forever 2011 1k intros and demos review
sq/skrju






Forever is a demo party with history. This year it was held - you only
think about it - for the twelfth time in a row! Without breaks, every year. I don't know how
for other 8-bit platforms presented on Forever (c64, Atari,
Amstrad CPC, Sam Coupe), but for our Spectrum this party certainly became one
from the symbols of the so-called “western”, European part of the scene. Perhaps even
its main attribute. No matter what happens, we can always be sure that
every year, in the spring, we can send there a picture, track, intro, demo, whatever
whatever. And there will definitely be a party, and there will be results, and work. So it was, and so
there will be. This year was no exception.

Usually, domestic parties are ignored by Western Spectrum demo groups -
not because of grievances and chauvinism, but for a very simple reason - people want to exhibit
their demos at those parties that they directly attend. That's why for
all the latest trends in the flagships of the modern European Spectrum
We can follow the demoscene on Forever (and occasionally on Sundown). This
Forever in particular has always been particularly interesting.

Let's figure out what Forever 12 brought us.



1k intro compo




8 place - Sindikat greets forever by ikon/sindikat



In general, it’s difficult to say anything about such works - and not because they
bad, but because the authors already understand everything themselves. Overall nice job
short, and not pretending to be anything at all. Overall, classic
compiller.



7 place - Realtime trigonometric snakes by RM-TEAM



An absolutely undeserved low place. Personally, I really liked the intro, I would
gave him a place in the top three. In the worst case, in the top 4. Simple and uncomplicated
effect, but very pleasant, colorful, with sounds. It seems to me that the general
The impression was very blurred by the inscriptions in the native ROM font. Without them it would be
better. And there would probably be room left for a light motion blur, which
I could definitely make this intro a prize.



6 place - Spectro by Optimus/Dirty Minds



The first 1k intro in my life (and the first work on the Spectrum in general) from the famous
user of pouet.net, amateur and connoisseur of Spectrum, demoscener with Amstrad CPC -
Optimus. For the first work - very, very good, interesting idea, not bad
realization of an effect that seems quite possible to develop. Immediately
it feels like Optimus is thinking “outside the box” of the Spectrum. However, it's bad that there isn't
music and even some sounds.Apparently, this was precisely the reason
sixth place.

However, all this is not surprising, since, as Optimus himself writes, this work is
fastmade. In file_id Optimus also says that from now on he will code on the Spectrum,
and that we may well expect work from him in the future. This can't help but rejoice!

Welcome to the Spectrum, Optimus!



5 place - Introh by Hellboj



A very simple effect that, thanks to working with color, was able to get into the top 5, and
Even the absence of sound did not prevent this. In general, such work should be done in
256 bytes, exactly in the form in which it exists. Doing this in 1k and
leaving behind more worthy intros is too wasteful.



4 place - ska1024 by dead8088



Intro from our compatriot - judging by the presence of .trd in the archive with work and
Hello Dimidrol and AAA (as well as in English). The effect, however,
very entertaining - although, again, in my opinion, a little undercooked.
Stereo sound is, of course, cool, and it worked. But, like the previous one, this intro
doesn't look like 1k. However, the effect here is more intricate, and in general, 4-5
the place is exactly what this work should have taken.



3 place - Doomsday by tiboh



In third, and, in my opinion, well-deserved place is tiboh, an excellent coder,
famous for its ability to compress everything into a minimum size, as it once was
Serzhsoft. This intro is a fierce coder in the good sense of the word -
almost a 1k demo of five effects (even though two of them are practically
are the same), and even with sound. Let the effects (with the exception of the first one - it is the most
the best in the intro) are simple and have been done more than once - the fact that it’s all crammed into 1k -
did its job. Why only third place? It's simple. For this you need
look at the two remaining works.



2 place - invaders by poisoned cyberjack/triebkraft



It's not often you see interior design. For so many years of existence of such
competitions on the Spectrum - only a few were concerned about the design problem. It and
It’s clear: the intro is purely a coding competition. They don't care about design. So what anyway
is design? It’s difficult to answer - just watch this intro. Design is this.
When you look and don’t understand why you like it. And here too
full track. How complete can a track be in a framed 1k interior with
color and scroller.



1 place - rotazoomer by Busy and Noro



Well, there’s not even anything to say here. As in the case andlast ranked intro
place, only for a completely different reason. In general, from the very beginning, already
on de-crunching, one could give this intro the highest scores. And that would be
absolutely correct and fair. It would be one of those rare occasions
when namevoting is absolutely justified. For those of us who may not
knows who Busy and Noro are, I’ll give a simple example: imagine that suddenly
At one of the demo parties they would put up a CodeBusters or Digital Reality demo. Here it is
about the same. Only on an even larger scale. (There are, of course, others
people who are completely opposite to the ignorant - who rub my nose in
last year's JHCon and Shucon - but, friends, you and I understand that it was then
completely frivolous). So if Busy and Noro did the job - she owes it
take first place. After fifteen years of silence. There’s simply no
options. Plus, such a stylish de-crunching (it’s really cool).

But everything finally falls into place when the intra begins. Noro
recognizable from the very first notes, and the mouth-sweeping board makes you rock in agreement
head. Yes, this is Busy, and yes, this is the undisputed first place.

