Propaganda 24 ch06
From C64 Diskmag Wiki
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|SCENE ILLUSTRATED - HIGHLIGHTING|
|SCENE ILLUSTRATED - HIGHLIGHTING|
+--------------------------------+
HOSTED BY DUKE
T
- THE OPINION POLLS VOTING
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T
- THE SCENE TODAY INTERVIEW
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- THE SCENE TIMELINE QUIZ
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D
- DEBATE OF THE DAY ARTICLE
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- THE READERS' PAGE LETTERS
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+T--------------------------+
|THE OPINION POLLS - POLL #1|
+---------------------------+
LEGEND is back in the scene. They have
promised to become active and once
again be a factor on the C64. What do
you think?
1. LEGEND will not release anything.
2. They will not be able to meet the
expectations.
3. They will probably do okay.
4. LEGEND will rule like they did in
the past.
5. I have no opinion on this matter.
+T--------------------------+
|THE OPINION POLLS - POLL #2|
+---------------------------+
SECOND TO NONE becomes the first real
C64 BBS on the internet. Will this mean
the final end to the American based
BBS's?
1. Definitely.
2. Maybe.
3. No.
4. I do not know.
+T--------------------------+
|THE OPINION POLLS - POLL #3|
+---------------------------+
The magazines try to each out to become
more useful it its readers. What do you
miss the most in today's magazines?
- Better scene coverage.
- Something new.
- Interaction.
- Fun.
- Nothing.
FIND THE RESULTS OF THE POLLS IN
PROPAGANDA #25
+T--------------+
|THE SCENE TODAY| A LEGEND LIVES ON..
+---------------+ ___________________
LEGEND was formed in BELGIUM at a time,
where the C64 was probably the most
talked about computer in the world -
and the scene behind it was quite over-
populated with game and demo
enthusiasts.
It was an ambitious group of people,
who stood behind the achievements of
LEGEND - and they impressed everyone,
even to the degree, that IKARI saw it
as a wise move to team up with them.
They now had power, respect, friends and
foes - but best of all, they ruled the
charts worldwide. LEGEND was on its
way to becoming a true legend.
Everyone with a COMMODORE 64, with or
without any connection to the scene,
has to admit knowing and respecting the
achievements of this group. They have
had a hand in releasing some of the
biggest titles ever, and with POWERPLANT
as the most gifted cracker in the world,
no job was big enough to be passed on
to others.
But all adventures must eventually come
to an end, and so did this one. LEGEND
withdrew from the scene to pursue other
markets. LEGEND never gave up on the
market, the market gave up on LEGEND.
d=b +----------------------------+ d=b
'o' |PROPAGANDA - who dares wins!| 'o'
/_\ +----------------------------+ /_\
Today it is our privilege to welcome
back LEGEND by presenting an exclusive
interview with one of the main
characters behind the legendary team.
WESTBAM, formerly known as NARC, was
primarily known as the supplier, co-
leader and voice of LEGEND on the
American boards. We meet him in this
exclusive interview, and talked about
the group, the members, the wares and
the comeback to the COMMODORE 64.
+----------------------+
| (D) DUKE, PROPAGANDA |
| |
| (W) WESTBAM/LEGEND |
+----------------------+
(D) Welcome Michael. Thank you for
granting us this exclusive inter-
view.
(W) You're welcome, man. I'm always in
the mood to talk to "real" scene
elites from the old days of course.
(D) I appreciate it. Okay, let us begin.
We have tons of stuff to cover.
+------------+
|THE COMEBACK|
|THE COMEBACK|
+------------+
(D) The news of the return of LEGEND has
been spread throughout the world,
and the response has been very
positive. What is the reason for
this surprising comeback, and who
mastered the plan?
(W) Well, first of all, I don't really
agree on that the response has
been positive. Most groups that
"rule" this scene nowadays comment
the comeback with phrases like:
"They cannot compete anymore"...
