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                                                      | Subscribers  :  1621
       DemoNews Issue #105 - October 19, 1995         |   Last Week  :  1616
                    -------------                     |   Change     :    +5
     DemoNews is a newsletter for the demo scene.     | Archive Size : 1231M
 It is produced by Hornet at the site ftp.cdrom.com.  |   Last Week  : 1200M
    Our demo archive is located under /pub/demos.     |   Remaining  :  235M
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                                  <CONTENTS>
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           Uploads

           Articles

             Introduction................................Snowman
             Scoring Points for Helping..................Snowman
             Putting a Bow on Your Demo Scene Gift.......Rimbo
             The 8086 Compo..............................Trixter
             The Freedom CD is Out!......................Dan Wright

           Subscribing

           Closing

=-[Uploads]-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

=----------------------------------------------------------[File Information]-=

 1. Uploads listed below are on ftp.cdrom.com or its mirrors.
 2. Ratings are subjective.
 3. ftp.cdrom.com too slow?  Check out DN102 for info on ftpmail.

=-------------------------------------------------------------[Demos:General]-=
Location /demos/alpha             Size Rated Description
=-------------------------------- ---- ----- ---------------------------------=
/1994/a/abcdefg.zip                  6 **+   ASM94: Abcdefg by Anarchy
/1994/a/addy_ii.txt                  7 ***+  ASM94: Another Way Scroll by ???
/1994/a/agn_kac!.zip               299 [n/a] ASM94: Kit & Cadooble by Agony
/1994/a/akm-back.zip              1332 **    TP94: CPC is Back Demo-5 by Arkham
/1994/a/amana1.zip                 820 ***   [1/2] TP94: Amanaman by Coma
/1994/a/amana2.zip                 839 ***   [2/2] TP94: Amanaman by Coma
/1994/a/anorexia.zip                52 ***   TP94: Anorexia by Hazard
/1994/a/atticfix.zip               399 ***   The Attic (bf) by Digital House
/1994/b/banaani.zip                  4 *     ASM94: Banaani by ???
/1994/b/blow.zip                    52 **    TP94: Blow by S!P
/1994/c/chaos.zip                    6 ***+  ASM94: Chaos by ???
/1994/c/classika.zip               601 [rip] Classika by Renegade
/1994/c/coma.zip                   515 ***   TP94: Comatose by Fear Factory
/1994/c/compcode.zip                 6 [n/a] ASM94: ??? by ???
/1994/c/compovrs.zip                 5 ***   ASM94: Eikoneita by ???
/1994/c/contagio.zip              1109 ***   TP94: Contagion by The Coexistence
/1994/c/crn_pcd.zip                 64 ***+  ASM94: PolyC. Dreams by Creation
/1994/c/cte-jk.zip                  39 **+   Santa is my Favourite by Cute
/1994/d/d.zip                        5 **+   ASM94: ??? by ???
/1994/d/defect!.zip                  5 ***   ASM94: Defect! by ???
/1994/d/delay_pt.zip                 5 **+   ASM94: Delay Points by Mythos
/1994/d/dole.zip                   194 *+    Dole by Planet Hardcore
/1994/d/dragon.zip                  64 ***+  TP94: Dragon by Core Image
/1994/d/drain.zip                    6 ****  ASM94: Drain by ???
/1994/d/dream.zip                    5 ***   ASM94: Liquid Dreams by ???
/1994/f/fdreams.zip                  7 ****+ ASM94: F. Dreams by Mental Design
/1994/f/fg_beta.zip                319 **+   First Glimpse Beta by XTF
/1994/f/fractals.zip                 6 ****  ASM94: Fractals by Schwartz
/1994/f/fraczoom.zip                 6 **    ASM94: Fractal Zoom by ???
/1994/g/grey.zip                    68 ****  ASM94: Grey by Abaddon
/1994/h/happijoy.zip                 9 ****  ASM94: Happ. Joy. by Darkzone
/1994/h/hn-son.zip                  80 *     TP94: Song of a Gun by Hardnoise
/1994/m/muq_soap.zip                64 ***   TP94: Soap by Proxima
/1994/p/perlz1.zip                 793 **+   [1/2] TP94: Trippin' Megap. by WTB
/1994/p/perlz2.zip                 704 **+   [2/2] TP94: Trippin' Megap. by WTB
/1994/s/soppa.zip                   61 ***   ASM94: Soppa by Future Crew
/1994/s/spaced.zip                   7 ***   ASM94: Spaced by Force II
/1994/s/stoerfal.zip               760 [n/a] TP94: Stoerfall by Strontium 90
/1994/s/stronken.zip               764 ***   ASM94: Stronken by Post Mortem
/1994/t/trapped.zip                716 **    TP94: Trapped by GLP
/1994/v/vs_vreal.zip               671 **    Virtually Reality by Vacant Space
/1994/x/xmas_dem.zip               658 **+   Christmas Demo by Paralytic Minds
/1994/y/y_eti.zip                  470 **    TP94: Everybody by Symptom
/1994/y/yakuza.zip                  62 **    TP94: Back to the Past by Yakuza
/1994/z/zero.zip                   559 ***   Zero Pulse by Nuclear Threat
/1994/z/zetor.zip                   45 +     TP94: Zetor by Hirmu
/1995/a/ascii95.zip                 53 ***+  ASCII by Paranoids
/1995/c/clx_xtal.zip              1444 ****  Xtal by Complex
/1995/c/cna-ply.zip                 62 ***   Polly by Candela
/1995/d/ddgdonut.zip               648 ***   Donitsi by Digitize Design Group
/1995/e/eps_drea.arj                67 ***   ASM95: Dream by Epsilon
/1995/h/h-karma.zip                494 ***   Karma by Halcyon
/1995/k/klda_top.zip               165 **+   DaSisTop by Kloon
/1995/l/livelove.zip               376 ***+  Love by Live
/1995/m/mass-arf.zip               731 ***   BIZ95: Arabicum (bf) by Massive
/1995/p/perf-fin.zip               935 ****  BIZ95: Performance (bf) by LogicD.

