-Start-of-Demo-News-#72------------------------------------------------------- ______/\___________________________ __ ________________ ___ /\_______ \____ \ ________ _ _ ______ \ / \| \ ________ | \/ ______/ / | \ _) \ \_/ \ | \ / \ \ _) \ | \______ \ / | \ \ | \ | \/ \ \ /~\ \ / \ \_____ /_______/___| /________/\____\_____/_______/_________/________/ ===\_____/============|____/========================================[+tZ^]== ISSUE #72 November 27, 1994 - December 3, 1994 DemoNews is a weekly publication dedicated to the demo scene. It is produced at the Internet FTP site ftp.eng.ufl.edu (aka HORNET). This news- letter focuses on all aspects of demos and demo-making (including music, art, and coding). ALL are welcomed to contribute articles, rumors, adver- tisements, etc. SUBSCRIBERS: Last week - 732 This week - 748 Change - +16 ============================================================================== << CONTENTS >> ============================================================================== Section 1.............Standard Information --> Who Are We? Section 2..........................General --> Goodbye Michelle Goodbye Music Secret Part - New Intro Section 3............DemoNews Advancements --> WWW/HTML/USENET Section 4......................New Uploads --> New Files for the Week Section 5.................Musicians Corner --> Interview with SKAVEN! Extreme's New Tracker Section 6....................Coders Corner --> Aspyxia Lives Reviewing Code (Metal) Section 7...................Artists Corner --> Stony's First Article Section 8....................Escape DemoCD --> Its out! Section 9...................Advertisements --> Data Connection BBS Section 10....................Miscellaneous --> DemoNews growth limits Section 11.................Closing Comments --> Quote for the Week ============================================================================== ((Section 1...Standard Information)) ============================================================================== "HORNET" is the name of an FTP site on the internet. It is a place where people upload and download files. However, HORNET has grown much larger since it was first created 2.5 years ago by Dan Wright. Now HORNET releases a weekly newsletter called DemoNews, and is starting to offer other services. HORNET specializes in the "demo scene", and files that are re- lated to demos, coding, music, or graphics are welcome. Officially: Site Name : HORNET Address : hornet.eng.ufl.edu (128.227.116.7) Location : Florida, USA System E-Mail : dmw@eng.ufl.edu There are currently 16 active demo-operators for this site: Name Position Address --------------------------------------------------------------------- GEN|Christopher G. Mann COORDINATOR r3cgm@dax.cc.uakron.edu |Jeff (White Noise) WEBMASTER jeff@ego.psych.mcgill.ca |Kim Davies DNDISTRO kimba@it.com.au |Burning Chrome DEMOBOOK? bchrome@foley.ripco.com |Styros LINKMAN iq23@jove.acs.unt.edu DEMOS|Mike DREVIEW weis@elf.stuba.sk |Brenton Swart (Zenith) DREVIEW bswa1595@pilot.stu.cowan.edu.au MUSIC|Ryan Cramer MARTICLE rcramer1@osf1.gmu.edu |Per-Ivar Knutsen MREVIEW perk@stud.cs.uit.no CODE|Grant Denthor CARTICLE denthor@beastie.cs.und.ac.za |Dee-Cug (JsNo) CARTICLE jsno@amigar.apana.org.au |Andy Younger (King Tech) CMOVER aiy@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU |David Thornley (Metal) CREVIEW dthorn@gco.apana.org.au ART|Jester ARAY jester@rbg.informatik. | th-darmstadt.de |Stony AHAND p.vanmun0@hsbos.nl |Jason (Cavalier) AANSI cavalier@shadow.net THIS SITE IS MIRRORED BY THE FOLLOWING FTP SITES: FTP Name IP Address Country Base Directory -------------------- -------------- --------- -------------------- ftp.uwp.edu 131.210.1.4 USA /pub/msdos/demos *ftp.luth.se 130.240.18.2 SWEDEN /pub/msdos/demos ftp.sun.ac.za 146.232.212.21 S. AFRICA /pub/msdos/demos ftp.uni-erlangen.de 131.188.2.43 GERMANY ?? ftp.uni-paderborn.de 131.234.10.42 GERMANY /pub/msdos/demos ftp.cdrom.com 192.216.191.11 USA /pub/demos freedom.wit.com 144.92.88.30 USA /systems/ibmpc/demos *Only site that mirrors the /incoming directory OTHER GOOD DEMO/MUSIC FTP SITES TO CHECK OUT: FTP Name IP Address Country Directory -------------------- -------------- --------- -------------------- ftp.mpoli.fi 193.210.15.65 FINLAND /pub/starport ftp.brad.ac.uk 143.52.2.6 ENGLAND /misc/mods If you know of any other good ftp sites, let me know and I will add them to this list. [SUBSCRIBING TO DEMONEWS] You can subscribe to this newsletter by mailing listserver@oliver.sun.ac.za and putting "subscribe demuan-list your_real_name" in your message. The listserver is what sends out this newsletter every SUNDAY morning. kimba@it.com.au is the keeper of the listserver. If you have any questions about subscribing to DemoNews, write to him. For those who use the GUI environment check out our DN.HMTL in the /demos/news directory. The URL is ftp://ftp.eng.ufl.edu/demos/news/DN.HTML ============================================================================== ((Section 2...General)) ============================================================================== (Goodbye Michelle) Christopher G. Mann ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For the past 4.5 months, I dated Michelle Davis. Very early in our relationship, I introduced her to demos. She seemed very impressed with the work that went on in making such a production. Over time, we made a regular habit of getting together and watching the latest releases. Michelle was a good listener and would let me ramble on about Music Contest ][, the Escape CD, Assembly 94, etc. It got to the point where I could say 'I hear that FC is coming out with a new demo soon', and she would reply 'well, its about time...the last major release was Second Reality at ASM93'. She KNEW the scene (from my perspective). I started dating Michelle back when Music Contest ][ was a baby. We would listen to new entries as they came in. V-vibes was a song she was particularly fond of. Given the limited space on the Escape CD, her pursuasion was actually a factor in getting that song included. It was kind of funny when the contest was finishing up: we would look at some of the ratings the judges were giving songs and shake our heads in disbelief. :) She was there when the MC2DEMO, Escape intro, Escape CD, and several other projects were finished. In fact, she is the only person that can really appreciate the work that went into MC][. In many ways, she has an edge over many people in the scene already because she has seen several projects go from idea to planning, to production, and to release. Even though she can not code, write music, or do graphics, I think she might have done a pretty good job organizing people to put together a demo. Recently, Michelle and I parted on good terms. She is a user of Prodigy and recently gained the ability to send e-mail on internet. Here is part of a letter I receieved a few days after our breakup: Me again... Thank you for your prompt