The DAMP News archive up to 27.05.00

- Fixed a bug where pressing pause whilst playing a CD caused it to skip
  to the next track. (Thanks to Michael Thompson for spotting that).
- If you specify some MP3/MP2/M3U/PLS files as well as the -cd option,
  DAMP will play the CD first, then the MP3 files.  You can press ESC
  whilst playing the CD to jump straight to the MP3 files.  When the
  MP3 files begin, all the features that were disabled whilst playing
  the CD (graphics, surround etc.) will become available again.
- Added FAQ.txt to save me answering the same questions over and over
  again via email.

- Audio CD support.  See the "Using DAMP as a CD player" section of
  the readme for details.

- Compiled with latest WIP of Allegro.
- ID3 Genre support.
- Added damp_id3_genre to damplcd.sh
- Added damp_shared_int, damp_shared_char[1024], and
  damp_shared_float to dampcore.sh, in case you want to pass information
  between input and output drivers...
- Fixed the time display when in graphics mode (thanks to Michael for
  spotting that bug!)
- More joystick support: DB9 on LPT ports, TurboGrafx on LPT ports, and
  IFSega ISA or PCI
- Added display_lines to the [lcd] section of DAMP.ini, and
  lcd_display_lines for LCD drivers to use (none of the current drivers
  make use of this setting as of 9th April 2000)

- New gfx modifiers: pearlglass, tristar, spikes, waterfall, wavyzoom,
  ripple, warp, sucker.
- Made gf_blur_heavy the default graphics filter.
- New gfx waveform: blobs
- Added volume_fine to the [joystick_control] section of DAMP.ini
- Should now support playback of .MP2 files directly (ie you don't need
  to rename them to .mp3), but this is untested.
- Added PREVIOUS_N_TRACKS and NEXT_N_TRACKS to the joystick controls, so
  a joystick can be used to skip several tracks at once.
- Added -sleep  option which quits DAMP after  minutes. If you set
  the "sleep_fade" option to "yes" in DAMP.ini, then it will also fade
  out.
- A few little changes to readme.txt - general bits n pieces. I'd recommend
  that anyone who hasn't read the readme for several releases should
  probably do so.

- Added the abiltity to skip forwards and backwards several tracks at
  once using the cursor right/left keys. The number of tracks skipped
  is determined by the "large_skip" setting in DAMP.INI
- Can now also use the backspace key to skip to previous track. (Just to
  fit in with using ENTER to go forward a track).
- Can now toggle "time remaining" display on and off by pressing V
- Exported util_time_remain_toggle() for input drivers to use.
- "Time Remaining" is now more accurate and should be correct for all
  formats of MP3.
- Time display now updates properly when rewinding with "time remaining"
  enabled.
- New option in DAMP.ini for LCD displays: display_width  - now you can
  customize the display width and get a nice output on your 40x2 LCD :-)
  I've had to update all the drivers, so if you're using a driver downloaded
  from the DAMP web site, you'll have to download it again.
- New variable for LCD drivers to use: lcd_display_width contains the width
  as specified in DAMP.ini - I've already altered the existing drivers to
  use this, but anyone currently writing a driver should look at LCDWIRE1.SC
  to see how it's done (basically change "16" to "lcd_display_width")
- LCD now has a symbol to show whether continuous play is enabled or not.
  I've set this to "C" by default, but LCD drivers are free to change it
  (the variable is lcd_continuous_symbol).
- Can now press F1 (if not in gfx mode or GUI) to show a DAMP help page
  which gives a summary of the keys.
- You can now see the playlist in the GUI, although all you can do with it
  at the moment is scroll up and down it...
- 3 new modifers for gfx mode: spiral_left, spiral_right, sincos.

- Added the -skip  option to skip the first  tracks. Eg -skip 2
  will skip the first two tracks and start playing at track 3.
- Changed the sb_* settings in DAMP.INI to sound_* as they work for other
  cards, not just SoundBlasters.
- If it hangs but you can still press ENTER to skip through tracks, set
  the port,irq and dma settings in the [sound] section of DAMP.INI to
  values that match those of your sound card, and see if that helps.
- If a playlist entry is in fact another playlist, then that playlist
  will also be played by DAMP.  You can therefore create a hierarchy of
  playlists within playlists...
- Added the [graphics] section which allows you to specify a filter that
  gets applied to the graphics. So you're no longer stuck with the same
  blur effect - you can make your own!
- Screen resolution when using the GUI is now configureable via the [gui]
  section of DAMP.INI
- Colours of the GUI are configureable via DAMP.INI
- Minor change to the licence, re: Commercial Use.
- Added the -remaining option, which makes DAMP display track time remaining
  instead of time elapsed. NOTE: I haven't tested this on anything other
  than 16-bit 128Kbps stereo MP3s - it could be wrong on files encoded
  differently.
- Added the ability to toggle continuous play on and off by pressing C.
- Added the ability to toggle sync to beats on and off by pressing B.
- Made "beautify filenames" make all words start with uppercase and
  continue in lowercase (eg THIS becomes This).
- Added damp_time_remaining for LCD drivers to use.
- Added util_contiuous_toggle() and util_sync_toggle() for input drivers
  to use.

