Tusovka - Full report with FunTop'98: part one. Welcome Miniintervyu with Grandpa and Mike Blum.

(C) NEXT-STOP
Music SHITSKIJ LAME! (C) MR.Z / HWC



                   And after us - even FunTop!!!



                           (Inscription on the wall)



                 FUNTOP'98

                Part One



     3 in the morning ... The quiet night streets of Tula
briskly paced two people. Way they will be not a short. That 
they were forced to go out in such a late (early) hour? The 
answer is simple: today, 22 August 1998 in Moscow will be 
FUNTOP'98 ... 



                 *



     Well, done! International Festival
Computer Art FUNTOP'98 place. And do not
just taken place, and went down in history as an example of how 
to organize and conduct such (Does not turn the language to say 
"event") competitions. No matter what, despite the problems 
with electricity (see below), FUNTOP passed cleanly and 
smoothly. All sent and brought the work were shown, and the 
winners received prizes (and are!) and losers, in my opinion, 
was not. It is unclear only one thing - complete disregard for 
the Moscow festival (except for ANTARES) and the St. Petersburg 
team. St. Petersburg people attended, but not to take part. 
Running around with cameras, something filmed, trading software 
... And without them, was something to see. But ... everything 
in order. 


                 *



      From Tula to FUNTOP drove four - your
servant (NEXT-STOP), DR.DASH, DUDE, and LAST
Zechariah. Virtually no problems reaching up to 91
school at 9.00, we saw a bunch (15-20 people) people 
tusuyuschuyusya near the door. Decided to come up and talk. 
While walking the exchange greetings and news, announced the 
registration, and all markedly overgrown by the time tusovka 
unanimously rushed to the fifth floor. We have opened the door 
and collapsed into the darkness. In front of a flickering 
light, and we somehow got in corridor. The authors of the work 
went forward, and all the others together smoking on the stairs 
... 

     Wasting no time, we have included voice recorder. First 
our interlocutors were EXCESS TEAM from Kazan. As long as their 
"main codaker" Sukhov Igor (SIV BLADER) was recorded, we 
decided to ask some questions to the other two team members who 
came on FUNTOP - Gainutdinova Rustam (HACKER GRI) and

Eugene Nikiforov (LION):


 - On your t-shirts a few pictures. This is your team?
 - Exactly. But in general, but the three of us in EXCESS TEAM
includes: DIMKA, LASOFT, OLEG, PASHA, JONES, ZK
SYSTEM, CASIO.



  HACKER GRI, SIV BLADER, LION (EXCESS TEAM)


 - What do you bring to FUNTOP?
 - We will participate in the 4K INTRO, brought them
much as two pieces, that is not on the team, but from real 
people. In addition, the GFX COMPO expose our three pictures 
and three music MUSIC COMPO. In addition, they brought the 
finished version of the famous game A LAST HERO OF THE LIGHT 
FORCE, we are going to submit to FUNTOP'e, new version EXCESS 
SAMPLE EDITOR 1.3 by ZK SYSTEM and demo graphic editor DELUXE 
PAINT. Despite the fact that this trial, it is already possible 
koechto do work with images, for example, to overtake them 
directly to a PC, work with the brightness and contrast.  - 
Good luck!  - Thank you.




     After that we had to go through the registration procedure 
itself. By the way would be to say that the price Admission was 
20 rubles to register in advance and 30 - for unregistered. 
Successfully overcame this procedure, consisting of filling 
membership card, we went into the hall. Looked around ... At 
higher elevations in the center and sides of the stage were 
three 14''monitor, another stood in the middle of the hall. 
Almost non-filled rows of chairs, curtains, a poster on the 
wall with the inscription FUNTOP, hardwood floor - it looked 
at. On the screens one after another went demo. Sound published 
two columns of S-90, spaced along the edges of the scene. As 
amplifier used the well-known "Radiotechnica". People all 
arrived and arrived. Our attention attracted leaves A4, glued 
tape one of the walls in the hallway. Coming closer, we found 
the inscription "And here you can write whatever you want ...". 
And it wrote! Not tualate on the wall, not markers on the 
chairs, and on those pieces of paper! To the place to be 
mentioned that for the finale of the festival painted on pieces 
of paper are not fit to even two letters FT. People become more 
and more (Total, according to our information was collected 
about 4 thousand rubles - a good prize!). 

     Began trading software, there were our colleagues from 
DEJA VU (CARDINAL) and log ADVENTURER, sell fresh rooms. Joined 
them and first VOYAGER. Can be purchased and other

Software - MONSTRLAND, HEADBALL, Rybak, MORTAL KOMBAT, UFO. 
Other new releases from St. Petersburg (except HEADBALL) was 
not. Around all this fussing Several people with cameras, film

about FUNTOP'e. At the table of the organizers was noisy -
taken the last operation. And the people in the meantime
held the last free places and drank ... brew (!!!)
Sprite and mineral water. Free places virtually no
left. Several people sat on the window sills ...

     11.00 - on stage rose WLODEK BLACK - in
Hall fell silent. He said that Mosenergo disconnected
electricity in the school for the debts, and therefore had to
pull the cable in an apartment on the fifth floor, so FUNTOP 
place. (On our behalf, we express great thanks Matyushin 
family, literally FUNTOP who saved from collapse. I think that 
all this join). After this digression, Vladimir

congratulated the opening of the International Festival of 
Computer Art FUNTOP'98 (prolonged applause). 

