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OverClocked ReMix Design ?'s and Issues


Liontamer
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ChipAmp is cool and all, but aren't SPC and PSF sample-based formats? Seems like a bit of a misnomer.

This is a very debatable subject. Sites like Kohina.com's radio stream plays SNES tunes, as they are from a 16 bit system and just as oldschool and nostalgic as the Genesis, therefore they must be included in the chiptune scene.

I, however, disagree that .SPC and .PSF should be callled chiptunes for the sample-based reason, as they are not using a built-in sound chip to synthesize sounds. Sure the SNES has a built in white noise maker [if I remember right] but that was only used as SFX [Chrono Trigger, FF6].

For the sake of Chipamp though, I believe they should be included in the bundle. This pack was designed to play the source of all the arranged music on the site, and SNES/PSX accounts for quite a bit of that. And I just suggested that DJP include the BASS module plugin as well. Mods are all sample-based too, barring .s3m which can use AdLib/OPL-2.

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Chipamp is a free bundle of existing plugins for Winamp that lets you play a variety of chiptune and tracker formats, including music from classic game consoles like the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Gameboy, and Playstation.

I *tried* to point out in that initial description that some of the formats aren't truly "chiptunes", but ultimately this distinction is unimportant to the target audience, which is the average user who doesn't really care whether emulation or sample-playback is involved.

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Good to see the VGM format's included with the ChipAmp pack. As good as GYM files are, there are a lot Genesis game tunes that it can't emulate well at all, that VGM can handle just fine (like basically anything from Technosoft, or Phantasy Star IV).

Edit: I've been running into a problem when I click the word "here" after making a post (the "Click here to view your message" one). Instead of the completed page, I'm taken to a white page with all the text that makes up the code for the page. And it happened again just now making this edit.

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Ugh, browsing the site at work using IE. I prefer Firefox of course, but I have no choice while I'm at work. The site looks utterly broken. Anyone else have problems using IE? I know most computer savy people use Firefox these days, but a lot of people still use IE and it might reflect badly on the site having it look like a broken mess.

ocrxp5.th.png

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Clear your browser cache.

:banghead::banghead::banghead::sleepdepriv::puppyeyes:

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Chipamp is a free bundle of existing plugins for Winamp that lets you play a variety of chiptune and tracker formats, including music from classic game consoles like the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Gameboy, and Playstation.

I *tried* to point out in that initial description that some of the formats aren't truly "chiptunes", but ultimately this distinction is unimportant to the target audience, which is the average user who doesn't really care whether emulation or sample-playback is involved.

I realize this, but I feel a site with an actual focus on the subject should set the example by using the correct terminology. Otherwise, it'd be like Digitally Imported referring to all electronic music as "techno." :P

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Always meant to bring this up, and the recent remix write-up ('The Koan of Drums') is a good example to go from.

My question is, why is the website news written in the middle of write ups?

You load OCR, and the main page never says anything to do with the site's recent events. But if you load a new remix write-up, all that unrelated news is right there. Not just on the same page.. in the same article.

Is there a reason for that? Doesn't it seem a tad.. unorganised? At least this particular remix IS djp's, so he can't be blamed for cluttering up the article on someone's work. But clutter is a good way to put it.. I see that write-up and I automatically start jumping paragraphs looking for where the related info begins. In this case, that's 5 of them. Five paragraphs that will always be off topic. In a year someone will click on that remix and will still have to see all that.

Frustrating to me anyway. Main page, news, not in write-ups. Please?

Other comments:

The tabs for download, reviews, etc are nice. Now that 'reviews' gets a whole tab/page, it would be nice to see more than 3 lines of the last reply appear on that page.

Is the 'chiptunes' tab going to have the relating chiptune, or will it always just be a plug for ChipAmp?

The write-up page definitely feels more messy than it used to. Its probably only those "Ads by Google" in the same text-space as the article that are making me notice so much. But it definitely feels more "Which part do I read" now.

Sorry for all the nitpicking, I'm like that. Good work maintaining such a site in the first place.

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My question is, why is the website news written in the middle of write ups?

Valid question; currently using that space to emphasize activity on the forums, but may use it for announcements at some point. I *like* having the mix writeups read like an on-going, linear site blog of sorts, but certain announcements do warrant homepage status. Also looking at a mailing list for site news, etc. Whatever is done, I like having the gen disc. posts on the homepage & clearly visible, and don't want to get rid of them.

Other comments:

The tabs for download, reviews, etc are nice. Now that 'reviews' gets a whole tab/page, it would be nice to see more than 3 lines of the last reply appear on that page.

Is the 'chiptunes' tab going to have the relating chiptune, or will it always just be a plug for ChipAmp?

Sorry for all the nitpicking, I'm like that. Good work maintaining such a site in the first place.

Well, everybody *thinks* they're a designer, and many don't think through ALL the numerous implications of site design, ad placement, etc. when they make suggestions.

Regarding more content on the reviews tab, I agree - perhaps even the latest three reviews, instead of just one, who said them, and when they were posted. You can get that from the thread, of course, but the point of the tab is to quickly sum up recent comments, so the extra space could definitely be taken advantage of.

The chiptunes tab was supposed to have a link to download the actual chiptune, when available, as well as links to other chiptune players. It's still going to, it's just something I didn't finish in time and thought could wait.

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I think what bothers me more than the name ChipAmp is the underlying mentality evident throughout the site that "chiptune" is synonymous with "source tune." In many cases this is a correct assumption, but what if the source is Redbook, or orchestrated, or an acoustic performance? It becomes less a matter of semantics and more an issue of propagating a completely erroneous notion (or what some people might refer to as "F[oul]ed Up Disinformation").

Of course, I realize that OCR is probably the sole reason the word "remix" is used interchangeably with "arrangement" these days, but there were good and valid reasons for that decision. I'm okay with the name "ChipAmp" as it's simple, memorable, and gets the basic idea across; but labeling the source tune tab as "chiptunes" is misleading, and I see no advantage in this case, since it's neither a more convenient nor more entrenched term than "source tune" (or merely "source") is. It really doesn't make sense for a game like "Beyond Good & Evil" to have a "chiptunes" tab.

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I am in total agreement with Dhsu. Nor all game soundtracks are based in square waves, pink noises and so on, and i think the term "chiptunes" isn't really appropriate.

Perhaps the most accurate term should be "source tune" instead of the term "chiptunes".

5jd4.png

by the way that universal plugin is very nice indeed.

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My question is, why is the website news written in the middle of write ups?

Valid question; currently using that space to emphasize activity on the forums, but may use it for announcements at some point. I *like* having the mix writeups read like an on-going, linear site blog of sorts, but certain announcements do warrant homepage status. Also looking at a mailing list for site news, etc. Whatever is done, I like having the gen disc. posts on the homepage & clearly visible, and don't want to get rid of them.

Think more of it as a history in the telling, folks.

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Bah, it's a catchy name! I think the target group here is more or less "in-the-know" already. It shouldn't cause too much confusion.

You'd be surprised at how much people actually aren't "in-the-know."

Yep. Wasn't one of the main objectives for ChipAmp to cater for the wider, slightly confused audience in the first place?

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Don't know if it has been mentioned before, but I would recommend more uniformity in the Projects nomenclature.

Maybe something like

ProjectName - Description

where Description is either the name of the game, series, or composer being remixed.

Now it's more like inverted :

Blood on the Asphalt - Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo

Doom - The Dark Side of Phobos

Or weird:

SMProject - Relics of the Chozo CD.rar

Also, it would be cool if said projects had writeups too.

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