        MIDAS Sound System v0.6.rc1, release notes
        ------------------------------------------

A Sahara Surfers production.

Copyright 1996, 1997 Housemarque Inc.

Written by Petteri Kangaslampi and Jarno Paananen
(a.k.a. Alfred & Guru / S2)

This file is part of the MIDAS Sound System, and may only be used,
modified and distributed under the terms of the MIDAS Sound System
license, LICENSE.TXT. By continuing to use, modify or distribute this
file you indicate that you have read the license and understand and
accept it fully.



1. Introduction and news
------------------------

This file accompanies MIDAS Sound System v0.6 Release Candidate 1. The
purpose of this release is mainly to gain confidence that MIDAS 0.6
actually works, before making a final 0.6.0 release. Therefore we again
need your input - let us know if everything works. There are naturally
no known bugs, but we are never able to test all possible software and
hardware combinations. If no major bugs are found, MIDAS v0.6.0 will
probably be released around the 24th of January 1997.

The main differences between MIDAS 0.5 and MIDAS 0.6 are the documented
API and the documentation itself. The MIDAS "DLL API" has been greatly
enhanced, and it is now actually usable for real programs. Likewise,
documentation has been updated. There are also quite a few new
examples.

[Last minute note: Unfortunately the new programmer's guide got
destroyed by a makefile mixup. The API reference is up to date though]

Also several bugs have been fixed, mainly related to FastTracker 2
compatibility. This is another area where we'd like to get your input:
if something is still being played incorrectly, let us know. The more
specific you can be, the better.

As this release isn't fully tested yet, we'd rather not have it
distributed very widely. Feel free to give a copy to a friend who wants
it, but please don't upload this release to FTP sites or BBSes. If this
version proves to be stable, a proper MIDAS 0.6.0 release will be made
shortly.

As you have probably aready noticed, MIDAS is now a product of
Housemarque Inc. If you are using MIDAS for free programs, this
shouldn't mean much to you - just the copyright information has
changed. Licensing questions should now go directly to Housemarque at
"midas@housemarque.fi".



2. Brief introduction to MIDAS
------------------------------

So what is MIDAS Sound System anyway?

In brief, MIDAS is a multichannel digital sound and music system,
capable of playing an unlimited number of channels of digital sound on
all supported platforms. It can play music modules, individual samples,
and digital audio streams, in any combination.

MIDAS supports the following module formats:
        - 4-channel Protracker modules plus 1-32-channel variants (.MOD)
        - 1-32 -channel Scream Tracker 3 modules (.S3M)
        - 2-32 -channel FastTracker 2 modules (.XM)

Under Win32 and Linux, MIDAS plays sound through the OS sound API, so
all cards that have drivers installed are supported. Under DOS, MIDAS
supports the following sound cards:
        - Creative Labs Sound Blaster series (1.0, 1.5, 2.0, Pro, 16)
        - Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum series (regular, Plus, 16)
        - Windows Sound System and compatible sound cards
        - Gravis Ultrasound (regular, max, PnP)

This release of MIDAS can be used for free for free programs, and full
source code is included. Licenses for commercial purposes are also
available, contact us for details.



3. What's New?
--------------

Since the old 16-bit MIDAS 0.40a release, MIDAS has been rewritten
almost completely. A few hightlights of the changes include:
        - MIDAS now supports 32-bit environments. 16-bit support is
          removed.
        - MIDAS now plays FastTracker 2 (XM) modules
        - All individual Module Players are removed, a single Generic
          Module Player takes care of all module playback
        - MIDAS has been ported to Win32 and Linux
        - A new DLL API is available, with documentation

New features and fixes since MIDAS 0.5.0 are:
        - Several FT2 compatibility problems fixed, mainly related to
          envelopes and instrument fadeout
        - Other minor bug fixes
        - A greatly enhanced API
        - More documentation
        - More examples



