| |
What have I done? |
| |
This is a long thread. Click here to view the threaded list. |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101215, posted by VincceH at 15:51, 10/4/2007 |
 Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
A general rule of thumb I've observed over the years is this:
Whenever I make public comments about the time I have available to work on WebChange or other RISC OS related stuff, within a short time more of the other work I do comes my way to reduce that available time.
Today, more of the other work I do has come my way.
Why? I haven't made any public comments about this in a while.
<thinks>
Oh yeah. I booked into the Wakefield show. That's a pretty big public comment right there.
Ho hum.  |
| |
 [ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Ian Cook |
Message #101217, posted by ilcook at 18:31, 10/4/2007, in reply to message #101215 |
 Resident idiot
Posts: 1075
|
A general rule of thumb I've observed over the years is this:
Whenever I make public comments about the time I have available to work on WebChange or other RISC OS related stuff, within a short time more of the other work I do comes my way to reduce that available time.
Today, more of the other work I do has come my way.
Why? I haven't made any public comments about this in a while.
<thinks>
Oh yeah. I booked into the Wakefield show. That's a pretty big public comment right there.
Ho hum. You plonker  |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Phil Mellor |
Message #101218, posted by monkeyson2 at 18:33, 10/4/2007, in reply to message #101215 |
 Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler
Posts: 12380
|
Just pre-announce your product at the show, and then take as long as you want before releasing it.
It's what everyone else does.
 |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Adam Lloyd |
Message #101223, posted by adamlloyd at 23:24, 10/4/2007, in reply to message #101217 |
Member
Posts: 155
|
You plonker Heh, your right.  |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Ed Willson |
Message #101234, posted by eddyosaysyo at 08:24, 11/4/2007, in reply to message #101223 |
Posts: 172
|
Heh, your right. ...my left? |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101236, posted by VincceH at 08:36, 11/4/2007, in reply to message #101234 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Heh, your right. ...my left?
No, his right. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101237, posted by VincceH at 08:42, 11/4/2007, in reply to message #101217 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
You plonker Sounds about right.
After posting the above I remembered that I'd had an email from Chris about Wakefield and asking if I was booking in - and in my reply I said something like this would probably happen. What I should have said was I'd book a stand, but not to have it mentioned on the show website. Oh well. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Paul Vigay |
Message #101265, posted by pvigay at 20:33, 11/4/2007, in reply to message #101237 |
Posts: 200
|
In that case, do you think I should announce Skype for RISC OS at the Wakefield Show.....? ;-) |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Paul Vigay |
Message #101266, posted by pvigay at 20:34, 11/4/2007, in reply to message #101265 |
Posts: 200
|
... of course, that should be "pre-announce"! |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jeffrey Lee |
Message #101269, posted by Phlamethrower at 20:58, 11/4/2007, in reply to message #101266 |
 Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff
Posts: 15100
|
Well, I think announcing it and then not having it would be funnier. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Adam Lloyd |
Message #101289, posted by adamlloyd at 11:04, 12/4/2007, in reply to message #101265 |
Member
Posts: 155
|
In that case, do you think I should announce Skype for RISC OS at the Wakefield Show.....? ;-) Yes! Yes! |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101302, posted by VincceH at 15:56, 12/4/2007, in reply to message #101269 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Well, I think announcing it and then not having it would be funnier. Funnier still would be to pre-announce Skype for RISC OS, but say nothing more until it's released - at which time everyone will discover it's something else entirely to what they'd obviously anticipated. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101442, posted by VincceH at 14:10, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101215 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
I've made a decision.
Well, more than one actually:
Decision 1: I've decided that because of my increased commitments, there isn't a snowflake's chance in hell that I'll have a version of WebChange ready for the Wakefield show, so I've decided I'm not going to even bother trying. Rushing development will lead to shortcuts and nasty bodges to get things working as I want them to, and the result of that will be potentially buggy code that's difficult to maintain. Been there before, don't want to go there again.
