Hi there. I was the anonymous source code requester.
I wanted to ask, are you absolutely sure there's no way to find the Dark Basic Mk III source code? I really like reviving old apps, and it would be cool to see how it worked.
Thanks!
When I checked my backup CDs, I only had some stuff from Dark Basic Pro (which I got after DB). We're talking 10 years ago here, I've changed computers 5 times since then and had several backup HDs fail... I will scour them again though!
From what I can remember, Mk III used little pre-fab melodies of 2 to 4 notes to create a "base" section. It would change this over time but occasionally return to the original. As you might be able to tell from the tracker, it can create variant sections that it cycles through, and some channels echoed others, and it throws in random chord changes. The name of the song is the seed for the RNG.
Mk V ditched the pre-fab melodies and tries to make its own, the result is more experimental and less catchy, which might be why Mk III is more popular.