The Crest 04
From C64 Diskmag Wiki
Contents |
Editorial
> THE CREST! - OCTOBER EDITION <
------------------------------- --
Welcome dear readers to the latest edition of your
beloved magazine THE CREST! The issue number 4
(better known as the October edition) finally hits
your screen.
Usually it's the function of the Editorial to inform
you about what happened last month, especially
concerning THE CREST!. But we'll come to that later...
Obviously there are still some people left who
still haven't checked that THE CREST! is absolutely
independent and is NO magazine by DYTEC, MEGASTYLE
or CREST...
THE CREST! has absolutely nothing to do with the
group with nearly the same name! Got it?!?
It seems that it's neccessary to explain everything
up to 1000 times until even the last kindergarden
child got the point! And that was really the very last
time that we said something concerning this thing.
And who still hasn't checked what we mean should
better go and grab the second issue of THE CREST! ,
because there we said everything that has to be
said about this theme! Okay?!?
Better bore your cats or sheep or whatever with
your comments about this... (Ha. that was a real
smasher in your face, eh?!? Haha.. )
Anyway, now over to the credits for this issue...
> THE CREST - STAFF <
-- ------------------------ ---------------------
General editors: HARDSEQUENCER/DYTEC
DODGER/DYTEC
SHOKRAY/MEGASTYLE
Internet correspondent: MIDFIT/LEGEND
Coding critizism: SCROLL/MEGASTYLE
DANZIG/ALPHA FLIGHT
Music critizism: MITCH/CREST
ZYRON/FFOURCG
Official spreading: VIOLATOR/ALPHA FLIGHT
H-Bl0XX/EXCESS/ROLE
-- -------------------------------- --------------------------- --
MAGAZINE CREDITS
-- --------------- ----------------------------------------- --
INTRO:
-----
Programming performed by DODGER/DYTEC
Hires picture drawn by HARDSEQUENCER/DYTEC
Sprites drawn by SHOKRAY/MEGASTYLE
Pal/Ntsc fixed by DODGER/DYTEC
Music composed by XAYNE/CREST
MAGAZINE OUTFIT:
---------------
Programming performed by DODGER/DYTEC
Hires picture drawn by: HARDSEQUENCER/DYTEC
Koala logo and prop.font by JBK DESIGN/MEGASTYLE
Sprites drawn by PIGEON/ex X-RATED
Musics performed by METAL/VIBRANTS
Pal/Ntsc fixed by DODGER/DYTEC
-- --------------------- --------------------- --
If there is someone who wants to support us with
news, stories or something else then he should try
to contact one of the editors via E-mail at:
JBK_DESIGN(at)hotmail.com / SHOKRAY/MEGASTYLE
THE_DODGER(at)hotmail.com / DODGER/DYTEC
DYTEC(at)hotmail.com / HARDSEQUENCER/DYTEC
or snail-mail at: XX.XXX XXXXX, XXXXX XXXXXX, XXXXXXX
In September we enlarged our staff with ZYRON/F4CG
and MITCH/CREST, who'll make the music reviews for
us.
And also H-Bl0XX/EXCESS/ROLE is going to support us
steadily, because from now on he's an official
spreader of THE CREST!
Then we also want to thank the following people, who
gave us good support to get this issue finished...
JAZZCAT/ONSLAUGHT, SPACE-ROY/MEGASTYLE, DANZIG/
ALPHAFLIGHT, MITCH/CREST, H-BL0XX/EXCESS/ROLE,
COMMANDER/ROLE, VIOLATOR/ALPHAFLIGHT, MARC/
ALPHAFLIGHT, BURGLAR/SCS+TRC, PEACEMAKER/HITMEN,
MR. WAX/CHROMANCE, DIDI/LAXITY and some forgotten
ones...
Some people said that it might be better to release
THE CREST! only every second or third month, just to
fill up a whole disk side then! Eh?!?
I (SHOKRAY) have to say that I nearly laughed till I
dropped dead after having heard that from DODGER.
Maybe that 200 blocks aren't that much.. But who's
interested in reading after 3 month that XXX of XYZ
joined ZYX and stuff like that.. Doesn't make it more
sense to release a magazine every month to be sure
that the contense is absolutely up to date?!? I think
so. And even 200 blocks aren't that bad in "today's"
scene, that is more and more dying in my (SHOKRAY's)
eyes even though there are still some guys who
don't want to recognize this!
Now over to something else... Since issue 3 we are
proud to present you self counted charts. To make
the charts better, bigger and more objective we'll
make some kind of overall charts.. That means that
you cannot only vote via votesheet, but also via
digital votesheet per E-mail or on the us major
boards via mailing your votes to HARDSEQUENCER.
We're also currently working on a new outfit. But
just only god knows when it will be finished! Lazy as
we all are! Hehe. :)
But we can already tell you that this outfit will be
very expensive, just as well in coding as in
graphical artworks.
Okay.. That are all more or less important news
about THE CREST! from the last month.
Again a huge "Thanks!" to all who supported us to
get this issue finished and now the whole staff once
again wishes you a happy reading!
SHOKRAY
-------
( Return )
News
NEWS 'N' UPDATES
-- ------------ --
Once again feel warmly welcome to a hot news
round-up!
This time we cannot present you many news... We are
sorry for this, but the simple reason is that there
isn't happening very much! It becomes more and more
clear that the scene is dying!
Anyway, we try to keep it alive and so here you have
the latest facts from the illegal part as well as the
legal part of our beloved scene...
ALPHAFLIGHT (AFL)
-- ------------------------------------------------ --
The flighters once again had a very silent month.
Their EHQ ESCAPADE went down, and now ANTIDOTE is
the only HQ beeing online at the moment. It also got
a new number which is +46-45-726471.
Memberstatus:
ALG, Archangel, Argos, Baldhead, Caledonian,
Calypso, Chash, Chrysagon, Danzig, Eco, Goldhand,
Ignorance, Lynchbit, Mad Hatter, Marc, Ned, Rayden,
Rug Rat, Styx, The Heretic, Violator, Wizard, Xenox,
Zapotek, Zatt
Boards:
Edge Of Midnight +X-XXX-XXX-XXXX WHQ (down)
Escapade +XX-XXXX-XXXXXX EHQ (down)
Antidote +XX-XX-XXXXXX SHQ
CHROMANCE (C)
-- ----------------------------------------------- --
Still not being able to call out they lost two of their
members. CUBEHEAD left them to rejoin ONSLAUGHT
along with SKID ROW who joined F4CG.
Memberstatus:
Druid, Deviant, Garth, Jaydee, Joyride, Jinx, Lion,
Macx, Mr. Wax, Natas, Pete, Rough, Scratcher, Skud,
Spermbird, Sphere, Stash, Syco, Zakk, Zar
Boards:
The Bass Planet +X-XXX-XXX-XXXX WHQ
Virtual Light +XX-XXX-XXXXX EHQ
FTP-Site:
Gangsta's Paradise ftp.inf.bme.hu
FANTASTIC FOUR CRACKING GROUP (F4CG)
-- ----------------------------------------------- --
They showed some activities the last few weeks on
the net and on the boards.
There were also a few changes in the memberstatus
this mont.
First they lost DERBYSHIRE RAM, who later on joined
REMEMBER!
Due to some internal trouble also DMC left the family
and also his 2nd group NOSTALGIA. Later he teamed up
with the guys in WOW.
But they also could welcome a new member in the
family named SKID ROW, who left CHROMANCE to be
together with his old friend SKINHEAD!
Memberstatus:
Cubehead, Devil, Fungus, Goz, Maja, Motley, Mr Alpha,
Neotec, Newscopy, Playboy, Skid Row, Skinhead,
Sliver, Smasher, Sneaper, Solar, Stasi, Total Chaos,
Walker, Zyron
FTP-Site:
Interpark bbs.cc.uniud.it
LAXITY (LXT)
-- ------------------------------------------------ --
MENDRAKE left them because of too less support.
So DRAGON'S TOWER isn't any longer a LAXITY board.
Release wise they were on the top this month, but
just only because no one else released more than
one game! ;)
Memberstatus:
Animalo, Calamity, Dan Dee, Didi, Goat, Holden, KBS,
Skyhawk, Vague
LEGEND (L)
-- ------------------------------------------------ --
They didn't show any activity yet, but they enlarged
their forces once again with GENE.
Also XXX came and teamped up with them guys.
Memberstatus:
Antitrack, Doc, Fletch, Gene, Goldhand, Midfit,
Powerplant, TDO, Uncle D, Westbam, XXX
MEGASTYLE PRODUCTIONS (MSP)
-- ----------------------------------------------- --
Their cracking division showed activity and cracked
and polished 20 old and bold games. They'll be
released soon, as well as their finished game called
BURGERTIME.
It is unsure whether RAGE will become active again or
not, because he moved and didn't take his equipment
with him.
