TTRAK BETA V1.03 aka “aTTRAK The Block”

Changelog:

• Increased FIXFREQ maximum value - previously I was clamping this to try to minimise CPU over-utilisation. Thanks to Mod for the request.
• Changed mouse behaviour in Instrument Grid Waveform Editor - specifically to avoid mis-clicks, and make it more useable. Holding ALT while drawing cells now limits movement to the X-axis - thanks to Sandor for the discussion.
• Improved KILL behaviour - reset pattern/step position when KILL ALL or KILL SONG selected.
• Stability improvements - Mouse draw crash bug terminated by Tat.
• Playback/Editing keyboard behaviour changes - classic tracker style.

Hello again one and all. It’s time for another mini-release of the Atari ST Chip Tracker TTRAK!

The last point in the changelog is probably most worthy of more detailed mention. When I built my first “protracker” clone interface based upon the Triplex sound engine way back in 2005 or something, I’d implemented the Spacebar to Stop/Toggle edit on/off logic that users of Protracker will be well versed with. This time round I took a bit of a different route - i’d been trying to consolidate keyboard behaviour, and decided upon CTRL+E to toggle Edit on/off, and Spacebar to Start/Stop. Using these shortcuts in isolation and for testing purposes, I didn’t really see any issue at first…

Part of the reason was that I was developing TTTRAK using the wonderful Hatari emulator , and the keys I have available on my Macbook aren’t entirely consistent with those on my ST.. so the keyboard layout of my laptop had subconsciously at least informed my choices. It’s a reality where retro machine develelopers might need consider the needs of emulator users, specifically those using laptops versus full-size keyboards.. Function keys get hidden behind modifier keys, numeric keypads disapear entirely - out of the box I found a lot of key commands i’d deployed for my earlier PT-style Triplex editor were inaccessible. I’d put a lot of time into consolidating as many keyboard shortcuts as possible to the core key+modifers that you’d generally see on a 2021 era laptop.

Since the first release i’ve had a fair bit of feedback relating to this issue, all very polite, but there was no doubt that for some people the lack of a more immediate edit on/off toggle à la Protracker was a deal-breaker!

I’ve had to move a few keys around but we got there. Now we’ve got:

• ENTER - Play
• ALT+ENTER - Play from current step
• SPACEBAR - STOP / Toggle Edit/On Off
• RIGHT SHIFT - Play current step

You can still use CTRL+E if you like ;)

I doth my hat to Master YM-Blaster Dma-SC for his encyclopaedic knowledge of tracker keyboard shortcuts across the ages from Protracker through to Renoise - very impressive!

OK gang, that’s all for this time… Happy tracking!

Damo.

Grab TTrak beta V1.03 here!