Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
01 Issue 03
===============================================================================
Issue #3 (ARTICLE SECTION) . 0000 11 .
May 21, 1995 . 00 00 11 .
. 00 00 11 .
01 is a weekly newsletter for the demo scene. . 00 00 11 .
It is produced by the group Hornet at the site ftp.cdrom.com. . 0000 11 .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribers: 592 | Last Issue: 522 | Change: +70 | Size: 46,717 bytes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-CONTENTS-
==[Section]=========[Article Name]=================[Author]==================
Introduction Snowman and GraveDigger
General Corrections GraveDigger
Review of the Assembly'94 CD Snowman
Positive Feedback GraveDigger
Interview with Complex! Popcorn
4DOS 4DEMOS: Part 1 Snowman
Know your FILE_ID.DIZs Charlatan
Music Tracking Tips III GraveDigger
Subscribing
Closing
===[Introduction]==[Snowman and GraveDigger]===================================
SM: Hello, and welcome to the third issue of 01 Article Section.
GD: This week, we have a nice selection of articles dealing with several
different topics.
SM: GraveDigger, how about we give a one sentence summary of each for
the readers?
GD: I like that idea.
SM: Well, the first article is called "Corrections". In it, GraveDigger
apologizes about flubbing up an article he did two weeks ago.
GD: That's right. I messed up!
SM: Then we have a review of the Assembly '94 CD done by myself.
GD: Doesn't ASM95 take place in 3 months?! Aren't you a little late? :)
SM: Hey, cut me some slack. I'm the editor! :) Next we have an
article entitled "Positive Feedback" where GD gets all mushy.
GD: Hey now! I've seen you do it before.
SM: You're not talking about that speech at NAID are you?
GD: See? My point exactly. :) Anyway, let's get back to the point. Next
is Popcorn's "Complex Interview".
SM: Did you understand it at all? I had to spend a _long_ time editing it.
GD: It was a little difficult to follow. Sounds like a lot of work!
Next, you babbled something about 4DOS, right?
SM: Babbled!? I poured my heart and soul into that article. :(
Anyway, I think that using 4DOS will change your life.
GD: Ah well, I'm a die-hard MS-DOS user, personally. Following is
Charlatan's "Sysop plea" to demo fanatics.
SM: But 4DOS rides on top of DOS. Its an enhancement, not a
substitute or alternative. Concerning Charlatan's article, I'm glad
someone took the time to write about that. Lack of descriptions is a
big no-no on our site.
GD: That's right. I don't know how people expect to upload a file like
auvmr84_.zip and expect people to know what it is without a description.
SM: Personally, I think its kind of fun deleting files without
descriptions. Makes moving a lot easier, eh?
GD: Yes, a lot easier to wipe out a few files, especially with some 40
megs of new music a week, and those demos are too big to keep without a
description. The last article is the third part of my Tracking Tips
series.
SM: Don't you discuss Norton's Law or something like that?
GD: _Norman's_ Law, not Norton's law. Did you even read it?!
SM: Sadly, I am not much a part of the music scene anymore (aside from
MC3). How many more Tracking Tips articles do you have left to go?
GD: I have about five more completed, and that number may grow as I
continue. Hey, it was good to hear that tune by you on CHromatiks 2.
SM: I don't think many people did. Your song was pretty cool too.
Why don't we just praise each other for the remainder of this
introduction?
GD: Ok. Ya know, I can't wait for MC3! I'm excited. You have established
an excellent contest.
SM: Why thank you! And I just _love_ your reviews in o1fil... although
they seem to be eliciting some unwanted reactions from a few people.
GD: Thanks! That's true though, several people don't like one thing or
another with the review layout we have.
SM: This is starting to get off topic. Why don't we just wrap this up
and let the readers see what we've been talking about?
GD: Good idea. Enough of our chatter!
SM: Do you want to start doing introductions like this for HNews too?
GD: That might be neat! Let's see if people send us mail on this idea and
we'll go by the general consensus. Though I think Jim and Jeff might
want to get involved too.
SM: I agree. Let's see what kind of reaction we get from this before
we do any more. Well folks, this has been Snowman...
GD: ..and this has been GraveDigger...
SM: And we are OUTTA HERE.
===[General]==[Corrections]==[GraveDigger]====================================
In o1art.002, I incorrectly referred to samples used in Necros' "Ascent..."
as "Indian chants." A kind reader emailed me to notify me of my error. The
email explains it all, so here is a segment from it:
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that it was you that did the music
from compos reviews. In Necros' song "Ascent" you said that Indain chants
were used. This was not so, they are actually words in Zulu. Zulu you
ask? Well, the Zulu's are a black culture native of Southern Africa;
haven't you watched Shaka Zulu? Indian chants are vastly different, I
would know as I have some family that is Indian and I have been exposed
to Indian type lyrics. How do I know that that is Zulu? Well, I stay in
South Africa :) and I speak a few words of Zulu.
