Music Contest 2 Intro by Digital Infinity
.....--------- May 25th, 1994 --------.....
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`````***** Music Contest ][ Demo *****'''''
Concept - Snowman
Code - Daniel Potter
Design - Phoenix, Daniel Potter, Snowman
Art - Jester, Okeanos, Boomer, Inspek
Music - Snowman
System Requirements - 571,249 bytes memory (541,249 without music)
VGA video
Gravis Ultrasound (if you want music)
/////////////////
// Quick Story //
/////////////////
Well, I'll try to make this story quick, but you know me. :)
About January 10th of 1994, when I was just beginning to get some details
down for Music Contest ][, I had the idea that I should have a demo to go
along with the contest. It would look good, and give the competition some more
credibility. I looked around for someone to code the demo. Here is one of
the more interesting replies I received:
--
> This is Snowman. I'll make this letter short and to the point,
> as I am sure you are very busy. I have recently concluded my Music
> Contest here in the United States. It was a very big sucess with around
> 30 entries to the competition.
> I am due to announce Music Contest 2 in a month or two and I
> really want a nice intro for it. I have a mod which is pretty good
> already written for it. All I need is a little intro, not too flashy,
> announcing the specifics of the contest.
> Rather than tell you exactly what I want, I would first like to
> see if you would consider doing this. Then, if you decide that you
> would like to, we can go into specifics.
I'm sorry, but due to the fact that we have so many projects open right
now, we will not be able to make an intro without a reasonable price.
Samuli "GORE" Syvahuoko
PR Department
Future Crew
--
Hey, I had to try didn't I!? :) Finally, after a couple of weeks of
searching with no success, my friend Ryan Cramer pointed out an aspiring
coder by the name of Phoenix that had done a BBS at for Ryan. I got into
contact with Phoenix and he seemed willing to do the project. Within a
couple of weeks, we had the basic script down for the entire thing (this
is early February). About the same time, I would happen to download a song
called SERENITY by Jester (not of Sanity). There was a beautiful picture
included with the song, and the author's address was attached. I wrote
Jester a letter telling him a really liked the package, and BOOM!, he
became the main artist for the Music Contest ][ project.
For the next month, the demo would move steadily along. I set the
release date at April 15th, but at the rate it was going, it should have been
done way before April 1st. With the demo getting nearer to completion,
Phoenix decided to take a break. Unfortunatly, a month and a half later he
was still unwilling to resume work on the project. I was getting very
frantic. Jester had worked his butt off to get the pictures done by the
April 15th deadline, and here it was mid-May! Boomer had done the font.
Okeanos had done the title picture, and Inspek had done the ANSI. All were
waiting for Phoenix to get work done on the demo. Finally, on May 16th,
I got fed up with Phoenix, and pulled him off the project (effectively
putting three and a half months of work down the drain).
I contacted Daniel Potter (the coder in Digital Infinity and a friend of
mine) and he was really excited about picking up the project. Once I saw his
routines, I wished I had started out with him in the first place. Well,
Daniel worked like a trooper, and on May 26th (11 days after he got the
project) the demo WAS DONE! I do owe a lot of credit to Phoenix for doing
the initial design for the project. However, after having to answer about
15 letters from upset people that the demo wasn't out, plus having the whole
team of artists getting angry with me because I made them hurry to meet the
April 15th deadline, I don't exactly feel too positively toward Phoenix for
having neglected us all...
...but this is negative. This demo is supposed to be an enjoyable
experience, so watch and enjoy. I just thought you all might be a little
curious as to what went into making this thing, and why it was sooooooo late.
-Snowman/Digital Infinity May 26th, 1994
/////////////////////////////////////////////
// Design: PHOENIX, DANIEL POTTER, SNOWMAN //
/////////////////////////////////////////////
Intro Fire - Originally started as a Fire Rip conceptualized by Phoenix.
The Fire Rip was essentially a little rip in the screen that kept
growing outward. Not very tricky. Daniel took this effect and
put the fire routine in. While I have seen this effect done
before, I don't think I've ever seen it done this well.
Vecter Dot MC - Originally started as a Gerard (or however you spell that)
routine by Phoenix. He had the routine done for a cube, and
was in the process of defining the shape of the MC when...
Daniel put this vector dot MC in. The splash at the end
(where the vector dot MC crashes on the the bottom of the
screen) was originally done by Phoenix (however, it is much
smoother with Dan's routine).
Boring Text Part - The texture map zooming was originally my idea, and when I
turned the coding over to Dan, he happened to already have
a similar routine ready.
///////////////////////////
// Code: (DANIEL POTTER) //
///////////////////////////
It's about 2500 lines of Protected Mode assembler, under the control of
Tran's PMODE 2.2x-whatever.. The source comprises about 50k in one big file
(that's not including the music driver, of course) Except for ONE title
screen, the entire demo is written fully using chained (standard) VGA 320x200
mode. Using planed (Mode-X) would have been a total waste of CPU time.
