SpeccyPlayer up-issued to Version 0.2a. No changes to SpeccyPlayer itself, but there was a bug in FILE2TAP which needed fixing.
Check the Change Log for info.
There's a list of Game AY files from the Project-AY archive which are known not to play properly in Speccy-Player at http://www.crumblenet.co.uk/speccyplayer/unplayable.html.
Only game files listed at present. If you find any more, drop me a mail!
Version 0.2 is Released!
Check the Change Log for details!
I've also added a plain-text listing of the BASIC program (created with SpecPrint), and included a different example AY file in the archive (180.ay). Why 180.ay? Simply because that was the first AY tune I ever heard when I first got my 128 machine :-)
I haven't had time to thoroughly test this version on +3 hardware, but it should work OK.
As usual, all feedback appreciated!
I am hoping to be able to release the next version before the end of the year. Even if I haven't quite finished all the intended developments, I will make a developmental version available, as it will be a slight improvement. As mentioned in previous news bulletins, it'll be strictly 128k-only, so you folks with AY chip add-ons for 48k machines will be scuppered, I'm afraid.
Not really any other news to report this time, I'm afraid.
Once that last bug is fixed, the next version should be able to play almost all AY files without problems. "Overlaps" should become a thing of that past, at long last! Unfortunately, this will mean that 48k machines with AY hardware add-ons will no-longer be supported, which is a pity. I will keep version 0.1b available for download for folks in this situation.
On 128k hardware, any AY file whose size is less than 32k should play, although some will still corrupt BASIC, meaning you can only play one song followed by a crash! There are only two Speccy AY files in the WoS archive which are bigger than 32k, so they'll (in theory) be the only two you can't play on a real Speccy!
(I also made some small changes to the layout of the Speccy-Player Homepage, which hopefully makes it slightly easier to navigate, and a little update to the Documentation, to state at the beginning what the point of the project is, which was missing before! )
A greater range of AY files should now be playable, although there will still be some that won't play.
Big thanks to everyone who has reported unplayable AY files.
Sorry the list of known unplayable files didn't materialise - I will see if I can find time to produce a list.
Sadly, this will probably be the last release for a while now, as I have bigger fish to fry and simply don't have the time to invest any more. Please continue to send any comments through, and report any unplayable files. I may find some time to squash in a bit of development - you never know :-) I don't want to abandon this project completely, but unfortunately it is going to have to take a back seat from now on.
Cheers!