ACNews
#64
06 января 2017 |
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Questionnaire - My name is Piotr Marecki and I am an Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Together with two demosceners, Yerzmyey and Hellboj, we decided to write a book about the ZX Spectrum.
Questionnaire by Piotr Marecki My name is Piotr Marecki and I am an Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Together with two demosceners, Yerzmyey and Hellboj, we decided to write a book about the ZX Spectrum. We believe that the best idea for a book about this platform does not involve putting forth the official history of the platform, its creators and copyrighted products, but rather focusing on the users of the platform. Our goal is to show how this platform broke away from the manufacturer and started a life of its own, especially within the creative practices such as the demoscene. In our narrative we want to make the platform users, primarily the active demoscene users, the main protagonists of the book. Surely you realize that this cannot be done without your help. Such a project has never been carried out, so we have no chance to base our ZX history on existing data. Because of the needs of our project, we must produce the data. These are questions about the Spectrum and your participation in the scene. They are very detailed and responses will probably take some time to answer, but we hope that we can persuade you to take the time - it's for the platform. We want to analyze the information that we will get from you and include it in an upcoming publication, as one of its most important elements (of course, we will also use existing literature as well as our observations for the narrative). We also ask for help in contacting us with people who are involved in the ZX scene and represent different roles (or professions) in it. Any advice, links, or information is invaluable for us. Our narrative will be based on it all. Due to the fact that we are dealing with the creative side of the scene and that we want to map the creative work, we thank you in advance for mentioning specific productions, events, forms of cooperation, etc. in your answers. We are interested in your personal approach to the scene and creative works. Your comments will be cited and we really wish to use your nicknames for this purpose. We are also very receptive to informal language in the responses. Any language that you would use in the scene (let's show them what it's really like!). We are preparing a book for an American publisher, and readers who may have never heard of the demoscene and the ZX Spectrum before, so some questions may seem banal or basic. piotr.marecki@uj.edu.pl Belonging and Identification What was the main impulse that drove you to buy the ZX Spectrum? Was it connected to the low cost of the computer? What was the first contact like at the place where the computer was purchased? How was it purchased? Did a sense of belonging to the Spectrum scene already manifest itself? What are the forms in which belonging to the scene does manifest itself (then and now)? Where did Spectrum people meet? Where do they meet now? Was belonging to the scene connected with a special vocabulary? Why would people tie themselves to the demoscene? Are you able to indicate demos or intros in which identification with Spectrum is mentioned? Where are you in the hierarchy of demoparties connected with Spectrum? Which party meant something to you? Structure of the Demoscene What was your function in the scene? If you had to build a hierarchy of functions/ "professions" connected with the demoscene, what would it look like? In terms of the development of the scene, are there functions that appeared and then disappeared? Why would they go away? Since the scene is anarchical, does it have a structure at all and what was it based on, if yes? How is it that the scene continues to exist and is maintained without any donations/grants/external sources of funding? Does the demoscene really apply the idea of the free economy? Nickname What's the origin of your nickname? What's the point of using a nickname? People in the demoscene often use nicknames. If you had to provide their first and last name, what percentage of them would you be able to? Is it really possible to speak of the double life of the demoscener? Do you do things under your nickname that you wouldn't do under your given name? Does friendship in the scene also imply friendship in professional life? What does it mean when sceners use multiple nicknames? ZX Spectrum and Other Platforms Is it true that there were, or continue to be, wars between platforms? If yes, how were they fought? In demos? On storage disks? During a party? Instant messaging (IRC)? Can you give an interesting example of a platform battle in the demos or intros? What words were used to signify "enemies". For ex. What would be used for commodores or atarians? Did ZX demosceners feel averse towards other platforms? Any examples? Do sceners profess something like a "clean platform"? For example, could songs or tracks be presented only from the original platform during parties? What does the "original platform" mean to you? Were there any spectacular departures from the ZX scene for the purpose of joining another scene? How are these people judged? Are Spectrum songs/tracks often imported, and can their versions be played on other platforms? (Demos, intros, games, music, graphics)? The Collective The first acts of the demoscene were mainly individual actions; in the 80's sceners often worked alone. Then there was a shift to group work. How did it look from your perspective? What was the main reason for shifting to group work? What models of team cooperation in the case of the demoscene can you mention? Any interesting, unconventional examples? An interesting process is also group work during the