"Name that song" game

[FoX]

Does it pull incorrect song names based off of similar ID3 info from the correct song or is it random?

[NoBonus]

I tried the sound events .wav setup, but the sounds do not seem to work for me.  Is there something I need to know? Also, is it possible to play any random sound from a folder instead of a specific file for the sound events?

 Also, those of us that are not writing this wonderful program, we should put together some .wav sound effects packs to go with the program.  I have a Family Feud one I will post later.

[DreamWeb]

A graphic overhaul would be great too!  I mean, it looks ok right now.. but, I think it could look better.  Skins a possible feature in the future?

d.

[Generic Eric]

I can't download the file

[DreamWeb]

Having it check for v2 id3 before resorting to v1 id3 would also be great!

You're filling a void here!!

d.

[Space Fractal]

the only problem is, ID2 tags can been hell to find, because it can been anyware in the file, and the structur of it is not fixed by a length.

IDv1 tags is easy, and is allways in the end.

On my coming soon (skinable) jukebox, I have used tags.dll for bass.dll to read the tags, and it is very easy to doing that.

Howover it may not like all IDv2 tags, because some of them is very bad tagged, and these need to been retagged.

I have found a way to support the 2nd player, but I are now working on my own version of this game (here a minigame), with credits support and more.

But good luck to Lave Laar to take of this too

[Lave Laar]

Can you make it check for v2 tags before resorting to the file name?

I will look into supporting ID3 v2 in a later version, but as Space Fractal writes reading ID3 v2 can be a pain.

[DreamWeb]

I didn't realize that ID3 v2 tags were a pain.

The only reason I even suggested this is that they allow for longer track titles..  and, seeing a song listed in the game that has a chopped off name makes me want to cry (especially when I know that the name is complete in the v2 id3 tag).  Oh well..  that's a small issue, really.

Great news about the skins!

d.

[FoX]

It does not check against genre or anything.  It's completely random.  Is this a problem ?

I wouldn't call it a problem.  I would think it would make it more "interesting" if it tried to grab incorrect songs based on genre.  Its pretty easy to identify a movie theme when the incorrect songs listed with it are all rap (or a rap song with all rock, etc....)

[DreamWeb]

FoX : That's a good point... but, ugh, that would mean I'd have to go back and standardize all my genres now! :p

d.

[FoX]

Well, it wouldnt be a requirement to play the game but maybe have it look to see if it has genres broken down and if it does, try to select based off of it, if not...just be random.

[DreamWeb]

FoX : it's definitely a good idea.

With the help of the freeware program that was linked to earlier on in this post.. I was able to do a huge chunk of my id3 housekeeping quickly.

Highly recommended!

d.

[Generic Eric]

I can't download the file

Checked the links. And they all work. Don't know what this could be.  Still got the problem ?

Crazy! I dunno.  I got 'em now though. 

[FoX]

Yea...thank god for those ID3 generators....otherwise it would be one hell of a pain to get your songs setup for a game like this.

[IntruderAlert]

HEY!!! CAN I PLAY???!!!

...da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da

OK.. CAN YOU GUESS IT???






...sorry.. too much coffee

[Chris]

HEY!!! CAN I PLAY???!!!

...da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da

OK.. CAN YOU GUESS IT???
...sorry.. too much coffee

Looks like "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay".

(Edit: Formatting)

[NoBonus]

HEY!!! CAN I PLAY???!!!

...da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da......da..da..da..dooo.da.da

OK.. CAN YOU GUESS IT???






...sorry.. too much coffee

Huh?

[IntruderAlert]

Looks like "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay".

YOU GOT IT CHRIS!!!

[NoBonus]

This is NOT a thread to play "name that tune"!  This is a thread to develop a game that plays "name that tune" on your PC.  I have nothing against playing name that tune in an appropriate forum, but please take it to the "Everything Else" forum and discontinue hijacking this thread!

[IntruderAlert]

i already apologized once
it was just a little joke
i didn't expect anyone to actually play

Interesting concept.  I could see this becoming a standard jukebox feature before long...

I love the whole idea of this sort of game
it'll make a great addition to my upcoming jukebox project
It would be really cool if the game were incorporated into the jukebox software Chris.
I was planning on using a touch screen for input
Do you guys think this would still be possible or would you really need a "real" keyboard to play?

[NoBonus]

Here's another request:

Perhaps you could add a "High Scores" list and some sort of "Victory" screen for the winner.

[Lave Laar]

I've just released a new version at http://home.c2i.net/llin/NamSng15.zip

Some of the new features in this version :
* ID3v2 tag support
* Basic skinning
* A couple more game modes

Make sure you unpack the archive with the folder structure intact.

