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You guys can thank UniWarS for this one... (Galaxian?)


PacManPlus

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10 hours ago, Synthpopalooza said:

Also, if anyone can video this thing in real hardware so I can check out how the sounds are, since I don't have my Dragonfly yet ... :(

I captured this using my Concerto. It seems to have detected POKEY.  Does this one have the sweep and explosion included, or is this a Concerto issue?

 

7800/Concerto => VCR => USB Capture device

 

 

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27 minutes ago, darryl1970 said:

I captured this using my Concerto. It seems to have detected POKEY.  Does this one have the sweep and explosion included, or is this a Concerto issue?

 

7800/Concerto => VCR => USB Capture device

 

 

I just tested the latest ROM with my DragonFly and it detected the POKEY as well. Sounds just like the video posted by @darryl1970. Love hearing the updated sounds when you kill the swooping Flagship. This is starting to really feel like the arcade now.?

 

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Thanks guys!

 

BTW, I did not do the swoop sounds yet (nor the background drone). If you are hearing those, it is using TIA sounds as I have not replaced them yet from UniWarS.

 

@Synthpopalooza - I did the TIA sounds myself; however I did use your 'frame counts' which gave me a little head start on how long each note needs to be.  I've learned a lot since Doing Pac-Man Collection 40th anniversary; I believe I got the sounds there quite close as well.  

Also, I just discovered you can slow videos on YouTube to 25%.  That helps a *lot* when figuring out what sounds to use.

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For me ... I record in Audacity and then time stretch the sample ... to play it slower in the original speed.  It helps alot.  And I've developed an ear for the pitch ranges of $Ax, $2x, and $Cx distortions at the 15khz, 64khz, and 1.79mhz clocks as well.  I suppose I could write up a rudimentary guide for newbies, using the possible 8-bit POKEY settings with the available clock combinations.

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12 minutes ago, Synthpopalooza said:

Also ... just have to say ... I absolutely love $Cx @1.79 mhz.  It gets such a high range without tuning errors, and for getting those high pitched alien squeals when they are killed, in addition to that tractor beam sound in Galaga, it just can't be beat.

Speaking of Galaga, it would seem to be the next logical progression. Hint Hint

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15 minutes ago, tep392 said:

Speaking of Galaga, it would seem to be the next logical progression. Hint Hint

Ok ... I'm going to take the sounds I have for Galaga on the A8 and convert them to 7800 POKEY.  On Galaga the setup is different:

 

AUDCTL=$70

 

0 and 1:  16-bit $Cx for alien deaths and ship firing

2: 1.79 mhz channel Tractor beam fx and alien swoops

3:  Ship explosions

 

Will post these in here if anyone's interested.

 

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33 minutes ago, PacManPlus said:

If I may ask, can we keep Galaga in a separate thread? :)

 

BTW, I can't believe I didn't say this until now: @Synthpopalooza your sounds are incredible!  You truly are a master of the Pokey :) 

Yep...he is the best ?

only bad that Pokeys are expensive today...which

makes cart production expensive ?

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Ok guys - development will be delayed a few days as I get replacement floors put in my office.  I have to take apart the entire room tonight. :(

 

*I actually got the floors replaced in July with vinyl tiles that were supposed to be good for offices, etc.  Within three months the corners started raising.  After a bit of back and forth with the installers, they are replacing both floors (I had two rooms done), but I went with ceramic tile instead.  Not making that same mistake twice.

Edited by PacManPlus
clarification
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So a question:  How do you detect POKEY?

 

Reason being:  Just for curiosity sake, I want to do up some double POKEY examples of the alien deaths and swoops.  When we do finally get a double POKEY version of your code for the dragonfly, one could have the program look for second POKEY at $440, then enable double POKEY sounds in the game.

 

I have a stable double POKEY version of your sound code working on the Atari 8-bit at the moment in Altirra emulator, so I can do examples there.  Just curious more than anything else ... should have some audio examples in a day or two. 

 

For double POKEY I was thinking:

 

AUDCTL 1=$50

 

0 and 1 - $Cx swoops in mod 3

2 and 3- $Cx alien deaths in mod 3

 

AUDCTL2=$50

 

0 and 1:  background hum in $Cx mod 3

2 and 3:  background hum 2, same

 

$Cx mod 3 has a cleaner sound to it.  Ship firing sounds and explosions can again temporarily override the hums.

 

I'll do quick examples to get your feedback on it.  Itll be further down the line once we get stable double POKEY working on Dragonfly

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First 16-bit example:  Alien death 1 (for an eventual double POKEY dragonfly build, perhaps) ... a look at what's possible in double POKEY

 

Setup: 

 

AUDCTL=$78 (which sets up double 16-bit mode)

 

0 - silent (low order bytes)

1 - $Cx ... mod 3, smooth sawtooth sound, high order bytes

 

Some info:

 

In $Cx distortion, two sawtooths are available.  In 1.79mhz 8-bit mode, only the first one, using non mod 3 frequencies, is available.  This makes for a rougher and scratchier sound.

 

But if you use 16-bit ... frequencies which are divisible by 3 (what I call mod 3, or "distortion 12 a") makes for a smoother sound.  You will find this sound smoother, and a lot closer to the arcade.  There is also another advantage:  While 8-bit mode restricts you to A#4=255, in 16-bit you have the entire range, plus a greater range for sliding frequencies.

 

Some notes:  Only frequencies which are divisible by 3 (but not by 15) make this smoother tone.  Using mod 15 frequencies makes silence.

 

Also, three random timbres are output, depending on polycounter settings.  At this high frequency, it's barely noticeable.

 

So anyway ... ProSystem and JS7800 play this properly, A7800 doesn't ... but real HW is best.  Thoughts?

 

One more note:  Only this, the second alien death, the swoops, and the background hums would need to be redone for double POKEY mode.  The other sounds from single POKEY mode will work just fine for the double POKEY version.

 

 

galaxian-aliendeath1-16bit.A78 galaxian-aliendeath1-16bit.asm galaxian-aliendeath1-16bit.bin galaxian-aliendeath1-16bit-450.A78 galaxian-aliendeath1-16bit-450.asm galaxian-aliendeath1-16bit-450.bin

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And alien death #2 ...

 

As before, the smoother tones available in 16-bit make a closer to arcade style sound.  You can also dip below A#4 here (unlike in 8-bit 1.79 $Cx)

galaxian-aliendeath2-16bit.A78 galaxian-aliendeath2-16bit.asm galaxian-aliendeath2-16bit.bin galaxian-aliendeath2-16bit-450.A78 galaxian-aliendeath2-16bit-450.asm galaxian-aliendeath2-16bit-450.bin

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7 hours ago, Synthpopalooza said:

First 16-bit example:  Alien death 1 (for an eventual double POKEY dragonfly build, perhaps) ... a look at what's possible in double POKEY

 

7 hours ago, Synthpopalooza said:

And alien death #2 ...

 

Is the dual POKEY for the '16bit' files without the 450 designation in the filename configured as $4000 & $440?  

 

Of course, presuming the '16bit' files labeled with 450 as part of the filename is configured as $450 & $440.

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