Decision 2: I'm still going to make use of my stand - I have a box of (26bit) WebChange floppies in the loft; I'll check a reasonable sample of them to make sure they're still useable, and bring them to the show. The box will be on the stand, with a sign above it saying "Please take one!" - after all, it's available from the website for free download, though not enough people have taken advantage of that. (When the new version is eventually released, it'll be a download for online buyers, and a CD for shows, so it's either give the floppies away or bin them.)
Decision 3: As I've concluded I don't have enough time to bring the 32bit WebChange up to reasonable state and decided therefore not to try, that frees up a small amount of time - so what can I do in that time? I'm thinking I can knock together a simple adventure game easily enough. Nothing special or particularly complicated - and certainly not the one that's been bubbling away at the back of my mind for so long (and needs a new version of Trellis) just a small affair.
Decision 4: Depending how far I get with that and, therefore, how much time is left before going up to Wakefield - and how much space there is on those WebChange floppies - I might see if I can squeeze the game onto the same disks. (This might not be possible, though - the images will take up a lot of space, and I vaguely recall the disks being close to full).
Maybe I can replace the contents of half of the disks with the game, and re-label them, and have a second "Please take one" box for the game. Dunno.
Now watch as even more work comes my way and I don't have time to even start on the game... |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jeffrey Lee |
Message #101443, posted by Phlamethrower at 14:18, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101442 |
Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff
Posts: 15100
|
Now watch as even more work comes my way and I don't have time to even start on the game... Do you want to help me with DeathDawn? |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101444, posted by VincceH at 14:29, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101443 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Now watch as even more work comes my way and I don't have time to even start on the game... Do you want to help me with DeathDawn?
What sort of music do you want written?  |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jeffrey Lee |
Message #101445, posted by Phlamethrower at 14:36, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101444 |
Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff
Posts: 15100
|
Now watch as even more work comes my way and I don't have time to even start on the game... Do you want to help me with DeathDawn?
What sort of music do you want written?
10 hours of music for the radio, please |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101446, posted by VincceH at 14:45, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101445 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Now watch as even more work comes my way and I don't have time to even start on the game... Do you want to help me with DeathDawn?
What sort of music do you want written?
10 hours of music for the radio, please
Damn, I forgot the really bad cold I have at the moment, which means I can't actually sing... |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jeffrey Lee |
Message #101447, posted by Phlamethrower at 14:49, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101446 |
Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff
Posts: 15100
|
Now watch as even more work comes my way and I don't have time to even start on the game... Do you want to help me with DeathDawn?
What sort of music do you want written?
10 hours of music for the radio, please
Damn, I forgot the really bad cold I have at the moment, which means I can't actually sing...
That's OK, instrumental music is fine too |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101448, posted by VincceH at 15:07, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101447 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
That's OK, instrumental music is fine too Actually, in all seriousness, I do have a few bits and pieces that I've been playing with. Most is incomplete, some just needs that little something extra (eg a sound sample of something 'interesting' in key places) and some is just plain weird.
I'll MP3 some of the better and/or more complete things and shove them online when I have a spare half hour later this week and you can use what you like.
There isn't a lot, though - there would be if I'd ever got around to converting all the old crap I'd written in Coconizer, but I never did get around to it. (IIRC, I have to turn it into modules first, then use some other program I had to convert the coconizer modules into MPTracker format - then 'fix' the results because some higher notes were lost).
The problem was, once I'd upgraded to StrongARM, that was that - the first step was out of the window. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to get Coconizer to run under VRPCSESATLAETC.
(It's all fairly simple stuff anyway, though - you might be better off trying to persuade Jason to get busy with his synths.) |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jeffrey Lee |
Message #101449, posted by Phlamethrower at 15:17, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101448 |
Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff
Posts: 15100
|
I'll MP3 some of the better and/or more complete things and shove them online when I have a spare half hour later this week and you can use what you like. Yay!