parties themselves, for ex. during real-time contests. Can you describe cooperation from your experience and the eventual results of it? A creative product of the scene is a work of collective authorship, signed often by the group. Do you know of any atypical ways of groups coming together in the demoscene? Teamwork also comes up in greetz?: what does it mean to greet everybody and why can demos never take place without them? Ranking the Works in the Spectrum What are the main methods of valuing creative works on the Spectrum scene? What causes works to win a party? How much does the atmosphere of the party itself decide about the winning work? Are there any Spectrum parties where some creative works are favorited? Besides the voting at the party, do other aspects of the scene such as diskmags, voting for Pouet, also influence the ranking of the works itself, recognition of groups or sceners? What is at stake? What is the prize? What can be accomplished by being on the scene? What do you value about the scene? The possibility of obtaining fame? Friendship? The possibility of enlightening your other friends? Other aspects? Do sceners participate in other creative forms in the field of digital media (for example, game programing, app building, etc.). How helpful is the demoscene in these creative fields? The Division of East and West From the perspective of the Spectrum platform, what are the general differences between the so-called East and West? Can the approach to legal commercial programing be something that distinguishes it? Is participation on the scene connected to greater amounts of free time in Eastern countries, which can be dedicated to programing, creating music or graphics, going to parties? Is it possible to say that the equipment and programs had a political dimension i.e. in the 80's they prepared the public for the social changes that were associated with the fall of communism? (similar to rock music or video tapes in that time) Clones and Computer Equipment on the Periphery Why was the ZX Spectrum, as the only platform on such a scale, cloned? Does the idea of sharing (so important on the demoscene) stand behind the practice of cloning, this time not on the software level, but hardware? The most important and most often used clones are: ... What were the most innovative approaches to cloning (name of equipment, shape of the equipment itself, instrumentation, other forms of creativity?) Where was it possible and where is it still possible to buy cloned ZX equipment? What stands behind the DIY idea? Does the demoscene also stem from this, that the people involved in it can simply build their own computer? Languages on the ZX Spectrum Scene It is said the digital media is dominated by English. Does the demoscene distinguish itself in this regard in any way? What are the positive reasons to use languages other than English on the demoscene? Are you able to indicate works, creators, that consistently do not use English, and despite that have a wide, multi-national public? Creative Programing (for people engaged in programing) How did you learn to program for creative purposes? What were the main places where it was possible to learn programing? At home? School? Computer club? From friends? Are you still trying to develop your coding skills? Coding for the demoscene can be compared to a creative act. How does the process look? Is it possible to speak of inspiration? How is it with ideas for effect? What triggers them? Is the visual aspect important? Is it more about imagination or a calculation? An effect that made me drop to my knees was: .... What kind of programs/tools do you use to create programs? What role does understanding math or physics play in creating effects? Archiving Methods Do sceners take care to archive their works? What are the main methods of archiving works on the scene? Are there different ways of archiving for the Spectrum scene? Are you able to indicate some other collections of Spectrum creative works? How many of the oldest, the classic demos have survived till today; how many have disappeared? Is it common to find the old programs from the 80's and to put them up on the net (for example, Pouet)? The connection between the demo and a party is really important on the scene. It is said that there are demos shown at a party, after which a copy is destroyed. What interesting demos have been lost? Are the files that are archived always files that were final? Are there situations in which the demo is completed at the last moment and then published with errors? What is a "post-party version" or "final version"? How are such important things for the demoscene as diskmags, real-time texts or photography archived? How do demosceners benefit from the giant archive of the demoscene?
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Содержание - содержание газеты |
Новости - Hippiman/Conscience выпустил новогоднюю игру Dizzy Rescues Santa, Польский культуролог Пётр Марецки прислал большой опросник для будущей книги, Сергей Смирнов (Gogin) возродил свой проект по портированию игры Super Mario для Спектрума. |
News - Hippiman/Conscience released a New Year game named Dizzy Rescues Santa, I fixed several errors in my 3D engine, Polist culturologist Piotr Marecki who went to summer DiHalt with Yerzmyey, wrote a big questionnaire for his future book. I translated the questions. |
История - SPbZXNet - продолжение |
Анкета - Меня зовут Пётр Марецки, я доцент Ягеллонского университета в Кракове. Мы с двумя демосценерами, Yerzmyey и Hellboj, решили написать книгу про ZX Spectrum. |
History - SPbZXNet - part 2 |
Questionnaire - My name is Piotr Marecki and I am an Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Together with two demosceners, Yerzmyey and Hellboj, we decided to write a book about the ZX Spectrum. |
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