequencing them. But maybe I'll switch to MODs sequencing soon!

Anyway... Amiga used MODs music and it's a very compatible file format for most of the computers (well, I think). Personnally, I prefer listening MODs music, but MIDIs are good too. They're both good.

ccexplore · « **Reply #6 on:** November 05, 2005, 12:06:40 AM »

Quote from: Conway link=1131093740/0#3 date=1131142043

Er . . . Maybe I'm just a little slow, but what's the advantage to using MODs (a format I hadn't even heard of, btw) over MIDIs?

It's not a matter of which is better, since both are supported.

The point is to expand the number of music formats supported, and hence, the number of music files available for someone to use for their styles.

For example, I pointed out how you can now use whatever you found on http://www.snesmusic.org/v2/

It's my contention that, even if you don't plan to do anything with MODs or SPCs or what-not, everyone should switch over to this enhanced version of Cheapo immediately. MIDIs still work perfectly fine in the hacked version, so you lose nothing, but you might gain something when it comes time to play a level using a style that uses non-MIDI music.

ccexplore · « **Reply #7 on:** November 05, 2005, 12:11:20 AM »

Quote from: Conway link=1131093740/0#3 date=1131142043

what's the advantage to using MODs (a format I hadn't even heard of, btw)

Wow, you sure have a selective memory when it comes to what your fellow forumers are doing.

Don't you remember this thead: http://forum.lemmingswelt.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1127369568 &#A0; ?

That should answer your question about what the MOD format is.

I could even support MP3s, except I think they tend to be far too large to be included in style files.

Mindless · « **Reply #8 on:** November 05, 2005, 01:29:08 AM »

Oops, looks like you've exceeded your bandwidth. I was able to grab MCIChMus_v1.0.zip before it went down, so it's here.

ccexplore · « **Reply #9 on:** November 05, 2005, 01:35:09 AM »

Oh, so that's what people meant about the bandwidth.

Sorry about that.

If you have trouble getting the files, you can e-mail me. Actually, I'll probably e-mail Mindless all the files so he can host them all. It looks like Yahoo isn't a very good place to host my stuff.

Mindless · « **Reply #10 on:** November 05, 2005, 02:39:24 AM »

Quote from: ccexplore (not logged in)(Guest) link=1131093740/0#0 date=1131093738

http://www.geocities.com/guestlevels/MCIChMus/AmigaCrystal.zip

This archive seems to be corrupt... :-/

ccexplore · « **Reply #11 on:** November 05, 2005, 03:26:34 AM »

Wow, today's not my day. :-/

I e-mailed Mindless a good copy of the file. He now has all my other files available in the portal, so if Yahoo's whining about bandwidth again, you know where else to go.

Ice_Eagle · « **Reply #12 on:** April 10, 2006, 12:32:28 AM »

ccexplore, are you also making the other Lemmings and Oh No More Lemmings styles with Amiga/SNES MODs?

namida · « **Reply #13 on:** April 10, 2006, 05:33:37 AM »

You should add MP3 support anyway. People using it could always give players an option between MP3 styles and styles with regular midis.

ccexplore · « **Reply #14 on:** April 10, 2006, 08:20:53 AM »

Quote from: Ice_Eagle link=1131093740/0#12 date=1144629148

ccexplore, are you also making the other Lemmings and Oh No More Lemmings styles with Amiga/SNES MODs?

The two styles I included are merely examples to illustrate the ability to play MOD and SPC (SNES music rips) music, and they simply reference the graphics of the Orig-Blue.sty and default.sty styles that comes with Cheapo.

As practice, you might consider making the styles yourself if you want the Amiga and SNES music in other styles--it's easy, you just do it the same way you'd include MIDIs in a style. &#A0;Just make sure to use wledit2x instead of wledit2 when generating styles with MOD/SPC music. &#A0;The MOD/MED and SPC music I used for the examples should be available for download I think on Mindless's portal; if you can't find them I can e-mail them to you.

Quote from: Sunrise link=1131093740/0#13 date=1144647217

You should add MP3 support anyway. People using it could always give players an option between MP3 styles and styles with regular midis.

I'll think about it. &#A0;Although, I've yet to seen someone even taking advantage of the MOD/SPC capabilities so far, despite even the wide availability of SPC music (see http://www.snesmusic.org), so I'm not exactly seeing a great demand to add any additional support right now.

Happy_Feet · « **Reply #15 on:** April 15, 2006, 07:29:07 AM »

when i tried compiling a style i had made using MODs in the Music: section, the cheapo editor program said the files could not be compressed

please help! thx in advance

ccexplore · « **Reply #16 on:** April 15, 2006, 08:04:42 AM »

You need to use the hacked version of the editor. &#A0;In the download I think I named it wledit2x.exe. &#A0;Feel free to replace your unhacked wledit2.exe with the hacked version.

