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                          DemoNews #127 - 23 Jul 1996

                                                          Subscribers  :  2418
 DemoNews is produced by Hornet.                            Change     :   +17
 The Hornet Archive is at ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos         Archive Size : 2834M

==[Contents]===================================================================

           Calendar
           Sites
           Top Downloads
           Uploads
           Articles
             Introduction................................Snowman
             A Graphician's Tip Book - Part 4............Shaithis
             Jim vs. Jim: Hardware Advances..............Rimbo & Trixter
             NAID Log - Part 3/3.........................Trixter
             A.C.E. CDROM Volume 3 Advertisement.........Gandalf
           Closing

==[Calendar]===================================================================

 Date      Event       Location  Concact Points
 --------- ----------- --------- ---------------------------------------------
 28 Jun 96 Porno       Finland   suhonen@sci.fi
 19 Jul 96 Flag        Hungary   tomcat2@ursus.bke.hu

                                      * <-- YOU ARE HERE

 25 Jul 96 Euskal      Spain     sabino@redestb.es
                                 www.dit.upm.es/~alba/euskal
 28 Jul 96 Summer Enc. Denmark   rvc@vision.auc.dk
                                 www.vision.auc.dk/diffusion/SE96
 04 Aug 96 Summit      Israel    asafm@noam.co.il
                                 www.noam.co.il/summit96
 16 Aug 96 Assembly    Finland   assembly@assembly.org
                                 www.assembly.org/asm96
 22 Aug 96 TPTB        France    brunel@quaternet.fr
                                 www.imaginet.fr/~dadu
 30 Aug 96 AntIQ       Hungary   aboy@ttk.jpte.hu
                                 www.jpte.hu/~aboy
 21 Mar 97 Mekka       Germany   amable@aol.com

==[Sites]======================================================================

 Category       Location  Contact Points
 -------------- --------- ----------------------------------------------------
 Hornet Archive USA       ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos

 HA Mirrors     Sweden    ftp.luth.se/pub/msdos/demos
                S. Africa ftp.sun.ac.za/pub/msdos/demos
                USA (FL)  ftp.uwp.edu/pub/msdos/demos
                USA (PA)  ftp.co.iup.edu/code  (from /demos/code)

 Other Archives Belgium   hagar.arts.kuleuven.ac.be/demos
                Sweden    ftp.arosnet.se/demo
                Spain     ftp.siapi.es/blastersound/demos/incoming
                Finland   ftp.fm.org

 Web Sites      Germany   www.th-zwickau.de/~maz (MAZ Sound Tools)
                Canada    datex.ca/trax (images of #trax people)
                USA       www.jax-inter.net/users/mblocker/demos
                Belgium   hagar.arts.kuleuven.ac.be/~sdog/party.html

==[Downloads]==================================================================

 Category    Times File
 -------- -- ----- -----------------------------------------------------------
 Demos    01 00188 /demos/1995/a/animate.zip
          02 00150 /demos/1993/s/symbolog.zip
          03 00133 /demos/1995/n/nooon_st.zip
          04 00112 /demos/1993/u/unreal11.zip
          05 00101 /demos/1996/i/inside1.zip

 Music    01 00061 /music/songs/1995/s3m/a/aryx.zip
          02 00046 /music/disks/1996/f/fm-soul.zip
          03 00044 /music/samples/sw-drums.zip
          04 00039 /music/songs/1996/s3m/a/athought.zip
          05 00038 /music/songs/1996/s3m/f/fm-mech8.zip

 Graphics 01 00198 /graphics/images/1996/t/tigerkid.zip
          02 00115 /graphics/images/1996/o/olivert.zip
          03 00091 /graphics/images/1996/g/godsarmy.zip
          04 00086 /graphics/images/1996/c/chantal.zip
          05 00050 /graphics/images/1996/u/uf_man_m.zip

 Code     01 00051 /code/tutorial/dn114_3d.zip
          02 00048 /code/tutorial/dn116_3d.zip
          03 00035 /code/tutorial/fh-3dtut.zip
          04 00031 /code/graph/water/water.zip
          05 00027 /code/tutorial/ctut2vla.zip

 Incoming 01 00096 /incoming/mags/imphob12.zip
          02 00084 /incoming/news/demonews.126
          03 00074 /incoming/demos/campino.zip
          04 00066 /incoming/demos/igloo_fl.zip
          05 00062 /incoming/mags/imphob12.zip.good.good
          06 00058 /incoming/news/demonews.125
          07 00053 /incoming/MC4/news/mc4-news.003
          08 00052 /incoming/demos/mir_nvas.zip
          09 00050 /incoming/news/traxweek.063
          10 00049 /incoming/demos/da_sleep.zip

 Total number of files downloaded : 0055061

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

 All ratings are subjective.

=---------------------------------------------------------------------(alpha)-=
/pub/demos/alpha      Size Rated Description
=-----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
/1994/p/przintro.zip    91 *+    First Intro by Pornorockerz
/1994/t/tlhxmas.zip    263 **+   Xmas 1994 by The Last Hackers
/1995/m/mzoom10a.zip   387 ***   Mandelbrot zoomer by Borislav Deianov
/1996/c/campino.zip    872 ***   Campino by Phoenix+Virtual Rage
/1996/d/dbwedtro.zip   495 **    Dubious Wedtro by Tonic+Cube+Sol+Teque
/1996/e/e_demov2.zip   152 [n/a] PRN96:demo:??: ?? by ??
/1996/e/exc01.zip       75 *     First release pack by Exclusive
/1996/f/fd_rikki.zip   241 ***   Sarki by Fobia Design
/1996/f/fimpact.zip    112 *+    First Impact by Helix
/1996/g/g-8hakka.zip    42 **    PRN96:in80:01: Hakkapeliitta 10 by Gender 8
/1996/h/hrm_dild.zip   766 +     PRN96:demo:??: Dildah by Hirmu
/1996/h/hrm_tit.zip    580 *+    PRN96:demo:??: Tissi by Hirmu
/1996/i/io_hype.zip    307 **+   TS96:demo:06: Hype by Inner Option
/1996/m/mir_nvas.zip  1095 ***+  NAID96:demo:05: Never Assume by Miracle
/1996/p/paska1.zip      34 +     PRN96:in80:02: Paska by Jallu Soft
/1996/p/paska3.zip     246 [n/a] PRN96:demo:??: ?? by ??
/1996/p/plug_ins.zip   224 **    Plug-Ins by YOE
/1996/p/psreal.zip     112 *+    Pseudoreality by Darkness
/1996/s/sen-isp.zip    177 *+    Interstellar Phenomenon by Sensorium
/1996/s/skr_cunt.zip   402 *     PRN96:demo:??: Pillunvoittodemo by Skraappa
                                 | Skruuppi
/1996/z/zorro200.zip   278 *     PRN96:demo:??: ?? by ??

