THE CURE MANUAL


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END-USER AGREEMENT

DEFINITIONS - In this agreement: "Software" refers to any and all files included
in the THE CURE distribution archive.

RIGHTS AND RESTRICTIONS - You can: make copies of the Software; distribute
unmodified copies of the Software. You cannot: distribute modified copies of the
Software; use (any part of) the Software for a profit.

DISCLAIMER - THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS", WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY. TO THE
FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, THE AUTHOR CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE
ARISING OUT OF THE (INABILITY OF MAKING) USE OF IT. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION - This agreement shall be governed by the laws of
the country of residence of the author at the time of the dispute. The author
reserves the right to appoint the venue for the dispute.

EPILEPSY WARNING - Some people are susceptible to epileptic seizures when
exposed to certain flashing lights or light patterns, and they may even be
unaware of it. The Software may cause problems to such people. Who experiences
blurred vision, dizziness, disorientation, loss of consciousness, twitches,
involuntary movements, convulsions while playing/watching the Software must stop
doing so immediately and receive the due medical assistance.


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GETTING STARTED

THE CURE requires:
 * Amiga computer
 * AGA chipset
 * 68030 @ 50 MHz
 * ~32 kB of CHIP RAM
 * ~15 MB of FAST RAM
 * ~15 MB of storage space
 * PAL-capable display
 * stereo loudspeakers

To install THE CURE, unpack the LhA archive to any directory of your choice.

To start THE CURE, run its executable from either shell or Workbench.

To quit THE CURE, press the right mouse button anytime (if not done, THE CURE
returns to AmigaOS automatically at the end).

THE CURE is designed to run constantly at 50 fps. If the machine it runs on is
not powerful enough, music will stutter, the video refresh will slow down and
some graphics will look cropped at the top - the frequency and seriousness of
these issues will depend on the actual capabilities of the machine.
The picture performance_graph-v1.5.png shows the performance on the machines the
demo has been tested on and, indirectly, how much power the various demo parts
require.


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BACKSTORY

THE CURE is a demo with quite peculiar origins.
At the end of 2017 I derived the graphics engine at the core of the demo from
another engine of mine. Since then, I have been occasionally tinkering with it
while trying to come up with a game that would make use of it, but I failed: the
engine was too stressful for the eyes and unsuitable for small/medium-sized
graphical elements; it was clearly more suited for a demo (in fact, some people
proposed to make a production of such kind with it), but I kept on ruling that
out because I prefer making games.
Until, one day, what was happening around the world changed my mind: I just had
to say something - and that could be rather effectively and relatively quickly
done with a demo. In the past, I had already tried through a book, but, since
I'm Mr. Nobody, my message reached only very few people. With a demo I could
reach somebody else - very few people again, but still some more people.
Therefore, although part of my motivation was to make use of the engine, to have
fun doing so and to give the Amigans a little something to enjoy, the demo's
main purpose is to say something.
The demo tries to deliver the message through the audiovisuals, but, given the
amount and complexity of the concepts, also by means of texts - a lot of.
Given that the graphics are strictly and continuously synchronized with the
music and given the large amount of information, often the texts remain visible
only for a short time - and in certains places they are simply beyond the human
reading capabilities. Despite that, even if some details escape, the overall
sense of the message does arrive to the viewer.
For who wants to fully appreciate and comprehend the demo, what follows quotes
all the texts and illustrates in detail each demo part.

Side note: the demo was released at the Solskogen 2020 demoparty, where it won
the oldskool compo.


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PARTS

PART 0 - COUNTDOWN

§ Synopsis

This part simply gives monitors time to synchronize with the PAL signal.


PART 1 - LANGUAGE/COMMERCIAL

§ Synopsis

This part rephrases the first half of Stephen Hawking's speech in this British
Telecom TV commercial from the 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH5Q54eIaPk,
later used also by Pink Floyd's in their song Keep Talking (originally the demo
featured such speech, but the Estate of Stephen Hawking did not allow me to
use it). Basically, it says that language has been fundamental for the progress
of humankind.

§ Texts

For a long, LONG, time...
... humans used to live like the ANIMALS,
... until SOMETHING...
... set our IMAGINATION free:
... we started TALKING and LISTENING.
Language enabled us to share IDEAS...
... and thus COOPERATE...
... to achieve the IMPOSSIBLE.

§ Notes

As a little tribute to the Amiga, which, as a Commodore stated in their
commercials, was in its heyday an incredible tool that, like language, gave
power to our imagination, "... until SOMETHING..." is written inside a boing
ball.


