Music missing

[THEtomaso]

So, why have you removed the music in these latest releases of PySolFC?
I've tried re-adding it manually, but it won't play.

[shlomif]

Hi @THEtomaso ! Thanks for the report. Removing the music was not intentional. Can you provide any details regarding your operating system/etc.? Do sound effects work?

[shlomif]

Note that when I put the mod files in http://www.shlomifish.org/Files/files/arcs/mods.7z under ~/.PySolFC/music, the music plays fine.

[THEtomaso]

Thanks for your quick answer, shlomif.

My OS is Windows 8.1 Pro, x64.

Seems that the music files aren't even included in the Windows installer anymore.
With the latest PySolFC versions, there is no "music" folder in C:\Program Files (x86)\PySol Fan Club edition\data.
There is one here: C:\Users\*****\AppData\Roaming\PySolFC\music, but it is empty.
And in the game, when I go to Options > Sound, there aren't even any music settings present!

I tried to place the mods and music files in the proper folders manually, but it didn't work.

Sound effects work just fine though.

[Programator2]

@THEtomaso
Music won't work on packaged exe version of PySolFC, since it doesn't contain an audio client capable of playing music. However, when you run PySolFC with your Python installation together with pygame package, music should work.

@shlomif
We can bundle pygame with the installer (that would increase its size by about 6 MB).
Other option would be to bundle it with PySol-Sound-Server, but I haven't tested it on Windows.

[THEtomaso]

Well, the music always came bundled with earlier versions (including v2.0), and those installers were only half the size of the new ones!

v2.0 installer =  8.52 MB
v2.2 installer = 15.90 MB

Where can I download that pygame package that you speak of?

[THEtomaso]

Thanks for the commit, Programator2.
Now, just remember to include the actual music tracks as well. :)
And make sure that everything is configurable under Options > Sound, like in the old versions.

[jan-kleks]

Just my two cents, the PySolFC music and sound effects are really nice -- soothing and relaxing, perfect for the solitaire, and IMHO they aged well (unlike PySolFC's graphic elements and design).

An interesting piece of information, the music tracks were provided by a very talented demoscene composer Carl "Nightbeat" Larsson.

Because it's very easy to turn the music and sound effects off, in the case someone does not like them, I am for bundling them with PySolFC whenever possible.

[Programator2]

You're welcome :)
You can find the newest installer at https://ci.appveyor.com/project/shlomif/pysolfc/build/artifacts

We'll include the music tracks soon, I'll just have to find the original archive.
Concerning the installer size, version 2.0 used Python 2.5. Python was smaller back then. But that doesn't mean there's no room for optimization.

And btw, you can install pygame to your default Python installation using pip install pygame.

[THEtomaso]

PySolFC music and sound effects are really nice -- soothing and relaxing, perfect for the solitaire, and IMHO they aged well

I agree.
It's very atmospheric. :)
Always reminded me of the soundtrack for the first Unreal game.
Some of the more laid-back tracks would make excellent additions to PySolFC's playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IISjIMpepo (My favorite is @ 40:34)
..but of course, legal issues probably prevents these tracks from being used.

--

You can find the newest installer at https://ci.appveyor.com/project/shlomif/pysolfc/build/artifacts

Great!
But I've re-installed v2.0 now.
I'll upgrade once you've released a new version, with everything included.
Keep up the good work! :)

[shlomif]

@Programator2 : I found this - https://sourceforge.net/projects/pysolfc/files/PySol-Music/PySol-Music-4.40/ - but it is only a .dmg . there is also http://legacy.redhat.com/pub/contrib/libc6/noarch/SRPMS/
and the archive from it is http://www.shlomifish.org/Files/files/arcs/pysol-music-4.40.tar.gz

[shlomif]

@Programator2 : the tar.gz was now placed here - https://sourceforge.net/projects/pysolfc/files/PySol-Music/PySol-Music-4.40/

[Programator2]

Thanks @shlomif !

Now the music is included with the installer.

[THEtomaso]

Great!
But 'Astral_Dreams' and 'Past_and_Future' are completely new tunes to me.
What happened to the beautiful 'Bye_For_Now' and 'Ranger_Song' tracks?
Those tracks should be included too!

[shlomif]

On Sun, 27 May 2018 12:05:33 -0700 THEtomaso ***@***.***> wrote: Great! But two of those are completely new tunes to me. What happened to the beautiful '**Bye_For_Now**' and '**Ranger_Song**' tracks??

you can find them here - http://www.shlomifish.org/Iglu/shlomif/mods/ - no idea what their licence is.