=--------------------------------------------------------[Demos:Non-Reviewed]-=
Location /demos/alpha             Size Description
=-------------------------------- ---- ---------------------------------------=
/bbs/a/anarchy!.zip                153 Anarchy Online by Rex Deathstar
/bbs/d/dfuse.zip                    10 Digital Fuse by Uncle Bob
/bbs/d/drinks.zip                   13 $1 Drinks BBStro by Xtatic
/bbs/f/forces2.zip                   9 Digital Forces by Force II
/bbs/s/southfix.zip                 79 South of Heaven by Omicron
/bbs/s/spoint.zip                   15 Pointbreak by Surprise Productions

=-------------------------------------------------------------[Music:General]-=
Location /demos/music             Size Rated Description
=-------------------------------- ---- ----- ---------------------------------=
/disks/1995/a/af_quest.zip         993 *+    Quest of Hope by Arura Flux
/disks/1995/c/classic1.zip         504 ****  Classic by ???
/disks/1995/c/cosmic.zip          1063 ****  Cosmic Eclipse by Cosmic
/disks/1995/d/dl-ie_1.zip         1206 ***   [1/2]Intro/extrospe. by Darkling
/disks/1995/d/dl-ie_2.zip         1382 ***   [2/2]Intro/Extrospe. by Darkling
/disks/1995/d/dusken.zip          1456 **    Dusken by Raphael Blackwolf
/disks/1995/k/killers.arj         1456 ****  [1/2] Killer's Arrest by Logos/cbr
/disks/1995/k/killers.a01          902 ****  [2/2] Killer's Arrest by Logos/cbr
/songs/1995/mod/b/blues.zip        131 +     Rubber blues by Dustbin
/songs/1995/mod/c/c64rules.zip      25 *     C64 Rules by Dustbin
/songs/1995/mod/e/endsleep.zip       6 ***   Endless Sleep by Black Thunder
/songs/1995/mod/p/pavs_hit.zip     105 *+    Pav's Hit by Pavlov
/songs/1995/s3m/e/epi-drz.zip      273 *     Drizel by Swill 
/songs/1995/s3m/f/fdn-val.zip       86 ***   Valley of Shadows by Ender 
/songs/1995/s3m/f/fishup.zip       251 ***+  Fishpond Hup by Ruffkut
/songs/1995/s3m/f/fred-fwl.zip     252 ***   Farewell by Fred
/songs/1995/s3m/l/lx-gndrs.zip     176 ***   Genisis Drum Song 1 by TaMeRaX
/songs/1995/s3m/l/lx-influ.zip     353 **+   Inflence of Narcotics by TaMeRaX
/songs/1995/s3m/m/m-aqth.zip        79 ***+  Aquarius by Mystical
/songs/1995/s3m/m/m-delus.zip      124 ***   Delusive Dreams by Mystical
/songs/1995/s3m/m/m-fate.zip       126 **+   It's my Fate by Mystical
/songs/1995/s3m/m/m-finenc.zip     144 ***+  Final Encounter by Mystical
/songs/1995/s3m/m/m-getit.zip      173 ***+  Gotta Get it Out by Mystical
/songs/1995/s3m/m/m-never.zip      128 ***   Never Mind by Mystical
/songs/1995/s3m/m/m-slight.zip     182 ***+  Something..Silly by Mystical
/songs/1995/s3m/m/mentrevb.zip      92 *+    Mental Reverb by Lightfoot
/songs/1995/s3m/n/nex-chil.zip     261 **    Chillout Folk by Nexus
/songs/1995/s3m/n/nex-tn.zip       133 *+    Trance Nation by Nexus
/songs/1995/s3m/p/pf-world.zip      26 *     World of Worlds by Pfister
/songs/1995/s3m/p/pig.zip           44 **    Good Pig Boy! by Black Thunder
/songs/1995/s3m/p/plldpmc3.zip     280 ***+  Pull of..Deep(mc3 ver) by Jester
/songs/1995/s3m/p/pm-mapp.zip      223 *     Malicious Apparitions by Pwrmouse
/songs/1995/s3m/p/pr-frei.zip      315 ***   Freiheit(freedom) by Freejack
/songs/1995/s3m/p/pr-fresh.zip     256 ***+  Fresh Start by Freejack
/songs/1995/s3m/p/pulldeep.zip     305 ***+  Pull of the Deep by Jester
/songs/1995/s3m/r/rr-dream.zip     213 **    Dreams by The Fury
/songs/1995/xm/a/alien.zip         182 ***+  Alien Encounter by Black Thunder
/songs/1995/xm/a/ancturk.arj       410 ***   Turkei Dreams by Anc
/songs/1995/xm/b/beyondre.zip       97 ****  Beyond Reality by Vogue
/songs/1995/xm/b/brainpsy.zip       79 **    Brain Psychosis by Wild!Eye
/songs/1995/xm/c/cyberia.zip       775 **    Cyberia 1 & 2 by Kraken
/songs/1995/xm/h/horse.zip         220 ***+  Wild Horses by Tito
/songs/1995/xm/j/jz-tpt.zip        352 ****  The Persuasive Theme by Jazz+Chris
/songs/1995/xm/l/lk-fors.zip       664 ****  The Forsaken by LizardKing

