.Start.of.DemoNews.106..............................................Size:51,558 ______/\___________________________ __ ________________ ___ /\_______ \____ \ ________ _ _ ______ \ / \| \ ________ | \/ ______/ / | \ _) \ \_/ \ | \ / \ \ _) \ | \______ \ / | \ \ | \ | \ / \ \ /~\ \ / \ \_____ /_______/___| /________/ \____\_____/_______/_________/________/ \_____/ |____/ | Subscribers : 1638 DemoNews Issue #106 - October 26, 1995 | Last Week : 1621 ------------- | Change : +17 DemoNews is a newsletter for the demo scene. | Archive Size : 1235M It is produced by Hornet at the site ftp.cdrom.com. | Last Week : 1231M Our demo archive is located under /pub/demos. | Remaining : 1029M | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Uploads Articles Introduction................................Snowman The Swiss Scene, Part 1/2...................Cyberpunk Siggraph '96................................Dan Wright Scene Future After Windows '95..............Meriadoc Demo Design.................................Akintunde Omitowoju Demo Hidden Parts...........................Phoenix Subscribing Closing =-[Uploads]-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =----------------------------------------------------------[File Information]-= 1. Uploads listed below are on ftp.cdrom.com or its mirrors. 2. Ratings are subjective. 3. ftp.cdrom.com too slow? Check out DN102 for info on ftpmail. =-------------------------------------------------------------[Demos:General]-= Location /demos/alpha Size Rated Description =-------------------------------- ---- ----- ---------------------------------= Normal Uploads /1993/f/fire_frg.lzh 51 ** Fire by Forge /1993/s/sbd.lzh 191 [n/a] SBD by Slovakia /1994/h/happy95!.zip 18 **+ Happy New Year! by Agony /1994/i/inspirat.zip 146 [n/a] Inspiration by Reality /1994/k/kk-yo!.arj 636 *+ TP94:demo: Demo by The Krewel Krew /1994/m/mega-ega.zip 259 **** Mega-Ega by S-Cubed /1994/m/ms-suxx.zip 267 ***+ Microsoft SUXX! by Anonymous /1994/r/religion.zip 219 ***+ Religion by Xtacy /1994/r/rr.zip 3 *** Raped Routines by ??? /1994/s/sc94xmas.zip 310 *+ SC94Xmas by Spontaneous Combustion /1994/s/sci.zip 177 * Smash Control Images by Jourgensen /1994/s/secret12.zip 15 ****+ Show (secret part) by Majic 12 /1994/s/shrine.zip 666 [n/a] Shrine by Guru Magic /1994/s/smiley.zip 691 ** Smiley by Excellnet /1994/s/squash.zip 76 ***+ Squash-a-Delic by Mental Design /1994/s/summertm.zip 28 *** Summertime (bf) by Mental Design /1994/t/total.zip 4 *** ASM94:in4k: Total Bytes by ??? /1994/w/walkers.lzh 33 **+ Walkers by Last Vision /1995/f/ftj_act.zip 151 ***+ Groove Action (buggy) by Plant /1995/n/nomus.zip 17 * No Music by Decay /1995/p/pandemo.zip 137 *+ Pandemonium by Demaniacs /1995/p/prx-odin.zip 59 *** Odin's Vrede v1.0 by Proxima /1995/r/rm-sonic.zip 18 ** Sonic by Rigor Mortic /1995/s/steintro.zip 31 * Min Monitor Briner by Syntax Error /1995/t/trip.zip 45 *** Intro by Tequila /1995/t/truth!.arj 165 * Thomas M. N-Factor by Krewel Krew /1995/x/xnn_fix.zip 255 **** Fix by Xenon Development Assembly '94 4k Intros (ASM94:in4k:) /1994/f/frev.zip 4 *+ Fractal Revolution by Xography /1994/g/giantshw.zip 6 [rip] Gianto by ??? /1994/h/handy.zip 7 **** Handy by Abaddon /1994/j/just.zip 4 ***+ Intro by Grif /1994/m/manju.zip 6 [n/a] Manju by ??? /1994/m/mountain.zip 5 *** Mountain by Scarfman /1994/r/rotozf.zip 5 ** Rotozoomer by ??? Assembly '94 Demos (ASM94:demo:) /1994/s/sil_amen.zip 7 **+ Jurassic Ass (patch) by A-Men PC Assembly '94 64k Intros (ASM94:in64:) /1994/v/vexintro.zip 69 **+ Vex Intro by Pascal and DOJ /1994/y/y_daze.zip 45 *** Daze by Symptom Bizarre '94 Demos (BIZ94:demo:) /1994/s/simmzone.zip 377 ** Simm Zone by Coders in Action The Party '94 Demos (TP94:demo:) /1994/a/amb_lego.zip 143 *** Lego by Amable /1994/c/claustro.zip 1143 *** Claustrophobia by Goto 10 /1994/i/incentiv.zip 210 [n/a] Incentiv by DID /1994/k/klara.zip 478 **+ Klara 31 by Trance /1994/i/intox.zip 335 ** Intoxicated by Post Mortem /1994/s/seeds.zip 621 **+ Seeds by Abstract Concepts /1994/s/sobeit.zip 351 ***+ So Be It by Xtacy The Party '94 64k Intros (TP94:in64:) /1994/i/isd.zip 56 ***+ Infinite Space Dreams by ??? /1994/p/plenty.zip 56 ** Plenty by WE /1994/r/remal.zip 52 + ASCII Dreams II by Remal TM /1994/s/s2live_f.zip 74 *** Live by The Sahara Surfers /1994/s/shadow.zip 72 **+ Shadow by Surprise Productions /1994/t/toobig.zip 56 **+ Too Big by Phoenix /1994/t/trendy.zip 34 *+ Trendy by Inzane PC /1994/t/tylsae.zip 55 ***+ Tylsae by Tarzan Tuotanto /1994/u/ugly.zip 38 + Ugly by Morrari /1994/y/y_shout.zip 32 ** Huutaja by Symptom =--------------------------------------------------------[Demos:Non-Reviewed]-= Location /demos/alpha Size Description =-------------------------------- ---- ---------------------------------------= /bbs/d/drinks2.zip 24 1 Drinks Number 2 by Xtatic /bbs/o/okaos.zip 10 Organized Kaos by Xtatic /bbs/r/rodintro.zip 40 Realm of Darkness by THI /bbs/s/solidcrs.zip 67 Solid Cruise by Purple /bbs/s/sr-intro.zip 5 Eleutheria by ??? /bbs/s/stargate.arj 11 Stargate by Krewel Krew /bbs/s/sushibar.zip 10 Sushi Bar Z by Wonder Monkey /bbs/s/sx-intro.zip 9 The Powergrid by ??? /hornet/freedom/freedom.zip 308 Freedom CD Intro by Many People =-------------------------------------------------------------[Music:General]-= Location /demos/music Size Rated Description =-------------------------------- ---- ----- ---------------------------------= /songs/1995/mod/i/ibiza.zip 3 **+ Ibiza in my dreams