Propaganda 22 ch06 - Revision history

Ymgve at 20:42, 18 June 2007

2007-06-18T20:42:02Z

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<pre>
+S------------------------------+
|Some of the coolest groups that|
___| ever set foot on the C64. |____
+-------------------------------+

Over the following 3 chapters, you will
take part in the biggest overview of
successful illegal names in history of
the Commodore 64. Some will probably
miss a group or two, and believe me when
I say it is often based on individual
taste. We have however tried our best,
to gather information and groups in a
juicy mix, trying not to leave anybody
out. To avoid a complete holocaust,
we are dealing with illegal groups only.
Have a pleasant 3 chapters of reading.

+---------+
|1001 CREW|
+---------+---------------------------+
|One of the absolutely biggest groups|
|ever on the 64, rooted in Holland. |
|When they developed the ESCOS and |
|launched their Borderletters, they |
|not only releses good pieces of code|
|- they wrote history when removing |
|the border. One said it couldn't be |
|done. HONEY, the leading profile of |
|the group released some memorable |
|cracks. 1001 later on worked on sev-|
|eral smaller games for CODEMASTERS |
|and MASTERTRONIC before heading to- |
|wards eternity. |
+------------------------------------+

+----+
|1701|
+----+--------------------------------+
|was born in 1982 as a result of 2 |
|people working in a softwareshop |
|selling VIC2O-software. As they con-|
|tinued and headed for the 64, they |
|came to fill several disks and tapes|
|with their software. Never any intr-|
|os, but always a 1701-sign somewhere|
|in the game, be it a sprite on the |
|mainscreen - or in the game itself. |
+------------------------------------+

+------+
|2000AD|
+------+------------------------------+
|Out of many Danish groups came 2000 |
|AD, late 1987. With a slightly mod- |
|ified, but goodlooking rip-off of |

|TRIAD'S intro, they rose quickly. |
|In 1989 they also organized an app- |
|reaciated party in Denmark, before |
|the last few members came to join, |
|and form BONZAI. (SONNY & TRAP) |
+------------------------------------+
+---+
|711|
+---+---------------------------------+
|A very successfull German, Austrian |
|and Swiss project with ANTITRACK, |
|BIG BEN, MR.LEE and other classic |
|names in the frontline. WALTER later|
|on formed CP VERLAG, the famous bud-|
|getgame-company. 711 always started |
|their scrolls with "..only 23 left".|
|What it meant? Only 23 releases left|
|until they would quit. |
+------------------------------------+

+---+
|ACE|
+---+---------------------------------+
|COCO, GENE, FIRKIN and other legends|
|made the scene shake by the found- |
|ations as disks were starting to |
|flood by autumn 1987. COCO was at |
|the time the fastest cracker in Ger-|
|many, and GENE as always one of the |
|most hated - and respected. They al-|
|slo arranged the "Cracker-Of-The- |
|Year-Award" in 1988. Check their al-|
|ways classy intros. A personal favo-|
|rite of Propaganda-staff. |
+------------------------------------+

+------+
|ACTION|
+------+------------------------------+
|German group born out of the popular|

|XADES SOCIETY. SPITFIRE, CRISP and |
|HOK were cornerstones and combined |
|quality with speed. A-MAN became a |
|respected musician and his work can |
|still be heard in several intros and|
|demos. |
+------------------------------------+

+--------------+
|AEK! CRACKWARE|
+--------------+-----------------------+
|Strong German force that took on the |
|world in 1985/86. They were also on |
|good terms with J.Kimmel (RED/JUDGES)|
|which let them take good part inside |
|the softwareindustry, and of course |
|releeases. Check out their version |
|of the German game THE BIG DEAL. |
+-------------------------------------+

+-----+
|AGILE|
+-----+-------------------------------+
|Swedish boardfocused group born in |
|1988. ELRIC was the man steering the|
|ship, and was hated across the scene|
|for his rude methods. LIGHT, CENSOR |
|and TRIAD have had several of their |
|members rooted in AGILE. Check out |
|QUEL HOMME (by former VIKING-members|
|AZE&TRINITY) and all their Bah!- |
|scrolltexts. Their traditional intro|
|can be found on among others IO from|
|FIREBIRD, which was one of their |
|fastest releases. |
+------------------------------------+

