Turbochip - 7-channel YM+DMA replay

[mOdmate]

Much appreciated, thank you!

[junosix]

A cover of one of the most relaxing PC Engine tunes of all - the end theme to PC Genjin (Bonk's Adventure).

[matt]

Dreamy.

Another relevant fact about ST & PCE crossover is that HUDSON looked into using the M68000 for the PCE, going so far as to make some hardware and games, but eventually went with their own custom 8-bit CPU.

[dma]

Then resulting in the most advanced 8bit gaming system, being one the of latest.

[smoston]

This is cool.

[junosix]

Thanks smoston

Update: v0.46. Now has better copy/paste.

1) Notes, effects, and volumes can be pasted between Channels 1 to 6 and in any pattern
2) Tone/noise parameters are preserved between Channels 1 to 3
3) Wave parameters are preserved between Channels 4 to 6
4) Detune parameters are preserved only within their respective channel

[dma]

Here is my fast made test track shared.
Imaginary track for a fantasy shooter level, quite PCE sounding indeed.

[NGF]

Nemesis "Challenger" theme cover.

Very PCEngineish!
Have played alot PCE lately and love the sound.

[junosix]

Here is my fast made test track shared.
Imaginary track for a fantasy shooter level, quite PCE sounding indeed.

Ah man, that's magic!

Have played alot PCE lately and love the sound.

Same. Not sure why it is but the level of musicality is consistently high amongst all the games when you compare it to the other consoles of the day too.

[junosix]

Fantasy Shooter Level 2...

(and a very minor update - high-contrast mode for easier viewing on composite/RF - press spacebar on Operations page, plus a couple of other little fixes).

@dma - would it be okay for me to put FAERIE in the TC folder as a demo tune in the next update and credit you in the manual?

[dma]

@junosix : Sweet track! A good and inspired musician you are.
Never did music on ST YM before? Not been interested on such composition?

No problem for including my test track as demo track.
Cool if it showcases the soft enough for such a consideration.

[junosix]

Thanks Haven't done any YM stuff until now, went from Quartet back in the day to Octalyser then onto MadTracker 2 for more recent stuff

I think Faerie's ace (it's crying out for a longer version with a full-on gear-change of key after its second loop I reckon ), I'd be delighted to include it.

[karbo]

hi! cool tracker, and i want to make 1-2 track in this. i do not have real atari, and in my hatari and steem sounds like sht.

https://youtu.be/Hnb1cKJC-wM

this buggy sound only in turbochip tracker. MYM playing good.

what i must do for cool sound in emulators?

[nativ]

Hi Junosix

what screen resolutions does the editor support?

might have a bit more time for atari stuff at the moment

cheers

/nativ

[junosix]

Yo man!

Medium resolution only at the moment. Might do a high res one at some point but that won't be for ages.

[karbo]

test

[nativ]

kool beeeeeeeanz!

sounds great...

something I always wanted with these chip sound makers is a 'burn to sample' feature so I can reload any sound patches into a tracker possibly..

will try get a screen setup to have a play.

o/

[evil]

hi! cool tracker, and i want to make 1-2 track in this. i do not have real atari, and in my hatari and steem sounds like sht.

https://youtu.be/Hnb1cKJC-wM

this buggy sound only in turbochip tracker. MYM playing good.

what i must do for cool sound in emulators?

It sounds like Turbochip require 50 Hz refresh, so either change to a PAL region TOS file or download a program to change to 50 Hz before launching TC.

[matt]

hi! cool tracker, and i want to make 1-2 track in this. i do not have real atari, and in my hatari and steem sounds like sht.

https://youtu.be/Hnb1cKJC-wM

this buggy sound only in turbochip tracker. MYM playing good.

what i must do for cool sound in emulators?

It sounds like Turbochip require 50 Hz refresh, so either change to a PAL region TOS file or download a program to change to 50 Hz before launching TC.

50Hz was default in my TOS but I still got the garbled sound.

So, I set frameskip to 1 and everything sounds sweet.

There's probably a better solution, but this ws good enough for me.

[dma]

Well it sounds like your computer maybe too slow then ?
You're not running Hatari as emulating a Falcon maybe ?

[junosix]

Hi karbo,

For some reason your posts weren't showing up until now! Sorry I couldn't see them before.

TC does need 50Hz to run. I've updated it so that it sets the sync mode to 50Hz (then sets it back to whatever it was before upon quitting). Couple of little updates too, still had a ghost notes issue so have sorted that, and I've made a small change to the copy pattern (F6) key which now also sets the end marker to the bottom of the pattern, so it's easy to pick up a whole channel and paste it into another without having to move down to the bottom and set the end marker.

matt - get a new Mac!

