[Kharen]

I tried using E02 a while back, and I got completely lost. I'll give it another try since you said you re-did the interface, but do you think it would be possible if you or somebody else who knows the process were to put up something like a set of tutorial videos showing how to do a Sonic game with this? I think that's probably what most people here would want to do first with your engine, and I at least am a visual learner and have an easier time if I can visually see how somethings done, so a video that shows the process would be incredibly helpful.

[Stealth]

That's a pretty broad request to make. "do a Sonic game" is almost as unspecific as it gets- I have absolutely no idea what you want, or where I would start

I'm certainly capable of making videos of specific features of the level, tile, object, and sprite editors, for example, but player, enemy, item, and event creation, for example, are very much code-driven, and there is no better illustration of how that's done than the working and thoroughly-commented scripts in the Sonic Example Game

I can help you find your way around and figure out the specifics of any particular feature, but you'll have to tell me exactly what you're doing and ask me specific questions. First of all, you need to choose a place to start. If you haven't, that's probably a major reason you seem to be overwhelmed by E02. I couldn't even begin to tell you what to do, because I don't even know if you're primarily interested in graphics, layout, coding for core gameplay, enemies and objects...

While we're on the subject, though, I guess I can throw this old and extremely basic one out there, for all the good it'll do right now:



That illustrates, very quickly and very briefly, loading level files that aren't directly integrated into a game (which you don't really need to do if you're just starting out and using the example), and importing new art (that's already correctly formatted) into an existing level

If everyone that wants to look into using E02 will tell me exactly what they're interested in trying to do at this moment, I can start making comments and consider other options. I can't guarantee anything particularly fancy for right now, though, since I'm actually about to start a job that will occupy the majority of my time

[Aerosol]

Well I'll be making a Sonic fangame with it. The groundwork is essentially laid out already, but a bit of help navigating the myriad of files wouldn't hurt. I'll formulate some more pointed questions for you later. Congratulations on your new job, too!

EDIT: Heads-up. E02 hung when downloading common.def for the Sonic template.

This post has been edited by AerosolSP: 18 November 2012 - 02:03 PM

[Stealth]

AerosolSP, on 18 November 2012 - 01:51 PM, said:

Well I'll be making a Sonic fangame with it. The groundwork is essentially laid out already, but a bit of help navigating the myriad of files wouldn't hurt. I'll formulate some more pointed questions for you later.

One thing that might help would be to have a look at the ReadMe file, which is in the game root folder ("/sonic") and online here. The last thing in the file is a complete file listing with some general descriptions and relevant links into the E02 documentation (assuming you've downloaded it from the E02 interface or manually placed it into the "/docs" folder, or are viewing it online)

AerosolSP, on 18 November 2012 - 01:51 PM, said:

Congratulations on your new job, too!

Thanks! I'm very excited about it, myself. As far as the warning goes, it's a contract project that will require the majority of my attention for the duration, but I'll continue to provide what support I can, and I'll be returning to things like E02 once it's done

AerosolSP, on 18 November 2012 - 01:51 PM, said:

EDIT: Heads-up. E02 hung when downloading common.def for the Sonic template.

The downloads do seem to hiccup on occasion and I don't know why. The display will also occasionally freeze on a particular filename, even though it's still downloading. This happens especially in the windows version, and will occur every single time if you switch focus from the E02 window during a download. Vista and above absolutely abhore the way it works right now, and will report that E02 has "stopped responding", going so far as to (if you've switched away from the window) forceably hang or close E02 completely. It's not because E02 has stopped -working-, but what is actually happening is that Windows expects "messages" to be read and sent very frequently by every application, and since E02 is single-threaded, operations like file loading and socket read/write keep the program occupied for "large" periods of time, preventing messages from being sent as often as Windows wants. In essense, it throws a tantrum over nothing. I'll probably have to look into it at some point because it's extremely annoying and understandably confuses people

[Mr Lange]

Here's my wishlist.

A level editor that feels less like an Intellivision interface and more ui intuitive. Something at least more resemblent of say Game Maker's level editor. The tile selection screen you have now is a nightmare. It is also straining to work with 8x8 tiles all the time. Or maybe there's a way to work with larger chunks? If there is, it is certainly not easy to find. I couldn't even figure out how to place objects, or if that is even a concept.

More sound features. Ogg support is a great step up. I'd like to see rate control (pitch), maybe support for loop points. And dare I say vgm/vgz support?