There isn't a lot, though - there would be if I'd ever got around to converting all the old crap I'd written in Coconizer, but I never did get around to it. (IIRC, I have to turn it into modules first, then use some other program I had to convert the coconizer modules into MPTracker format - then 'fix' the results because some higher notes were lost). Hmm, is it possible to convert Coconizer to a QTM-compatible format, using the magical converter program thing? (More details available when I get home to check )
Either that, or you/I could just cheat and convert the coconizer files to MP3.
Unfortunately, I haven't managed to get Coconizer to run under VRPCSESATLAETC. Use a RO 3.11 emulator?
(It's all fairly simple stuff anyway, though - you might be better off trying to persuade Jason to get busy with his synths.) He'll be next  |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101450, posted by VincceH at 15:56, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101449 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Hmm, is it possible to convert Coconizer to a QTM-compatible format, using the magical converter program thing? (More details available when I get home to check ) Coconizer has two formats. One for 'songfiles' (or whatever they were called) which was just the tracks, and details of what instruments (samples) were used, and to actually create a standalone file, that songfile was then converted to a relocatable module with the samples included.
Almost all of my stuff was kept in the basic songfile format, because that's essentially the 'source code' for the music, and because I'll have used the same samples in more than one ditty, it obviously took up less disk space. There was a time when diskspace was expensive, especially for Acorn users (as we were back then).
The program I had for converting needed the tracks in the RM format, including all samples etc.
Either that, or you/I could just cheat and convert the coconizer files to MP3. The advantage with converting them 'properly' using the software I had for the job (TrackConv?) is that it also converted the samples used in any given track into a format suitable for use in ModPlus Tracker. This is something that appeals to me because I'm pee'd off with the standard (midi sound table) sounds available to me on Windows. I have lots of sounds to play with on RISC OS.
Of course, I can also create new ones - I do have two cheap synths in a cupboard somewhere that I bought just for the purpose in the dim and distant!
Unfortunately, I haven't managed to get Coconizer to run under VRPCSESATLAETC. Use a RO 3.11 emulator?
To clarify, IIRC Coconizer itself does actually run on the emulator (because I don't have it running the SA emulation) but it falls over when searching for the 'samples' disks. (The program is built on the assumption they're stored on floppy disk, and I can't for the life of me remember how I made it work from the HD on my RPC).
I might check tonight once I've got some urgent figures out that someone has just emailed be to ask for. (See? What did I say earlier? )
(It's all fairly simple stuff anyway, though - you might be better off trying to persuade Jason to get busy with his synths.) He'll be next
[Edited by VincceH at 15:57, 17/4/2007] |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101453, posted by VincceH at 17:32, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101450 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
To clarify, IIRC Coconizer itself does actually run on the emulator (because I don't have it running the SA emulation) but it falls over when searching for the 'samples' disks. (The program is built on the assumption they're stored on floppy disk, and I can't for the life of me remember how I made it work from the HD on my RPC). I've now worked it out. The 'instrument' files are located using a tool contained in a second program, which on the face of it is there to /play/ existing Coconizer tracks, so that's intuitive, then.
However, running the locator option in that program, it starts scanning the instrument directories until it finds a file it doesn't like, then aborts. The trick is to position the window so that it isn't centred, so that when the abort error box appears, I can see what file is the problem. Cancel the error, remove the file, repeat , wash, rinse.
I have a lot of files, so it might take a while.
And as for the problem ones, I've no idea what's gone wrong - or whether they're actually used in anything. But at least I know how to get it working again, and then I can convert stuff.
Meanwhile, I have proper work to do. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101454, posted by VincceH at 19:51, 17/4/2007, in reply to message #101453 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Work done... been playing.
I've found a more efficient way to weed out the non-functional samples.
I've copied every file from the folder after the last problem file I found doing it the long way, and every folder after that one, into a temporary folder, and then told the app to scan the folders that were left.
After that, I just try loading a 'Cocosong' - if all the files for the song are there, it'll load and play. If not, it'll ask for the sample it's missing, so I look for it in the temp folder, copy it across and re-scan. It's still a tedious job, because I might have to repeat that several times for each track, but it'll be much quicker than the first method.
