Started messing with this tracker a few says ago so figured I'd be verbose about it...
This was last updated August 2001 so is pretty old and was also beta too...
But listening to the ONLY demo tune I said, "Hey, that sounds pretty good!" Well at least way better than the transistor sound chiptune kind...
Come to find it supported VSTs and the sound came from a couple of the MDA synths...
So I started loading up VSTs to see what it would do well the sound was pretty good and I liked the simplicity with a focus on VST automation right upfront...I mean you draw out your automation right there above the pattern view...
You can do it while it's playing the block and turn that segment parameter on-off or clear it as well as copy-paste to another parameter...Quick and fun there is a lack of clicky crud which is nice...
There is no render to WAV at all but I solved this by using Voxengo Recorder once you put it under one instrument it will be under any others so you just turn it up all the way on ALL instruments hit start & record your whole wreck...
A few gotchas for those who wish to try...
-This was a 2001 release so VST support very picky...I have tested probably 300-400 VSTs in the last couple days only a small percentage pass but I still have 200mb of plugs ready to pretty much make anything with...
-Auditioning some VSTs keys will stick on or off but once pattern is down pat play is perfect...
-can't get internal sampler to make any noise but VSTs take care of that problem and better too...PAAX is a good one to use for SF2 or AKAI, etc...
-This really likes GUI-less plugs like MDA stuff as it will integrate right into the parameters sector...GUI-ed plugs will launch out in their own window which cannot be minimized or hidden you just gotta slide 'em out to the side and they are all 'stay on top' mode...A minor annoyance...
-Graphic plugs will not intergrate knobs in the tracker you must use the GUI to make changes however the automation of all params is still like any other plug & once you draw your curves out the knobs-sliders start moving on your graphical plugin...
-You must keep DLLs in the plugins folder otherwise it cannot load them...It produces a registry entry that stores relative paths to the various folders so using sub-folders is a no-no...
-On VSTs best to shoot for OLD versions to test...I have Voxengo freebies from 2003-2005 for instance & they work fine...
-To test you put your bare DLL in the plugins folder then go up to plugins tab & load custom VST...If it loads then you must go to the -/+ menu right below the plugins tab & navigate to the loaded plugin on the right you must turn the knob 'up' to make plugin active...Some will crash doing this so delete the DLL & try another if that happens...If you got that far you should be able to hear the instrument by pounding the QWERTY keys...Now the final test is to make sure you are on the VSTs section then go up to plugins tab & choose 'delete plugin'...If you are lucky H8 won't crash & that plugin is a keeper for using however a hell-of-alot will fail this last test...So there will be alot of plugin deletion...
-Looking on the bright side it's the sound that counts and I find no problem with H8 on that note and I am probably one of the few in the galaxy using it at this moment...The Dev had some great ideas, and some not...
By the way there are a few plugs that somehow CAN be put in a sub-folder and work...Synth1 happened to be one but the vast majority of others won't open at all in a subfolder...
This isn't the easiest tracker to find but it's here-
http://www.maz-sound.de/archives/h8t190.zipThis can also be put into the wayback machine as well & comes back too-
https://web.archive.org/web/20160327071134/http://www.maz-sound.de/archives/h8t190.zipI uploaded an image of what plugins have passed the tests on my machine. In event of numerous builds to choose from I chose the OLDEST for best luck for testing...There are alot more FX plugs I have to test as of yet...
https://i.ibb.co/PTXp8Gy/Plugs-So-Far.jpg