While it appears to already be more capable than the Genesis at graphics, I'd still like to have more room to work with since, you know, this isn't really the Genesis. Instead of just a few planes, move a bit closer to the modern paradigm, and have layers. Even if it's just 16 non-specific layers it'd be much better.

Anything to make scripting more accessible. I can write code, but I can't write in what is basically assembly.

[BlazeHedgehog]

Stealth, on 17 November 2012 - 11:25 PM, said:

The main menu says very clearly "New E02 version available" when the updates check isn't bypassed and you're running an old version

Yeah, but... when you start up E02 it brings up a "checking for updates" menu and it downloads something, that, at a glance, seems like it would be the newest version of the game. It's not entirely clear that you have to manually select update from the menu or that is what that menu option even does. For all I knew, that was just text saying what was contained in the update, not the update itself.

Stealth, on 17 November 2012 - 11:25 PM, said:

I happen to have forgotten this time, but they don't update every day even if I had remembered, and they've even ignored at least one on a previous occasion (note that the version they have doesn't even have the option to skip the updates test - that's not due to me not trying), and you technically should have been covered by the in-program update system. tangentially- the Homebrew Browser isn't entirely reliable if you have another way to update your program (such as E02's in-program download system), because HBB checks for an unequal date, and not a later date, meaning that if you were to update your local E02 before HBB caught up, HBB would erroneously report that it has an update

I actually ran in to a problem with the HBB yesterday where it kept claiming the file I downloaded (eDuke32, I think) had an update even though I could sit there and keep clicking "update" forever. I notice ZSNES, VBA and FCEU all keep telling me there are updates when I launch in to them but HBB says I am up to date.

Stealth, on 17 November 2012 - 11:25 PM, said:

It does, but what you seem to have run into is, in fact, another downloads system error, similar to the one I found due to sonicblur's report. Among the multitude of things I had to do to make this release before I became unable to do so for a long period of time, I appear to have forgotten to update the file download listings for the update system downloads. If you're getting the same error I just did (a missing alias), that's a very clear indication that something is wrong, in contrast to "the wii version [not having] this update", and that's what you should have reported

I've just fixed it, but it unfortunately won't do you or anyone else who's already done the in-program update much immediate good. You'd have three options- wait for the Homebrew Browser people to catch up and update from there, delete E02 (which, if not done manually, would delete all downloaded games too), re-download the old Homebrew Browser version, and then perform the in-program update again, or perform a manual install from the manual download package, which never had an error

The reason I reported it the way I did is because I did not realize I actually had to download something other than Mettrix. In a way, it turned in to a happy accident that I ended up being right and the files were not yet up to date. :P

Stealth, on 17 November 2012 - 11:25 PM, said:

One thing I'd like to note is that, given the number of people that generally view these updates, I'm somewhat disturbed by how long it takes error reports to come in, and how improperly they're given, on top of that. I'm wondering just how many people are actually downloading these things, finding an error that can easily be remedied, and just dismissing the whole thing rather than making reports so that they or at least someone else can get a hold of a working version. I am grateful to those who actually do take the time to make reports

We're only human and can only report what we experience, Stealth. I apologize that I am not providing the "professional quality" bug reports you obviously are expecting. :P

For what it's worth, I have never been a fan of the download system you have in place here - it is confusing and needlessly complicates the process of playing these games. I suppose it is nice to have a system that updates itself to the most recent version, but it does not seem to be user friendly at all.

Playing more of it on the Wii version, I am legitimately surprised at these loading times. I know they'd be less than a quarter of this if I was playing it on a PC, but for the fidelity on display here, a 5-7+ second load time to get in to a level seems rather excessive. It also happens whenever you die, enter or exit a special stage, or change acts, though seemingly not quite as severe as that initial load.

I am also not a fan of the fact that if I use a Gamecube controller, I am relegated to using the tiny, uncomfortable d-pad instead of the analog stick. I like to save on batteries for my Wiimote whenever I can, but this is not an elegant solution. Trying to use a Classic Controller Pro as I type this, the d-pad on that cannot be used to control the game, either. Wiimote or bust, it seems, even though the rest of the buttons on the CC Pro work (this is not a dramatic surprise as other homebrew apps have trouble with the CC Pro, too - something about it is different vs. the regular CC).

