THE
LONGEST WAY
... To fame ?
... Oblivion ?
... What else ?
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The ST and the Falcon are now long time settled machines that have enjoyed
hundreds or maybe thousands of demos over the last two decades. I really love
these small wonders and I will always be grateful to the many people who gave
so much of their time and skills to bring us into other worlds !
Have you ever tried to consider the amount of time REALLY injected into each
of these productions ? One picture can represent a dozen of hours bent over a
monitor, chasing imperfect pixels, I don't even understand how musicians can
produce such tasty sweeties from a mere keyboard, not to forget the routs
developped by stubborn coders who have most probably spent nights optimizing
their sources or even fixing bugs. Still the overall "product" often lasts no
more than a couple of minutes... So much work for so little ? Hey if you want
to be as perfect as can be it surely takes many hours !
Being a demo lover, I decided to pick up my favourite ST and Falcon demos and
see how long they did last. You may be surprised by what will follow :) I'll
also try to give a 'replay value' to each demo reviewed here. Remember it's a
personal choice and my own taste expressed here.
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* * * * ST demos selection in no special order * * * *
> ODD STUFF by Sector One
> Approx running time : 6 minutes 15 seconds (not counting the endpart)
Quite a long and very neatly designed show we're given here ! Cool gfx,
nice fx too tho no border gets broken and great tunes (esp the endpart). Note
that this demo flawlessly runs on Falcon too !
Replay value : very good indeed thanks to a perfectly suiting combination
of design, effects, transitions and so on. Definitely a demo I'll run again and
again !
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> FANTASIA by Dune
> Approx running time : 7 minutes and 15 seconds (not counting the endpart)
Dune's latest demo once again shows a lot of style with great gfx by Mic.
This time tho the whole show mixes old and new school effects but doesn't
forget the French touch, understand cool colors and transitions.
Replay value : not quite as good as Odd Stuff imho as the old school parts
have mostly been seen a hundred times before. Still nice to enjoy here and
there thanks to overall quality.
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> MOVING INTO DARKNESS by DHS
> Approx running time : 4 minutes and 20 seconds (not counting endpart)
This is surely a demo I strongly LOVE from the very starting beeps ! Great
atmosphere, awesome gfx by C-rem, strong musical score by master 505 and high
end code by Evil ! Dunno why some people don't seem to like it as much as I do
but I don't care, this demo is pure nightmare, understand 'dream' to me :)
Replay value : in spite of some slower parts, I never get bored watching it
again and again and the introduction even tends to make me go gooseflesh ! Good
to enjoy it from harddrive too unlike the above mentioned demos (well Odd Stuff
has recently gone hd friendly but I have forgotten to download it :).
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> SURETRIP by Checkpoint
> Approx running time : +17 minutes !!!
The EIL99 compo winner is still a 'woh' reference ! One of the few demos
that make you think that the ST has no limits ! Sure the overall design is very
unbalanced and I even think that some parts like the horrible z axis green
tunnel (or was it vomit :) should have been removed in the end. Still many
screens are impressive in spite of personal tastes I don't share with Defjam :)
Replay value : you surely won't run in every day due to the time it takes
to enjoy the whole thing but I'm pretty sure that - like me - you enjoy showing
your friends what so called obsolete computers can do. Let's kick'em hard where
it hurts !
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> GRIMEY by Reservoir Gods
> Approx running time : 1 minute and 30 seconds
For his first demo, Damo has brought us a blasting jungle'n drums demo ! It
starts very strong and so it'll go till the end of this *very* short show with
nice colors and gfx too.
Replay value : it still remains a unique demo in my kid's eyes and that's
why I'll surely watch it another hundred times before I go blind :) A kind of
UFO in a demo world. Now I want to see what Damo will bring us next time !
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> VIRTUAL ESCAPE by Equinox
> Approx running time : 6 minutes and 15 seconds (not counting endpart)
Sure we had to wait almost 10 years to enjoy this demo but the wait was
worth (more than ILLUSION if you ask me). This prod is incredibely fast and
tunes go as fast as the many effects including ! All of this is supported by
great gfx by Mic (oh sorry, Nova :p) and suffers no flaw AT ALL.
Replay value : the ultimate "old school" demo I think !! It is so perfect
that it can easily be compared to latest new school demos and not blush at all.
I run it again sometimes when I need to feel the good old vibe make my heart go
faster and I sincerely hope Keops will make at least a last attempt to amaze us
(tho this is very doubtful atm).
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> POSH by Checkpoint
> Approx running time 10 minutes and 45 seconds (not counting endpart)
Four years (yes 4!!) after bringing us his full size demo, Defjam strikes
back and kicks a lot of asses on his way to glory ! More gfx and design this
time, tho it's still a matter of taste in some parts and above all more awesome
screens, esp fullscreen stuff ported from the Falcon ! The various chips by 505
also contribute a lot to the overall feeling. Still, you can argue about the
choice of colors but "who gave you the right to judge what color is right, what
color is wrong ?" :)
Replay value : Better than Suretrip as it gets more intense imho. The great
msx help a lot too since they will get iron branded into your mind very fast.
Another demonstration of gathered talents and CPU power to show your friends !
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* * * * Falcon demos selection in no special order * * * *
> ATS by DHS
> Approx running time : 2 minutes and 50 seconds (not counting endpart)
Back in 1999, DHS won the Falcon demo at Error In Line with this neat demo.