Memberstatus:
Scroll, ShokRay, Space Roy, Rage, (Lurid, Tricycle)
MOTIV 8 (M8)
-- ------------------------------------------------ --
The month started off badly with DASH getting
caught by the Swedish Telecom for abusing them.
Later on they got GOAT to join them with his former
group DISORDER dying.
Then they lost their board RAVE-O-LUTION because of
the sys-op LARRY quitting the scene.
Memberstatus:
Bird, Clive, Crossfire, Dash, Eddie, Gerry, Goat,
Greenfrog, Ibanez, Iceball, L.A. Style, Mason,
Mendrake, Merlin, Nuke
Boards:
In Living Color +X-XXX-XXX-XXXX WHQ
The Dragon's Tower +XX-XXXX-XXXXXXX EHQ
FTP-Site:
Mount Tokay woland.iit.uni-miskolc.hu
ONSLAUGHT (O)
-- --------------------------------------------- --
Things are really slow with the (O) guys these days.
They are still unable to call out, but had also some
luck with Cubehead returning from CHROMANCE.
Their WHQ Deadzone got finally a new number, due
to the blacklistings: +1-215-637-2204!
Memberstatus:
Bwyze, Carlos, Cubehead, Deekay, Digahole, DjKat,
Donar, Doom, Grafee, Homeboy, Insane, Jason,
Jazzcat, Mania, Meff, Morbid, Moses, Shocker, Sting,
TBH, Tektronics, Trouble, Vengeance
Boards:
Deadzone +X-XXX-XXX-XXXX WHQ
Sanitarium +XX-XXX-XXXXXX EHQ
FTP-Site:
Gangsta's Paradise ftp.inf.bme.hu
PADUA
-- ---------------------------------------------- --
Some time ago RAY TRACER joined them. Besides this
they were lazy as always.
But we can be looking forward to their next demo,
mainly coded by LEONARDO, which is said to become a
real smasher and might be released at THE PARTY 7.
Memberstatus:
Anonym, Classyk, Cupid, Jadawin, Leonardo, Pommac,
Ray Tracer
SUCCESS AND THE RULING COMPANY (<)
-- -------------------------------------------- --
BURGLAR is currently working in his own Internet BBS
program named BURG BBS. Within the next few days a
beta version will be available for some of his
friends.
Memberstatus:
Action Jackson, Alchemist, Bacillus, Burglar, Count
Zer0, El Banditos, Funxilla, Gazza, L'Trimm, Mistri,
Moren, Mr Ammo, Nightshade, Spectator,
Splatterhead, Superstition
Boards:
The Dungeon +X-XXX-XXX-XXXX WHQ
The Mystical Paradise +XX-XXXX-XXXXX EHQ
FTP-Site:
The Digital Dungeon ftp.scs-trc.net
That were all bigger news for this month.
So here we go with the single news:
- VIOLATOR/AFL left his second group NOSTALGIA and
joined LEPSI DEVELOPMENTS as 2nd.
- RACOON teamed up with the guys is LEPSI as second
group.
- BOB-UK joined NOSTALGIA and will be cracking some
games for them together with ZYRON.
- ZAK/ROLE joined PROXIMA as second group.
- The group DISORDER died. So GOAT teamed up with
MOTIV 8, GOTHIC quitted the scene and GHOST
remains groupless.
- SCORPE/WILLOW joined ROLE as second group.
- ZAK/ROLE opened a PC-Section for ROLE.
- ROLE opened a webpage at
http://www.geocities.com/SunSetstrip/towers/6715
- HITMEN's SHQ WAREZ AQUARIUM has a new dial up. The
new number is +XX-XXX-XXXXX.
HARDSEQUENCER
-------------
Charts
CHARTS
- ---- -
Again welcome to the CHARTS.
This time we didn't get so many votesheets back, but
we hope to solve this problem very soon.
Remember: You can also send us your votes via E-mail
or mail me (HARDSEQUENCER) your votes on the us
major boards, okay?!?
More voting means more objective charts... And that
is what you want, isn't it?!?
Okay, let's start the list...
BEST DEMO GROUPS
-------------- --
01. CREST............. (156)
02. OXYRON.............(109)
03. BYTERAPERS INC. ...(099)
04. REFLEX.............(082)
05. SMASH DESIGNS......(057)
06. TABOO..............(040)
07. PADUA..............(031)
08. PROFIK.............(029)
09. WRATH DESIGNS......(026)
10. LEPSI DEVELOPMENTS.(023)
Close to the top 10 are: BEYOND FORCE and TRIAD.
BEST CRACKER GROUPS
-- ------------- --
01. SUCCESS + THE RULING COMPANY (150)
02. ALPHAFLIGHT '70..............(133)
03. HITMEN.......................(102)
04. LAXITY.......................(102)
05. FANTASTIC 4 CRACKING GROUP...(085)
06. CHROMANCE....................(069)
07. ONSLAUGHT....................(068)
08. MOTIV 8......................(021)
09. REMEMBER ................(020)
10. AMNESIA......................(016)
Near these places are TRIAD, FAIRLIGHT and EXCESS.
BEST CODERS
--------- --
01. MR. SEX/BYTERAPERS INC. . (141)
02. GRAHAM/OXYRON............ (122)
03. CROSSBOW/CREST............(120)
04. AEG/SMASH DESIGNS.........(062)
05. FUBEN/OXYRON............. (058)
06. ZORC/REFLEX...............(039)
07. LEONARDO/PADUA........... (025)
08. CLARENCE/GRAFFITY.........(024)
09. ED/WRATH DESIGNS......... (022)
10. PROFI 1/PROFIK............(018)
Close to the top 10 are GOLDHAND, DRUID and QUISS.
BEST CRACKERS
-- ------- --
01. IGNORANCE/ALPHAFLIGHT '70.... (147)
02. BURGLAR/SCS +TRC............. (103)
03. JACK ALIEN/HITMEN.............(097)
04. MOONCHILD/HITMEN..............(083)
05. DIDI/LAXITY.................. (072)
06. SKINHEAD/F4CG................ (038)
07. CBA/SCS +TRC..................(029)
08. STING/ONSLAUGHT...............(017)
09. JAYDEE/CHROMANCE...............(015)
10. DANZIG/ALPHAFLIGHT '70.........(012)
Near these places are COUNT ZER0 and BACCHUS.
BEST GRAPHICANS
------------- --
01. DEEKAY/CREST............ (116)
02. JOE/WRATH DESIGNS....... (074)
03. VALSARY/SAMAR............(065)
04. ELECTRIC/EXTEND..........(056)
05. CREEPER/DUAL CREW SHINING(050)
06. CRUISE/TABOO.............(046)
07. DANE.....................(040)
08. ASTAROTH/AGONY...........(028)
09. CUPID/HITMEN.............(023)
10. RRR/OXYRON...............(021)
Close to the top 10 are TYRANT,MIKE and STONE.
BEST COMPOSERS
-- -------- --
01. MITCH +DANE/CREST.............(092)
02. FANTA/OXYRON..................(054)
03. JEROEN TEL....................(052)
04. PRAISER/SAMAR.................(039)
05. DRAX/VIBRANTS................ (038)
06. COMPOD/AGONY................. (035)
07. THE SYNDROM/TIA/CREST........ (034)
08. METAL/VIBRANTS................(033)
09. PVCF/REFLEX...................(028)
10. DAF/SAMAR.....................(026)
Near these places are GLENN, ORCAN and P.R.I.!
Releasecharts September
Releasecharts September 1997
--------------------------------
This month was really a pain with all the blacklisting
and nearly every group having problems to be
present on the us-boards.
You may believe it or not, but this was one of the
darkest months releasewise.... . But read yourself!
The BOARDS where I take the releases from:
The Dungeon +X-XXX-XXX-XXXX
The Bass Planet +X-XXX-XXX-XXXX
Deadzone +X-XXX-XXX-XXXX (NEW number!)
First I'll explain once more the rules used to make
this list... [+]
The pointsystem:
0.X for previews
2.X for low-budget-games
3.X for budget-games
5.X for fullprice-games
-5 for the re-release of a full game
-1 for the re-release of a preview
-1 for a fixfile or a 2nd version
Fakelabel-releases won't be counted.
Basicgames, compiled basicgames, gamemakergames
and tools we get no points.
1 extra point will be given for something special.
This can be a special feature in a crack, an [+]
impressing tool, or.?!
-1 point will be given for not translating the whole
text of a game into english. It's not neccessary to
translate the grafix too, but if the game uses no
text, only grafix, they have to be translated fully!
-1 points will also be given for a bad crack. That
means for example no levelpacking, bugging parts of
the game.. .
If a game is fixed PAL/NTSC it will get 2 points added
to the points for the game. If the game was released
as PAL-version before, it will get one point added.
If a 2nd group is involved in the fix, the points will
be shared... [+]
Make sure it's a real fix, and not only slowing down
the music. If the fix isn't needed at all, I'll give the
PAL-points only.
A fixed version of a game has to be released within'
6 months after the PAL-version to get points.
