Talk:FastTracker 2

some random comments
- the way pattern editing works should be discussed in the proper general article about trackers/tracking, not in each and every tracker article.

- I tried to re-phrase some of the badly worded passages, but more work is needed

- the article should discuss, what made ft2 so influential, instead of just claiming it (read: the novelty of the *.xi format, custom DOS GUI with buttons, radio options, sliders, everything on screen at once vs. IT's screen switching etc.)

- the FT vs. IT argument should be made clearer

- FT2 has a unique command "convert sample" .. it basically unsign it to its negative, creating a very distorted sound. a lot of gabba producers used it... and at the moment (2017) it s the ONlY tracker (or DAW as far as i know) that can do it. I don't know if it should be mentioned... — Preceding unsigned comment added by RotelloItalia (talk • contribs) 17:52, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
 * interesting, please step forward and add this material (but please, backed by referencens/sources) cheers ! Shaddim (talk) 00:05, 18 May 2017 (UTC)

Release Date
- I used FastTracker 2 in before April 1992 for a school project, the release date must have been before 1993.Thax (talk) 01:43, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Fast Tracker 3
This does not mention anything about Fast Tracker 3


 * Fast Tracker 3 doesn't exist - officially at least. The first app called FT3 later transformed into Skale. // Gargaj 01:06, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

The sad part is that Skale Tracker is -- for all intents and purposes -- dead in the water. But then again, that's the fate of every communal effort, ever. The only exceptions I can think off the top of my head are Linux and Freespace 2. But that's it. 128.214.133.2 08:47, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Extension to the above; the open-source Freespace 2 is dead, too. 128.214.133.2 (talk) 10:18, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Name?
Is the name "Fast Tracker" or "Fasttracker" or "FastTracker" ?


 * The FILE_ID.DIZ and strings/bitmaps in the exe call it "Fasttracker", the .doc file and saved .xm-s call it "FastTracker". It's never mentioned in two words. // Gargaj 01:05, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Clones
Someone want to add a section about the various Windows FT2 clones out there? --Vossanova 20:55, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Will do.  //Gargaj 09:43, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Done. // Gargaj 13:37, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Skale Tracker is INDEED FastTracker 3, not "clone"! And please stop removing that from article. The only real existing software called "FastTracker 3 beta" was written by Skale Tracker authors, not by FastTracker 2 ones. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.77.57.215 (talk) 22:22, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

nitrotracker?
is NitroTracker a clone?

nitrotracker.tobw.net

FastTracker 2 source?
Does anyone have any information about the FT2 source code? I faintly remember that it was being passed around the circuits back in the day. When I encountered FT2 for the first time -- 2.08, no less, yes I'm slow to pick up new things -- the name rang a bell because I had heard it before. It dawned on me that I'd heard about the source code, not the application. That's all I know about that. Does anyone know anything more about this? By the by, I find it absolutely mind boggling that the source hasn't been released to the public yet. --Tirolion 18:14, 14 January 2007 (UTC) The whole thingamajig was programmed in BP7 and TASM (Borland's Pascal 7 and TurboAssembler, for the un-initiated), so it should be fairly simple to decompile. I wonder why no-one has done so yet. 128.214.133.2 08:47, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Some claimed to own parts of it, but I haven't heard of anyone having the full source so far... And it's far from mindboggling - chances are that they don't even have it at hand anymore. It's probably on some old hard drive in the attic. // Gargaj 22:42, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Notability
amen with notability - go to archive.org or ask some people who've been on the Internet for more time than you about what was popular/notable — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.4.132.130 (talk) 11:51, 1 September 2015 (UTC)
 * ✅ FastTracker 2 is notable all right. For instance, the soundtrack of the Frozen Bubble game was made using this program. 98.23.140.49 (talk) 06:47, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Incorrect statement about version 2.09
The article states that version 2.09 was an unofficial bugfix by Andreas Viklund, which is not correct (this is Andreas writing). I'm clarifying this to sort out the old misunderstanding - even though it is a minor detail and many years ago. 2.09 was an unreleased beta version in which Triton had made some improvements and updates, but which was not ready for release. Despite this, the beta version leaked to a number of producers who shared it with their friends inside the FT2 community. Triton wouldn't comment on the release, not even confirming that it existed. After having used the 2.09 version for a long time without any sign of it being officially released, and noting that it was already spread to many users, I uploaded it to my website.

This has resulted in the common misunderstanding that I was the one who made the 2.09 version, or who released the 2.09 version, but that is simply not correct. I did not touch the code at all. I was just one of the users who got the 2.09 version sent to me, used it for a long time and eventually made it available on my website so that others producers could try it. By doing that, I did contribute significally to popularizing version 2.09, but that is all. I should be given credit for making or releasing it.

Triton/Starbreeze eventually made version 2.09 available on their website (as noted in the archived source link on the page), making it the last official version of FastTracker 2. Version 2.09 should be described as a leaked beta version by Triton/Starbreeze which was eventually officially released after it had become widely spread through unofficial channels, not as an unofficial bugfix made or released by me. I'll refrain from editing the page myself, but the archived link https://web.archive.org/web/20000303090109/http://www.starbreeze.com/ft2.htm should be a perfectly acceptable source for verification of this statement. Also, if anyone would see the need to verify whether this is really a statement by the same Andreas Viklund as is credited in the article, just get in touch and I willl confirm it in a perfectly verifiable way. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.245.29.68 (talk) 20:27, 14 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Hi Andreas, thank you for your clarifications. Is a webarchive link existing of your website where you put 2.09 for download then? Also, do you have contact to the original developers regarding a source code release? the current version seems only semi-authorized. Shaddim (talk) 21:19, 14 November 2017 (UTC)
 * You can see it here: http://web.archive.org/web/19991009225417/http://www.energymusic.com:80/andreas/software.html . No, no contact regarding source code. I would say that Triton/Starbreeze accepted the unfinished and leaked version as a release by making it available on their site, but whether it is called unofficial or official doesn't really matter after all these years. I just don't think that it should be mentioned as an unofficial bugfix made or released by me since that is incorrect. The misunderstanding came from Maz-Sound writing "this version was brought to the public by Andreas Viklund" (http://web.archive.org/web/20000915172226fw_/http://www.maz-sound.com:80/trackers_without_frames.html), which is correct in the sense that I was one of the first people who made the version available for download from a website. But again, the version 2.09 beta had been privately shared between users for a long time before I replaced the 2.08 version on my site with 2.09. It is truly an unsignificant detail now, more than 17 years later - but as a long-time fan of FT2, I would rather see the article having this error fixed. 94.245.29.68 (talk) 07:38, 15 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Hi andreas, I will correct this mistake. But, one concern I have is that while the source code is in the hand of Olav "8bitbubsy" Sørensen, it is not publicly available or proper open source, as only one author consented. As consequence, no Linux version is availlabe and the source code might get lost if Olav losses interest in the future. So, if you have some contact possiblity to the original authors, please contact them for an open source release of the source code. thanks! Shaddim (talk) 14:37, 15 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks, that looks very good. Again, the only contact I've ever had with the developers was back in 1999. I haven't been involved in the tracker scene in a long time, so I doubt that I can help find the source code. What I can do, however, is to point at MilkyTracker, which is a free, multi-platform and open-sourced clone. While not the original, it is the software I use today if I want to play around with XM songs. In the absence of the FT2 code, I would guess that MilkyTracker could be of interest. /Andreas 94.245.29.68 (talk) 11:01, 16 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Point is, the code is here! Olav has it, but he will not make it public until both developers agreed. He could reach only one. Which is a pity. cheers

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