reply. I've been doing a lot of thinking today and I don't want to completely lose you. I understand that we are no longer dating but, if we could, I'd like to stay in touch through demos... I've come to really love the demo scene and since I have a sucky computer, I would probably never watch another demo again. That thought doesn't sit well with me. If it would be alright with you, I'd like to get together every now and again to watch whatever new demos are out there. Also, I'd like it very much if you'd keep me updated on all demo happenings, if possible I'd like to hear about all the important stuff before DemoNews comes out. Maybe we can base a friendship on this subject. It is just an idea after all. The Demo Scene had a big impact on our relationship. It served both as something to do (watching demos), and something to talk about (my projects). I count myself very lucky to have found a girlfriend who took an active interest in the demo scene. Those of you out there whose girlfriends couldn't identify an IBM from a toaster can agree. :) If you look back at what I've done in the past 4 months, there is a little bit of Michelle in everything. Her constant support and encouragement have allowed me to function better under stress. Michelle, even though the demo scene might not have known who you were, your influence was felt around the world. You will be missed. -Christopher G. Mann November 26, 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Goodbye Music) Christopher G. Mann ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With this issue, I formally say goodbye to the music aspect of the scene. I have three releases this week: byemusic.zip - My first (and final) music disk. mictro .zip - A birthday demo I did for Michelle (see above) tut1 .zip - Converted source code to Denthor's demo tutorial. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Secret Part in New Intro/Majic 12) Mike ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NewIntro - New Intro / Majic 12 - again Maxwood's secret part :)) This time it was really easy to find how to enter it using debuger - press up-arrow to start tron-like game, and use all arrows to control it. - as usualy, this intro is "GUS at 220 only" but it also works with no-GUS. But it is terrible to get no-sound if there is a GUS in machine on other port (users with GUS & SB know it very well). But again you'll need to patch a lot of values in uncompressed code to switch it to 240 or other base-port.... ============================================================================== ((Section 3...DemoNews Advancements)) ============================================================================== We are still working on the WWW/HTML interface for DemoNews. White Noise is in charge of pushing DemoNews to new heights. We are also considering posting DemoNews to a few demo newsgroups on USENET. Ryan Cramer has just told me that Data Connection (his BBS in Virginia, USA) will be getting an internet mail connection around X-Mas time. This should increase the number of subscribers to DemoNews by about 100. ============================================================================== ((Section 4...New Uploads)) ============================================================================== Note: All ANSI was taken offline this week. We do not have resources to keep this area active on HORNET. In addition, there was more profanity and creation of difficult-to-remove directories in this section than in any other. For example here are some of the files that WERE in the /incoming/ansi directory this very week: drwxrwxr-x 3 10 512 Nov 23 00:43 ???? drwxrwxr-x 11 10 1024 Nov 25 00:55 ..???????? drwxrwxr-x 2 10 512 Nov 24 07:12 this.sucks -rw-rw-r-- 1 10 299 Nov 25 02:49 sHUT.dA.fUCK.uP -rw-rw-r-- 1 10 0 Nov 19 10:57 gzip-1.2.4.msdos.exe.lsm drwxrwxr-x 2 10 512 Nov 25 12:06 why.are.you.taking.the.site.down. assholes I am NOT pleased. The last directory above answers its own question. FILENAME.EXT LOCATION SIZE DESCRIPTION ------------ ---------------- ---- ----------------------------------------- .-----------. | --DEMOS-- | (all locations start with /pub/msdos/demos...) `-----------' ignite .zip /alpha/NEW 528 Ignite by Xtatic (GUS/SB) miopia20.zip /alpha/NEW 619 Miopia, the first demo by RST (SB) phantom .zip /alpha/NEW 8 BBStro by Natas / LiTHiUM rst .zip /alpha/NEW 56 First Intro by Rising Sun Team (ADLIB) unknown .zip /alpha/NEW 347 Unknown by Mindprobe - (GUS) .-----------. | --MUSIC-- | (all locations start with /pub/msdos/demos/music...) `-----------' rr_ch4-1.zip /disks 1347 Radical Rhythms Music disk (1 of 2) rr_ch4-2.zip /disks 1435 Radical Rhythms Music disk (2 of 2) ls034 .zip /programs/frontend 66 Multiformat MOD player shell -LiTHiUM kardp10 .zip /programs/misc 226 Karoke Player for DOS m3rip211.zip /programs/rippers 32 Rips MOD/MID/S3M/STM/MTM/ULT/FAR/XM rip01 .zip /programs/rippers 17 Module ripper by Natas of LiTHiUM etrck07 .zip /programs/trackers 267 Extreme Tracker (See review below) sclub_sw.zip /programs/trackers 581 New graphical music editor 1995.lha /songs/mod 719 MOD "1995" by Sidewinder lostalon.zip /songs/mod 78 MOD "Lost Alone" by Domino m-break .zip /songs/mod 6 MOD by Mystical of Purple m-cheese.zip /songs/mod 6 MOD by Mystical of Purple m-comfor.zip /songs/mod 56 MOD by Mystical of Purple m-cresce.zip /songs/mod 47 MOD by Mystical of Purple m-electr.zip /songs/mod 84 MOD by Mystical of Purple m-fastla.zip /songs/mod 45 MOD by Mystical of Purple m-gettin.zip /songs/mod 112 MOD by Mystical of Purple m-guder .zip /songs/mod 57 MOD by Mystical of Purple m-house .zip /songs/mod 116 MOD by Mystical of Purple tl-affin.zip /songs/mod 242 MOD "Affinity" by Timelord tl-dark2.zip /songs/mod 290 MOD "The Edge of Darkness 2" Timelord tl-omni .zip /songs/mod 240 MOD "Omni" by Timelord tl-vibe .zip /songs/mod 195 MOD "Nightvibe" by Timelord odyssey .zip /songs/mtm 166 MTM "Hyperspace Odyssey" by Sybaris 2k-squar.zip /songs/s3m 255 S3M by Mopias 3/Kookie Kontrol 2k-jaxx .zip /songs/s3m 187 S3M by Karl/Kookie Kontrol 8363-hmm.zip /songs/s3m 131 S3M by Eight363 8363-met.zip /songs/s3m 119 S3M by Eight363 abyss .zip /songs/s3m 177 S3M "Abyss of Despair" by Pest/TranZe chpology.zip /songs/s3m 9 S3M "Chipology" by Leviathan/Ren'94 discover.zip /songs/s3m 66 S3M "Thrill of Discovery" by Blackwolf etack .zip /songs/s3m 82 S3M "E-TACK" Hardcore by Woody fiction .zip /songs/s3m 322 S3M "Fiction" by M-S-M/TranZe fuga .zip /songs/s3m 95 S3M "Fuga" by Crazy Teo hyp_res .zip /songs/s3m 156 S3M "Hypnotic Research" by Humanoid imh-had .zip /songs/s3m 58 S3M "In My House Remix" by Hadji lv-2ndna.zip /songs/s3m 79 S3M "Second Nature" by Leviathan lv-invic.zip /songs/s3m 140 S3M "Invictus" by Leviathan/Renaissance mystery .zip /songs/s3m 380 S3M "Waves of Mystery" by W!ND/Enigma nl-mod .arj /songs/s3m 2936 MODs from Nordic Line Party compo s!p-ripd.zip /songs/s3m 145 S3M "Ripped Fuel Rules" TheFaker/S!P vir_ride.zip /songs/s3m 210 S3M "Virtual Ride" by Juergen Brocke *** Created new directory /songs/xm *** achlys .zip /songs/xm 694 Three XM music files from Achlys excsagrs.zip /songs/xm 346 XM "Excessive Agression" by Trifixion hmm .zip /songs/xm 214 XM "Grr-hmm" by YANN .