Quite amusing I might say. Well,
the actual idea came from UNCLE D
and myself. We wanted to move some
kind of homepage up looking like an
old 64 BBS to have a place to talk
to old elites. Then, ANTITRACK and
POWERPLANT were involved in these
plans on additional help. To get
this project straight, we noticed
there was still some kind of scene
alive, and we also noticed we
could still release games faster
than other groups (we think at
least).. SO we decided to give the
64 a last highlight with the
comeback of one of its most
successful groups of all time...
(D) I will be looking forward to seeing
you guys unfold yet again. The
expectations for a quick return to
the charts are high, perhaps even
overwhelming. When can we expect to
see something solid from you guys?
(W) We were pretty sure from the
beginning, that people will expect
something special from us, and we
hope we can live up to these
expectations. We plan to start
releasing games as soon as our new
HQ - SECOND TO NONE - has been
finished coding. This start can be
expected for somewhere in September.
(D) The scene is quite different today,
as the competition may not be as
intense as it was, when LEGEND was
ruling the charts. Where do you
plan on finding the motivation to
impress people, and even remain as
a group?
(W) Motivation, good question man. I
think the members of LEGEND have
always been tied with the 64
development pretty harsh and
working with this system again after
years should be enough motivation
to lead the computer into its last
years I guess.
Talking about a group. I don't think
we have a member that thinks of any
better place to stick in the 64
scene than LEGEND - The Will of God.
(D) Loyalty is admirable quality.
What about SHOCK then? Have you
spoken to SKATER about bringing it
back to the scene?
(W) SHOCK will never be released as a
disk magazine anymore. Still, also
SHOCK will have its revival. But
how, that is still secret.. We shall
see..
(D) I will be looking forward to see,
what that is all about.
+---------+
|THE GROUP|
|THE GROUP|
+---------+
(D) The majority of the scene is well
aware of the highlights, that
shaped the glorious success of
LEGEND. But for those who were not
around or just fail to remember,
please give us a history lesson on
the LEGEND past up to present date.
(W) LEGEND was formed in late 1987 as a
group that imported NTSC games to
Europe. Legend got pretty well
known back then already because of
the high quality pal fixes we
released. In 1988 the group had its
first success with releasing games
first. LEGENDS breakthrough was
caused through EXCALIBUR being
founded and starting to fix. So
LEGEND+EXC started releasing games
first in a wide mass. The death of
EXC followed our partnership with
NORTH EAST IMPORTERS, which had
with HORIZON the best NTSC fixer
ever. This was the time LEGEND
basically dominated the scene. After
the split of the I+T coop (the best
coop ever) most of their members
joined LEGEND and lead LEGEND into
an ever more dominating position.
After almost 5 very successful
years, most members were kinda fed
up with the 64 scene, so LEGEND died
in 1993. At that time we had started
our PC activities which made LEGEND
- The Will of God, the #1 European
PC group for a year. But a few very
important members getting busted
put an end to these activities in
1994. Now in 1997 we finally found
together again to give LEGEND a
revival nobody expected..
(D) Glad to see, you are back on the one
true system. What is the single most
memorable performance, you believe,
LEGEND had as a group?
(W) The most memorable point in the
history must have been the fact we
started to beat I+T, the strongest
competition back then.. Although
ILLUSION, CENSOR DESIGN or
DOMINATORS have been strong
competition as well, beating IKARI+
TALENT was the highest mountain we
climbed.
(D) It was certainly a highlight, we
will all remember. What is the
worst episode LEGEND had as a group,
you would most like to forget about?
(W) The worst moment was the death from
EXCALIBUR before we started to trade
with NEI. We basically got sliced
into pieces by EXODUS & their
European partners..
+-----------+
|THE MEMBERS|
|THE MEMBERS|
+-----------+
(D) LEGEND has always featured a long
line of greatly talented and
mature members, which appears to
still be the case with the comeback
just made. Please give us an
actual memberlist, and a short
description of each legender.
(W) The revival memberlist looks like
this: GOLDFISH, POWERPLANT, XXX,
ANTITRACK, DOC, FLETCH, UNCLE D,
MIDFIT, WESTBAM. These people come
back for sure. We are not sure about
additional members yet. However,
the group will keep its policy to
have a small amount of members.
