UMD8730 HIDDEN
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Here's a "disk filler" mixed with some egotrip :) Indeed I've spent quite
some time working on UMD's - lame :) - gfx and really I enjoyed working with
Grazey a LOT, he's surely a nice guy ! When he told me about a hidden part that
need some filling, I offered to write some crap which turned imho into a nice
modern fairy tale. I guess few of you have actually waited till the end of that
scroller (or even found it ?) so I thought it would only take 6 more Kb adding
this master piece to this issue. Remember, I told you about the egotrip :)
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It was one in the morning and the hairy guy was sitting in front of his 11 year
old black STe, smoking some weed and enjoying a glass of white wine with berry
syrup. He streched his arm to grab the glass and took it to his mouth when he
noticed something glowing at the bottom. He looked around seeing no other
light source but a small bed lamp and his monitor. Amazed he had a closer look
at the strange light and was suddenly swallowed by the glass ! All went black
for less than a second and he found himself in a strange place : the sun (or
what could be taken for such) looked like some blob wobbling, while the sky
was made of a colorful plasma. Damn, he tought, where am I ? He searched for
known things and spotted some trees that had an ATARI logo shape.
A small creature made of blocky polygons walked to him and said : don't panic
fellow, this is YOUR world, don't you recognize it ?. At that moment, a flock
of dotbirds flew by him. Our guy said nothing but bent down and noticed that
the ground seemed to be a 16 color texture, quite nicely done btw. Nice
dithering technique, he thought. He also spotted environment mapped flowers
and suddenly knew he was in Demoland !
Right, you ARE in demoland, said the blocky creature as if it had been able
to read the man's mind. He went on and added : you and your fellow Sceners
have created us, you are our makers. We have existed for more than 15 years.
Of course at the beginning the place wasn't like that. Our vision was smaller,
the size of a regular ST window but pioneers broke that limit. They also
brought more colors and nice melodies as well. As the creature stopped
talking, our Scener turned back and listened to the sound of a dotbird
standing on a branch. Yes, this is a nice chiptune, he said to himself.
The blocky creature spoke again : then, flowers started to wither and the
place grew like a desert. We thought you had all forgotten about us and left
for a better land... A more promising one, or at least a more glowing one. We
all thought it was our end but... we still had the faith... and newcomers
arrived. They created more wonders. Can you see that blob sun merging with the
moon, is there a more beautiful show in your world ? Everything was wrapped up
with textures of all kinds, springs of distorting ones, bumpmapped mountains
and, well, 3D creatures like me. Oh, you know I am one of the oldest here.
Others are more complex and the sun shines on them, creating waves of
reflections on their mapped bodies. Still I've been here for a long time. I'm
the Faith Keeper.
the Faith Keeper ? What do you mean ? (Uh that weed was extra strong, I really
need to get more !) Is there some sort of religion here ? The little creature
answered : no, there is no religion here, no boundaries or language barriers
either. We all know and respect each other here, whatever some do or are made
of. We live here in perfect harmony. Sure some there were some conflicts with
the Accelerated ones, but we've come to accept them as our evolution. Besides
we soon realized that they didn't look down on us, merely considering us as
their ancestors or something.
Hey, I really love that place, said our Scener while starring at a shadebob
caterpillar struggling its way thru the mapped grass. Are you telling me that
we have BUILT that p lace, creating demos ? In the bull's eye man ! Look at
these, they are mirage pictures. I even think you painted this one over
there. We also have huge libraries that enclose all articles that were
written in magazines. The singing creatures deliver chiptunes or modules of
all sorts ! And we also have playgrounds with so many different games !!
Why are you telling me this ? And what the heck am I doing here ?? Well, said
the blocky creature suddenly looking sad, we are all a bit concerned about our
survival. See, back in 99 (in your earth years), many wonders popped up and we
had a great deal of fun thinking of what else would come. Then, things became
less promising, activites seemed to slow down and we realized that we could
lose everything our world is made of ! Most of you are, naturally, growing old
and think of having a family life. We agreed with that, but why should you
leave us at all ? Without you, we cannot survive for long !!! Remember the
dotbirds ? They are a dying species ! Vector lines frogs have long time
disappeared and the same goes for glenz vectors butterflies. We are aware this
is part of the cycle of life, but what if... we ALL disappear and... NOTHING
replaces us ??
Then what do you want from me ? and why me ? The chunky creature stepped
forward and said : We saw that your heart was bleeding from our dying and then
why not you ? We know you want to keep the scene alive and we are aware of
your concern and will. Our goal ? Stay alive !!! Every day as I walk around I
can see dark spots marking the land like graveyards. There used to be things
there. Okay evolution takes things off the way it spawned them but why are
there so many empty holes ?
Yes, you're so right. I'm trying to get things tied up, but I feel like my
grasp isn't tight enough. Things are taken from me in spite of my efforts.
Still, I can promise you that you'll get plenty to read from me and from other
people. As for demos, I can't tell. There are still delayed demos I'd like to
enjoy some day but it doesn't depend on me. But you can be sure that I'm not
alone, there are still many Atarians fighting for this realm. I'll tell them
your story, well -our- story and hopefully they'll understand how vital our
activities are !
A shy smile showed on the creature's face. He said : you're not our first
visitor and maybe you can see why some of your fellows feel so motivated and
active. I'm pretty sure you can keep it up too. Before you leave, there's one
thing I need to unveil : you see, actually you created us, right ? Then don't
be surprised if I tell you that WE created...
All went black all of a sudden and our Scener was brutally taken back to
reality, erm his reality. He woke up in his bed, his alarm reading 10:37. Uh,
that was a dream (what else anyway ?). Well let's try to get a lesson from
that (no, not "weed isn't good" :). I'll make some coffee and turn my STe on,
I feel like doing things today ! As he walked away, he couldn't notice the
tiny dotbird that escaped from the sheet and flew to the window...
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That's the end of it... I hope you liked it as much as I did when writing
it ! Maybe it will even make your heart go faster... Well it does to me :)
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