Preview
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_\\__T_A_T_I_C___L_I_N_E______________________________________ January, 2002
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\\//__ Monthly Scene E-Zine ________________________________ 254 Subscribers
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Table Of Contents
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Opening:
Message From the Editor
Letters From Our Readers
Features:
The Root -- Gene Wie (Psibelius)
Columns:
Music:
In Tune -- Music of the year 2001
The Listener -- A Hypothetical Multi-Artist CD from 2001
Demo:
Screen Lit Vertigo -- Several Demos from 2001
General:
Editorial -- A Challenge for 2002
Link List -- Get Somewhere in the Scene
Closing:
Credits
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Message From the Editor
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2001 has been an interesting year for many of us. As far as the Scene
is concerned, I'm convinced that the year 2001 is just the beginning of
the rebirth of the scene. Late in the year, I saw much more activity
than at the beginning of the year, or even in the year 2000. We have
seen a lot of new groups, a lot of new talent, and a lot of new
services. The Demoscene is once again gaining in popularity, both within
the scene itself, and from observers. For the first time in many years,
a major magazine, Wired Magazine, has mentioned the existance of the
scene. But Wired didn't stop there, they covered a major scene party,
Assembly '01, in four complete articles. For more information, visit
scenespot:
http://www.scenespot.org/?command=showNews&article=101
Well, the rebirth starts here with Static Line. Albeit, I guess
we're not the major scene authority, and we don't claim to be. But I
imagine that we have just enough to demonstrate how much the year 2001
has begun to impact the demoscene as we know it. I'm sure that by the
end of 2002, or the beginning of 2003, we will all look back on 2001
and realize its impact. So without further ado, I will bring to you
the latest issue of Static Line, a review of 2001.
--Coplan
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The Root
Scene Change
Sponsored by: Coplan
By: Gene Wie (aka: Psibelius)
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-=- Introduction - By: Coplan -=-
As you all know, we occasionally like to invite oldskool sceners to
write a brief recap of what their involvements in the scene. This was a
concept started by Tryhuk a long time ago, and it has opened our eyes,
and our readers' eyes, to the big picture of the scene. We have learned
much about what the scene was, and how it has become what it is today.
This month, I'm very proud to say that we have a special writer:
Gene Wie (aka: Psibelius). If the name doesn't sound familiar, then
you havn't been involved in the scene for very long. A long time ago,
before the advent of Static Line, before I became a writer within the
scene, there was a magazine called TraxWeekly. It was not started by
Gene, but he eventually became the editor of the popular tracking
e-zine. That is where I got my start, as In Tune first existed within
Trax Weekly. Therefore, Gene has been a very special influence for my
involvement in the scene.
So without further comment, I present to you: Gene Wie.
-=- The Root -=-
I really didn't expect to be writing an e-zine article ever again.
Especially not one related to or discussing the much heralded (and now
rather amorphous) electronic music scene.
Leave it to Coplan to find me after a few years of inactivity and ask
me to write something. In any case, I've been asked to talk about my
origins in the scene, contributions to it, and my personal observations
on its past, present, and future. Seems to me like a lot to choke down,
so let's get started.
Most people will remember me for one of two things. The first, is
"TraxWeekly," that ever present near-weekly newsletter for the music
scene, spawned in the wake of a pause in publication of the much larger
(and to my own recollection, much more well organized) DemoNews, of the
now-defunct Hornet Archive. The other is that gargantuan horde of
musicians known as "Epinicion Productions" a music group which ended
it's two years of existence with over one hundred thirty members, who
produced over two hundred fifty unique compositions.
Let's start at the beginning.
I got my start in "the scene" in ANSI art. Around 1992, a friend of
mine (Jordan Snodgrass, aka Flood Myth, now electronic musician "the
snodgrass" with the imputor.com label) pulled together some 2400 modems,
got into BBS'ing, and ran smack dab into the art crowd. Without the
internet, we didn't see much of mod music in our area code (619) and
spent most of our first year online immersed in petty squabbles with
other local "artistes."
As I started dialing long distance (oh yes, "LD," baby), I started
noticing lots and lots of "mods" to download. Being a proud Media Vision
PAS16 owner, I had the chance to listen to a couple of them with
Trakblaster Pro. Being a musician in "real life," I got hooked on mods
completely. First were pieces by Dr. Awesome and Captain. 1993 and
1994 was the era of Future Crew, Purple Motion, Skaven, Dizzy, Mr. Man,
Cybelius, and a slew of others. Their music, and their ability to
generate the sounds they did without expensive equipment (and my own
ability to play this music without having to travel halfway around to
world) inspired me in a way nothing else did to date.
In 1993 I learned to track using Renaissance MultiTracker, by
Starscream. In the years ahead as people moved on to ScreamTracker3 and
FastTracker2, I stuck with the MTM format. Come to think of it, around
1995, in discussion on #trax, Maelcum (of Kosmic fame) and I came to the
conclusion that we were probably two of the last few trackers on the
entire planet even using MultiTracker. I tested out Impulse Tracker in
it's early stages when Jeff Lim was coding like mad, and switched over
when IT came into it's own as a superb tracking software. Bless Jeff,
he even wrote support in IT for converting MTM files. That was the
single feature (besides the excellent editing functions, NNAs, etc.)
that tided me over.
From 1994 to 1996 I ran "Epinicion Productions." From the get go,
Epinicion was always really just "new and starting musicians" and a few
experienced sceners who tagged along for the ride. I think I'd be
opening up a can of warms if I went on about stuff the group did and the
politics that involved it and other groups at the time, but I just want
to say that I had a great time running it, met lots of cool people
interested in music, and came away from it with a much better
understanding of how to deal with people when you don't get the chance
to talk to all of them face to face. There's a lot of people from
Epinicion whom I've never been able to associate anything but a handle,
a couple songs, and an email or two. That's enough though; their
dedication to the group and efforts continue composing in spite of the
criticism they recieved showed me plenty about their spirit.
