mpt26 usage guide

you need ca65 from the popular cc65 compiler for 6502.

1. open template.mptm in OpenMPT.

• yep, you have to use the template. it's the only thing that will work with the converter.
• do not touch the speed. you may optionally change the tempo from 150 to 125 if you are working on PAL (but this isn't detected).
• only use instruments 1 to 10.
• only use notes from 0 to 31.
• only use volumes from 0 to 15.
• anything else may break the converter.

2. compose your song.
3. open a command prompt/terminal, cd to export/build/ and run the converter.

• Windows: mpt26conv.exe <filename>
• Linux: ./mpt26conv <filename>
• this will generate some files that are required for the converter to work.
• the files have to be in export/build/. otherwise it will fail.

4. go back to the root, and:

• on Windows, type:
  • ca65 -o main.o main.s
  • ld65 -C mpt26.cfg -o mpt26.bin main.o
• on Linux, just type make.

5. this will output a ROM file called mpt26.bin which may be loaded on an emulator or real hardware.

notes

• don't make your song too long/complex, otherwise the converter will produce a file that is too large to fit in 4KB.
• if you need to, edit mpt26.cfg and change the start address and size of DATA and PRG to fit your needs.
• if you want to write a PAL ROM, uncomment PAL=1 in main.s.
• make sure to have a note at the beginning of each pattern, otherwise it will be silent when the pattern changes (to be fixed).
• no bankswitching supported... yet.
• if your patterns are longer than 128, do not add too much complexity. it may cause the player to get stuck (to be fixed).

attribution

thanks Cubby for the original TIA template!