If that doesn't help, then make sure the MOD file is in the same folder as the STT file, I think that's where Cheapo would look for materials.

Mr. K · « **Reply #17 on:** April 15, 2006, 04:49:17 PM »

O lookie, I'm taking an interest in this! ^_^

HappyFeet probably is trying to insert an s3m, xm, or it file. I tried to, because theoretically it should be able to play those along with MOD, as they're all supported by BASS.DLL. And when I included them, I got that. Just included .mod, and it made the style, but here's where my problem crops up...

I open my style in Wledit2x, go to set the music, pick music #1, which was replaced, and attempt to play it. I get the "cannot play this music" error. But, I thought it might just be an editor problem, so I selected music 1 anyway and made a level, then went into the hacked version of the game. The level music was silent-- nothing played. I can confirm, the files I used were valid MODs. The style in question simply takes the graphics from Orig-Fire.sty but adds MOD music. And yes, I have most stuff except the GFX and Objects referenced to Default.sty. If you want, I'll post the STT file.

ccexplore · « **Reply #18 on:** April 15, 2006, 06:18:17 PM »

Quote from: Mr. Ksoft link=1131093740/15#17 date=1145119757

HappyFeet probably is trying to insert an s3m, xm, or it file.

"Cannot compress file" (as encountered by Happy_Feet) is an error when the style is being generated, so it has nothing to do with the file format. Whereas the "cannot play this music" error you encountered would be an error during playback of the music, meaning the music is already put into the style.

Quote

I open my style in Wledit2x, go to set the music, pick music #1, which was replaced, and attempt to play it. &#A0;I get the "cannot play this music" error. &#A0;But, I thought it might just be an editor problem,

No, if you get "cannot play this music" in the hacked (wledit2x) editor, then it really does mean that the music won't be played back in wlem2x either, since the two uses the same method to play back the music.

Please send me your s3m/xm/it file so I can investigate further. Since I have to support multiple file formats that gets handled by different DLLs, I need to perform a format check before handing it off to the DLL that handles it. Maybe there's a bug in the way I did the format check for s3m/xm/it.

Happy_Feet · « **Reply #19 on:** April 15, 2006, 10:02:29 PM »

[highlight]You need to use the hacked version of the editor. &#A0;In the download I think I named it wledit2x.exe. &#A0;Feel free to replace your unhacked wledit2.exe with the hacked version.

If that doesn't help, then make sure the MOD file is in the same folder as the STT file, I think that's where Cheapo would look for materials. [/highlight]

Of course I am using the hacked Editor. I can't replace the editor, the hacked version complains it can't find the original. Yes, the MOD files are in the same folder.

[highlight]HappyFeet probably is trying to insert an s3m, xm, or it file.[/highlight]

You must think I'm stupid. It's a MOD extension file.

Mr. K · « **Reply #20 on:** April 15, 2006, 10:12:10 PM »

*sigh* I think I've been misunderstood... I didn't even think that the hacked versions supported s3m/xm/it, just MOD, SPC, and MED. So I used MODs... and the compress problem came to me when I included XMs, S3Ms, and ITs in my style. Once I took them out it worked....

But meh. See for yourself on the mods I'm trying so far: http://www.ksoftgames.digibase.ca/files/attemptedmods.zip These are the ones that refuse to play in the editor/game.

Mindless · « **Reply #21 on:** April 15, 2006, 10:31:16 PM »

Quote from: Happy_Feet link=1131093740/15#19 date=1145138549

You must think I'm stupid. It's a MOD extension file.

*sigh* No one thinks you're stupid... I think... but if that is the case, Pooh probably isn't helping the situation.

Edit: And actually, even if it has the MOD extension, it might really be another format -- many players will play files correctly even if the extension is wrong.

Happy_Feet · « **Reply #22 on:** April 15, 2006, 11:38:13 PM »

Bleh I dunno. I'm sure they're MODs as theyre ripped from Lemmings. They're on your file archive, Mindless. Winamp verifies to me that theyre not some other format. If I could use VGM, I would, but failing that, I'll go with these MODs...

ccexplore · « **Reply #23 on:** April 16, 2006, 03:30:14 AM »

Quote from: Happy_Feet link=1131093740/15#19 date=1145138549

Of course I am using the hacked Editor. I can't replace the editor, the hacked version complains it can't find the original. Yes, the MOD files are in the same folder.

Hmm, I didn't realize the editor search for itself like that.