The file you see, 'MC2.WAD' is -NOT- an id format WAD file. While id's WAD
format is a complex data structure allowing dynamic replacement of separate
files, ours is exactly what it looks like - a WAD of files.
The intro took approximately 20-25 hours of work over a period of about a
week (it was a quicky:).
The fire effect.. well I did not copy it from someone else's code. Instead,
I coded it myself blindly first (using what I thought it did) and I added a
few processing suggestions later. The overhead scroller.. completely my thought
and code (no examples). All art is stored in a compressed RLE format I invented
real fast for the demo.
Design of the demo was by myself (Daniel Potter). I'd like to thank Phoenix
who originally helped on the project, and who gave me some ideas for mine.
////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Artwork: (JESTER, OKEANOS, BOOMER, INSPEK) //
////////////////////////////////////////////////
The title picture, book picture, CD picture, and trophy picture were all
ray-traced by my good friend Jester in Germany. He worked very diligently on
these pictures, and together we must have gone through at least half a dozen
drafts on each one. In the end, I am very pleased with them.
The remaining picture was drawn by Okeanos of Astec in Canada. I con-
tacted Eric St-Amand (also of Astec) and asked him to find someone to do a
picture. About two weeks later, this picture was sent to me. I am very
pleased with it as well.
The font and the FILE_ID.DIZ were drawn by Boomer the Bass Pig, who I can
always count on when I need something in a hurry. Boomer lives in Texas, and
he has a very interesting accent on the phone. He can write music, do artwork,
code a little, and ride a bucking bronco for over 11 seconds! Is there any
thing this guy can't do? :)
The end ANSI was drawn by Inspek of KLF. Recently, I started to post KLF
releases on the FTP that I am a music-op for (wasp.eng.ufl.edu). This is kind
of one of those "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" deals.
//////////////////////
// Music: (SNOWMAN) //
//////////////////////
The music is UltraSound only (we will have an SB player, not by choice but
by force soon). It is generated using a modified version of Tran's Gus driver
that does not use double the channels (it was a good idea, but no cigar for
the output rate). The music was written originally with MultiTracker to
facilitate use with a different music driver, but imported later to F2R format
using Farandole Composer v.96.
This song has a wide dynamic range, so there are a few things that I
would appreciate you doing to make sure you don't hear the song incorrectly.
First, if at all possible, use a GUS not a Sound Blaster! I have listened
to this song with a SB and it sounds horrible. Also, if you are using a GUS,
please make sure and use the normal 1/8th inch output, not the 1/8th inch
amplified out. Using the amplified out makes the bass registers sound too
blurred. Also, there are a lot of bass tones used in this song, so you might
have to adjust your equalizer to compensate. However, if you have everything
set JUST RIGHT, this song is a real gem to listen to.
The samples from this song came from a wide variety of sources. A couple
of the samples are from the U2 song 'Mysterious Ways', which I actually got
from the song Addictive by HMC. There is a sustain single-pitch piano
sample that I ripped from Empty Spaces by DENS/Design Norway. In addition,
there is a future crew orchestra hit, a techno bass sound I found in another
mod, and the rest consists of samples I had in my sample library already (not
self-made though).
This song started out as an MTM, and has been gone to MOD, PSM, and FAR
formats due to different demands. Unfortunatly, I was not able to convert the
fine tune values when I went to FAR (the final format we are using). I believe
that I will release the song standalone in MOD format soon, so just try not to
cringe too much when you hear things off-key.
Certainly, there were several big influences for this song. I believe
the most prominent one being CLOUD.MOD by Zodiac of Cascada. Also, SHADOW.MOD
by Purple Motion has been a long time favorite of mine.
These and other sources have played a part in my conception of this tune.
//////////////////////
// GET MC2RULES.ZIP //
//////////////////////
You can get your copy of Music Contest ][ rules at the following sites:
FTP Directories Coordinator
---------------- ----------------------------- -----------
wasp.eng.ufl.edu /pub/msdos/demos/incoming/mc2 Snowman
/pub/msdos/demos/music/MC2
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This text was written by Snowman except for the CODING and part of the MUSIC
sections. The ASCII header at the top was done by Chris Whitney.
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If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me:
Name : Christopher 'Snowman' G. Mann
E-Mail : r3cgm@dax.cc.uakron.edu
Voice : +1-216-253-1019
BBS : Send your mail to the coordinator of any distro site listed
above and ask them to forward it to Snowman.
Snail Mail : Christopher G. Mann (SNOWMAN)
40 Spruce St. (top unit)
Akron, OH 44304
U.S.A.
I live in eastern United States (4 hours west of the Prime Meridian), so
don't call me before 10AM or after 11PM my time. Also, Snail Mail is highly
discouraged after August 1st because it may not get here in time. I do not
have time to answer snail mail regularly; however, if you can not contact me
any other way, I will do so.
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