by Mirror /songs/1995/s3m/a/af-diyl.zip 271 **+ Drowning in yourlove by acidfrog /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-cont.zip 203 ** Control Empire by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-ever.zip 233 *** Now & Forever by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-fcd.zip 389 ** An Island of Beauty by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-fire.zip 264 *** Clouds of Fire by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-meow.zip 165 ** Hello...Meow by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-mind.zip 153 *** Lies of the Mind by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-nite.zip 198 * Kirsi's night of stars by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-rain.zip 114 *** The Rain Maker by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-shm.zip 113 *** Simple Harmonic Motion by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-spic.zip 148 ** of the spice by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-star.zip 244 ** Starlite Sonata v2 by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-terr.zip 165 * Dreams of Terror by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dmk-xtrm.zip 155 ***+ X-treme Star Burst by Hector /songs/1995/s3m/d/dtn-sens.zip 287 ***+ Senusal movements by Peric/Dest. /songs/1995/s3m/h/hdm-audr.zip 297 *+ Audible II remix by Stank-E/hdm /songs/1995/s3m/h/hdm-love.zip 158 ** Use Ya Love by Stank-E/hdm /songs/1995/s3m/h/hdm-vad1.zip 99 ** Vaderbass by Stank-E and Q-tip /songs/1995/s3m/h/hdm-zero.zip 357 ** Communication Zero by Stank-E /songs/1995/s3m/h/hide07.lzh 130 ***+ House Eey! #7 by Hidenori Hori /songs/1995/s3m/h/hide123.lzh 121 **+ House Eey! #12 by Hidenori Hori /songs/1995/s3m/h/hide810.lzh 130 **+ House Eey! #8 by Hidenore Hori /songs/1995/s3m/k/k_etones.zip 271 ***+ Earthtones by Mental Floss/KFMF /songs/1995/s3m/k/k_mind.zip 210 **** More Than Meets the Mind by ChuckB /songs/1995/s3m/l/losingit.zip 252 **** Losing It by Ler /songs/1995/s3m/m/mcviper2.zip 130 **+ McViper's State of Mind by McViper /songs/1995/s3m/m/mcviper3.zip 59 **+ McViper's in Love by McViper /songs/1995/s3m/m/mcviper4.zip 93 ** McViper's Runaway by McViper /songs/1995/s3m/m/mcviper5.zip 124 **+ Estranha by McViper /songs/1995/s3m/p/pstnoise.zip 307 * Pestillizing Noise by Zach Ohren /songs/1995/s3m/s/sals-had.zip 64 * Salsa by Hadji /songs/1995/s3m/s/sbreeze.zip 111 **+ Summer Breeze by Void /songs/1995/s3m/s/shf-touc.zip 176 *** Upland Plains by Shuffle /songs/1995/s3m/s/sky_blus.zip 336 * Blues Train by DJ Skyjump /songs/1995/s3m/s/sky_ethr.zip 479 * Ethereal by DJ Skyjump /songs/1995/s3m/s/sky_evil.zip 721 ** Evil Dead by DJ Skyjump /songs/1995/s3m/s/sky_gdex.zip 294 *+ God Exists by Trex /songs/1995/s3m/s/sky_jung.zip 883 * Jungle Baby Love by DJ Skyjump /songs/1995/s3m/s/sky_pand.zip 644 * Pandemonium by DJ Skyjump /songs/1995/s3m/s/sundayd.zip 215 ***+ Sunday Drivers by Sirrus /songs/1995/xm/a/apollo7.zip 339 *+ Apollo 7 by John Park /songs/1995/xm/b/beyondre.zip 97 **** Beyond Reality by Vogue /songs/1995/xm/b/brainpsy.zip 79 ** Brain Psychosis by Wild!Eye /songs/1995/xm/b/brandbil.zip 8 ** Brandbilens vrede by Axl and Bal. /songs/1995/xm/c/cyberia.zip 775 ** Cyberia 1 & 2 by Kraken /songs/1995/xm/d/danoize.zip 227 * Danoize by Danoize /songs/1995/xm/d/danoize2.zip 368 * Danoize2 by Danoize /songs/1995/xm/g/ghg1.zip 232 **+ KISS by ghg /songs/1995/xm/g/guitroj.zip 307 *** Guitar Roooj by Dan+Mikeal Green /songs/1995/xm/h/hyperna.zip 208 **** Hybernaculum by Epsilon /songs/1995/xm/i/icychain.zip 262 ***+ Icy chains by Rubik /songs/1995/xm/l/loosetoo.zip 118 **+ Loose Tooth by Albert /songs/1995/xm/l/lws23.zip 736 *** Linear Signal Device by lws /songs/1995/xm/m/maz-jney.zip 968 *** Journey .. Near Future by In Tense /songs/1995/xm/m/minimum.zip 106 *+ Minimum Effort by Moby Dick /songs/1995/xm/p/picnic.zip 104 ** Picnic on Uranus by Black Lotion /songs/1995/xm/r/rd_synth.zip 186 **+ Synthetic by Radii /songs/1995/xm/r/rebirth.lha 226 **+ Rebirth to Reality by Otis /songs/1995/xm/r/reincarn.zip 177 ***+ The Reincarnation by Boogeyman =--------------------------------------------------------[Music:Non-Reviewed]-= Location /demos/music Size Description =-------------------------------- ---- ---------------------------------------= /contests/aimc/aimc.txt 9 Artificial Intelligence Compo Rules =----------------------------------------------------------------------[Code]-= Location /demos/code Size Rated Lang Description =-------------------------------- ---- ----- ---- ----------------------------= /demosrc/asciisrc.zip 65 **** A C Source for text-mode demo /graph/examples/ks_cwarp.zip 38 *** A C Circle XOR/Warp like FC /graph/globe/ks_sp.zip 85 *** C Globe-like texture mapping /libs/jlib_1-0.zip 270 *** C GNU C game/sprite library /pmode/s3unit3.zip 16 **** A P 32-bit addr. in BP 7.0 /sound/d00formt.zip 10 ***+ Vibrant's D00 Adlib format /sound/dmfinfo.zip 29 *** A P DMF mod-like file format /sound/ps32-wc.zip 64 ***+ C Watcom C GUS S3M player /utils/bpc-se55.zip 98 **** BPC Sprite editor =-[Articles]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =---------------------------------------------------[Introduction]--[Snowman]-= Hello all, and welcome to DemoNews issue 106. This is a very interesting week as far as DemoNews and ftp.cdrom.com are concerned. I apologize for this rather lengthy introduction. _____The Future of ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos This week I received a mail from one of the ftp.cdrom.com administrators. Our demo archive is in a rather awkward and touchy situation. I print this information because it affects _everyone_ who uses the archive. This is very important. Please read over the material and give some feedback if you feel inspired. Running out of room: Problem: >> In DemoNews.104, I listed the remaining size for our archive at about >> 394 megs. Earlier this week, I checked again and it was down to less >> than 200! Solution: > I've removed one of the archives on .21, and I'm in the process of > moving two more to another drive. This _should_ leave you with about > 850 megabytes remaining. Analysis: We have a comfortable area to grow into for a few months. Slow connection: Problem: >> Many people are having a lot of difficulty getting on to >> ftp.cdrom.com. This situation will not improve until the >> administration at Walnut Creek (who own the ftp.cdrom.com archive) >> decide to add on a few more processors or increase the bandwidth. Solution: > Actually (just so you know), we're actually _memory_ bound and not CPU > nor I/O bound. We're running at 128 megabytes on ftp.cdrom.com, and > we're looking _actively_ into getting a motherboard which can handle > more. Believe me, we're more anxious than you to make ftp.cdrom.com > faster and better! Analysis: Faster connect and transfer times coming soon. Our future: Problem: >> Now, I'll bet you're saying to yourself "I'd really like to help out >> ftp.cdrom.com in some way but I just don't know how." Potential Solutions: > You can ask them for donations! Those 4.4 gigabyte drives aren't free, > you know! (If we could make a demos CDROM, however, we could _easily_ > put in a 4.4 gigabyte drive for you! We get a request a few times a > week -- the most of any part of our site that's not already on a > CDROM!) Analysis: This is a tricky thing, and I am stumped. When we first came to ftp.cdrom.com, I made sure with Mr. Seidl that we were under no commitment to have our files sold on CD. Walnut Creek gives us a place to hold our archive, a nexus from which all new demo scene releases can be obtained, a place that Hornet calls home. But what do we give Walnut Creek in return? Not much. :( WC is a wonderful company and has shown us every courtesy possible. It is now time for us to pay our duty. But how? Here are a few options: -Allow Walnut Creek to put the demo archive on CDROM Upside: You can download our entire stock of demos, music, code, and graphics at about a 400k/s transfer rate (since you only have to go from your CDROM drive to your hard drive). Walnut Creek is happy with us and gives us a 4.4 gig drive to use (won't have to delete any old files for a long time). We can complain about the archive being slow without fear. :) Downside: Lots of difficulty getting permissions from authors. Not the best public relations in the world; "You upload to our site, we sell your file on CD and don't pay you anything!" Possible copyright conflicts with existing CDs that already have files from a given demo party on them. -Don't allow Walnut Creek to put our demo archive on CDROM Upside: No copyright conflicts. Downside: Walnut Creek is not happy with us and decides that giving storage to an archive which provides no financial return is not worth the trouble. We are gone. Not a pleasant thought. -Allow Walnut Creek to put _some_ of the demo archive on CDROM (this is also known as GD's option) Upside: (see all Upsides from first option) (see all Upsides from second option) Downside: Still can't pay for college. :) Can't think of any others. Conclusion: This last option appears to be the most attractive. However, _which_ parts of our archive do we offer for the CD? How do we go about getting permissions from the authors of those files? Do we _need_ to get permissions from the authors if the files we choose are shareware? The whole situation is more than a little frustrating. I welcome any and all thoughts you have to offer. _____Points for Helping Last week I wrote an article about how you can help our site out. Here are the current standings for points: Name Points -------- ------ Henchman 7 Mdark 5 Softlord 1 Now I'll bet you want to see your own name up there, don't you? All you have to do is find an incorrect description for a file, a mislink, etc., and you can start earning your own points! Please refer to DemoNews.105 for more information. I am going to keep pushing this system, so you just better start helping out. :) _____Other Information Due to multiple requests, I have asked our listserver maintainer (Pieter Immelman) to create a new mailing list for ALLFILES.TXT. By subscribing to this, you could get regular updates of all the files on our site. Right now Peiter is debating whether or not to create the list because the mailings would be rather large and frequent. This week, I was sent a 40k text file entitled "The Swiss Scene." As a result of this (and several other article submissions), I could release DemoNews 107 and 108 today. Needless to say, we are not hurting for material to put in this newsletter. :) I am currently learning Perl, and the utilities that produce those nifty 00index.txt files will soon all be converted over to this language. In current form, the utilities are an ugly mesh of C and shell-script code. You may already be familiar with the 00index.txt markers. These take the form of "ASM95", "TP94", "X95", etc. (each one denoting an file from a