Wildthing / Sandstorm
I would like to thank the many readers who occasionally write me to make
corrections. Feel free to do so if you notice anything I am mistaken on.
I have received many responses to my article last week about the ripped
picture that won first place in the NAID graphics competition. I have not
been able to get a copy of the NAID entry, unfortunately. I am going to
upload the original picture to ftp.cdrom.com in /incoming/graphics as
naid-rip.zip which will have my articles regarding this controversy. I will
also have to send out all that I have to the email requests. I apologize for
not finding the NAID entry; nothing was officially released.
Thanks to all who inquired about the above incident; I'm glad to see concern
for such an important issue in the demo community.
-Brett Neely gd@ftp.cdrom.com
===[General]==[Review of the Assembly'94 CD]==[Snowman]=======================
_____Introduction
> Welcome to the world of multimedia, where computer enthusiasts surf on
> the waves of silicon. Are you ready to experience the future of
> computing, are you ready to enter the playgrounds of virtual reality?
>
> The Assembly'94 CD-ROM is the first ever extensive collection of the
> worlds best pieces of computer art. While professional artists create
> works with multi-million dollar budgets young computer wizards are
> producing their magnificent works on mere home computers.
>
> On this CD-ROM you will find art that is also fun - you can experience
> thrilling flights in strange worlds or dance to hypnotic rhythms along
> with dizzying effects! This CD-ROM places hours of entertainment at
> your fingertips.
And so begins the Assembly'94 CD experience. This week I will attempt a
review of this semi-outdated production from Finland. I am not selling
this CD, nor am I being paid to give it a good review.
Its friendly. Its almost edible. It exists in our own time-space
continuum. So boys and girls, its time to put your hands in the air for
the Assembly'94 CD-ROM!
_____Acquisition
One day it was suggested by Ulrik Henriksen (TP94 organizer) that we
exchange something. So, with great enthusiasm I traded two of Hornet's own
"Escape" CD's for an Assembly'94 CD and a couple of others I won't mention.
To my knowledge, I am the only one in North America who has the ASM94 CD
and this is a pity. There is a large audience over here that might have
liked one but never will get the chance due to inadequate advertising.
_____Physical Description
Packaging: Dimensions - 7 x 8 x 1.5 (inch) box
Front Cover - ghostly faded female face in gray-blue
Back Cover - info about the CD, 5 pictures from gfx compo
Jewel Case: Insert - 1 sided, duplicate picture from front of box
CD Itself: Cover - standard logo, keeping in style with box cover
Documentation: Voting Card - win a trip to ASM95 just by voting
Manual - instructions about the CD and how to use it
Impressions: From the exterior, the Assembly 94 CD has a very
professional appearance. It looks like something you might
see sitting on the shelf of your local computer store.
Its just so warm and cuddly that I know you'd want one if
you saw it.
Notes: - One of the five pictures on the back of the box is by
Jugi/Complex (we happen to have an interview with him for
the next issue of o1art don't cha know).
- The voting card is a neat idea. All I have to do is
fill this out (voting for my favorite music, demos,
etc.) and I can win a _free_ trip to Assembly 95'!
- There is one humorous misspelling on the card itself:
"All winners will be notified personically."
- A similar quote appears in the manual:
"...now it's is your chance to give you opinion!"
Maybe we should the have some one someone proof read the
manual before it goes too press nex time.
- The manual states:
"From each sold CD-ROM a dollar is added to the CD-ROM
competition prize pool, so the estimated prize value for
this compo is 50,000 dollars in CASH!"
A logical being might remember the transitive property
from basic algebra and apply it here. One dollar added
to prize for every CD sold. Prize is $50,000.
Therefore 50,000 CD's have been sold. Err....
The group getting the highest votes for best demo (in
this CD-ROM voting) will receive 10% of the prize money.
This means that if the votes are the same as the
official party results, EMF has a check for $5000 coming
to them this October. Congratulations guys!
_____Contents of the CD
Category | Size(Megs) Number Comments
--------------+-----------------------------------------------------------
Demos (PC) | 80 38 included in .zip form also
Demos (Amiga) | 45 14
Intros (PC) | 2 28 included in .zip form also
Intros (PC) | .4 90 included in .zip form also
Intros (Amiga)| 1 27
Music (32-ch) | 34 96 included in .zip form also
Music (4-ch) | 20 80 included in .zip form also
Graphics | 8 91 included in .zip form also
Commodore 64 | .7 included in .zip form _only_
ASM94 AVI's | 280 7 poor quality and compression
ASM94 PCX's | 2 19 poor quality
Future Crew | 34 all the group's old demos, music, etc.
Source Code | 4 coders contribute some files
The real selling point of this CD is the files. Now you have them _all_.
Many of these were not uploaded to our site when the party happened. Many
people were unwilling to download 8 megs of graphics (not to mention 80
megs of demos) so this is a nice form of distribution.
