tracker-history release notes (ProTracker, FastTracker, Scream Tracker, Impulse Tracker, Schism, OpenMPT)
Claudio Matsuoka's dataset of tracker releases — name, author, date with its evidence (exit messages, file dates, changelogs, Wikipedia), and "based on / influenced by" links — for the six trackers this wiki covers. The dates below are the file's; where the file says "estimated" or "guess", so does this summary.
Key claims#
- ProTracker: 1.0 by Lars "ZAP" Hamre, first version 1990-05-04, "Full of bugs", based on NoiseTracker 1.1 with CIA timing and the
Eeffects; 1.0b 1990-10, 1.0c 1990-10-15, 1.1a 1990-12-27 (invert loop instead of funk repeat, vibrato compatible with NoiseTracker 2.0, drumpad), 1.1b 1991-01, 1.2a 1991-07 (sources: "Based on Soundtracker V2.5 / Noisetracker"), 1.3a/b by Morten Lund (1992), 1.2d/e by Raul Sobon (two Amigas linked by null cable for "real 8 channel modules", 1993–94), 2.0a (estimated 1992), 2.1a 1992-04-16, 2.2a 1992-06-22 and 2.3a 1993-01-01 by Peter "Crayon" Hanning ("Introduces M!K!", 100-pattern modules), 2.3b (1994, AGA fix by Detron — called "the definitive one" in the quoted forum posts), 2.3d (1994, Detron and Duff), 2.3e by Olav "8bitbubsy" Sørensen, 2019-02-23; 3.00–3.15 by CryptoBurners (1993), 3.30–3.61 by RD10/Osiris (1996; 3.59 "new file format"), 4.0 beta 2 (1997), Jan Poruba's 3.62 fixes (1998, 2000). - FastTracker: 1.01 by Fredrik Huss, 1993-01-23, 8 channels; 2.00 by Huss and Magnus Högdahl, 1994-11 — "32ch, Multisample, Envelopes, GUS, XM format", influenced by Scream Tracker 3.01; 2.03 1994-12-25, 2.04 1995-07-23, 2.05 1996-02-04 (DPMI, new SB mixing), 2.06 1996-02-17, 2.08 1997-08-21 (SB16 32-bit mixer; leaked, not an official Starbreeze release, broken GUS support), 2.09 1998-02-04 (unofficial); 2.10c by Olav "8bitbubsy" Sørensen, 2019-04-05 (bug fixes, 44100 Hz mixing, channel numbers from 1).
- Scream Tracker: 2.21 by Sami Tammilehto, 1990-09-03; 2.24 1991-02-22; the ST Music Interface Kit 0.20 (1991-08-10, STX format) as the link to ST3; 3.01 beta 1994-04-18 — "S3M format, 16 channels, GUS, Adlib"; 3.20 1994-12-06; 3.21 1994-12-25.
- Impulse Tracker: 1.00 by Jeffrey Lim, 1995-12-25 ("Final Release for version 1"), influenced by ST 3.21 (interface) and FT 2.03 (envelopes, multisamples), "NNA, Filter, 64 channel"; 1.01 1996-01-08, 1.02 01-20, 1.03 01-25, 1.04 02-23, 1.05 03, 1.06 04-08; 2.00 (June 1996, estimated; new instrument format), 2.03 07-15 (mouse, interpolation), 2.04 07-28 (new channel allocation, volume swing), 2.05 08-18 and 2.06 10-08 (pan swing), 2.11 1997-01-19, 2.12 04-23, 2.13 05-25, 2.14 1997-09-02 — "Samples are now compressed on the fly … This is the FINAL public release"; 2.14 patch 3 1997-12-21; patch 4 for the VSOUND Windows drivers; 2.14 patch 5 1999-04-08 ("IT215 file format saving", an alternative compression).
- Schism Tracker: 0.031a by Storlek and Mrs. Brisby, 2003-06-16, based on ModPlug Tracker 1.16 player code, interface influenced by IT 2.14p5; 0.04a 2004-01-04, 0.1a 2004-09-05, 0.2a 2005-05-19, 0.5rc1 2006-12-28, then dated builds 20090621, 20100101, 20110101, 20120105.
- ModPlug / OpenMPT: ModPlug Tracker alpha 5 by Olivier Lapicque, 1998-01-13 (influenced by FT 2.08 and IT 2.14p3), beta 1 1998-06-17, 1.09 2000-01-30, 1.16.0185 2001-11-21 (ASIO, XM stereo samples); ModPlug "Wild" 2.00 by plastik_s, 2004-02-28 (VST, 255 channels), OpenMPT 1.17RC2 2005-08-20; 1.17.02.48 (rewbs & relabs, 2007), 1.17.02.54 (Saga Musix & relabs, 2009-06-23), 1.17.03.02 (2009-09-22, plugin parameter control, IT note fade), 1.18 (2010), 1.19 (2011: per-pattern time signatures, edit history), 1.20 (2012: templates, rewritten resonant filter, sample tuner), 1.21 (FLAC, record quantisation), 1.22 (2013: IT-compressed samples, clipboard manager, MP3 import; Saga Musix & manx), 1.23 (2014: 64-bit, plugin bridge), 1.24 (2015: external samples), 1.25 (2015: decimal tempos, tempo shuffle), 1.26 (2016: compatibility settings, MO3), 1.27 (2017: Amiga BLEP resampler, SFZ), 1.28 (2018-12-23: AdLib instruments in S3M and MPTM).
Practical takeaways#
The chronology the wiki's tool pages need: ST3 (1994) → FT2 (November 1994) → IT (Christmas 1995 – 1999) → ModPlug (1998) → Schism (2003) → OpenMPT (2005–); and the two 2019 revivals of PT and FT2 by 8bitbubsy.
Notable quotes#
"IT214 - Version jump to make sure samples don't get screwed up by the prerelease (IT213) loader. This is the FINAL public release."
Pages touched#
protracker · fasttracker-2 · scream-tracker-3 · impulse-tracker · schism-tracker · openmpt · jeffrey-lim · sami-tammilehto · triton · lars-hamre · peter-hanning · olivier-lapicque · storlek · it-format · xm-format · s3m-format · mod-format