               Cthugha-4-Winamp - version 1.50

   Visualization plug-in for Winamp 1.6+ (1.8+ recommended)

 Original site - http://islands.zesoi.fer.hr/~kpisacic/cthugha
US mirror site - http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/6531

      by Krunoslav Pisacic [kpisacic@diana.zesoi.fer.hr]
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What's new:

See History section below...
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License:

You can use this program freely for personal use. However, if 
you use it in performances, commercially, or you just want to 
support development of a plugin you can send $10 (or any 
amount you feel appropriate) to:

	Krunoslav Pisacic
	Raciceva 14
	10000 - Zagreb
	Croatia - Europe

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Requirements:

It uses DirectDraw3 and higher. It was developed on P100 
with S3Trio64V+ video card, and works fine, althought more 
processor power is welcomed with certain flame and 
translation functions.
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Instalation:

Unzip archive to Winamp's folder (not \Plugins). Be sure to 
use the option "Use folder names" to extract subdirectories 
\tabs, \maps, \pics and \objs. Instalation is optimized for
Winamp 1.8+. For older versions (1.6 to 1.8) copy "vis_sh.dll"
from \Plugins subdirectory to winamp's directory (see
directory structures below).

Start Winamp go to Options->Preferences->Plug-ins->Choose
"Cthugha-4-Winamp". To execute plug-in press "Test" and to 
see some configuration options press "Configure". It is 
recommended to boost priority of a visualization plugin to
at least "Normal" to avoid skiping when loading translations
and GIF's.

Upon first start of a plug-in *.tab files will be created, 
just follow instructions on screen.

This is how the directories should look for different versions
of winamp:

The directory structure for versions 1.8 or higher:

  +-\WINAMP's DIR\gbm.dll (GIF image decoding library)
    |
    +-\Plugins\vis_sh.dll (plugin itself)
    |         \vis_sh.txt (this text)
    |
    +-\maps\*.map (palette files) 
    |
    +-\tabs\*.tab (translation files)
    |      \*.exe (tab generators)
    |
    +-\objs\*.obj (3D letters)
    |      \*.zip (3D letters archives)
    |
    +-\pics\*.gif (pictures)

The directory structure for versions 1.6 to 1.8:

  +-\WINAMP's directory\gbm.dll (GIF image decoding library)
    |                  \vis_sh.dll (plugin itself)
    |                  \vis_sh.txt (this text)
    |
    +-\maps\*.map (palette files) 
    |
    +-\tabs\*.tab (translation files)
    |      \*.exe (tab generators)
    |
    +-\objs\*.obj (3D letters)
    |      \*.zip (3D letters archives)
    |
    +-\pics\*.gif (pictures)

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Keystrokes & Tips:

See Configuration->Tips dialog.
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History:

1.50	New features... Display effects, similar to original 
	Cthugha - mirroring and kaleidoscopic modes (try 
	pressing D and SH-D when playing).
	* Forbidens - now you can disable certain built-in 
	effects for random change mode (see "Forbidens" tab 
	in Configuration).
	* Exception handling - the plug-in should be the most 
	stable ever, in case of some GPF, you can enable a 
	option to log these errors to a file.
	* Rotating letters spelling ID3 properties on song 
	begining (you can disable this in General tab in 
	Configuration), with used configurable 3D letters in
	\objs directory.
	* Two new tab generator in \tabs by Simon Werner and 
	Kasuha. (take a look at great translation effects
	they produce!)

	Announcements... George Elphick is making a ultimate 
	tab generator for all Cthugha's. It is in Alpha stage, 
	but fully functional. You can download your copy and 
	see some great screenshots at:
		http://www.soton.ac.uk/~gte194
	* And the think you are all been waiting for...
	The next release of Cthugha-4-Winamp will be 3D 
	using OpenGL.

1.40	LOT of new features: display of GIF's while playing in
	the background or foreground, list of favorites, 
	windowed mode with resizable window, sensitivity, 
	taking screen shots in GIF format.
	Bug fixed: memory and resource leaks, division by zero
	error when no *.tab files, freeze on ID3 display.

1.31	Bug fix for video cards with lPitch != width

1.30	Some minor enhancements... Ajustable beat counter for
	efect change and ID3 display, load of translations in
	separate thread, added option to load all translations
	and palettes on start.

1.20	A lot of new features. More and more looking like a
	real think. Added translations (*.tab) , palettes 
	moved to separate *.map files, configuration dialog 
	made, display of ID3 tags, display of efect info,
	saving data to registry, change of resolution, page
	fliping.

-.--	Modifications by Justin Frankel at Nullsoft.
	Beat detection, Next-previous keystrokes. Cleanup of
	some old code.

1.01	First release (really a Beta) made to work as soon as
	possible. Built basic functionality of real Cthugha.	

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FAQS:

Q: How do I install plugin?
A: See Install section above...

Q: I can't see plug-in listed in winamp!
A: Was the downloaded ZIP un-corrupted?
A: Have you install correct acording to your version of Winamp?
   Both vis_sh.dll and gbm.dll must be pressent.
A: Do you have DirectX installed?

Q: How can I determine what ID3 properties to display?
A: Plugin will display Winamp's window title. You can change
   title in Winamp's Preferencies->General->ID3 Title Format

Q: When will you make 3D version?
A: Next release will be OpenGL. So if your card supports OpenGL
   it will use hardware aceleration. One day maybe Direct3D...

Q: Why is it so slow?
A: Because you have slow machine :) Try decreasing resolution.


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TODO: (maybe to come in future versions)

- Optimizing flames and translations in assembler
- Screen-saver mode (somekind of a workaround, just an idea)
- Attached window
- 3D (!!!)

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Credit:

Based on Cthugha for DOS & Linux - you can find a real thing 
on http://www.afn.org/~cthugha Initial DOS version made by 
Kevin Burfitt - Zaph, and a lot of others.

Thnx to everybody who send a mail with praise and suggestions.
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Feel free to ask anything on kpisacic@diana.zesoi.fer.hr

Enjoy!