On this CD are over 280 megs of AVI movie files. With my 2x speed CD-ROM
drive, these play too slowly. Also, the background lighting is poor and
the content is boring. There are some PCX files included which aren't much
better. Having pictures and movies was a good idea, just not adequately
taken advantage of.
There is a very nice interface provided for both PC and Amiga. Function
keys change between demos, intros, graphics, and music. Included is a
built-in .lbm player so you don't have to jump back to DOS and use Display.
One of the biggest problems with this CD -- probably the biggest -- is the
VIRUS! Yes, the file isetup.exe on the root directory of the CD is
infected. If you use the built in player (Inertia Player) your system WILL
BE INFECTED. Don't they check for these things before printing?
_____Summary
Overall, I was very pleased with this CD. It was professional, well
organized, and brought back some memories of the party. The Assembly'94 CD
is an incredible addition to anyone's demo library.
There are a couple of important things I can not tell you. I do not know
how much this CD sells for (I was quoted around $50 once), and I have no
idea how you can get one. Perhaps one of you out there has some
information? If so, send it our way and we'll print it.
Take care everyone.
-Christopher G. Mann r3cgm@ftp.cdrom.com
===[General]==[Positive Feedback]==[GraveDigger]==============================
Hello, this week I'd like to address something that has resulted from several
personal experiences which I would like to acknowledge.
The Hornet team puts a lot of time and effort each week into maintaining the
demo FTP site on CDROM, and producing the three-section newsletter. It is
what we love to do, and we have dedicated ourselves to the projects.
As with anything done in life, it is always a good feeling to receive a pat-
on-the-back for one's efforts.
I would like to personally thank everyone who has contacted the Hornet
members to give their thanks for our efforts maintaining the FTP site or in
producing the newsletters. Your comments are a sign that Hornet is doing
*something* right. :)
We hope to continue serving you, our friends, with interesting articles and
issues relating to the demo scene, and we hope to continue our maintenance
of the FTP archive which continues to grow every day.
Your suggestions are of course, always welcomed. We are here for everyone's
benefit, and not just our own.
Thanks to everyone who has supported us!
-Brett Neely gd@ftp.cdrom.com
===[General]==[Interview with Complex]==[Popcorn]=============================
Jmagic and Reward insisted that I do this interview with absolutely no
planning. Fortunately it seems to have turned out very well. I have yet to
come up with words to describe Jmagic and Reward.
For those few readers who attended NAID, I assume everyone knows the name
Complex after seeing Dope played 30 times on the big screen. At the time
of this interview, Dope was unreleased.
However, I doubt many of you have seen my name around before. I became a
Hornet family member in March but this is the first article I have done for
the group. I'd like to thank Snowman for his help getting this interview
ready for publication, as well as GraveDigger for being a friend. I would
also like to say hello to all my friends on #trax including Basehead,
Mellow-D, Ms Saigon, Necros, Perisoft, Beaner, Populus, Khyron, and
everyone else.
[Editor's Note: This is Snowman and I have spent between 4.5 to 5 hours
editing this interview. There are still many mistakes, taking the form of:
spelling errors, grammatical errors, punctuation errors, foul language,
incorrect formatting of text, and incomprehensible content (at points). All
in all, these mistakes make for a good read. :)]
PC = Popcorn / HORNET ................................. campbell@fox.nstn.ca
JM = Jmagic / Complex ....................................... complex@hut.fi
RE = Reward / Complex ....................................... complex@hut.fi
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[start of interview : 11:00 AST : April 12, 1995]
PC : First let's start with your real name, age, group affiliations,
occupations, etc.
JM : Real name... My passport says jmagic... :-) (doesn't it?)
RE : Geez, are all interviews on the pc this serious? This isn't a job
application is it?
JM : Reward is old timer. I'm a bit younger...
RE : What is group affils? Previous groups?
* reward mumbles something about being in the scene for too long to
remember them all. :)
JM : Reward, I think he wants to know if you are in any other groups at the
moment :)
PC : If we are going to do an Interview for 01, it's going to have to be at
least partially serious :) Just your current affiliations.
RE : Geez. Demos are not serious. They are for fun. :)
JM : We are the Complex Brotherhood.
RE : We worship the moon and the sun! And sometimes the one who pays most.
:) Ok ok just explain what group affiliations means please? :)
* jmagic is lazy student with no money... /dcc send jmagic lots_of_digicash
* reward apologies for the poor knownledge of english vocabularity but you
can't get it all in the same small package. :)
JM : Reward, for you it means Complex :) For me it means Complex and
Jeskola!
RE : Ok, I'm at the moment in Complex and a semi-member of Damones! (a
Finnish boozing group). :)
JM : semi doesnt count :-)
RE : 80% of elite Finnish scener's are in Damones. Damones counts. They
have drugs and booze and women. Ok, so for me it's Complex (PC &
Amiga) and Damones (Party) right? :)
----------------
PC : How did you get interested in the PC demo scene?