given party). A newer convention has been adopted. For example, the file "ASM94:demo:1:" would refer to a demo at Assembly '94 that placed 1st. Sorry if this sounds confusing, but I thought I'd mention it in case you were wondering. If you ever see the words "freak" or "freaking" in this newsletter, it generally means that I have substituted them for less socially acceptable words. :) Snowman / Hornet - r3cgm@ftp.cdrom.com =------------------------------------[The Swiss Scene, Part 1/2]--[Cyberpunk]-= _______ ________________/_ THE__\___________________ | ______ | | \ | _____| _______| \_____ \ | |\ | \\_____ \\_____ \ | | | \ | | | | | | | | | \ | \| | |^| | | \| | \| | \________/\_______/__/ \________/\________/ _____________________________ _________ | _______| _ \ _ \ \ / | _ \ \_____ \| | \__ | |_\__ | \| | |_\__/ | | | \ |_/ \ _/ \ | _/ \ | \| | | |/ | \ | |/ | \________/\______/\______/\__\__/\______/ _____Introduction First I would like to say "Hi!" to all you DemoNews readers out there. Okay I agree, the ASCII above is a bit lame. It's one of my tries to make DOS Screens look a bit nicer. My English is also not State-of-the-art and that perhaps makes the whole Report a bit cheesy. But cheese fits perfectly in the theme that this report has. ;) What do I want? Besides wasting my time writing and yours reading ;), I try to make the world-wide scene a bit more world-wide. This report is about the small country Switzerland also known as Cheeseland where at noontime you eat "Fundue" and "Raclette", the Money is lying on the streets, where the "Zytglogge", the "Kappelenbruecke", the Village "St. Moritz" and the Mountain "Matterhorn" is, and Japanese are running with their Video-Cams and Photo-Cams around like tomorrow is worlds end. _____About Me As I said above, I'm no pixler. And I'm no musican either. I spend my spare time (when I'm not hanging around with my girlfriend), hacking strange commands into my computer. I'm a Coder for the Group LSP. And when I'm not actually coding, I'm writing articles, texts or reports like this one. For this, I'm a member of the group TAC that wrote the word Phreaking on his banner. I am relatively long in the scene, compared to many other swiss scene guys. For about 3 years, I was a scene-watcher. I just consumed the stuff that came out of the demo scene. But now, the time has come for me to get active. So if you are interested in my work check out the Wired '95 Stuff. We hope that we can contribute something in the PC Demo Competition. I hope you have phun reading my report. _____Overview Switzerland is a small country in the middle of Europe. The population is about 7 million. The Capital of Switzerland is in the middle of the country and is known as Berne. It is not the biggest town in the country. This is the role of Zurich. Some other cities are: Geneva (who does _not_ know Geneva?), Basle, Lucerne and Lugano. Switzerland is bordered by three big countries: Germany on the north, France on the west, and Italy in the south-east. Our country consequently has three languages (or even four if you count a "local-language"). The biggest is the German speaking part. It contains the capital (Berne), Zurich, Basle and Lucerne. The french speaking part is Geneva, Lausanne, basically, the western part of Switzerland. The Italian part of Switzerland is geologically in the southeast (on the other side of the mountains). The German speaking and the French speaking part are divided by the so called "Roestigraben". This is because the French part tends more toward France and is politically more on the left side. The Italian part is further from the German part than the French is, and they naturally tend to Italy. Okay, I don't want to give you a lesson in geography... I just wanted to show you the physical "layout" of Switzerland. _____The Report Now, what's interesting in the swiss "Scene"? The Swiss scene has several groups, some Diskmags and ... a lot of people who are talking about doing something. First, you can dividide up the groups in the following sections: Description Category ------------------------------------------------------------- -------- Demo D Drawed Art E Music M Text writing O PPE/Utils whatever Coding S And some that do all of it DEMOS And for sure some that do some of it ;) D M S Okay, the groups that exist in swiss (alphabetically): Group Abbreviation Group Name Category ------------------ ----------------------------------------- -------- BLT BLackTron M CPU CyberPunk Undertakers O CDM Codemasters E-TiC E-Nergetic M FNF File Not Found OS GOD Gravedigers Of Devil S LSP LiteSpeeD DEM S MW MadWare O NS! NonSense OS NWP No Way Production D PSD PsychoSquaD DEM RR Radical Rythms M S!P Surprise! Productions (Swiss part) DEM SAU Swiss Artists United (Group Independent) EM T4F Tools 4 Fools (Was ECR) S TAC The Assembly Crew O TIB The Incredible Baum D OS TF! TouchForce MOS TLY Triloxy M (PAIN2) O Sure, you knew that before but if one newbie learns something it's enough ;). There are also some Trading groups but .. erm .. hey this is a _demo_ related Zine not ElE3t WaReZ! _____Interview with iNVi Okay, here I prepared a interview for you with one of the more active people in the swiss scene. He's the main coder of the group TouchForce. The interview was done in one session on October 12 1995, 15:00-15:50. Thanks to my company for putting a modem on my desk. ;) Q: Hello iNVi let's begin. What's your name, age and groups you're in? A: Ok my (real) name is