Please note the following three points:
If a Sprite or Icon is empty, AMOS Professional will only save this:
dc.w 0 dc.w 0 dc.w 0 dc.w 0 dc.w 0
The mask is not saved by AMOS Professional!
All Objects or Icons are flipped back to their original state before they are saved, so the bits 14 and 15 of the X Hot Spot are always zero.
MUSIC BANKS
In this section, music banks held in memory will be dealt with first, followed by an examination
of music banks saved onto disc.
Music banks stored in memory
The AMOS Professional Music system is stored as an ,extension, so it is completely separate from
the rest of the AMOS Professional language. The source code is available and can be changed or
modified to your own needs. This means that the system will not be made redundant by any
future developments in the world of Amiga music!
Internally, AMOS Professional Music is totally different from the standard Soundtracker format. Music is not coded in parallel, that is to say with all notes for all of the voices in 16 bytes, but in a more efficient "track" system. This system is also a little more complex.
Each voice has its own individual track, and the delays between each note are not fixed as in Soundtracker, but coded in the note itself. Pauses are achieved by counting a delay value down to zero.
Labels are not stored as part of the notes, but are entered just before them, using two bytes. The advantage of this technique is that up to 128 different labels may be employed, using a full byte for the parameter values. You can also insert several labels one after the other, and the effect will be heard when the next note is played.
This structure makes the AMOS Professional music player very versatile. After appropriate conversion, it can play music like Soundtracker or IFF music files.
Music banks are completely re-locatable, and are structured in three, independent, main parts:
Instruments: this holds the sample data for each instrument in the composition.
Musics: this contains a list of pattern numbers to play in sequence.
Patterns: this a simple list of notes.