Scenetown . The soap of the scene.
_________

+------------+
|ALPHA FLIGHT|
+------------+------------------------+
|was born in Germany in 1985 and were|
|battling with the top instantly. |
|They headed for an early career on |
|the Amiga and did so quite gently. |
|Since then, they have been reborn |
|twice on the Commodore 64, once in |
|1989, and once in 1992. The latter |
|one, is still the best to come, and |
|are currently the absolute German |
|top. Their magazine RELAX has foll- |
|owed them since the rebirth in 1989.|
|The intro-collection released by |
|XENOX in 1996 is a good look into |
|the traditional ALPHA FLIGHT-style. |
+------------------------------------+

+---+
|ATC|
+---+---------------------------------+
|An American group that was popular |
|in the early 9O's. Even though they |
|had their glorydays when American |
|wares were on decline, they still |
|delivered a good supply of releases.|
|Also PUDWERX, most praised NTSC- |
|fixer of all time, started his some-|
|what trembling career in the staff |
|of A TOUCH OF CLASS. |
+------------------------------------+

+----------+
|AVANTGARDE|
+----------+--------------------------+
|Born out of the remains of ILLUSION |
|as well as other members in 1993. |
|Set up the classical boards FORUM |

|and TERMINAL OBSESSION again, boards|
|we thought were gone forever. AVANT-|
|GARDE came to be the last supergroup|
|ever on the 64 and dominated the |
|charts for 3 years. PBXELLENCE was |
|in fact EVS/20CC and TRICOM made so-|
|me of the sexiest intros ever seen. |
|Look at their meetingdemo from fall |
|1995 for a classy glanceback - or |
|any of their intros and always acc- |
|urate scrolltexts. Biggest release? |
|We'd have to say the NTSC-fix of |
|MAYHEM IN MONSTERLAND - by PUDWERX. |
+------------------------------------+

+------------+
|BEASTIE BOYS|
+------------+------------------------+
|came strongly in 1987. The cracking |
|duo THE SYNDICATE was among others |

|one of the most profitable insti- |
|tutions for making money on their |
|piracy. AXIOM was another great sup-|
|port for the group, but as MOSKWATV |
|entered the squad, faith faded and |
|the scene was harsh in judging the |
|group - MOSKWATV is probably one of |
|the most wellknow routinerippers ar-|
|ound the globe. Check out all sple- |
|ndid cracks done by CAPTAIN FUTURE. |
+------------------------------------+

+----+
|BROS|
+----+---------------------------------+
|With a name taken from a popular |
|one-night-wonder, logo included (re- |
|member "When will I be famous?"), |
|legendary names like PACO, BAMBAM, |
|GENE and COCO took BROS to the top |

|in 1988. Check out CircleTwister 1 |
|and 2 as well as their early imports.|
+-------------------------------------+

+---------------+
|BYTERAPERS INC.|
+---------------+---------------------+
|Today the Finnish group is known as |
|the leading demoproducers of the wo-|
|rld, with a past in the WORLD-OF-CO-|
|DE-series. Before MR.SEX started his|
|crusade, late 8O's, BYTERAPERS was |
|also a fast, competitive cracking- |
|group on the mailmarket. It is one |
|of those groups, that never really |
|went away, even though they had |
|their slow phases over the years. |
+------------------------------------+

+-----+
|C64CG|
+-----+------------------------------+
| |
| |
| |
| Insufficient Information. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------+

+-------------+
|CENSOR DESIGN|
+-------------+-----------------------+
|As BOB, one of the biggest 64-coders|
|of all time was kicked from TRIAD, |
|he took PSYCHO and parts from PARA- |
|GON with him created Sweden's fast- |

|est crackinggroup ever. Their cra- |
|cks often bugged, and they were cri-|
|ticized for it, but they were still |
|popular among the people. When the |
|non-Swedish-section members joined, |
|MIRAGE and SKATER, they had success |
|at their hands with the magazine |
|SHOCK. SHOCK became the biggest 64- |
|magazine of all time, but what gave |
|the group all respect in the hall of|
|fame was their demos. Check out all |
|their WONDERLAND-demos, SPASMOLYTIC |
|and the SHOCKMAGAZINE. |
+------------------------------------+

