Propaganda 23 ch02

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 +------------+
 |THE INTERNET|RELEASE LIST
 |THE INTERNET|RELEASE LIST
 +------------+
                         +-------------+
                         |by COUNT ZERO|
                         +-------------+

      FEBRUARY 1ST-JUNE 6TH, 1997
 W ___________________________________
 Welcome to the very first edition of
  the new internet based release list.
  We seem to have caused quite some
  trouble before we announced it in the
  last issue of Propaganda already and
  got a tremendous feedback after the
  rules were printed in the last issue.

  _____________________________________


 Q
 Quite some people seem to fear this new
  list and I read a sentence which made
  me think. It was printed in an issue
  of Domination and went like:


  Never cut the roots of a growing tree
  _____________________________________
 WELL
 WELL, quite some dudes out there know
  and even share my opinion about this
  new list ... Without the Inet the 64
  would be a dead horse. Some more or
  less crappy emulators helped the
  Commodore 64 to survive until this
  point and now it gains even more
  popularity each day.



  This was just possible due to the
  unbelievable explosion the net had
  to suffer during the past years.

 A
 Anyways. The list like we all knew it
  is gone and waxed from Propaganda and
  it was transformed into something new.

  May the reader decide whether he likes
  it or not ... Personally, I have to
  think over again and got to remark,
  that in the very beginning it sounded
  weird to me aswell ... but NOW, having
  composed the first list based on the
  new standard, it looks good.

  ____________________________________



 ATTENTION
 ATTENTION
 _________
+--------------------------------------+
|I was busted on May 13th and the cops |
|carried away all my Amiga equipment,  |
|along with all the stuff for the list |
|which I had sorted on that harddisk.  |
|                                      |
|I recompiled the list from stock and  |
|I am pretty sure that I left out      |
|some stuff, as certain people don't   |
|seem to care about their E-Mails.     |
|                                      |
|Incase you mail me about a missing    |
|release in this list, I will          |
|include it in the next issue !!!      |
+--------------------------------------+



 Before we start with the rules and
 the list itself, some words about
 releases in general.

 When checking the about 5O programs
 I gathered together for the list, I
 had the strange feeling, people just
 want to play tricks on me ...

 I stumbled about BASIC GAMES from 85
 just being translated, totally lame
 cracks and heaps of stupid mistakes.

   THIS IS THE END OF THE CENTURY !!!!
   THIS IS THE END OF THE CENTURY !!!!
   ___________________________________
   Get real and release properly !!!!




 Oh my god, stuff like leaving the
 Hi-Saver on when a trainer is selected
 may happen once ... but twice ? No Way!

 Removing a Hi-Saver totally is just as
 stupid. I would have been happy about
 a 1OO% version for sure.

 And releasing translated Basic Games
 from over a decade ago was beyond my
 wildest imaginations before I saw it.

 The guys who did these releases know
 what I am talking off right now and
 the reader will recognize it later on.

 Most of the people still being around
 try to find challenges opon improving
 their skills and finally you sit down


 check out some stuff and shake your
 head once ... then twice ...

 HOW THE HECK can a computer like the
 Commodore 64 survive THAT long when
 there are so few people around trying
 to make GOOD stuff ?

 To put it in a nutshell:

 TRY TO MAKE IT BETTER AND STOP WHINING!

 People cry about LITTLE bugs on the
 boards and on the net aswell, but seem
 to miss the real cannoncraters.

Over for now ... Let's go for punishment



+---------+
|THE RULES|
|THE RULES|
+---------+
 How to become part of the list:

 THIS HAS CHANGED ! READ IT !

 To get one of your releases into the
 list you have to upload it via ftp to:

 The Digital Dungeon:  XXXXXXXXXXXX

 Gangster's Paradise : XXXXXXXXXXXX

 Both FTP sites contain textfiles in
 /pub/C64/ about upload rules and
 conditions ... check them out or mail
 me for a helping hand.



 W
 Whenever you uploaded the release make
  sure to mail:

  countO(at)mail.netwave.de      or
  _________________________
  newscopy(at)algonet.se
  ______________________
  whenever your mail bounces from the
  netwave account.