Also: real disorienting that you go from holding the Wiimote like a NES controller in the game itself to vertical position for the main E02 menu.

Most of the other problems I have aren't really relevant to E02 as an engine, but I will say this: this is a pretty mean level. Tons of enemies, underwater sections without tons of air, etc. I very nearly got a game over.

[Stealth]

Mr Lange, on 18 November 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

Here's my wishlist. [...]

Uhh.. well, actually I was just asking how I can help you use the current E02. I won't be able to even start on another major update for several months, and I already have enough planned to keep me busy with it for a good long while, so I'm not exactly fishing for requests. I know for a fact that the things on my list will address the majority of concerns that will be raised, anyway

Mr Lange, on 18 November 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

A level editor that feels less like an Intellivision interface and more ui intuitive. Something at least more resemblent of say Game Maker's level editor.

I will most certainly be addressing the interface. It's only now progressed to a point where I can put more effort into that, rather than focusing entirely on the core engine instead. It's not exactly something that I can discuss right now, since I won't have the time to put much real thought into it (and as I said regarding other issues, it's very important that I do before I implement anything, and thus, without the forethought, I can't make claims about what exactly is going to happen), but I can say this - I wouldn't expect absolute and strict adherence to anything like Game Maker. The impression that I get is that the designers of those systems were more concerned about interface than about functionality and efficiency in performance, and that attitude is what has stifled those things- performance most especially. In contrast, I am designing E02's interface for its engine, rather than designing its engine for its interface. I will be working toward making the editing interfaces as usable as possible, but most certainly not at the expense of the engine itself

Also, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "intellivision", unless you're commenting on the graphics in the video above, which I threw together with extreme haste just because I needed something for illustrating technical matters other than graphics capability. The editor interface shown in the video is also the old interface, which has been replaced by a new larger and better-looking one as of this newest release. Even that is far from the end of the story

Mr Lange, on 18 November 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

The tile selection screen you have now is a nightmare. It is also straining to work with 8x8 tiles all the time. Or maybe there's a way to work with larger chunks? If there is, it is certainly not easy to find.

It's listed in the Level Editor documentation and highlighted in the last few iterations of the What's New. There was always a copy/paste feature that allowed selecting level regions to copy to the clipboard and paste into other locations in the level, but what's more like what you're looking for is called "Stamps". They are groupings of 8x8 tiles in any rectangular size and shape that can be "freely placed" (along the 8x8 grid), not very much unlike the construction of a level in Game Maker (to my understanding). The features for creating and managing them are currently very basic, though, but they're all explained in that document. For a quick look, start the template, go to Gemstone Garden zone, press CTRL+TAB to enter the level editor, and press Q to switch to "Stamp Mode". After that, cycle through stamps with A/Z or the mouse wheel, and play around with placing them by moving, clicking, and dragging the mouse

Mr Lange, on 18 November 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

I couldn't even figure out how to place objects, or if that is even a concept.

That used to require "Debug Mode", but as of this release, it is a feature of the editor. While in the Level Editor, Press 4 to switch to the Object Editor, and while there, press Q to switch from "editing mode" to "placement mode". You will notice than an object appears below the cursor, which is the object you will place when clicking the mouse button. Use A/Z or the mouse wheel to cycle between objects that are available to place in the current level

Mr Lange, on 18 November 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

More sound features. Ogg support is a great step up. I'd like to see rate control (pitch), maybe support for loop points. And dare I say vgm/vgz support?

Combination rate/ptich control for ogg and wav is a possibility (although not individually), but I haven't decided on a specific implementation. "Loop points" are already supported by breaking the song into an "intro" piece and a "loop" piece, as demonstrated by the Character Select Menu, the Special Stage, and the Bonus Stage. If you are looking for even more control over music playback, you should strongly consider using XM, which is demonstrated in Green Hill Zone, as well as speeding up the song for Super Sneakers. I have extreme doubt that I will ever add direct support for vgm, as the scope of E02 is far beyond reproducing existing Sega console games, and XM is a much better and more generic solution to the issue of runtime music control

Mr Lange, on 18 November 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

While it appears to already be more capable than the Genesis at graphics, I'd still like to have more room to work with since, you know, this isn't really the Genesis. Instead of just a few planes, move a bit closer to the modern paradigm, and have layers. Even if it's just 16 non-specific layers it'd be much better.

