Tracker 4.44
Chapter 3: History
Unless you are one of tracker's beta-testers, you should only
have one of the official releases. In case of trouble,
please verify you have the latest version before contacting me.
Release 4.44 (official release)
I've finally decided to release 4.44 as an official release, since it
appears to be quite stable, and I'm currently changing a lot for 5.0.
Problems to note:
-
The OS/2 version seems to crash from time to time, and Bruno has been unable
to track the problem down.
-
AIX internals seem to have changed quite a bit recently. There will be a
patch available as soon as the problem is fixed.
Release 4.44 (beta)
-
Full documentation included in the package.
Release 4.43 (beta)
Release 4.42 (beta)
-
slight bugs in file reading....
-
put back
transpose
option where it belonged.
-
experimented with audio dithering for 8 bit output. Removed it,
does not seem to give better sound quality.
-
option parsing code in order. All old options put
back in.
-
bugs with color handling fixed.
-
Amiga version considered temporarily broken due to extensive changes.
-
The list option is currently broken.
Release 4.41 (beta)
-
corrected long-standing bug in effect 5.
-
fixed stupid bug in older-style tempo.
-
should compile correctly under solaris.
-
new-style options.
Release 4.40 (beta)
-
the player is now more sensible.
-
added m/M runtime switch (mono/stereo).
-
fixed up minor amiga problems.
-
fixed up the audio recognition loop in the Sparc engine.
-
removed transpose feature as it will be simpler to do it by
changing sampling frequency and tempo.
-
in case of an older soundtracker module with 15 samples, always use
old-style set tempo command.
Release 4.39 (beta)
-
fixed up data sizes mostly everywhere.
-
added prototypes to `
Arch/Sparc/config.h
',
and #define IOCTL_IS_REDUNDANT
to remove gcc warnings.
-
made porting much easier.
Release 4.38 (beta)
-
checked memory handling thanks to `
mung.c
'. Various small memory bugs
fixed.
-
fixed bug in
run_in_fg
.
It did sometimes reply that tracker was run in bg even though this was false.
-
changed semantics of
sync_audio
: we need a second function to be able
to free data in remove_pending_tags
.
Release 4.37 (beta)
-
fixed bug with tremolo.
-
total duration working correctly.
Showing up in the title bar for xterms.
Release 4.36 (beta)
-
the virtual player now computes the total song length.
-
small bug-fixes.
-
documentation rewritten using TeXinfo.
Release 4.35 (beta)
-
start of virtual player: try computing the total song length... Not fully
implemented yet.
-
some more cleanup as far as note handling is concerned.
-
pulled
randomizer
inside of main code... now randomize correctly across
directories. Better play_list
handling
Release 4.34 (beta)
-
loads of compression in the song reading. sample numbers get remapped
and we get rid of most redundant stuff.
-
better memory allocation: does not store pitch any longer. Allocates
all patterns as one big chunk (shouldn't be a problem since it's less
than 128K anyway).
-
specific setup for virtual player (soon to be implemented)
Release 4.33 (beta)
-
separated
SPECIAL_NOTE
(no known pitch) from NO_NOTE
.
-
better disk/memory throughput: use
read_file
where applicable.
-
does not interpret unused patterns. Does not even read them, in fact.
-
better event reading scheme: read the whole pattern, then interpret
each track independently. First step to the virtual player.
Release 4.32 (beta)
-
documentation update.
-
player clean up.
-
Sparc sound engine more powerful.
Release 4.31
-
OS/2 version updated.
-
HP versions updated.
-
SGI minor bug fix.
Release 4.30 (beta)
-
better interface for the Sparc, post-synchronized display,
plus resample change on the fly. Maybe make it automatic ?
Release 4.29 (beta, official Amiga)
-
runs on the Amiga again.
-
fixed up all remaining Protracker problems. All Protracker effects
are now functional!
-
minor bugs fixed. Nothing serious under Unix, used to crash under AmigaOs.
Release 4.28 (beta)
-
partial port to mm1
-
renamed `
getopt.h
' to `getoption.h
'
Release 4.27 (beta)
-
minor bug fixes in `
Arch/common.c
'. should work correctly on NextStep now.
