SAP
| Slight Atari Player | |||||
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| Developer: | Adam Bienias | ||||
| Header: | Custom | ||||
| Content: | Programmatic | ||||
| Instruments: | Internal | ||||
Target Output
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| Released: | 199?-??-?? | ||||
| First Game: | N/A | ||||
| Extensions |
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The SAP (Slight Atari Player) format, like SID or NSF, contains the machine code instructions for creating the sound effects and music for an 8-bit Atari program. The 8-bit Atari computers, as well as early Atari arcade cabinets, contained a sound chip called POKEY (POtentiometer and KEYboard). The chip, developed by Doug Neubauer, was responsible for converting the data sent by the machine code into audio data to be sent to speakers.
The format shares the name of the first player capable of playing the format, Another Slight Atari Player.
Contents
Players
- Another Slight Atari Player - Apollo, foobar2000, GSPlayer, Winamp, Windows, Windows Media Player, XBMC, XMPlay
- Audio Overload - Linux, Macintosh, Windows
- Game Emu Player - foobar2000
Converters
SAP to ?
- Audio Overload - Linux, Macintosh, Windows - WAV
- Game Emu Player - foobar2000 - WAV
- POKEY2MIDI - MIDI (Python script. Requires converting SAPs first to POKEY register dumps using asapscan.)
? to SAP
Games
All games released for the Atari 8-bit computer line (400, 800, XL, XE, and XEGS) can have their music ripped to SAP format. Atari 5200 songs have been ripped, too, but the driver has to be modified, since the POKEY chip is at a different address. There are presumably no other differences (for example in timing).
Missing
The majority of popular Atari 8-bit games have their music ripped to SAP format, but this list includes games that either don't have a rip, or have an incomplete rip:
- Chimera (A8) (remade 2015 version)
- Draconus (A8) - lacks "computeric" background noise that can be considered as music.
- Project M (A8)
- Ultima III: Exodus (A8)
How to Obtain
Ripping SAP files requires an intimate knowledge of the Atari hardware. Most of the popular Atari 8-bit games already have their sound ripped to SAP format and can be downloaded from the following sites:
- asma.atari.org - ASMA (note that game music is intermixed with stand-alone and demo songs).
Links
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_SAP_music_format - Wikipedia.