=---------------------------------------------------------------------(music)-=
/pub/demos/music                Size Rated Description
=-----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
/disks/1996/0-9/6solluti.zip    1266 ***   6 Solutions by Scooba
/disks/1996/j/jt_mon.zip         970 ****  Various Songs by Jeroen Tel
/disks/1996/p/ph-0696b.zip      1229 ***   [2/2] pHluid #8 by Acid
/disks/1996/t/tf-chips.zip        74 ***   Bag O' Chipz by Stalker
/disks/1996/t/tnv_0696.zip      1556 *     June '96 Pack by Terra Nova
/songs/1994/s3m/c/cymind.zip      73 **+   Mind Controller by Cyclone
/songs/1995/s3m/c/cgs-gm.zip     166 ***   Guitar Mania by Cygnes
/songs/1995/s3m/c/cgs-ode2.zip   364 ***   Ode to Jodie Sweetin (part 2) by
                                           | Cygnes
/songs/1995/s3m/c/cgs-sky.zip    264 ***   Above the Sky by Cygnes
/songs/1995/s3m/c/china.zip      101 ***   China by Renegade
/songs/1995/s3m/c/cnation.zip     66 **+   Cybernetic Nation by Cyclone
/songs/1995/s3m/c/cycages.zip     87 ***   Crystal Cages by Cyclone
/songs/1995/s3m/c/cylife.zip      80 ***+  Life Force by Cyclone
/songs/1995/s3m/d/dance4me.zip   101 **+   Dance 4 Me by Renegade
/songs/1995/s3m/m/melody1.zip    145 ****  Magic Melody One by Welti
/songs/1995/s3m/v/voyage.zip     151 **+   Voyage of Discovery by Zagiamor
                                           | Spellweaver
/songs/1995/s3m/w/w-mff.zip      290 ***   Magic Flowers Flight by Welti
/songs/1995/s3m/z/zense_2.zip    237 **+   Zensation II by Cayo
/songs/1995/xm/p/pb_witch.zip    244 ***   Witch Doctor by Point Blank
/songs/1996/it/m/missufo.zip     229 ***+  Mission UFO by DrDoom
/songs/1996/it/n/nex-emer.zip    473 ***+  Emersion by Nexus
/songs/1996/it/o/orc-core.zip   1043 **+   The Core by Crimelord
/songs/1996/mod/i/it-where.zip    78 **    Where I Am by It-Alien
/songs/1996/mod/m/m_drift.zip    222 **+   Drift by Carebear
/songs/1996/mod/m/m_palel.zip    311 **+   Parallel by Substance
/songs/1996/mod/m/m_stra.zip     283 ***   Strange Comings EP by Dreamfish
/songs/1996/s3m/c/caperain.zip   206 **    Cape Rain by Boydroid
/songs/1996/s3m/c/ccs-iner.zip   210 ***+  Inertia by Replay of Carcass
/songs/1996/s3m/c/ccs-mean.zip   223 ***+  Meaning by Dynamic Harmony of
                                           | Carcass
/songs/1996/s3m/c/ccs-pov.zip    207 ***   Point of View by Replay of Carcass
/songs/1996/s3m/c/ccs-worm.zip   187 ***+  Wormhole (radio edit) by Replay of
                                           | Carcass
/songs/1996/s3m/c/cicatriz.zip    93 ***+  Cicatriz by Parity
/songs/1996/s3m/c/cityscap.zip   145 ***   Cityscape by Cyclone
/songs/1996/s3m/c/cival.zip      161 ***   The Forgotten Civilization by Bishop
/songs/1996/s3m/c/clunkscr.zip    48 +     Clank (scrape remix) by Ensanguined
/songs/1996/s3m/c/continen.zip   156 **+   Continental Shifts by TNT
/songs/1996/s3m/c/culture.zip    156 ***   Culture Clash by Fizz
/songs/1996/s3m/c/cy-csnap.zip   182 **+   Coldsnap by Cylus
/songs/1996/s3m/c/cyberott.zip   121 **    Cybernet in Rotterdam by Jester
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dancing.zip    288 **+   Dancing With You by Divilish
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dc5-bors.zip   140 **+   Borschtiibilitiitielilies by Necros
                                           | of Dennis Courtney 5
/songs/1996/s3m/d/de-cact.zip    275 ****  Cactus Plant by Dark Ember
/songs/1996/s3m/d/de-mix.zip     352 ***   The Party Mix by Dark Ember
/songs/1996/s3m/d/deliverd.zip    48 *     Deliverance of Death by Stratocaster
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dismalde.zip   110 *     Dismal Decay by Stratocaster
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dmi-cnfm.zip   223 ***   Conformity by Stavross of Damage
                                           | Incorporated
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dmirecg.zip    268 ***   Recognition by Stavross of Damage
                                           | Incorporated
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dny-mind.zip   192 ***   The Truth About the Mind by Paco of
                                           | Dinasty
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dny-they.zip   205 ***   They're Watchin' Me by Digital Pain
                                           | of Dinasty
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dream.zip      285 ***+  Will I Dream by X-Prodica