----------. | --CODE-- | (all locations start with /pub/msdos/demos/code...) `----------' Next week, Denthor will regularly start handling the /incoming/code files. .----------. | --MISC-- | (all locations start with /pub/msdos/demos...) `----------' ============================================================================== ooo ooooo o8o oooo `88. .888' `"' `888 888b d'888 oooo oooo oooooooo oooo 888 oooo 8 Y88. .P 888 `888 `888 d'""7d8P `888 888 .8P' 8 `888' 888 888 888 .d8P' 888 888888. 8 Y 888 888 888 .d8P' .P 888 888 `88b. o8o o888o `V88V"V8P' d8888888P o888o o888o o888o ((Section 5...Musicians Corner)) Ryan Cramer [Iguana/Renaissance] rcramer1@osf1.gmu.edu - George Mason University, Fairfax, VA ============================================================================== (General) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This week we have some great music scene coverage. We start out with an extensive interview of Skaven of Future Crew. The interview discusses many things including Skaven's background, his influences, and his future as a musician. The interview also goes into Future Crew productions, the future of Scream Tracker III, Skaven's other interest: Graphics, and his plans for a new tracker. I think that this is the most extensive interview done on Skaven to date. Hope that you enjoy it. Next, we also have a very complete review of Extreme's new tracker, called "Extreme Tracker". We go through many of its features, its advantages and disadvantages. The article also compares it to Scream Tracker III and Fast Tracker 2, its two main competitors. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTERVIEW: Skaven (aka Peter Hajba) of Future Crew [Music Article 1 of 2] _______ __ | __| |--.---.-.--.--.-----.-----. |__ | <| _ | | | -__| | |_______|__|__|___._|\___/|_____|__|__| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Skaven of Future Crew is perhaps the most famous musician in the PC demo scene, along with Purple Motion. Both musicians have maintained the top two spots in the charts ever since Future Crew's megademo "Unreal" was released in 1992. Their demo "Second Reality" is still undisputed to be the best demo ever produced. Skaven's music gave the demo a movie-like feel and I think that many people would agree that it was the best music that we've ever heard in a demo. Skaven truly is one of the founders of the PC demo music scene. I think that many musicians in the scene today were very influenced by his music and may not have been involved in the scene had it not been for his inspirational music. Skaven has also done music for many other projects, including his kick-ass music disk entitled "Chaotic Mind", his TP'92 intro music, his ASM'94 intro music, several individual S3M releases, his Epidemic music, and many others... I'm very pleased that we were able to get an interview from Skaven this week. This interview was conducted on Saturday, November 26th, 1994. [Start of interview: Skaven/Future Crew] RC: Ryan Cramer - rcramer1@osf1.gmu.edu - Fairfax, Virginia, USA. SK: Skaven - skaven@janus.otol.fi - Finland. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RC: What originally got you interested in tracked music? SK: I got interested in tracker music when I saw Scream Tracker and started playing with it. I actually registered my copy from PSI. RC: What type of musical background do you have? SK: I have no musical background at all - even at school I chose art. It started when I began using Scream Tracker. PSI then asked me to beta test Scream Tracker III, and thats how my career with Future Crew started. RC: Was your first musical work with Future Crew, or were you doing stuff before that? SK: I did several pieces with my copy of Scream Tracker and played them to PSI and friends, before joining - my first Future Crew pieces were the musics composed for our demo "Unreal". RC: So the stuff in "Unreal" was some of your first music. Thats amazing considering how excellent the music was. To this day, I'm still amazed by your song "Realm of Chaos" from the credits of Unreal. SK: Glad to hear that. :) RC: What music would you say your most influenced by, either from CDs or other tracked music? SK: Most probably.. should I say.. Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream. Nowadays I'm into newage and ambient, such as Philip Glass. RC: Jarre's music has changed a lot thorugh the years, do you like his older style (aka "Oxygene") or his newer stuff (like Chronologie)? SK: Actually, both. He's gotten stinking rich, so he can afford any synth he wants... maybe his newer music is a bit too full. His older music used to be one-man music, but nowadays he has a band. So his style has been influenced and mixed a lot. RC: How about Tangerine Dream, they've TOTALLY changed, they used to be using all analog synth stuff, now they just use their presets on their Korgs. :) Do you like Tangerine Dream's earlier stuff, or their newer stuff? (I personally like both) SK: Oh, I didn't like the old "nonfigurative" stuff at all. I DID like when they experimented with Klaus Schulze. When it comes to their newest music, it has become very "commercial" and populistic. I like their music between these two phases. RC: What are your plans for the Future (musically)? SK: Musically? Hard to say - Purple Motion is a true musical professional anyway. If I can afford a synth someday, sure I'll keep on doing it. But I might as well move to graphics. The future is open, really. I am 70% sure, though, that music will NOT be my primary way of making a living ...but rather, a way to earn a few extra bucks. :) RC: Speaking of your graphics, they are really incredible. Will you be doing graphics for any future FC productions or anything like that? SK: Certainly. I only lacked the EXPERIENCE, because I was never asked to draw too much. Not until now have I drawn enough to call myself a GFX-man, so expect me to publish an array of graphics soon. For your curiousity, the upcoming "Chromatics III" music disk. When it comes to drawing, I've been doing it since I was a kid - on paper. I chose art at school even, not music. RC: Well, I, as I'm sure many others, will be looking forward to seeing your graphics work. I really enjoyed your graphics works that you've done in the past. SK: Thanks. :) RC: What would you consider to be your best piece of music that you've written? SK: It depends a lot on the mood. But "Mercury Rain" and "Deep in her Eyes" please me the most - in the means of being well structured. I never was too good at structuring pieces. Those songs, in my humble opinion, were full of ideas with no unnecessary over-emphasizing. I kinda like "Omniphilia" too. RC: Well, I for one have really enjoyed all of your