PART 2 - LANGUAGE/CHOMSKY

§ Synopsis

This part shows the flip side of the coin: by quoting Noam Chomsky, it says that
humans made/make also wicked use of language.

§ Texts

Unfortunately, language...
... has been / is being used also for evil purposes.
[Chomsky quotes start here.]
THE KEY ELEMENT OF SOCIAL CONTROL IS [...]
[...] FLOODING CONTINUOUS DISTRACTIONS ...
... AND INSIGNIFICANT INFORMATION.
PROPAGANDA IS TO A DEMOCRACY...
... WHAT THE BLUDGEON IS TO A TOTALITARIAN STATE.

§ Notes

The "flip side of the coin" concept is visually represented also by a flipping
stripes effect and by a picture showing two human faces in yin and yang fashion.


PART 3 - LOGOS

§ Synopsis

This part complies, in the least obtrusive way possible, with the demoscene
tradition of showing the group and demo logos.


PART 4 - PROGRESS

§ Synopsis

This part returns to the concept of humankind progress. To stress how huge it
was and how it pertained to every imaginable field of human life, some fields
are presented in alphabetical order and by means of the faces of some people
who contributed particularly to them. Of course, it was impossible to represent
all the fields and to show all the people that would have been equally worth
mentioning.

§ Texts

ART [Ludwig van Beethoven]
HUMAN RIGHTS [Nelson Mandela]
LAW [Quintus Mucius Scaevola]
MEDICINE [Alexander Fleming]
PHILOSOPHY [Plato]
SCIENCE [Galileo Galilei]
SPIRITUALITY [Jesus]
ALL FIELDS [Leondardo da Vinci]

§ Notes

* Quintus Mucius Scaevola's face is based on a statue that instead might well
  represent Marcus Tullius Cicero. The page where I found it attributes it to
  Scaevola, though. Cicero would have been partly a passable choice anyway
  thanks to his having been also a lawyer.
* "ALL FIELDS" is an umbrella entry. Leonardo represents it because his work
  encompassed several fields, although, of course, not all fields.


PART 5 - PAST RULERS

§ Synopsis

This part introduces several concepts that will be developed also by the next
parts. It begins by saying that, despite the aforementioned progress, some
things never changed. Then, it proceeds by showing, in temporal order, the faces
of some past rulers reknown for their evil side. The tags they come with are to
be considered the continuation of the introductory text.

§ Texts

Humankind made immense progress...
... yet, wars never ceased and like...

PHARAOHS [Tutankhamun]
EMPERORS [Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus]
KHANS [Genghis Khan]
KINGS [Pedro I de Castilla, called "the cruel"]
TSARS [Ivan IV Vasilyevich, called "the terrible"]
DICTATORS [Adolf Hitler]

§ Notes

* A better choice for the emperor figure would have been Gaius Julius Caesar
  Augustus Germanicus, AKA Caligula, but that occurred to me after creating the
  graphics for Nero - which is an appropriate and probably more famous
  representative anyway.
* The faces are shown twice, the second time distorted by an effect based on the
  shape of a fist representing their brutal rule.


PART 6 - MODERN RULERS

§ Synopsis

This part continues the text started by the previous one, completing the concept
that modern rulers - listed alphabetically - rule as wickedly as the past ones.

§ Texts

... BANK EXECUTIVES, BUSINESS TYCOONS, CORPORATE BIG SHOTS, CRIMINALS, FINANCE
SHARKS, FREEMASONS, HEADS OF STATE, INDUSTRY BOSSES, LOBBYISTS, OFFICIALS,
POLITICIANS RULE WICKEDLY...

§ Notes

* The background gives a partial visualization of the texts by showing, on a bed
  of USA dollars, a pumpjack, a politician (Silvio Berlusconi) asking for votes,
  some G7 leaders, a stock exchange graph and Resident Evil's Umbrella
  Corporation logo. I did not add more elements because the graphics were too
  crowded already. The colors recall the dollar bills.
* Due to the insufficient duration of the music section this part synchronizes
  with, I had to leave DESPOTS out, but those are practically a subset of the
  HEADS OF STATE anyway.
* If you belong to one of the categories and are an unreprehensible - and maybe
  even do good - do not be offended: be angry, instead, at the many others in
  your category who caused it to be included in the list.


PART 7 - MASSES

§ Synopsis

This part continues the text started by the previous one, first focusing on what
the wicked rule of the powerful means to masses and then asking a question.