If "layers" and "planes" aren't the same thing, then I have no idea what you're talking about, unless it has something to do with the pixel-level free-placement of terrain objects in Game Maker vs the use of tiles, which is one of the things that contributes to its extremely poor performance. E02 does, however, already support the use of as many tile planes as necessary, however, I would strongly discourage their overuse, as each one will bog down the game with more processing overhead (as can already be seen when the two-layer "outside" background of Gemstone Garden is being displayed in the Wiz version). If you want your game to run well on every platform that E02 supports, you'd do well to make heavy use of trickery such as complex line scrolling within a single tile plane, tile animation, and even a few regular objects, to provide the illusion of a great number of scrolling layers, instead of actually relying on using three, four,...ten tile planes, regardless of how much faster any one plane is than the methods used in other development systems. How you do it is up to you, but please be aware that no matter how hard I work to make E02 as efficient as possible, end performance of the game still hinges majorly on how the game developer uses it

Mr Lange, on 18 November 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

Anything to make scripting more accessible. I can write code, but I can't write in what is basically assembly.

I'm sorry, but although there might be a change in the environment in which you enter the code, the style of coding is almost completely set at this point, for all the looking ahead I can do at the moment. The script was designed to be immediately interpretable, requiring no compilation, and as such, it does (in nature) happen to resemble assembly programming more than it does something like C. However, I have taken major steps to make it much more simple to read and write than it was when it was first created, and there are aspects of it that are, conversely more similar to C than assembly, such as the use of expressions in conjunction with the free use of any variable rather than requiring the use of a processor register to mediate (although I do happen to have referred to my global variables as "Registers"), and the use of "If" blocks, "Do/While" blocks, and "Switch" statements. Some of the benefits of its assembly-like qualities are the ability to break processing in the middle of a function to allow the rest of the game to run and return to the exact point of interruption later (sort of a form of "multitasking", I guess, which also reduces the number of tests that are required to maintain, for example, object state), and the "StateSwitch" command (effectively a "jump table", which is much faster than multiple "If" blocks and the standard "Switch") I didn't (conciously) have any particular language in mind as a target when designing it, but rather, its effectiveness, so it appears to have become some sort of hybrid

----

Long story short, though- yeah, I'm not in a position to discuss future features right now. I can't even take much time to think adequately about the plans I've already made. If you have specific questions regarding the use of the current version of E02, I can probably help you. It will be even simpler to use in the future, but getting started now ensures that you will have already learned the most important aspects of the system and will already have a jump on getting your project done. If you apply yourself, you may even be able to complete something entirely before I'm able to make the next release

[Stealth]

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

Yeah, but... when you start up E02 it brings up a "checking for updates" menu and it downloads something, that, at a glance, seems like it would be the newest version of the game. It's not entirely clear that you have to manually select update from the menu or that is what that menu option even does. For all I knew, that was just text saying what was contained in the update, not the update itself.

Quite honestly, I would have thought the word "Available" would have been the big tip-off, as opposed to something more like "Received", maybe. The thing downloading at the beginning is the version number file (named "Ver"), and the display box is a side-effect of using exactly the same download code that's used when receiving any other file

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

The reason I reported it the way I did is because I did not realize I actually had to download something other than Mettrix. In a way, it turned in to a happy accident that I ended up being right and the files were not yet up to date. :P

Well, thanks for bringing it to my attention :P

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

We're only human and can only report what we experience, Stealth. I apologize that I am not providing the "professional quality" bug reports you obviously are expecting. :P

I do tend to ask for all available information, which would include the error message you experienced :P

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

For what it's worth, I have never been a fan of the download system you have in place here - it is confusing and needlessly complicates the process of playing these games. I suppose it is nice to have a system that updates itself to the most recent version, but it does not seem to be user friendly at all.