The same goes for a PAL-fixed version of an NSTC-
game. If a release has one or maybe more smaller
bugs, the group has 24 hours time to release a
fixfile or 2nd version. But I mean small bugs!
But now let's go on with THE LIST for September '97!
Happy reading... !!!
[+]
CHROMANCE (Hun, Ger, Swe.................) 2,1 points
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The guys in Chromance released this month a very
lame game called 64LUFF (2,1 pts.) which was already
running pal/ntsc.. .
F4CG (Bel, Swe, Ita.) 0,3 points
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
They put out a small preview called THEPSOS
(0,3 pts.) to break the silence for a moment...
I also have to correct a mistake from my last list
(August 1997). I gave points for Mr.Ant beeing fixed
to work pal/ntsc.... But it was running already
pal/ntsc and they only fixed the music-speed.... .
But this will only influence the yearly list for 1997!
Only to have this corrected.... . [+]
LAXITY (Ger, Den, Hol) 4,1 points
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
They put out a small game called 5X5 (4,1 pts.) which
was also fixed to work pal/ntsc!
MOTIV 8 (Den, Ger, Nor. ) 0 points
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The guys in Motiv 8 released the basic-smasher
SPACE BATTLE DELUXE (0.0 pts.).
So, that was all for this month! Don't blame me for
this short list.. !
Anyway let's go on with the final list on the next
page.. .
[+]
RELEASECHARTS SEPTEMBER 1997
------------------------------------------------
Place Group Points Releases
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 LAXITY 4,1 1
2 CHROMANCE 2,1 1
3 F4CG 0,3 1
4 MOTIV 8 0,0 1
That's it... .
On the next page the Fixercharts for September.
[+]
FIXERCHARTS SEPTEMBER 1997
--------------------------------------------
Place Group Points Releases
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 LAXITY 4,1 1
That's the end!
Ok, finally a small comment from me!
The last days I had to read that I made an apology in
public for a mistake I did. . But I did no mistake and
I never made an apology to someone concerning my
list in "THE CREST". I don't wanna put any names in
here, since everyone who knows me, knows the truth
about this. If I make mistakes in my list, I correct [+]
it in one of the following issues.. . I would never
make a big deal out of it, since I'm a human, and I'm
surely not perfect. But I don't wanna read BULLSHIT
about my person!
So use my email for comments or mistakes:
the_dodger(at)hotmail.com
DODGER
------
(return)
Electric-Profile
LEGAL PROFILE OF THE MONTH
-- --------------------- --
Hello and welcome to yet another interview. And
again you get some interesting facts and stories
from a famous scener.
This time I'm glad to bring you a profile of one of
the best CBM64 graphicans ever. It's no one less
than...
> ELECTRIC of EXTEND <
Now, turn over to the next page to enjoy this
smalltalk with this yet legendary pal...
?:Hi ELECTRIC! First of all thanx for sharing of your
time with us to make this interview!
So, please tell us and our readers something about
your person in general, like name, age, hobbies and
profession and stuff!
!:Hell-o to you!
Well, my name is TOMMI MUSTURI and I was born
backwards on 07.08.1975! I was quite small those
days but since then I strangely got bigger and
bigger. I'm a coffee and noodle narcotic and
workaholic social dwarf and communication
monster. I'm also one of the formers of the
infamous C64 and Amiga demo group called EXTEND.
I draw and design 80% of the time I'm awake, maybe
sometimes even asleep.
Hmm, guess I've got also some hobbies like role
playing, boozing, record/comic/book/film
collecting, running a record/comic label, going to
gigs and so on. I've given up all sports.
At the moment I'm studying 3rd year Graphic Design
in the Lybecker Institute Of Crafts and Design in
Raahe/Finland. I'll graduate on 21.11.1999, just 10
days before the world says - BANG- !!! :)
?:So, it seems you're a real workaholic! Boah!
Starting at the very beginning of your computer
life, how and when did you get your beloved CBM64
and why?
!:I got my first love back in 1985, though I had had a
SPECTRAVIDEO MSX 728 before that (only for two
weeks, that's not yet a sin).
Why? Well, all my mates got C64s and I used to visit
them playing games - that is what it was all about,
just playing games. A computer was those days
something supernatural, if you compare how much
effect it takes on people nowadays. I remember my
parents starting to argue about my dad buying a
computer for me. Commodore 666.
?:And how did you get into the scene then?
!:It's the usual story...
1. playing games
2. you wonder how 'em are done
3. you see a demo
4. you wonder what it is
5. you get contacts and more demos
6. BLAM! You've joined a group. And that means
you've taken your steps on the scene...
Game of life!
?: Without any doubt I can say that you are one of
the best graphicans on this machine.
What made you start doing graphics and why didn't
you become a coder or composer?
!: Oh, thanks!
I started to make graphics after we formed our
first group. That time groups usually didn't have
any musicians. We had a coder, but no graphics. I
liked drawing om paper so it was obvious that I'd
be the gfxer. I coded a bit in the beginning, but...
actually I don't know why I stopped! I still have
some ambitions about coding something but
nowadays there really is no time to start again.
Maybe then when I'm old and stinking and roll
around with a wheelchair.
?: Hehehe.. Good one!
Anyway, Who are or were your idols then
concerning graphics on the C64?
!: BOB STEVENSON was definitely the best gfxer on
the C64 game market. I still don't have any idols. I
really admire some gfxers and artists, but it's
more like studying and learning something. When I
see something new which is interesting (=I don't
know how it was done or what it is) I usually get
hyper active or angry and start to draw or paint.
There has been a plenty of good gfxers on the C64
during the scene history.. OGAMI, MIRAGE, CARRION
and PALADIN - those four I admire the most.
Hmm, we've been talking with THOR/EXTEND about
releasing a collections of BOB's gfx many times,
maybe we'll get it out some day.
?: I hope so!
And now please tell us which groups you were in
back in time. Maybe also inform us about what they
did and what you did for them!
!: Though I lived my childhood in a small village there
were a lot of active people. All my classmates had
C64s and so did most of the other boys too. (No,
girls didn't use computers).
The first group was DCB formed together with six
dudes from my school. We just traded games with
each other and some other people from Finland; no
demos or anything.
Then came the ZIPLERS, which can be counted as
the first real scene group as we put out a few
little demos, intros and musicrips (that were too
fucking popular those days!). In ZIPLERS I also
started my career as a gfxer and got my first
contacts outside Finland. The ZIPLERS had some
members that later were in groups like CONTEX,
ORIGO and EXTEND.
When SCORPION/ZIPLERS joined CONTEX we formed
ALPHA with some ex-ZIPLERS members and some new
dudes. ALPHA made quite a lot semi-quality
products and a lot of members came and left.
As ALPHA didn't get so famous I, GI HERO (later on
known as BARFLY/EXTEND) and KILROY joined
GENIUS - a demo group with lots of local coders.
During my time GENIUS released only one demo that
was called STILL LAMERS.
After half a year GI HERO and I rebuilt ALPHA as
GENIUS didn't get anything released.
But the second ALPHA wasn't any better than the
first, so when JAP/DYNASTAR called me and asked
if we'd like to form a new group with the finnish
section of DYNASTAR I was more than ready to say
"Yes!". It was the 12.12. 1989 and the crew was:
BARFLY, JAP, SWC, TBB, TSB and I. Since then we've
been torturing the finnish scene. Lots of members
have joined in, only some have left to join groups
like BROWBEAT, EXTACY, SHAPE and COLLISION. Most
sad moments in EXTEND were the deaths of
TROUBLEKEEPER (TLK) and GASSY, which both
happened the same autumn.
The current memberstatus looks like this: ARGON,
BARABBAS (ex-ATTE), BARFLY, BARRACUDA, CROM,
DR. ACID, DUCE, ELECTRIC, JUNKIE, KNIGHT, MICKE,
OPAL, ORBIS, TAPE, THOR, TBB, WIDE and ZERO.
People are more or less active... Anyway, we are a
group! All the people are friends together! I won't
lie if I say that there has been about 40 (!!!)
EXTEND meetings during our existence.
?: Now over to the present.. What can we expect from
you and EXTEND in the future?
!: We released MORBID ART 3 on 26.03.1993, then for
four years we released only some covers, pictures
and tunes.. Until 09.03.1997 when we launched our
dentro KUPPA at the JUHLA IVB. Things have become
more difficult, as all the members live around
Finland studying and working.
Anyway, now (finally) we are about to release our
REAL demo. It'll happen this autumn, probably at
the ZOO97-party, if it's held.
THOR/EXTEND and SCAPEGOAT/TOPAZ BEERLINE have
got their ultimate ROB HUBBARD collection project
that is on process for three years now.
TBB/EXTEND/SIDE B hast got a project named
FINNHITS together with AMJ/TOPAZ/BYTERAPERS INC.
/SIDE B and ZARDAZ/ORIGO/SIDE B - of course it's a
music collection.