      HAVE
  YOU HAVE TO MAIL US!
  ____________________
  If we get no mail, there is virtually
  no release at all ...




  We will ignore mails which where sent
  using an anonymous mailer like
  hotmail.com or earthling.com !

  This has several reasons. First of all
  we want to be able to get back to you
  for further discussions or when
  problems occur.

  Second reason is that we want YOU to
  stand for a release ...

  And finally normal ISP mail-servers
  rarely suffer the problems a mailer
  interface has.

 If you don't want your E-Mail revealed,
       we will not give it away !



 Conclusion: The first mail I get

  concerning a release, that release
  will be checked first. If it is ok
  regarding PAL/NTSC and other
  conditions it will be counted as the
  first release. Regardless to any other
  release which might have been there a
  day before.

  This ofcourse only goes for games
  released after the 6th of July 1997,
  the day I closed THIS list.


 That's it for the explanation about
 uploading, mailing and troubleshooting.
 Questions left ? Use your mailer !


+------------+
|THE RELEASES|  WHAT'S A RELEASE
|THE RELEASES|             AT ALL ???
+------------+

 We are ignoring:

 - Basic Games, Fake Label releases and
   anything that was created using
   SEUCK and other game makers.

 - Non-English releases.

-- Very little exceptions may happen --




      Still want points ? Read on ...
      _______________________________


 A Release will receive points whenever
 it is:

 - Working PAL/NTSC
 - English (or multilanguage)
 - a fully working version

 Whether a 1OO% version is necessary or
 not, groups may decide by themselves.
 Whenever a game is working fine for me,
 I consider it being 1OO% ...

 Incase you think it's not 1OO% and
 has remarkable bugs which were not in
 the original, let me know about it
 and I might consider your or another
 version is 1OO%.




 Points for FULL GAMES are given like
 listed here:

 O.O - 3.O  for the quality of the GAME

 O.O - 2.O  for the quality of the CRACK

 2.O        will be added if the game
            was released PAL/NTSC from
            the first release on.

 1.O        will be added if a former
            version being PAL or NTSC
            only was released before.

 1.O  will be substracted for major
      cracking bugs or if a 2nd version
      was necessary to complete a
      release.

 up to 1.O   will be added if something
             very special was done to
             the game or a new cracking
             technique was introduced
             with the release.


 There are no categories like Budget or
 Full Price anymore ...

+--------+
|PREVIEWS|  0.0 - 1.0 points are given
|PREVIEWS|            for previews.
+--------+

 A preview has to be playable, else it
 will receive O.O points.
 Only the first preview of a game will
 be counted. V2 previews will be ignored


+-------------------+
|TOOLS     UTILITIES|
|TOOLS AND UTILITIES|
+-------------------+

 Up to 3.O points are given for Tools.
 Not caring about PAL/NTSC at all.

 We want such stuff, so release your
 good underwear aswell !!!


 NOTE
 NOTE

 THIS WAY EVEN LEGAL GROUPS CAN ENTER
 THE CHARTS.

This is a release list, no Gamer's Guide


 OK, half of the chapter wasted on the
 rules and additional crap-talk ...

 But before we start for REAL:

 The editor is as objective as possible
 regarding the releases, but mistakes
 are always happening, so get in contact
 with me to correct mistakes.
 Unlike others I stand for the bullshit
 I sometimes do.

 The rules are there to be broken, so
 if a new situation comes up, I modify
 the rules to fit them.

 The rules are based on Psychobilly's
 rules for The Pulse, which were an
 extended system of The Shock Magazine.



 FINALLY ...

 The List was started on February 1st
 and closed on June 6th 1997 !


