I saw that in FMOD’s 2.03 change logs they note that the FMOD_DSP_TYPE_VSTPLUGIN, FMOD_DSP_TYPE_LADSPAPLUGIN, and FMOD_DSP_TYPE_WINAMPPLUGIN DSP type values were removed. Does this mean that these plugins are no longer supported? If so, why were they removed?
We removed support for those plug-in types because they were practically never used.
In the case of VST and LADSPA, their unpopularity may be due to their not being cross-platform: VST plug-ins only work on Windows and MacOS, and LADSPA only supports Linux. To anyone trying to develop a cross-platform game, or a game for console or mobile platforms, such plug-ins are not useful.
VSTs not being cross-platform is definitely false. Not sure how long they’ve been supported on Linux/the BSDs but I know that the VST3 SDK is available for Linux and is freely open-source and has been for a while. As some example of Linux VSTs, a quick search yields plug-ins like Grallion Autotune, plugins from u-he Products: Synthesizers, Effects and Soundsets, etc. There aren’t many for Linux but there are some.
As for their usage in games, yeah, this is true, but I think the functionality should be retained (at least for VSTs) if only because FMOD could be used in non-game environments where that could be useful.
Thanks for the correction! I was not aware that VST plug-ins could potentially be used on Linux.
Nevertheless, it is a fact that those plug-in types were practically never used. That is why support for those plug-in types was removed.
What non-game applications did you have in mind?