Domination 02 ch08 Interview with Kingfisher of Triad
Interview III
Welcome to the final interview for this issue, this time I decided to grab a very talented and well-known coder from the Swedish scene and also a person I really would like to have a good chat with. This time I present...
D=Domination K=Kingfisher
D)
Please be seated my long haired friend! Thank you for joining us in this interrogation (of sorts). Okay, I am quite sure over the years your coding abilities have been admired by many so tell us a bit about yourself, age, height, looks, sex..
K)
I'm a man, 22 years old by now (means I was born way back in 1972) and I am of average length. My name is Linus Walleij, and I look like most people, ears mouth, nose.. and yes I have quite long hair.
D)
A good question would be, why coding? Have you ever thought of doing other things on the C64 or ever thought of just quitting altogether?
K)
I do other things. I don't ever use my C64 for games, since I think it is a useless waste of time, but from time to time I use the C64 for tuning my guitar. That's most useful, if you didn't know it already, with most composing programs the tuning tones for a guitar is: e-2, a-2, d-3, g-3, b-3, e-4. And no, you can't quit. None have ever decided how you could possibly quit the scene, so you just can't. The worst you can do is probably to disappear. Once you're in, you never quit, no choice man.
D)
Many new routines have been made possible on the C64, what is your favourite routine and what is your dream routine on the C64?
K)
Aha, you mean these technical stunts, right? Of course my favourite is the so called "hardware-splitter", since I invented it (some call it massive FLI rasterpipes). Actually it is more a visual trick than a technical and that's the funny bit about it. It was used for the first time in a demo called Utopia/Triad. It's an easy trick but I like it, since it was all my idea. also I like my animation packer a lot.
D)
Red Storm/Triad was a big breakthrough which set a fire for your coding abilities, tell us what inspires you with code ideas, particularly those behind that demo and what can we look forward to in the sequel?
K)
Red Storm really was something special. It all begun way back in 1990 with a few parts on the "submarine" theme. The idea of a submarine originated from a picture drawn on the Amiga by the The Sarge/Triad (he is now in Rebels on PC). It showed a periscope above the surface and an evil eye. Next the idea of bleeding crucifixes and the metamorphosis of battle airplanes into crucifixes appeared as I watched the Pink Floyd movie, "The Wall". I instantly thought "this would be easy to do with chars.." and there it was. Then Alfatech joined the development team and together we developed the rest of the ideas. By this time we had also decided to make the first full disk trackmo on the C64. By the way, we thought of hiding all the files and forcing people to make full disk-copy, but we skipped it, since it seemed totally stupid and useless. But still there are some people who think hidden files look "professional". This is not the case, it is of course simply harder to program a serious file loader than a simple trackloader.
Well back to the subject. We (Alfa and I) kept making parts until the disk was full and then we released it. Its funny to see how people think we shared the work, they say: "Alfa must have done this", and "KF must have done this". Sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong. I will never tell 100% who did what, since it isn't that interesting. It was a cooperation. About my contribution to demos in general, I can only say that I try to put some sort of message in them. I try to reach my viewers feelings instead of just presenting every possible technical stunt. I make demos whenever I have something to say. Otherwise I don't do them. Technical stuff won't affect you or the we all live in, but if I can reach the soul of my viewers, make them think of something else than computers, I have succeeded. That's all I want really. Psychedelica is also nice, which means trying to touch people in a way they can't put their finger on. You feel something, you know there is something special, but you don't know what it is.
D)
Very wise words, please give the readers your favourites to the following.
Demos: all those demos that have "it" in them. may it be nostalgia, emotion, or just a magic touch of their creator. There are a lot of these. "Think Twice II" for example.
Demo Groups: The Judges, Dexion, Ash & Dave, Panoramic and Crest/Tough. In fact all groups that have their own image.
Coders: I prefer to think of designers instead of coders. Coders are mathematicians, designers are artists. Everybody who makes things for their own well being and not only to get admired, is a good coder.
Musicians: music with originality and feeling. Red/The Judges, Guy Shavitt, TDM/Triad, Danko + Swallow/Censor, Martin Galway, Rob Hubbard, TMC (Charles Deenen) and a lot more I can't remember. Some persons have made one or a few good tunes and a lot of rubbish. For example I have only one single tune by Galleon/Oneway (the inventor of the Cruelcruncher) but it is splendid, though its awfully simple to make.
Graphicians: SIT and Bob were the first real magicians in making graphics. Nowadays I just admire those make their own paintings. The others could just as well be called "digitizers" even though they don't use scanners. Ogami/Fairlight is for example a very good graphician.
Crack group: Legend. No arse lick, really quality, quantity and speed. That's all a good group needs. Perhaps you're too addicted to the American boards all the time, don't forget that the European scene is the base of the whole market. In the old days Ikari made a lot of high quality cracks.