Also some more collections are on the way. Guess
I'll get my own ready some day, but I want to get
something like 16 pictures in it, and until now I've
got only half of that.
Our Amiga section is still alive, but I don't know if
it'll release anything.
?: I think everyone out there hopes that all these
projects will get finished one day and is looking
forward to that!
So, you are also well known as the scene's best
cover designer... Where do you take all that
inspirations and images from?
!: I haven't released covers for too long time now, so
I don't deserve to be the BEST!
Nowadays 99% of the images come from my mind.
Those who haven't seen my paper gfx lately will
probably be surprised, as my style has changed
quite a lot (means: I've learnt to DRAW).
Inspiration comes mostly from my daily routine
(idiots that I see on the street), music, my brain
(spending a weekend in the apartment causes
serious hallucinations) but of course also from
other artists. As I said before, seeing an
interesting painting, piece of design or so makes
me want to paint. Sometimes when I paint (from my
own imagination) I get some kind of dejavu feeling
that I've seen this before, and that makes me
nervous. It feels like I'm just copying, although I'm
trying to create something new.
Hmm, I draw 90% on paper, if you didn't know.
Covers are just a tiny piece of what I've drawn.
Nowadays I've got great interest in drawing comics
though it's damn difficult and slow for me to do.
I'm soon about to release GLOMP number 2 (o with
dots), finnish written anthology-style alternative
comic zine (Whoah! What a description!) containing
about 15 artists. Get it from me by sending 4 (four)
US dollars to: STRESS PRESS
XXXXXXXXXXXX X
XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
Free commercial break. ; )
?: K00l, sounds promising.
So, as you're designing comics... Do you like
graffiti as well or do you even write/bomb
yourself?
!: Well, I like watching graffiti much more than I like
to watch the grey walls. Actually I don't like so
much the airbrush-stylish stuff, which most of the
graffities also present. What I DO like is the
strange combination of expressive typography and
extremely developed forms. This question is just
of personal opinion. And I don't write or bomb
myself.
?: Yeah, that really stylish typography kicks ass!
But now over to the C64 again... Which is your
favourite graphic mode on the CBM64 and why?
!: In the future I'll use mostly DRAZLACE by DEVIL of
NOICE. Because as first point the pictures don't
eat too much memory and as second point showing
the picture doesn't eat all the rastertime... Both
make it possible to use the pictures also in our
demos.
I also like to use INTELPAINT.
I-FLI pictures eat too much of everything, so I
guess I'll use 'em only for competition pictures.
?: And how much time do you approximately spend in
painting a fullscreen picture?
!: It of course depends on what kind of picture you
are painting, which format you're using and also
how fucked up you are.
Painting my competition picture HERB'S SHOT for
ASSEMBLY'96 took over 40 hours, guess that's my
record. Approximate time is 10 to 30 hours. I
usually draw the picture in quite a short period, in
a week or so.
?: And is there any special technique you use when
painting your great pieces?
!: Nothing special that I can say no one else uses.
I've made sooo many pictures that I MUST have
learnt something. There's still a lot to learn in
painting with C64, mostly in mixing the colours.
Smoothness is always important, so is the usage
of light. When using interlaced modes you should
also make sure that the pictures don't flick too
much. A good picture is always a combination of
everything - ALWAYS!
?: Yeah, I agree with you.
So, what do you then think of guys, who convert or
scan pictures and improve them then on the CBM64?
!: I HATE IT! What's the fucking point in that?
If they just would announce that the pictures ARE
just fixed it would be just okay, but releasing 'em
as been drawn by oneself... that really LOW!
I know that lots of people are doing this nowadays
but it's sometimes hard to prove. I don't want to
start an arguement with these people, it's their
own shame.
Instead of converting pictures people should
start to convert photos and make collections... I'd
appreciate people very much for that, and if
someone would even fix the photos.. nice!
?: Absolutely my opinion!
Now, please tell us, did you ever use your
graphical talent to earn some money?
!: All the time! I've always had little projects going
on. Usually I do stuff for my friends just for fun.
I've also designed CD and magazine covers and I'll
do even more of them in the future.
I'm not making this to earn money, just because I
really like what I'm doing.
When writing this I'm working in a multimedia firm
making www-design (part of work exercise I'm
doing for my school).
I'd like to get some illustration jobs in the future.
To live by drawing in Finland is freakin' difficult.
Anyway, I'm satisfied if I can do what I want, have
a roof above my head and get something to eat.
?: And now give us your very own favourites in the
following categories, please!
!: Coders.....: MR. SEX/BYTERAPERS INC.
GREMLIN/BEYOND FORCE
Graphicans: OGAMI, CARRION, PALADIN, MIRAGE,
BOB STEVENSON
Composers.: AMJ/TOPAZ/BYTERAPERS INC./SIDE B,
ZARDAX/ORIGO, JEFF/CAMELOT,
ROB HUBBARD
Demogroups.... : BYTERAPERS INC. , PANORAMIC,
REFLEX, TOPAZ BEERLINE
Demos............: PANORAMIC demos
Paper artists: NAZGUL, SUICIDAL, ELEGANCE (covers)
TOMATO, NEVILLE BRODY, ANDY
WARHOL, JOEL PETER WITKIN
(art/design)
Magazines......: SCRIPT, SKYHIGH, NEWSPRESS (C64)
EMIGRE, ZEROZERO, RAYGUN, MUTINY
(paper)
Cracking groups: blah...
Crackers.......: blah...
Food...........: Thai (remember my noodle
addiction), Turkish, vegetarian
food also (although I live 90% by
eating tuna flakes.. huh)
Drinks...........: Coffee, everything that has got
something to do with alcohol goes
Girls..............: All the girls I see when going to
work/school through the window
of the bus, but can never get
to know or talk with
Music: GUIDED BY VOICES, BARDO POND, JON SPENCER
BLUES EXPLOSION, HOWLIN' WOLF, SWEETHEART,
KEUHKOT, WARSER GATE, NOMEANSNO, MAZZY
STAR, NICK DRAKE, MERZZBOW, LOUNGE
LIZARDS, JOHN COLTRANE, ROBERT JOHNSON,
FLYING SAUCER ATTACK, DEEP TURTLE,
CANCANHEADS, RADIOPUHELIMENT, SEBADOH,
PAVEMENT, LARRY AND THE LEFTHANDED,
APEMEN, VICE BARONS, CHROME CRANKS,
ISEBEL'S PAIN, CIRCLE, LIIMANARINA,
STILLUPPSTEYPA, VICTIMS FAMILY, RESIDENTS,
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, BIRTHDAY PARTY, JOHN
ZORN + NAKED CITY, BOREDOMS, DIRTY THREE,
DON CABALLERO, LOOP, THE BRENTWOODS and
1000 others!
..you asked for this! ;)
?: Boah! What a huge list! Luckily you didn't mention
all groups, hehe!
And now we're gonna do some kind of brain
storming. I'll give you a word and you should try to
answer as short as possible with what comes
straight into your brain...
!: Graphics. : 90% of my life
Demos.....: make me happy
Cracking. : neccessary but uninteresting
Internet..: future, information explosion
Trackmos: make me happy as well
Parties: seeing friends, no showers, hangover,
COOL! :D
Sex......: What's that?:D
Alcohol : Fun! Perfect hangover cleans your mind.
Drugs... : Legalize!
?: Quite interesting....
What do you think of today's demo scene? Do you
like it? Or do you more prefer the old-school one?
!: Today's demo scene is okay.
I like to watch OLD demos, but I see no sense in
making 'em nowadays (unless they are made for
pure fun).
To keep the scene alive there MUST be people that
are trying to code something new. To be honest,
there HAVE been some demos lately that flash,
bounce and look ugly on monitor.
The C64 demo scene has definitely NOT developed
itself to its final form, guess it never will. There
is hardly nothing that you CAN'T somehow manage
to make on C64, you just have to know few tricks
and cheat a bit! ;)
?: And now a tricky question...
What is ELITE in your eyes? Do you think there is
still elite on the CBM 64?
!: Elite is shit! The people who think they still are
elite are just the opposite.
I've always been against this ELITE-LAMERS thing.
Some people truely ARE lamers, but it's because of
how they behave... not because they have been
only a short period in the scene.
Joining an old and famous group doesn't mean that
you are elite - you have to DESERVE and GAIN your
place on the top.
Anyway, nowadays the scene is much more friendly
than in the past, maybe because the scene is
smaller and more united than before. Being pushed
down by Amiga and PC scenes the C64 scene finds
its way to survive - it changes its form. Hmmm,
that's what they call evolution.
?: Yeah, I also see it that way.
Is there any special advise you have for young
graphicans, who want to become as good as you?
!: Practice, express and practice again! Do not NEVER
EVER deny anything if you don't know what it is.
It's usually good to copy pictures in the beginning,
but there is no sense in just copying and copying
all the time. Learning to draw on paper also helps
you to paint on the screen!
?: We're getting close to the end now...
