AN
INTERVIEW WITH EXOCET
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-------------------------- questions by Stsurvivor ----------------------------
foreword : not so long ago the nick of EXOCET rang like a reminder of long time
dead ST crew POSITIVITY's great gfxman. The truth is that this all happened as
a funny coincidence since the current "Exocet" has __no__ common point with the
mentioned Atarian. No common point ? Well EXOCET, our exocet :), is also a very
talented gfxman ! Time to know more about this surprising newcomer !
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sts : hi Exocet ! Let's start with the basics of interviewing : could you
introduce yourself to us? Who are you, how old, what kind of machine do you use
and that kind of stuff ?
exocet : Hi Seb ! So let's speak a bit about me even I don't like to do it
that much... I'm 22 years old and currently studying "management of design and
quality", but my previous studies were more about management and accountancy.
I am originally living near Orleans, but I study this year in eastern France,
in Nancy. About the machines I own, well I have a not-so-new PC (K6-200), a
1040 STE and an Amiga 500 that I almost don't use, except for watching the
demo Nine Fingers on it :)
sts : there must be a question still hanging in people's minds : where do you
come from ? I think you started in the PC scene, is that right ? Maybe you had
other activities in other scenes ? Please tell us about your history.
exocet : Well, I started with computers with a Thomson TO8 (an old French
computer based on 6800). Being quite young back then, I spent most of the
time playing more or less poor games on it, but I also became more interested
in BASIC coding and made some lame games and stuff. Then my parents bought a
286 and one day I got a copy of Deluxe Paint 2...That was the beginning of
computer graphics for me. Some years later my parents bought a 486 and I got a
disk of 64kb intros and gfx from "The Party 4". That was in early 1995...That
really astonished me and in the end of the year I joined the group Just For
Fun with a friend, Benji (who makes music). During 3 or 4 years I did some
stuff only for the PC scene, JFF did nothing wonderful, but the group was and
is still really friendly, so why change ? :) Anyway PC scene began to
disappoint me, seeing most people switching to Photoshop to make the same
girl-face-pics, seeing scanned pics highly ranked in gfx competitions, seeing
most demos requiring Windows to run (and by requiring it, you support it),
seeing the constant arms race for hardware, and finally I realized the PC scene
was just becoming too big, with hundreds of demos released each year, from
which 90% are not worth watching. I felt the need for something smaller, more
friendly, without cheating etc.
sts : logically, now I have to ask you "why did you choose our Scene ?". I know
we're the best :) But I'd like to know your motivation. Any nice story to tell
us about it ?
exocet : Before I even own a ST, I discovered on the Internet that the ST-scene
was still alive and released some stuff on a regular basis...That really
interested me even if I had no possibility to see any demo, until a sunny day
of autumn when I found a cheap 1040 STe at a flee market in my village (200 FF
- 30 euro) and I bought it to discover the joystick ports were dead :/ After
some work of souldering I was ready to get my eyes on recent ST prods :)
sts : besides being a great gfxman, you also code small gfa programs. Could you
name us your productions on Atari ? Do not hesitate to quote your homepage
which is really eye-catching btw :)
exocet : That will be fast...I first released Lombric, which is a little tron-
like game for up to 3 players (Trantic/Depression helped me for the sound on
this one), then I coded a little intro featuring the cat from "hello kitty"
for a small party (that was actually the only demo released there) and more
recently a craptro about Spice Grrrls :)
All the latest versions are available on my homepage (thanks for your comment!)
at http://exocet.planet-d.net ... more to come, hopefully.
sts : any projects you're working on or wish to develop ?
exocet : I have a nearly-finished intro called Craptalk...This one was first
meant to be released at LTP4, but I wasn't able to finish it there. Then I made
a finished version for Unconventional, but due to e-mail problems, it didn't
reach the party...Anyway now I'd like to include a sid music in it if I manage
to make it work. I will probably release it at STNICC now, even if I don't plan
to go there.
I have also an idea of a small game that shouldn't be that hard to code. I
don't think I will be able to work on it before spring though, I'm quite busy
with my course this year :/
I will probably make other intros in the future...depends on ideas and time...
sts : what does a "newcomer" like you think of our scene ? Any chances to meet
you at last at a Coding Party ?
exocet : What I like about Atari scene is that it's quite small, so it's much
like a community, you know every group acting on it etc. One other wonderful
thing is that it's really organized, with excellent sites gathering all
information (Hi Evil!), and specific parties bringing quality and regular
releases.
To my mind, releasing demos on such limited machines (from a today's point
of view) as ST, A500, CPC or C64 is the real scene spirit : being active for
fun and challenge, without thinking about money or job opportunities...
I usually go to the main demoparties happening in France, but the amount of
atari sceners present is generaly quite low...I'm really excited about EIL2,
I'd like to go there if I'm free and wealthy enough :)
sts : apart from your Scene activites, do you feel drawn to good old ST/Falcon
games and demos ? Any favourite ones you'd like to name here ?
I remember playing ST games by a friend when I was a kid and back then I was
fond of Buggy Boy, Lemmings, Cabal...Today I really like games such as Rodland,
Badlands, Speedball, and a PD game called HERO (not too sure about the name)
sts : let's switch to deep thinking with the usual brainstorming. Quote a word
for each letter of the alphabet listed below and add your own comments.
A : Alive! of course...I hope it will be a success !
B : Bed :) ...for Swedish readers that could also be Bo Kasper...cool band !
C : Cultures.Com...a non-profit organization we founded with some friends,
aiming at promoting musical, graphical and computer cultures...We'd like
to arrange some little (local) concerts and maybe a coding party...
D : Deluxe Paint, still the best paint program for me !
E : Error in Line, great stuff in 1999, hopefully the same in 2001
F : Fromage (french for "cheese"), one of the best things in life :)
G : Gelmir: that's an Amiga graphician I discovered only recently...he made
wonderful 8bit pics...check is homepage at http://gelmir.free.fr
H : http://exocet.planet-d.net ...oops
I : Internet...fantastic tool, but mostly used in poor ways, as the line above
shows :)
J : JFF (Just For Fun), my group on PC...hi guys !
K : Kan't find anything :)
L : Lewis Trondheim, a French (or Belgian) comics drawer...He draws stuff I
really like...
M : Music, the other best thing in life :)
N : NOFX, one of my fave band (punk rock)
O : Orleans, my hometown
P : pouet.net : a site to download demo stuff (PC/Amiga/Atari...). I have
begun to put some recent ST prods on it, to show Atari scene is still
active...Feel free to add your group and your releases...
Q : Qan't find anything either :/
R : Rancid, one of my fave bands (same stuff)
S : Sweden...I spent one year there in 1998-1999. Wonderful experience !
T : Television...hardly watch it...Currently I just watch "Buffy, Vampire
Slayer" and "X-Files" :)
U : University...good years spent there.
V : Vodka !
W : Weekend...great thing as well
X : Xylophone, the instrument I'd like to play (just kidding)
Y : Yeah !! it's almost over....
Z : Zhat's the end...pffu :)
sts : erm then what ? I hope we all have learnt a lot more about you by now and
can hope for more great gfx and nice gfa intros. Now is the moment for a final
message if you feel like it :
I'd just like to send some greetings to all active Atari sceners. Keep up the
good work, you can be proud to be part of this scene ! It's great to work with
you...
sts : thanks for the time you spent on this interview and for being such a
friendly Atarian !
thanks and long life to Alive!
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