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dscreams.zip   545 **+   Dancing Screams by Soundmaster
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dubu74.zip     213 ***+  Sky Skating by DJ Kike
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dubu77.zip     360 **+   Fast Dancing by DJ Kike
/songs/1996/s3m/d/dubu78.zip     141 ***   Imagine by DJ Kike
/songs/1996/s3m/i/ifindyou.zip   136 *+    Eye Will Find U by Boydroid
/songs/1996/s3m/l/lords.zip      141 **+   Lords of the Sky by Araelien
/songs/1996/s3m/m/manual.zip     307 **+   Manual Override Disabled by TNT
/songs/1996/s3m/m/mdream.zip     277 **+   More Than a Dream by Araelien
/songs/1996/s3m/n/neverend.zip   258 ***   Neverending Lies by TNT
/songs/1996/s3m/n/no-strik.zip   164 ***+  HammerStrike by Delta X
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-8q.zip      294 ***   Rainbow People, 8q nite edit by
                                           | Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-aes.zip     231 ***   Afrika Aesthetics by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-aura.zip     90 **+   Aurora Borealis by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-crap.zip    108 **+   Extreme by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-freq.zip     89 ***+  Afrika Frequency 9 by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-matka.zip   175 ***+  Matkustaya by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-panda.zip    57 **+   Save Pandas by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-rainf.zip   210 ***   Let the Rain Fall by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-resta.zip   228 ***   Restaurant by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/o/oq-silly.zip    64 ***+  It Was a Silly Day by Octoque
/songs/1996/s3m/u/ur-invas.zip   188 **    The Invasion by Uranium
/songs/1996/s3m/u/use-drgl.zip     6 ***   Dragon's Lair Remix by Mix the Brain
                                           | of USE
/songs/1996/s3m/u/use-ichi.zip    37 **+   Ichi Hori Shinjirarenai by Mix the
                                           | Brain of USE
/songs/1996/s3m/u/use-tfxt.zip    20 ****  TFx Theme by Mix the Brain of USE
/songs/1996/s3m/v/vi_metal.zip   111 *     Metalmorphosis by Violator
/songs/1996/s3m/v/vmc1etlv.zip   181 **    Eternal Love by DJ Mind
/songs/1996/s3m/v/vmc1meip.zip   235 *+    Mega Infinity Power by DJ Mind
/songs/1996/s3m/v/vmc1moon.zip   220 ***   Moondwinds by Garfield
/songs/1996/s3m/v/vmc1tosd.zip   321 **    The Other Side by DJ Mind
/songs/1996/s3m/w/webber.zip      84 *+    Webber Child by Boydroid
/songs/1996/s3m/w/white.zip       60 **+   Intense White by Dark Ember
/songs/1996/s3m/w/world.zip       60 **    World by Kaspar
/songs/1996/s3m/w/wppeals2.zip    24 **    West Point Peals by Paul Watkins
/songs/1996/s3m/w/wr-ssoul.zip   392 **+   Sacrifice Your Soul by Wraith
/songs/1996/s3m/x/x5.zip          11 *+    Catch that Skaven by Goblin
/songs/1996/s3m/x/xc-xenog.zip   236 ***+  Xenogenesis by Xenoc
/songs/1996/s3m/z/zn-micro.zip     3 ***   Mike Rowchip by Zinc
/songs/1996/s3m/z/zn-trust.zip   113 **+   Trust (604 mix) by Zinc
/songs/1996/xm/e/ef-culle.zip    165 **    Cullerin Plain by El Futplex
/songs/1996/xm/e/enough.zip      487 *+    I Had Enough by Peals
/songs/1996/xm/e/ez-jaca.zip     230 **    Jacaranda by Erno Helen
/songs/1996/xm/e/ez-rcove.zip    328 **+   Recoverance by Erno Helen
/songs/1996/xm/f/float.zip       103 *+    Floating In The Space by Maza
/songs/1996/xm/f/flp-ac01.zip    186 **    Solo Flight by Archon
/songs/1996/xm/f/flp-dn01.zip    135 *+    New Life by Dangtrin
/songs/1996/xm/g/g_boes.zip       72 ***   Boesendorfer P.S.S. by GBlues
/songs/1996/xm/g/gizzard.zip      60 *     Gizzard by Maza
/songs/1996/xm/g/gti-jump.zip    591 **+   See You Jumping by The Borg
/songs/1996/xm/h/hnz-isth.zip   1666 ***+  Is There a God? by Hunz
/songs/1996/xm/n/no-davea.zip    461 ***   Daveangelesque by Jimmy Redfern
/songs/1996/xm/n/no-jdawn.zip     77 ***+  Jungle Dawn by Jimmy Redfern
/songs/1996/xm/p/pandemon.zip     57 **    Pandemonium by Maza
/songs/1996/xm/p/partheno.zip     85 **    Parthenogenesis by Maza
/songs/1996/xm/p/pb_angel.zip    274 **+   Dark Angel by Point Blank
/songs/1996/xm/p/pb_love.zip     122 ***+  Lost Love by Point Blank
/songs/1996/xm/p/piano.zip        38 **+   The Piano Song by Decker
/songs/1996/xm/p/pt-night.zip    204 ***   Nightwalker by P-Tec