Now here's two rather amusing asides: I sent perhaps one of the
ugliest, and worst tracked songs I've ever written to Basehead by DCC on
IRC #trax during my early days on there. I'm quite sure that Baze
listened to the first 10 seconds, turned it off, and probably said
something along the lines of, "this guy friggin' sucks." Then there was
this wonderful time where a bunch of people had to convince me that
Daredevil was indeed the founder of Renaissance. Ahh, the days of
blissful ignorance...and I can't forget my other partner in crime, Jesse
Rothenberg (aka Island of Reil or "ior" as he is better known), one of
my best friends in high school and scene compatriot. Wonder what he's
up to these days...
I needed a group to settle down in, and ended up with my friend Ryan
Hunt (aka Pinion) in pHluid, the music division of ACiD Productions. I
joined the reformed division in 1995, and that was sort of my "scene
dream realized." All of us *idolized* the graphicians of ACiD (and also
iCE) when we first got into the whole business of BBS'ing, ANSI art, and
whatnot, and to be a small part of the group was what I equated with
finally "making it." Regardless of the validity of that assessment, to
this day I am still a member of the group, though my last tracked
release was over a year ago. It's the one small part of the scene I hold
on to, and it's for the people in it who supported me in my own efforts
at tracking.
Also, from 1996-1998 I edited "TraxWeekly," the weekly music scene
newsletter. I was coached in the intricacies of e-zine and listserver
management by Christopher Mann, aka Snowman, of Hornet. TraxWeekly was
founded and edited by Populus, who handed the editorship to Popcorn a
few months after.
Following a rather vicious coup (involving a large number of
individuals and events which I still refuse to discuss) I took control
of the newsletter around issue thirty or so, and continued working on it
until issue one-hundered-nineteen. Events in my personal life prevented
from ever continuing work on TW after that. Issue one-hundred-twenty
sits incomplete on my old Pentium 166 machine (in my closet somewhere)
even as I write this. One of these days I'll put it together in it's
final form and send it here to Static Line for perusal.
I went at tracking solo for a short time last year, without any real
involvement the scene. My work can be found at:
http://www.gts2k.com/~psibelius/
I don't really have any huge, all encompassing commentary about the
scene as it is today. Having not participated for some years now, I
don't know what's happening. I'm glad to see that #trax is still active
though, and ran into lots of old friends for hours and hours after the
events of September 11, 2001. I read the bulletin boards on United
Trackers from time to time to see what people are up to. From what I
see, it seems to me that the scene is much larger, a bit more
impersonal, and densely populated compared to the early 90's. I don't
think we didn't expect this to happen though; we pushed so hard to get
the "underground electronic music scene" out into the open it was bound
to get over-commercialized at some point.
Still, tracking to me is that "in-between" world where music and
technology collides, and the people who choose it as their artistic
medium come up with audio works that are completely unique and different
from the pure "modern music" composers and traditional
instrumental/vocal mindsets.
My own personal life has largely paralleled my (diminishing)
articipation in the scene. I finished a five year run as an
ndergraduate studying information and computer science last year. I
turned down all my job offers in order to go back to school and pursue a
master's degree in conducting and instrumental performance. In my spare
time I compose constantly for my string quartet (and let me plug
Sibelius 2 for a moment: it's excellent!), and I plan to move into
larger works for orchestra and wind ensemble. At some point I hope to
teach and conduct high school and college instrumental ensembles.
It's been ten years since I first fired up that modem, and I think all
that time I spent in front of a screen for the scene has given me a life
experience a lot of people miss: meeting and understanding people who
come from many diverse cultures with many disparate customs.
Okay, let me leave you all with a gift. Fire up your web browser and
grab this file:
http://www.gts2k.com/~psibelius/TW-complete.zip
It's every single issue of TraxWeekly, from 1-119, including a
different issue 25 (when the big coup over the editorship occured), and
finally, a series of "art" files from various ascii artists who
graciously spent their time designing the headers for various sections
in the newsletter. Thanks to all of you for making TW a reality!
Thanks for the soapbox, Coplan. The memories have been fun.
--Gene Wie (aka: Psibelius)
former editor of TraxWeekly
former director of Epinicion Productions
member of pHluid Music Productions
tenant of IRC #trax
then, now, and always, a proud member of the scene
-=- Editors Note -=-
TraxWeekly is now available in its entirety on the SceneSpot FTP:
ftp://ftp.scenespot.org/Archives/magazines/trax_weekly/
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In Tune
Music of the year 2001
By: Coplan
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-=- Introduction -=-
Every January, I like to do a quick review of all my favorite tunes of
the previous year. I don't like to rank such tunes, as I have a very
broad taste in music. Many of these tunes truly can't be compared to
each other. In addition, I realize the fact that I have only found a
very small fraction of all the music that was released in the year 2001,
and I'm sure there are some better tunes (and some worse) that I have
missed.
Again, I suggest that this list be used to find some music you may not
have heard. It might be a good way to find new music from artists you've
never heard of. Use this as a guide. I'm sorry to say that I have no
idea where I got most of these tunes...so you'll have to do a search to
find a lot of them. As I don't have these in original form (Zip files,
complete with NFO files and what not), I will not post them publically
on our server. However, if there is any tune you're having trouble
finding, I will offer it to you in any way I can get it to you.
-=- 2001 Tunes -=-
"Be What you Wanna Be"
By: T-Tracker
(XM Format)
A trance-like tune from the mind of T-Tracker. When I listen to this
tune, I can't help but to think that I'm involved in some sort of
racing game on my computer. But as that is not the case, I explore
deeper into the song and see the demoscene influence.
(Reviewed for In Tune, Static Line issue #33)
"GDream - We Are Not Alone (Nightflower's Space Invasion Remix)"
By: Nightflowers
(IT Format)
This is one of my favorite Trance tunes from the past year. As I
said in my past review: I wish I had the original to this song. It
would be my hope that hearing the original before I hear this remix
would make me more impressed with this version. Regardless, this is
a tune that I have on my workout play list, and it's one I'm glad to
have in my collection.
(Reviewed for In Tune, Static Line issue #33)
"Passion on Craq"
By: Mickrip
(IT Format)
One of the oldskool trackers is still tracking today for Fairlight.