-----------------------------------------------------------------------[Code]--
Location /demos/code              Size Rated Lang Description
--------------------------------- ---- ----- ---- -----------------------------
/demosrc/chiparus.zip               12 **+   A    "Chiparus" BBS intro w/src
/pmode/gema16.zip                  118 ***** A    32-bit assembler for demos
/text/kmagv1.zip                    31 **+   A  P Coding magazine from KING v.1

=------------------------------------------------[Miscellaneous:Non-Reviewed]-=
Location /demos                   Size Description
=-------------------------------- ---- ---------------------------------------=
/hornet/d..s/101-120/demonews.103   47 DemoNews 103
/hornet/d..s/101-120/demonews.104   51 DemoNews 104
/hornet/demonews/other/dnr130.zip   82 DemoNews Reader v1.30
/info/traxw/traxweek.028            38 TraxWeekly 28
/info/traxw/traxweek.029            53 TraxWeekly 29
/info/traxw/traxweek.030            84 TraxWeekly 30

=-[Articles]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

=---------------------------------------------------[Introduction]--[Snowman]-=

 _____Introduction

 Hello all, and welcome to DemoNews issue 105.

 This issue is very delayed for several important reasons, none of which I
 will tell you.  :)  I can only say that I hope things calm down soon or I'm
 gonna get an ulcer.

 I have been receiving much mail concerning mirroring, size of archive,
 groups directories, the ratings system, DemoNews, etc.  Hopefully this
 introduction will answer a few of the questions.  Just consider this the
 ftp.cdrom.com FAQ for the week of October 15.

 _____Out of Room

 In DemoNews.104, I listed the remaining size for our archive at about
 394 megs.  Earlier this week, I checked again and it was down to less than
 200!

 The /pub/demos archive is located on one physical mount with 6 other
 archives.  Of the 2.4 gigs on this mount, we eat up about 1.2, while the
 other 6 archives take about 700 megs combined.

 We are getting about 40 megs a week of new files in /incoming.  Put this
 together with 394 megs free and you see we _would_ have had about 10 weeks
 before we ran out of room.  Put this together with my discovery earlier
 this week (less than 200 megs left) and we have about a month left.

 For some time, Dan Wright has been trying to offer a 1 gig SCSI drive to
 ftp.cdrom.com as an expansion to our archive.  They had not replied to
 numerous mails, so I finally wrote a very urgent mail saying "We will run
 out of room very soon.  Can we please donate a 1 gig drive?  Please respond
 quickly."  And they did.

 They refused the drive.  They said that 1 gig wasn't worth adding when they
 could just buy another 4.4 gig drive and move us to that.  So Dan Wright
 gets to keep his hard drive and we get moved to a much bigger place.  It
 might take a few weeks before our archive is moved.  After it is though, we
 should have enough room for at least 1 year.

 A couple months ago, the idea was put forth that if we deleted songs rated
 under *** (and over a month old), we could significantly reduce our archive
 size.  Many people were opposed to this idea.

 Because we now will have much more room, this deletion system will not have
 to be set up.  Its a good thing we found out about the new 4.4 gig drive
 when we did.  I had the pseudocode for this system ready and could have
 started implementing it as early as Friday of this week.  Whew!  :)
 
 Problem solved.

 _____The Connection Bottleneck

 Many people are having a lot of difficulty getting on to ftp.cdrom.com.
 This situation will not improve until the administration at Walnut Creek
 (who own the ftp.cdrom.com archive) decide to add on a few more processors
 or increase the bandwidth.