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

=-----------------------------------------------------------------------------=

 :: "Introduction"
 :: Snowman / Hornet - r3cgm@cdrom.com

 _____Introduction

 Hello all, and welcome to DemoNews issue 127.

 This is the 97th issue of DemoNews I've contributed to in some way.  Just
 over two and a half years have passed since I asked Dan Wright if I could
 help further the "vision".  One might think that by now I'd feel pretty
 secure with my role in the scene.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

 A few weeks ago an advertisement was sent to include DemoNews; A.C.E. BBS was
 releasing a new demo CDROM.  My initial reaction was "I can't print that!
 It's in competition with our Hornet Underground CD".  So I didn't print it.
 Two weeks passed and I received an inquiry... "why wasn't the advertisement
 included in DemoNews?"  A brief discussion followed, after which I resolved
 something very important.

 Walnut Creek CDROM is my job.  The Demo Scene is my hobby.  A fuzzy area
 exists where the two meet (i.e. Hornet Underground).  The goal in making HU
 was twofold: give security to the growing archive on ftp.cdrom.com, and
 provide a fairly inexpensive method of mass-data transfer to the scene.

 I started thinking about A.C.E.'s project and my reasons for not printing
 their ad.  I realized that I can't, in good conscious, allow my employment to
 cloud the "vision".  The demo scene is (and should remain) a hobby free from
 commercial pressures.  Included in this issue of DemoNews you will find that
 A.C.E. advertisement.  Buy their CD and support the scene.

 _____NAID (almost over)

 NAID is finally wrapping up.  Some of you may have been under the impression
 that NAID finished two months ago.  Not so.  :)  Trixter and I (and perhaps a
 couple special guests) are going to be working heavily during this week to
 finish up the NAID report and CD.  If you have any comments, requests,
 video/audio clips, pictures, pictures, or pictures, please do contact me as
 soon as humanly possible.  BTW: Did I mention we want more pictures?

 _____Miscellany

 /music has now officially entered the realm of HA4.  Look for full searching
 capability soon on our web pages.

 A new link has been added to our main page... Demo Java!  See your Pentium
 Pro brought to its knees by effects that were done smoothly on a 386.  If
 nothing else, they're pretty nifty to look at.

 Music Contest 4 judging has begun.

 A new Imphobia was released.  I'll have a review of it next issue.

 _____Conclusion

 We are up another 17 subscribers this week.  That in itself is not impressive
 or noteworthy.  However, I'd like to single out one new subscriber in
 particular.  My dad.  He might not hand-code optimized assembler, create
 graphics in Deluxe Paint or tunes in Fast Tracker 2, but I'd pit him against
 my DemoNews formatting skills any day.  Who knows, we might even beat Trixter
 (soon-to-be parent) in having the first father/son combo in the scene.  :)

=-----------------------------------------------------------------------------=

 :: "A Graphician's Tip Book - Part 4"
 :: Shaithis / Psychic Monks, Immortal Coil - shaithis@dreamscape.com

 _____Introduction

 Well, it has come to my attention (actually I was pretty sure of this but it
 is now confirmed), that DeluxePaint IIe is, sadly, out of print.  However, I
 am certain it can be picked up at a discount software warehouse, or through a
 catalogue, or something.  I have also sent a letter of query to Electronic
 Arts (the publishers), to find out if there is any other way of acquiring it.
 We shall see.

 My thanks to Glenn Meader for confirming that suspicion.

 Alright. On with Dpaint.  For those of who who don't remember, I hadn't
 finished talking about the gradient tool last time.  Of course, I could
 probably write a 300 page text on that particular tool, but I'll try to
 finish up the important parts in this article.

 _____Facts

 *FACT*  Using the base dpaint palette is not a good way to impress other
 artists. ;)  Alter it to produce the best looking picture possible.

 *FACT*  Working in grey-scale will give you the most shading versatility, as
 you can designate color 1 as black, color 256 as white, and the other 254 as
 shades of grey in between.  However, grey-scale work (obviously) lacks color.

 I personally would recommend that if you wish to use color, you have no more
 than four 32-color gradients.  This will allow you to use a palette trick
 that I'll have time to explain in my next article (which will, in turn,
 actually give you eight 32-color gradients).

 *FACT*  The gradients you produce do not necessarily have to be used in
 conjunction with the methods allowed by the fill tool.  This is something I
 see often in new artists, a tendency to have straight-gradient fills.  You
 can create a much more stunning effect by using the gradients to define your
 palette, and then laying down the colors pixel-by-pixel, or even using the
 fill tool and then "tweaking" it by hand.

 *FACT* The gradient tool has its flaws.  Try making a gradient that runs from
 purple to yellow without hitting brown somewhere along the line.  Not
 possible if you're simply "spreading" between the two initial colors.  You
 must do something similar to this:

   Alter color one so it is canary yellow.  Alter color seventeen so it is
   lime green.  Alter color Thirty three so it is Royal Blue, and make color
   Forty nine your desired purple.  Now spread yellow to green, green to
   blue, and blue to purple.

 Keep in mind that sometimes getting that brown in there can be useful.  Often
 you will find that anti-aliasing your edges requires colors you would not
 have initially suspected (but more on that next time).

 *FACT*  The gradient tool is a great way to produce art work.  It's also an
 easy tool to get carried with, to the point where every object in your piece
 contains a 32 color straight gradient, and when people look at it, it makes
 them feel like their eyes are going to pop out of their heads.

 There really isn't much more I can say about the gradient tool without going
 way too in depth for this article.  Experiment.  Try new things.  Don't be
 afraid to play around with it.  It's exceptionally useful.

 _____The Rose Tool

 The rose tool is fun. I like playing with it.  I use it to make interesting
 textures for backgrounds, or in conjunction with the smooth tool to simulate
 texture mapping on objects (That'll come in the tips-n-trix section though).

 When you use the rose tool, whatever you draw is automatically redrawn in six
 other areas of the screen.  Use it once or twice, especially with a red
 brush, and you'll understand why I call it the rose tool.  It can also be
 used with other brushes, gradients, the smooth tool, the smear tool, and just
 about anything else to create some very interesting effects.  Much like the
 pattern tool, however, most experienced artists rarely use the rose tool,
 because its results are so distinct that everyone else knows how you achieved
 the effect.  :)

 _____Conclusion

 That's the column for this month.  It's a little shorter than last month's,
 but things have been extremely hectic around here, and I forgot to write it
 until Snowman sent me a message going "Hey, stupid..."

 Next time we'll discuss the various "finalizing" type affects available in
 Dpaint, especially the anti-alias technique, and I'll finally get around to
 explaining that palette-trick I've been hinting at.  Promise.