Anyhow, e-mail me your STT file and the MOD files and I'll try to sort it out. The error messages generally means it's not finding a file the STT is referencing. It might not even be the music--try taking out your music section and see whether the editor successfully generates the style or not.

ccexplore · « **Reply #24 on:** April 16, 2006, 03:36:32 AM »

Quote from: Mr. Ksoft link=1131093740/15#20 date=1145139130

*sigh* I think I've been misunderstood... &#A0;I didn't even think that the hacked versions supported s3m/xm/it, just MOD, SPC, and MED. &#A0;So I used MODs... and the compress problem came to me when I included XMs, S3Ms, and ITs in my style. &#A0;Once I took them out it worked....

But meh. &#A0;See for yourself on the mods I'm trying so far: http://www.ksoftgames.digibase.ca/files/attemptedmods.zip &#A0;These are the ones that refuse to play in the editor/game.

I'm getting a corrupted zip file error when trying to unzip it.

The hacked version should support s3m/xm/it thru bass.dll (though I haven't tried to be fair), but as I explained, all files go thru an independent format detection logic that I programmed before being passed on to the appropriate DLL, so I'm thinking I probably did something wrong there.

Mr. K · « **Reply #25 on:** April 16, 2006, 10:32:57 AM »

Crap, not another person to fall to the corrupt file bug... something's really up with my server; many people who download ZIPs from it get corrupted files. You using IE? That's known to be a cause. And the download works OK for me.

Happy_Feet · « **Reply #26 on:** April 17, 2006, 01:41:38 AM »

okay i somehow got the MODs to compress, but now the editor doesn't recognise them. so i go to put the music into the game, click Test, and it says it can not play specified blah blah blah!! i put my music in slots 22 thru 40

whats wrong now ?

ccexplore · « **Reply #27 on:** April 17, 2006, 08:17:53 AM »

Quote from: Happy_Feet link=1131093740/15#26 date=1145238098

okay i somehow got the MODs to compress, but now the editor doesn't recognise them. so i go to put the music into the game, click Test, and it says it can not play specified blah blah blah!! i put my music in slots 22 thru 40 whats wrong now ?

Generating the style just generates the STY file. To use the style in any manner, including playtesting the music, you need to create a new level. Go to the "Level" menu and click on first item, "New" (or, press Ctrl+N). You'll then be prompted to select the style file to be used for your new level. Select the style you generated and click OK.

Now when you use the playtest function in the editor it will be playing the music in the selected style.

ccexplore · « **Reply #28 on:** April 17, 2006, 08:49:06 AM »

Quote from: Mindless link=1131093740/15#21 date=1145140276

Quote from: Happy_Feet link=1131093740/15#19 date=1145138549
You must think I'm stupid. It's a MOD extension file.
*sigh* No one thinks you're stupid... I think... but if that is the case, Pooh probably isn't helping the situation. &#A0;

Remember ex-member JasonXV? :-/ (http://forum.lemmingswelt.de/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1123283493)

Guess who Happy_Feet is? If you're wondering why you are experiencing a sense of d&#E9;j&#E0; vu......

Happy_Feet · « **Reply #29 on:** April 17, 2006, 10:41:28 AM »

Quote from: ccexplore link=1131093740/15#28 date=1145263746

Guess who Happy_Feet is? &#A0;If you're wondering why you are experiencing a sense of d&#E9;j&#E0; vu......[/color]

Well i wasnt trying to hide or anything lol.

anyway i tried to make a level with the music in place, i just hear the default midi stuff. then i switch all the slots to anything past 22, and it says cannot play blah blah blah. all my STYs currently reference a STY i sent you by PM ccexplore, which contains the music. well i sent you the STT, but i compiled it..... you get it

(note: back when i was jasonxv, i was rather rude. i apologise sincerely. this new nick wasnt meant to hide me. i just wanted a new nick. lol.)

ccexplore · « **Reply #30 on:** April 17, 2006, 04:47:31 PM »

Quote from: Happy_Feet link=1131093740/15#29 date=1145270488

(note: back when i was jasonxv, i was rather rude. i apologise sincerely. this new nick wasnt meant to hide me. i just wanted a new nick. lol.)

That's alright, you are better this time around. &#A0;I just thought I recognize someone who likes using their smilies.

As for the style, if the music still not working after you use your style to create a new level...I dunno. &#A0;I'm not at my home computer until after work hours, I'll take a stab tonight at the style you PMed. &#A0;(Looking at it, I didn't see a problem.)

ccexplore · « **Reply #31 on:** April 17, 2006, 04:57:56 PM »

Quote from: Mr. Ksoft link=1131093740/15#25 date=1145183577

Crap, not another person to fall to the corrupt file bug... something's really up with my server; many people who download ZIPs from it get corrupted files. &#A0;You using IE? &#A0;That's known to be a cause. &#A0;And the download works OK for me.