JM : The party scene must be really cool.
RE : Yeah, lets join the party scene!
JM : Are there any compos for a party like there are for a PC.... :)
PC : It's called a rave :)
JM : On amiga there is no competition - we are best and we don't have to
compete :)
RE : I saw Future Crew at a party back in 92/93, and asked them for a copy
of their customized dpaint. I didn't get one.
JM : My ass :) You are so bad that they thought it would be better to save
world from your repaints.
RE : Popcorn: So we needed a change. Well, I still don't have a PC myself
so I'm limited to using PC's at friend's and at the university. (Well
that really doesn't limit me.) :)
JM : Reward: I have a PC and it limits me a lot :)
* reward actually wonders what if he _did_ get involved in the PC scene.
Weeeird.
* reward realized he is starting to _get_ involved. EEEEEEEEEKS.
* reward panics and runs out the door crashing a few walls and drowns for a
while.
----------------
PC : What kind or system do you use to make demos?
JM : System... like computer or so called "organizing"? :)
* jmagic codes and others do nothing
RE : For gfx we use Dpaint3.25, BrillianceII, Lightwave, 3DStudio, Painter.
Jmagic: Any others come to mind?
JM : Alchemy :)
RE : Well, we're not talking about converting software here. :)
JM : Yes but we need it :)
PC : Jmagic: What computer do you use?
JM : 486sx 33.... anyone want to buy me a better one? :)
* reward wishes someone would get him a peecee as well. :)
RE : Amiga4000, ec030+882, 16Mb fastmem, 210MB hd. :-(
----------------
PC : Cyboman 2 rules, did ever think you would win the intro compo in TP94?
JM : Of course... if I won in 93, why couldn't I do it in 94 as well?
RE : From that point we decided to do an intro. :)
JM : Which was...ummm 5 days before tp4.
RE : There's no point in doing something unless you aim to win eh?
Otherwise you might just as well release it whenever it's ready not to
care when a party is. Might save you from a humiliating experience
after boasting a lot. (Hi Valhalla!) :)
PC : In the Silents case (if you remember ASM '93) I think winning became a
little too much.
RE : Uh, in which way?
PC : Well, they refused to release their demo because they didn't win.
Then when they released it it was so buggy it would not run.
JM : What do you mean too much? Sandman/Valhalla should give me my
spiritual support :)
RE : Try shamanism and your soul will enlighten.
JM : Popcorn: Well the compo version was probably the same... What's the
point in releasing shit? :-) If you don't win with it I mean. :)
RE : Popcorn: Well that has seemed to be a part of the PC scene for ages.
Eg, if you _don't_ have to release the demo by the compo rules at the
party place but only after a month, what can you expect? sux. Demos
should be released where they compete. If you make a bug fix later -
fine. If the demo isn't ready to compete, it should not be shown. eg,
if you show a demo, and say it's ready in N months, you sound like
microsoft, ehhh? And the sponsors pay to get the demos / whatever
spread / released etc etc. If the demo can't be spread at the
competition place, what the fuck kind of competition it is any longer?
PC : Reward, have you seen Project Angel? That should NOT have been
released at the party, it only caused frustrations :)
RE : If there's easy money around, why not go and take it? Lately demos
don't seem to be made for fun anymore. And why would it since one gets
paid for them?
JM : They knew the demo was spread at the party...
* Jmagic definately wants demos spread at parties... except if it his own
demo :)
----------------
PC : How do you go about making a demo?
JM : Well... usually we start a little too late, so we have terrible hurry
and we have to put an unfinished production to compo :)
----------------
PC : What are your opinions about the PC demo scene in general?
JM : Too untalented :)
RE : uhhhhh, vectors vectors vectors vectors. Good music, bad graphics.
JM : Money money money :) Lots of bad releases.
RE : In general, _most_ PC demos are pure shit. Technically and
artistically. Same goes for intros.
* jmagic is happy to see his old intros in the charts :)
RE : But the pc scene is young and only developing. The hard thing is that
the hardware is getting better all the time too quickly compared to
the demos, eg who bothers to optimize if the compo machine is 100MHz
Pentium ehh?
PC : I agree completaly, demos should run on a 486/33. Show [by Majic 12]
is a good example of a great demo with great optimization.
JM : Show is a great demo with 386sx effects. Show is not a piece of
skillful optimizing.
----------------
PC : How did Complex come to exist?
JM : Back when earth was without form and void... actually I joined after
The Party 93'.
RE : hehe... And on the 8th day... Maybe I better say someting about
Complex birth. :) Complex was born back in hmm 1989, can't remember
the exact date though, I recall it was in the beginning of the year.
JM : That's when the PC side got started. Or actually when the shitty PC
productions began to appear :)
RE : But Complex on PC got started in 94'. right Jmagic? But since we only
have practically 1 or 2 members who are _only_ PC, there was no point
in calling it a PC division. Complex PC - members 1 - Jmagic. :)
PC : I hadn't even heard of Complex until Cyboman2.