The man has some of the most original music in the scene today,
though I admit his tracking style still remains along oldskool lines.
Regardless, this rock tune is very interesting to listen to, and
worthy of an honorable mention for this years year end review.
(Reviewed for In Tune, Static Line issue #35)
"March With Me"
By: Subliminal
(IT Format)
I'm not exactly sure how you would classify this song. Maybe rave,
maybe trance? It doesn't matter, though. The point is that the song
is full of energy, and you'll be moving when you hear it. I've known
subliminal for a very long time. This remains as one of his best
songs that I've ever heard. It's filled with lots of break beats,
and plenty of other things going on. You'll listen to this a few
times, and notice something new every time. I'll admit, this isn't a
tune for everyone, as it can be very hardcore. But, many will like
it even still.
"Thandava: Dance of Shiva"
By: Ivory
(IT Format)
Honestly, I don't have any clue where I got this song. But it sits
on my hard drive, and I gave it a listen the other day. It's a Goa
Trance tune, and one of the most interesting I've ever heard. Goa is
a very interesting style, and one that is, in my opinion, very
difficult to carry out well. The work with the acid synths alone
could drive anyone mad. In something like Buzz or Psycle, or with a
hardware synthesizer, this might not be such a difficult style. But
Ivory wrote this in an IT format -- so there was a lot of time put
into this tune. This is one fact that is very obvious. "Thandava"
is another tune that I have added to my workout play list, as it
fills me with energy.
"Where's My Sauna?"
By: Andromeda
(XM Format)
Apparently, Andromeda is pretty angry about the fact that he cannot
find his sauna. This is a a Drum & Base tune with some trance mixed
in. The feeling portrayed by the song is actually a feeling of
confusion. The percussion seems very angry, yet the leads seem to be
very calm and reserved. It's not a tune for everyone, but again,
it's something that a lot of you will have respect for.
"A Dark Vision"
By: Zaril
(MP3 Format)
This is a tune that you can grab from the Hellven website. "A Dark
Vision" is a bit of a jazzy tune. It's obvious that Zaril spent a
great deal of time doing some post-mixing. The song may be a bit
repetative, but it is worth a good listen. I tend to play this song
in the background while I work. The quality of this song, and the
quality of the FX alone, will give you reason enough to appreciate
this tune.
"Dreamcoat"
By: Mistrial
(MP3 Format)
Another tune you can grab from the Hellven website. It's a relaxing
tune that has a great deal of influence from the Ambient, Trance and
Drum & Base styles. Classification is not important for songs of
this nature. The name for this song almost says it all. When you
listen to this tune, you are wrapped in a completely different world,
a world in which your dreams seem to be controlled by music -- the
music of Mistrial. This is one of those tunes that has layer upon
layer of different sounds. The longer you listen to the song, the
more layers are added. You will find that you no longer control your
thoughts or emotions when you listen to this song.
(Reviewed for In Tune, Static Line issue #37)
"Early Mourning"
By: Chimera
(MP3 Format)
Grab this from the Hellven website as well. How many scene tunes do
you hear with lyrics? This is one, and the lyrics are of pretty good
quality. Honestly, the lyrics sound familiar. I don't know if this
is a remix of a commercial song or not. Regardless, this song is
incredibly well done, and probably ranking among my favorites of all
time. There is some incredible post-mixing as well, especially with
the bone-chilling echos throughout the song.
"K2 (The Race - Part I)"
By: Wayfinder
(MP3 Format)
Wayfinder always seems to find his way onto my lists. Well, this is
the first of his that reaches it this year. As always is the case
with Wayfinder, this is another tune. Filled with energy,
inspiration and time, this tune is no exception to the ever standing
quality music that comes from the mind of Wayfinder. Any trance fan,
or any Wayfinder fan will find this song as a favorite.
"Resurrection (The Race - Part IV)"
By: Wayfinder
(MP3 Format)
Again, the man makes it onto my list. Actually, this song is on
several lists of mine: this year end review list, my favorites of
all time and my workout play list. In the style of Robert Miles,
this trance tune is filled with strings and pianos. But, in the
style of Wayfinder, you also get a tune packed with some really high
quality synthesized electronic riffs that fill out the song and give
it content. The man is a genious, and this song demonstrates it.
That is why this is one of my favorite songs of all time.
(Reviewed for In Tune, Static Line issue #31)
"Borneo is Fallen, My Dear"
By: Ranger Rick
(MP3 Format)
This is one tune that you will have to grab from the SceneSpot ftp
server. Ranger Rick has his own directory on that server, and within
that he has a directory for his album: "Yes Chernobrov, It's a Time
Machine". Ranger Rick is one of those trackers that would drive
you nuts. He can finish a song in less than a day, and have it
mixed and finalized for you the next day. He is incredibly
talented, and has a lot of inspiration from many different sources.
This tune demonstrates his abilities and his talents. The
percussion is incredible, the leads are wonderful and the chorus is
tight. And the crazy part about all this, if you were to ask him
what he thinks of his music -- he'll tell you that he isn't that
good. The poor guy doesn't seem to understand his own talent.
"Warlock" (Coplan's 2001 Favorite)
By: Caravan
(MP3 Format)
This tune is most easily gotten from the "Cadence & Cascade" demo by
Andromeda Software Development (ASD) which was created for Digital
Nexus '01. It took first place there. The demo can be found on
scene.org. Plain and simple, the song is incredible. It is the type
of tune that one might find in the late '60s. But it's not, it's new
and its very original. There is a full orchestra, a very talented
drummer, and a really good Hummand Organ player. It's even got the
electric guitar solos in it. I can listen to this tune over and over
again, and I will never grow bored. If you watch it with the demo,
it makes for an exciting time. You start to question whether you
were injected with some sort of illegal drug. But, you weren't, and
it's still a great tune. I highly recommend this song for anyone to
download. It is by far my favorite tune of the year 2001.
--Coplan
"In Tune" is a regular column dedicated to the review of original and
singular works by fellow trackers. It is to be used as a tool to expand
your listening and writing horizons, but should not be used as a general
rating system. Coplan's opinions are not the opinions of the Static
Line Staff.