=-----------------------------------------------------------------------------=

 :: "Jim vs. Jim: Hardware Advances"
 :: Trixter / Hornet - trixter@ftp.cdrom.com
 :: Rimbo / Hornet - rimbo@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu

 _____Introduction

 What direction should the demo scene go?  Should the demo scene embrace new
 technology, or will doing that end the art of using programming tricks?

 Trixter (T) and Rimbo (R) disagree, in our first installment of:

 Jim vs. Jim:  Hardware Advances

 _____The Debate

 R: Right now, I think your criticism of the scene's direction is unfounded.
    The PC is developing in a direction right now that it hasn't developed
    since the PC demo scene really started having a chance to flourish. I see
    three problems with hardware tweaking alone remaining the soul of the demo
    scene: Most of the hardware that we define as "standard" hasn't changed in
    the past few years, whereas standards changed a lot before that; most of
    the standard hardware has already been tweaked to its potential by the
    likes of Tran and Psi; and nobody wants to watch a demo that does
    something new with ancient technology.

 T: As usual, Jim, you've completely missed my point.  The origin of the
    scene, on all platforms, was not entirely based on what you call 'hardware
    tweaking.'  It was based on *tricks*, on coding secrets, techniques, and
    shortcuts that you could use to achieve something not normally possible on
    that class of computer.  (And if it wasn't exactly what you were trying to
    achieve, it looked real darn close.)  While your argument of 'every
    hardware tweak has been done' is about 90% true, that's not even close to
    what I'm talking about.

 R: But if not hardware tweaking, what?  You can't possibly expect me to
    believe that using X&7 instead of X MOD 8 is some secret coder's trick --
    it's not obvious, but it's as close to being obvious as you can get.
    There are only so many tricks of that nature that can be done.  I think
    what you're forgetting is that pipeline optimizations, for the Pentium and
    Pentium Pro, blow open a whole new era of tricks for coders.

 T: By tricks, I mean different methods of doing things.  For example, using
    lookup tables instead of calculating things with the FPU.  From a larger
    standpoint, emulating things that look correct without actually being
    correct, like Dope / Complex (Dope was 100% environment mapping except for
    the fractal landscape and "Larusse" clouds).  These have nothing to do
    with enhanced features like pipelining.  I'm worried that people will
    forget about tricks like that and blame it on the hardware if it's not
    fast enough.

 R: About those tricks: Most of the tricks that were used to get nice 3D
    objects working on a 386 look nasty on a machine that can do the same
    things without the tricks -- Amnesia's 3D vector world looks absolutely
    horrible, and even Wildfire's plasma-cube and the objects in Crystal
    Dreams 2 have visible flaws when the objects rotate.

 T: That doesn't make any sense at all.  They look the same on a Pentium as
    they do on a 486 and 386.  Faster hardware does not induce artifacts.  Any
    loss of coordinate resolution was the fault of the person coding his first
    run of 3D coordinate systems (using 8.8 instead of 16.16, or something
    similar).

    In the old days (5-6 years ago) on the PC scene, hardware scrolling and
    coppers were the rage.  Today it's 3D effects because there's not much
    more you can do with the hardware that is impressive.  I'm not saying we
    should go back to hardware effects -- I'm saying that we should go back to
    the days of clever coding.  It was never about hardware effects only.

    So why bring that up?  Because if people start coding demos for newer,
    accelerated video cards, then the art of democoding is lost.  Demos would
    become the art of visions and 3D objects, not the art of coding.  Sure,
    you could write the keyframer and other parts, but over 90% of the time is
    spent in the polyfiller, so where's the fun in that?  And accelerated
    cards do little to nothing for chunky effects like texture/plasma warping,
    etc.  And yes, this viewpoint extends to the Gravis Ultrasound.  I'm not
    saying that we should abandon it -- I'm just saying that more people
    should support the Sound Blaster.  It's a cool trick emulating Amiga/GUS
    hardware in software.

 R: I disagree that 3D effects are the only direction we can go to impress
    with fancy hardware.  I think that people in the demo scene have just got
    into a rut with 3D because they haven't really thought about what they can
    do and because they can get a good game-programming job doing it later.
    They'd do sprites as well, except that sprites are less impressive.

    I concur with you on the Sound Blaster, but for the same reason that I
    think you're wrong about 3D cards.  Unlike the C64, advances are
    continually being made on the PC -- and unlike the Amiga, those advances
    are only occasionally standardized.  So we have, in the PC scene, two
    types of advances: advances in hardware, and advances in standards.

    When the Sound Blaster originally came out, it was a hardware advance.  If
    there was anything about it that was close to standard, it was the fact
    that it was Adlib-compatible; but nobody would consider releasing
    something that supported it alone.  Most advances are like this.  However,
    Creative Labs was fortunate -- now, you have to make an effort to purchase
    a new computer that lacks a Sound Blaster 16 or compatible sound card.
    There is no question that it is a standard.  This is a standard advance.

    The PC demoscene is not like other demoscenes; nobody wants to see a demo
    designed for yesteryear's equipment except for those who have it, and it
    is wrong to discourage demo groups from trying to take advantage of things
    which will obviously be next year's standards, such as the Pentium chip.
    There are certain optimizations one can make on the Pentium which can't be
    made on any other chip -- for example, its floating-point capabilities are
    amazing.  We can now not only show off the speed of our 3D worlds, but
    also their accuracy.

 T: We can *already* show off their accuracy.  Have you ever programmed a 3D
    system?  In a demo, you only need 16.16 to show things accurately.  A game
    is different, but we're talking about demos, not games.  Even if you
    needed 32.32, who says you *need* an FPU for that?  (Hint:  You don't.)