I honestly don't know what's so "unfriendly" about it. The interface itself was only integrated so that it'd be easier to manage getting and staying up-to-date with "official" games, coincidentally, on the Wii

If you'd like to be able to skip straight into the game, and this is something that I was expecting that the majority of developers would have done anyway, you can make a separate install of E02 for each game, and change the name of the game's ".gdf" file to "default.gdf", and that game will load right away when you start E02. No loader interface (unless you press, again on the Wii, the home button)

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

Playing more of it on the Wii version, I am legitimately surprised at these loading times. I know they'd be less than a quarter of this if I was playing it on a PC, but for the fidelity on display here, a 5-7+ second load time to get in to a level seems rather excessive. It also happens whenever you die, enter or exit a special stage, or change acts, though seemingly not quite as severe as that initial load

There isn't really much I can do about that, considering it's related heavily to the storage hardware. Load times are comparatively ridiculous on the Wii, PSP, and Wiz due almost exclusively to the data transfer rate. The best I could do is, on a game-per-game basis, restrict the loading of level tiles and layout to the first load of a single level, but that wouldn't work out in situations where they happen to be modified during gameplay, and would do absolutely nothing for switching from level-to-level, including from normal level to bonus/special stage

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

I am also not a fan of the fact that if I use a Gamecube controller, I am relegated to using the tiny, uncomfortable d-pad instead of the analog stick. I like to save on batteries for my Wiimote whenever I can, but this is not an elegant solution. Trying to use a Classic Controller Pro as I type this, the d-pad on that cannot be used to control the game, either. Wiimote or bust, it seems, even though the rest of the buttons on the CC Pro work (this is not a dramatic surprise as other homebrew apps have trouble with the CC Pro, too - something about it is different vs. the regular CC).

Here is another implementation-related problem. I can't implement analogue control methods until I am satisfied with how I plan to expose them to the script system. I don't currently have them implemented in the same manner as digital because I don't want to run the risk of having to change something around when it comes time to implement them properly

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

Also: real disorienting that you go from holding the Wiimote like a NES controller in the game itself to vertical position for the main E02 menu.

My original reasoning was that most interfaces seem to be geared toward vertical wiimote orientation, even though horizontal is more suitable for gameplay. Although I could easily change the orientation to horizontal for the menu, there's no guarantee that each game will be suited to or set up for horizontal orientation rather than vertical, and there will be a point of disorientation no matter what I do

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

Most of the other problems I have aren't really relevant to E02 as an engine, but I will say this: this is a pretty mean level. Tons of enemies, underwater sections without tons of air, etc. I very nearly got a game over.

You're telling it to the guy who could've done worse. You'd have to talk to Markey about that :P

[Stealth]

BlazeHedgehog, on 18 November 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

Trying to use a Classic Controller Pro as I type this, the d-pad on that cannot be used to control the game, either. Wiimote or bust, it seems, even though the rest of the buttons on the CC Pro work (this is not a dramatic surprise as other homebrew apps have trouble with the CC Pro, too - something about it is different vs. the regular CC).

It seems I forgot to address this one. I don't own a Classic Controller of any type, so I can't be 100% certain that it actually functions correctly. If this isn't due to some strange variance in that particular brand of controller, it could be as simple as bad keymap settings- on the game select menu, move to the name of the game whose controls you want to modify, and (on the Wii), press the B button (should work on any Player 1 controller). From inside, you can attempt to change the directional settings for the Classic Controller by moving to each control entry, pressing the start or + button to select it, and then pressing the corresponding Classic Controller button

---

I should also add that, to an extent, load time can be reduced by "packing" the game. This will remove all comments and whitespace from the scripts (which greatly increase the size of the files used in the Sonic template due to formatting and detailed commenting), and convert functions to a format that requires even less processing. The actual amount of time shaved off will depend heavily on how much of that sort of excess space/pre-processing can be removed. The Sonic Example is, obviously, distributed non-packed so that it can be modified, built onto, and harvested for functionality

This post has been edited by Stealth: 18 November 2012 - 11:37 PM

[Mr Lange]

Alright that's all legitimate, I'd be stupid to argue those points. Thank you for pointing out the features I missed in the level editor, guess I'll have to really study those docs. I also did not realize you could have any number of planes.
By loop point support, I also mean recognizing loop points for triggering events by script. But its not that important.
If you're going to stick with XM support, then I'd recommend supporting the other common tracker formats as well. XM is limited compared to some of the other common ones.

[Stealth]

Mr Lange, on 19 November 2012 - 08:27 PM, said:

By loop point support, I also mean recognizing loop points for triggering events by script.

I don't know about working in something like that, but that's one of the benefits of using XM. You can use the "Macro" event to cause E02 to call a special script Function whenever it's met during playback, to have the music control the game. You can also trigger certain XM events from script Functions to cause the game to affect the playback of the music

Mr Lange, on 19 November 2012 - 08:27 PM, said:

If you're going to stick with XM support, then I'd recommend supporting the other common tracker formats as well. XM is limited compared to some of the other common ones.