music. I think the ones I enjoyed the most were your Second Reality tune, "Deep in Her Eyes" and your winning ASM'93 song titled "Ice Frontier". SK: ...and I'm glad to hear you like them. Oh, I am personally a bit disappointed with my Second Reality music. It was TOO powerful - almost noisy. It could have been better. RC: What plans does Future Crew have for the future? Are you guys planning on any future releases (if this is confidential, you do not have to answer this question)? SK: Well, something confidential, of course... but I would like to see FC start a real business. We DO have all the talent and potential to reach new heights - but it looks like we've gotten into some difficulties lately. Such as, our coders being too tied up. So, we'll see... Something big is boiling under the quiet surface, though... :) ...but I won't tell more. RC: Something big? Sounds good, can't wait. :) What do you think of the many PC scene musicians that are trying to copy your music. They're ripping your samples and everything. I know I did that too when I first started composing. :) Are you disappointed or complimented by this? SK: I don't mind people ripping my SAMPLES. As I said, I am too poor to afford a synthesizer. What else could I do than rip? Of course, I've always used Advanced Digiplayer very creatively, and "hidden" the fact that I rip - not to mention I have a big library, so all my songs contain samples from several differnet songs - and are a real mix. I feel... well... complimented, I guess. If I really should. :) What I WOULD feel bad about, is people ripping my chords and melodies. RC: What do you think of these new trackers coming out, such as Extreme's Tracker and Fast Tracker 2? SK: I haven't even tried any other trackers other than ST and ST3 yet - except for UltraTracker, which scared me away. Perhaps I should be a bit more explorative. RC: Do you know if Future Crew will be making any new versions of Scream Tracker III? SK: PSI said that he will try to fix most of the bugs in ST3, "if he gets the time", which has nowadays become very limited. :( RC: Ah but atleast theres hope. :) Maybe someday someone will code a new ST3 just like the old one, but better. SK: Actually, I have already, with my friend, designed a new generation music tracker program - "Quantum Composer". But its ONLY a plan, so far. RC: This "Quantum Composer" sounds interesting, is there anything else you'd like to say about it now? SK: How about.. object oriented? Its the magic word. A new type of structure for patterns. Thats only one idea, I'm not going to leak the rest. :) RC: Are there any people you'd like to greet or additional things you'd like to say? SK: What I'd like to say... don't trust in rumours. I have gotten quite silly on IRC at times, and it seems that some people take that seriously, and spread those things as rumours. Not good. ...and I'd like to greet Necros, atleast. He has what it needs. His songs have rhythm, tension, perfected structure... RC: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, its greatly appreciated! SK: Okay... was glad to give it. :) [end of interview] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ REVIEW: Extreme's Tracker 0.7a [Music Article 2 of 2] _______ __ | ___|.--.--.| |_.----.-----.--------.-----. | ___||_ _|| _| _| -__| | -__| |_______||__.__||____|__| |_____|__|__|__|_____| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This week, Extreme finally released a usable version of their new tracker. Naturally, its called: Extreme Tracker. I'm sure that many of you have already seen this tracker, but in the past it was unusable because it would not let you save. Well, it seems that Extreme decided to follow Triton's lead and make their tracker (atleast the beta version) freeware. Extreme has really made a nice piece of software here, and I'm going to go through a detailed review of this tracker while comparing it to Scream Tracker 3 and Fast Tracker 2. General Overview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Extreme has really focused on the interface in their tracker. In many respects, its very similar to Fast Tracker 2. Extreme tracker uses a mouse driven interface, but all commands are also accessable through hot key command strokes which are listed in the included documentation file. Extreme tracker offers some very powerful features, here is a list of features from their information file. * 32 GUS Channels * 255 Samples * 65536 Patterns * 65536 Positions * 7 Commands on each note * 8 Octaves * Separate panpot for each sample * Variable C-2 frequency for each sample * More Effect Commands * Packed patterndata and samples * Configurable to match FastTracker/ScreamTracker/Protracker etc standards * Over 50 different options in the config. * All key shortcuts are reconfigurable * Longer samplenames/songname * Separate names on each channel and each pattern for easier identification * Special Module Description Editor for entering long descriptions of your music tune * Sample Editor * Position Editor * Advanced Split Keyboard Feature * MIDI styled keyboard (let's you press several keys simultaniously) * Loads AMS, MOD, S3M, STM, IFF, SMP and DP3 * And of course alot more for you to discover! One thing that I should mention is that this tracker ONLY supports the Gravis Ultrasound. This seems to be the trend for the demo scene, and I can see why they would only support the GUS since it really is the standard. However, both Scream Tracker III and Fast Tracker 2 support the shitblaster series of cards. Interface ~~~~~~~~~ When you first load up the tracker, you are presented with a beautiful interface. Everything really looks well placed. They make really good use of the mouse, there are scrollbars everywhere! However, when actually trying to use the tracker, I found the buttons (called "gadgets" in the documentation) kind of hard to read. It uses a font which looks kind of strange and there are pin-stripes throughout the screen which kind of make it look confusing compared to Fast Tracker 2 and earlier releases of Extreme's Tracker. When I compare it to the previous release (v0.6a) I think that the screen is definitly a lot more difficult to read. The little pin-stripes and fancy graphics are kind of annoying. Luckily, according to the documentation, you can get rid of them by making use of the "configuration: color" feature. However, I wasn't successful when trying to do this. Maybe I just have bad eyes, but I also had difficulty reading the commands in the track pattern. Extreme Tracker uses a standard protracker command interface, but they have added an additional character to the field. As a result, a single row on the pattern field looks like this: Protracker : D-2 02 C10 Extreme : D-2 02 0C10 | notice the extra command character They added this extra character to allow for more commands instead of the standard protracker A through F command set. By using this extra character, Extreme Tracker offers other commands