 The lag is so bad that I am having trouble even moving files and doing
 regular maintenance.  The only advise I can give you all is to try to get
 on the site at 2:00-6:00 PST (12:00-4:00 GMT).  I can't promise that this
 will be faster for you, but it does seem that access is much quicker during
 these hours.

 _____Where are the Mirrors?

 ftp.luth.se has stopped mirroring our archive.  This is because they simply
 can not through to our archive to copy the new files.  Trixter has written
 Walnut Creek.  But again, they are slow to respond to mail.

 On the flip side, there are at least 3 European ftp sites which would like
 us to mirror their incoming directories.  I am all in favor of this, but
 given our other problems, this is not high on the priority list right now.

 I would guess at least two weeks before we can actively start working with
 the maintainers about the mirroring.

 _____Too Many Uploads

 I mentioned earlier that we are getting about 40 megs per week of uploads.
 Over time, this number will _not_ be going down.  Since we review all
 uploads, we are becoming very backlogged.

 Diablo is in charge of our music reviewers.  In total, there are 6 people
 who are rating music and music-related files each week.  This is still not
 enough and I am most emphatically urging Diablo to add on at least two more
 reviewers.

 Come to think of it, the only /incoming directories we are having problems
 with are /music and /graphics.  The /code directory is taken care of by
 Trixter, and the /demos, /mags, and /news are taken care of by myself. It
 appears that GD might start maintaining the /incoming/graphics directory.
 Who knows.

 _____Special Directories

 Symbolic links to files are presenting a special problem.  I have been
 trying to update all of the links to /party/1995.  These aren't too bad
 except for the party music and party graphics.

 Many people have suggested that we keep /music/artists directories for
 songs produced by one person.  The good news is that this is very possible
 and easy.  All we need to do is grep the ALLFILES.TXT for a given author,
 and set up the links from that.

 However, that would imply that the ALLFILES.TXT has an accurate and
 up-to-date list of all songs that an author has done.  Such is not the
 case.  Many of the descriptions in 00index.txt files were taken from older
 versions of DemoNews that did not list songs in the "Song Name by Author"
 format.

 _____Conclusion

 Well folks, its going to be a rocky road ahead for a little while.  We will
 be doing the best job we can, so just be patient and understanding.

 Now, I'll bet you're saying to yourself "I'd really like to help out
 ftp.cdrom.com in some way but I just don't know how."  Well, you are in
 luck!  You can help us out.  Just read "Scoring Points for Helping" (the
 next article in this issue).

 Have fun and read on.

 Snowman / Hornet - r3cgm@ftp.cdrom.com


=-------------------------------------[Scoring Points for Helping]--[Snowman]-=

 _____Introduction

 I'll bet you're wondering how you can help out with the archive.  Here is
 an easy way to do so.  Whenever you see a problem on our site, just mail
 us.  In return, will will give you a "point."

 So what do you do with these points?  I'm a flat broke college student so I
 can't run out and buy you anything.  I _can_ however mention in DemoNews
 that person "X" has been doing a good job helping us.

 I know this whole system sounds kind of corny, but it should work, and it
 should help.

 _____Details

 Mail the problem to : r3cgm@ftp.cdrom.com

 Problems take the form of :

 1. An incorrectly cataloged file.
    You must provide the correct description to receive a point.
    Files not already cataloged do not count.
    Files containing "???" are prime targets.

 2. A poorly cataloged file.
    You must provide the better description to receive a point.

 3. An invalid link to a file.
    You must provide the correct link to receive a point.
    Files in /incoming do not count.

 _____Examples

 The file /music/songs/1995/xm/a/angothrp.zip
 has the description "Angropthorp by Bazzleman".
 The description should be "Angothorp by Bellman".

 The file /music/disks/1995/z/zeblack.zip
 has the poor description "Zeblack by K. Knight".
 The description should be "Zebra in Black by Korny Knight".

 The file in /groups/complex/clx-dope.zip is an invalid link.
 The correct link should be to /alpha/1995/c/clx_dope.

 _____Conclusion

 Next week, I'll post a list of all those who have helped out so far.

 Snowman / Hornet - r3cgm@ftp.cdrom.com


=----------------------------[Putting a Bow on Your Demo Scene Gift]--[Rimbo]-=

 Okay, a while back, I was extraordinarily tired and foolishly posted a
 long, meandering, but surprisingly well-received tirade about design in
 demos.  Sure, it made a good editorial, but I think I'd rather take this
 opportunity to point out some of the things that have made demos work in
 the past.

 You see, we in the demo scene are, in a rather odd way, off all on our own.
 There is a fringe element of people who are curious to see what we in the
 scene produce, but for the most part, should this scene die out altogether,
 nobody would miss it.  The only reason I mention it is this: I think it's a
 shame.  Here's why.