- Fixed a bug that caused DAMP to crash under plain DOS
- It may now hang under DOS when it starts to play - although I cannot
  verify that this isn't just something to do with my system setup -
  so I'd like people to report their experiences of running DAMP under
  DOS (either let me know it works, or tell me it hangs).

- Fixed a bug that stopped the numeric keypad from working.
- Fixed a bug that stopped LCD drivers working.
- Fixed a bug that could stop the GUI working.
- Fixed GUI window titles (removed the ^ character off the end of them)
- Added the -paused option and start_paused ini setting, so you can
  start DAMP in pause mode.
- Added the damp_playlist_filename and damp_playlist_filename_short for
  LCD drivers to use.

1. Edit DAMP.ini
2. Find the [input] section
3. Change the driver= line to read driver=ICONSOLE.sc
4. Save DAMP.ini
5. When running DAMP, add -indrv to the command-line

- Added the ffwd_rew_speed and vol_up_down_speed
  settings to DAMP.ini
- Added the startup_mp3 setting to DAMP.ini
- Added the SPHERE gfx modifier (like fisheye,
  but more spherical).
- Added the CONCENTRIC gfx waveform (draws
  concentric circles).
- Added the ROTATE_LEFT and ROTATE_RIGHT
  modifiers, as well as ROTATE_LEFT_ZOOM and
  ROTATE_RIGHT_ZOOM, which zoom in as well as
  rotating.
- Joysticks now calibrate before use.
  NOTE: Calibration instructions are printed
  to the DOS prompt, so if you're using DAMP
  without a monitor, I suggest you plug a monitor in,
  calibrate, and check it works before going back to a
  monitor-less setup.
  Also note, set your joystick type using the
  "type" setting in the [joystick] section of
  DAMP.ini BEFORE calibrating.
- Support for Gravis GrIP, Playstation pads,
  N64 pads, and the Wingman Warrior joystick.
  (all untested)
- Possibly supports Soundblaster Live and other
  poor SB clones now, (ones that used to get static)
  but this is untested.
- Possibly supports WSS (Windows Sound System)
  cards, but this is untested.
- Added the EXIT_CODE_* joystick actions for
  frontend authors (though this is untested).

- Added the damp_track_number and damp_selection_buffer
  variables for LCD drivers to use.
- DAMP now outputs the current track number along with
  the track title.
- Joystick can now control the random toggle.
- A "controls" window is now present in the gui.
- Removed common things from damplcd.sh and put them in
  dampcore.sh ready for input drivers.  damplcd.sh now
  #include's dampcore.sh, so existing LCD drivers still
  function correctly.
- Input driver system is now in and ready for people to
  write drivers.

- Added the -fnfnoquit option.
- Added the following variables to the LCD driver (LCD display
  customisation is now possible!):
  damp_random_play, damp_surround, damp_paused, damp_volume,
  damp_status, damp_filename, damp_id3_title, damp_id3_artist,
  damp_id3_album, damp_id3_year, damp_id3_comment, damp_time
  Also added the strcmp() function.
- Updated lcddrv.txt with more info on the bioscom() function.
- When selecting a track or playlist with the keypad whilst
  in text mode, the number is displayed alongside the vu-meter.
- Fixed a problem with DAMP not reading the ini file.
- Preliminary gui (enabled with -gui option or use_gui=yes in DAMP.ini).
- Added posterize_graphics setting to DAMP.ini
- Added the keypad_timeout setting to DAMP.ini
- Pressing your "next track" key/button whilst numbers are in the
  track selection buffer causes it to skip to that track/playlist
  immediately.
- Pressing your "previous track" key/button whilst numbers are in the
  track selection buffer causes it to cancel your selection.

- Added the "beautify_filenames" and "show_file_info" options to DAMP.ini
- Added the -beep option
- Exported the "damp_vu" variable for use in LCD drivers.
- Updated lcddrv.txt slightly.
- Support for second joystick (with 2 buttons)

- Rewind and fast-forward functions
- User-defineable beat-sensitivity threshold
- Driver-based LCD support
- Can display track time whilst in graphics mode
- More joystick functionality (up to 8 buttons)
- Improved text-mode VU-meter
- Improved sync-to-beats
- A few bug-fixes