If you have heard a song you would like to recommend (either your own,
or another person's), We can be contacted through e-mail useing the
addresses found in the closing notes. Please do not send files attached
to e-mail without first contacting us. Thank you!
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The Listener
A Hypothetical Multi-Artist CD from 2001
By: Tryhuk
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I thought it wouldn't be bad at all to represent the "best of the
scene music in 2001" in a form of a CD. Tracks are not sorted according
their quality, I rather picked them to create a specific mood, to
respect and materialize the idea behind the scene and of course to
represent the best what has been born there during this year and what
went through my years.
1. 2sided - Esem
Very appropriate song to open the CD. It is a typical "esem" song with
repetitive loops, ambient mood and all signs of minimalist music.
2. Neo - krii
I had to decide which track to pick for this close selection. The
second one I though on was "Blunt Times", both representing the unique
style of krii.
3. depeche mode - world in my eyes (alphaconspiracy mix)
Third track is a right moment for a style break in the playlist. I
picked this remix of a depeche mode song not only because of the
comeback of alphaconspiracy back to scene, but also because of the
undeniable quality of the remix which brings to the song something of
its own and makes sometimes too repetitive DM music more interesting.
4. blaktroniks (moving/tdr) - fais moi fremir
Of course, one of the major changes in music scene was TDR's move to a
new sound. It is characteristic by much more frequent use of vocals,
saxophones and other instruments that can't be reproduced using the
classic tracking techniques without the use of big samples. In addition
to this, "fais moi fremir" is a very nice song.
5. tori amos - slinky red thing (gun purist rmx)
After calm track 4 has to come something more dynamic but not too
aggressive. I reached again for a remix, this time of a tori amos song.
All I want to say about this song that I appreciate that the author of
the remix respected original and unique style of tori amos and made the
song "within the limits".
6. m. altemark - creating dissent
We've reached the middle of the CD and so its time to wake up the
sound. There's no doubt that this place belongs to "creating dissent" by
altemark, a song represented on hellven musicdisk "urbanism". The song
features itself with an aggressive of not that frequent style.
Definitely one of the "must hear" songs of the year 2001.
7. ...presenting superbeat - funkymuskrat
This track has been reviewed in previous issue. Check it out.
8. fun tourist - ddd
The triad of electronic songs is closed up by an excellent song by
fun tourist. It is definitely one of the all time "mono" releases within
the major trend of this electronic group. It mixes distorted sounds and
structures with melodic elements in an exceptional way and once again a
"must hear" song of the year 2001.
9. krii / tokyo dawn records - blunt times
For the calm down I decide to pick the second song of krii I already
mentioned. No matter whether you download "Neo" or "Blunt times", both
tunes are nice music to addict to.
10. Xerxes / Fairlight - Unik
Although I don't consider this song as a one that belongs among the
top songs of this year, I decided to use it to spice up the sound of the
playlist. A typical ambient chill out music.
11. nagz-goodnight kiss
As we have moved into an ambient sound, this small piece of music came
on my mind. Only non mp3 release in this playlist as a reminiscence to
the scene past. Doesn't it remind you on the times when we have listened
to ambient songs of Dune?
12. nox luce - night light
It is time to close the playlist. Let's get back from dreams back to
real world and there's no better track than "Night Light" with its house
beat and sounds that bring back funk and blues and push it forward to
21st century.
That's it, I hope you'll get the songs and run again through the
selection with the sound in your years, I'm a bit sad that I didn't give
to static line what I wanted this year. I wish you a good and
interesting year 2002.
--Tryhuk
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Screen Lit Vertigo
Several Demos from 2001
By: Seven
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Random remark:
I recently had a problem: several demos that used fmod as soundengine,
didn't play any music at all. Even some older demos that I'm sure *did*
work before, had this problem. I guess it's because I installed the
DX8.1 SDK debug version, but I'm not sure. Anyway, by downloading the
latest fmod (www.fmod.org/files/fmod340.zip) and overwriting the old
fmod.dll with the new one for each demo, I managed to get the music
working again. I thought I'd should mention this in case others have the
same problem...
Test machine for all demos:
PIII 900 640MB, SB1024, GeForce 2MX 32MB, Win98
-=- De Profundis by Kolor (final version) -=-
Found at www.kaoz.org/kolor
1st place at the Dialogo 2001 democompo.
System requirements:
PIII, 10.5 MB HD, 3D card with OpenGL support (this final works also
with TNT2 cards and has a lowmem option for PCs with only 128 MB mem)
The Credits:
Shiva: code
Noize: 3D & textures
Raytrayza: Music & typographic design
The Demo:
De Profundis is inspired by a poem with the same name from Georg
Trakl. You can find the text at:
http://www.gutenberg.aol.de/trakl/gedichte/profundi.htm
(if you can read German)
If you can't read German, use Babelfish:
http://babelfish.altavista.com
The demo is pure 3D, showing desolate fields dotted with power
lines, some abandoned farming vehicles, an empty cabin housing a lonely
spider, a rusty silo, some weeping willows next to a stream, ... you get
the feeling. Everything is colored in depressing shades of brown, gray
and green, and flashing gray lines and stains adds to the impression of
watching an old, worn-out movie. The pulsing light started to annoy me
after a while, though. The animation of the black raven hopping on a
fence is quite good, and the model is so detailed you can see the
individual feathers in the wings, but the rest of the animations are
simple to nonexistent. The textures on all models are very detailed and
realistic. There are some stylish calligraphic logos for the title and
the credits, I suppose those are the reason you can only chose two
resolutions to watch the demo (640*480 and 1024*768, others would
probably suffer from aliasing). The music is a slow, dark tune,
dominated by the percussion, and with plaintive "haaa"-voicesamples in
the background, but with little melody. It's stored in MO3 format: a
module whose samples are compressed with MP3, the best of both worlds.
Pity it isn't used in more demos...
Overall:
The demo succeeds very well in evoking the mood of the poem, but
since that mood is a dark, desperate one, you probably won't watch it
very often. It's sure worth checking out, but like a story-demo, it
becomes boring after a few times.