 R: What about the GUS?  Clearly, within the demo scene, it is part of the
    standard.  There's nothing wrong with the PC demo scene having its own
    standards -- imagine someone who was a game-player who didn't own any kind
    of joystick, or someone in the business world without MS Excel.  So you
    can't criticize the GUS -- yes, we need to write software for the Sound
    Bastard, it is a standard everywhere else; but the GUS is still a
    demoscene standard.  In many cases it is the only thing that allows some
    demos to run at reasonable framerates on slower machines.

    You say that the art of democoding will be lost if people start coding for
    3D cards.  There are several problems with this.  First of all, as you
    said, for texture-warping effects and the like, 3D cards will be useless.
    Secondly, what about the art of demo design?  Won't this give demo design
    a chance to improve?  Thirdly, there is no 3D hardware standard. There
    won't ever be one.  There is, however, a software standard -- the Windows
    '95 API.  Which brings me to something else.

    Demo coders are going to have to learn how to deal with Windows 95,
    because as much as we all despise it, it is a  fact of life.  (My favorite
    method:  BOOTGUI=0 in MSDOS.SYS.)

 T: If you want to use accelerated hardware to make a 'demo', then use 3DSMax
    on Windows NT to do it.  If you want to make a *real* demo, then code it
    yourself and don't rely on the hardware to do anything for you.  You can't
    'trick' a 3D accelerated video card.

=-----------------------------------------------------------------------------=

 :: "NAID Log - Part 3/3"
 :: Trixter / Hornet - trixter@ftp.cdrom.com

 [... continued from DemoNews.126]

 _____June 2nd

 12:30pm:

 Drove with Snowman to White Noise's house to take a shower.  Snowman, being
 as anal as he is, :-) takes the first shower while I sit in the reading room
 awaiting my turn.  White Noise's father, who I was told speaks no English at
 all, sees me and says "salut".  I respond with "salut", being as courteous as
 I can.

 He then says something that completely blows by me, so I respond with my best
 attempt at "Je ne parle pas francais, parce que ma francais est tres mal,"
 which was meant to be "I don't speak french, because my French is very bad."
 He then responds in very good English, "No it's not!  Your French is just
 fine." I am so surprised that I stammer something unintelligible.  He then
 laughs and continues on his way.

 Quebec is really cool.  :-)

 1:30pm:

 Snowman and I return to the compo, only to hear that the demo compo has been
 delayed a bit.  I'm nervous.  We go to Subway to get a bite to eat, and see
 Snibble / DCB eating there already.  He's not nervous at all.  :-)

 1:50pm:

 The Wild compo has started, and is turning out to be a more fun than I
 thought it would be.  Some of the things that have happened are: Miss Saigon
 sang a song; some guy rapped to an .IT module he wrote; a really cool
 animation of a Star Wars sequence was played on the big screen; and one of
 the NAID volunteers did a magic/comedy show.  The magic show was a bit corny,
 but better than I thought it would be.

 2:30pm:

 The demo compo has started.  The organizers have gotten into a habit of
 switching into the entries directory, then typing "CD " and then just
 waiting.  Many coders in the audience, myself included, wait for what seems
 like an eternity for them to type the first letter of the directory they're
 going to switch into, so they can see if it's their demo or not.

 My demo is the 4th or 5th demo to play.  All I can think while it's playing
 is "Please don't bug, please don't bug, please don't bug..."

 My demo ends, and the credits screen stays for a bit before exiting.  *There
 is absolute silence*, probably because people expect a little bit more.  My
 heart is stopped -- why isn't anyone making a sound?  Do they hate it?  A
 moment later, when the DOS prompt appears, I hear the loudest applause I've
 ever heard.  All the people around me start shaking my hand.  I am so happy!
 I feel like it was all worth it, regardless of the final placement.

 DCB is *NEXT* (dang!  :-) and my feeling of being #1 quickly fades, since the
 effects got the crowd speechless, and they deserved to.  I especially liked
 the robot walking in time to the excellent music.  It is clear that this demo
 is going to win if something equally impressive doesn't happen.

 Craw Production's demo is next, "Into the Infinity", and it has (again) a
 really great theme.  Some of the code could be a little tighter, but the
 effects are *seamless*, which is a coding nightmare and hard to perfect
 (although LaKEE has a good handle on it).  I am very pleasantly surprised to
 see my name in the greets section at the end of the demo, although I can't
 fathom why I'm greeted, since I've exchanged about one or two pieces of email
 with them, tops.  I can't say I object, though; they'll get a greet in my
 final version.

 5:00pm:

 After the compo, I go with Craw productions and DCB (and others) to eat
 dinner at Harvey's, a local fast food joint right across from the CEGEP.  We
 all sort-of know that we are going to be fighting for first place, but we
 talk about much cooler stuff instead.

 DCB and Force 10 sit in one area, making it a French-only section, and Craw
 and I (and Kiwidog, Basehead, Skie and Diablo) sit in the other, making jokes
 about demos and silly coding problems.  They laugh at the
 "freemem(palette,64000)" problem I had earlier, because they *understand*
 what is funny about it, which made me feel good.

 Basehead and Skie are publicly intimate for the first time during the party,
 and I am reminded of Melissa.  I miss her very much, and wish that someday I
 can show her firsthand what this experience is like.

 6:30pm:

 It seems as if almost half the people left after the compo was over.  Tran
 had to leave right before the compo even started because otherwise his ride
 would leave without him, which really sucked.  I think he would've been
 intrigued by the entries this year -- The DCB demo, for instance, was full of
 fakes (just like every demo, actually), but the fakes were very clever, like
 the lights coming out of the cube.

 8:00pm:

 The closing ceremonies are underway, and already I am pleasantly shocked:
 PeriSoft won 2nd place in the graphics compo!  Who would've thought?  I will
 stop making jokes at Peri's expense from now on.  I had no idea he could draw
 that well.