     When passions subsided a bit, started to demonstrate the 
possibilities SPRINTER'a. We have shown GUI (WINDOWS95 - a 
copy!), disk Commander (NORTON - one-in-one!), graphics editor 
(PAINT BRUSH - a penny), and a dozen pictures. The question 
"why everything is so similar to the PC" the developers said 
that "it will be easier for users (only there for them?). 
Demonstrated Player music CD, but the sound was taken from the 
output of headphone CD-ROM. The people listened attentively and 
watching ... After all of this was shown a 4-minute the video 
seems to pull out of some IBM-ovsky toys. Graphics - with 
virtually no loss but that's the sound ... summed up, 
everything was very distorted. The basic configuration (that 
is, without HDD and CD-ROM) of this "miracle" of pulling on the 
160 "green." Showered with questions. It turned out that 
developers are "trying to do SPRINTER most compatible with the 
Spectrum and that "the compatibility was at 90%." In

than those expressed in 10% of incompatibility, to find out
failed. On the stage rose Eugene Buder (WELCOME). He just 
shocked everyone by reporting that conveys the festival 
organizers 1000 rubles in prize money from the firm WELCOME. 
Deciding to find out about this in detail, we followed Eugene, 
the Moreover, the entire tusovka amicably moved upstairs, where 
it was allocated a place for smoking, marked by a large ashtray 
in the form of a bucket of water. By the way some otovarilis 
festival T-shirts with the words "FUNTOP'98" to 30 rubles for 
things. Near the seller of these shirts and we found Eugene

Spectrum trading software:

 - Introduce yourself, please.
 - Evgeny Buder, the firm WELCOME.
 - What led you to FUNTOP'98?
 - See here I can not see, nor ever watched, although he was at 
all ENLIGHT'ah. Our task - to bring to the Spectrum as many as 
possible, Hence, the implementation of programs is at the lowest

prices. WELCOME - a nonprofit organization from the very 
beginning, we only deal with collecting, and now are trying to 
help the authors. We tried to keep afloat the Spectrum. 
Spectrum drowning it is not sad. Every day I tell my

users that they switched to AMIGA, on IBM ... and
asked to assist in the implementation of the Spectrum. This
a very sad thing. Me and led to FUNTOP
this is what we want to show that there are authors,
there are companies that help authors realize
their talents.



                                Eugene

                                 Y.

                                  BUDER

                              WELCOME Corp.



 - A few words about your gift ...
 - We are in the year managed to collect a thousand rubles, 
which was transferred to the organizers of the festival to 
reward the authors of the winners. The money is to gain from 
selling its own branded software releases, the downloaded from 
the Internet and recovery.  - More detail about this.

 - In our collection of more than 2500 gaming software
for the Spectrum. We take a program from the Internet,
rebuilding, but we try to sustain the author's
version, ie does not satisfy the different intro. This
not in our rules. WELCOME means "welcome". We welcome everyone.
 - Good luck to you.
 - Thank you very much.



     Not far from Eugene showed MIKE BLUM,
distributing the new game on the ZX-MASTERS called HEADBALL. 
Decided to talk about:  - A few words about myself ...

 - I MIKE BLUM / ZX-MASTERS / WELCOME CORP. We develop software 
for the Spectrum, we write software for GENERAL SOUND.

 - What led you to FUNTOP?
 - I came out of curiosity, to see, to hear what is happening 
in the country, and simultaneously show St. Petersburg's newest 
development - GENERAL SOUND, soft for him. Recently completed 
HEADBALL, this game was released the day before FUNTOP'a. It is 
very interesting thing compared to the first lame demo. There 
was second demo version, but not everyone saw it.

 - HEADBALL completed. What's next?
 - We had a special editor of the games, we
going to make a game of BAGS similar series, but a problem with 
the graphics. Now, free time will be much less - all our Group 
learning in the institutions, and there are terrible strained. 
Therefore, some ambitious plans, we no longer construct. Wanted 
to do BAGS, but postpone for six months.  - You come from 
Peter. Your countrymen have released a toy NETWALK. Heard of 
it?  - Not only heard but seen.

 - So. What do you say that we came from Scorpion copy of the 
game, which requires GENERAL SOUND, does not find it and reset? 
I was told that the glitch was discovered, and he fixed a ...  
- Actually, it should work. Our HEADBALL works with GS, and 
without it. In addition to auto-detect, the game is setup. In 
general, I believe that the program can not stand unfinished 
for sale. It just should not be. If both not be tested, all in 
a hurry ... Disgusting! 



                                MIKE BLUM


                              ZX-MASTERS



 - Your first impression about the organization FUNTOP'a.
 - It's all reminiscent ENLIGHT'97. Very similar to the 
premises, the layout. Entrance fee - with one This has been 
good: prize money, but on the other hand ... expensive, I 
think. Could have been done either better or cheaper. Log on 
ENLIGHT was free, costs are met by selling T-shirts, etc. The 
prize fund was not, but it was a mass ... Although this mass 
ENLIGHT and killed. There are currently about 200 people, but 
we must see What this is all over. And at all - is normal.

 - Thank you very much.


     Agreed to meet after MIKE'om GFX
COMPO, we headed to the gym.


        * TO BE CONTINUED *