+---------+
|CHROMANCE|
+---------+----------------------------+
|An interesting group, as they were |
|born out of the FBI-CREW in Hungary. |

|CHROMANCE were among the first groups|
|to come along, even though communism |
|still reigned in the Eastern parts of|
|Europe in the late 8O's. Today CHRO- |
|MANCE stands stronger than ever, and |
|have to admired for going their own, |
|silent way. In the early 9O's, they |
|also published the magazine ARE WE |
|THE BEST?, a magazine focusing on |
|legal matters. The group has been |
|running under MR.WAX since the start.|
+-------------------------------------+

+-----------------+
|COMMANDO FRONTIER|
+-----------------+--------------------+
|The first competetive Belgian group |
|was run by the popular profile MADALL|
|and they share a peculiar affection |
|to EDDIE, the popular mascot from |

|IRON MAIDEN (See PEACE OF MIND among |
|other releases - good ROCKMONITOR- |
|conversions of songs). MADALL also |
|wrote several intelligent, apprec- |
|iated articles about the scene for |
|ILLEGAL before the group disappeared |
|in early 1989. |
+-------------------------------------+

+--------------+
|COMPUTERBRAINS|
+--------------+----------------------+
|Swedish legens who have been said to|
|invent the trainier. Their classic |
|and wellspread version of GREEN BER-|
|ET didn't offer infinite lives, but |
|a possibility to choose the starting|
|amount of lives. 256, was naturally |
|the maximum choice. |
+------------------------------------+

+------+
|CONTEX|
+------+-------------------------------+
|A group with good cracks, but also |
|dangerously sexy demos. Many said |
|that the group had some of the roots |
|in GENESIS*PROJECT, and parts of it |
|was true, considering that SCRAP of |
|CONTEXT and ANTICHRIST/G*P cooperated|
|on almost every field. When CYCLE- |
|BURNER came along, classics like TOP |
|PRIORITY and YOUTHQUAKE were made. |
|Also check SIGN O' THE TIMES from |
|NOP/WEIRD SCIENCE, who is the same |
|guy. DRAKE and other Danes quickly |
|came to dominate the crackingcharts. |
|With full rights, people should say. |
+-------------------------------------+

+------+
|COSMOS|
+------+-------------------------------+
|An intense career was started by far-|
|mers in Austria and Switzerland back |
|in 1989. The roots came from the un- |
|fortunately forgotten TSK-CREW. With |
|COSMOS, success was at hand. BIG BEN |
|, COPYRIGHT HUNTER, ANTITRACK and |
|others made it memorable. A classic, |
|traditional intro, with classic mus- |
|ic, all to be seen in their peak re- |
|lease - NEW ZEALAND STORY. |
+-------------------------------------+

+-----+
|CRAZY|
+-----+--------------------------------+
|A terribly fast group, that took the |
|trend by the throat. In 1989, the |

|American boards had become the ult- |
|imate source of releases, and that |
|in mind, CRAZY focues almost 1OO% |
|on that very market. When releasing |
|MAMBA, by many regarded as the best |
|boardmagazine ever (along with SHOCK)|
|success was a fact. CRAZY was an |
|outlet for several legends, among |
|them DEFF and STINGRAY, but above |
|all, do look at GOTCHA'S incredible |
|art, appreciated all over the globe. |
+-------------------------------------+

+-----------+
|DANISH GOLD|
+-----------+-------------------------+
|Founded in Denmark, 1985 on close |
|terms with RED SECTOR and also FAIR-|
|LIGHT. The group disappeared in late|
|1987, heading for the Amiga. |

| |
| |
| |
| |
+------------------------------------+
+---+
|DCS|
+---+----------------------------------+
|Founded by THE BREAKER (who later on |
|made a very notable comeback in RED |
|SECTOR in the 199O's), MR.ZULU and |
|other legends. What started out as a |
|local outlet for friends, became a |
|global concept and when the UK market|
|was at its peak, youngsters were di- |
|vided up in three camps - PRO-IKARI, |
|-FUSION or -DCS. Check their very ea-|
|rly releases with great intros. |
+-------------------------------------+

