Propaganda 25 ch04

 The making of


             +----------+
             | THE LIST |
             | THE LIST |
             +----------+


 Everything started as a simple idea and
 it grew to something special.

                              Count Zero


      This chapter for the special
    'PLATINUM' edition of Propaganda
   will give you detailed information
   on how WE produce the release list.

+-------+
|HISTORY|
|HISTORY|               - IN THE MAKING
+-------+


 It was an overheated night and certain
 individuals in the described scene
 MUST have been totally drunk.

  Channel #c-64

 Count Zero was hanging on IRC and did
 his usual amount of leeching when out
 of a sudden Newscopy popped up. A rare
 event for sure. A private discussion
 started of which only these few words
 are left:




 Newscopy: Hey Andreas ... how about
           doing the propaganda release
           charts based on FTP sites???

 Count Zero: No way ... that's WORK !

 Newscopy: Please ! You can do that !

 Count Zero: NO! I'm too lazy for that
             stuff anyways !

 Newscopy: Ah C'mon ... Please with lots
           of sugar and honey on it !!!

 Count Zero: You add some money aswell?

 Newscopy: Get real.

 Count Zero: Ok ... whatever ...



 That's how everything started.
 Everything sounded just too easy to me
 after thinking about it.
 The rules were simple and the way
 people could join the list were even
 more simple.

 When we published the first list with
 just the rules there was no other
 magazine as much involved into the net
 as Propaganda already was.
 It seemed to be a very offending move
 to make a sanctuary of the c64 scene
 internet based and accessible for
 everybody. Some felt provocated and
 lost when they came up with their
 usual lists.



 Propaganda dared to step on new roads.
 And the net surely is a speedy road.
 There have been different questionaries
 when we were through with the topic
 already. Other magazines were asking
 the sceners around the globe for their
 ideas and seem to have included what
 has fit them most at that time.
 Just DOING these questionaries shows
 that these magazines were atleast
 thinking of doing it the same way.
 Maybe not as radical as PROPAGANDA did
 it, but first doubts about the
 traditional way where already there.

 Every magazine gathers it's news from
 the net as the boards don't spread
 enough news and snail mail is outdated
 most of the time.


 That was the sign for Propaganda to
 start off.
 Many people have discussed many aspects
 of the traditional release list
 compared to the net-based list.

 This chapter is not about that stuff !

 Haha ... No ... really ... This is
 Propaganda. What do you expect ?

 This is a closer description of what
 a release has to suffer when it went to
 the FTP's and from there on to my
 harddisk.

  Enjoy... Docs for beginners included!




 The release was leeched on a speedy
 33.6K modem line and then stored on
 a mass medium which normally has some
 kilobytes left for a directory named
 LIST.

 Usually the program gets converted
 from one of the traditional 64 formats
 to a more fitting format.
 Lynx is either converted to a RAW
 program or to a complete D64 image.
 Zipcoded releases make it straight
 into the D64 image format aswell.

 For checking the releases they are
 transfered to the 64 either by a
 parallel cable for single filers or
 by using a built-in 5.25 inch drive
 on my Amiga.


 Checksum and Read Errors are history
 at this point already.
 The security rate achieved is for sure
 higher than on a plain 64.

 Once on the commodore the game gets
 checked for usual bugs and is played
 for some time.
 There are actually 4 test
 configurations a game has to survive
 at my place.

1. c64/1541 with jiffy dos+action replay
2. plain c64/1541

 Both on PAL and NTSC.
 On NTSC I usually check the game with
 PAL and NTSC crystal plugged in.
 (This is NO paradoxon !)


 Whenever everything was fine the
 release gets checked internally.

 Is it a welldone basic game like that
 soccer manager we had a few weeks back
 or does it actually deserve points ?

 Does it flicker on NTSC ?

 Does it NEED NTSC-fixing ? Why ?


 When everything is done and the release
 is worth some points it's time for
 actually judging the quality of the
 game or tool and the crackers work.





 Usually a game with just an intro
 slapped on receives about O.1 to O.6
 points depending on the intro quality
 aswell.
 Multifilers usually receive a little
 more if they are featuring fastloaders
 or IFFL-Systems.
 Trainers get judged aswell by their
 functionality and usability.

 Most of the time it is pretty simple
 to check how much work was put into
 a particular release and depending
 on this the points are spent.

 Ofcourse other stuff like debugging
 and translating gets honored aswell,
 but has to be proven somehow first.



 Judging the quality of a release is
 a little harder.
 Everybody will say that a certain music
 just sounds better than a certain other
 one.

 I personally have to be an objective
 reviewer and all I can say is:
              IMPOSSIBLE

 Therefore I judge the game by it's
 graphics, music and playability.
 Influenced aswell by the type of game,
 I make up my mind a couple of times and
 come up with a conclusion.

 Thanks to my little brother and some
 other locals for rating several games
 aswell.


 (Now you know, that you have to bribe
  my brother in the future ! hahaha )


 The whole procedure can eventually
 happen about 3-4 times on a release.
 Rather often I get hints of what
 is wrong on certain releases
 (and give these hints myself) or
 discussions start about certain
 aspects.