in addition to the protracker command set like: E8 00 - break sampleloop 10 00 - play sample forwards 10 01 - play sample backwards 10 02 - enable bidirectional loop 11 xx - extra fine slide up 12 xx - extra fine slide down 13 xy - retrig with volumeslide ...and others... Interesting stuff eh? I thought it was pretty cool, but I'm not sure how often I'd use those. :) I think that a better solution for adding additional commands would be to use the other letters of the alphabet, like: G-Z while still using the standard protracker A-F command set. This would have eliminated the need for the extra command character which I feel sort of crowds the command field. Unlike Scream Tracker III and Fast Tracker 2, Extreme Tracker does not have an extra volume field. This means that you will still have to use the protracker command (Cxx) to set the volume for your sample. I think that this is a major disadvantage because the extra volume field really makes things a LOT easier... However, Extreme tracker DOES support multiple commands per note (up to 7!). As an example, this means that you could port a note down, set the volume of it, and at the same time set its vibrato. I'm not sure how often I would use this feature, but its really nice to have for those few times that you need to apply more than one command to a note. Scream Tracker III does support this feature, but Fast Tracker 2 does not. Instead, Fast Tracker 2 supports the alternative: sample envelopes. Whether you would rather have multiple commands or sample envelopes is personal preference, but I would rather use multiple commands like Extreme Tracker supports. In addition, Extreme Tracker makes these multiple commands VERY easy to get to: simply click on the number thats at the top right of each track. While Extreme Tracker does not support sample envelopes like Fast Tracker 2, it does allow you to set the panning position for each sample. It also of course allows individual channel panning using the standard protracker E8x command (well, maybe not 100% standard). The Extreme tracker also has a couple of other unique features that I really like. Above each channel, there is a small description field so that you can give each channel your own description. As an example, the author of the example song that was included named his channels: Lead Sound, Drums+Roam, Roam+Drums, Cool Noise, Strings, Lead Sound2. This helps to keep everything in order. Also, Extreme Tracker has a seperate song description field. This allows the author of the song to include a lot of text about his song instead of putting all of the chatter in the sample names. :) Besides the things that I mentioned, Extreme Tracker seems to have a very nice to look at, easy to use, and functional interface. Its very similar to Fast Tracker 2 and uses mostly all of the same standard protracker keys. Sound Quality ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, considering that this tracker only supports the GUS, the sound quality is excellent. However, as you may know, some GUS players are better than others. I would say that Extreme Tracker has a fantastic GUS player, there are no annoying "ultraclicks", and I have yet to hear any random pops or whistles. :) Sample Editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I didn't have any luck getting this sample editor to work correctly. I was able to make samples, but they came out really shitty. I could only slightly make out the notes that I had sampled from my Korg. Obviously, they're still working on the sample editor. It looks like its going to be really nice when they get it finished, but for now, I'd advise not using it. Lets hope that they also put in a input level indicator (like in FT2) so that sampling is less of a hassle. If Extreme gets their sample editor fixed up, and they get all of the features working, I think that it may be better then the sample editor in Fast Tracker 2. Configuration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is one of the best features of Extreme Tracker. Its configuration screen is very extensive and you can change nearly every aspect of its operation. If you find anything in the tracker to be annoying, chances are that you can fix it by changing something in the configuration screen. I'm not going to list everything here, except that I will say its the most extensive configuration that I have seen in a tracker. Its not quite as intuitive as the Fast Tracker 2 configuration, but it does let you have more control over the look and feel of the tracker than FT2 does. The only thing missing was the ability to change how many channels you want to have on the screen at once. Extreme Tracker also lets you change all of the colors in the tracker. It doesn't offer predefined palettes like Fast Tracker 2, but it does have very easy to use scrollbars to change the colors to your liking instantly. Now, one of my favorite things about the tracker! It allows you to change the key definitions to whatever you want! This is something that should be in every tracker. This means that you can change any command in the tracker to be activated by whatever keystroke you chose. If you wanted to use the Scream Tracker III block/copy command set, no problem! Simply scroll through the list of available commands, then click on one. At this point, Extreme Tracker will ask you to hit the key that you want to activate this command ...Incredible! Summary ~~~~~~~ It looks like Extreme has developed a really nice tracker, and they've obviously put a lot of work into it. I think that it would be tough to decide which tracker is the best: Scream Tracker III, Fast Tracker 2, or Extreme Tracker. Each tracker offers so many things that make it unique and great. It all comes down to a matter of personal preference. I think that a lot of people will be using Extreme's Tracker because of its great configurability and its easy to use interface. Extreme Tracker also has great support for existing module formats (MOD, S3M, etc) and it doesn't choke on the S3Ms that Fast Tracker 2 seems to have so much trouble loading. Those that are used to the protracker command set will be right at home with Extreme Tracker. For people that didn't like FastTracker 2 because of its complexity and some of its deviations from what some people thought was "standard" for trackers, Extreme Tracker is a great alternative. Obviously, many of the features in both Extreme Tracker, and Fast Tracker 2 put it above of Scream Tracker III (ie: sample editor, panning options, configuration, Extreme's keyboard config, etc) but I think that Scream Tracker III will continue to be the standard for the demo scene, atleast for now. Reason being that Scream Tracker III was released at a time when everybody REALLY needed a good tracker. So many people are using ST3 now that it really has become the standard for the PC scene. ST3 has a totally different interface from both Extreme Tracker and Fast Tracker 2. In addition, it also uses a