I was under the impression that XM was (one of) the most extensively-featured tracker format(s). There isn't much you need to do in general other than control volume, pitch, and duration of a note, and sequence playback rate and positioning. The event triggering and programmatic control is a bonus. What other formats support what relevant features by standard? (I am aware that there are "extensions" defined by some tracking programs, including "VST", which I'm not considering at this time due to a lack of information and the fact that it would apply significant processing overhead- that level of sound generation would be best left to pre-rendered samples or fully pre-rendered ogg music)

[Stealth]

I had some time to throw together a couple of videos. One of them is tutorial-like, but I'll point out this one first, so you can see some non-Sonic stuff :P



This second one might be the start of what some people have been looking for. It's a general walk-through of different parts of E02. There's too much to cover very many specifics all at once, so this is more just for getting oriented. You should end up with a slightly better idea of how to find your way around



I don't know how much time I have for these right now, so I can't say how many are coming, and when. I hope what I do manage to get out will be of some use :P

[null1024]

Stealth, on 19 November 2012 - 09:45 PM, said:

I was under the impression that XM was (one of) the most extensively-featured tracker format(s). There isn't much you need to do in general other than control volume, pitch, and duration of a note, and sequence playback rate and positioning. The event triggering and programmatic control is a bonus. What other formats support what relevant features by standard? (I am aware that there are "extensions" defined by some tracking programs, including "VST", which I'm not considering at this time due to a lack of information and the fact that it would apply significant processing overhead- that level of sound generation would be best left to pre-rendered samples or fully pre-rendered ogg music)

IT is actually noticeably more advanced, although the fact that your XM support only has 16 channels makes some of IT's advancements useless [NNAs and 64 channel support], but IT itself supports resonant filters, more than one note to play at once per-channel through NNAs [requiring quite a bit of extra channels per-channel], pitch envelopes [that IIRC can be also instead used as filter envelopes], and 64 main channels. None of these features are in standard FT2 XM, but all of them are in standard IT. Supporting IT would drive the CPU reqs up quite a bit though.

Mind you, I use MilkyTracker to track, so I just stick with my XMs [and since I tend not to go over 8 channels anyway, I'm not too worried about the 16ch limit], but IT is a much more powerful format. It's the most powerful of the big 4 classic module formats [XM/MOD/IT/S3M] before including any nonstandard extensions, with XM being the second-most.

This post has been edited by null1024: 23 November 2012 - 12:03 PM

[Aerosol]

Any chances of script plugin for Notepad++ Stealth?

[Stealth]

null1024, on 23 November 2012 - 12:00 PM, said:

IT is actually noticeably more advanced, although the fact that your XM support only has 16 channels makes some of IT's advancements useless [NNAs and 64 channel support], but IT itself supports resonant filters, more than one note to play at once per-channel through NNAs [requiring quite a bit of extra channels per-channel], pitch envelopes [that IIRC can be also instead used as filter envelopes], and 64 main channels. None of these features are in standard FT2 XM, but all of them are in standard IT.

Ah, right.. I have seen the notes-per-channel thing before. The problem is, though, exactly as you said-

null1024, on 23 November 2012 - 12:00 PM, said:

Supporting IT would drive the CPU reqs up quite a bit though.

As-is, I need to take another good look at my XM player sometime to try and optimize it more. Additional features in this case would just add unnecessary slowdown when they're not actually in use by a particular song, including support for more (and variable) channels. I chose to fix the channel support at 16 since it seemed like a fair number. I might revisit all this later, but I'm personally satisfied with the current 16-channel-max XM support until I've gotten more core engine and interface work done

AerosolSP, on 23 November 2012 - 03:17 PM, said:

Any chances of script plugin for Notepad++ Stealth?

It's probably not impossible, but I don't really know much about it. If someone else wants to take a crack at it for me to get it done quicker, I can assist. Alternatively, you can use the highlight files I put together for Crimson Editor for myself (note: I ran into memory leak problems using version 3.60, so I rolled back to 3.51 a while ago, and haven't tried any newer versions). I've just added standard Command Alias Names to it, but any of the ones that contain what are considered "delimiters" (like math operator characters) don't highlight due to the way it works. I haven't added anything else other than comments and Keywords, but basic instructions for doing so and for installation are included with the files