Remo Inverardi. My handle and nickname is iNVi. I'm 19 years old and I'm in Touchforce. Q: What's your current occupation? A: I'm working as a programmer in a little software research enterprise in Switzerland (actually it is the biggest one in switzerland.. but hey: 40 employees isn't too much, eh?). In my spare time I do quite everything related with computers (coding, painting, composing, BBSing, sysoping, ... you know the chunk :). I also do sports (skiing, football, biking). Q: What's your "status" in the Swiss scene? A: I sure belong to the Swiss coding top ten (scene-related!). In musics and graphics I'm still learning and my BBS is more for fun than for real success (I don't want to be 'Switzerland's #1'). Some History: With 17 years I bought my first PC (before I was learning 'how to switch my computer on' on my C64). About half a year after that I got my first modem (somewhat really cool: 2400bps, even capable to fax!) =) Well I called around, got to know some interesting people and finally called to all the so-called 'elite' boards in Switzerland. I began to code (PAS) and soon realized that I'd love to write my own demo. So I started to read some dox about ASM coding. I wrote my first little intros, did some utils and began to write some PPEs for some friends. So much about personal history. Besides that we (Defact, Big Bear, Jarke, Scout, Icare and me) founded Touchforce. Today, Touchforce is one of the most active groups in Switzerland (besides LSP, TAC and BLT). We're doing some utils/intro/music stuff and our goal is to release a demo somewhen (we already did the musics, graphics and effects. But we're trying to link everything together a little intelligent to give the whole thing a own look). Q: What is your view of the Swiss Scene? A: Theoretically, the swiss scene _should_not_ be lamer than others around the globe. But it seems to be ;). Most of the guys are just babbling around all the time (just like I am doing it right now) instead of sitting behind their screens and doing somewhat productive. There was one great production since I joined the scene: The PSD-Ad 2001. Besides demos, there were some great musics out by Silent Mode, lunatic great pics by Lucifer, Ansis by Jazz, Mick the Punisher and some other guys. Last but not least, our 'Top Pirate Coder' Chicken should be mentioned here (even if he didn't release anything this year expect a new music player for the Pain2 interface). Last year, chicken coded the famous HSC-Player, the well-known PPLD.EXE and the ASM-4k-Intro 'S!P_MOVE'. Q: How will the scene die/live? A: Our most-loved thing on earth (our cheesy demo scene) will hopefully _never_ die. If I'm scared of something, then about the trading scene, but this doesn't belong to here. Q: In your eyes, how will the Swiss scene develop as time goes on? A: There are some fine 'junior' coders/musicians. If we support them and help them releasing their first products, they surely will become better than guys like I could ever be. But if you judge about their first products with mails like: "Hey, I've seen your intro - little lamer. Really bad stuff. Why don't you buy a book about Visual Basic?!"... well that sure won't help ;) Q: What's the biggest plus in the Swiss scene ? A: We've got our own scene mag (Pain ][) We've got beautiful girlfriends (mental assistance) What do I know? It's small, you know nearly everybody personally! (some guys really became good friends to me) Q: What's the biggest ..... guess ;) _minus_ ... A: There are too many "I'm_freaking_Elite_and_you're_freaking_lame" guys out (they only call themselves 'elite', they aren't). Their only thoughts are about how they could trade their millions of ZIP files even faster etc etc. They don't know anything about coding, composing, painting... Q: And last but not least, who would you like to greet? A: All those guys in the Swiss scene that really do something productive and know about what's _art_ and what's _not_. Big kisses (?) to the following guys (in iNVish order): Chicken, Zarek, Big Bear, Silent, Deimos, Titanik, Psycho, Zarek, Lucifer, the whole LSP-Crew, Crocodile, Scout, Thorax and Patrizia (not a scene member) =) Q: Okay that's it, you survived it! Thanks a lot for the interview. A: You're welcome. Bye. Q: Bye? A: NO CARRIER _____Conclusion Next week I will have more stuff to show you, including an interview with Chicken, new efforts, my view of the scene, and some advertisements. Hope you are enjoying this article! Cyberpunk / LSP, TAC - aschlud@autelca.ascom.ch =------------------------------------------------[Siggraph '96]--[Dan Wright]-= _____Introduction I consider siggraph (Special Interest Group on computer GRAPHics) the demo scene commercialized. It is a specialized COMDEX where computers are used to show off the latest graphical/artistic software/hardware. _____Specifics Companies like Parallax, Sony, Sun, SoftImage, SGI, Adobe, NEC, Cirrus Logic, DEC, Kodak, IBM, and others represent themselves through products related to the graphical side of computers. You will find virtual reality, animation, computer graphics, hardware/software products, courses, conferences, and lots of other ear/eye candy at this demo like convention. For those of us in the United States who can't attend the real demo parties abroad this is the next best thing--especially if you can catch all the computer animations. This time Siggraph '96 is being held in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4-9 1996. Even