MIDI music player

One of the early goals I set for myself when I began to start game programming was the inclusion of sound in my games. Despite the addition of CD audio and crisp VOC sound, a major factor that detracted from the enjoyment of the games I made was the lack of music. The effect it has, when introdued, is quite bizaare: even the simplest MIDI track, if paced correctly, can add excitement to many games of skill or reflexes, and a more subtle loop can be used for more cogitative games (Trooper II is of course both, and so requires a variety...). I eventually managed to find a unit that would allow me to do just this, and in turn I present it to you. This simple unit loads files in the XMS format, which is very similar to MIDI, and plays them through the soundcard in the background whilst your program is running. The music files reside in the conventional memory when loaded, but this has minimal impact upon your program since they are so small (<10Kb) very little reduction in the free memory occurs; and the processing required to play the music seems to be very small, as no slowdown in perceptible even with the heaviest load on the processor. The music files themselves are fairly hard to obtain, but I've collected together an archive of more than 30 from various sources, in different styles to suit any type of game. Be warned though, MIDI music by nature is somewhat repetitive and often a little shrill, so appropriate use of the music will be required to achieve effective results. Nevertheless, addition of music to any Pascal program is easily achieved with this small unit, and requires only a negligable amount of space in the finished package. Music can be loaded in and out the allocated memory quickly and at will, and paused and restarted whenever necessary. It certainly adds an edge to playing Trooper II, and a rhythm to games that otherwise might lack it. The unit comes with a simple demonstration of how to initialise a music track, and a few sample tunes: the archive of XMS music contains further songs to supliment your collection, christened amusing names such as 'lightening' by their well meaning creator. One of the simplest ways to add music to any of your programs. Enjoy, Jon

Download the XMS music unit (11 Kb, zipped) | Back to Units & Tools
Download the XMS tune archive (35 Kb, zipped)