 Within the scene is what is quite possibly the largest pool of incredible
 coding talent in the world.  And--perhaps I'm odd in this fashion--I think
 it's unreasonable for us not to get the credit due to us.

 But the world doesn't look at that; they look at packaging.  And that's why
 I'm bringing this up.  Because packaging, once you set your mind to it, is
 the easiest thing in the world to do.  These examples are all part of a
 whole attitude; you try to imitate the thought which produce these results,
 and you gain the attitude.

 Right now in the demoscene, people are putting out crappy demos, because
 all the demos do is demonstrate the barest possibilities of
 highly-optimized algorithms and set them to music of questionable quality.

 And that, precisely, is where the problem begins:  Music.  Take Second
 Reality for example.

 A brief aside here.  I'm going to bring up Second Reality because, despite
 its age, people still seriously ask about it, talk about it, and it is
 still the standard by which all others are judged.  Considering its age,
 this probably reflects poorly on the scene, but I've already editorialized
 this enough.

 The first thing to say about 2ndR's music is that it's just plain good. You
 take every piece out of that demo and listen to it, and it sounds great,
 without the effects.  But there's much more to it than that.  Not every
 group can have the musical talent FC was blessed with, but every group can
 use it as well.  There are three things which musicians and coders should
 be aware of when they begin merging code with music: Synchronization,
 appropriateness, and the "hook."

 Synchronization means making sure the music actually accompanies the demo,
 not just plays in the background.  When the music hits a certain stage, the
 demo hits a certain stage.  I've seen demos which merely looped the music
 endlessly, and ended by just cutting off the music. Dope, in this respect,
 is almost criminal.  Notice that the pieces are relatively short in 2ndR,
 and so effects don't have to stay on longer than they need to, as well.
 But with each section, there is a corresponding part of the music.

 Appropriateness means writing music that fits the mood of the rest of the
 demo.  In some cases, one piece fits the whole demo (e.g., Majic_12's
 "Show").  In the case of 2ndR, however, each effect has fitting music. What
 Purple Motion does for plasmas is wonderful...but what really makes your
 heart pound are the grandiose orchestral pieces of Skaven at the beginning
 and end of the demo.

 The music says "you're about to see something incredible" and "you're
 seeing the end of something spectacular."  But if you close your eyes, you
 can still see each effect; if you turn off the sound, you can still hear
 the music--because the music is APPROPRIATE.  You don't write a techno
 piece to accompany a bird flying around a fountain; you don't write an
 ambient ballad for a bunch of space fighters shooting each other up.

 The last bit is the "hook."  The hook is something many more demos need.
 Basically, the music has to grab your attention.  It could be something
 which happens immediately (like in "Show"), but most often you are prepared
 for it with slow music (or speech in the case of EMF's Verses..."Is
 everybody in?").  The "hook" occurs in 2ndR right after the beginning
 credits, when the title screen appears, and PM's piece begins. Notice,
 also, that the title is preceded and succeeded by two of the (at the time)
 most impressive effects in the demo--the Praxis explosion and the bouncing
 glenzed objects.

 A few non-music-related suggestions.  I've already mentioned shortening the
 length of effects, but it's worth mentioning again because it's so
 important.  Once you've shown something, move on.  Don't give the audience
 the opportunity to get bored.  No one failing is more rampant AND damaging
 to demos released at any one time than this.

 Think about it.  Imagine you are someone who knows nothing about the effort
 required to make a fast Phong-shaded object, and just sees a torus rotating
 on screen for 30 seconds.  At first, you think, "Wow, that's cool!"  But
 the joy doesn't last.  Dope, again, is one very good demo which would have
 been a thousand times better had it not lingered on each effect for so
 long.  (I'm not meaning to rag on Dope so much; it really is one of my most
 favorite demos, but with minor effort, it could have been even better.)

 It doesn't matter what effect you're trying to do, don't leave it on screen
 longer than you absolutely must.  If you're trying to tell a story, don't
 let it linger unless you need to for effect; but if you're merely showing
 off code, DO NOT give the audience the opportunity to get bored.  Make it
 so that if they go into the next room, pour a drink of water, and return,
 they miss something.

 What about effect ordering?  Here's a good general rule:  Put your best
 effect first, and your second-best effect last.  Put your worst effects in
 the middle.  This is only if you don't have grander design ideas in mind.

 Why?  You put your best effect first as your "hook."  When you start a demo
 with something VERY impressive, you catch people's attention, and they want
 to watch.  Similarly, end with a good effect, so that people are left
 thinking, "that was amazing!"  If you begin with a bad effect, people will
 prejudge you and say that your demo was lame; if you end with a weak
 effect, it will leave a bad taste in the audience's mouth, and they will
 feel let-down.

