Do Things or ...
make Shit?
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From that very nice demo CREAM brought us back in 1999, I still very strongly
remember the sentence "some give up to the shaddy attraction (...) but few
(...) do things". It sums up the current situation in such a slapping way that
even 6 years later this motto feels so strong... and so true :(
Many people have brought us nice stuff since then but look at WHO they are :
always the same brave warriors ! We got great games by Reservoir Gods, demos
from DHS, Evolution, Dune, Checkpoint, Paradize, Lineout and some diskmags
brought by the same so tired editors. Except for a few "resurrections" here
and there, you can basically sum up our "active core" to not so many people
these days...
Why is it so ? Lack of time, lack of motivation, sudden Alien abduction ?
Everyone's got a right to stop doing things, many use a right to complain
about delays and sometimes some lonely guy even comes to praise every new
release... More to be said about that below :)
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20 years later... Yes, the ST has been "living" for * TWENTY * years now ! !
Somewhere I still dreamt that this very special year would bring tons of new
releases including from people who made the Scene decades ago. The year is far
from finished and I know about some projects but there is no EAT DIS kind of
demo to be expected as we read that HEFTIG should make it in 2006. Or later ?
It's now time to consider things closer, though this article is expressing
nothing but my personal views and you ALL know what a lousy LAMER I am :)
Yesterday, I stumbled on a homepage reading about a new MJJ release that most
"ataristocrats may not like"... It clearly highlights the fact that some
people around here think that once you write about something you don't like,
it means you got a BIIIIIG head ! Bullshit if you ask me :)
A n y r e l e a s e i s a g o o d r e l e a s e ?
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OF COURSE NOT ! But, as said before, this is my OWN view, nothing more esp as
I know some people praise any release as a sign of life. And... sure it is !
But you still have to consider quality and if you don't want people to judge
your stuff, then just don't release it :)
Take, for instance (cough, cough) these intros by The Beast Crew or The Bits
Club or whatever they've decided to call themselves (though I wonder if more than
ONE guy is involved here) : Oki they do things, actually they are working hard
on a "demoscene time machine" and they have seemingly succeeded here ! A dozen
intros with always the same stuff, slightly derived okay, very old schoolish
(not offence meant here) and above all ears piercing music !
I have NOTHING against old school demos and DUNE above all is still showing us
that you can mix genders * AND * bring high quality demos. Praised be these
Frenchies for bringing us cool demos (though sometimes recycling some effects
like the one frame tunnel seen both in ILLUSION and FANTASIA :).
I won't waste too much time writing about sprites records, oki if Leonard is
getting mad trying to beat stupid records but this is the most annoying kind
of production I have ever seen... I would love to see new stuff from him though.
When writing threads on DHS (hence bringing some life to that sleepy Scene :)
I have noticed that most people admit they do not even download either new
sprite records or TBC intros... In my humble opinion it clearly shows that
such releases are not needed. Oki if people enjoy coding them but I think they
don't have to release them (or vote for their own stuff on www.pouet.net :).
D e l a y e d i s b e t t e r t h a n c a n c e l l e d ?
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Aaaaah ! These demos or games we have been waiting for ! You can sum it up to
the famous motto : better late than never. We had to wait for a decade before
ILLUSION finally made it and though it looks quite old now, it's still a very
nice demo. Virtual Escape is surely among my favourite ST demos all of times
and I'm VERY happy it finally made it ! Now of course, next name on my list is
HEFTIG but I'd rather wait more months than see it released as "unfinished".
Sometimes releases are delayed for various reasons : lack of time, a nasty bug
or simply a need to bring the best quality. We had to wait two years before
BEAMS made it but it was * REALLY * worth the wait and I am sure that when
Reservoir Gods manage to find some time, they'll bring us CliX and FaeryLands,
showing once again that quality implies some maturating time.
Other pretenders include Wolfenstein 3D but we know that Ray has made a LOT of
progress with the latest preview and is currently working hard on that game.
We can also mention PACEMAKER, the STe demo by Paradox, still unseen some
months after Outline 2005 but better wait for a polished demo than content
with a preview version :)
I am to be blamed too since POOZ is not released yet though it was shown at
Outline 2005 as well. Good news is that the game is * NOT * sleeping at all as
we're working on it, especially Cooper's skills are at work here and we mostly
need to polish some gameplay details before we can assure an entertaining full
version.