if you are not in the "art/graphics" industry like me it is fun to attend just to see what the future holds. On the plus side you will also see software demonstrations on how they do computer animation for movies like Terminator 2, Lawnmower Man, etc. I've been to the last two Siggraphs (in Los Angeles and Orlando) and can highly recommend attending one for a couple days. Especially if you live within a reasonable driving distance (500 miles). And if you do go be sure to register early in order to save $25 off the admission/exhibition price of $50 (I believe). _____For Demo Groups Siggraph has an awesome Computer Animation Festival (CAF) showing throughout the day and an Electronic Theater in the evening. The CAF ranges from TV commercials to your standard SGI computer animated shorts. The Electronic Theater is only presented a few nights (1 showing), contains the "best of the best" in animation, and is almost always sold out. If your are lucky enough you can catch the Electronic Theater showing in your area--for those in the South Florida area I hear it will be showing at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival (early November). Here is where your demo groups fit in. Siggraph '96 accepts submissions. From their "Call for Participation" manual I quote "In keeping with the SIGGRAPH '96 education theme...we are specifically seeking submissions that are explanatory or documentary in nature. Potential contributors are encouraged to interpret this theme creatively; in addition to the educational, technical, and scientific visualization works that have often been shown in the Electronic Theater, we hope to receive explanatory submissions from other fields, particularly art and entertainment." Deadlines are April 24th, 1996 for submissions and June 16th, 1996 for final versions of accepted versions. Siggraph does have this submission stuff on line: http://www.siggraph.org/conferences/siggraph96/ or ftp.siggraph.org You can also E-mail caf.s96@siggraph.org for more info on your entry. As a last resort you can contact me and if you are serious I will send you the full packet of information (of which I have one but believe I can get more). _____Conclusion Don't laugh. I've seem some demonstrations (animation) light years ahead of the PC (sound years ahead of the Amiga) and I've seen some animations that stunk. Some of the top notch PC and Amiga groups stand a chance-- especially if they mention "created on a 486/Amiga." This will impress the hell out of the "jury" and perhaps get selected for the Computer Animation Rooms and/or Electronic Theater. I'd really like to see a few groups enter and I wish those that have the guts to good luck. Simply enter your groups best demo; no need to create something specifically for siggraph. Oh, and one last thing...for whatever reason, children under 16 are not permitted to attend the Exhibition. See you there...? Pallbearer - dmw@gate.net =--------------------------------[Scene Future After Windows '95]--[Meriadoc]-= _____Introduction When all that Windows-95 hype came closer and closer, I was doubting about what it would mean for the demo-scene. Which way are we ultimately going? I am a computer-freak (as is said by some people, my ex-girlfriend says her brother (Stony) is worse). Anyway, as a computer-freak and a coder, I do really like the keyboard above mousing. I like mice as animals, but not attached to my computer. I am not going to have a discussion about what is better, and what is not, because that might be just a matter of taste. I was asking myself what the demoscene would do with the invasion of Windows 95. _____Directions We Can Go I think there are three different directions we can go: 1. We make Windows 95 demos. 2. There will be no change for the scene--we will be still use DOS. 3. Someone will code an entire operating system for the demoscene (or use a pre-existing OS more suited to the needs of the scene, like Linux) Let's try to imagine what will happen in all three cases. 1. Windows-95 demos: A demo will have to be a part of the multi-tasking system of Windows 95, and will act like that. It will ask for a full screen, enough memory (argh, swapfiles!) etc. Perhaps someone is so crazy that he will make a demo that runs in a window! Finally, it should be possible to find new tricks to speed things up, just like in DOS. 2. Dos-demos: Demos would, just like now, use the DOS-operating system to get (parts of) files from the harddisk. The rest will be done by the demo-itself. Things like protected mode and so on will be used. But who will win, DOS4GW or Tran's PMODE? :) 3. Own system: I can imagine that a Win95 coder could be just as smart as Bill Gates was once. As I heard it was Bill Gates himself (along with some other coders) who programmed DOS. For its time, it was a good system. It was made for the computers of that day. Gates did that at the age of 20 years, so why couldn't a coder do that nowadays? (Just be that crazy, BG has the most money a person has on earth [somewhere around 12.8 billion USD].) The OS could run on every PC, maybe even in conjunction with Windows 95. I think it's possible to design a program loader that has a method of loading specific parts in certain memory address from every operating system. Even a Linux-based computer could then run a demo. The demo should be of some standard format, and in 1 file.... Maybe it is possible, maybe not... _____Analysis As you can see, I like the last option the most. But