+----------------+
|ALPHAFLIGHT     |      OVERALL: 44.9
|ALPHAFLIGHT 197O|
+----------------+

 The german based group had a very
 active time during the last months and
 came up with a chop full of releases.
 REMEMBER (fixed) gave them 2.9 pts
 and the 2 Player game REVERSI (fix)
 added another 4.3 pts to their score.
 They raged on with the Final Sales
 Version of UPSIDE DOWN (4.3 pts) and


 a properly fixed version of DEADLY
 MESSENGERS, which gave them 2.9 pts.
 MERCHANT (fixed) was released along
 with Hitmen and only 2.1 as the
 points are shared. EAGLEWARE made them
 happy and gave them FUGITIVE
 (fix/2.9 pts) and SAMBER (fix/4.2 pts).
 The translated and fixed STARMERCHANT
 from LK AVALON resulted in another 3.3
 points.
 With the release of VISION (fix/4.O),
 TARGET (PAL/NTSC/2.O) and BLOODHAND
 (fix/3.6) some more points where added
 to their final score.
 MEGA MOLECULES was fixed and had a
 final judgement of 3.4 points.
 The previews of SAVAGE PLATFORMS (O.5)
 and SCORTIA (O.4) were just little



 Overall a steady list of releases, but
 people have claimed that their version
 of MYSTERY (fixed) would bug. After
 a closer check and nobody except for
 the people whining on the boards,
 no real bugs where found. Nobody was
 able to specify memory locations or
 bring up a remarkable way to get to
 these discussed bugs. AFL earns
 4.1 points on this quite well designed
 puzzle game.

   +--------------------------------+
   |"LOOK FOR BUGS! LOOK FOR BUGS!  |
   | WE WILL MAKE THE 100%-VERSION!"|
   |                                |
   |       - HEARD AT AFL'S HOUSE.  |
   +--------------------------------+


+---------+
|CHROMANCE|             OVERALL: 22.7
|CHROMANCE|
+---------+

 The traditional hungarian Gangsters
 scored astonishing well when looking
 at the games they released.
 BUDDHA OF BADNATH and MAGIC LAND
 (both BASIC) gave them O.O
 aswell, as the V2 preview of CHRONIC
 THE BADGER.
 The unplayable, but nethertheless
 nice preview of KYRIL THE LEGEND
 resulted in O.O along with the non-
 working HORSEKILLER PREVIEW.
 (We tried many times and finally
  concluded that the IFFL system sucks)



 Still Chromance managed to release
 the pretty well done GALLEON (fixed)
 and gained 5.1 pts for it.
 LASTG (fixed/3.1 pts) and MR.SETAM
 (fixed/3.O pts) were released to
 upgrade their points. The fixed
 TWIN TERRORS (3.4 pts) and UNDENOID
 (3.1 pts) made them look better again.
 They finalized the session with
 INTERLACED PAIRS (fixed/5.O) and
 ranked up pretty well in the end.










+----+
|F CG|                   OVERALL: 9.9
|F4CG|
+----+

 The Fantastic Four had only 3 releases
 which were counted this time.
 They started off with the fixed
 POWERTRIS, but loose one point here
 on some bad cracking. The Hi-Score
 saver which was originally in the game
 was removed and the F4CG intro looks
 much smoother on PAL than on NTSC.
 Maybe atleast THAT should get fixed
 somewhen. Overall POWERTRIS was
 rewarded 3.4 instead of 4.4

 Next one was MANGANOID, a breakout
 clone which was nice in the first
 place, but I detected 2 major flickers

 on the end sequence (actually a 2 byte
 fix which could have been done VERY
 easily) and a Levelskipper would have
 been nice, as it's a pain to play a
 complete level. Last but not least,
 this 98% version got 3.8 points after
 having substracted 1.O for a bad fix.

 Their final release was KNOORKIE
 THE PIG, a funny and well translated
 polish game. I was told that the game
 contains some sprite bugs, but were
 not able to detect them, so the full
 3.7 points for an already PAL/NTSC
 running game were given.

         +--------------------+
         | AND RRR SAYS WE'RE | **
         |CHEATING THE CHARTS!| \/
         +--------------------+

+------+
|HITMEN|                 OVERALL: 2.1
|HITMEN|
+------+

 Along with Alphaflight they released
 the fixed MERCHANT and gained 2.1 pts
 for it.
 Additional info: a nice crack, but some
 of the english phrases in the release
 could have been better.