-=- pandaLIZATION by Frogwize (party-version) -=-
Found at www.scene.org
1st place at the Dreamhack 2001 democompo.
System requirements:
PIII 500, 9.5 MB HD, Geforce or better, "lots of ram"
The Credits:
Code: phatcat
2D/3D: skinny p
Music: qwan/Uprough
The Demo:
Only 6 weeks after Frogwize won 2nd place at TRSAC with Don Quijote,
this 2-man team is back with pandaLIZATION and actually won the
dreamhack compo with it! Congratulations to those hard workers! Panda
has a very similar style to Don: heavy 3D visuals showing fragments of a
story, supported by minimalistic 2D overlays with slogans like
"Government instruction: have a HAPPY day". The main actors are a
strange lonely cyborg in an appartment, and a swarm of little flying
robots with spraycans, with freedom and creativity as the main themes.
It's obvious that a lot of thought has gone in the 3D models: they are
very detailed and original. The cyborg has big, symphatic eyes, which
are offset by the thin, needle-like fingers. You can see his "hart"
beating, and when he "eats" his meal, a small dial on his head turns (to
the "full energy" position, I imagine). If you pay attention, you notice
the walls of the appartment changing color when a green holographic
screen folds out, like radiosity. Unfortunately, all this eyecandy comes
at a price: you need some serious 3D hardware to enjoy it. Fiddling with
the OpenGL settings of the driver (force 16 bit, vertical sync always of
etc) helped a lot, but I still have a few half-a-second freezes, which
accumulate till the music is several seconds out of sync :( This is
especially bad, because the music switches between a slow, ambient tune
during the cyborg scenes, and a faster dnb-ish track for the swarm
scenes, plus there are many sound effects such as typing at a keybord or
the hissing of a spraypaint can that suffer from the delay.
Overall:
Ignoring the HW requirements, pandaLIZATION is a great demo:
thought-provoking story/theme, fitting soundtrack, and visuals that are
so detailed I kept finding new things after watching it five times. The
"geforce or better" in the requirements is overly optimistic, though,
and may be a remnant of the Don Quijote demo (just as the logo in the
setup window). But if you've a geforce 2 or higher, you've no excuse not
to watch this.
-=- Virtual Vodka by Fairlight (party-version) -=-
Found at www.scene.org
2nd place at the Dreamhack 2001 democompo.
System requirements: Pentium 233, 9.4 MB HD, 64 MB ram, DirectX 8.0
The Credits:
Code: Pantaloon
2D-gfx: Graffik, Aln
3D-gfx: Forge
Music: Bliss
The Demo:
The info file describes Virtual Vodka as "a 100% beer demo". But even
when they are drunk, Fairlight makes better demos than the average
demogroup. Their latest production is a typical effect-demo with lots of
detached parts and a couple of 3D scenes thrown in. Each part has a
little nameplate, such as "The forest of life" or "radial rabbiwaaf x".
Variations on morphing blobs and very smooth radial blur are plentiful,
plus things like map distortion and double-textured backgrounds. Nothing
new or special, but it looks good. The blue globe with lightning at the
end is nice too. The 3D scenes are not very original: a forest with lots
of identical plants and trunk-only trees, a tomb in a crypt with another
morphing blob above it. The monks in the monastry move OK, but the
particle fire looks artificial. Most of the transitions are fade-in,
fade-out, but there's one where the previous scene breaks in hundreds of
little squares, which fly away into the next scene. It's been done
before, but real transitions are so seldom used today that it's nice to
see it again. Besides the familiar Fairlight logo at the start, there
are two full-screen pictures, one title screen with an evil head, and
another featuring a big flesh-eating plant with a big eye and lots of
teeth. They're both a bit blurry, though.
The music is a typical demo-tune: it starts a bit theatrical, then
goes into a happy melody with bells and piano. It changes a lot,
sometimes it cuts down to percussion only, or it softens and then jumps
back to full force. Near the end some unintelligible voice samples are
used, and it finishes with a presumptuous "Legends never die!". Nice
tune, but syncing is almost non-existing.
Overall:
Virtual Vodka is an average Fairlight demo, no spectacular new
effects, but nothing ugly either. The speed of the demo is fast enough
to avoid boredom, the music is good, and the system requirements are low
enough to let everybody watch it.
-=- Elements by Haujobb (party-version) -=-
Found at www.scene.org
1st place at The Party 2001 democompo.
System requirements:
20 MB HD, Windows, a 3D card, no infofile so you've to guess :(
The Credits:
Code: Cynic, Droid
Graphics: Visualice
Music: Virgil, Tasmium
The Demo:
The results from The Party were available last night, so I could
review the winner just in time for the Static Line deadline. Elements is
a big demo (20 meg, 11 zipped), but it's worth it. It starts with a
couple of metallic blobs with tentacles flying in a train-like fashion
through a futuristic landscape. The buildings are not in 3D, but
beautiful painted backgrounds, and the strange train moves through them
seamlessly. The rest of the demo is more abstract, with 3D object
looking like a cross-over between flowers and spiders, with long
tentacles reaching for something. At one moment, several of them come
together, like a puzzle, aligning their spikes towards a center of
light. White schematics and texts scroll over the screen, moving at the
same relaxed speed as the objects. There are many backgrounds images, in
the fanciful Visualice style, but some are barely visible behind the
effects. Take a look at the data directory to enjoy them fully, some of
them aren't even shown in the demo (Title2 or waterfall f.e.) A minor
peeve I have are the ugly jpeg artifacts in some places, like the dried
up ground, the shadow of the spider at the end, and a few of the texts.
Why you would squeeze a 512*512 image to 7.5 kb, if you include another
image as a 700 kb png (lossless compressed) where you can use a mask, is
beyond me. The music is an ambient track with a few idm-ish beeps and
ploinks. It's very relaxed, and fits the mood of the demo very well.
There are some voice samples that don't add much to it IMHO: the rap
about the party seems like a cheap way to get votes from the TP
visitors, and as I'm not into drugs, the "I'm high, take a smoke" text
is wasted on me. Otherwise, it's a very enjoyable tune.
