Propaganda 23 ch06

            +--------------+
            |Thoughts about|
            |  the scene.  |
            +--------------+







                            +---------+
                            |by SLIVER|
                            +---------+


     +---------------------------+
     | ..THE STANDARDS WE CAN BE |
     |  PROUD OF - THAT MADE US  |
     |   PIONEERS OF THE SCENE.  |
     +---------------------------+

S
Stopping for a moment and having a clos-
er look at that, what happens in the
scene nowadays, one could come to the
conclusion it's getting more and more
weak day by day. However, being one of
those who observed the latest happenings
, I could not agree. The fact is that
it's getting worse in many aspects and
the most destructive fact is the lack
of activity. In some ways, the big part
of the demo-scene represented by old



legends may be considered as retired.
Even if they aren't officially dead yet,
any action from them cannot be expected
though. Those are usually a bunches of
good friends living with their history.
No fresh ideas, no motivation, no hopes.

It is the same way with almost all come-
backs. It's hardly ever that planned
and promised products get released. It's
not so often, when they achieve what
they have set out to do. It's nothing
but short-lived zeal and that's surely
not what we expected.

But as said in the beginning, there is
something that makes the scene stronger.
Or maybe if not stronger, then at least
it helps to keep the old standards we

have set during all the years. The sta-
ndards we can be proud of - that made
us pioneers of the scene. The trend of
returning to the roots - that's what I
am talking about.

+--------------------------------------+
|     "IN THE 4*4 AND PHONG-ERA,       |
| WHERE THOSE NEW GROUPS ARE TRYING TO |
|    PRODUCE PC-LIKE STYLED DEMOS.."   |
+--------------------------------------+

I believe I am not the only one who
recognized the series of excellent
products being released lately that
bring back the old atmosphere of the 64.
In the 4*4 and phong-era, where most of
those new groups are trying to produce
PC-like styled demos, we appreciate
there are still people left who have

good enough taste to serve us with
class.

It was CROSSBOW who first came along
with his brilliant KRESTAGE. Many people
showed their interest and appreciation
in the product, something that motivated
the programmer to do a sequel, KRESTAGE
2. With two great products (with the
subtitles BACK TO THE ROOTS and FOLLOW
THE ROOTS) within the short period of
time and the succesful production of
KRESTOLOGY in mind, we can only hope
CROSSBOW will keep up the same spirit.
There are also a few other productions
I would like to mention. At first, two
great music-collections were released,
that definately deserve all kind of
attention possible. OUTSIDER SEEK SAFTEY
by KJELL is the perfect example of a

simple, but well-designed production.
That's exactly what I call spirit, so
you better grab it if you haven't done
so yet. The second collection is produ-
ced by noone else than ZYRON. It is
needless to say what a large amount of
collections he has released in the past.
By far, he is one of the most hard work-
ing people in the scene today. NASTY OLD
PIECES (released at X97! ED.) includes
some of his best tunes, the ones having
participated in musiccompetitions thr-
ough thh years. Hope you enjoy it as
much as I did. I must also say how happy
I was to see MEGASTYLE being back with
a small but nice production.

Looking at magazines released lately,
I didn't find myself in shock, but how-
ever, if anyone told me we are lying on

that field and it goes worse, I would
just point out the latest issues of
DOMINATION, RELAX, DRIVEN and NITRO.
The long awaited appearance of Polish
magazines in English is also something
to look forward to. Even though Polish
magazines may not have the editoral
standard demanded, we have to give them
time to increase quality a level or two.

 +------------------------------------+
 |       ..CONVERTING GRAPHICS        |
 |  FROM PC OR AMIGA IS NOTHING ELSE  |
 |        BUT CHEATING TO ME.         |
 +------------------------------------+

Talking about good and bad aspects of
the scene today and being an artist, I
just can't get rid of an obsessive
thought. I guess I should share it with

the rest of you. There is one problem
that actually isn't new at all, but
after having a chat with ELECTRIC we
realized there are still people who are
not true to the game, which is a sad
fact. I am speaking of people who are
not able to paint by their hands and
have to slip away with cheating. Because
converting pictures from PC or Amiga
is nothing else but cheating to me.
That's not the way the bigger profiles
used to make art. Just take a look at
CRUISE, OWEN, CARRION and RODER just to
mention a few that know what true art
is all about.

It's really poor to notice such a wide
load of scanned or wired graphics.
Bringing this article to the end, the
C64 is way more than just a computer,

so don't forget where you come from
and where your roots are.

                         +------+
                         |Sliver|
                      +--+------+--+
                      |Guest Editor|
                      +------------+