32-bit voice modules made easy with VoiceGen32

Apr 072013
 

Sound as a 32-bit compatible pound.

There are a number of ways to make RISC OS computer play sound samples – perhaps for sound effects in games – and one of these is to turn the sound sample into a voice module, an option often provided by software that works with audio samples. One such example was Armadeus, which came from Clares Micro Supplies – and is the software I used myself for the sound samples used in some of the budget games released by Soft Rock Software in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Continue reading »

SampleEd 0.70 released

Mar 182013
 

Sound as a pound!

A new version of SampleEd was released in early December last year by The Really Small Software Company.

Not covered on RISCOSitory before, SampleEd is a sound sample editor that provides support for a wide range of different sample formats and a variety of different processing effects. The application operates as a disc-based editor, with the sample being worked on remaining on disc rather than in memory, which means it is not limited by the amount of memory present in the computer. Continue reading »

PlayIt 1.73 release 2

Jun 102012
 

There’s no sound like a SharedSound.

PlayIt is a tool for playing sound samples, which is used by a number of RISC OS applications, including DigitalCD. Originally written by Rick Hudson, recent updates have been made available by Christopher Martin, who has just released version 1.73 release 2.

This release incorporates Jeffrey Lee’s latest PlayItSSnd, an output driver for PlayIt to allow the module to use the SharedSound system, which allows CD tracks to be played in the background on systems lacking analogue audio. Version 1.11 of the driver was released on 5th June, 2012, and incorporates changes from Willi Theiss to address bugs when shutting down the driver, amongst other things.

Offering thanks to Rick Hudson and Andrew Rawnsley for making the sources available, and to Willi Theiss and Jeffrey Lee for their contributions, Christopher also asks that users do not attempt to contact Rick with questions about PlayIt because he left the RISC OS scene some time ago.

DRenderer 0.56 beta 8

May 162012
 

Another bug squashed, poor little mite.

With the release of Chris Gransden’s ports of Hheretic and Hhexen, a problem was found with the then latest version of the DRenderer module – 0.56 beta 6. Christopher Martin, who has been updating the module lately, was hot on the case and released beta 7, which he thought addressed the problem.

Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case.

However, Christopher has looked at the module yet again, and has now issued version 0.56 beta 8, fixing another bug that surfaced with the recent release of the two games – which, hopefully, should now make them fully playable. Continue reading »

PlayIt 1.73 plays more

Apr 162012
 

PlayIt is a tool for playing sound samples, which is used by a number of RISC OS applications, including DigitalCD. Originally written by Rick Hudson, recent updates have been made available by Christopher Martin, who has just released version 1.73.

This version is able to recognise more Replay/ARMovie files that contain audio formats that it supports, in addition to which it also includes a RISC OS 4 fast service handler, along with a slight improvement in its overall performance. Christopher recommends that all users upgrade to this version.

Offering thanks to Rick Hudson and Andrew Rawnsley for making the sources available, and to Willi Theiss and Jeffrey Lee for their contributions, Christopher also asks that users do not attempt to contact Rick with questions about PlayIt because he left the RISC OS scene some time ago.

PlayIt 1.72

Apr 032012
 

PlayIt is a tool for playing sound samples, which is used by a number of RISC OS applications, including DigitalCD. Originally written by Rick Hudson, recent updates have been made available by Christopher Martin.

The latest update, version 1.72, improves reliability, especially on 26bit systems, due to several bugs being dealt with in the software’s interrupt handling, and Christopher recommends that all users upgrade to this new version.

Offering thanks to Rick Hudson and Andrew Rawnsley for making the sources available, and to Willi Theiss and Jeffrey Lee for their contributions, Christopher also asks that users do not attempt to contact Rick with questions about PlayIt because he left the RISC OS scene some time ago.