Overall:
Elements is another high-quality Haujobb production, which certainly
deserved the first place (No hard feelings hybris/NEMESIS, but I hope
that 2nd-place demo was *really* released due to some error). Everything
fits nicely together, giving you a 5 minute break from this stressful
world. The only thing that's missing is an info file with requirements,
which could spare some modem owners a hefty download ...
--Seven
Wishing everyone a happy 2002!
--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
Editorial
A Challenge for 2002
By: Coplan
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
I would be telling an untruth if I were to say that I would like to see
the scene remain as it is, or as it was. The fact is, the scene is
always changing, always evolving. 2001 was no exception. I don't
expect 2002 to be an exception either. These little tidbits might sound
like a huge fortune cookie...but you'll get the idea.
For the Coders:
The demoscene has always been a scene of innovation. In 2002, you
should be innovating. You should make every effort to innovate more
than you ever did. When creating demos, celebrate the oldskool tricks
and effects, but expand on them. Code variations on old techniques and
create new effects of your own. Be the first to do something, and you
will be remembered by all.
For the 2d Artists:
When I first got into the scene, there were two types of artists:
pixelers and ANSI artists. Neither of which was very easy to do. But
those are artists of the past, and while they are still honored and
revered these days, I'd be willing to bet that a great deal of you use
things like Photoshop. I have heard too many times that "Photoshop
useing artists have no place in the scene." But you and I know that
Photoshop has its place, so long as one knows how to use it. Your
technique is not to simply edit existing photos. You create new
dimensions, and new worlds with your tools. Carve your niche, and
demonstrate to the ignorant that you belong.
For the 3d Artists:
Many people don't separate 2d and 3d artists. I don't know why that
is, and I'm sure you don't either. In the world of demos, you are very
valuable. You can create 3d models that coders can use to make their
demos. If they don't think of that, remind them. You are an essential
part to the creation of such demos, and you are often overlooked until
the time comes. And even then, a coder might not understand your
techniques...and therefore has difficulty understanding your place.
You can help to change the scene into the scene of tomorrow.
For the Musicians:
In the early years of the scene, the name of the game was small file
size, and catchy tunes. While you still write catchy tunes, the name of
the game has changed. It's all about quality now. Your medium, more
than any other aspect of the scene, is more fragile than one might
expect. Different players play things differently, and your tune might
not be heard the way you wrote it. Keep this in mind when you release a
tune. While it is often criticized, MP3s are starting to take their
place in the scene, and with good reason. An MP3 is the most portable
format out there, and the one format that should sound perfectly the
same reglardless of what player is playing it. Ignore what the critics
say, if they criticize...they're lost in the scene of yesterday. But
anyone with their ear to the scene knows that you can't limit yourself
in such ways. You too can innovate in music, be it with your
synthesizers, with Buzz or Psycle, with your oldskool tracker or
whatever. You hold the ear of the scene, and you must keep that in mind
as the scene continues to evolve. After all, the music has changed the
most since the scene's birth.
For Everyone:
Whether you're a participant, or just an observer, this is your time
to inflect your influences. You can offer criticism and you can offer
your best product. Either of which will help to steer the scene in a
given direction, even if it is a minutely small change in direction.
My point is, too many people give up because they think they have no
impact. But here I am with almost 300 readers now, and I wouldn't have
dreamed of having any impact more than three years ago. I am one man,
but I have an influence on the scene, even if it is small (300 readers
out of how many scene members? That's a very small fraction). I don't
mean to be arrogant, but it's true. The scene is filled with lots of
Gene Wie's, Necros' and Coplans. Everywhere you turn, you'll see or
meet another Snowman or another Phoenix. Every time you jump in #trax,
you see the name Basehead with a moderator flag next to his name.
Everyone in the scene has a story to tell, and I assure you that
everyone has some impact on the scene, so long as they put their minds
to it. Years ago, Maelcum put his mind to create a demogroup. Even
today, the word Kosmic will always hold a place in scene. Hornet
Archive might close, but how many servers have picked up in their
tracks? Sure, it's not quite Hornet, but the demoscene has lived on,
and it has evolved. And who did that? It wasn't the Hornet guys. It
was other guys like you. I hope I am the inspiration that makes you
the next Jeffrey Lim, creating one of the most famous tracking programs
on the web today. How old is that program, and it's still one of the
most widely used? How would you like to be that guy with your name in
the credits for that program? Why not try? I hope I might be the
inspiration to make you want to be the next Seven, one of the best, and
most widely publicized demo reviewers in the scene today. If you don't
think that any demo group isn't honored when Seven reviews one of their
demos, you're wrong. I know for a fact that anyone is honored to get
their demo mentioned by Seven. And I know that many groups try hard to
get their demos reviewed by anyone. They strive for it. They work for
it. They work hard to get their art recognized...and if you happen to
be that guy that offers your criticism, then you might be the guy who
sets a mold of expectation. People might turn to you and say "you know
what? Your ideas and your thoughts make a lot of sense. Next time I
make a demo, I will take your comments into consideration, and strive
to make the best demo I have ever done." Imagine getting that e-mail
in your inbox. Wouldn't you like to be that guy?
My point is a very simple one. Just because you're one person
doesn't mean that you can't help the scene to evolve. You have it
within your power to make a change in the demoscene, no matter how
large or how small. The future of the scene lies more in your hands
than you might believe. The future of the scene depends more on you
than you could ever dream. The sooner you realize that, the sooner
tomorrow will come.
So I challenge you: In the year 2002, I challenge you to be
everything you can be for the scene, and to do everything that you can
possibly do. You will find yourself one day writing an article for The
Root, and you will wonder what has made you deserve such an honor. And
it will be myself, or someone like me, to tell you that "You have made
a huge influence on the scene to bring it to where it is today."
That could be you. If you try hard, that will be you.