I have to be objective (every option has it good and it's bad). The first option is not all that bad. I don't like windows 95, but I think that you can reach more people with Windows 95 than by using DOS. The demo-scene has to stay 'attractive'. If you don't adapt yourself, you will die out. This is important because scene members leave the scene once in life. Even though I say I will leave the demo-scene when I die, that's not realistic. There will always be need for new people in the scene. That's why there must be another way someday for demos to be made and run. The second option is too conservative, I think. Perhaps that windows 95 will not be the success that Bill Gates guarantees, you can never tell. Maybe DOS will stay longer than most people think. I personally think that DOS will stay for at least 5 or 10 more years. It will not die out very soon. And, if nobody has DOS anymore, I will _not_ run windows 95. I think I am going to run Linux by then... If the demo-scene is staying with using DOS as the main operating system, I think that's a good idea. For the moment it will be the only way to continue. But maybe someone is just that crazy as the inventor of DOS 1.0 was. I don't think that one coder can do that on his own anymore, just because a 486 is 'slightly' different than the 8088... It _should_ be possible to code a "portable operating system" that is tacked onto the demo and executes before the demo does, setting up the computer for the demo, and it _should_ be possible to make this work from any operating system. Let me explain: The loader might be able to be not too big. Maybe it could contain a build-in protected mode handler, and a system handler that would fit for most of the demo-coders. The loader could be made for different systems, like Linux, Windows '95, DOS, OS/2, etc. _____Conclusion I don't know what the scene will do in the future. It might be that the PC-scene stays only as long as DOS stays. One never knows what is going to happen in the computer world. Maybe a big chip-factory creates a real great invention, and people change to another system in a few years; maybe the Windows-hype calms down, and DOS is still one of the biggest systems used. Computers are almost changing as fast as the weather, and factories are more unpredictable than the weather. We can only wait... If someone has his own thoughts with this, just contact me. I will try to answer/react on your opinion. Just some contribution for DemoNews by Meriadoc The Hobbit, coder of Trance and PC reporter for Hornet and DemoNews. Meriadoc / Trance, Hornet - merijnv@sci.kun.nl =----------------------------------------[Demo Design]--[Akintunde Omitowoju]-= [taken from comp.sys.ibm.pc.demos] _____Introduction Well, reading the thread on "How the scene will die," I thought I could write a few comments on how the scene will live. As Trixter says, there should be more emphasis placed on the design of the overall demo. While some groups are already doing this, there are those of us who still have a little ways to change. _____Observations I often wondered why these Amiga demos were so much "better" than PC demos. I've come to the conclusion that the reason why the Amiga demos are better in entertainment and _wow_ quality is partially because it seems that the Amiga demos are more "cognitive" or rather different parts are linked together in a way that it wouldn't seem different. Also the Amiga demos don't always show the brute force of the program. The brute force and capability of the demo is intertwined within the music, graphics, and the code. Not just twirling 3d objects around at so many frames a second. I was also thinking that demos could use outside "inspirations" like ideas from natural phenomenon, and not just mathematical. I spent one night observing how lightning behaves during a storm and I noticed that the lighting bolt sort of fades out after you've seen it. I know this isn't a real concrete example, but it's an illustration of what I'm saying. Also, we should all try to adhere to _some_ set of standards when coding a demo. Standards in a sense not to say, "All demos must use XM modules for music," but rather one that will ensure the creativity of the demo, and not just objects rotating on a machine. It seems that _anyone_ can do that these days. Also, it helps to understand the math behind certain effects. For example, Nikola Tesla (a great inventor) once commented on how Thomas Edison wasted countless hours on figuring out how his inventions (Edison's) worked because he lacked some of the basic foundations of mathematical theory and application. While sometimes the math may not be easy, we should try to help one another out with such difficulties. I've looked through some of OTM's math tutorials, and must say they're nice. We could use more of these out there! =) Also FireLight's FMODDOC series is GREAT for learning how to write MOD files, and Denthor's Pascal Tutorials are good too. These three are the only ones I've ran across, but I'm sure there are more. Also, we shouldn't be too quick to criticize a new group who's demo may not be "Second Reality" quality. It isn't fair either to say someone is lame because they use a certain language. While is may be true that certain languages aren't too ideal for demos, not everyone has the time (or patience) to learn assembler ... some of us started using Basic as our first language! A person also shouldn't be ridiculed if they don't have the proper