Um, well if you're not e-mailing them (guestlevel@yahoo) I'm not going work on anything. &#A0;Or try something besides ZIP like RAR.

[edit: oops, typo with the e-mail address, it should be guestlevels@yahoo]

ccexplore · « **Reply #32 on:** April 18, 2006, 01:27:58 AM »

Quote from: ccexplore link=1131093740/30#30 date=1145292451

As for the style, if the music still not working after you use your style to create a new level...I dunno. &#A0;I'm not at my home computer until after work hours, I'll take a stab tonight at the style you PMed. &#A0;(Looking at it, I didn't see a problem.)[/color]

@Happy_Feet: Ok I found the problem in your STT. &#A0;You forgot to put "End" for the "Lemmings" section, and since the "Music" section follows, the editor read your entire Music section as part of the "Lemmings" section instead, which is why no music gets incorporated into your style.

Just add a single line with the word "End" before the "Music:" section and that should fix it.

ccexplore · « **Reply #33 on:** April 18, 2006, 01:40:36 AM »

@Happy_Feet: another thing I notice is that Cheapo might sometimes have trouble finding the files the style references if they are not somewhere under the "Styles" folder or one of its subfolders.

So I recommend putting all materials under the Styles folder, possibly in a subfolder. For example, you can make a subfolder named "MyFirstStyle" inside Styles, then put all the bitmaps, MODs, etc. for your style inside that subfolder. Then to reference the files in your STT, you would use a path like "MyFirstStyle\cancan.mod" instead of just "cancan.mod". Put the STT directly under the Styles folder just in case.

Happy_Feet · « **Reply #34 on:** April 18, 2006, 01:59:09 AM »

thanks that helped! say ccexplore, will you ever get around to GYM? genesis lemmings sounds way better than snes lemmings

have a listen for yourself ^_^ how about VGM? hehe just askin', not expectin'..

ccexplore · « **Reply #35 on:** April 18, 2006, 07:00:43 AM »

Quote from: Mr. Ksoft link=1131093740/15#20 date=1145139130

But meh. &#A0;See for yourself on the mods I'm trying so far: http://www.ksoftgames.digibase.ca/files/attemptedmods.zip &#A0;These are the ones that refuse to play in the editor/game.

I just tried out the 3 MODs you e-mailed me and they all worked fine in the editor and in the game. &#A0;So I think you probably just made a simple careless mistake like the one Happy_Feet made (eg. forgot to put "End" in the section before "Music:").

Read some of my answers/suggestions on this thread, and make sure you created a new level with the style first (or open an existing level that uses the style) before using the playtest function. &#A0;If it still doesn't work then PM me your STT.

I also e-mailed you back the style I generated using your MODs. &#A0;See if you can hear the music in that style, in case it's somehow a problem specific to your machine.

ccexplore · « **Reply #36 on:** April 18, 2006, 07:09:46 AM »

So, here's a general tip to those who encountered troubles while creating a style with MODs and other non-MIDI music:

To see whether the problem lies with your style or with my non-MIDI music support, create a copy of your STT but change it to use only MIDI music. &#A0;Then generate the style and see whether the music works. &#A0;If it doesn't work even with MIDI music, then it's most likely a problem in your STT.

Mr. K · « **Reply #37 on:** April 18, 2006, 10:25:06 PM »

Aha, it was sort of a dumb mistake, but NOT an obvious one.

I remembered having BASS.DLL in my Windows/System folder for my game development, and Windows looks there before trying the one in the MusicSupport folder. Turns out the one in Windows/System was a really, really old version (modified date said... 2000!?) and replacing it instantly fixed the problem! Yay!

ccexplore · « **Reply #38 on:** April 18, 2006, 11:28:44 PM »

Quote from: Mr. Ksoft link=1131093740/30#37 date=1145399106

I remembered having BASS.DLL in my Windows/System folder for my game development, and Windows looks there before trying the one in the MusicSupport folder.

Wow, interesting, I'm glad you brought that to my attention. This would definitely not be easy for an average end user to diagnose (even with my help on the forums) if one of their random games decided to install an old BASS.DLL in the windows system folder. It also appears this unexpected behavior is due to a change they made in Windows XP SP1 presumably as a security measure.

I'll have to see whether I can change my code to look for DLLs in the MusicSupport folder first. I believe that should be possible (specify a full path to the DLL), and I'll upload and announce a newer version of my stuff when that's done.

Author Topic: Amiga MODs in Cheapo? Now you can! (Read 15294 times)

Conway

Jazzem

Ice_Eagle

Happy_Feet

Happy_Feet

Happy_Feet

Happy_Feet

Happy_Feet

Happy_Feet