JM : We did a intro for asm94, didn't you even see that one? Or the demo
we did?
PC : I don't think I did. Cyboman 2 was the first time Complex got
imprinted in my brain. Jmagic must be one hell of a coder to win TP94
single handedly.
JM : I rule. :)
RE : Popcorn, you've missed a lot of the scene's Cosmic Brother's calls
then. Just check some older party charts results on PC and Amiga. :)
Jmagic, message from the Cosmic Brothers has not been understood.
JM : We have to resend the message?
RE : Yeah.
* reward starts to meditate and concentrate on the Cosmic message globally.
* reward mumbles about saving the whales and eating Norweigians instead...
RE : Popcorn, we're actually newcomers who have a hell of an attitude,
right? :)
PC : What are the cosmic brothers? Are they the ones that did that weird
demo with video clips?
* reward gives popcorn a loppipop. :)
PC : That demo was... was... DIFFERENT! :)
RE : Jmagic, aren't you happy now? :) He remembers you after all! :)
JM : Yeah! I feel like famous now.
RE : Sort of famous at least. :)
JM : Naah... I must be really famous after this interview :)
RE : Especially after we relase it from the whole capture file which I've
got! :)
JM : After all, this is spread all over the cosmical universe.
----------------
PC : What are your plans for the future?
JM : Winning a demo compo tomorrow, and then winning lots of cash from
asm95! :)
RE : Popcorn: To dominate the world and to spread the good will message all
around the Hawaji where we hopefully will be living after making a
demo for Win97 demonstation purposes.
JM : 1995 world domination. Stavanger... Helsinki... Universe? :)
RE : Stanveger... Helsinki... Moscow. :) Party in Estonia - waba wina witu
ware. :)
JM : Reward, first we have to win asm95 demo compo... but that wont be a
problem, right?
* reward wonders why is the interviewer being so quiet all the time.
JM : He's just shocked :) Scared of all the elites around (where?) Maybe
he comes up with some intelligent question...
----------------
PC : What do you think of Future Crew? Are they gone for good or just in a
deep sleep?
JM : Deep sleep... Trug said they have to wake up early :)
RE : They are not in deep sleep, they are in a coma. :) Actually we are
making a co-op demo with them for ASM95. :)
JM : Yeah, and for ASM96 too.
PC : No kidding? :)
JM : We already finished the ASM96 one but I think the ASM95 is not going
to be ready on time...
----------------
PC : What is your soundcard of choice?
JM : Soundcard, something to eat...
RE : GUS for demos, otherwise what ever pays enough. Logic, eh?
* jmagic just wants a card which is 44khz for any amount of channels :)
* reward wants any sound card at all since he has none.
JM : Too bad that GUS quality drops with more than 14 channels... it makes
the Dope soundtrack so low quality.
* reward also wants a Ferrari, free beer and playmates.
* jmagic could consider those too...
PC : Jmagic, why not get an AWE32 <ralph>
JM : Yeah but I dont have money to buy it... I'm poor student who has to
live with $100 per month.
RE : Geez, but at least you got a pc but I don't!
JM : And you got an Amiga 4000... let me ask you which one costs more?
RE : Well A40ec30 is not that expensive. :-( Well, more than Gravis but
less than Ferrari. Bah, who wants a Ferrari if you can get a
soundcard?
JM : Ferrari has a better audio track :)
RE : Yeah well that's true.
----------------
PC : When will you idiots make a demo for the PC? :)
JM : We just did. Two days ago.
RE : Will be released tomorrow, no joke? :)
JM : Yeah... will be released on friday! Called Dope.
-rw-r--r-- 1 japehe opis 903825
Apr 12 23:58 clx-dope.zip
RE : And for the curious, our Amiga 64k intro will be released at The
Gathering 95 as well:
-rw-r--r-- 1 savanhat users 63160
Apr 12 05:41 wormhole.exe
----------------
PC : Why did you only use viewplane-incidence shading on the Cyboman 2
objects instead of a true light source?
RE : Coz JMagic coudn't make a real one.
JM : Very true.
RE : He sux so Jugi & I have to compensate with kewl design and graphics
and music. :)
JM : What design!
RE : Which he eventually decides to change anyway coz he's too lame to code
them. :)
JM : I can make better design in one day than you can make in your whle
life time.
----------------
PC : Is your new demo "Dope" going to be released at a compo? What's it
like?
JM : It's like ...dope :)
RE : It's like ...a POWER ON demo. :)
JM : Dope will have some new kickass effects...
RE : OK Jmagic, next time you design, Jugi codes and I make music. :)
JM : It's a deal. Do you remember that french guy whose fractals we used?
RE : Shh shh sshhh. Larusse is my friend, don't talk bad about him!
JM : Deal! Oh that's the guy... he has some very interesting formulas
indeed. Popcorn, to tell you the truth... Dope is our only good
production, because we didn't have to listen to Reward's dezing ideas.