--Coplan
--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
Link List
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
Portals:
Orange Juice.............................http://www.ojuice.net
Scene.org.................................http://www.scene.org
SceneSpot.............................http://www.scenespot.org
CFXweb.......................................http://cfxweb.net
Pouet.net.................................http://www.pouet.net
Demoscene.org.........................http://www.demoscene.org
Scenet....................................http://www.scenet.de
Demo.org...................................http://www.demo.org
Czech Scene................................http://www.scene.cz
Danish Scene..............................http://demo-scene.dk
Hungarian Scene........................http://www.scene-hu.com
Italian Scene...........................http://run.to/la_scena
ModPlug Central Resources..........http://www.castlex.com/mods
Norvegian Scene............http://www.neutralzone.org/scene.no
Planet Zeus..........................http://www.planetzeus.net
Polish Scene...........................http://www.demoscena.pl
Russian Scene..........................http://www.demoscene.ru
Spanish Scene............................http://www.escena.org
Swiss Scene..............................http://www.chscene.ch
Archives:
Acid2.....................................ftp://acid2.stack.nl
Amber.......................................ftp://amber.bti.pl
Cyberbox.....................................ftp://cyberbox.de
Hornet (1992-1996)........................ftp://ftp.hornet.org
Scene.org..................................ftp://ftp.scene.org
Scene.org Austra........................ftp://ftp.au.scene.org
Scene.org Netherlands...................ftp://ftp.nl.scene.org
Swiss Scene FTP...........................ftp://ftp.chscene.ch
Demo Groups:
3g Design..............................http://3gdesign.cjb.net
3State...................................http://threestate.com
7 Gods.........................................http://7gods.sk
Aardbei.....................................http://aardbei.com
Acid Rain..............................http://surf.to/acidrain
Addict..................................http://addict.scene.pl
Agravedict........................http://www.agravedict.art.pl
Alien Prophets...................http://alienprophets.ninja.dk
Anakata..............................http://www.anakata.art.pl
Astral..............................http://astral.scene-hu.com
Astroidea........................http://astroidea.scene-hu.com
BlaBla..............................http://blabla.planet-d.net
Blasphemy..............................http://www.blasphemy.dk
Bomb..................................http://bomb.planet-d.net
Broncs..................................http://broncs.scene.cz
Byterapers.....................http://www.byterapers.scene.org
Bypass.................................http://bypass.scene.org
Calodox.................................http://www.calodox.org
Cocoon..............................http://cocoon.planet-d.net
Confine.................................http://www.confine.org
Damage...................................http://come.to/damage
Delirium..............................http://delirium.scene.pl
Eclipse............................http://www.eclipse-game.com
Elitegroup..........................http://elitegroup.demo.org
Exceed...........................http://www.inf.bme.hu/~exceed
Fairlight.............................http://www.fairlight.com
Fobia Design...........................http://www.fd.scene.org
Freestyle............................http://www.freestylas.org
Fresh! Mindworks...................http://kac.poliod.hu/~fresh
Future Crew..........................http://www.futurecrew.org
Fuzzion.................................http://www.fuzzion.org
GODS...................................http://www.idf.net/gods
Halcyon...........................http://www.halcyon.scene.org
Haujobb..................................http://www.haujobb.de
Hellcore............................http://www.hellcore.art.pl
Infuse...................................http://www.infuse.org
Kilobite...............................http://kilobite.cjb.net
Kolor................................http://www.kaoz.org/kolor
Komplex.................................http://www.komplex.org
Kooma.....................................http://www.kooma.com
Mandula.........................http://www.inf.bme.hu/~mandula
Maturefurk...........................http://www.maturefurk.com
Monar................ftp://amber.bti.pl/pub/scene/distro/monar
MOVSD....................................http://movsd.scene.cz
Nextempire...........................http://www.nextempire.com
Noice.....................................http://www.noice.org
Orange.................................http://orange.scene.org
Orion................................http://orion.planet-d.net
Outbreak................................http://www.outbreak.nu
Popsy Team............................http://popsyteam.rtel.fr
Prone................................http://www.prone.ninja.dk
Purple....................................http://www.purple.dk
Rage........................................http://www.rage.nu
Replay.......................http://www.shine.scene.org/replay
Retro A.C...........................http://www.retroac.cjb.net
Sista Vip..........................http://www.sistavip.exit.de
Skytech team............................http://www.skytech.org
Spinning Kids......................http://www.spinningkids.org
Sunflower.......................http://sunflower.opengl.org.pl
Talent.............................http://talent.eurochart.org
The Black Lotus.............................http://www.tbl.org
The Digital Artists Wired Nation.http://digitalartists.cjb.net
The Lost Souls...............................http://www.tls.no
TPOLM.....................................http://www.tpolm.com
Trauma.................................http://sauna.net/trauma
T-Rex.....................................http://www.t-rex.org
Unik........................................http://www.unik.de
Universe..........................http://universe.planet-d.net
Vantage..................................http://www.vantage.ch
Wipe....................................http://www.wipe-fr.org
Music Labels, Music Sites:
Aisth.....................................http://www.aisth.com
Aural Planet........................http://www.auralplanet.com
Azure...................................http://azure-music.com
Blacktron Music Production...........http://www.d-zign.com/bmp
BrothomStates.............http://www.katastro.fi/brothomstates
Chill..........................http://www.bentdesign.com/chill
Chippendales......................http://www.sunpoint.net/~cnd
Chiptune...............................http://www.chiptune.com
Da Jormas................................http://www.jormas.com
Fabtrax......http://www.cyberverse.com/~boris/fabtrax/home.htm
Fairlight Music.....................http://fairlight.scene.org
Five Musicians.........................http://www.fm.scene.org
Fusion Music Crew.................http://members.home.nl/cyrex
Goodstuff..........................http://artloop.de/goodstuff
<*> Hellven.................................http://www.hellven.org
Ignorance.............................http://www.ignorance.org
