Arkos Tracker 3 can play PSG and Samples indifferently. However, playing samples on 8-bit machines is always a problem as it takes most of the CPU.
There are currently no player to play both PSG and samples instruments (ask me if you really want one!). However, if your music only contains samples, then the MOD player is made for you. Currently, only a CPC Z80 player is done.
It will allow you to play a 3-channel music with a few effects:
- Pitch up/down.
- Arpeggio table.
- Arpeggio 3 notes.
- Arpeggio 4 notes.
- Reset.
Exporting a music
Once you have your 3-channel music, you will want to export it. There is no “Export as MOD” option. Instead check for the “Export as RAW”. Why? Because “raw” is a binary format in which you can encode whatever data you want to export. Its simplicity makes it easy to parse. As playing samples costs a lot of CPU, the raw format fits well our needs.
The raw export seems a bit overwhelming at first. What to export? This: (this is also explained in the PlayerMod source).
- Encode Song/Subsong metadatas: ON.
- Encode Speed Tracks: ON.
- Encode Event Tracks: not used, should be OFF.
- Encode Reference tables: ON.
- Encode Arpeggios: ON, unless the effect flag below is set to OFF.
- Encode Pitches: not used, should be OFF.
- Encode effects: should be ON, unless you don’t want them.
- Encode empty lines as RLE: OFF.
- Encode transpositions in linker: OFF. Transpositions are NOT supported.
- Encode heights in linker: ON.
- Pitch Track ratio: 0.25 (but this is an approximation).
As for the samples:
- The sample MUST be encoded with an “offset” of 128.
- The “amplitude” should be between 8 and 10, it’s up to you to choose what is best for the song.
- It is strongly advised to add a “padding length” of 320 at least (technically: at least equal to “PLY_MOD_IterationCountPerFrame” + 1, else strange things will happen).
And that’s it.
Load your song along with the player and enjoy!