----------------
PC : When will you make an intro / demo that has synched music?
RE : Syncing stuff sux. I designed one demo back in 1990 with synced
effects but no-one liked it (Chromium! The bullet belt still hasn't
been given out! Just write and it's yours!) so no thanks.
----------------
PC : Are there fish in all the closed objects in demos? :)
JM : Of course.
RE : Of coz, Jmagic was just too lazy to show them! You should see the
whale!
JM : The whale is inside that world domination object shown in dope...
Or was it in the phong shaded asteroid?
PC : Hahahahahaahaha =)
RE : We had to leave it out coz JMagic ran out of space. :-( the most
beautiful whale, fully animated 3D etc etc. :-( fuck norweigians.
JM : I did not!
RE : Did too!
JM : I used fractal compression for that 3d object.
RE : No way, we had to leave the whale outside the entrace front door to
The Party '94 so we couldn't get it thru the 3d scanner, remember?
JM : Oh damn! Is that whale.3ds that dead frog we scanned instead?
RE : Oh so you fucked even that one up? GEEEEEEEEZ
JM : Sorry... i hope that no-one looks inside that asteroid...O:-) Boys,
say no to disassemblers!
----------------
PC : Why do some PC sceners consider Complex arrogant people?
RE : We _are_ arrogant perhaps? :)
* reward wants to hear what people will say after they see the World
Domination 1995 Tour Project. :)
JM : Hemoroids.... there's dithered tunnel in dope.... PATCH IT !!!!
Dithering is evil!
RE : Arrogance is kinda... normal?
JM : Reward, better to have bad attitude than no attitude at all.
RE : heheh.. "CybomanII was pretty cool intro but only if you take out the
dither..." :)
----------------
PC : Do you guys have a life besides the computer?
JM : What life? Is there a life beyond the monitor?
RE : /dcc send popcorn pics/Rewadude.jpg
Check our www page for our piccies.
JM : Reward, is there a piccy of me too? :-)
RE : Behind a hidden link. Popcorn, we have no social skills except bad
behaviour. :)
PC : What is the WWW page?
RE : http://matserver.math.jyu.fi/complex/complex.html
JM : And you damn fools haven't included my own page to link list, right?!
http://cs.joensuu.fi/~jheikki
* jmagic thinks he should do some scanning for his WWW page... Do they have
scanners in Joensuu university?-)
RE : Well no matter what I put there, I'll make it less bandwidth wagon
than Jugi's. :)
JM : Oh while I'm at it... JOENSUU SUCKS!
RE : Jmagic, send over your childhood pics and we'll put them all online.
:)
JM : Reward, I don't want all child molesters in the world behind my door
:)
RE : Would be pretty eleet to have a kindergarten piccy of the members
hehehe... Click here for a wild guess... :) Jugi would be easy to
spot since she's got long hair always.... :)
----------------
PC : Well, I think that just about raps up the interview, any last words?
RE : "NEVER TRUST A CODER" - Gfxians famous last words. Good enough?
JM : Pretty good. You graphicians dont know anything about colors, damn it
RE : So shut-the-fuck-up, it's not my fault I'm green-red blind.
PC : Thanks a lot for the interview guys, and isn't it 6am in Finland right
now??
JM : Yeah. 6:11. We're waiting for Jugi to come back from Norway...:)
PC : Have you guys ever heard of the word "sleep"? =)
JM : Sleep, isn't that what lamers tend to do during parties?
RE : If a nice sugardaddy somewhere would send me a faster computer I
wouldn't have to stay up all nite waiting on renderings to finish and
get fixed eh? :)
* reward sends a cryout to the world.
RE : Sleep is for the weak. :)
* reward realizes he's about the weekest dude known. :)
RE : Sleep is actually good for you, you can't do anything negative while
at it. :)
JM : Except if you happen to sleep in the wrong place. Reminds me of that
Slayer's pic you told about.
RE : Which just _might_ lead into misunderstandings... eeeikshs. :) Jmagic,
shh! It wasn't me! Honestly! It was kommari! You only wish it had
been you. :)
JM : Popcorn, you aren't going to cut anything from that interview, arent
you?
RE : Uh of coz not, it's not allowed to cut anything from an interview?
JM : I dont want to wake up, being raped by a banana.
PC : Jmagic, just move some text around a bit to account for lag.
I won't cut anything unless you want me to.
RE : Jmagic, so you suck.
JM : Reward, shut up next time you fall asleep I'm going to put a PC in
your ass.
RE : Eeeks! Oh but at least NOT a pentium, I hear they're pretty hot?
JM : Full tower 486 then?
RE : Popcorn, 31337, maybe someone will email to us after this interview,
wanting to be a Dist. Site or just wanting a bbs intro or or :)
JM : Yeah nobody has asked so far :)
PC : Reward, sure, what's your address?