+-------+
|DECIBEL|
+-------+------------------------------+
|A Dutch strong label rocking the cha-|
|rts in 1987-88, with roots in |
|HCS5005(HIGHER COMPUTER SCIENCE). |
|Their most notable release was pro- |
|bably LOVE OVER GOLD, a neat sample |
|from LEVEL42, while DECIBEL showed |
|off in intros with big sprites and |
|music by RED/JUDGES. Several members |
|were later seen in HOTLINE. |
+-------------------------------------+

+----------+
|DOMINATORS|
+----------+---------------------------+
|Denmark, 1986. The situation is stab-|
|le, but the DOMINATORS - ROOZE, ZOO- |
|LOOK, COSMO and others shake the pla-|

|net by the balls. Their crusade con- |
|tinued for a long time, even though |
|they have suffered from weak periods.|
|DOGFRIEND, MACRO NIT and KARATE KID |
|to mention a few who took the group |
|stateside, when America exploded. The|
|magazine CORRUPTION, edited by DEFF |
|and JACK DANIELS was also a release |
|under the same flag. A papermagazine |
|called BUSINESS also saw light of |
|day, as virtually everybody was try- |
|ing to replace the popular ILLEGAL. |
|Who can forget the King of cracks? |
+-------------------------------------+

+----------+
|DREAM TEAM|
+----------+---------------------------+
|A group, long gone into history. They|
|were known for both smaller product- |

|ions and cracks - still, the most |
|credible release is still the ROCK- |
|MONITOR-conversion of "IT'S A SIN", |
|by PET SHOP BOYS, commonly used in |
|many of their intros. |
+-------------------------------------+

+--------------+
|DUTCH USA-TEAM|
+--------------+-----------------------+
|A widely popular team, who besides |
|cracking developed the great ROCK- |
|MONITOR, a program that allowed 4 |
|channels of sound (3 Sid, 1 Digi) and|
|came to be frequently used despite |
|the rastertime-consuming routine. |
+-------------------------------------+

+-----------+
|DYNAMIC DUO|
+-----------+--------------------------+
|The duo of myths. Who were they? |
|Whatever they were, they undoubtfully|
|are the most legendary of all pirates|
|on all platforms. Public favorites in|
|1986, flooding your drives and tapes,|
|busted 3 years later and from there |
|the story is untold. Check out the |
|rare sample-file circulating from a |
|phoneconference: "Are you the really |
|from the DYNAMIC DUO?, "Yes", "Who |
|are you then?", "I'm the second guy".|
|Not only Germany's, but the world's |
|trademark of a true veteran. |
+-------------------------------------+

+-------+
|DYNAMIX|
+-------+------------------------------+
|A German-based group that came as a |
|fresh vitaminpill in a group-stagna- |
|ting scene. ROY (RADAR) took the |
|group to another level, establishing |
|ragging as the number one way to com-|
|municate. COOCOC, the small diskmag- |
|azine developed originally by SHAPE, |
|came out under the DYNAMIX-flag dur- |
|ing a short period of time. DYNAMIX |
|later appeared on the SNES, with some|
|of the original members knocking down|
|software for the people. |
+-------------------------------------+
+----------+
|EAGLE SOFT|
+----------+---------------------------+
|In the USA, the battle of America was |

|won by ESI. Legendary cracker MITCH |
|and friends took the group to success |
|and came to totally dominate their ho-|
|memarket during 1985-1988. Who will |
|ever forget their intro, with wonder- |
|ful (and slowed down) music by TONY |
|CROWTHER from the crappy game R1-D1? |
|Somehow, ESI always managed to beat |
|the crap out of their opponents, UCF |
|(UNTOUCHABLE CRACKING FORCE) being the|
|most obvious. The war resulted in sev-|
|eral interesting scrolltexts. For a |
|ressurection with ESI, check the best |
|software ever to appear from America: |
|DEFENDER OF THE CROWN, PIRATES, MARBLE|
|MADNESS or any other great American |
|title. ESI later on moved to the Amiga|
|and did quite well, until joining for-|
|ces with legendary QUARTEX. |
+--------------------------------------+

