How to Use SNESMOD: Effects/Volume Column Support

SNESMOD doesn't come with a complete integration of the many .it effects available; on this page we'll go over what does and doesn't work. Included with SNESMOD you will also find full documentation of working effects for each converter option, as well as the "custom" effects interpreted by the converter as something different from .it.

Effects Column

Many of the .it effect column commands are supported, and depending on which converter variation you are using, some of the unsupported commands are repurposed for SNES-specific features.

Here are the things you can do:

  • The main pitch effects are supported. Exy/Fxy (pitch slide down/up), Gxy (portamento), and Hxy (vibrato) all work as intended, and unlike with C700, they don't take up excessive space. Use them to your heart's content in the effects column.
  • Most pattern-playback effects are supported. Bxx and Cxx (pattern jump and pattern break) work just fine (except with Celes which repurposes Cxx). Axx (song speed) and Txy (tempo) are fine.
  • Most volume effects are supported too. Dxy (volume slide) and Kxy (volume slide + vibrato) work fine. The channel volume commands Mxx (set channel volume) and Nxx (channel volume slide) work, except with Celes, which repurposes them. The global volume commands Vxy (set global volume) and Wxy (global volume slide) work as well.
  • Panning (Xxx or the less-fine S8x) and panning slide (Pxy) are both supported.
  • The arpeggio command Jxy is supported as well.
  • Note retrigger, Qxy, is supported! Thank goodness!
  • Crucially, SCx (note cut after x ticks) and SDx (note delay by x ticks) both work as intended. SCx is unfortunately an essential command for clean tracking with SNESMOD, as we'll discuss in the SNESMOD Tracking Tips.

Now for the things you can't do:

  • Nonfunctional pitch effects: Despite Kxy (volume slide + vibrato) being functional, Lxy (volume slide + portamento) does not work. Neither does Uxy (fine vibrato), though this command might not be missed.
  • Nonfunctional pattern-playback effects: SBx (pattern loop), SEx (pattern row delay), and S6x (pattern tick delay) all do not work, though their effects can be achieved manually.
  • Nonfunctional volume effects: Rxy (tremolo) and Ixy (tremor) both do not work. (Tremor is repurposed in Celes.)
  • Nonfunctional panning effect: Yxy ("panbrello", an oscillator-controlled panning slide) is not supported either. (Likewise, it's repurposed in the Celes driver.)
  • Oxx (sample start offset) is unfortunately not supported. (Celes repurposes it too.)
  • Most of the commands beginning with S do not work, with the exception of S8x as an option to control panning, varying implementations of vibrato waveform control, and the essential SCx and SDx. The rest are not only unsupported, but many of them have been repurposed by SNESMOD for SNES-specific features.

Volume Column

In the volume column, the only unsupported effects are the pitch commands: Ex, Fx, Gx and Hx (whose letters correspond to their effect column counterparts). This means no pitch bends, portamentos, or vibratos in the volume column, but they can be used in the effects column.

The panning command Px works fine, as do the volume command and volume slides: Vx (volume), Cx/Dx (volume slide up/down), Ax/Bx (fine volume slide up/down, which applies only on the first tick of each row).