JM : Just wondering if anyone of us ever replied? :-)
RE : Why bother? :)
JM : complex@hut.fi
JM : World Domination Address
RE : DRUGS - BOOZE - WOMEN - MONEY - All welcome at complex@hut.fi
[end of interview : 12:05 AST : April 13, 1995]
===[General]==[4DOS 4DEMOS: Part 1]==[Snowman]================================
_____Introduction
4DOS is going to change your life.
We live in an age of SPEED. Efficiency and organization are the hallmarks
of every productive member in the demo scene. It stands to reason that
someone productive will be more successful than someone who is not.
4DOS is a command interpreter which replaces COMMAND.COM. A command
interpreter handles input statements like "dir", "copy", "rd" etc. With
4DOS, your Dos, Windows, or OS/2 environment can be tweaked to fit _your_
needs.
4DOS will make you more productive. It will do this by enhancing your
computer in three very measurable ways:
1. Minimize keystrokes
2. Provide more information on-screen
3. Make your computer user-friendly
This is the first in a series many articles. When we have completed, your
computer will be an extension of yourself.
_____Features
Here are just a few examples of things you can do:
aliases - hit F6 and Scream Tracker pops up
color-coded files - arj, zip, lzh in blue. s3m, xm, mod in green
descript.ion - add descriptions to all of your files
extension execution - type "ascent.s3m" and it automatically plays
filename completion - type "cd m", hit tab, and it changes to "cd music"
memory management - path, color codes, aliases, and other 4DOS
variables loaded into upper memory blocks
the ultimate prompt - dynamically shows free memory, hard drive space,
presence of mouse and CD-ROM, and shell level
The best part about 4DOS is that you don't have to learn it all at once.
Start small. Pick up a trick here and there. Then when you are
comfortable with everything, go back and learn other features.
4DOS is completely compatible with your old COMMAND.COM. Things have been
added or enhanced, but not taken away. The documentation is excellent, to
the point, and easy to understand.
_____Getting Ready
Reading these articles and learning 4DOS will not take up much of your
time. Within days of using 4DOS's features, you will save enough time to
make it worthwhile.
Below are the basic steps you need to take to get yourself set up. Please
do not skip anything. In future articles, I will be relying on steps you
will take here. Here is the plan:
1. On your hard drive, create a directory called \4DOS.
2. Get a high density disk and label it "4DOS".
3. Get on our site (ftp.cdrom.com) and download the files:
/pub/demos/utils/dos/4dos
-rw-r--r-- 1 r3cgm ftp-horn 10313 Mar 27 20:02 4d55b.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 r3cgm ftp-horn 41552 Mar 27 20:02 4d55c.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 r3cgm ftp-horn 252781 Mar 27 20:02 4dos55a.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 r3cgm ftp-horn 259354 Mar 27 20:03 4dos55b.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 r3cgm ftp-horn 48551 Mar 27 20:03 4dpatch.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 r3cgm ftp-horn 45764 Mar 27 20:03 4ed.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 r3cgm ftp-horn 4513 Mar 27 20:03 4touch3.zip
------------ -----------
662828 bytes 7 files
4. Copy the files to your disk and to your \4DOS directory.
5. Put the disk away for awhile.
6. We will be using 4DOS version 5.5. It is in two parts:
4dos55a.zip and 4dos55b.zip. Unzip them both in your \4DOS
directory and delete the archives (you still have them on disk)
7. Add the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file:
SHELL=C:\4DOS\4DOS.COM C:\4DOS /P /E:1024
"SHELL=" - specifies your default command shell
"C:\4DOS\4DOS.COM" - the path and filename of the shell
"C:\4DOS" - directory where your shell resides
"/P" - 4DOS is now your primary shell. this means
when you 'shell to DOS' that it will use 4DOS
"/E:1024" - allocate 1024 bytes for your environment
8. PLAY!
If you have done all of these steps and rebooted, then you are ready to
start learning about 4DOS. Use the online help by typing "help". In two
weeks time, I'll be back to show you how to color-code your files.
Remember, 4DOS 4EVER!
-Christopher G. Mann r3cgm@ftp.cdrom.com
===[General]==[Know your FILE_ID.DIZs]==[Charlatan]===========================
[This article is a reprint from a TraxWeekly issue.]
One day I decided to leech everything in ftp.cdrom.com's /incoming/music
directory (there were around 100 files there). After downloading them, and
putting them up on my BBS, I noticed that at least 1 out of every 5 files
didn't have a FILE_ID.DIZ, or the FILE_ID.DIZ that was included with the
file wasn't done properly.
For those of you who don't know what FILE_ID.DIZ is, it's a text file
describing what the file is. It makes it easier for users and SysOps to
upload files to BBS'es without describing what the file is. (And beleive
me, as a SysOp, I've seen some pretty bad descriptions done by users.)
You can create your own FILE_ID.DIZ by loading up any text editor and
entering a description of your file. Keep in mind that the text in the
FILE_ID.DIZ _MUST_ be under 45 columns. If you use more than 45 columns,
your description will be cut off on some BBS programs, and it won't look
too good.