As last point: Do you want to greet some friends
of yours or do you want to send out a special
message to all our readers?!?
!: Well, greetings to all the people out there!
What can I say?!? Keep on your work, have fun and
get drunk! This machine will never die!
Few special greetings to TOPAZ BEERLINE, ORIGO,
PALACE, BYTERAPERS INC. , BEYOND FORCE, PANIC,
EXOTIC MEN, NEOTEC, BIZKID, BREN, ZEALOT, NAZGUL,
ASTAROTH, REEKOL, TEMPEST, ZTRI, ZER0-X, CRESH,
REMIX, SMILE, MOTLEY, PALLO, irc-friends and of
course all the EXTEND assholes.
Keep well! Peace + love!
P. S. : ZOO'97, a pure C64 party will take place in
Finland autumn '97! BE THERE!
?: Okay, thank you very much for this interview! It
was really nice to have a closer look at your life.
!: Thank you and keep well!
?: Thanx.. Bye!
HARDSEQUENCER
-------------
( Return )
Bacchus-Profile
ILLEGAL PROFILE OF THE MONTH
-- ----------------------- --
Besides the legal interview we also have, like in
every issue, a smalltalk with a famous guy from the
illegal part of the scene.
This time you have the luck to read an interview with
a legendary cracker called...
> BACCHUS of FAIRLIGHT <
Have fun with this one!
?:Hi BACCHUS! Nice to have you here in this month's
illegal profile!
First of all please give us a short description of
yourself (name, age, hobbies....) !
!:My name is PONTUS BERG. I was born in the years of
the revolutions - 68. I work as in interconnect
lawyer for Tela Mobile here in Sweden. I'm married
to Gunilla and we have a daughter (Matilda - born
December 1994) together.
Btw, pictures of my family can be found in the
internet at: http://hem.passagen.se/gunillab
---------------------------------
?: So, when and how did you get your first beloved
CBM64 and also why?
!: I got it in the beginning of the summer 1985. The
reason was mainly to play games, of course.
I wanted a computer (had followed a course in
basic programming on the ABC80 a few years
earlier so I knew I wanted one) and this was the
time to get one.
A friend had games for the 64, so that was the
reason i didn't pick up an SV328 (SpectraVideo),
which had a decently kewl machine on the market
as well!
?: And how did you enter the scene then?
!: I admired guys who could crack games and put
intros on them and I knew I wanted to do that as
well!
A friend of mine (the one mentioned above) had a
classmate who knew a bit of assembler on the 64,
so we teamed up the three of us and formed LCT
(Lunds Cracking Team). This was in mid 86 and
suddenly I had someone to ask about assembler
stuff.
?: As you are a really famous cracker...
What made you start cracking and why didn't you
become a coder, graphican or composer?
!: The heros of mine were crackers so that's the
main reason, I guess. I also find cracking to be the
quick and dirty road to success.
I was a stinking bad coder at the beginning but
cracking was a lot easier actually.
I'd now say I can code better than anyone below
the top 20 coders, but this has taken some time.
I never had the patience to code demos. However
for some reason I could easily find the patience to
see a cruncher work for a few hours...
I don't have the talent for painting or composing
(and can also admit it unlike a few others) but I'm
good at cracking, so that's what I do!
I truely admire people like PERNOD who nut just
could do the lot, but who also was good at the lot -
major coder, who did his own graphix and aded his
own music - done in his own music editor featuring
his own musicroutine! That's KEWL!
?: Did you have or do you still have any idols
concerning cracking on the C64?
!: It's actually hard having a bunch of people you
know as heros, but IVANHOE, GOLLUM, MR. Z and
LANCELOT.
I know them all by now, which makes it harder to
look up to them. It's a pity i coudln't really
challenge them as they quitted before I could
compete!
?: Now we'd like to hear something more about your
scene history...
Who were the very first guys you got to know in
the scene and which was the first group, you were
in?
!: Mats (MR. COCONUT), Mattias (THE SCARLEP
PIMPERNEL) and Anders (WEDGE).
I'll have to mention Adde (GRAYHAWK) here as well
for being a truely great pal during many years of
cracking. He was "my personal swapper" and a
mean to inspiration. Please visit his homepage and
Hi-Fi stuff you need from him at:
http://hem2.passagen.se/referens
-----------------------------------
He was the one who nagged me into "crack just
another" after I quitted at least two times!; -)
?: And which groups have you been in after LCT?
!: The groups I've been in have been LCT (renamed to
CPU). A section broke out of CPU and formed
ONEWAY (the same ONEWAY still living today). We
were only in them about one or two weeks though!
ADDE knew STRIDER and that was the way we
entered FAIRLIGHT back in 87.
As you could tell, I'm a faithful dud who doesn't
change groups like underwear!
I live and breath FAIRLIGHT and to me FAIRLIGHT is
not just a group - it's a tradition and way of life,
so I'll leave FAIRLIGHT when I die - NO sooner!
?: Huh, quite interesting!
And what can we expect to see from you and
FAIRLIGHT in the future?
!: Well, not much, I guess!
I run the homepage and SLEDGE runs WAREZ
AQUARIUM. HARLEKIN has published his FairLigHTML
for 64'er (check the Magna Media homepage!) but
besideds that (demos and cracks) I don't dare to
promise abything!
I might do stuff like cracking old games for a
better collection of mine, but what else is there
with at least a SMALL challenge in it?
I won't spend a week cracking PaperBack writer
just to have done it! My time is SLIGHTLY more
precious now than it once was! I just can't
forsake work and family to sqeeze out and extra
block of an unprotected polish game coded in
basic!
?: Yeah, I can understand! Anyway, would be nice to
see something from you once again...
By the way, how did you get your handle? Where
have you taken it from?
!: I started out as PLAYBOY. However I sent a letter
to the mag asking for permission to use the name.
Surprisingly enough I got an answer! Less
surprisingly I was turned down. ;-)
I was then GASTON for two weeks or so, before I
picked BACCHUS. I was checking the greek and
roman gods as the kriteria for a name and BACCHUS
was short and kewl. i have been thinking about a
few dozen others the years but after being
BACCHUS/FAIRLIGHT for 10 years (this december) I
don't think there is much point in getting another
one! After all, the god of wine and fertility kinda
sums me up, doesn't it?!? :-)
?: Concerning cracks... What do you think is more
important.. Quality or quantity?
!: QUALITY 101 time out of 100!
If you can't release a working crack then don't
release it! I NEVER released something, knowing it
was bugged and I'm pretty darn proud of that!
Also, i put the same effort in all the work I did.
The crack should be perfect even if the game
itself sucks!
?: True, I absolutely agree with you.
And do you think that the C64 is still able to
compete with other computers like Amiga or mainly
PC?
!: No, I don't!:-)
I willingly admit that my 64 isn't running very
often. I test things on the emulators on the PC
nowadays and only under certain circumstances do
I move it to the C64! The fact that the keyboard of
my 128D sucks should of course also be taken into
account here. ;-)
?: Now, please tell us, which game that you cracked
had the hardest protection? And how much time
have you spent in cracking this one? Or has there
even been a game that you weren't able to crack?!?
!: CYBERLOAD is still the hardest protection on tape.
There have been a few decently hard ones on disk,
TEQUILA SUNRISE on GREEN BERET and a few others,
but they have all been fairly human.
I never had a Timex 3.0 to go through though...
I admire neat code and there is a whole lot of it in
several protections.
?: Is there any special technique you use when
cracking?
!: Improvise - that's it!
On tape there are a few very basic steps to load
the header of the loader but from there you're on
your own!
?: Hey, have you ever had some kind of war in the C64
scene? If yes, please tell us a story!
!: Well, we were in a stiff combat with CENSOR.
I never kept my mouth shut to keep peace. I hate
that crawling in front of stupid american
importers and that shit. I also hate fast and
bugged first releases.
I never walked away to avoid conflicts, and yet we
didn't encounter that much competition worthy the
name.
GENESIS PROJECT were cocky on the boards but I
can't say I respect a bunch that lives only by
getting their noses brown from licking american
arses. I can't respect a person who's primary skill
is to use the up and download functions of CCGMS!
?: And which has been the best computer party that
you have attended?
!: SLAGELSE 88 - second to none! Me, MARIO VAN ZEIST,
OLLIVER STILLER and a few others. I guess they
made a bigger impact on me than I did on them. ;-)
?: Now please give us your very own favourites in
subjects like...
!: Coders......: PERNOD and the other guys in HZ,
TRON, the guys from CREST and a
few others. Finnish coders are
also kewl, for example them guys
from FCS, BYTERAPERS INC. and
BEYOND FORCE.
Graphicans: SARGE, OGAMI, GOTCHA, BOB S.
I'd also like to mention RRR for his
logos.
Composers.. : TIM FOLLIN, ROB, MARTIN GALWAY and
quite a lot of the MANIACS OF NOISE
stuff is also very good!