 Finally.  Don't merely demonstrate your coding.  Sit around with your
 friends and think of an interesting way to show it off.  "Gee, Alan, I've
 got this great phong env-mapping routine, but I'm not sure what to do with
 it."  "What's that?"  "Well, here's what it looks like..."  "Gee, you know,
 that looks kind of like the way light bounces off of a coffee mug."  "A
 coffee mug!  That's it!"  "Yeah, it could be sitting on a table in a
 diner..."

 You get the idea?  The phong-shaded torus is not merely uncreative; it
 shows a lack of creativity that's astonishing.  It's on the level of being
 asked to draw a picture, and drawing a picture of a house.  It means you
 didn't actually think of a subject.  Look at Tome of Opticron by Craw
 Productions.  The 3D engine they use has no shading whatsoever (not even
 flat shading), yet it looks GREAT because they did something with it that
 was creative.

 The same thing goes towards transitions.  There are so many approaches to
 different transitions they're hard to count.  You can do the "Show" method,
 where one effect transforms itself into another...each succeeding effect at
 one point is almost morphed into.  Effect-morphing!

 There is the GRiF method (a la Catchup!), where each effect is framed
 neatly with creatively-done titles (the "Virtual Reality") and even effects
 in themselves ("Zebra Vector coming up next," the feet appearing and
 disappearing before the mirror).

 You can do more smooth changeovers. You can do jerky changeovers which make
 the beginning and end of each effect concrete.  But whatever you do, don't
 just clear the screen and do the next effect.  The fadein/fadeout has also
 been overused.  It doesn't take a lot of thought, and it doesn't have to be
 a great idea; it just has to be creative.

 So there are some more concrete design suggestions.  But let me add a
 caveat:  Good design is not a replacement for good code by any means. I'm
 not saying that I'd rather see Catchup! than Stars.  I'd rather see Verses,
 or Second Reality, or Project Angel, than either Catchup! or Stars; all
 three of these demos have great coding AND good packaging.

 I'm not endorsing themes, either.  Although they can improve the demo, they
 can also limit it.

 So go do it.  Make your demo.  And this time, think about what the audience
 is going to see.

 Rimbo - rimbo@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu


=-------------------------------------------------[The 8086 Compo]--[Trixter]-=

    ___________/\_ ______________      ______ _______     ______   /\______
    \__    ___/   |   \_   _____/     /  __  \\   _  \   /  __  \ /  _____/
      |    | /    ~    \    __)_      >      </  /_\  \  >      </   __  \ 
      |    | \    Y    /        \    /   --   \  \_/   \/   --   \  |__\  \
      |____|  \___|___/_________/    \________/\_______/\________/\_______/

              _______/\  ________      _____ __________/\______   
              \_   ___ \ \_____  \    /     \\______   \_____  \  
              /    \  \/  /   |   \  /  \ /  \|     ___//   |   \ 
              \     \____/    |    \/    Y    \    |   /    |    \
               \________/\_________/\____|____/____|   \_________/

                                 -------------

 _____Why an 8086 Compo?

 Much like Snowman pioneered hosting Music Contest 2 and 3 over the internet,
 Hornet is now hosting a demo compo over the internet--but this compo has a
 very interesting limitation:  All entries must run on an 8086.  But why an
 8086 compo?

 Many demos and intros today are, sadly, either "object shows" or bundles of
 poorly optimized routines.  Many of the older coders in the scene long for
 the days of hard, fast, to-the-metal coding, when your only demo machine
 was an 8086 with CGA or EGA.  You *had* to code well to create anything
 decent; just look at some of the 3D games of that time, like Elite or
 Flight Simulator 1.0.  People don't write code like that anymore,
 preferring instead to use the 80387 for floating-point, or off-screen
 buffers for animating simple small objects.  It's almost like a Pentium
 isn't good enough anymore!

 So, to separate the men from the boys, Hornet is hosting the first 8086
 compo.  Prizes aside, this is a *real* way to prove your raw programming
 skill and impress everybody!

 You can get the official information and rules from either the WWW URL
 http://www.cdrom.com/pub/demos/hornet/8086 or the electronic infofile
 ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/hornet/8086/8086_com.txt.  Let's get back to
 the real basics of clever programming!  Here's a chance to show everyone
 you're the best!

 Trixter / Hornet - trixter@ftp.cdrom.com


=--------------------------------------[The Freedom CD is Out!]--[Dan Wright]-=

 _____Order in the Court

 The jury is back and the results are in;  would everyone please rise. As of
 today, Friday the 13th of October in the year nineteen hundred and
 ninety-five the Freedom CD is to be RELEASED.

 _____Interesting Concept

 For those who do not know the FREEDOM CD is the sequel to ESCAPE which was
 completed and release last November.  The FREEDOM CD is actually a 2 CD
 package consisting of an Audio and Data CD.

 The data CD (ISO-9660) contains approximately 542 megs worth of music by
 artists, music disks, Music Contest 1, 2, and 3 entries, trackers, music
 players, all TraxWeekly, DemoNews, and Imphobia issues, demos, intros,
 graphics from various compos/artists, a demobook, the full CODE directory
 from ftp.cdrom.com, ansi packs, and a bit of other scene related stuff.