Try to keep your description in the FILE_ID.DIZ under 10 lines. Users hate
long descriptions, especially if it fills the whole screen. (It gets
annoying when you're listing a lot of files.) For music files, you
_SHOULD_ include the name of the composer, the file format (S3M, XM, etc.),
the name of the song, and the style of the song (be specific!). If you
want, you could include the length of the song (patterns, time, etc.), and
a small logo of your group, or whatever.
Make your FILE_ID.DIZ descriptive, and attractive. Users won't download a
file if they don't know what it is. For a good example of a FILE_ID.DIZ,
check out any releases from Kosmic. They do things right. :)
If you have any questions or anything, email me...
-Charlatan deslip3@server.uwindsor.ca
===[Music]==[Tracking Tips III: "Norman's Law"]==[GraveDigger]================
"Norman's Law" is a technique borrowed from my high-school music theory
instructor, Mr. Norman. It provides an easy way to implement chord changes
without making your music sound sloppy. The basics of the law are:
1 - If you don't have to move a note, don't.
2 - If you do have to move a note, move it the smallest amount possible.
Basically, you take the two chords you are using and compare them to see if
any notes match. The notes that match, you keep the same. The notes that
change, you move them as few notes away from the original note as possible.
There will be several ways to perform the chord change, but check them to see
first which will have the least steps.
Example:
CEG [C major/root position]
GBD [G major/root position]
The two chords have a common "G" so that note goes unchanged. Since C up to D
is one whole step but C down to B is one half step, you should drop the C
down to B. Then, you only have to move the E down one whole step to D. Here's
the progression in ST3 format:
| Channel 1 | Channel 2 | Channel 3 |
|C-4 01 64 ...|E-4 01 64 ...|G-4 01 64 ...| [Root position C Major]
|B-4 01 64 ...|D-4 01 64 ...|G-4 01 64 ...| [First inversion G Major]
There is an addition to the rule for when you have two chords that are only
one step apart (for example: F major and G major). By moving all the notes
in the same direction, you get an effect called "parallelism" which is a
rather dull-sounding, thus undesirable, movement.
The rule goes like this:
3 - When two chords ascend by one step, move the bass note up, and move the
other notes down.
4 - When two chords descend by one step, move the bass note down, and move
the other notes up.
Example:
DFA
CEG
As you can see, no common notes exist, and the chords are just one step
apart. Therefore, parts 3 and 4 of Norman's Law will be helpful in tracking
this progression without destroying the piece. Example below:
| Channel 1 | Channel 2 | Channel 3 |
|D-4 01 64 ...|F-4 01 64 ...|A-5 01 64 ...| [Root position D Major]
|C-4 01 64 ...|G-4 01 64 ...|E-5 01 64 ...| [First Inversion C Major]
Basically, this "law" was designed with orchestral instruments in mind, with
the idea that the closer the two notes, the easier it is to play (or even
sing). It also has usefulness in tracking too: The closer the notes remain
to their original positions, the smoother the transition will go.
The next column in this series covers a technique that I like to call "Note
Bleeding." Check in next time for Tracking Tips!
-Brett Neely gd@ftp.cdrom.com
===[Subscribing]===============================================================
There are three public newsletters produced by Hornet:
demuan-list Listing of new files on ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos.
This is really the home-base list. If you subscribe
to only 1 of newsletters we offer, make it this one.
demuan-article This newsletter has timely articles dealing with many
aspects of the demo scene. This is a serious newsletter
and not to be confused with hornet-news.
hornet-news Hornet News is an informal newsletter. There are
editorials, opinion columns, and humor dealing with
many aspects of the demo scene.
How to Subscribe:
1. Start an e-mail to: listserver@unseen.aztec.co.za
2. Type in "blahblah" as the subject. The listserver does not read
the subject line, but I do not know what will happen if you
leave it blank.
3. On the first line of the body of the mail, write:
subscribe demuan-list YourName OR
subscribe demuan-article YourName OR
subscribe hornet-news YourName
In place of "YourName", use your real name or handle. Your name
can be 1 or 2 words long.
Example:
subscribe demuan-article Christopher Mann
subscribe demuan-article r3cgm@dax.cc.uakron.edu !WRONG!
4. Send it.
The listserver will automatically look at the return address of your
mail. _That_ address is where newsletters will be sent.
===[Closing]===================================================================
For questions and comments, you can contact us at:
Jeff | jeff@ftp.cdrom.com - general stuff, WWW, NAID96 organizer
Snowman | r3cgm@ftp.cdrom.com - unusual stuff, o1 + HNews newsletters
GraveDigger | gd@ftp.cdrom.com - music + demo reviews, general music
Trixter | trixter@ftp.cdrom.com - code reviews, general code
Dan Wright | dmw@inca.gate.net - Freedom CD
===============================================================================
