I'm still in a sort of limbo while I set up my new computer system.
Much of today was wasted in panic when I noticed that Prometheus didn't work. The DirectX8 CreateSoundBuffer call for the secondary buffer (the main buffer used for playback) failed with a DSERR_BADFORMAT... it shouldn't have. The format was 44100hz, 16-bit, stereo, a very basic format and the same format as the Primary Buffer, which Created fine. I tried many formats. 24-bit was my first call, also failed, and 32-bit (the PreSonus doesn't even support 32-bit, but it was worth a try), and 4 channels, and other bitrates. All failed. At this point I was in partial despair. The main reason I bought a new PC was for music, and my music must be made with Prometheus. This is the downside to programming your own software; you must maintain it yourself.
Then I noticed that the sound in my games also failed. This was good news, because it showed that it wasn't anything special about Prometheus AND that it wasn't a widespread fault because my games tend to work (and have been tested) on many computers. Someone online mentioned that their USB sound device also failed for some games, and the responder was to update the driver, so I simply installed the latest driver and, in an instant, it all worked. I should have done this from the outset - that's obvious now, but my first thought was that it was my fault not Windows' - but it was indeed the latter. Strange that the Studio 26c driver that Windows 11 automatically installs is neither DirectX8 compatible or Microsoft Authenticated, but there we are.
Prometheus compiled under Visual Studio 2013 rendered Art For Me in 37.444 seconds (yes, it was very slightly faster the other day, these tiny changes are to be expected). The exact code compiled under Visual Studio 2022 rendered the song in 35-point-something seconds which is nice. I've also noticed that I've not used a high-res icon for the program, so will rectify that in the next build.
Here is the look of the program in the new (rounded-edged) Windows 11:
I need art goals now. I normally retreat from creating at the end of a year, as I file the year and formulate plans, calculate my art-attack on the world; but this year I've been in an anxious period of work on this expensive new tool. I feel unfocused. I do need to complete the album about painters, of course, but then what? My plan for last year was to create and release an album each month. I didn't manage that, but I did a lot in music, and it was worth it; I learned a lot about music production, notated lots of my music for the first time, made lots of software and musical capability upgrades (a new synth!) and more...
When I feel at the top of mountain, I must remember that I'm at the bottom of a far greater, unseen mountain. What is difficult is good. What is scary is the thing worth doing, and worth doing first.