 The person from ACiD wins 1st place in the graphics compo.  Even though he
 deserves it, the only people who are clapping are ACiD people because of the
 previous music incident.  After he goes up to accept his award, he makes this
 completely retarded "homeboy" speech that is really dorky.  At this point I
 lean forward to Basehead and say, "I'm getting the feeling that the ACiD guys
 act the same way in real life as they do online."  He responds with, "The iCE
 guys don't, but yeah, the ACiD guys do."  I seriously hope ACiD works on this
 -- they really do have talent buried somewhere underneath all that eLiTe
 attitude crap.

 The demo compo results are announced -- 3rd place is Hornet.  I can't believe
 it -- Phred and I did it!  I am so happy that I don't stand up at first, and
 someone has to give me a push.  The entire 7 of us tee-shirted Hornet crew go
 up, and I make a short goofy speech:

   "I'm actually very very bad at giving speeches, so I'll just give you the
   reason... [MED adjusts the microphone for Trixter, he says "MED to the
   rescue as always"] give you the reason... I started demo coding in 1990,
   simply because I found it amazing because of all the things you can do with
   a computer, but I stay in it because of the people.  And so that's really,
   for the last two years, why I've stayed.  So hopefully, we will take these
   wonderful organizers lead and have our own parties in our own provinces and
   states."

 Yeah, it's a little goofy, but I didn't have a speech planned -- I thought
 that the demo coded by Grimace, or the team #coders demo, or the Surrounders
 demo would beat me, since they were longer than mine and had some nice code.

 Craw Productions gets 2nd place; DCB gets 1st.  No big surprise to me,
 actually, since the Craw demo had great design, and the DCB demo had great
 code.  Instead of announcing the 1st place by speaking into the microphone,
 they play the demo through again with all the lights turned out.  It is still
 a good demo.  :)

 9:00pm:

 Everyone books to get their stuff packed up because NAID is being taken down
 in a hurry and we'll all get thrown out at 10:30.  Goodbyes are quick, as
 everyone is harried to get everything out of CEGEP.  I feel quite guilty at
 this point, since I really wanted to help Struk, MEd, and Mr. Khan clean up.
 I hope they understand...

 While I pack up my stuff, I find myself trying to figure out why I placed
 higher than Grimace's demo, the Surrounder's demo, and others; I finally tack
 it up to a couple of things:

   - Mine had a clean feel (no bugs--well, none that showed on-screen)
   - Most effects (except transparency) ran at the full frame rate
   - It was synced to the music more than most demos
   - Had real big audience impact at the end.  :)

 The inverse of those can be said for the others that I was worried about:
 some had bugs that showed up (pixel over/underflow on the poly rendering).
 Some parts weren't synced to the music--in fact, I don't think any demos were
 synced to the music at all except for me, Craw's, and DCB's.  (Whoa, a
 trend--all three of us placed in the top three. Something to note...)  Some
 demos went from effect to effect to effect so quickly that the audience
 didn't have time to catch it.

 But most importantly, never underestimate your audience.  A good demo has new
 effects that have never been seen before.  The scene is at a loss for new
 effects, and the audience only applauds for new effects. (Well, not always,
 but my limited compo experience (two compos) has shown that.)

 That last paragraph sounds a bit pretentious; I'm sorry.  I'll move on.

 11:00pm:

 DCB, the organizers, Hornet, White Noise, Mellow-D, and other people are
 hanging around outside, trying to figure out what to do.  We can't all decide
 on a place to go; the "natives" want to go to a local restaurant, but the
 "outsiders" want to go to Draggy's house to go to an all-night restaurant in
 Montreal.

 Snowman comes up to me and says, quite matter-of-factly, "Mellow-D is now a
 member of Hornet.  He asked, I accepted."  Now *that's* something I never
 would have expected.  Wow.

 11:30pm:

 We are still outside talking to everyone, trying to decide what to do.

 I've learned from a demo judge (that will remain anonymous) that:

   - My position in 3rd place was always a given; only the 1st and 2nd was a
   debate.

   - The debate for 1st and 2nd was the classic struggle between design and
   code -- one had great design; the other had great code.

 While it was wrong for someone to tell me this, I would be lying if this
 particular piece of information didn't secretly make me very happy.

 I also hear people talking about Mellow-D's song--it got 4th place.

 12:00am:

 After about an hour of debate as to where we should go to eat, we split for
 the last time, and I say goodbye to Struk, having just met his girlfriend,
 who I realize was the one helping him with the final ceremonies.  After a
 15-minute trek to Montreal, we find Draggy's house, and with DCB in tow, we
 go to find a local restaurant.

 12:30am:

 I can describe this restaurant in one word:  Dennys.  ;-)  (It's not Dennys,
 of course, but it's very similar to it.)  I am introduced to an item that
 White Noise tells me the society of Quebec invented: Poutine.  It's a made up
 word that describes french fries covered in gravy and cheese.  It sounds
 gross, but at 12:30am when everyone is a little punchy, it's the *perfect*
 food substance.  Late-night food incarnate.

 Aahz tags along with us, and I get my first indication of everyone else's
 impression of him:  All 19 of us sit down at three six-person tables, and
 Aahz is the odd man out.  He looks around solemnly, like the kid who didn't
 get picked for the baseball team.  Someone takes pity on him and makes room.
 Like I wrote earlier, I wonder if he knows how he affects people.

 1:00am:

 We are getting very silly, probably from being so tired.  Floss is helping me
 recreate the scene from MAD TV about the hillbillies that help "fix" a
 doctor's patients.  ("He's a purty one!"  "He sure is!" "We're gonna make you
 alllll better!")  Khyron is cracking us up with his impression of a honkey
 black man, calling himself "Khyronella".  ("Yo, take this dope tip from
 Khyronella.")  I haven't finished my Poutine because the serving is so big.
 Snowman obliges me.

 _____Conclusion

 And so, here I am, getting ready for bed at GD's house and typing this up,
 and wondering where to go next...  Probably to sleep, actually, and then
 driving home.  I don't know what having a baby in January 1997 will do to my
 involvement in the demo scene, but whatever happens, I'll always remember the
 culture and friendship for the rest of my life.