 The data for this CD was gathered from:  ftp.cdrom.com, ftp.mpoli.fi,
 peace.wit.com, dragon.axs.net, Ryan Cramer's BBS, and a variety of
 musicians archives.  Check out ftp.cdrom.com /demos/hornet/freedom for a
 complete directory listing.  Also check out this directory for the FREEDOM
 CD intro which is slated to be released on Friday the 13th.  (The intro
 will have a little more writing about the CD plus offer chances to win a
 CD.)

 The audio CD consists of the top 12 MC3 Veteran winners and top 3 MC3
 Rookie winners as well as songs by The REW, Cybelius, Zodiak, Jason, and
 Krystall. Here is exactly how things are arranged on the CD:

  Track  Song Name              Author                         Time

    1    Kingdom Skies          Jase                           4:45
    2    The Crossing           Necros                         4:28
    3    Drift                  Nemesis                        4:54
    4    Wanderlust             Leviathan                      3:13
    5    Second Thoughts        Big Jim                        4:41
    6    Sendoff Flight         Markell P. Moss                3:48
    7    Can't Fake Michelle    Shikando                       2:33
    8    Babewatch              Ryan Cramer                    4:02
    9    Fate                   Roberto Barabino               3:38
   10    Forgotten Dreamtime    FireLight                      3:07
   11    Phoebe                 Esper Division                 4:31
   12    Betrayal of Innocense  Future Assassin                2:56
   13    Bits & Bytes           Mayhem                         3:30
   14    Upwardly Mobile        Morph                          2:29
   15    Respire                Spyder                         2:56
   16    Atlantic Shores        The REW                        2:41
   17    The Rainy Road         Cybelius                       2:05
   18    Respirator             Zodiak                         3:03
   19    All I Feel Is Hate     J. Brotherton & K. Brandeburg  3:28
   20    Night of Dreams        Krystall & Cynthia             4:51

                                                       Total: 71:51

 The CDs come in a 2x CD jewel box (aka Brilliant-Box) with a full color (on
 one side) 6 page insert.  A sticker will also be included with every
 CD--there are FOUR designs to choose from.

 _____Limited Edition

 Freedom will have a press run of 800.  This is based on demand and what I
 feel I can distribute with a reasonable amount of effort.  I would press
 1500 if I knew I could sell that many but then distribution would be a
 nightmare.  Your cost would be lower but the time to make up my cost would
 be longer.  Any more explaining would be a walk in the confusion domain.

 _____Ordering Information

 For ESCAPE we had a postage chart and a somewhat more complicated pricing
 scheme.  FREEDOM is different, easier--for everyone.  Basically I just
 rounded to the nearest dollar, made some assumptions and priced
 accordingly.

 The price is:  $12  -- Normal Price.
                $11  -- Discounted Price for those of you who have something 
                        on either CD or helped in the creation of the CD/MC3.

 This price includes 1st Class postage in the US and AIRMAIL postage to
 countries outside the US.  If you have something on either CD or helped
 with the creation of the CDs then you are entitled to the $11 price for
 each CD you order.  Check the "dir-listing" in the intro or at
 ftp.cdrom.com /demos/hornet/freedom if you are unsure.

 If you would like more than 5 of these CDs or want to help with
 distribution in your country then contact me before ordering.  For Example,
 in Australia foo@spc.efec.uq.oz.au may be a small distributor--contact him
 if you live there.

 _____Distributor Information

 The Distributors for the Freedom CD--Webfoot Technologies and HyperWare--
 specialize in CREDIT CARD orders but will also accept other forms of
 payment (checks, money orders, and in HyperWare's case, wired transfers).
 Contact the distributors for more information.

 It is also important to note:

   1. the distributors do not offer the $1 discount,
   2. their prices will be higher (Approximately $15 for US
      and $18 for Foreign)
   3. your phone calls may not be returned

 HyperWare
 185 Berry Street
 San Francisco, CA  94107
 Voice:  (415) 882-1740
 Fax:    (415) 882-1733
 E-mail:  orders@fht.com
 http://www.fht.com/hyper.html

 Webfoot Technologies
 P.O. Box 15
 Lemont, IL  60439
 Voice:  (708) 257-1224
 Fax:    (708) 257-0942
 E-mail:  webfoot@msn.com

 _____Methods of Payment

 Please keep track of your payment records, date of mailing, and etc. in
 case your letter gets lost.  I will do the same on my end as well.

 Typical turn around time (between when I get your order and send it out)
 will be a couple days unless I get a questionable check/bank check.  Send
 your ORDER--NO CREDIT CARD ORDERS--to the address below.

 1. Credit Card

 Credit card orders will be handled through our two distributors: HyperWare
 (orders@fht.com) and Webfoot Technologies (webfoot@msn.com). Please contact
 them for price information/ordering.  They won't be able to ship until
 October 13th (if then) so they may or may not accept orders before this
 date.