hardware to run or code a demo. Not everyone can afford to keep up with IBM PC CPU industries' mad rush to produce ever faster processors. I've own my 486sx/33 MHz machine for only 1.5 years, and it's already getting of date. I can't really afford to buy a new computer every two years! I think that's why the C64 scene is _still_ alive in Europe despite the age of the machine. It's quite impressive I must say. I've never owned a C64 before but I'm curious to see some of the software for it. I hear so many people talk about "how great" the machine is, and start nastalgizing over the games made for that system. _____Conclusion We should try to maintain some form of high standards, so we'd get more noticed from the "commercial" folks out there. Not for monetary purposes, but for the pure reason of _respect_. Companies like Advanced Gravis, Epic MegaGames and id Software for example at least acknowledge us. And I'll be bold to say a little that the IBM PC demo scene has to some degree or other _improved_ the quality of games out there for the PC. I mean if some say 15 year old person can code realtime 3D phong shaded stuff, that means that those game companies better be working harder ... but demos and games are two different things (though closely related). I'm not sure what else to say, but those were some things I think that we could all do to keep the seen alive. Akintunde Omitowoju - zao1@etsu.east-tenn-st.edu =----------------------------------------------[Demo Hidden Parts]--[Phoenix]-= _____The Quasi-Official List of Demo Hidden Parts, Keys, and Tricks This list is v1.00 and updated as of October 18, 1995. About any demo/intro with a "*?*" next to it.. if you know how to get to the part mentioned, email me at "vossa@rpi.edu" and I will update the list! Be sure to send any interactive keys, parameters, or other demo tricks as well! _____Secret Parts "The Accident" by Axidental (ASM '94) Type "accident l" to replace the first main tune with a hidden S3M made by LakEEE who coded and made gfx for much of the demo. It's quite good compared to the rest of the music in the demo. "Assembler Instinct" by Gollum (Party 3) *?* "3 Hidden Parts. Try finding them (Only a real pro will find all)." "Avena Kinetik" by Distortion (1995) *?* "Cardiac" by Infiny (Party 3) Type "cardiac 187" to enter the secret part! It is some extra gfx, with a "musicdisk player" from which you can select any of the songs included in the demo. "Epic" by Zuul Design (1994) Typing "epic desing" (note the "ng" in "design") will go to the secret part of this demo. "Images" by Epical (ASM '94) *?* "Journey" by Keen Like Frogs (1994) Type "JOURNEY /HIDDEN" (all caps) to go to the hidden part. "No Means No" by Distortion Type "nomeans c" for the hidden scroller. "Poor" by Majic 12 (1994) *?* "Pseudotiny" by Fatal Justice (Bizarre '95) *?* Maybe they were just kidding about the hidden part. This is only a 4k intro! "Second Reality" by Future Crew (ASM '93) Type "second u" to go to the hidden part, which is a starfield that gets _really_ filled up. This is probably the best known of the hidden parts. "Sehabla Routines" by Jamm (Juhla 2 '95) *?* "Try to launch the hidden part. hint -> 'S'" "Show" by Majic 12 (1994) You can get to the hidden part by downloading "SHOWSECR.ZIP" or "SECRET12.ZIP" (available on ftp.cdrom.com and probably other places). The picture is from the title screen of their 1993 "Wish" demo. "Vesisade" by Chaos (Abd. '95) *?* "Warp" by Legend Design (ASM '94) Typing "warp -esel" will take you to what looks like the end scroller, but talks about what Legend Design _really_ thought about Assembly '94, and some other things. _____Interactive Keys "Dentro" by Ultraforce (1992) Pressing Control, RightShift, F9, Gray Plus, then 0 will show a picture of the coders. It works in the section with the scroll. "Flight" by Kosmic (NAID '95) During the first voxel-landscape: Arrows - Move W - Increase altitude S - Decrease altitude During the vector spaceship approaching the earth: Arrows - Move camera PgUp/PgDn - Raise/lower camera CTRL with the above keys will rotate the ship around each axis If you tap a key during the second voxel part (with spaceship) you can use the following keys: Arrows - Move UP - Thrust ship forward W - Increase altitude DOWN - Thrust ship backward S - Decrease altitude CTRL and UP - Zoom into ship + - increase movement speed CTRL and DOWN - Zoom away from ship - - decrease movement speed PgUp/PgDn - Raise/lower camera R - Rotate camera around the ship F - Rotate camera in opposite direction During the seagull credit sequence: F1/F2/F3 - Low/Medium/High ground detail "HeartQuake" by Iguana (ASM '94) During the Comanche-landscape part: Arrow keys (gray) - fly around A - restart PgUp/PgDn (gray) - change altitude D - toggle low/high detail Also, the Space bar skips each part. "NewIntro" by Majic 12 (1993) Press the Up Arrow key during the airplane part to play a game. "Why" by Adrar Design (CAF '95) *?* "Try to find secret key and fly during comanche part of intro." _____Command-line Parameters "Facts of Life" by Witan (Party 2) Like with Second Reality, you can run "witan p#" to get to a specific part of the demo. I think "p5" is the house-techno part. "Images" by Epical (ASM '94) "DATA SPACE" (all caps) starts the demo at the Space part. _____Conclusion Hope you enjoyed this list of secret parts. Don't forget to mail me if you have corrections or additions! 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