Supremacy 1/Supremacy-1.iso/DEMOS/A-B/AMAZINE4.ZIP/SCENE/DEVIANT.TXT

Text File | 1987-04-22 | 7KB | 252 lines

]          DEVIANT DESIGNERS
]          =================

     The Ozzie Doc Disc Compilers


]WHAT ARE WE?

We are the only group that we know of
that exclusively produces Doc Discs
for the ST.


]WHO ARE WE?

We are a couple of ST lads from
Australia. Our handles are Effead and
Effall, and if you had ever met us,
you would understand how we got these
names! Effead does all the hard work
(programming), and Effall does a lot
of the tedious work like packing
files, robbing BBS's of useful text
files and pulling Amiga doc discs
apart to get at docs we can use.


]WHY ARE WE?

Sewer Soft were producers of great
doc discs that we found useful. When
they broke up and gave the ST scene
away to go to IBMs there was a great
hole in that scene. At the time I was
working on some routines to pack text
files better that the other packers
available at the time. The logical
extension to this routine was to take
over the production of doc discs - so
we did.


]WHERE DID WE GET THAT NAME?

We got together originally to produce
some good old fashioned computer
porn. Converting IBM GIFFs to Atari
format and squashing them onto a
slide show disc. The set of 8 shows
is called Heads and Tails. Not the
highest quality pics, but plenty of
them!! - about 40 compacted screens
to a disc. The name fitted with the
work we were doing, and it has stuck.
Besides, Deviant Designers Doc Disc
sort of rings when you say it.

The observant ST users may have
noticed that volume 1 of Heads and
Tails was written by the Deviant
Developers. This was our original
name, but somehow I changed it to
Deviant Designers when I was putting
the loading screen together for
volume 2. As my name says...
What an Effead!


]WHAT DO WE DO DIFFERENTLY?

Well, we produce compacted doc discs,
and our compaction routine is better
that any other available on the ST
(for text files anyway). This is
technically a lie, as the files are
double packed.

Firstly I use my routine which is a
simple word/letter group/repetition
replacement routine, and then the
files are packed with the most
excellent Atomik Packer. Using this
method we get files about 20 percent
smaller that with Atomik alone. The
added advantage is that the files are
de-Atomiked on loading, but stored in
memory still Effeaded packed. A 300k
file will only take about 160k of
memory.

The disadvantage is that block
printing and search are very
difficult to implement.

We are getting about 2megs of docs on
a disc, averaging out at about 90
docs. We have only released 7 doc
discs (1 to 6 plus 4.5!) to date, but
the total file count is something
over 500 and total file size is
something around 10-12 megs!

Doc disc numbers 7 and 8 should be
released by time you read this, soon
to be followed by disc 9.


]HOW ARE WE CONTACTED?

Several ways come to mind...

- Through your normal supplier.
- Through Bad Boys Belgium.
- Write to our Australian address
  that is on all the doc discs.
- Write to our UK address that is
  also on the doc discs.
- Through Teddystacker.
- Yell bloody loudly.
- Check out the BBSs in you area (not
  the legal ones, duffer!)
- Put a note in a bottle, cork it,
  throw it in the sea and wait
  sixty nine years or there abouts
  for an answer.


]WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR US?

Send us docs. It takes a hell of a
lot of collecting to get 2megs of
docs together, and the more the
merrier. We especially need more docs
for ST utilities. The doc displayer
can also display low and medium
resolution pictures, so you can also
send maps drawn with any art package
for your favourite adventure games.


]WHAT ABOUT OUR FUTURE?

We will continue to release ST doc
discs as long as we are getting ST
docs. We both plan to get Falcons in
the near future, and hope to produce
Falcon compatible and/or Falcon
specific doc discs. The whole thing
depends on compatibility and the
number of docs we can get. Can you
imagine a Falcon doc disc - extended
format to hold 1.8megs - multiply
this by about 3 to get 4-5megs of
compacted docs on one disc! Wow!

I can see a headache coming on
designing the menu screens.


DO I HAVE A FINAL MESSAGE?

You bet ya little bippy I do.

The ST scene is slowing down. Many
groups and/or individuals have left
the ST for one of several reasons.
Some have left to go to the Amiga,
some are sick of the ST and are
waiting for the Falcon, some have
gone to IBMs, some probably have gone
to jail, and some seem to have
vanished off the face of the Earth.
(kidnapped by bug-eyed aliens?) The
game makers have also quit the ST
scene to some extent (they say there
is not enough profit in making ST
games - note, this does not say no
profit), and in Australia, the number
of ST retailers have been drastically
reduced - a sign of how bad Atari is
at marketing in Australia? Getting
hardware, good cracks, docs is
getting more difficult.

On the other hand, the number of ST
users has recently increased because
of the tremendous price reductions
offered by Atrai on STEs to dump them
(I know that is cynical, and I
probably should say that Atari is
trying to increase market awareness
of the Atari name before the Falcon
is available in numbers!). The price
of 1040 STEs has recently been
reduced from $899 to $599, and last
week to $399.

There is still a large number of new
ST users out there wanting games,
utilities and docs. Some of those
users will be competent coders,
musicians and artists (if not yet,
then soon), and if we let the ST
scene die their work will never be
seen.

My message is a simple one. If you
do not support the ST scene in any
way besides getting free games and
utilities then get active or it will
die along with your supply lines.

Encourage game makers to write ST
stuff by writing long and begging
letters.

Write to the cracking groups giving
them any praise they deserve.

Buy an original and send it to a
group to crack. The game makers make
a profit and the rest of us get to
enjoy it as well.

Send us docs in any format.

Spread the word that Atrai is not
dead and is a viable alternative to
any other home computer.

Spread the stuff you have - don't
sell copies as you may end up in the
clink. Swapping is a great way to
meet new friends and get invited to
wild parties!!!

Deviant Designers will continue to
support the ST as long as we are
supported. When we stop getting docs
we will give it away. Many other
groups think along the same lines, so
get in the act and support the scene.
A lot of people spend a lot of time
putting menus, demos and cracks out.
Do your bit and become a member of
the scene yourself.

       ...Long live the ST...