Game: Tetris and Pacman. They have got something special about them. Also these are the only two games I know that attract females players as much as male. They are both genius. By the way, the inventor of Pacman is Toru Iwatani.
Scener: Grendel/Byterapers. He's a true legend.
Food: pizza with strong paprica or McDonalds regular burgers are ok. I like food with lots of spices, Asian food.
Movie: Star Wars IV-VI (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) these films all have something special about them.
Girl: my favourite girl is the girl that loves me for what I am. The best girl is not the one you most of all to go to bed with. The best girl is the one you most of all want to wake up with. she knows what I feel and she cares for me. That's my favourite girl
Music: I have a broad taste. I don't change my music taste, I just add new stuff all the time. I used to listen to pop, rock, heavy metal, acid house, jazz, electrofunk.. But nowadays I prefer to listen to techno. Both the regular euro techno (rob'n'raz, Capella, 2unlimited etc) and the more experimental. Right now I listen a lot to trancemaster and thunderdome stuff. My personal favourite group at the moment is RMB. I also like breakbeat techno like for example the Prodigy (ED: yep, The Prodigy surely rules).
Sexual position: to be honest with you, I haven't really had enough sex to make a sensible statements here. It's not interesting anyway.
Disk magazine: I don't read enough disk magazines, so I am unable to judge these. But I liked "Garfield News", because it was original.
And finally your likes and dislikes: I like creativity and I dislike laziness. Do something!
D)
Please tell us how you entered this scene and a basic run-down on your C64 scene life? and why the handle KF?
K)
I got my first C64 in 1986, I was to my computer party in Alvesta 1987. I joined as a member of Byterapers way back in 1988. When they dismissed their activity on the C64 I joined Mute 101, Royalty, Rebels, Triad. In that order. Why Kingfisher? good question. Do you know? I don't. It just popped into my mind.
D)
Ok, what are your future plans for both the scene and real life? More cool demos in the pipeline or...?
K)
Scene is easy: I keep up the work. Future will see a new demo under the name "Refugee" and a midi-program which turns your C64 into a midi-synthesizer module. Whenever I get an idea I will try to realise it, If I have the time. My real life is a bit more complicated. At the moment I go to classes in creative Swedish, which means I learn to write. I've written one novel so far and I'm working on my second one. I also write lots of poems and short-stories. Perhaps I will become an author? I would like to write manuals for computer programs, articles on computer technical subjects and a lot more. I want to try out virtual reality and holographic computer screens. I have so far tried to work as a PC programmer, paper deliverer and computer teacher. Who knows what's in the lap of the future.
D)
Did you ever do any other jobs such as swapping, painting or music?
K)
I do music sometimes, but just for my own well being. I play the guitar, see. And I swap with a few good pals.
D)
Ever thought about coding games? And what is your opinion on the games market of today and what improvements we should make...
K)
I started a game project together with Bismarck, TDM and Alfatech way back in 1990. We never got anywhere with it, but it was a nice try. Some of TDM's music for this game will appear in the new demo.
D)
What is your computer system consisting of? Give a list (excluding drugs and coffee)
K)
Phew! I use one normal English C64, two Swedish C64, one American NTSC C64 and one SX-64. I have one 1541, a 1581, 1756 memory expansion, midi-interface and an Action Replay VI. I also have one Amiga, PC-XT (8088 based model), 386 VGA PC (notebook) for my writing, and an Atari which is rigged to mine and TDM's midi-system. 1581, colour monitor for C64 and Amiga, the PC's and the Atari have their own screens. I guess my brain is hooked into all this as a neural command centre as well.
D)
Well the ships do depart so any greets you wish to blow across on a d011 scroller to anyone??
K)
Well, yes! Alfatech, TDM, Jerry, Bismarck, Tranziie, Aktie, Wingo, Zyron, Depeh, Olav Morkrid, Antichrist, Chrysagon, Zodiac, Unifier, Dr. Star, Bob, Guran, Danko, Grapple, Dane, Trident, Jaggadash, Grendel, Bjorn Rostoen, Jas C Brooke, Jan Sochor, Colwyn, JCH, Uptonogood, Charles Deenen, Tracer, Motley, Iznogoud, Laserjesus, Slim Ayadi, Chris, Stormbringer and Lord Interface to name just a few.
D)
I really appreciate the time you took in doing this, any last words for the entire scene?
K)
Trust only yourself. Take good advice, but try everything except drugs and religion. Always do your best whatever you do. Do not watch TV. Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb. Write to me if you want advice on something, or if you have something fantastic to tell. I try to write back to everyone but tend to forget it. Change what you cannot accept, believe in socialism and last but not least. We are all part of the inevitable.
D)
See you in the next demo Linus!
So this concludes this interesting interview, Kingfisher's address is obtainable from any Triad dealer.