[tivogre]

A couple of things:

<u>Bugs:</u>

1.  The program appears to have to re-load my song list each time I start (first game = long delay).

2.  If I change the default key settings for players, they are reset the next time I start the program

3.  I can't map the enter key for a player buzz-in

4.  I get problems when two players ring in nearly simultaneously.  Often, both player lights will flash;  after the first player answers, the second player to buzz in either can't hear the music anymore, or gets buzzed in right at the start of the next song.

5.  If I play more than 1 game, the player scores aren't reset at the start of the second game.

<u>Suggestions:</u>

1.  Number of players should be selectable at start-up

2.  After each song, put up a window that shows the artist / album info (maybe even the cover art, if available) for a few seconds

3.  Start at a random spot in the song

4.  Don't allow the SW to pick a song that is SHORTER in duration than the required countdown.
     -  also, if you start from a random spot, don't start too close to the end

5.  Automatically take away the "wrong" choice that a player guesses

6.  Allow mapping of DIFFEREND 1-5 buttons per player.

I'll post more bogs / suggestions if I find / think of them.

I 'm NOT complaining about or busting on this SW.... It's great and much fun as is.  HOWEVER, with some improvements, I think it will be a staple on MAME cabinets and jukeboxes everywhere.

[NoBonus]

This already is a staple on my game system!

[DreamWeb]

Some really terric updates!  Thank you for the Id3 v2!!  Thank you for the skinning.  Thank you for the music-starts-not-at-the-beginning (although, perhaps this should be an option?)

One thing I've noticed.. is that when playing in Artist mode..  I've sometimes had the same artist listed more than once.  I guess this happens when there are more than one album on your HD by the same artist?

Wondering if you were aware of this... and if it's something that's fixable!

Terrific work!!  Keep it up!

d.

[NoBonus]

WOw! I cannot wait to try the new update! Can we get a sticky for this thread?

[FoX]

I'm running into the same problems as Dream Web.

If 2 players enter at nearly the same time you can't tell who actuall rang in first (as all both players will start to blink).  This can often lead to the player who entered second to be forced to answer the next song right away.  I also ran into the program closing when 2 players entered at exactly the same time.

It also doesnt seem to hold all of my preferences when I set them (player ring in buttons and answer buttons).

As a "finished product" I would also include a "Save" button in the options screen.  I realize it saves the options once you change them but the first time I went in I didn't know that.

You also cant map some other buttons (left shift, right ctrl, etc....)

As Dream said, dont take these issues the wrong way.....this is a sweet game and people tonight where chomping at the bit to play it....it just wasn't playable with multiple people slamming down their buzzers at the same time.

[Lave Laar]

A quick update to address the more serious bugs.

[Space Fractal]

great work, Lava Laar (even I do not have seen it yet, because I have used my time to work on my own mini version, without stick and inspired from that version).

Keep working 

I'm have now got the game configuration (using the playlist system, wich I would have added first) to work, I now really make the main game to finished. It may have support up to 3 players at once (I have addressed the key-handler system to handle more players, which it was not have to do).

[tivogre]

A quick update to address the more serious bugs.  Get it at  http://home.c2i.net/llin/NamSg155.zip

Fixed the player select bug
Fixed the preference bug
Program now loads the songlist at the start of the program and not at the start of every game.  Doh ! 

Included singleplayer / multiplayer select at startup.

For now it's not possible to map special keys like "shift" and "enter".  Maybe in a later version.
I can't find any problems with the players score not resetting.  Anyone else experiencing this ?
I can't duplicate the multiple artist answers either.  Are they spelled excactly the same ?

Outstanding updates / response time!


All of my previously reported bugs appear to be fixed... including the score reset between games, which you said you couldn't reproduce.

Suggestions I'd Still Love to See:

1.  Number of players should be selectable at start-up (1 through 4, not just single or multi).  Often have just 2 or three players.

2.  After each song round completes, put up a window that shows the artist / album info (maybe even the cover art, if available) for a few seconds before the next round

3.  Don't allow the SW to pick a song that is SHORTER in duration than the required countdown -  I've experienced this since you implemented start at random location.
     -  also, if you start from a random spot, don't start too close to the end - I've also experienced this since you put in start at random location

4.  When a player buzzes in and guesses incorrectly, remove their wrong guess from the choice list for remaining players.

5.  Allow mapping of DIFFERENT 1-5 buttons per player.  This feature will make it more playable standing around a 2 / 4 person MAME CP.

Thanks for all the work on this!