4. Supported platforms
----------------------

MIDAS supports the following platforms and compilers:
        - 32-bit MS-DOS under DOS/4GW, with Watcom C/C++
        - Windows NT/95 with Watcom C/C++
        - Windows NT/95 with Visual C/C++
        - Windows NT/95 with Borland Delphi
        - Linux with GNU C/C++



5. Using MIDAS
--------------

Before trying to use MIDAS, make sure you read all documentation
available in the "doc" directory. Most of the documents are included in
three formats: LaTeX (*.tex), Postscript (*.ps) and HTML (separate
directories). Postscript is recommended for printing and HTML for
reading on the computer, if you do not have a HTML browser available
you can read the LaTeX source directly. Unfortunately the documentation
is still very incomplete, but the information there is should be very
useful.

After at least browsing through the documentation, you should check of
the examples in the "samples" directory. The directory "samples/api"
should be especially useful, as it contains several small programs that
demonstrate the new MIDAS API. DOS programmer's should also check
"samples/dos". "samples/midpnt" contains the source code for MIDAS
Module Player for Windows NT, a slightly bigger and more complex
program.

Some of the examples might require a bit tweaking, depending your
target system. In particular, you may need to edit a few lines at the
beginning of the Makefiles in the directories. However, the code itself
should compile cleanly on all supported platforms.

When you are ready to use MIDAS in your own programs, it is probably
useful to use one of the examples as a model. Remember that you are
allowed to use MIDAS for free programs as is, but for commercial usage
you will need to negotiate a license with us. In addition, your program
HAS to include proper credits for MIDAS, either in the program itself
or its documentation. This is even a requirement in the MIDAS license,
and if you fail to include the credits you are breaking it.



6. Contact Information
----------------------

Comments? Bug reports? Want more information about MIDAS or MIDAS
licensing?? Contact us! E-mail is naturally preferred.

For technical questions, contact Petteri Kangaslampi:

        E-Mail:         pekangas@sci.fi (preferred)
                        k153997@cs.tut.fi (slow, use as backup if scifi
                                fails)

        Snail mail: (please don't)
                        Petteri Kangaslampi
                        Insinoorinkatu 60 A 49
                        FIN-33720 Tampere
                        Finland
                        Europe

        Phone:          +358-3-3172204 (note the new area code)


For MIDAS licensing information:

        E-Mail:         midas@housemarque.fi


The latest version is always available at our WWW site:
"http://kalahari.ton.tut.fi/s2/midas.html". You can also find all MIDP
versions there plus all latest MIDAS related news.

In addition, there is a mailing list available. Send a mail to Petteri
and request that you are added. The list is mainly intended for
MIDAS-related announcements, but some discussion is possible as well.



7. Getting MIDAS
----------------

The best and fastest way to get MIDAS is the Internet. The latest MIDAS
version is always at "http://kalahari.ton.tut.fi/s2/midas.html". In
addition, you can find there the latest MIDAS news, MIDP releases, and
general information.

In addition, MIDAS is available at the following fine BBSes:

        Edge Of Delight
                Node 1: +32-2-3755651   Boca 28.8K (V34/VFAST)
                Node 2: +32-2-3758923   ZyXEL 19.2K (V32terbo)
                Node 3: +32-2-3721089   ISDN 64K (X75)
                Chaos Managers: Cobra, aCceSs & Fredy

        The Underworld BBS
                Node 1: +41-22-9600621  USR Courier V.34+, ISDN Analog
                Node 2: +41-22-9600622  USR Courier V.34+, ISDN Analog
                Node 3: +41-22-9600623  ZyXEL Elite 2864I 64kb ISDN,
                                                ISDN Digital
                Sysop: Synoptic

        WarmBoot BBS
                Node 1: +55-194-261993
                Sysop: Warmbooter

        South of Heaven BBS
                Node 1: +1-916-567-1090 (2x28.8k)
                Sysop: Pantera

        Apologies for any boards we forgot - email us with your current
        information and you are back on the list. I have to confess I
        haven't kept very good track on our distribution sites, and now
        deliberately left out everybody I haven't heard from in a year
        or so...


-- Petteri Kangaslampi, 17 Jan 1997