re: ACiD MEGA-DEMO 1993
re: Cetis's first notice 06/27/93

Organizers: Cetis [DEMO COORDINATION]
Der Schatten [INTERNET COORDINATION∙FILE TRANSFER]
Camber [C∙ASSEMBLER]
Acoustik [VGA]
Rhythm Addiction [HOUSE/RAVE]

Support: Deadbolt [ASSEMBLER]
Dyinhell [RENDERING]
Shockwave [VGA]
Diehard [VGA]
Raiden [VGA]
DJ Krython D [HARDCORE TECHNO]
Nocturnal Intruder [TECHNO]
Low Profile [TECHNO/RAVE]
Piano Man [DEMO MUSIC]

It became increasingly obvious after three months of discussion
that there was not going to be any progress in the mega-demo if nobody was
willing to coordinate the efforts and make the first move. Fine, that is all
behind us now and I have taken the first steps towards making this baby fly!
The demo is not going to be a 'slightly larger loader' by any means, in fact
it is being conceived as a full-scale, Future Crew rivaling, iCE destroying
masterpiece. There are a few obstacles in our way, however, and some of them
are halting progress as I type. First off, there must be a way in which all
of us can communicate. I have entertained suggestions of using the internet
and IRC, but immediately realized that most people are not local to a dialup
port. Internet may work for some of the coders, but it definately will not
help out any of the artists, musicians, or myself. If somebody has found a
way to get on IRC through SprintNET let me know, or if anyone knows how to
use internet e-mail through FidoNET speak now. Conferences, alliances, and
three ways are great, but some people like Rocket Scientist and Machine Head
and Mr. F/X are not capable of joining in. I have a hell of a time trying to
coordinate three people's efforts into a simple loader, I cannot imagine my-
self trying to do this.

So here we stand as individuals and not as a team. The fact is,
if we are going to pull this off, we will have to communicate and get every-
one together. Something is going to have to give here - and everyone is going
to have to put 100% faith and trust into everyone else. We cannot have people
saying that they will do this and that in these early stages and end up short
in the final stages. The coding, artwork, and music is all within reach, and
with the right concentration and determination we can create a demo that is
truly UNREAL. Camber has suggested that we forgoe our ego's and do this
demo in C with the speed routines and what not in Assembler. He swears that
when you need to incorporate so many different types of code into one project
that C is perfect. Anyone can voice their opinion on any aspect of this demo,
and everything will be done by popular vote. The music aspect of this demo is
covered, I am in hope that one of our coders will take the time to talk with
Daredevil of Renaissance about obtaining routines for their .669 8-track
composer. Most of the better songs written by the musicians are in that for-
mat, yet nobody has written drivers for coding it. There is a major obstacle
involved, and I believe it is the fact that Tran coded that module in V86
mode to make it run quicker. I do know, however, that .669's are based of off
33,000 Mhz instead of the normal 50,000 Mhz. Whatever that means, I know we
need to write the drivers.

The art aspect of the demo will be a collaboration between standard
VGA (320x200) drawings and standard VGA renderings from 3DStudio and what not.
There is a small chance that we will go hi-rez, however, because more people
are accepting the VESA standard every day. One chief reason for going hi-rez
is because of the routines we already have for mode-x 360x480 and the quality
of the artwork that we can produce. You can have my word that we will not go
hi-color though (1024x768x16,000,000). I know for a fact that Acoustik and
Shockwave draw in the 640x480 mode most comfortably. And I also know that
Dyinhell goes 1024x768 by choice. Thank god for Diehard and Raiden, they
make magic in 320x200.

As far as coders are concerned, Camber is extremely versatile in
all makes and shapes of vectors and has developed some kind of 3 dimensional
graphics engine that absolutely flies due to hidden polygon jargon. He also
has spoken of some mind boggling effect he can put to any 3DStudio picture
which makes it look like it came from a time warp or something having to
do with adjusting the wire frame or something. As I'm sure you can see, I am
hardly programming literate. Deadbolt is the most anxious to get started and
seems to know alot about vectors and auto-shading routines. I think after
writing all of this that we will just use Camber and Deadbolt and get any
assistance obtainable from Tran and Daredevil.

I am leaving the theme of the demo open for the time being because
I really feel that the artists have the most influence in that aspect. The
musical score will be put to the artwork and the demo after the initial
stages of coding are complete. Some people are in hope that this will be
entered into the competitions overseas, we will have to wait and see. I am
going to pass this file around one person at a time and have them input their
thoughts at the end. In this manner, we can hold a conference ASAP and begin
to work!

l8r ...  CETiS [ACiD/PWA]