Immortal Coil.............................http://www.ic.l7.net
Intense...........................http://intense.ignorance.org
Jecoute.................................http://jecoute.cjb.net
Kosmic Free Music Foundation.............http://www.kosmic.org
Lackluster.....................http://www.m3rck.net/lackluster
Level-D.................................http://www.level-d.com
Miasmah.............................http://www.miasmah.cjb.net
Milk.......................................http://milk.sgic.fi Mah
Music.............................http://come.to/mah.music Maniacs
of noise...............http://home.worldonline.nl/~mon MAZ's sound
homepage..................http://www.maz-sound.com
Med.......................................http://www.med.fr.fm
Mo'playaz..........................http://ssmedion.de/moplayaz
Mono211.................................http://www.mono211.com
Morbid Minds..............http://www.raveordie.com/morbidminds
Noise................................http://www.noisemusic.org
Noerror.......................http://www.error-404.com/noerror One
Touch Records......................http://otr.planet-d.net
Park..................................http://park.planet-d.net
pHluid..................................http://phluid.acid.org
Radical Rhythms.....http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/merrelli/rr RBi
Music.............................http://www.rbi-music.com Ruff
Engine................http://members.xoom.com/ruff_engine
SHR8M......................................http://1st.to/shr8m Sound
Devotion................http://sugarbomb.x2o.net/soundev
Soundstate.........................http://listen.to/soundstate
Sunlikamelo-D...........http://www.error-404.com/sunlikamelo-d
Suspect Records........................http://www.tande.com/sr
Tequila........................http://www.defacto2.net/tequila
Tempo................................http://tempomusic.cjb.net
Tetris....................................http://msg.sk/tetris
Theralite...........................http://theralite.avalon.hr Tokyo
Dawn Records........................http://tokyodawn.org Triad's C64
music archive.............http://www.triad.c64.org
UltraBeat.........................http://www.innerverse.com/ub
Vibrants................................http://www.vibrants.dk
Wiremaniacs.........................http://www.wiremaniacs.com Zen
of Tracking.........................http://surf.to/the-imm
Programming:
Programming portal......................http://www.gamedev.net
Programming portal.....................http://www.flipcode.com
Game programming portal...............http://www.gamasutra.com
3D programming portal.................http://www.3dgamedev.com
Programming portal......................http://www.exaflop.org
Programming portal............http://www.programmersheaven.com
Programming portal.....................http://www.freecode.com
NASM (free Assembly compiler)......http://www.cryogen.com/nasm
LCC (free C compiler).........http://www.remcomp.com/lcc-win32
PTC video engine.........................http://www.gaffer.org
3D engines..........http://cg.cs.tu-berlin.de/~ki/engines.html
Documents...............http://www.neutralzone.org/home/faqsys
File format collection...................http://www.wotsit.org
Magazines:
Amber...............................http://amber.bti.pl/di_mag
Amnesia...............http://amnesia-dist.future.easyspace.com
Demojournal....................http://demojournal.planet-d.net
Eurochart.............................http://www.eurochart.org
Heroin...................................http://www.heroin.net
Hugi........................................http://www.hugi.de
Music Massage......................http://www.scene.cz/massage
Pain..................................http://pain.planet-d.net
Scenial...........................http://www.scenial.scene.org
Shine...............................http://www.shine.scene.org
Static Line................http://www.scenespot.org/staticline
Sunray..............................http://sunray.planet-d.net
TUHB.......................................http://www.tuhb.org
WildMag..................................http://www.wildmag.de
Parties:
Assembly (Finland).....................http://www.assembly.org
Ambience (The Netherlands)..............http://www.ambience.nl
Dreamhack (Sweden)....................http://www.dreamhack.org
Buenzli (Switzerland)......................http://www.buenz.li
Gravity (Poland)............http://www.demoscena.cp.pl/gravity
Mekka-Symposium (Germany)...................http://ms.demo.org
Takeover (The Netherlands).............,http://www.takeover.nl
The Party (Denmark).....................http://www.theparty.dk
Others:
Demo secret parts....http://www.inf.bme.hu/~mandula/secret.txt
Textmode Demo Archive.................http://tmda.planet-d.net
Arf!Studios..........................http://www.arfstudios.org
#coders..................................http://coderz.cjb.net
Demonews Express.........http://www.teeselink.demon.nl/express
Demo fanclub........................http://jerware.org/fanclub
Digital Undergrounds.....................http://dug.iscool.net
Doose charts...............................http://www.doose.dk
Freax................................http://freax.scene-hu.com
GfxZone............................http://gfxzone.planet-d.net
PC-demos explained.....http://www.oldskool.org/demos/explained
Pixel...................................http://pixel.scene.org
#trax e-mail list.............................................
.............http://www.scenespot.org/mailman/listinfo/trax
Underground Mine.............http://www.spinningkids.org/umine
IRC Channels:
Scene.........................................ircnet #thescene
Programming.....................................ircnet #coders
Programming....................................efnet #flipcode
Graphics.........................................ircnet #pixel
Music.............................................ircnet #trax
Scene (French)..................................ircnet #demofr
Programming (French)............................ircnet #codefr
Graphics (French)..............................ircnet #pixelfr
Scene (Hungarian)............................ircnet #demoscene
Programming (Hungarian)......................ircnet #coders.hu
Programming (German)........................ircnet #coders.ger
--=--=--
----=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------
Editor: Coplan / D. Travis North / coplan@scenespot.org
Writers: Coplan / D. Travis North / coplan@scenespot.org
Dilvish / Eric Hamilton / dilvie@yahoo.com
Psitron / Tim Soderstrom / tigerhawk@stic.net
Setec / Jesper Pederson / jesped@post.tele.dk
Seven / Stefaan VanNieuwenhuyze/ seven7@writeme.com
Tryhuk / Tryhuk Vojtech / vojtech.tryhuk@worldonline.cz
Technical Consult: Ranger Rick / Ben Reed / ranger@scenespot.org
Static Line on the Web: http://www.scenespot.org/staticline
Static Line Subscription Management:
http://www.scenespot.org/mailman/listinfo/static_line
If you would like to contribute an article to Static Line, be aware
that we will format your article with two spaces at the beginning and one
space at the end of each line. Please avoid foul language and high ascii
characters. Contributions should be mailed to Coplan
(coplan@scenespot.org).
See you next month!
-eof---=------=--=------=--=--