+-----+
|ELITE|
+-----+--------------------------------+
|A product of STRIKE FORCE/MOVERS, |
|that even though a fairly short aff- |
|air, came to dominate the ILLEGAL- |
|charts while at it. The group was |
|launced with much hype as people from|
|STRIKE FORCE/MOVERS were busted and |
|the affair came public in a note. |
+-------------------------------------+
+------+
|ENIGMA|
+------+-------------------------------+
|Out of ILLUSION and other labels came|
|ENIGMA in 1991. The group was comp- |
|etitive, but people slagged down at |
|them for an uninspiring name - keep |
|in mind that musicgroup ENIGMA was at|
|this time numberone all over Europe. |

|They also took the popular MAMBA- |
|magazine to their label. ENIGMA was |
|qualified, good and fast - but not |
|terribly exciting. |
+-------------------------------------+
+-----+
|EXACT|
+-----+--------------------------------+
|SNACKY(GP), MR.PRESIDENT(RSI) and |
|NEWSCOPY(F4CG) all come from the ro- |
|ots in the German-based EXACT from |
|Durern. Fast, good cracks, but also |
|two interesting demos - JUICY and |
|HEADS. The latter was produced and |
|developed by DELTA who later on coded|
|the RSI-demos on the Amiga. Check out|
|their first megademo, with a tremend-|
|ous EDDIE-loader. EXACT died in 199O.|
+-------------------------------------+

+----+
|F4CG|
+----+---------------------------------+
|EFFEQUATTROCIGI was born in Ferrara, |
|Italy 1983, making it the oldest gro-|
|up on any platform to date. Leader |
|MAO passed away in a car-accident in |
|1994, but the group has continued |
|success since. SOLAR, a Belgian vet- |
|eran also responsible for the classic|
|papermagazine PIRATES has led the gr-|
|oup since 1989. During the 9O's, F4CG|
|recruited the remains of legendary |
|GENESIS*PROJECT and AVANTGARDE - a |
|move appreciated and hated. Co-leader|
|NEWSCOPY also publishes the magazine |
|PROPAGANDA, while their intro-divis- |
|ion has been praised for work across |
|the entire field. Also on the PSX. |
+-------------------------------------+

+---+
|FAC|
+---+----------------------------------+
|FEDERATION AGAINST COPYRIGHT was born|
|in Germany 1985 and were quick to be |
|using intros with spritelogos and sc-|
|roll. Good friends with almost every-|
|body, and came to be pioneers on the |
|American market. Imports by them, |
|were done in masses. |
+-------------------------------------+
+---------+
|FAIRLIGHT|
+---------+----------------------------+
was born in 1987 (not 1986 as the new|
|generation of FLT-members claim) when|
|WCC split into two groups. The first |
|group RELAX did quite well, but FAIR-|
|LIGHT established themselves as a |
|soon to be dominating force. NO.1 org|

|anized the group, but changed his ha-|
|ndle to STRIDER after only 3 releas- |
|es. FAIRLIGHT has become the biggest |
|group ever, over all formats dominat-|
|ing both Amiga and PC. STRIDER left |
|the 64 in 1989 (did a shortcomeback- |
|release in ACE2088 from CASCADE, then|
|heading for Amiga and PC for real) |
|Unfortunately, the real competitve |
|FAIRLIGHT we saw battling with TRIAD |
|and IKARI in every chart, 1987-89 is |
|far from its original core. Their |
|most successful cracker GOLLUM later |
|on produced the game RUBICON from |
|21ST CENTURY SOFTWARE, a game that |
|was stolen by GENESIS*PROJECT.(GOOD |
|WORK!) STRIDER moved to the USA after|
|a brief visit in Belgium where he has|
|FAIRLIGHT TRADING, a company working |
|with import/export. Check out their |

|classic intro, with music from DRUID |
|2 & the LEGOLAND-DEMOS (developd by |
|the new FAIRLIGHT). BACCHUS, who took|
|over after STRIDER has done some gre-|
|at cracks, but also caused interesti-|
|ng debates on the scene. |
+-------------------------------------+
+----------+
|FIRE EAGLE|
+----------+---------------------------+
|A Dutch/German group that became tre-|
|mendously popular as they teamed up |
|in the cooperation FE+G*P in 1988. |
|The group later on passed away, but |
|left us with great memorable pieces |
|of work through the audial chambers |
|of SOEDESOFT as well as a great coop-|
|eration demo with SPHINX. |
+-------------------------------------+