[Orion_]

Another relevant fact about ST & PCE crossover is that HUDSON looked into using the M68000 for the PCE, going so far as to make some hardware and games, but eventually went with their own custom 8-bit CPU.

Do you have source of that ?
If it's true, it was a huge mistake imo, because the 6502 on the PC Engine is horrible to code compared to the 68000, you have to use bank switching to access ram and rom, doing 16bits computation is a pain in the ass, I would so much want to make a game for this console but the 6502 is too painful for my brain.

[matt]

Another relevant fact about ST & PCE crossover is that HUDSON looked into using the M68000 for the PCE, going so far as to make some hardware and games, but eventually went with their own custom 8-bit CPU.

Do you have source of that ?
If it's true, it was a huge mistake imo, because the 6502 on the PC Engine is horrible to code compared to the 68000, you have to use bank switching to access ram and rom, doing 16bits computation is a pain in the ass, I would so much want to make a game for this console but the 6502 is too painful for my brain.

Yes, here is the source. If this is a scoop it's worth me citing properly.

BEEP 1988-07, page 45
https://retrocdn.net/File:Beep_1988-07.pdf
quoting
ハドソン 技術本部長 中本伸一氏
Shinichi Nakamoto, head of Hudson Technology Division

Beep_1988-07_page-45_M68000-half.jpg

The exact part is in the middle.

The odd line breaks help automatic translation if you want to try yourself.

68000より
速い（!）CPU、
Hu6280

まず、従来のコア構想にあったパソコンとの接続がなくなったことに触れておこう。早い話が、パソコンに比べてPCエンジンの処理速度が速すぎて、やってみたらあんまりメリットがなかったってことなんだ
（初期のコア構想に挙げられた項目は、すべて試作して実際におもしろいかどうかを確かめている）。
ハドソンの中本さんによれば、PCエンジンの開発中は、あの68000を使った実験機とゲームも試作したけど
（こりゃスクープだぜ）
重たすぎて、結局ゲームでよく使われるフラグジャンプ
（条件によって、特定のルーチンに飛ぶ）
機能を強化したカスタムCPUのHu6280を作ったんだそうだ。
その結果、中味はシンプルな6502
（AppleⅡで使われている）
というCPUに近づいたけど、なにせクロックがやたら速い
（推定7MHz。ファミコンも6502系のカスタムチップだけど1.75MHz）
のでヘタな16ビットマシンよりも高速になったってワケ。
したがってパソコンが進化しないかぎり、この点についてはおあずけなのだが、以下のコア構想を見てゆくと、そんなの待ってる間にPCエンジンの天下になりそうな気配だゾ。

machine translation:

From 68000
Fast (!) CPU,
Hu 6280

First of all, let's mention that there is no longer a connection with the PC conforming to the conventional core concept. The early story is that the processing speed of the PC engine is too fast compared with the personal computer, and it seems that there was not much benefit when trying
(All the items listed in the initial core concept are prototyped to see if they are actually interesting).
According to Hudson's Nakamoto san, while developing the PC engine, I tried making experimental machines and games using that 68000
(This is a scoop)
Too much heaviness, flag jump commonly used eventually in the game
(Depending on the condition, it jumps to a specific routine)
It seems he made a custom CPU Hu 6280 with enhanced functions.
As a result, the contents are simple 6502
(Used in Apple II)
I came close to the CPU that, but the clock is quick and fast
(Estimated 7 MHz.NES is also a 6502 series custom chip but 1.75 MHz)
Because different reasons I was faster than the poor 16-bit machines.
Therefore, unless the personal computer evolves, this is a misunderstanding, but as you look at the core concept below, it seems that PC engines are likely to be in the middle while waiting for that.

matt - get a new Mac!

3 GHz Intel Core i7 + 8GB RAM no longer enough

matt

[dma]

matt - get a new Mac!

3 GHz Intel Core i7 + 8GB RAM no longer enough

Weird i got a PC with lower specs than this, and running Hatari on it in STe mode doesn't give me slowdowns (but gives plenty in Falcon emulation mode...).
Maybe your setup got some hungry background programs or OS tasks/services with higher priorities.

[matt]

The odd thing is that my Mac shows < 20% total CPU usage when Hatari is stuttering. Still, must be something on my setup.

The stuttering does seem to settle down eventually after the first screen of playback.