I''ve been reading a bit about MOD music, and it seems pretty interesting. I''d like to incorporate it into my sound library to handle music... So, on the code side, how would one go about loading/playing MOD files? Is there an SDK of some kind for handling the format or will I have to load/play the file manually? Any good tutorials anyone can reccomend? On the creation side, what programs are available for creating MOD files out there? Prefferably freeware, easy to use ones! :-)

No editing program? That''s weird... Hope yer wrong about that! :-)

I was under the impression that a MOD file was a small collection of pre-sampled instrument sounds in wav format, and the rest of the file was tracking information about when to play the sounds so that it ends up sounding like music. Very cool concept in that you get sounds that sound good no matter what your soundcard''s MIDI is like (I''m still running an SB16, so MIDI is a complete *pile*...), and the filesize is small since it''s just a few sounds and some tracking info which should be pretty small. I was actually thinking about writing a program that would generate music this way (doing drum tracks for demos in SB16 MIDI is completely worthless!), but it appears someone''s already thought of it!

mod is a really old format, that pretty much started on the Amiga with Sound/Pro/NoiseTracker and the like, and migrated over to the PC in forms such as ScreamTracker, FastTracker and ImpulseTracker.

There is no SDK as such, altho there are libraries like MIDAS, SEAL, FMOD and MikMod that will play stuff... as for editors the originals for the formats i listed above do exist but about the best editor to use (imo) is ModPlug Tracker from www.modplug.com

hmm... midi with DLS or so instruments would most likely have the advantage of tracker with the flexibility of midi.... DirectMusic partially demonstrates this i guess even if its not portable.

Midi is still Midi though... A tracker really lets you have COMPLETE control over what is happening. With midi software, you would have to do way more work to get the same results.

A module (the generic term for formats like MOD) is a collection of samples not necessarily in WAV format and sequencing data. The samples can be in different formats, many of which have their origins from the Amiga. The sequencing data is in the form of an order table, sometimes channel panning and volume data, and pattern data. The actual notes of the song are arranged in blocks called patterns--each pattern often contains 64 rows, usually 4 rows correspond to a single beat, and each row is a potential place to put a note or effect. Those patterns are placed in the order required to make the song flow in the order table. To generate the actual sound, the samples are played at different speeds, depending on the desired note; the principle is similar to playing an audio tape at different speeds.

Modules are lots of fun. Formats like IT (Impulse Tracker) and XM (Fast Tracker eXtended Module) allow more complex things like instrument definitions which let you define what sample you want to use for a certain range of notes, and other things like volume and panning envelopes. Very fun stuff. Theoretically, MIDI is better in that it''s infinitely flexible, but you''re at the mercy of the hardware you have. If you have a really great synth, MIDI will kick ass and you''ll be able to do everything and more that you would be able to do with a tracker. A tracker can actually be thought of as software-based MIDI hardware. The big difference is that modules have a lower timing resolution in that notes are constrained to rows, while MIDI sequences place notes anywhere in time; this is why most MIDI sequencers have features to align the notes to a certain resolution so that notes are perfectly places.

But, in my opinion, modules are a lot more fun to create, and I don''t have to spend many thousands of dollars to make something sound good.

MIDAS, FMOD, and BASS/BASSMOD will play MOD files in your games if that''s what you are looking to do. I think BASS is probably the best library to go with because it is the cheapest and most powerful for what you pay. MIDAS is a little buggy. They also play IT, XM, and S3M and FMOD will do MIDI. Not sure about BASS. I do know MIDAS'' IT loader is a bit limited on the formats it will load. They all use directsound, which is cool and I think they all also have support for playing wav files (for sound effects in games). I also heard of a gaudiosdk, but never tried it...You can find it on programmersheaven.com if you search for it (I can''t remember the sdk''s website).
Oh, and as far as paying they are all free unless you want to sell your program/game.

Hope that helps
-CS

Impulse Tracker 2.14 is easily the most powerful tracker and the best sound format. The only real limitation is that >100 samples not supported.

Fast Tracker is OK but nowhere near as powerful as IT. Easier to learn though. ModPlug does everything, but there are problems saving to different formats (e.g. IT is not fully supported, samples often get corruoted & stuff). ModPlug Player is the best player by far that I''ve seen.

IT3 is *supposededly* on it''s way soon and looks incredible so far...but it''s taking too long. Bring back Jeff Lim, all is forgiven!

If you want some music in yer game and need some nlasting metal of some sort, mail me:

axe@totaldeath.com

if you want some more info, one of the guys I know is programming a Mod Player as I understand it:

http://grj.hispeed.com/

Hope this helps some. I don''t often visit this board, so don''t bother replying to me specifically by anything other than mail.

C ya