Demogroups: Well, HORIZON first and foremost. Then
of course groups like BLACKMAIL and a
few of the finnish groups mentioned
at the topic "coders".
Demos.......: DUTCH BREEZE, the LEGOLAND series,
TRIANGLE's ROAD OF EXCESS to name a
few.
Tools.........: I really admire the crunchers like
DARKSQEEZER and assemblers TURBO
ASSEMBLER (especially of course the
X-ASM including TRONMON). It paid
off to be a good friend of THE
SHARKS. :-)
Magazines...........: On paper: 64'ER in the old days.
It's a pity it wasn't in english.
On disk: THE PULSE and the ones
JAZZCAT has been doing are
reliable and high quality!
Cracking Groups: IRKARI +TALENT was the ccop that
released quality stuff fast and I
admire them for that.
TRIAD in the old days were worthy
of lots of respect.
LEGEND and F4CG (before the
Crackers: The ones I mention when you asked me
for my idols.
ATT and BURGLAR could also be mentioned
here.
Food......: Uhm. So much, buiut anything containing
gorgonzola sauce is great!
Drinks..... : I like milk, GUINNES and a good glad of
wine.
Girls........ : I'm married! :-)
However, I like the curvy brunettes
before any skinny and minimally booped
blondes!
Music: PINK FLOYD and U2 (especially the earlier
work!)
?: Ah.... And what about some kind of brainstorming
now?!? I'll give you a word and should try to say
what comes straight into your mind...
!: Graphics: OGAMI
Demos...: LEGOLAND
Cracking: CYBERLOAD
Internet.: My homepage...
http://hem.passagen.se/bacchus
----------------------------------
Games.. : PINBALL DREAMS
Parties: SLAGELSE
Sex....: Practice to get kids and kids are great!
Alcohol: Nice in small amounts!
Drugs..: Nice in no amounts what so ever! For
people who're rather stupid, but with a
vision to become plain dumb!
?: Huh, some interesting answers, I must say...
Anyway, what do you think of today's demo scene?
Do you like it? Or do you more prefer the one from
the 80s?
!: It's much of a farse! Some talented guys bother
from time to time to copy the idead to effects
from other machines where as it used to be the
other way around when the originality was on the
64! It's rather sad actually!
?: What do you think of ELITE? Do you think there is
still elite on the CBM64?
!: Elite is a person being looked up upon by others.
There are several elite people around, but that is
mainly because of stuff they did in the past.
?: That was the last real question of this interview.
So, here you have some lines for some personal
greetings and also maybe a special message to all
our readers!
!: They all know who they are. I've made many good
friends over the years. I distinguish between
"computer friends" and "friends with computers"
and to the latter I count the members of FAIRLIGHT,
especially HARLEKIN, ROWDY and GRAYHAWK. People I
could call when I need a certain program or help
with something computer related - but also the
ones to call if my marriage broke down or so. Who
else could say that about their groupmates?!?
Also guys like UL-TOMTEN, QED, SCRATCH, STEVE
AKERS, SKYFLASH, JERRY/TRIAD to name a very
limited few.
I really bless the internet for the possibility to
maintain contact with so many kewl dudes globally.
?: Okay, thanks for that nice smalltalk with you!
Take care!
HARDSEQUENCER
----------------
( Return )
Demo Reviews
DEMO REVIEWS
-- -------- --
Hello and welcome to the demoreviews in the fourth
issue of THE CREST!
First of all we want to thank ZYRON/F4CG and
DANZIG/AFL for their great support... Without you
this wouldn't have been possible! Thanx!
Anyway, this time we bring you the reviews of two
new demos by the famous guys in CREST called...
> KRESTAGE 1 - BACK TO THE ROOTS <
and
> KRESTAGE 2 - FOLLOW THE ROOTS<
-- -------------------------------------------- --
KRESTAGE 1- BACK TO THE ROOTS
-----------------------------
A demo by CREST.
-- -------------------------------------------- --
Coding Reviews..: DANZIG/ALPHAFLIGHT '70
Graphic Reviews: SHOKRAY/MEGASTYLE PRODUCTIONS
Music Reviews..: ZYRON/F4CG/NOSTALGIA
-- ---------------------------------------------- --
THE INTRO
- ------ -
A dotsphere made of sprites and the crest-boy who
is already a cult figure since four years Crest.
Code....: Since it's just a simple spritecode, there
is nothing special.
Graphic: The CREST sign is well known, so no need to
explain it much. It's probably drawn by
CROSSBOW and it's quite simple, but k00l
anyway, hehe...
Music....: A nice introtune by MITCH+DANE with distant
arpeggios. Including some SFX to time the
effects, too. Not much more than nice
sounds here. :)
Overall this intro is quite cool and fits to the
actual known crest standart.
THE CREDITS
- -------- -
A textblock in interlace resolution telling the dudes
responsible for the following demopart and a
scroller also using interlace.
Code : Mhm, a sideborder interlace scroller is quite
good since a left/right switching is used to
perform the interlace mode and combinating
this with scrolling is fine.
Music....: Another tune by MITCH +DANE. Nice beginning
followed by a bassline that I don't like that
much. A bit funkeurodance'ish (c) tune with
some, for me boring passages and then it
restarts.
Graphic: There is no!
Overall it looks a littble bit boring but it's ment to
show the credits and the possibility to make such a
scroller.
FIRST PART
- ------- -
Upper/lower border open/closed, 2 vertical 1x1
upscroller in lower border and spritemoving and a
d020 scroller to prove that the upper border is
closed. Mixed up with an interlace fli logo moving
left and right covered by some neat boxes, etc. ...
Code : Just some standart routines in one part and
the so cool effect of open lower border and
closed upper one is just old stuff. the d020
scroll just appears when the 1x1's are gone!
So I claim the open lower border to be done
with d016 and that's also the trick with the
old fullscreen sideborder sprite scroller
from 1987! Nevertheless the two 1x1 sxrolls
are funny since CROSSBOW again used the
ghostbyte, which others claim to be useless.
Graphic: Here you get a first impression of DEEKAY's
abilities! The interlace X-Fli CREST logo has
nearly no flickering! X-Fli was invented by
DEEKAY himself and was used for the first
time in 1992 in a CENTURY ART STUDIO demo.
The sprites and the font were pixelled by
CROSSBOW, but it might also be possible that
the sprites in the upper border were
painted by GBF-DESIGN. Ehh?
Music....: Nice and careful sounds by MITCH+DANE
playing a melodic theme. I recognize this
from somewhere, maybe it's a cover?!? I'm
not sure, but I think so. Then a short break
followed by the same theme but with a
different bassline and a snaredrum added
and then it restarts. Nice but boring...
Overall I'm a bit disappointed by this part even since
I like it!
SECOND PART
- ---------- -
A 144 sprites multiplexer by CROSSBOW using a new
sprite crunching method.
Code : Bah, I coult type masses of how I think he
faked the routine, but hey, he managed to
handle 144 17 pixel high chars like theyr are
real sprites, even in all borders! Brilliant!
Graphic: A pity that here isn't so much graphic, but
a well-painted three colour sprite font by
DEEKAY.
Music....: This tune was done by THE SYNDROM. Just
fonky... But I already heard enough of this
kind of music in KRESTOLOGY, but with a
higher quality. It restarts far too soon, so I
consider it might not be finished.
Overall I'm amazed by CROSSBOW still trying to find
ways to realize the impossible after all these years.
I never thought of seeing another sprite multiplexer
record attempt again. I simply love this part!
THIRD PART
- ------- -
A 56 pixel huge sideborder fpp!
Code....: Umpf, I've seen a preview of this part
before, shown to me by DEEKAY and I just
can say what I told him: Yyeeeeessss!!!!! This
part is another kick in the face of all these
new-school lame kiddies who don't get the
point about this part! I claimed this routine
to be impossible, but I got taught the truth.
This part rules!
Just a little challenge for all coders: Try
this in multicolor! ;)
Graphic: Here you see a biiiiiig hires logo, which uses
three sprites in each (the left and the right)
border. The shapes are partly not very good,
but it looks k00l anyway! Besides this there's
only a colourful BACK 2 THE ROOTS logo.
Music: That one by MITCH + DANE sounds nice...
Sweeping arpeggio..... When the drums start it
sounds very good. Nice bassline, nice sounds...
Then some chordplay, which doesn't always
sound too good upon the sweeping arpeggios,
sounds desynched sometimes. The same
sequence being repeated but with another
chordplay added. Hmm, all of a sudden it it like
nothing is happening, just the same bassline
and then the chordplay again. I BET it
restarted.. This is a very good ground which
they unfortunately didn't build anything
up on.
Overall this part shows the spirit from CREST to the
public, coding a routine that tops the old one by 35
pixel lines. An improvement of about 150 percent!
FOURTH PART
- ---------- -
8 sideborder ora dycps!
Code..: Yup, a DYCP record, beating SCROLL/MSP with
4 and ZODIAC/FHI with 5 more. It's a record
part and the code seems to be obtain maximum
speed now.