§ Texts

... WHILE THE MASSES STRUGGLE WITH HUNGER AND ILLNESSES :( THE POOR ARE MORE AND
MORE, THE RICH ARE RICHER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER! HOW DID THE LATTER
ACHIEVE THAT?

§ Notes

The background picture comes from a drawing that appeared on an issue of The
Illustrated London News, representing the Great Famine of 1876-1878 in India.


PART 8 - DIRTY MEANS

§ Synopsis

This part gives the answer to the previous question.

§ Texts

BRAINWASHING
CORRUPTION
CULTURE OF: CONSUMERISM, EDONISM, INDIVIDUALISM, SUPERFICIALITY...
DRUGS
EXTORTION
FALSEHOOD
FANATICISMS: NATIONALISM, RACISM, RELIGION...
MEDIA CONTROL
NEOCOLONIALISM
SLAVERY
VIOLENCE AND WAR

§ Notes

* It is no coincidence that this part is represented by a tunnel that opens in
  the head of one of the poor in the background - i.e. it is a symbolic way to
  mean that most of the means mentioned play with people's minds.
* It is also no coincidence that the first item in the list is "BRAINWASHING".
* The items are listed in alphabetical order.


PART 9 - RESULTS

§ Synopsis

This part begins with the previous part's tunnel opening on a view of the Earth
to mean that the rulers caused disasters to the whole planet, also from an
environmental point of view. Then, a very current example is provided.

§ Texts

AND THEY DESTROYED THE PLANET IN THE PROCESS!
EXAMPLE: WHILE THOUSANDS WERE DYING...

[Some statements made by Trump relatively to the COVID-19 pandemic start here.]
IT WILL DISAPPEAR.
THIS IS THEIR NEW HOAX!
WE'RE TOTALLY PREPARED.
[Trump's statements end here.]

CURRENT SCORE
129437
DEATHS

[An imaginary sentence by Death - pun intended - starts here.]
THANKS F@R HELPING ME GR@W MY BUSINESS!
[@ = skull. The sentence ends here.]

COVID-19 STANDINGS
Xi       525470
Trump    129437
Bolsonaro 61884
Johnson   44216
Macron    29896
Löfven     5420
current figures higher and growing

§ Notes

* To underline the concept expressed by the first text, the Earth explodes when
  the former goes out of view.
* Afterwards, the ashes transform into a giant SARS-CoV-2 virion, to introduce
  the example that will follow.
* Trump's words come out of his mouth a bit like spirals of poisonous gas, but
  this is just a lucky coincidence as the effect was conceived purely as a
  technical gimmick.
* The "CURRENT SCORE" writing shows the number of deaths caused by the COVID-19
  in USA. It is attributed to Donald Trump as he is directly responsible for
  those deaths because of the way he faced the pandemic.
* The fact that Death replaces Trump is also to be interpreted as the revealing
  of the man's true face.
* The "COVID-19 STANDINGS" associates the names of the presidents / prime
  ministers of various countries to the deaths in their respective countries.
  Like for the "CURRENT SCORE", the deaths are attributed to those people
  because of the way they faced the pandemic. Since the list, due to screen
  space reasons, had to be short, it features the people whose choices have
  been particularly remarkable for their inadequateness and evilness. Xi
  Jinping is attributed the worldwide deaths because he was the first head of
  state who had the duty to deal with the virus adequately, so he is virtually
  co-responsible also for the deaths in countries other than his own.
* The figures are relative to the date of the creation of the graphics, i.e.
  July 4th, 2020, 12:35 CET.


PART 10 - LYRICS

§ Synopsis

This part denounces a few aspects of the global disaster and states that drastic
measures are necessary.

§ Texts

There's who doesn't have enough to eat
and who eats more than their body can take.
There's who begs for money on the street
and who buys stuff for buying's sake.
Lives sacrificed entirely for money,
nature destroyed, future turned obscure.
If we want days to be again sunny,
we urgently need to start a massive CURE!

§ Notes

* The music waveform visualization at the bottom represents graphically the fact
  that the words become visible as they are spoken.
* The voice is mine. I just speak because I cannot sing - I wish I could,
  though.


PART 11 - CURE

§ Synopsis

This part first presents some base principles and then explains what the cure
should consist in. There is a lot of (sometimes unreadable) text - and still
there would be infinitely more to be said.

§ Texts

The world must change. The powerful must change - and be changed! WE must
change. The utopia we should shoot for is...