Indeed it starts (and will go on) with great rendered A-t gfx as well as a very
fast tekno track, very often synchronized to effects. What could I add ? All
screens are neat and perfect, many tunnels and bumpmappers. I really love the
greetings part and only wished the whole thing lasted a bit longer.
Replay value : years later, it's still a very nice demo tho most effects
have been seen too often now. Today demos will rather focus on 3D stuff still
this demo overall quality is so close to perfect that I'll enjoy watching it
some more times before I eventually get bored :)
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> SONOLUMINISCENZ by Avena
> Approx running time : 5 minutes and 45 seconds
Not need to introduce THE Falcon demo that pushed the limits much further
than any previous try ! Not everyone will love the great tune by Tommy but it
surely helps a lot here. Of course all effects are stunning and there even
seems to be some "storyline" or something close to one. Tat was a pure genius,
the way Defjam is on the ST, no doubt !
Replay value : any Falcon demo lover will have this great piece of code and
has to run it again sometime to believe his eyes. It doesn't look old compared
to current Falcon standard imho. Tommy's msx has even managed to outlive him...
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> LOST BLUBB by Lazer
> Approx running time : 4 minutes and 10 seconds (not counting endpart)
Lazer's show (pun here! :) long remained a reference, offering more a video
clip than a real demo. Real effects don't look any stunning anymore, kinda slow
even :( The music still sound good but don't forget the demo grabs a couple of
megabytes on your Falcon harddrive. I was very surprised as I thought it lasted
really longer than that (lousy memory).
Replay value : quite low indeed... Tho the msx still sounds more than ok,
fx ar now really outdated and kinda ridiculous sometimes. Still you can admire
the amount of work put into this production but I don't think I'll rerun it so
often and may even delete it if some space is needed.
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> HMM by Escape
> Approx running time : 11 minutes and 15 seconds
At the second edition of Error In Line, Escape surprisingly swept all other
competitors hopes with this huge demo without any gfx. The FIVE (if I remember
well) tunes composed by 505, heavily synchronized with No's amazing coding
skills gave birth to a new style of demo, the way Tat did earlier with Sono.
Oki it may seem a bit long today but this is more a mystical experience than a
real demo in my eyes.
Replay value : being a milestone, this demo will surely be watched again and
again with always the same amount of pleasure and gooseflesh feeling. It shows
some purity somehow, maybe due to the lack of gfx or perfectly fitting msx ?
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> WAIT by Toys
> Approx running time : 3 minutes (not counting endpart)
2 years of work or wait, depending on your situation, gave birth to this
full demo with a nice msx and quite a decent amount of fx too. Pretty good
stuff packed together tho it seems to suffer from some glitches here and there
or maybe it's just me running the 4Mb remix of the demo ? Nice work tho.
Replay value : to speak the truth, it mostly depends on the hardware used.
On my bare Falcon with fpu it tends to be not so smooth (hard to describe the
feeling indeed) and kills a lot of the fun. I sincerely hope the demo runs with
CT2 or CT60 or else I am afraid it will soon get lost and forgotten in spite of
the heavy work put into it :(
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> UNDERSCORE by Escape
> Approx running time : 5 minutes and 30 seconds
Escape amazed us again at EIL3 with Charon's code with help from No. Still
into the line of HMM, this demo without a name brings a very special atmosphere
strengthened by amazine routines ! 505 is the msx master once again and it also
contributes to the whole success I believe. Much shorter than HMM but still ass
kicking for a bare Falcon.
Replay value : I think I'll run it more often than HMM but it's mostly due
to the time it takes as both demos bring a different feeling, tho it's hard to
put words on feelings :) Great work, an amazing soundtrack and flawless code. I
hope Charon has more ideas and projects in minds for us !
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> OUT by Lineout
> Approx running time : 2 minutes and 30 seconds
I won't review Earx latest demo here, better read the proper article. Still
this shot demo shows that after *DELTA* Earx has become a number one coder on
bare Falcon. I'm not too sure about the soundtrack though, but it won't lower my
impressions on this great piece of code.
Replay value : due to its shortness, but also niceness, this is a demo you
can run again and again and not get bored at all. Everyone won't like the very
peculiar style but then it's a pure matter of taste :)
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* * * * A p p e n d u m * * * *
As you can see with this short overview of some ST and Falcon demos, most
recent productions tend to get shorter and straight to the point while the ST
still enjoys demos with a lot of gfx and transitions. Remember how many huge
demos were released on the ST(e) : Froggies Over The Fence, Phaleon Giga Demo,
Japtro by Holocaust, Illusion (considering when it was first coded) as well the
many megademos that took ages visiting, not to forget the usual hidden screens
or resetparts (only saved from oblivion in Cream's great demos).
The real question is : would you wait another 3 or 4 years before seeing
another demo by X or W crew or rather enjoy a cool 2 minute show ? We all have
grown older, hence the lack of time for extra hobbies and since we're busy, we
cannot afford to spend 15 minutes reloading a demo either. I guess this is a
natural evolution of Atari demos, the way it surely has evolved on other
platforms :)
Missing entries ?
Of course, if you like ST and Falcon demos, you know that there are still
two great productions missing here (regardless of the many demos that will be
released later, hey don't stop coding now ! :). I am * obviously * thinking of
HEFTIGby Cream that is another huge demo (2 floppies at least ?) with tons of
amazing fx, great gfx and astounding msx but also of BEAMSthat EIL attendants
have enjoyed as a preview about 10 months ago. I hope we can soon add these two
names to the list of most memorable Atari demos, but that is not in my hands to
tell...
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STS
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