Graphic: Here an older hires picture by GBF-DESIGN is
displayed! Very nice!
Music....: I don't like the bass-sound in the intro of
this tune by THE SYNDROM, but the coming
SFX's are cool and the coming theme where
the hi-hats start is very good. Moody...
Sounds a bit like JEFF. After a short break
the maintune starts which is not that good.
It sounds very flat to me. The bassline with
the filterchanging is good but not the rest.
Flat and boring solos, the whole tune is too
predictable. Matthias is technically very
good, but it sounds like he lacks of
inspiration.
Overall this part is just like all the old ones, some
strange graphics on the screen and the main effect
(rules!) and finally some interaction by switching
the 8 DYCPs on/off with the keys 1-8 (+del)... So
multimedia reaches the C64! :)
OUR RESUME:
- ------- -
Code: I was grining and smiling when I watched
KRESTAGE for the first time. This demo is
simply brilliant and none of these lame 4x4
resolution demos ever made me watch a demo
seven times a day! The whole old-school
freaks in the scene can be happy that CREST
is still alive and kicking! 89%
Graphic: CREST once again surprised us with a great
masterpiece. Usually I don't like the new
school art, but DEEKAY really made me start
thinking about changing my mind... 63%
Music....: MITCH+DANE are very talented guys, who
show here that they can do more than
jazzfunk and DRAX'ish tunes (hmm... isn't
that the same?!?)...:)
From SYNDROM I've heard a lot of better
tunes earlier. Here it sounds to me as if he
has lost his inspiration. 60%
Code: 89% Graphic: 63% Music:60%
------ -------- ------
So, all in all this is a very k00l demo, that gives the
special kick with it's old-school style! Especially the
coding is high quality.
So, overall this demo deserves 71% !!!!!
--
-- ------------------------------------------------- --
KRESTAGE 2- FOLLOW THE ROOTS
----------------------------
A demo by CREST.
-- ------------------------------------------------- --
Coding Reviews..: DANZIG/ALPHAFLIGHT '70
Graphic Reviews: HARDSEQUENCER/DYTEC
Music Reviews..: ZYRON/F4CG/NOSTALGIA
-- --------------------------------------------------- --
THE INTRO
- ------ -
Again the CREST boy covers the screen with some
cool colours and a light grey KRESTAGE 2 logo. All was
painted by DEEKAY in the new SHF-XL mode.
Code...: CROSSBOW improved the super-hires-fli mode
again giving you a bigger picture. The logo
was done with hires over sprites, old stuff.
Graphic: Really weird and wild style here. But that
looks really great with all these colours and
these strange logos... That SHF-XL mode is
absolutely great!
Music....: A tune by MITCH+DANE with a funky bassline
of course.. Well, I simply like it... Don't ask
me why! :) Probably because it's so
catchy and melodic, so you can't let
yourself dislike it even though I'm usually
not much for mainstream music. It sounds a
lot better on the old SID, so I guess it was
composed on an old C64.
Overall it's a demo intro of high standart and looks
simply great!
THE CREDITS
- -------- -
A 640x400 pixel scroller from the right corner in
lower border to the left corner in upper border.
Code....: CROSSBOW used the interlace mode here.
Realizing this routine looks a little bit
ugly, I think.
Graphic: There is no!
Music..: Also a nice tune by MITCH + DANE.. Very
boombastic bassline and nice melody. Not
much more to say, great piece of work.. This
one also sounds better on the old SID, thank
god my old 64 still works. :)
Overall the text is readable with this resolution and
the music rules, too. Good work!
FIRST PART
- ------- -
A FLI-stretcher with a great logo, which takes about
half of the height of the screen.
Code....: In the past everyone was waiting for this
routine, a highlight! The code is really cool.
For me the best part, without any doubts!
Graphic: That FLI logo by DEEKAY is phat like hell! It's
a little bit graffiti styled and very
colourful! I love it! It's nearly perfect. The
only bad thing about it is, that it's some
kind of pseudo graffiti. Anyway, great!
Music....: Another one of those relaxing funky tunes
by THE SYNDROM, which I personally think I
have enough heard of, though this one is
good indeed.
Overall a genious part!
SECOND PART
- --------- -
11 (!!!) mega-ora-dycps
Code..... : Another record code, but I don't like it that
much.
Graphic: Here you can see a small but fine CREST logo
at the top of the screen. It was painted in
Koala by DEEKAY, but the great colourfades
make it look like Hires-FLI! Also the letter
style is absolutely k00l! Respect!
Music....: Ah well... What can I say... I find it very
boring, this music by THE SYNDROM.
Commercial and plastic... But it fits to the
part since the tune won't bother you when
reading all the DYCPs. It plays and you don't
hear it.
Overall this part is okay. It's a record part, there
for it has a right to exist, hasn't it?!?
THIRD PART
- -------- -
A koala upscroller with a music by JCH and a koala
logo by GBF-DESIGN.
Code....: The code by THE SYNDROM is really lame, but
it's just an endpart. Again interaction by
pressing Space to stop the upscroller. ;)
Graphic: That CREST logo reminds me on logos by RRR.
It's just all the same... Every letter has the
same filling. Behind the letters is a grey
board, what makes the whole look a little bit
better. Just a bit above average.
The koala-font in the upscroller by THE
SYNDROM is okay. Nothing special here.
Music....: Hmm, better hook up my old C64 since this
tune contains samples.. Awful instruments.
Nice technically (except for the bad
sounding samples) but musically it gives me
nothing. Terrible...
Overall one of the worst CREST endparts I've ever
seen yet. Nothing special at all...
OUR RESUME:
- ------- -
Code...: KRESTAGE 2 is also a totally awesome demo
but after the intro and the FLI-stretcher
the standart falls down. Nevertheless the
FLI-stretcher is the killer, like the
56 lines sideborder fpp in KRESTAGE 1. 91%
Graphic: The smaller artworks by CROSSBOW, THE
SYNDROM and GBF-DESIGN are mostly all
average or a bit above. But the pieces by
DEEKAY are real smashers! Fantastic! 84%
Music....: MITCH+DANE are genious in composing
catchy tunes, which you'll find yourself
humming for days! :)
THE SYNDROM is mostly disappointing me
nowadays. Okay, his tune for the first part
was okay, but still lacked the spirit and
athmosphere needed to move me.
JCH sample tune isn't that good. I remember
dozens of old tunes by him which I like a lot,
but this was simply awful. Despair.
All in all the musics in this demo get. 53%
Code: 91% Graphic: 84% Music: 53%
------ -------- -------
Summarizing we can say that also this demo makes us
look forward to MEET CREST. Another great piece of
work by the guys. It deserves 76% !!!!!
--
( Return )
Graphic Reviews
GRAPHIC REVIEWS
-- ----------- --
This time I (HARDSEQUENCER) am going to take a
closer look at the competition graphics from the
ANTIQ'97 party which took place in Hungary about two
months ago... The results there looked like this...
1. CYBERBOARD by POISON/SINGULAR
2. DEMON OF HELL by SPLASH/RESOURCE
3. MANGA FOREVER by FLIMBO/RESOURCE
4. FRAKTAL GIRL by AMN/ANARCHY
5. SKULL + DRUG by JONNY/IDEAL
6. CYBERHEAD by TGM/SINGULAR
7. FIRST by MEPHISTO/EBOLA
8. DEVIL by TGM/SINGULAR
And here we go with my opinion about each of the
pieces...
CYBERBOARD by POISON/SINGULAR
-- ------------------------ --
This interlace fli picture shows a roboter in pure
silver on a surfboard or something like this. It some
kind of reminds me on the famous comic figure
Silversurfer, but that one here is different. That
one doesn't look very good, a bad motiv and also the
colourfadings are not that nice. The whole picture
flickers way to much because of too many bright
colours.
Not a great picture, but still the best one from all
these competition pictures. > 62%
DEMON OF HELL by SPLASH/RESOURCE
-- -------------------------- --
On this interlace fli piece you can see an ugly
creature, which is hard to identify what it really
should be. It has a sword an one hand (???) and is
standing in front of heaven, what looks boring as
this background is very simple and also flickers
quite much. The creatures shapes and colourfades
aren't very good.
All in all an ugly picture with nothing special.> 28%
MANGA FOREVER by FLIMBO/RESOURCE
-- -------------------------- --
As the name says this piccy is a Manga one. It shows
a girl with a blue top on lying on bed. The background
is simply yellow only with some lines that want to
make that picture japanese. The face is well painted
but the rest is technically not very good, although
the Manga style isn't very hard to paint.
That koala fullscreener is nothing but lower
average, in my opinion. > 33%
FRAKTAL GIRL by AMN/ANARCHY
-- ---------------------- --
This interlace fli picture (haha) is really ugly. I
guess it should be a woman's head in fraktal style,
like the title says. It is very abstract and flickers
very much.