ALL HUMANS ARE EQUAL. EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT AND THE DUTY TO LIVE IN TRUE
FULFILLMENT AND MUST BE GUARANTEED: CLEAN AIR AND WATER, FOOD, CLOTHES, HOUSING,
HEALTHCARE, FREEDOM, EDUCATION, PEACE, JUSTICE, A DECENT LIFE, WORK.

MACHINE WORK
MUST INCREASE
AND EVERYBODY
MUST BENEFIT
FROM THAT.

FUNDAMENTAL
SERVICES
MUST BE
PUBLIC AND
EXCELLENT.

EDUCATION
MUST TEACH
HIGH VALUES
AND ENABLE
TO THINK.

FINANCE
AND ECONOMY
MUST BE
REWORKED.

WEALTH
MUST BE
GLOBALLY
REDISTRIBUTED.

INDIVIDUAL
WEALTH
MUST BE
LIMITED.

PRODUCTION
AND WASTE
MUST BE
SEVERELY
REDUCED.

ENVIRONMENT
MUST BE
URGENTLY
TAKEN CARE OF.

§ Notes

* The eclipse represents the darkness that covers our world. However, light
  overcomes it after the text of the cure has finished passing over the moon,
  meaning that the cure would bring light to the world.
* The Sun's corona is another visualization of the music waveform.


PART 12 - FINALE

§ Synopsis

This part states that, despite the complexity of the cure, everything boils down
to a very simple thing.

§ Texts

In short...
... love yourself...
... love NATURE like yourself...
... love THE OTHERS like yourself...
... and the world will be HEAVEN for everyone!

§ Notes

* "love yourself" has an additional and deeper meaning beside the obvious one -
  it means: "look at yourself for who you really are and discover how precious
  you are, do not waste yourself with a superficial life, do yourself justice,
  etc.".
* The "love" in the other lines does not mean "harbor a feeling a love for"
  (that is good if it happens, but it cannot be forced, of course), but
  "respect, care about, help, etc.".
* The lines of the animation graphics are stretched according to the music
  waveform.
* The very last section displays a heart that transforms into a drop of blood
  which falls down and then transforms into my signature - that has several
  meanings: first of all, the heart represents a connection to the concept of
  love expressed before; then, the fact that the heart transforms into blood is
  a symbolic way to say "bleeding heart", which means both that I touched all
  the subjects with bleeding heart, i.e. with deep sorrow, and that I put all my
  heart and all my energies (blood) into the making of the demo; finally, the
  signature, besides strengthening the concept that I gave all I had, is again
  to comply with a demoscene custom - i.e. showing the credits - and to provide
  an appropriate ending, a bit like the closing credits of a movie.
* Contrary to the demoscene conventions, the demo does not include a greetings
  part because I do not belong to the demoscene, I have no connection to
  sceners/groups and, due to the overall design of the demo, it would have been
  just out of place. (But, of course, this does not mean I do not admire and
  respect sceners and groups.)


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CREDITS

Concept, design, code, graphics, music, texts:
Simone Bevilacqua

COVID-19 figures source:
dashboard by the Johns Hopkins University
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Donald Trump quotes sources:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/inside-trump-s-frantic-attempts-to-minimize-the-coronavirus-crisis/ar-BB10zgPE
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-coronavirus-quotes-graph-covid-19-stats-reddit-a9415576.html

Noam Chomsky quotes source:
https://www.quotetab.com/noam-chomsky-quotes-about-political

Some graphics have been derived by means of computer-assisted and manual
processing from pictures downloaded from the internet, as listed below (where
possible, with the indication of author and/or photographer and/or copyright
holder and/or original source).

Adolf Hitler:
https://www.newnotizie.it/2018/12/05/hitler-e-scappato-con-la-macchina-del-tempo-durante-la-seconda-guerra-mondiale/
https://www.newnotizie.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/hitler-415x276.jpg

Alexander Fleming:
http://tonsoffacts.com/27-fascinating-and-interesting-facts-about-alexander-fleming/
http://tonsoffacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/alexander-fleming-arzt-102__v-gseagaleriexl-1180x664.jpg

bed of dollars:
https://medium.com/@siraj_raval/make-money-with-machine-learning-f369943e7c7f
https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*vYK9vkm9C8ZeJpMv5Yo3AQ.jpeg

