Today, support for 16 new module formats has been added to ModArchive, more than doubling the number of supported formats. The following formats are now support in addition to the existing support:
AMS (Extreme's Tracker / Velvet Studio)
DBM (Digi Booster Pro)
DIGI (Digi Booster)
FAR (Farandole Composer)
IMF (Imago Orpheus)
J2B (Galaxy Sound System)
MDL (Digitrakker)
MPTM (OpenMPT)
MT2 (MadTracker 2)
PLM (Disorder Tracker 2)
PTM (PolyTracker)
ULT (UltraTracker)
Sound engine formats - most modules in these formats already exist in their "original" formats on The Mod Archive:
AMF (ASYLUM / DSMI)
DSM (DSIK)
GDM (BWSB Sound System)
PSM (Epic Megagames MASI)
UMX (Unreal Music - not really a format on its own, but can contain other module formats)
A note on MPTM / MT2 files:We always strived to be an archive of files that are easily playable by anyone. However, MPTM and MT2 files may make use of VST plugins (and in particular VST instruments), which are only really supported by their original trackers (OpenMPT / MadTracker 2). Furthermore, the absolute majority of VST plugins that can be used with those trackers can only be used on x86 (Intel / AMD) CPUs, as they contain binary code for this platform. It is hence not possible to play such files on a variety of other platforms such as smartphones. In our screening process, MPTM and MT2 files will be previewed in XMPlay (using the appropriate plugins), without any VST plugin support. If the files sound broken without the required plugins, we reserve the right to reject them like any broken module.
Support for all these new formats is currently in beta stage and things may break. Please report here if you are having trouble uploading a particular file.
Other updatesWe have also generally improved our uploading process a bit by hashing the pattern contents of every uploaded module. This way, it will be easier in the future to detect duplicated modules in the archive. It will also be much easier to spot lame rippers this way.
As a side effect, MP3 files disguised as .MOD files will also no longer be able to sneak into the archive.
Modules made with old MS-DOS trackers sometimes contained "ANSI art" drawings using box drawing characters; All module texts have been re-parsed to display such characters properly.
Enjoy the updates, and happy tracking!