I can't say much about it, because it is hard to
imagine what this picture is about and it's simply
pure shit! > 7%
SKULL + DRUG by JONNY/IDEAL
-- --------------------- --
Another interlace fli one. This one displays a skull
at the top and a canabis leaf at the bottom of the
screen.
The skull is well painted and features good forms
and fadings. The canabis leaf is too simple, because
it has nearly no colourfadings, it's mainly in
lightgreen only.
This picture is a little bit too simple and too small.
The skull is okay, but altogether this piccy is just
only lower average. > 30%
CYBERHEAD by TGM/SINGULAR
-- -------------------- --
A man's face with one shadowed side with a metallic
eye is shown here in this koala piece. It looks much
Terminator like, I'd say.
The painter hasn't done a good job, because the
shapes are quite bad. Technically this picture is a
really bad one. > 22%
FIRST by MEPHISTO/EBOLA
-- ---------------- --
Here you can see a car in halfprofile perspective.
This hires picture is quite boring, in my opinion.
Maybe because it lacks shadows and fadings, which
are also possible in hires.
All in all it is good to see a hires picture once again,
but this one is just too boring and too dark! It's
absolutely out of life! > 16%
DEVIL by TGM/SINGULAR
-- ---------------- --
Another interlace fli piece by TGM. This one gives us
a strange devil with one burning hand. This is just a
picture to laugh about once again. That devil wears
real clothes, like a normal being, what really looks
like shit on a cherry cake, hehe!
The piccy flickers too much because of the bad
colourfadings with the yellow that should display
the shine from the burning hand, I guess.
Another lousy picture.. > 17%
So, that were all pictures from the ANTIQ'97 party.
My personal ranking is the following...
1. CYBERBOARD by POISON/SINGULAR 62%
2. MANGA FOREVER by FLIMBO/RESOURCE 33%
3. SKULL + DRUG by JONNY/IDEAL 30%
4. DEMON OF HELL by SPLASH/RESOURCE 28%
5. CYBERHEAD by TGM/SINGULAR 22%
6. DEVIL by TGM/SINGULAR 17%
7. FIRST by MEPHISTO/EBOLA 16%
8. FRAKTAL GIRL by AMN/ANARCHY 7%
All in all I can say that all these graphics are really
disappointing. Only the one by POISON is okay, the
rest is real shit, in my opinion.
I hope that we're going to see better pictures soon
on THE PARTY 7 in Denmark or the ZOO'97 party in
Finland.
HARDSEQUENCER
-------------------
( Return )
Speaker's Corner
SPEAKER'S CORNER
-- ------------ --
Feel once again warmly welcome to this month's poll,
where SHOKRAY/MEGASTYLE PRODUCTIONS is going to
speak his mind about magazines nowadays...
In the last few months I noticed that more and more
so called "independent" disk magazines leave their
original aim, to inform the readers as objectiv as
possible and also to bring them fun.
That comes because these magazines more and more
concentrate on some kind of group propaganda or
the editors misuse their magazine for really childish
and useless wars between the main editor's group
and another group he doesn't come so good along
with on the boards...
But can you call this independence?!? I don't think
so!
Independent means to me trying to see and talk
about the scene objective and unprejudiced, even
though there are groups or sceners that I don't like
very much. But I try to keep the "wars" only on the
boards and not to transfer them into the magazine.
But this problem exists since the very first mag got
released... For examlpe the SEX'N'CRIME from AMOK...
Personally I can't recall any issue, which didn't
feature any propaganda or wars! But that wasn't
surprising as the main editor was OMG or better
known as ANTICHRIST/GENESIS PROJECT! Hehe...
No offence!
Anyway, even though SEX'N'CRIME is still the best
magazine that ever got released on the C64, in my
opinion. (Arghhh. I just see everybody tripping on
me!)
But back to today's magazine scene... I also think
that it's very lame, when magazines write bad things
about their concurence! Just only to maybe gain
some more votes to be higher in the charts.
For me a certain chart position doesn't prove that a
magazine is really worth being read. In my opinion
the editors of the magazines should try to work
together! That would improve the quality a lot,
wouldn't it?!?
But still they should stay competitors!
The aim of every magazine, no matter if independent
or related to a group, should be to inform their
readers as good as possible and not to bore with
wars and stuff like this...
I hope that there are also some other people that
agree with me. That would be a small hope at last in
this dark world of bits and bytes...
And the ones, who still have the aim of attacking
other guys through their magazine.... What can I say?!
You'll see soon that it doesn't work...
SHOKRAY
-------
Advertisements
THE CREST- ADVERTISMENTS
---------------------------------------
DEAR AUDIENCE....
Welcome to the Advertisment-Chapter. We wish you
all the best, maybe you'll find some new contacts!.
If you wish to see your adress published in one of
the upcoming Editions of "THE CREST"...then make
sure to get in contact with one of us by E-mail at:
DYTEC (at)HOTMAIL.COM ....or by Snail mail at:
X. XXXXXXX/X.XXXXXX-XXXXX XXX/XXXXX XXXXXX/XXXXXXX
[+] FOR NEXT PAGE [+]
-- ----------------------------------------- --
CASH of TRIAD: XXXX XXXXXXXXX
- --------- - XXXXXXXXXXX. XX
XXXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXXX
H-BLOXX of EXCESS: EXCESS
- ------------- - XX.XXX XXX XXX
(official spreader) XXXXX X.XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
CREB of EXCESS: XXXXX XXXXX
- --------- - XXXXXXXXXXXXX XX
XXXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
WALKER of FFOURCG: XXXXX XXXXXX
- ------------- - XXXXXXX. XX, XXX
XXXXX XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
FATMAN of DYTEC: XXXX XXXXXXXXXX
- ---------- - XXXXXXXXXX. XX
XXXXX XXXXXX
XXXXXXX
MASTER-S of EXCESS: XXX
- -------------- - XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXX XXXXXX
XXXXXXX
SCROLL of MEGASTYLE: XXXXX XXXXXX
- --------------- - XXXXXXXXX. XX
XXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
RACOON of HITMEN: XXXX XXXXXXXXXX
- ------------ - XXXXXXXXXXXXX. XX
XXXXX XXXXX
XXXXXXX
XENOX of ALPHA FLIGHT: XXXXX XXXXXXX
- --------------- - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. XXX
XXXXX XXX XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
SCOOBY of LIGHT: XXXXXXXX XXXXXX
- ----------- - X-XXXXXX XX
XXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
RIDDLER of ACTIVE: XXXX XXXXX
- ------------ - XXXXXXXXXX. XXX
XXXXX XXXXX
XXXXXX
MR.ALPHA of FFOURCG: XXXXX XXXXXXXX
- --------------- - XXXXXXXXXXXXX X
XXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
STAN of HITMEN: XXXXXXX XXXXXX
- ---------- - XXXXXXXXXXX XXX
XXXXX XXX.XXXXXX
XXXXXXX
VIOLATOR of AFL: XXXXXX XXXXXXXX
- ----------- - XXXXXXXXXXXX. XX
(official spreader) XXXXX XXXX
XXXXXX
SCARE of ACTIVE: XXXXX XXXXXXX
- ----------- - XX XXXXXXXXX X
XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
NEOTEC of FFOURCG: XXXXXXX XXXX
- ------------- - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX
XXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
SHOKRAY of MEGASTYLE: XXXXX XXXX
- ---------------- - XX.XXX XXXX
XXXXX XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
CALYPSO of AFL/AMNESIA: XXXXX XXXXXXXX
- ------------------ - XXXXXXXXXXX. X
XXXX XX XXXXXX
XXXXXXX
MORPHEUS of FLASH INC: XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
- ----------------- - XXXXXXXXXX. XXX
XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
ZAPOTEK of ALPHA FLIGHT: XX.XXX XXX
- ------------------ - XXXX XXX
XXXXXX
TYRON of HITMEN: XXXX XXXXXX
- ----------- - XXXXX-XXXXXXXXX. XX
XXXXX XXXXX
XXXXXXX
COMMANDER of ROLE: XXXXX XXXXXXX
- ------------- - XXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX/XX
XXXX XXXX
XXXXXXX
NAPHALM of SCORN/ASC: XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
- ----------------- - XXXXXXXX XXX/X
XX-XXX XXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
FLOYD of WILLOW/ASC: XXXX XXXXX
- ---------------- - XX XXXXXXXX XX
XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
MANIK of AMNESIA: XXXXX XXXX
- ------------- - XXXXXXXX XX
XXXXXXX XXX
XXX XX XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
FUNXILLA of SCS+TRC: XXXXX XX XXX
- ---------------- - XXXXXXXXXXXXXX X
XXXX XX XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
THORGAL of SHELTERS: XXXXX XXXXXXXXX
- ---------------- - XX. XXXXXXXXXXX XX/X
XX-XXX XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
PHYTON of SCORN: XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
- ------------- - XXXXXX XX
XXXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXXX
G of ROLE: XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
- ------ - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X
XXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
( Return )