+------+
|LAXITY|                 OVERALL: 0.0
|LAXITY|
+------+

 TRAZZ preview didn't deserve anything.
 Not even space on my disc ... O.O pts


+------+
|MOTIV |                 OVERALL: 4.8
|MOTIV8|
+------+

 Crossfire seems to be one of the shy or
 hard to reach guys. Lots of E-Mails
 went to nirvana, but nevertheless, we
 tested some of the Motiv8 releases.
 As there are FOUR CORNERS (O.O) and
 AFTERLIFE 2 (O.O) which were both
 BASIC.
 MONSTERPOWER (PAL/NTSC/1.7 pts) would
 have been below my dignity.
 The nice ZWEI BERETEN PREVIEW (O.6)
 was surprisingly well done though.
 And finally a 2nd version (-1) of
 X-TRIS (fix/2.5) was necessary to
 satisfy the scene.


+---------+
|ONSLAUGHT|             OVERALL: 19.3
|ONSLAUGHT|
+---------+

 Jazzcat's soldiers fought well and
 released a preview of CRAZY BUSINESS
 (O.3 pts) and DOMINESs (PAL/NTSC/2.6).
 SHOVE PREVIEW was worth another O.2
 and FIND THE PAIRS PREVIEW was selling
 at O.4 pts.
 Later on they surprised some people
 with a fixed version of CANNON CRAZE
 from MAGNA MEDIA (4.1).
 Too bad the following games suffered
 some seriuos cracking mistakes and were
 both deducted -1 on their points.
 BOTH games happily save the Hi-Score
 when using the installed trainers.
 Something WE don't want in 1997.

 These games were GHOST TRAP (fix/3.7)
 and TROOZE (fix/3.9).
 Both of them were cracked well,
 contained massive trainers, docs,
 titlescreen, iffl packs, etc. but it
 looks like STING forgot to disable the
 saver. Something which turned into a
 standard in 1989 already.
 Last but not least the final version
 of CRAZY BUSINESS made it to the FTPs
 giving them 4.1 including a deduction
 of -1 as there was no version of the
 archive to be found that contained
 a working intro. The intro which
 Onslaught supplied simply crashes while
 depacking.





+-------+
|SCS TRC|               OVERALL: 15.3
|SCS&TRC|
+-------+

 With CBA quitting the scene, we get
 more active every day as we have to
 spank one monkey less. Therefore some
 nice releases came in resulting into
 a good mid-field place for the co-op.
 They started off with XIOM 101%
 (fix/4.9 pts) and the preview of an
 average 2 Player preview named GRAV
 (O.4 pts). The preview of BLOODHAND
 (O.3 pts) made SCORTIA (fix/4.2) look
 even better. For some reason Burglar
 added another 3.8 pts to the account
 by releasing MONSTERS (fix) and his
 innovative and steadily developed
 program REAL SID PLAYER (1.7 pts)

+-----+
|TRIAD|                  OVERALL: 0.1
|TRIAD|
+-----+

 After their X-Mas 96 release BUBBLE
 PREVIEW, they managed to release
 AAKE 2 PREVIEW (O.1)

 This is one the previews which should
 be kept by the programmers or child-
 ren that just started experiencing the
 more advanced scrolling techniques.
 For sure.



   **  THE FINAL RESULTS COMING UP **
   \/  THE FINAL RESULTS COMING UP \/


+---------------+
|FTP RELEASERS Top
|FTP-RELEASERS ---   FEB1ST-JUN6TH 1997
+--------------1 0   __________________


      ___________________________
          ALPHAFLIGHT
      1.  ALPHAFLIGHT 1970...44.9
      2.  CHROMANCE..........22.7
      3.  ONSLAUGHT..........19.3
      4.  SUCCESS & TRC......15.3
      5.  F4CG................9.9
      6.  MOTIV8..............4.8
      7.  HITMEN..............2.1
      8.  TRIAD...............0.1
      9.  LAXITY..............0.0

      ___________________________









                 +---+
                 |d=b|
                 |'o'|
                 |/_\|
                 +---+
                  MAY THE BOARDCHARTS
                    BE AS EXCITING.
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