(D) Many of the names in LEGEND appear
to be of people, who were known for
their laziness at times. To be
honest, who is in the group for a
purpose, and who is in the group
acting as passive members for
nostalgic reasons?
(W) I don't agree on the point LEGEND
had lazy members. With lazy members
we wouldn't have reached the place
we reached I think. People that
didn't want to do anything for the
group's success have always been
removed. All of the above mentioned
members will be active. Old LEGEND
members besides will still be
remembered, but won't be part of
the comeback I guess..
(D) I agree, activity results in
success - if you have the talent
of course. GOLDFISH was once the
leader of LEGEND. He called the
American boards often, and was
famed for his outgoing nature. When
he decided to stop his activities,
the burden of leading the group was
put in the hands of others. Now that
he is back, who will be the leader -
if any?
(W) In the first years of existence
GOLDFISH & POWERPLANT were in
charge. After GOLDFISH gave up on
the C64, I took his position over.
Nowadays we don't need a "leader"
anymore I think. But for group
concerns, POWERPLANT and myself are
in charge of everything.
(D) DOC is one of the most notorious
crackers the world has ever seen.
He has had a hand in hundreds and
hundreds of games, but despite of
that, he has remained anonymous.
In fact, DOC never (in my recollect-
tion) wrote a scrolltext or
appeared in an interview. Who is
DOC? Does the scene interest him?
And why the silence?
(W) DOC didn't go for the fame unlike
most other crackers. He enjoyed
cracking just for the hell of it.
He never wrote scrolltexts as he
didn't really care about it.
Nevertheless he is probably the
best 64 cracker ever (member of
JEWELS, IKARI, I+T, LEGEND). He
cracked games NOONE else was able
to (e.g. TOKI)...
(D) He will remain one of the great
mysteries of the scene then, unless
you could talk him into writing one
of them scrolltexts to tell us
about who he really is. Secrecy
tends to invite interest - you know.
Being involved with the C64 is a
very timecostly affair, at least if
you have ambitions towards getting
anything done. How do you manage
your time?
(W) Well, back then most LEGENDERS were
students so time wasn't a problem at
all. Nowadays most of us work and it
is indeed a problem finding the time
to do this crap. We'll see how it
works out.. I have no idea yet.
(D) The C64 will probably work its way
into the schedule, like it always
has done for all of us.
+-----------------+
|THE OTHER SYSTEMS|
|THE OTHER SYSTEMS|
+-----------------+
(D) The PC and the Amiga were partly
responsible for putting an end to
LEGENDs involvement on the C64. What
was the nature of the involvement
you guys had on other systems? What
systems were there, and are you
still engaged in any activities
outside of those on the C64?
(W) Well, LEGEND people had been
involved on both, Amiga and PC. I
cannot name up all projects, the
most important one was PC/LEGEND
for sure. About other projects, I
could only name up the ones I did.
On Amiga I was involved with
PARADOX, THE PRODIGY, CLASSIC, On
PC I was with RAZOR 1911 and PC/
LEGEND. I will participate on a
PC project again, but we will see..
(D) You have been involved with an
impressive list of groups, I must
say. What would you say is the
difference between the Amiga, the
PC and the C64 scene then?
(W) The C64 has a scene. The others do
not! There has never been a real
Amiga/PC scene. It's just very
harsh competition for 5O% bugged
releases. No such things like wars
on subboards, etc.. It is entirely
different and hard to explain.
(D) Alright, we will leave it at that
then. The PC is the place to be, if
you are hooked on technology. The
C64 is the place to be, if you are
hooked on a scene experience. Do
you agree on that observation?
(W) I totally agree with you.
(D) Haha.. Short answer, but right on
the money! What do you believe
being a C64 scener is about?
(W) Hmmm, now that is a wierd question.
Can't we cut this out?? Haha...