totally different command set. These trackers are so different that users of ST3 will probably not be inclined to switch to Extreme or FT2 so easily. Atleast, this is the way that I feel about it. I've been using ST3 for some time now, and I feel at home when using it. When I use Fast Tracker 2 or Extreme Tracker, I have a difficult time making music because everything is SO different. In addition, S3Ms are so widely supported that just about every good player supports them now. Nevertheless, both Extreme Tracker and FT2 really look neat, and I'm going to experiment with them a lot more. The way I see it, the music scene has three great trackers, and each of them will have equal amounts of supporters and bashers. Anyone read the debate between ST3 and FT2 in c.s.i.p.d lately?? I can't wait till Extreme Tracker gets added into these debates. :) About a year ago, I was sitting around using MMEdit wondering why the PC scene didn't have ANY good trackers. Well, now it seems that we've got three great trackers. Its about time! =) You can find Extreme Tracker at: ftp.eng.ufl.edu - /pub/msdos/demos/incoming/music/etrck07.zip ...by the time you read this article, it may have been moved to: /pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/etrck07.zip For those that do not have ftp or internet access, the program can also be found on Data Connection BBS (numbers given in the advertisement below). ============================================================================== ((Section 6...Coders Corner)) Denthor [Asphyxia] ============================================================================== (ASPHYXIA LIVES) [Code Article 1 of 2] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, for my second article in this magazine, I have been asked to explain a bit more about Asphyxia and how we live. Asphyxia was formed about two years ago, just after our final school exams (end of grade 12/matric/standard 10/form 6 depending on where you live) The way it happened was like this : There was a beachfront braai (barbecue) held by a local BBS (Connectix). While there, I met this strange person calling himself EzE ... he seemed, like me, to be very interested in coding. During the course of the evening he got steadily smashed. When he was out of it, I wrote my name and number on his arm, and went home. A day later, I got a phonecall. "I don't know who you are, but I just found your name and number on my arm!" And so Asphyxia was born. He then introduced me to LiveWire, another coder, and our first intro was out in a few days. (All hail Norton Guides). (BTW, LiveWire later changed his name to GoTH) A few months later, we met a guy at a local computer club, who was a gaming fanatic. After meeting him a few times, I gave him a drawing program, a mouse, told him to draw something, and left. The pic he then gave me wasn't that bad, and he seemed to enjoy it. Fubar, the Asphyxia artist, was born. Here is a description of the lot of us : Grant "I had a weird childhood, it's amazing I'm sane" Smith AKA : Denthor Tall, dark and handsome. Well, two out of three ain't bad. Codes _lots_ Peter "You have no idea how hard it is being an artist" Edwards AKA : EzE Short, blonde and handsome. Well, two out of three ain't bad. Codes, writes S3M's and is a heavy metal drummer Pieter "I'm so depressed, this'll never work" Buys AKA : Fubar Medium, dark and handsome. Yeah! 3 out of 3! A perfect score! Draws pictures. Plays games. Brian "All I need is a computer and the love of a good woman" Bailey AKA : GoTH Short, blond, and handsome. Ever heard of poetic licence? Codes, sometimes. Hmm. How do we live? We don't, we just exist from coffee cup to coffee cup. Let me list a typical conversation between us. Brian : Grant, your damn code doesn't work! Grant : Yes it does, I'm sure it does. Brian : Nope, it's crap. Peter : Umm, guys. Pieter : Zzzzzzzzzzzzz Peter : Does it work with range checking? Grant : Wow! Cool! It does. Fancy that! Brian : (very softly) Um, I think I know what the problem is. All : (Except Brian) What? Brian : Um, never mind... Grant : It couldn't _possibly_ be your sound code, could it. Brain : ... Peter : Oh, god, not again. Grant : And you said it was _my_ code, HAH! Brain : Well it wasn't _my_ fault the docs are wrong. Peter : (Sotto voce) Yeah right. Pieter : Guys, could you handle a solid background while that effect is going on in the foreground? Brian : No! Grant : Yes! Peter : Maybe...?? Pieter : Oh, god, not again. Grant : I feel like some milk. Peter : What? You feel like milk? You don't look like milk. Grant : Yep, I keep on thinking I'm inside a cow. Pieter : Oh, god, not again. Hmmm ... people seem to be quite surprised when we say we are democoders from South Africa. Here are a few examples : American (through internet email) : Have you ever heard of ID Software, or Doom? Do you have electricity? How do you code? Denthor : Yep, I have even heard of the internet! Of course, coding is quite difficult. My dad has to hook up the battery of our chevy to the generator in order to get enough power to my 286. It isn't so bad, if you don't mind the noise of the diesel generator. The only problem is, I can't code at night because we need the power for lights, cooking and so forth. In actual fact, we aren't that backwards. At university, I use a lan with about 30 486's, with a dedicated net link. There are (gosh) high concrete buildings in Durban, and the most exciting recent development was the lift. EzE and I have to go off now and take a cold shower. We've been talking about Gabrielle Anwar, and we just can't take it anymore! See you next week! - Denthor asphyxia@beastie.cs.und.ac.za ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Reviewing /code) by David Thornley (Metal) [Code Article 2 of 2] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [David has submitted a form to me for reviewing code. I have made a few alterations and comments on it. Anything in [] is a comment by Snowman. Once this form is set, David will be working on reviewing all of the source code files on HORNET. Its just another way we're trying to make this site better.] [First, NO HIGH-ASCII :), and reduce the size to 78 columns.] Code Review .---------------------------------------------------------------------------. | FileName : ________.