 2. Check / Bank Draft/ Money Order

 PAYABLE ON A BANK in the U$A in US $.  If you live in another country then
 there are probably BANKS that will exchange your currency into US$ for a
 small fee.  For those in the US you can get a MONEY ORDER for 75 cents at
 the POST OFFICE or a Cashiers Check at your bank if you do not have
 personal checks.  MAKE Checks/Money orders PAYABLE to DAN WRIGHT.   NO
 EUROCHECKS!

 3. Wired Transfer

 Definitely not my preferred method but acceptable as a last resort under
 the following guidelines.  NO $1 discount per CD and you must pay the $15
 wired transfer fee imposed by my bank.  HyperWare (one of the distributors
 mentioned above) also accepts wired transfers but with no additional fee.

 4. Cash

 In US dollars (secure/hide well).  Most overseas people used this method
 when ordering ESCAPE but beware because it is a little risky.

 5. Trade

 Data or Music CD.  I am VERY much open for TRADES with music/other scene
 related CDs.  Do contact me if you are interested in doing a trade.  BTW,
 I'm still looking for Black Jack bubble gum.

 _____Order Form

 This order form is only to be filled out if you decide to order though me.
 The distributors mentioned above probably have their own order form.

 Please be complete and neat when filling this form out.  Also, please
 answer the question below regarding the main reason why you are ordering
 this CD.

 [Cut Here]

 Name ..........................................................
 
 Handle/Group ..................................................
 
 E-mail address ................................................
 
 Address .......................................................
 
 City, State, Zip ..............................................
 
 Country .......................................................

 Number of CD's ................................................
 Cost of CD's ($) ..............................................
 
 TOTAL COST ($) ................................................

 QUESTION (check one):

 The main reason I am purchasing the FREEDOM CD is because:
 [ ] Data CD
 [ ] MC3/Audio CD

 * Sticker wanted (1 per CD):

 [ ] Here...Catch!        By Xten
 [ ] Flag of Freedom      By Dana Dominiak
 [ ] Eruption             By Grinner & The Crux
 [ ] Intel Fake           By Primal

 * For People outside the US:

 A few people got hit with a tax when they ordered the ESCAPE CD because I
 did not mark "GIFT" on the CD package.  Under normal conditions I will not
 mark the GIFT box on the custom label.  However, if you live in a strict
 country and feel I should check this box then you need to mark the box
 below.

 [ ] Yes.  I consider the Freedom CD a GIFT.

 * Payment by:

 [ ] Check/bank draft/money order
 [ ] Wired transfer
 [ ] Cash
 [ ] Trade

 [Cut Here]

 _____Free Freedom

 I did promise a few people out there a FREE CD.  If you are one of the
 people I said YES or MAYBE to then you need to send me a POSTCARD with your
 name and address (so I can read it).  That is all--simple.  The only catch
 is that there are a limited number of "FREE CDs" so send your POSTCARDS
 before they all get distributed.

 Those entitled to this FREE CD via postcard are as follows
 (alphabetically): adept, bramage, cc catch, deathstr, epojar, flap,
 galvados, jmagic, kevin (TE demo), pozgay, pszi(shock), rfreeman(ddd),
 sdanes(iplay), sami.kapanen(Epical), sipiyou(xtcplay), tonic(symptom),
 white noise, wizard(No Excuse), and zorlim.

 If you are not on this list and I mentioned the possibility of a FREE CD to
 you then contact me.

 _____Addresses

 There were a lot of helpers for this project and I need addresses for most
 of you.  I will send your CD/CDs out when they arrive if I have your
 address by the release date.

 Would the following people please E-mail me with their addresses (if they
 have not done so already): PL, Darkness, Tonedef, Xten, Primal, Stony, The
 Don, Steve Stiles, Pupphead, Ryan Cramer, Chris Grinner, Tumblin, George
 Norwik, ALL MC3 winners, The REW, Cybelius, Zodiak, and Jonathan Vail.

 _____That's All Folks

 I'm expecting to mail this out to over 300 people thus I expect the mail
 coming back to me to be quite high.  I probably won't be able to answer
 every question right away so be patient.  No need to tell me you are
 sending money just send away and if necessary put any extra instructions in
 your letter.  Thank you for your order/support and many many thanks go out
 to all the people who helped make this CD possible.

 I can be reached at (954)-370-1373 (Nights 8pm-11pm)

 My address is :

 Dan Wright
 1320 N.W. 76th Avenue
 Plantation, FL 33322-4740
 USA

 Dan Wright / Pallbearer - dmw@gate.net


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 _____Back Issues

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 These directories are on our site (ftp.cdrom.com) or its mirrors.


=-[Closing]-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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 Your mail will be forwarded to the appropriate individual.


...........................................................End.of.DemoNews.105.