(D) Sure.. Except PROPAGANDA is uncut :)
You could have answered: getting
wares, having fun, breaking the law,
meeting folks from around the world.
+---------+
|THE WARES|
|THE WARES|
+---------+
(D) We have passed the days, when the
fullprice titlegames was coming in
on a frequent basis. Today most of
the games come from smaller software
houses and off the hands of the
demo-scene - or at least, so I have
heard (I am no game freak). How do
you plan on getting a hold of the
games, in a market that has become
so difficult to manage?
(W) We have discovered several ways on
getting our hands on enough
releases we think. Apart from that,
coders that want to have their
games cracked in a decent way at
least can always donate them to us.
If i'd code a game and knew it'll
get cracked anyhow, I'd prefer to
have it cracked by a cracker like
PWP, ATT or DOC - I think.
(D) It is an advice, that is hereby
passed on to the gamemakers out
there. So, do you plan on cracking
any and all releases on the market?
(W) Well, you always have to plan on
getting everything. Then you can
release several games as there's
always some games you get beat on.
(D) It is impossible to get all, luckily
though - or less the cracking-scene
would be pretty boring. There are
many talented crackers in LEGEND.
How do you plan on dividing the
responsibilities among these people,
considering all of them are capable
of taking on any protection?
(W) That depends on who has the time and
motivation. ANTITRACK and POWERPLANT
are looking forward to the originals
again.. We always had several
crackers, and we always found to
keep the fire burning.
+-------+
|AMERICA|
|AMERICA|
+-------+
(D) America nolonger play as important
a role in the illegal scene, as it
did in the early 9O's. Who do you
plan on signing as partners in
America, or do you plan on solving
the fixing problem yourselves?
(W) Well, talking about fixing, we
actually recruited MIDFIT, a
promising NTSC fixer, for these
purposes. Apart from that, we still
have connections to some other old
US fixers, that will help us out if
needed.
(D) What about HORIZON and NEI? Do you
know, what he (they) are up to these
days?
(W) HORIZON is working as a programmer
for CA (Computer Associates)
nowadays. He sure won't come back to
the 64 scene. About other members,
like GRIM REAPER or TDO, we will see
I guess.
(D) Speaking of American fixers. Don't
you find it interesting, that
HORIZON and X-FACTOR were names of
American fixers, but also of
European demo groups? Well, I do.
Anyway, the American boards have
seen better days, and more people
look towards the internet to solve
their communication problems. Do
LEGEND plan on revisiting the
American boards, or do you believe
in the internet as the future
center of the C64?
(W) We don't really plan on playing a
big role on US boards anymore.
BBS's are dead. The internet rules
everything I think..
(D) It is certainly the future. No one
can argue with that.
+--------------+
|SECOND TO NONE|
|SECOND TO NONE|
+--------------+
(D) LEGEND has already taken a big step
towards giving the C64 sceners a new
playground on the internet. Although
a private site, it is already a huge
success, and the elite parts of the
scene is flocking to the place.
Please tell us about SECOND TO NONE
and the original board, that once
had the name.
(W) SECOND TO NONE was the LEGEND/NEI/
EXC HQ back in the 9O's. It was one
of the best boards back then because
of its active elite users, and the
speed wares got there. Every group
knew they'd have to upload their
games over there to make sure to
get the first release. Nowadays
SECOND TO NONE will be the first
real 64 BBS on the internet.
(D) The first highlight scored by
LEGEND since your comeback. :)
How do you get on SECOND TO NONE?
(W) SECOND TO NONE can be reached via
WorldWideWeb. To gain access you
have to contact the User Administra-
tors, UNCLE D, GENE or me.
(D) I have an account on SECOND TO NONE,
and I can assure the readers, it is
definitely a lot of fun. But, as it
is private, many sceners are going
to miss out on a cooler scene
experience. Do you plan on releasing
the system in the future, when it is
fully developed, so that other
groups/people might have an
opportunity of using it?
(W) SECOND TO NONE will remain private.
But every 64 scener that is
interested to get on there can
leave e-mail to the user administra-
tors to get an account, no problem.