There is only a * single * piece of advice I can give you here : if you ARE
interested in such projects then take some time to ask about them, mail their
makers (don't pressure them) and ABOVE ALL be grateful and thankful when they
release their prods ! Does it take "that" long to mail a "little" feedback to
these guys ? To be honest, since I received no personal feedback after my work
on STJ, Penta, Mental Pong and maxYMiser, I thought that maybe ALL I was doing
was senseless and that no one cared ?? Maybe then I'd rather NOT spend time on
more projects ? Of course NOT but please, be grateful when some people bring
you stuff you like !
V a p o u r w a r e O n l y B r i n g s H o t A i r ?
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Another kind of stuff here, let's call it rumours from guys who seemingly have
identity problems :) First name that comes to me is SCHEME ! That guy who
changed nickname faster than shirt announced an awful LOT of projects : do you
remember him talking about Mortal Kombat, Supercars 2, Pong or Flashback to
name a few ? Nothing decent has been seen and we all know by now that this guy
is nothing that a poor loony probably having problems with his mother :)
Several weeks ago Cooper also directed me to a thread on Atari Forum. Here a
guy was announcing that he was fully rewriting Turrican 2 for the STe ! Being
a true fan of that game, I instantly believed to the unbelievable but now I
think that it will never come close to reality since this guy not only claims
to add levels and sprites but is also working on Syndicate at the same time.
Too much to keep a dream reachable I'm afraid :(
Last but not least, the famous "dedication demo" that some guy promised again
on Atari Forum. Though original release date was promised in May, nothing
happened as some family decease slowed down the demo development rate. Now we
are told that the demo will be out in July and that it's gonna bring fully
used STe specs ! I have to say that my hopes about it are getting lower but
only future will tell...
The true question here is : why do some people pretend they can do wonders
while they don't do anything at all ? What good can it bring you to lie on a
Scene that is NOT worldwide known ? Better move to peecee and pretend that you
are going to kick a hundred asses at once ! At least I'd rather see Scheme
move to peecee than read another thread by him :)
P r e s s u r e O r N o P r e s s u r e ?
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As written earlier, everyone's getting older, busier with real life and since
creating demos, games, magazines or applications is nothing but a hobby most
people don't want to feel pressured. The consequence is a lack of announcements
and Scene news. Does it mean people aren't doing anything ? Are Reservoir Gods
dead and buried ? Nay, gods can't die anyway :)
Instead of setting deadlines and postponing releases again and again Sceners
would rather take their time, whenever they manage to find some, and bring the
best quality instead of quick and buggy releases. Best example that comes to
me here is HEFTIG as the demo has been under construction for... erm more than
6 years now ? Other projects are being gradually brought to life when I write
this but while some guys like Ray like to tease us with tasty Wolfenstein 3D
previews others keep their work secret until it's fully completed. Here I can
mention Dune and Reservoir Gods, both crews being responsible for 2 projects
at once. And surely there are more, hidden between lines of innocent chat on
the IRC :)
R e c i p e F o r M o r e R e l e a s e s ?
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Well first of all, it would be nice not to endure loud announcements that lead
nowhere, but it seems my wish has been fulfilled since Scheme has vanished
(maybe he got bad at primary school ? :). Also I don't understand people who
start something and then lose all interest in it... Why even start then ?
We would need more active Sceners as every support helps a lot ! We got a nice
bunch of hardcore Sceners but it seems the same people are always doing things
until they may get bored or tired :(
Last but not least, we would need more PARTIES ! Not only it's a good excuse
to meet loads of crazy friends but it also gathers good will and competitions.
Big thanks are sent here to the fellows of LINEOUT for "taking over" Error In
Line ! But we know there won't be another OUTLINE next year, another EIL is
nothing more than a big dream atm, so what will happen next Easter ? One thing
is sure though : without another Easter party, our Scene *WILL* lose even more
supporters and projects may end up forgotten on a harddrive...
In spite of these statements, there's only one sentence to end this boring
article : "only future will tell..."
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STS for Alive, 2005-09-23
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