 Maybe I'll code a demo to be released just for fun, not at a compo or
 anything...  Maybe I'll lay low and do the dirty coding work for Hornet...
 Maybe I'll start writing letters to people in the scene--real hand-written
 letters--and sending disks through the mail, just like the best scene ever,
 the C64 scene.

 I don't really know.  I don't have any role models to look at; most people my
 age and experience have dropped out the scene by this point due to "real
 life", which I'm about to enter.

 Well, whatever happens, I'm sure I'll be the 40-year-old guy at some future
 compo explaining to the new blood in some older, wiser voice that "in my day,
 we didn't code everything in Java!  We wrote programs in hand-optimized
 assembler and reprogrammed the video card for speed -- and we *loved* it!"

 Actually, that pertains to the entire demo scene and always will: The C64
 people like to point out that they did 3D vectors in *assembler* on a *1 MHz*
 machine with *64K* of RAM that *couldn't even divide.*  And the scary part
 is, they're telling the truth.

 With apologies to Andy Warhol, I've had my 15 minutes of fame.

 It felt damn good.

 _____Epilogue

 Since the three weeks I originally wrote this, I've coded and released an
 intro just for fun, and I did some of the dirty coding work for Hornet, so I
 guess I know what track I'm on.  :-)  I hope I can give my son/daughter some
 of the same joy that I received at NAID being with several friends with
 similar interests--although it might not be computers; it might be baseball
 instead.  :-)  Also, since June 1st, Byterapers returned from the grave and
 entered a PC demo that won a compo.  Also, Vibrants are officially on the PC
 now, and so is Oxygene, with their excellent demo Contrast.  Maybe there's
 room for old-timers like us after all.  :)

 Jim Leonard - 03 Jun 1996

=-----------------------------------------------------------------------------=

 :: "A.C.E. CDROM Volume 3 Advertisement"
 :: Gandalf - cdace@ace.epita.fr

 The Demos Collection Volume #3 CDROM...

 _____Introduction

 Hi! I write for the first time in Demonews, even I read every issue ;), to
 introduce you to our latest production (after 2 months of hard work on it).
 One year has passed since #2, but we finally succeeded in completing the
 third CD of our demos collection.  This one is a dual CD, and we think it's
 just great... hope you will enjoy it.

 This CD includes almost all the demos on PC released between 06/95 and 06/96
 We made this CD in order to spread the demos wider than through our board
 because a lot of people still don't have any modem access (BBS and/or Inet).
 and also to free some HDD space! :)

 Its price is very low because we don't want to make any profit from the
 scene.  Of course, we *DO* make some profit but it is all re-invested in a
 non-profit association controlled by french state, in order to pay the phone
 lines and hardware upgrades of the BBS.  It also allow us to offer free email
 and news access to all french demo groups, and of course to pay next volumes.
 :-)

 That's why we consider this is NOT a commercial production, because none of
 us make any personal profit: all the money is for the board, the best demo
 scene support available in France since 1993.  We are also giving several CDs
 for different parties prices, like Saturne or Wired.

 _____Sysops Warning

 A.C.E CDs are *NOT* bbs ready. they are for individual use, all the demos are
 unpacked, and so most of them can be run directly from the CD (unless they
 must have write access, etc.) Of course, all the files (.nfo, .diz, ...) are
 kept.

 We are not like Walnut Creek CDROM, i.e. we're not a company that makes 1000s
 of CDs.  As a result, we are unable to give one free CD to every contributor,
 even we would really love to do this.

 But at least you can find a vote text on each CD and vote for the best
 productions.  All winners will receive a free CD of his choice (from ACE
 productions).

 _____Contents

 A.C.E CD#3 includes:

   + 367 Demos
   + 338 Intros
   + 113 4kb intros
   + Disk Mags
   + Music Disks
   + 750+ modules (MOD, XM, S3M)
   + Trance Labels
   + Players & Trackers
   + Various utilities
   + Samples & GUS patches (about 120Mb)
   + Latest GUS drivers
   + Over 2000 files demo-coding oriented, including tutorials, docs, specs,
     utilities, sources.  All are classified per type.
   + Latest complete DJGPP (v2b4) with sources and lot of libs.  DJGPP is a
     GNU (free) 32 bit C/C++ compiler. It includes linker and debugger, and
     produces a greatly optimized code (Quake is compiled with it).
   + Latest GPC, GNU 32 bit pascal compiler.

 It includes a great VESA interface coded by Karl / NoooN.  This will allow
 you to easily navigate inside productions and install them if you wish on
 your HD.  Later updates of this interface will be released with more
 features.

 The full cover and package design was made by Zebig / Speed.

 Grab the file cd3nfo10.zip on ftp.arosnet.se in \demo\textfile or on
 ftp.cdrom.com in /pub/demos/incoming/demos to get more infos and see what
 these CDs contain.

 _____Pricing

 Prices are:

   A.C.E #1:  80FF
   A.C.E #2:  80FF
   A.C.E #3: 100FF  (dual cd)

 Add shipping costs. $1 = 5.3FF, depending on the market.

 See inside cd3nfo10.zip to get the ordering address or bank account.

 _____Contact Information

 A.C.E BBS : +33-1-45887548 (v34) - Paris, France
 Netmail   : 2:320/305 (Fido) or 68:330/0 (DGi) or 868:33/0 (GSN)
 email     : cdace@ace.epita.fr
 IRC       : on #coders and #demofr under _GandalF_

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

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 DemoNews is sent to your e-mail return address.

 _____DemoNews Back Issues

 Older issues of DemoNews can be located at /demos/hornet/demonews
 Newly released issues of DemoNews are posted to /demos/incoming/news

 _____Music Contest 4 Updates Subscribing

 Mail : listserver@unseen.aztec.co.za
 Body : subscribe mc4-updates FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME

 Music Contest 4 Updates is sent to your e-mail return address.

 _____Contacting Us

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 Your mail will be forwarded to the appropriate individual.

..........................................................End.of.DemoNews.127.