…

-- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Shlomi Fish http://www.shlomifish.org/ https://github.com/shlomif/what-you-should-know-about-automated-testing He says “One and one and one is three”. Got to be good‐looking ’cause he’s so hard to see. — The Beatles, “Come Together” Please reply to list if it's a mailing list post - http://shlom.in/reply .

[THEtomaso]

no idea what their licence is.

Here are the copyright files:
tracks-copyrights.zip
They both say "Distributed under the GNU GPL by permission of the author", so they should still be safe to use.
Please include them in the installer.
Those tracks really were the heart and soul of this game! :)

[jan-kleks]

@THEtomaso Agreed.

[jan-kleks]

@THEtomaso @shlomif It looks like we have just discovered some new/old tracks. :) It seems there were some changes to music tracks between PySolFC/PySol versions... Everything is by Carl "Nightbeat" Larsson, of course.

The funny thing is that I was going to write to Larsson whether we could possibly use the track Astral Dreams (I found it elsewhere) with PySolFC, it just felt sooo PySol-like... Now I know why. :D Past and Future also sounds awesome! Thanks to the open-source licensing of these tracks we can make the ultimate version with all the tracks included. :)

[shlomif]

@THEtomaso : I added these tracks again. @Programator2 : can you spin a new PySolFC windows build with them, please?

[shlomif]

@Programator2 :I think I managed on my own now.

[shlomif]

@THEtomaso : please test the new installer on https://ci.appveyor.com/project/shlomif/pysolfc/build/1.0.207 .

[THEtomaso]

Yes, all tracks are present.
Well done!
Guess we have the "ultimate version" now, like jan-kleks described it. :)
You should bump the version @ SF with these changes.

PS:
It would be nice if you could restore this missing feature first too:
#84

[Programator2]

Good job @shlomif !

[THEtomaso]

If anyone is interested, you'll find more tracks by Nightbeat on these two pages:
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_artist_modules&query=69007

[shlomif]

Closing now that PySol FC 2.4.0 is out with the music.

[THEtomaso]

If anyone is interested, you'll find more tracks by Nightbeat on these two pages:
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_artist_modules&query=69007

@shlomif / @jan-kleks / @Programator2:
I think 'Approach', 'Dreamstone' and 'Wake' would make really nice additions to PySolFC's music library.
What do you think? :)

PS: I wouldn't change the current playlist order though.
If these other tracks are to be added, I would place them at the end.

[shlomif]

On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 09:41:01 -0700 THEtomaso ***@***.***> wrote: > If anyone is interested, you'll find more tracks by Nightbeat on these two > pages: https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_artist_modules&query=69007 I think '**Approach**', '**Dreamstone**' and '**Wake**' would be really nice additions to PySolFC's music library. What do you think? :)

What are their licences?

…

-- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Shlomi Fish http://www.shlomifish.org/ List of Graphics Apps - http://shlom.in/graphics As it turns out, compiling a C program from more than 20 years ago is actually a lot easier than getting a Rails app from last year to work. — https://passy.svbtle.com/building-vim-from-1993-today Please reply to list if it's a mailing list post - http://shlom.in/reply .

[THEtomaso]

What are their licences?

https://modarchive.org/index.php?terms-upload

--

EDIT1:

Links to the tracks which I mentioned in my previous post:

• Approach (by Nightbeat, a.k.a. Carl Larsson):
  https://modarchive.org/module.php?155605

• Dreamstone (by Nightbeat, a.k.a. Carl Larsson):
  https://modarchive.org/module.php?181005

• Wake (by Nightbeat, a.k.a. Carl Larsson):
  https://modarchive.org/module.php?163208

--

..and since most of the tracks from the first Unreal game are distributed under the same license terms now, I also recommend this one (if you don't think it stands out too much from the rest):

• Unreal Crypt (by Alexander Brandon):
  https://modarchive.org/module.php?59380

Adding all of the above tracks will allow people to play for almost 40 minutes straight, without hearing the same tune twice.
:)

--

EDIT2:

Here's one from Jazz Jackrabbit 2:

• Water Level (by Alexander Brandon):
  https://modarchive.org/module.php?73587

--

EDIT3:

Upon closer inspection, it seems that the license terms @ modarchive.org doesn't quite allow for the music to be bundled in a game.
To straighten things out, I'll try to get in contact with Mr. Larsson..

--

EDIT4:

All of his contact information seems to be outdated.
He appears to have been recently active at traxinspace.com though:
http://www.traxinspace.com/profile/nightbeat/
Only problem is that their registration systems is broken, so I'm unable to sign up, in order to get in touch with him there. :(