OpenMPT FM+PCM example song compo (extended deadline 2018-11-16)

[Saga Musix]

The problem was not (only) really time or rarity - the main issue was that until May 2018, there was no OPL emulator with a usable license (all of them were LGPL or GPL, which doesn't play well with libopenmpt's BSD license), and that I expected the integration to be a lot more troublesome than it eventually ended up being. Sometimes you just need to look at an issue with a fresh mind after a while to re-evaluate it. And sometimes you just need someone to come along and release a public domain OPL emulator.

[Domarius]

That is awesome man, I'm looking forward to this.  It's a great time for retro gaming, music, art, etc. and it's because of amazing developers like you 

[Saga Musix]

As we have decided to move a few planned things to later OpenMPT/libopenmpt releases to not delay the next release unnecessarily, I have now come up with a preliminary deadline: Entries are due on 16th of November 2018, 23:59 UTC - earlier submissions are of course welcome.

Submissions have to be in S3M or MPTM format (obviously) and must make use of OPL instruments. Usage of samples is optional but highly encouraged, and the resulting files shouldn't be larger than around 200KB (smaller is better). Feel free to use the external samples provided with previous example songs when using the MPTM format.
Support for OPL instruments is available in the latest OpenMPT 1.28 test versions available at https://builds.openmpt.org/builds/
There are still a few notable to-dos (in particular, relation between sample and OPL volume may still change slightly), but apart from that the feature should be pretty usable. Let me know if you encounter any issues.

You can upload your submissions here: https://s3m.it/join/887
In case you need to update your entry, re-upload it with the same filename and artist name (I will see if files are updated).

[Dippy]

Cool, might make a module for this.
Question, will the OpenMPT format have FM support or only s3m?

[Saga Musix]

At some point probably yes, in particular to support the additional OPL3 operators (4 instead of 2). Don't put your hopes high that this will make it in to v1.28 though.

[Saga Musix]

Directly adding OPL instruments (through the Add Silence / Resize dialog, the dropdown menu of the New Sample button or a keyboard shortcut of your choice) is possible starting from r10694 / OpenMPT 1.28.00.29. It will be available on https://builds.openmpt.org/builds/ in a few hours.

[Dippy]

Awesome! 

[Saga Musix]

Good news - starting from OpenMPT 1.28.00.30 (once again available from https://builds.openmpt.org/builds/ in a few hours), OPL emulation is also available in the MPTM format! The extra OPL3 operators are still not available, but the following advantages apply:
- You can use 18 instead of 9 OPL voices at the same time.
- You can mix samples and OPL voices on the same channel (is that really an advantage though? )
- You can use instruments.
- You can change the modulator intensity during playback using Zxx (the filter cutoff macro doubles as modulator intensity, so Z00-Z7F in the default configuration does this) or filter envelopes.

Of course it is absolutely encouraged to use the MPTM format for your compo submissions, and you can also use the external samples provided for the previous example songs - they will stay in the archive.

[LPChip]

Oh, that is very interesting. Will convert my song from s3m to mptm and continue it as such. Does allow many things I currently miss, such as using effects in the volume collumn, something s3m does not support but mptm does.

Though I am using the extra opl3 operators. So I guess I have to wait until mptm supports it too before I can switch.

[Saga Musix]

Uhm... you can't be using the extra operators because there is no way to use them in S3M either. You are probably referring to the extra waveforms which are of course also supported in MPTM, which is a strict superset of S3M with regards to FM support.

[FreezeFlame(Alchemy)]

Im confused. Do we choose between using S3M and MPTM for the OPL3 compo, or is it limited to S3M?

[Saga Musix]

Submissions have to be in S3M or MPTM format (obviously)

[FreezeFlame(Alchemy)]

Thanks.

[LPChip]

Uhm... you can't be using the extra operators because there is no way to use them in S3M either. You are probably referring to the extra waveforms which are of course also supported in MPTM, which is a strict superset of S3M with regards to FM support.

Oh... OH!!!!

Good to have that cleared up. Yeah, Mptm will be the choice then. Although, on second thought... I will probably stick to the s3m format for the reason that it will stick out with its extension when shipped with OpenMPT, so people will see the clear difference between my mptm song and the s3m version and understand it has these OPL instruments.

Maybe we should ask people (or Saga, you do that when you receive the entries) to rename entries that are .mptm and have opl instruments in them, to use the extension .opl.mptm, that way, people will see that it is an opl featured song.

Also... wasn't it STM that had OPL and S3M that didn't? As in Scream Tracker 2 modules had it, and was dropped with Scream Tracker 3?

[Saga Musix]

Maybe we should ask people (or Saga, you do that when you receive the entries) to rename entries that are .mptm and have opl instruments in them, to use the extension .opl.mptm, that way, people will see that it is an opl featured song.

I didn't plan on doing that but we can do that (or append " (OPL)" rather than fake extension), I guess.

Also... wasn't it STM that had OPL and S3M that didn't? As in Scream Tracker 2 modules had it, and was dropped with Scream Tracker 3?

If it was STM that supported OPL and not S3M, I would clearly have implemented it in the STM format and not S3M, wouldn't I?
No, ST2 is a primitive 4-channel sample player. S3M is the only widespread sample-based format with OPL support.