-
xterm stuff cleaned up.
-
ppunpack
is now officially part of tracker. Nico Francois
(see Credits) has given his benediction.
You may redistribute ppunpack
as you wish.
Release 4.26 (beta)
-
title in window title bar for
xterms
.
-
version number cleaned up, now shows up in exactly one place (`
Makefile
')
Release 4.25 (beta)
Release 4.24 (beta)
-
network audio (see NAS) port... probably not working yet.
Release 4.22 (beta)
Release 4.20 (beta)
-
notion of data width introduced, fixed some problems (more or less).
-
corrected minor bug in `
Arch/Sparc/audio.c
': used to modify the volume
at exit.
-
some minor changes in commands according to the actual Protracker code.
Release 4.19 (beta)
-
more sensible scrolling display.
-
tremolo (see Tremolo) finally working.
-
Rolf Grossmann's patch (see Credits): cleaned up user interface, with less
#defines
.
Release 4.18 (beta)
-
New Sparc features: `
-sync
' support, waiting at start for buffer
to fill for unhashed audio output.
-
lots of minor bugs everywhere fixed.
-
WARNING:
oversample=0
(linear resampling) is probably broken right now
Release 4.17 (beta)
-
cleaned up architectural stuff. Even faster.
Release 4.16 (beta)
-
much better optimization in `
resample.c
'.
-
optimization of the various `
audio.c
' files.
Release 4.15 (beta)
-
added missing Tremolo effect...
`
guitarslinger
' now sounds correctly (I hope).
-
fixed up Set finetune... was not updated instantly enough.
Release 4.14 (internal)
Release 4.13 (full release)
-
cleaned up small bugs as compared to 4.11.
-
much better technical documentation.
-
upgraded Amiga version to 4.13.
Release 4.11 (internal release)
-
implemented color ansi support.
-
NextStep status: working with minor patch.
-
linux status: working.
Release 4.8
-
Note for programmers:
output_samples
size has changed
to 23 bits, to allow for 16 bit samples, oversampling,
volume, and so on...
-
reorganized machine dependent code to `
Arch/
'.
-
cleaned up `
Makefile
'.
-
implemented buffered files (finally). Faster loading of some modules.
-
clutter of includes moved to `
defs.h
'.
Release 4.7 (internal release)
Release 4.3
-
full Amiga support. Good playing model.
-
rewrote `
Makefile
'.
-
minor options changes.
-
much easier to tinker with than the previous versions. Hooks for future
upgrades everywhere.
-
tracker 3.xx is no longer supported. I won't answer to bug reports
concerning it except to redirect you to the newer version.
Release 3.19
-
Amiga support! Finally.
-
Solaris 2.2 support.
Release 3.11
-
general bug-fixes, plays some modules it goofed on (speed check, extended
command Loop pattern now works).
-
repeat working better.
-
should be rather difficult to get cores out of it.
-
may fork when loading a new module, though not working satisfactorily yet.
-
almost readable scrolling display.
-
support for DECstations (thanks to Andrew Leahy, see Credits) .
-
support for hpux (thanks to Bjoern Stabell, see Credits).
-
partial support for solaris.
Release 3.10 (internal release)
-
linux: small bug-fix, 16 bit support.
-
general: bug in finetune fixed.
Release 3.9 (internal release)
-
background/foreground csh-aware mode, much cleaner termio.
Release 3.7 (internal release)
-
support for linux (thanks to Hannu Savolainen, see Credits).
-
small bug fix in `
termio
': restore to a sane tty on exit.
Release 3.6 (internal release)
-
more efficient replay routine, works faster, all glitches finally removed
(I hope).
-
more options, better integrated.
-
much cleaner source code.
Release 3.0 (internal release)
-
tracker knows about the Sparcstation 10.
-
bug fix for command 5 (see Tone portamento + Volume slide),
that now works like portamento (see Tone portamento).
Mostly affects `
apocalypse
' module.
-
support for most protracker extended commands, including finetune.
-
dynamic adjustements to the output frequency, fast skip, much better
user-response overall.
-
better runtime interface (without those strange signals sequences).
-
better screen output.
-
audio flush on the Sparc, don't have to wait 10sec+ to exit.