+---------------+
|FLYING CRACKERS|
+---------------+----------------------+
|Perhaps one of the oldest groups in |
|history, formed by the legendary Dane|
|SODAN. SODAN left the scene for the |
|Amiga in 1986, leaving us with sple- |
|did releases. His admiration towards |
|software resulted in the highly app- |
|reciated CRACKER'S REVENGE 1 & 2. As |
|SODAN headed for bigger formats, he |
|launched SWORD OF SODAN - a game that|
|became the first really big title on |
|the 16-bit format. He is today res- |
|ponsible for the immensly popular TV-|
|character HUGO that can be seen daily|
|on Television in Scandinavia. (also |
|features in several games on the PC).|
|Check out his first commercial game |
|THE VIKINGS (and read his personal |

|message to his friends in DYNAMIC DUO|
|in the memory), his goodbye-file and |
|the introcollections. |
+-------------------------------------+
+------+
|FUSION|
+------+-------------------------------+
|When the brits were at their best, |
|FUSION came along out of the ashes of|
|the quite anonymous CCS. Leader IAN |
|spent an incredible lot of hours with|
|the group disappointing his family a |
|great deal. FUSION was rumoured to be|
|freezing their cracks, and the issue |
|was widely discussed on the boards, |
|the scrolls and the ILLEGAL. Even |
|though there was a sense of truth in |
|some of the accusations, FUSION held |
|the world in its hand for almost a |
|year and with that in mind - their |

|slogan MAN AND MACHINE will be with |
|us forever. |
+-------------------------------------+

+---------------+
|GENESIS*PROJECT|
+---------------+----------------------+
|born in Aachen 1985, lead by one of |
|the most controversial characters on |
|the scene, ANTICHRIST. (then called |
|TIMELORD). There was a storm of de- |
|bates when it came clear that ANTI- |
|CHRIST also was OMG/AMOK, editor of |
|the first diskmagazine ever - SEX N' |
|CRIME. SEX N' CRIME later on ceased |
|and devloped into PROPAGANDA, still |
|published. SNACKY, the cracker of |
|the group came be the most praised |
|cracker of all time, and his jewel- |
|versions deserve a note in history. |

|ANTICHRIST eventually fell in love |
|with SORCERESS, sysop of the GENESIS-|
|board MYSTIC CAVERN. In 1993 he de- |
|cided to marry her and moved to New |
|York and left over the leadership to |
|NEWSCOPY. The demosection developed |
|celebrities like BIZZMO and DEEK, |
|producers of classics like PARADISE |
|'91. Also check out the controvers- |
|ial release RUBICON, stolen by GEN- |
|ESIS from FAIRLIGHT as SNACKY and |
|TYGER were hired to make the prot- |
|ection for the game, the GP+EMP LOVE |
|NEI-hate demo or any of the classic |
|jewelversions by SNACKY and GOBLIN. |
|GENESIS*PROJECT ceased as the active |
|remains continued in F4CG. |
+-------------------------------------+

+-----------+
|THE GOONIES|
+-----------+--------------------------+
|A Danish group that came to represent|
|their country in the very early days.|
|Also among the first groups to sniff |
|on the Amiga-market, as the Amiga1OOO|
|was launched in 1985 - a market where|
|they later ended up for good. |
+-------------------------------------+
+-------+
|HOTLINE|
+-------+------------------------------+
|A glorious group with roots in Holl- |
|and. Cracker POPEYE made sure to fill|
|people's collections with essential |
|software - especially big programs |
|from the states. HOTLINE were later |
|reborn in several forms, but never as|
|strong as in the early days. Surpris-|

|ingly enough, the Brittish legend |
|BOD was part of HOTLINE, before he'd |
|end up in TALENT. To take part of a |
|typical HOTLINE-release, check out |
|SKATE OR DIE, released week 43, 1987.|
|If you have a decent collection, it |
|is most likely, that is the version |
|you have. |
+-------------------------------------+
</pre>