[terabit]

Has any one seen the error "A problem occurred in initializing MCI". Anyone have any idea what this is. It happened after 2 songs played.
Later
Glenn

[DreamWeb]

I'd also love to see a feature where each player has their own unique button to buzz in (like you already have)..  but, once they've buzzed in.. they can then use a common joystick and an assigned button to make their selection.

But, I realize that this feature probably wouldn't be useful to a lot of people.

Lovin' it.

d.

[Lave Laar]

New version 1.8 available at : http://home.c2i.net/llin/NamSng18.zip

Some of the new options in this version include :

* Map individual keys for all 4 players and possibilty to use all kind of keys.
* Support for m3u and pls playlists
* All players can guess each round
* Optional infoscreen after each song
* Selction with cursor keys and "space" / "enter"

Unzip with folder structure intact.

[DreamWeb]

Lave Laar,

NICELY done!!  This is almost a complete piece of software for me now!

Thank you!

A few things I noticed just now..   The directional keys for selection works great now.  But, please allow the user to assign their own key for selection.  I have neither the space bar or the enter key assigned to any button on my cabinet..   But, I'm sure the use of the arrow keys would be pretty much universal.

The other thing I noticed is some strange flicker when moving between selections both in windowed mode and in full screen.

If the selection of arrow keys and selection button is selected in the options.. then there should probably be a way of selecting everything (multi/single/title/random) using just the arrow keys and the selection keys.

A bug..  (with - All Players Can Guess In The Same Round ON)  I started a multi player game.  I buzzed in with player one and selected a song..  I got it wrong, and my score reflected that... but I was given no notice of wrong or correct.  The song started playing immediately after I made my selection.  Then, I buzzed in with player 2 and selected the correct song.  My score reflected the correct points.. but, once again I wasn't told if I was right or wrong..    I think this is a terrific mode of play..  but.. it's kind of pointless if the players can see each other's scores reflected immediately after their selection.  The only way to make this option useful is to only update the scores AFTER everyone has made a selection.

Also.  If arrow keys and selection button is selected, can the mouse be completely deactivated?  I noticed I could still move the mouse around and hilight 2 options by using the arrow keys and the mouse at the same time. 

Another bug.  I ran the program.  Selected Multi.  Hit start.  And the mode selection menu popped up with the #1 selection being "Singleplayer" as opposed to "title mode".  Once I hilighted #1 though, it became "Title Mode".

Selections don't disappear once you've selected it (if it's a wrong selection).  I think it should.

Skins - I think you should add the option to change the colours for the Info Screen contents/background.  As it stands now.. the colours kind of blend into the background a little too much.

I think that's it for now!

Thanks!

d.

[tivogre]

Excellent!

This is getting to be AWESOME fun.


Suggestions I'd Still Love to See:

1.  Number of players should be selectable at start-up (1 through 4, not just single or multi).  Often have just 2 or three players.

2.  When a player buzzes in and guesses incorrectly, remove their wrong guess from the choice list.

3.  Don't allow the SW to pick a song that is SHORTER in duration than the required countdown -  I've experienced this since you implemented start at random location.
     -  also, if you start from a random spot, don't start too close to the end - I've also experienced this since you put in start at random location

4.  Allow mapping of DIFFERENT cursor and selection buttons per player.  This feature will make it more playable standing around a 2 / 4 person MAME CP (think buzz in with button, move cursor to selection with your individual joystick, press button again to select choice).

5.  How about a Player XXX Wins! banner in the Game over square?

[Lave Laar]

I will look into beeing able to assign a different selection key.

[NoBonus]

I like the selections disappearing as points decrease more than wrong selections disappearing.

[tivogre]

I like the selections disappearing as points decrease more than wrong selections disappearing.

I agree... but I'm not sure why it's hard to do both.

You would just remove the "wrong" choice and re-start the music.  Set a flag that indicates the number of "wrong" choices that have been made (n) and skip the next n "auto-disappears" as the timer counts down.  As you cross the "normal" time for a choice to go away, look at the value of n.  If it's 0, proceed as now, removing one choice.  If n >0, decrement n by one, and SKIP removing a choice.

I obviously haven't seen the code being used, but the algorithm is straight forward.

Am I missing something here?

Also, I saw no mention in Lave's post above about allowing multi -player to select the NUMBER of players (2,3 or 4).

My wife and I have been playing this a lot;  if we both miss, we have to wait out the rest of the count-down.  If there was an ability to select 2 player mode (or 3 player mode), the round could end once all players guessed incorrectly.

[KenToad]

Is this thing getting updated?  None of the links above work for me. 

KenToad

[Lave Laar]

Is this thing getting updated? None of the links above work for me.

There is a problem with my ISP.