___ | | Author/Group : ____________________________ | | Date Uploaded: _________________________ | | Description : _________________________________________________________ | | _________________________________________________________ | | _________________________________________________________ | | FileSize : ___________ | | Languages : ASM [_], C [_], C++ [_], PASCAL [_], BASIC [_], | | OTHER [________________] | | Compiler : ___________________ | | | | Ratings ---- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | | Coding - ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ___% | | Documentation - ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ___% | | Understandability - ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ___% | | Portability - ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ___% | | | | OverAll - ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ___% | | | `---------------------------------------------------------------------------' Explanations : FileName: The Filename of the CODE Author/Group: The Author's name of the CODE or Demo Groups name. Date Uploaded: This is the date at which the file was uploaded. [I would rather have the date of the newest file in the archive here, rather than they day it was uploaded. Some of the files have been moved and/or copied or re-archived. This has made the uploaded date innacurate. Also, some areas of the world would see 01/02/94 as January 2, 1994, others would see it as February 1, 1994. Because of this, I would rather we have the date in format.] Description: A Fairly detailed description of the purpose of the code. FileSize: Gives the person a fair idea of the size of the file. Languages: A box is ticked by a 'x' or if the CODE is made for a not so popular demo coding langauge or is just a text document or something along the lines of that. [Lets use a 'x' instead of the checkmard symbol. We need to stick to standard ASCII.] Compiler: The necessary Compiler and Version number used to compile the code. Ratings: Coding: General quality of the coding. Spagetti and confusing codes will get a low rating, however a nicely set out, nicely structured and occompanied comments will get a high rating. Documentation: A rating of the documention supplied with the code. eg. A well written, easy to understand documention which takes the time to explain the workings of the code gets a high rating. Portability: This is a rating of the portability of the code itself. eg. An ASM Library that is easy to add addional code will get a high rating, however a piece of code which requires a whole re-write because it uses a weird technique will score a low rating. OverAll: My overall rating of the code. Not calculated or anything but, just how well written the entire file is. eg. A nice piece of well documented, well coded , new technology, easy portablilty will receive a high rating. However a TEXT library that uses direct video accessing, which everyman, women, dog, cat, and fish, knows will obviously receive a low rating. an example of a rating is: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Coding - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxù 96 % Documentation - xxxxxxx ù ù ù ù ù ù 42 % Understandablity - xxxxxxxxxxx ù ù ù ù 60 % Portability - xxxxxxxxxxxxx ù ù ù 78 % Overall - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ù ù 80 % [Once again, we need to keep the high-ASCII out, so I have changed this a bit.] I have been writing a Source Code Editor for a while now (on and off). The program which I will call (Code-Edit). Code Edit will provide the user with a text-mode environment with colors, allowing the user to highlight the code and comments. It will use similar key combinations as Q-EDIT and have a modern'er look. The user will also be able to export the file to a normal text file to compile. I've had the idea for a while and have never got around to finishing it. Well, you're probably wondering what the hell has this to do with DEMONEWS ??. My idea was to provide the writers of demonews, with a similar program to C-EDIT and a file-viewer for the viewers. This way it can add to the look of the magazine. A text file could also be exported so people with Mono screens can view it. [This sounds like a great idea. Please send the program to me so I can try it out.] ============================================================================== ((Section 7...Artists Corner)) Jester, Stony, and Cavalier ============================================================================== #### ##### ###### #### ###### ##### ###### ## #### ## ## *# ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ### ## ** ## ## #* #* *###& *####* **## ## ## ## ** ## ## #*# &****# *###* ** ** ** #* *# *# &* *# #* ** && &* ** && *& *& *& *& &* &* && ** &* &* && && && && && &&&&& &&&&&& &&&&& && && &&&& && && ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- Introduction ---- Hi, this is an article about me (Stony), the art manager for hand-drawn graphics for the new gfx section in DemoNews. I'm a gfx-artist in the demo-scene and do hand-drawn gfx. My job here will be something like discussing certain paint-programs/utilities, giving my opinion on GFX, helping with questions, etc. ---- Background ---- I started drawing back in 1988 on my first PC, a 8088 XT with 'real' color CGA monitor. My first paint program was an IBM StoryBoard in which only keyboard input could be used for drawing and no menu was used. All functions had to be done via and . In this program I made my first pictures from The Flintstones and The Simpsons, all in a resolution of 320x200 with 4! colors. These pictures were saved binary with a size of 16384. I used those pictures to make some 'real' intros in BASIC. I also used Dynamic Publisher which was delivered with my XT and found out that a mouse could be handy so I bought my first mouse after a few months of saving money. Mice were expensive those days you know! I then got Dr. Genius with my mouse. This was a drawing program in which I made some logos and faces for fun and again in CGA 4c mode. I did all this together with a nephew of mine who had the same computer as I did. I was doing it all under the handle Mr. Stone from which I have derived my current handle, Stony. After this paint program I got a new version of IBM Storyboard which used a mouse and had an easy menu interface. In this version, I had the ability to make my own fonts and patterns (which is very handy if you only have 4 colors). I continued drawing logos and funny faces. In this period I started making Slide-Show with use of the paint program. I ripped (oh oh :) ) some pictures out of some games I had (Defender of the Crown and Larry 1) and made some funny things with them. Then a friend of mine got an Amiga 500 with Deluxe Paint and I started drawing some gfx on an Amiga, I could use 64 colors which was a huge amount to me. Then I got myself the PC version of Deluxe Paint in which I only could use 4 colors but I was able to change the background color in one of the standard colors and so I was able to make nice gfx. In here I made landscapes with mountains and seas! In 1991, I bought myself a 386 with a VGA card that allowed me to use 256 colors out of a palette of 262,144! In this period I started making slide-shows and presentations with real drawn animations as well as digitized animation for companies which I did in cooperation with a company. In this period I made: - 'De Schreeuw van de Leeuw : The Slide Show ' : A slide-show of a very good Dutch comedian. This was almost totally done with a video-digitizer and was of poor quality. - 'Niece Sue 1 and 2 ' : Two GL files for a shareware company with the known theme of most of GL files. - 'Terminator 2 Show ': An animation with some parts of the original movie. - 'The little Man ' : A drawn animation about a little man. - 'Van de Heuvel : Aannemersbedrijf ' : A presentation about a Dutch company in which was showed what kind of activities they did. Last year, when I started studying Computer Science, I joined II Static, a underground-group, as gfx-artist. Here I started using the handle Stony. For this I made logos, ansis and asciis. I also made a small X-Mas 1993 intro for them with some snowy logos and a selfmade X-mas font. Then in February this year II Static quit the underground scene and I and another member joined the Demo-Scene in an already existing group Trance which has been on the Amiga for quite some time and the Dutch PC division started also this February. My first demo-scene addition was me taking part in the Bizarre'94 gfx-compo with three pix called: - 'Raging' : a pic with a strangle of objects and a sort of a symbolic in it. - 'Konigstuhl' : a pic of which I got the inspiration from a place which I visited with my holidays in 1993 in Germany. - 'Alley' : an alley with a downward view upon a city. I'm now also drawing for a German group called Xtended Fantasies. I met them at this party. Maybe I'll even join them as gfx-artist as well. After this I've done some pics, logos for use with Trance and some logos for some people who wanted one for use in an intro. I'm also busy now with some drawings for a historical musea. After the summer holidays I read something about the demo-cd and that some gfx-artists were needed. So I sent some examples and they appeared to be nice enough! The CD is released with a CD print done by me and in the intro I had some logos. After this project Snowman asked me if I wanted to become an art manager for hand-drawn gfx and this is where it got me. ---- About GFX in the demo Scene ---- As a real demo-freak I have seen a lot of demos in the past and will see a lot of new demos in the future. As GFX-Artist I crittically look to the GFX in demos like a coder looking to the difficulty about how the demo has been coded. My opinion is that the GFX-Scene inside the demo-scene is being seen as a minor part. This is my conclusion after I've been to Bizarre '94, where the graphics competition was held in the middle of the night. I thought that it was kind of unprecedented to have a GFX article in a magazine, so I was really shocked when Snowman asked me to help out. However, a lot of time is being put into graphics, so I feel it was a good choice. I think that GFX-Compos need to have more specific rules. For example, the maximum resolution and number of colors must be set. This is because GFX done on at high resolutions look sharper but don't require any skills of making a picture look sharper. If the maximum resolution were set very high, then everyone would think 'Oh well, just scan something on my 24-bit flatscanner and I have a nice picture!' I think if this was allowed, the GFX-Scene soon would be gone because everyone can scan a picture. Another good rule would be to have 'original' pictures. I have seen a lot of GFX from GFX-Compos which were taken from comic books, CD Covers, etc. People can just think 'I'm out of ideas, I'll just redraw a picture.' My future view about the GFX-Scene is also very positive. I think that in the future the GFX-Artists will keep existing. There are a lot of good GFX-Artists now and there will be in the future, also because we aren't dependent on certain systems/processors etc. We are 'compatible' with all systems :) I myself hope to stay in the demo-scene for a very long time, active or non-active. My skills keep growing and growing, and I learn a lot from other gfx, special techniques and styles etc. I started with CGA and learned everything from the beginning. I really enjoy drawing. ---- End sentences ---- Well this was the article about me, a short introduction about who I am and what I am going to do in the future in DemoNews and Hornet. You'll be hearing from me again. Greets, Stony. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (no more ansi) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This week, the ANSI files we be taking off HORNET. We do not have the resources to keep these online anymore. By deleting the ANSI, we have freed up nearly 40 Megs. Since we only have about 340 to work with, this is a big gain. Any flames concerning this will be forwarded to /dev/nul. ============================================================================== ((Section 8...ESCAPE Demo/Music CD)) Its OUT! ============================================================================== [From Snowman] This past Monday, I receieved 15 copies of the Escape Demo CD. Although I may be a bit bias in this, I think they are GREAT! It was really cool listening to the winning songs of MC][ through my Cd player rather than my GUS. My relatives and friends seem puzzled (they can't really figure out what the cd IS), but they see my name on it and smile. :) I will be sending out 2 of my copies this week: one to Royal, and the other to the MC][ winner. ============================================================================== ((Section 9...Advertisements)) ============================================================================== [Advertisement 1 of 1] __ \ | __| | _) | | _` | _| _` | ( _ \ \ \ -_) _| _| | _ \ \ ____/\__,_|\__\__,_| \___\___/_| _|_| _\___\__|\__|_\___/_| _| RENAISSANCE WHQ, FUTURE CREW, LEGEND DESIGN, IGUANA, EMF, PRIME - Node 1: (703) 506-8598 - 16.8k HST DS v.32bis Node 2: (703) 847-0861 - 28.8k HST DS v.34 - Sysop: Ryan Cramer [Iguana/Renaissance] Located in McLean, Virginia, USA Online since 1990 No Lamers (had to say that =) ============================================================================== ((Section 10...Miscellaneous)) ============================================================================== DemoNews is getting quite huge! This issue is pushing the 64k barrier. Not too bad for a weekly newsletter IMO, but I fear if it gets much bigger, it will start bouncing from some people's mailers. To prevent this, you have my assuance that DemoNews will remain under 64,000 bytes. This week, Ryan's articles totalled about 23k. I am going to have to say something to him about this. :) ============================================================================== ((Section 11...Closing)) ============================================================================== The quote for this week comes from Gene Roddenberry in the Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual, page v. "The Starship Enterprise is not a collection of motion picture sets or a model used in visual effects. It is a very real vehicle; one designed for storytelling." -Christopher G. Mann (Snowman)- r3cgm@dax.cc.uakron.edu ---------------------------------------------------------End-of-Demo-News-#72-