Donald Trump:
Dominick Reuter / Reuters
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/donald-trumps-cruel-streak/501554/
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/ET0exgN8WCotCb9DV2DCHqlaS4o=/0x250:4806x2953/720x405/media/img/mt/2016/09/RTX1GZCO/original.jpg

Famine in India:
The Illustrated London News, October 20th, 1877
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Famine_in_India_Natives_Waiting_for_Relief_in_Bangalore.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Famine_in_India_Natives_Waiting_for_Relief_in_Bangalore.jpg

G7 group:
ANSA
https://lafiamma.com.au/news/g7-leaders-unite-in-the-fight-against-terrorism-34605/#
https://lafiamma.com.au/media/listing_images/2017/05/29/g7_terr.jpg

Galileo Galilei:
Justus Sustermans, 1636
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei,_1636.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei%2C_1636.jpg

Ivan IV Vasilyevich:
Jack Keay
Look and Learn, issue 592, June 2nd, 1973
http://www.illustrationartgallery.com/acatalog/info_KeayIvanLL.html
http://www.illustrationartgallery.com/acatalog/KeayIvanLL-G.jpg

Jesus:
https://amicolibero.altervista.org/11-aprile-2015-festa-della-divina-misericordia-una-sola-preghiera-proteggi-tutti-noi/
https://amicolibero.altervista.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ges%C3%B9-divina-misericordia-120411-gesc3b9-misericordioso-2.jpg

Genghis Khan:
https://www.albawabhnews.com/4034838
https://www.albawabhnews.com/upload/photo/news/403/4/600x338o/838.jpg?q=1

Leonardo da Vinci:
Lattanzio Querena
De Agostini / Getty Images
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-leonardo-da-vinci-by-lattanzio-querena-padova-news-photo/148277064
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/portrait-of-leonardo-da-vinci-by-lattanzio-querena-padova-musei-picture-id148277064?s=2048x2048

Ludwig van Beethoven:
Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beethoven.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Beethoven.jpg

Nelson Mandela:
University of Fort Hare
https://www.ufh.ac.za/international/notable-alumni.html
https://www.ufh.ac.za/international/images/ufh%20alumni%20image%20-%20nelson-mandela.jpg?crc=28466541

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus:
De Agostini / Getty Images
https://www.gettyimages.it/detail/fotografie-di-cronaca/roman-civilization-1st-century-a-d-nero-roman-fotografie-di-cronaca/122227072?adppopup=true
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/roman-civilization-1st-century-ad-nero-roman-emperor-from-54-marble-picture-id122227072?s=2048x2048

Noam Chomsky:
Reuters / Jorge Dan
https://www.rt.com/usa/202223-noam-chomsky-global-terror/
https://cdni.rt.com/files/news/31/5e/f0/00/chom-2.si.jpg

Pedro I de Castilla:
José María Rodríguez de Losada, 1892
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Pedro_I_de_Castilla#/media/File:Pedro_I_de_Castilla_(Ayuntamiento_de_Le%C3%B3n).jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Pedro_I_de_Castilla_%28Ayuntamiento_de_Le%C3%B3n%29.jpg

Plato:
Raffaello Sanzio:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plato_by_Raphael.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Plato_by_Raphael.png

Quintus Mucius Scaevola (or Marcus Tullius Cicero):
https://www.tuodiritto.it/pagina-esempio-quinto-mucio-scevola/
https://www.tuodiritto.it/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/quinto-muzio-scevola.jpg

SARS-CoV-2:
Alissa Eckert, MS, Dan Higgins, MAMS
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
https://phil.cdc.gov/details.aspx?pid=23312
https://phil.cdc.gov//PHIL_Images/23312/23312_lores.jpg

Silvio Berlusconi:
ANSA/Zeggio
https://www.corriere.it/foto-gallery/politica/15_maggio_09/genova-berlusconi-inciampa-cade-il-comizio-0d826362-f646-11e4-a548-cd8c68774c64.shtml

stock exchange chart:
https://www.newsbreak.com/news/0OfGIsMQ/dow-soars-1600-points-as-growth-rate-of-new-coronavirus-cases-appears-to-slow
https://img.particlenews.com/img/id/3PPOFY_0OfGIsMQ00?type=webp_1024x576}

Tutankhamun mask:
https://earlychurchhistory.org/arts/early-roman-gold-glass/tutankhamun-mask-2/
https://earlychurchhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Tutankhamun-Mask-1.jpg

Umbrella Corporation logo:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Umbrella_Corporation_logo.svg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Umbrella_Corporation_logo.svg


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