I've already listened to a few of my old tracks and, frankly, I'm amazed.
Amazed at how awful they sound, due to the low quality samples. I'm sure they used to sound better!
Is it because the crappy little speakers of the older Acorn computers just covered up the awfulness of the samples, or something? Or did we just tolerate such low quality in the late 80s and early 90s?
I suspect that what I'll end up doing once I've converted them to MPT format is replacing the sounds used with the standard MIDI ones after all - or possibly digging one of the synths out and re-creating the sound using better equipment, but that involves more effort. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Simon Challands |
Message #101468, posted by SimonC at 10:05, 18/4/2007, in reply to message #101454 |
 Right on, Commander!
Posts: 398
|
Is it because the crappy little speakers of the older Acorn computers just covered up the awfulness of the samples, or something? Or did we just tolerate such low quality in the late 80s and early 90s? I suspect the former. Those tinny little speakers weren't up to much, but I don't recall coming across many computers with external speakers back then. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jeffrey Lee |
Message #101469, posted by Phlamethrower at 10:11, 18/4/2007, in reply to message #101468 |
Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff
Posts: 15100
|
And they're much better than PC internal speakers, which are typically only used to make "beep" noises. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101480, posted by VincceH at 13:10, 18/4/2007, in reply to message #101469 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Yes... I played a few using the laptop's internal speaker earlier, rather than feeding the sound out of it to something better. They actually sounded better that way, if much quieter.
Anyroaduplike...
I ran into a glitch when trying to get the samples indexed the way I was doing it yesterday. I reached a point where it would happily index sample 'ABC' and I needed to include 'XYZ' - copy that into the directory, and it would fall over on 'ABC' (and I then discovered it was happening the other way around as well).
I suspect it's getting itself confused because there are so many samples, so I've gone back to a blank canvas, with no samples at all, and I'm working through the tracks adding the samples they need. Hopefully, by doing it this way and not including the many samples I never used, I might get past that problem.
However, I've also noticed a few samples appear to be missing. I'll leave the tracks that require those until last, and perhaps try a simple substitution by copying another sample in with the relevant name, to at least get the tracks playable, although they might sound even worse as a result - so that becomes another reason to replace the samples anyway either with newer, better ones, or using the MIDI sounds. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jason Togneri |
Message #101500, posted by filecore at 19:17, 18/4/2007, in reply to message #101480 |
Posts: 3867
|
Anyroaduplike... Any road I plike? |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101505, posted by VincceH at 19:28, 18/4/2007, in reply to message #101500 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Anyroaduplike... Any road I plike?
Well, no, because then I would have written "Anyroadiplike..." and not "Anyroaduplike..." |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
Jason Togneri |
Message #101519, posted by filecore at 21:50, 18/4/2007, in reply to message #101505 |
Posts: 3867
|
Anyroaduplike... Any road I plike?
Well, no, because then I would have written "Anyroadiplike..." and not "Anyroaduplike..."
Ah, but you weren't talking about roads you plike ("any road I plike"), you were talking about roads that I plike (therefore, from your point of view, "roads you plike" - or in the vernacular, "roads u plike"). |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
|
VinceH |
Message #101524, posted by VincceH at 00:07, 19/4/2007, in reply to message #101519 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
|
Anyroaduplike... Any road I plike?
Well, no, because then I would have written "Anyroadiplike..." and not "Anyroaduplike..."
Ah, but you weren't talking about roads you plike ("any road I plike"), you were talking about roads that I plike (therefore, from your point of view, "roads you plike" - or in the vernacular, "roads u plike").
Well, no, because then I would have said "Anyroadyouplike"1 and not "Anyroaduplike".
1. I hate 'u' for 'you' and annoyances like that. I'm so bad I even send text messages in English. |
| |
[ Log in to reply ] |
| |
| Pages (2): 1
> >|
|