As soon as QCBBS will be finished,
the program will be granted to
other 64 groups to have more boards
to call again.
(D) That is a great gesture from LEGEND.
QCBBS will serve the scene well, and
encourage more activity. People fear
though, the start of internet boards
may be the final blow to end the
days of the original boards. But
then again, why should people go
through the trouble of getting
calling cards, breaking the law and
abusing their telephones, when they
can use the internet with the
same result?
(W) Exactly. Why should anyone risk
his neck on abusing CC for calling
a 24OO baud BBS. It is ridiculous
transferring data at a speed of
24OO baud, while we have ISDN
128K available.
(D) And with SECOND TO NONE, the
internet has replaced the last of
what the original boardscene had
to offer. May it rest in peace.
+----------+
|THE FUTURE|
|THE FUTURE|
+----------+
(D) In closing, please let us in on the
future plans (or starting plans
rather) of LEGEND.
(W) Well, we'll attempt in releasing
games again with the known LEGEND
quality and quantity. Apart from
that, we are working on several
games and a protection for a
company that will start publishing
64 games again.
(D) Sounds promising indeed. Thank you,
Michael, for taking part in this
interview. Good luck with LEGEND,
and hope you will enjoy your second
stay on the C64!
(W) Thank you for wasting your time on
this interview. And remember, the
dragon haunts... AGAIN!!
WESTBAM of LEGEND
_________________
+----------------------------+
|UP NEXT |
|UP NEXT - THE SCENE TIMELINE|
+----------------------------+
+T---S-----T-------+
- |THE SCENE TIMELINE| -
+------------------+
When did the following events occur?
-The world famous musician, GUY SHAVITT,
left the 64 to pursue goals on the PC.
-The Dutch based group, BRUTAL, died.
Most members went on to form INBREED.
-The American hacker, MUTANT-X, returned
to the 64 and teamed up with F4CG.
-RED SECTOR INC. ruled the release
charts, while SUCCESS did the voted.
The answer can be found later in
Scene Illustrated.
+-------------------+
|+-----------------+|
||DEBATE OF THE DAY||
||DEBATE OF THE DAY||
|+-----------------+|
+-------------------+
THE SCENE EXPERIENCE!
_______________________
I
It is a joy to be a part of the C64
scene. A joy, that is quite unique and
certainly special. Why? Because there
is nothing like it in the world.
When you first visit this scene, you
will become immediately addicted and
never leave. In spirit or in a more
direct sense.
The scene is inhabited by a large group
of people, who work together, against
each other or for each other. It is
about the C64, but now always. It is
also about a society of open-minded
people, who has been brought up working
with people across boarders, even
continents. There are no politics or
race in the scene.
Though it is said to be a dog eat dog
scene, it still seems more humane, than
the world we live in. This world is
controlled, while the scene is a great
believer in anarchy. Though anarchy is
considered a chaotic type of ideology,
it appears to have just the opposite
effect in the scene. The sceners know
the scene, and they know how to move
within it.
The scene is not a place for ruthless
thugs though, laws prevent these types
from trespassing. Although it is
unwritten laws, they are followed by
all, upheld by all and protected by all.
These laws and ethics, if you will,
secure the rights of the scene people,
the progress of talent, and the best
interests of the scene.
However, all is not golden these days.
The scene is old, and shows ever growing
signs of weakness. The ingredients
needed to keep the scene healthy are
running outm abd attempts to nurture
and provoke more of these ingredients
have not been as successful as we could
have hoped.
What are these ingredients? Well, they
are quite simply ACTIVITY! If you move
around in the scene, it will blossom.
If you leave it be, it will fade away
and eventually die. The scene cannot
live on past greatness, those days are
long gone, and although they are fun to
remember, they do very little for the
future - a future, we all want the scene
to have.
The scene was built on passion, and it
will shine once again on passion. How
will it shine? It will shine by feeding
it with activity, a lot of activitiy.
Activity in the form of interest in the
scene, productivity and good old Tender,
Love and Care.
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