IMS Player

IMS Player updating and now can play properly.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about and improving the IMS Player.

This version includes some major improvements.

Full Percussion Mode Support

Percussion mode is now properly supported, with a total of 11-channel playback.

The percussion sounds are now more powerful and clearer. Fixing the bugs in this area took a lot of effort, but I think the result was worth it.

11-Channel Level Meter

All 11 channels are supported by the level meter.

Depending on the song, you may feel a little extra load, but I optimized the code as much as possible to reduce CPU usage.

STEREO / X-WAY Sound Support

IMS songs are originally mono-based, but by using the OPL3 features, I added a wider and more spacious sound.

At the moment,  I call this feature X-WAY, but I may rename it to STEREO later.

It gives the music a slightly different and fun listening experience compared to the original mono sound.

 

https://youtu.be/iBwV-BFMI-Q

 

 

https://youtu.be/qUBw0pf1d8c

 

Increased Number of Selectable IMS Files

The number of IMS files selectable from the menu has been increased from 254 to 384.

I think this should be enough for normal use.

Volume Control

You can now increase or decrease the volume while the music is playing.

Pause / Resume During Playback

During playback, you can press the SPACE key to pause or resume the song.

JUKE BOX Support

My favorite “JUKE BOX” feature is also working well.

You can play songs continuously, and choose whether the next song should be selected upward or downward in the file list.

Progress Bar

A progress bar is shown at the bottom of the screen, so you can roughly see how far the music has progressed.

I tried to add as many useful features as possible while still keeping the performance optimized.

As a result, the Apple II can now play IMS music much better than I originally expected.

Honestly, I put a lot of passion and effort into this program.

Please listen to the music. When X-WAY is turned on in the middle of playback, you can hear the sound change.

System Requirements

• Apple //e with 65C02
• SD Music Deluxe card 

Features

IMS music file playback support.

With Hidden Reading, there is effectively no file size limit.
The sample song above is 65KB.

Remaining Work

If an instrument cannot be found, or if the included BNK file is missing, the player will load STANDARD.BNK and fill in the missing instruments automatically.

I also plan to continue speed optimization, especially for faster instrument searching in large STANDARD.BNK files.

Please consider getting an SD Music DX card, and please give lots of love to the IMS Player as well. ^^

Thank you!