The Music Guy

This is my C code.

char bgm_errorMsg[1024];

DLL_FUNC char* bgm_Error() {
 sprintf(bgm_errorMsg, "Error occured");
 return bgm_errorMsg;
}

This function compiles and imports okay but calling it in GM always returns "".

Help?

I posted the release of WIP 3 a few months ago but it didn't really get any replies and got buried before anybody really even knew what it was. I'm not sure it still exists anymore so I'm posting a new one.

Just about anything you would want to know is covered by the official MMAVSG project page, including an FAQ.
http://alphaios.net/mmavsg
PLEASE READ THE FAQ BEFORE ASKING ANY QUESTIONS.

Just to be courteous, I'll give the "basic" information right now:
Version: GM 5.3a
Changes screen res: 320x240 exclusive
ZIP size: 4mb

Just the download: http://alphaios.net/...mmavsg_wip3.zip

Note that this project is mostly complete but I haven't worked on it in ages.

UPDATED:
* 12-18-05,
* 12-27-05

New version is 2.0 beta.

http://www.alphaios.net

Features:

* Over <b>40</b> original songs in tracked music format, mostly IT. Can be used in GM with an extension (SXMS or my own BGM will work nicely).
* Eventually will have some resources for use with Game Maker; scripts, examples, tutorials and such (I really do have some, I just need to get a chance to put them up).
* NEW: Even more user-friendly interface than before.

NEW: Affiliate's section is up! See http://alphaios.net/...ction=affiliate for more details.

Bass for Game Maker!

Unfortunately, I am no longer able to continue working on BGM or provide support for it on a reasonable basis. I am simply too busy trying to keep up with real life and I don't have time for it anymore. Besides that, I am no longer an active member of the Game Maker Community or YoYo Games, and no longer use Game Maker, so it doesn't make sense to continue to develop anymore.

I had a fun time working on it and providing what help I could offer, but the time has come for me to move on. Sorry, everybody, but that's the way it has to be...

- Brad Harms (a.k.a. The Music Guy)

What is BGM?

It is an extremely simplistic front-end to Un4seen.com's BASS.DLL that acts as a  bridge between BASS and Game Maker.
In other words, it is a system that uses Game Maker's functionality to use external DLL files as a means to improve Game Maker's music-playing abillities.
In other other words, BGM lets you play all sorts of tracked music formats like MOD, IT and XM in your Game Maker games.

Feature List

* Extremely simple interface
* Total amount of data added to your game is less than 200kb
* Support for MOD, XM, S3M, IT, MTM, UMX, MO3 (see below), WAV, AIFF, MP3, MP2, MP1 and OGG.
* Supports un4sen.com's hybrid compressed-tracked format, MO3.
* Uses the latest version of BASS.DLL (which is 2.3 at the time of this writing)
* Play, play looped, pause, stop
* Quick Play - This allows you to easily load and play a song simply by passing it's filename, then automatically stop and unload it when you're done.
* Can use whatever output format you want
* File- and Internet-Streaming for sampled formats
* Load and play as many songs as your system can handle (quite a few, usually)
* Volume, panning, and playback speed control
* Access to many module attributes, such as sample/instrument/channel volumes, pan seperation, etc.
* You can refer to loaded songs via the ID given when they were loaded OR by giving the filename of the song
* Lots of automatic error handling (which can be turned off if you want)
* the list goes on -- See the manual (included in the download) for more details.


Known Bugs

* The function bgm_SetLibDir() has been deprecated because it doesn't work correctly and there doesn't seem to be a way to fix it.

* The functions bgm_GetPos() and bgm_GetLen() don't work on non-streamed samples; they always return 4294967295. However, the functions work fine for streamed samples and modules.

Update History

(updates above 2.0.1 beta can be found on the website)

2.0.1 beta -

* Updated to BASS.DLL 2.3
* You can now choose what output format you want
* File- and Internet-Streaming now supported for sampled formats
* New API (backwards compatibility has been preserved, however)
* It is now possible to load multiple songs at a time
* Volume, panning, frequency can now be changed for each individual song
* Many module attributes (instrument volume, bpm, pan seperation, ...) can now be both set and retrieved
* You can refer to loaded songs via the ID given when they were loaded OR by giving the filename of the song.
* Lots of automatic error handling

1.0a -

* Example .gm6 now lets you load WAVs and also lets you change to a different file after playback begins.
* Now it can REALLY play MP3s, although it takes a minute for them to load.

Does anyone know if there is a DLL that can play the rather obscure OXM music format?  I know that the latest version of FMOD can play it, but JBFMOD uses an older version that can't.
Also, I can't use SXMS; my system crashes whenever I try to even load it.

For those that don't know, OXM is a hybrid between the tracked music format XM and the compressed audio format OGG.  It is a tracked music file that uses OGG on all the samples.  It's relatively new and obscure, which makes it difficult to find support for it.