there isn't much news these days in repesct to NUON anymore, but here an interesting thing for you guys. I believe nobody knew this:
Starting with the N501 the NUON firmware was capable of loading VLM effects off a CD! We thought at the time it would be cool to start something similar to the enhanced movies with CDs. As a start loadable VLM effects came to mind, allowing a music publisher or a band to put special VLM effects tuned to their music on a CD.
Well, as everyone knows by now, this never happened, but nevertheless the firmware is capable of loading a NUON.VLM file from a regular CD (2nd session) or a MP3-CD.
Before you get to excited, there is a catch (actually two...):
1. The NUON.VLM file had a signature so it would only work on that specific CD. The signature contained information about the TOC and/or the audio tracks/files.
2. There is only one person in the world who can create a NUON.VLM file: Jeff "Yak" Minter. The file is essentially Jeff's object list format, which contains data, but also executable code!
Limitation (1) was removed with the Open-NUON platform idea, so starting with the Euro N50x players, the signature was ignored.
The harder limitation (2) of course stays. Jeff, as his last project for VML, designed a VLM editor to create VLM effects. To my knowledge it was almost finished. But there is again a catch: The editor was running on NUON, so that without a dev-system it is of no use VML collapsed before a PC-based editor was developed. Unfortunately Jeff never documented his object list stuff. It would be a really big reverse-engineering efford to figure out the file format.
Well, just one more piece of NUON history. At least the NUON.VLM idea was a nice backdoor, which might stays closed forever...
Cheerz,
Andreas
Please tell us you remember how to generate these files, Jeff!
I had to go home to change my undies! I mean - I'm metting Achay and Sty tonight, what would they think if I turned up soiled?
Seriously though, it's amazing how info such as this stays buried for so long. I mean Jeff, throw is a bone here man!
matt
Matt, I recall asking Jeff on many occasions for secrets such as this to post to my little VLM Journal thingy. Alas, nothing ever came. Andreas was a good source to verify rumors (i.e., the audible beat-detect debug mode), but this was the secret I wanted most. Loadable VLM effects... ah, the savage irony. Jeff spoke often of new effects he'd created with the VLM-2 Editor.
Well, now that I know I'm not going to rest until we get a response from the man himself. Hopefully in the next few replys on this thread, if not then i have to flip the switch to init stalker mode.
matt wrote:Well, now that I know I'm not going to rest until we get a response from the man himself. Hopefully in the next few replys on this thread, if not then i have to flip the switch to init stalker mode.
I'm afraid my evening time is limited though I will try the IRC idea. I might even wait for the next beard to beard encounter.
Just posted this over at Nuon-dome, for Andreas/Mr X to see:
I wrote:I have been wondering a few things regarding this feature.
x How long do the loaded effects stay in memory?
x Do the loaded effects get added to or do they replace built in effects?
x Is there a limit to how many can be loaded from one NUON.VLM file?
x Can you incorporate bitmaps or vector art into the effects? Such as the Llama?
All of this is trying to pin down just how useful this feature would be if it ever gets figured out.
You know - there is NO REASON we can't figure this out. The knowledge is out there. Somewhere.
In wales?
It's a shame that we don't have an example (at least) to play with. We know that it's not created directly from the SDK, so presumably it's an interperated file (a la Unity's "preset" files)
I'll have some spare time when my current contract runs out (in two weeks time) - I'll get on it then, of course, if anyone else finds out anything in the meantime...
Cheers
Chris
the bizzarre ratings of an ignorant, deluded old fool