And the track, moreover, is even more complete here than in Invaders.



demo compo

Dem was a little more than int - 5 pieces, three of which were from one brigade -
Hooy-Program. But this, of course, is completely unimportant. 5 dem isFine. Them
Moreover, our compatriots took part in two of them.



5 place - Dark demo by AER



What can I say - this is AER. You can write reviews of his demos even without watching them.
Everything is as always: the last place from which you bite your lips, looking around,
because on the one hand it is, of course, completely deserved, and on the other -
somehow uncomfortable; slideshow of converted pictures and, of course, as the most
the main thing in the AER demos is a completely insane, tower-busting track from some
incredible hellish mixture of AY and beeper. I don't know how AER writes this kind of music, and
I don't want to know. But I want to listen to him more and more. He scares and beckons me.

AER, make demos and write music!



4 place - A story by Hooy-Program



The first demo from vulgar people from Eastern Europe. "Slideshow from converted
pictures", "cover track", as we are told in the info file, and branded humor with
pussies - that's what awaits you in this demo. A short and funny story. HPRG love
such!



3 place - 1979 by Hooy-Program



This demo, like the previous one, was made by Factor 6almost alone. But she
is the exact opposite of A story. I'm not even afraid to say that 1979
- awesome demo! To be honest, you don’t even immediately understand that all of it is completely
written in BASIC. It is, of course, very long, and almost all consists of
pictures, with some PRINT AT inserts. Knowing that this is BASIC, in general,
adds a lot of points to the game. If it were all in assembler - probably everything
It wouldn't have been perceived so well.



2 place - Gemba by Gemba Boys



Don't be surprised by the appearance of a new team: Gemba Boys are our old friends
Busy, Dusky, Factorb, Logout, Noby, Poke and Trixs, who coordinated and
made a demo on Forever. Second Association 2011, as they jokingly called it
authors. And indeed, from the First Association there is only the very fact of unification
- there is no such epic scope, although the effects would seem to be approximately the same
same. But, as one of the authors, Factorb, says, everyone was faced with the task -
write a simple attribute effect, and then assemble a demo from them. Best of all
Of course, Busy coped with his task, making a mouth zoomer, with which he won
and in 1k intro. But overall the demo leaves a very pleasant impression and, moreover,
However, it works at 48k.

In general, this is a topic for a separate article, butIt’s still worth saying a few words about
this. In my opinion, 48k demo is a very promising direction that
could potentially be much more interesting and complex 1k/512b/256b int. But this
So, a cross as a keepsake. We'll talk about this later.

The demo begins with a funny picture about the classification of mushrooms. By the way, Gemba is on
means "poisonous mushroom" in East Moravian dialect. The topic has been chosen a long time ago
plowed and developed, and even, probably, already exhausted - the topic
drugs, hallucinations, mushrooms, etc. The joke (and is it even a joke?) is that
demo effects in general (and Spectrum ones in particular) resemble hallucinations from
mushrooms, ceased to be funny and relevant back in 1997, and even earlier.
However, this fact does not make the opening picture any less funny.
So let's leave these parallels to the conscience of the authors. It's their right. Besides, dema
Overall it leaves a very pleasant impression. There's no point in talking about the effects.
because we have seen them many times, there is nothing new there. However, two polar
moment is worth special mention. Minus: very drawn out and long grits, just
too much. Plus (in addition to the Busy mouth zoomer with a very well-chosen texture and
palette): painfully simple, the most elementary attribute effect after the words “never
"had mushroom hallucinations?" It looks very good in the context of the entire demo.
And, of course, during each effect belowits author is indicated - this is also
interesting find.



1 place - Critical Error by Hooy-Program + Alone Coder + Piesiu/Agenda



Well, here's the first place. If I wanted to grumble, I probably would
said a witty, as it probably would have seemed to me, phrase that graphics
Piesiu is so great in the demo that no effects prevented her from taking the
well-deserved first place. I could say that and perhaps I would be right. But
Let's take a closer look at this issue.

Let's start with the fact that the demo runs at 48k. That is, this is the 48k demo I'm talking about
spoke a few paragraphs above, and which I will say more in the following issues.
This, I think, is very cool. In general, for cleanliness, the demo should have 48k
exclusively beeper music, but while this is impossible to do, you will have to
be content with AY. There will be more about this in future issues.

The demo begins with alternating fairly simple old effects, which,
however, in general, they do not cause rage. Then comes almost the same
plasma, but already pixelated, in a small window. And after it - SUDDENLY - Alone
Coder's Wolfenstein! The fact that a full-fledged Wolf is made in 48k, and with
There is also music playing - technically, of course, it delights. Herselftheme of the demo, how
and its flow, dynamics, in general, are not limited by anything, and allow you to insert any
effects. Therefore, to say that Wolfenstein looks out of place here would be
incorrect. It's cool, it's full screen, it works. What other ones could there be?
claims.

After Wolfenstein there is also not the most complex effect, which is due to working with
The color (by the way, one of the coders for this demo is Hellboj again) looks good.
In general, this is their characteristic feature - to create elementary, uncomplicated effects;
sometimes make them even clumsy, not very fast, rough,
unkempt, but in such a way that they look in their place and completely
whole. So it is here. You look at the demo, and you see all its shortcomings, very
you clearly understand everything - but if you were offered to fix everything, to do it the way
It must be in your opinion that you simply wouldn’t have found anything to fix. Therefore
Let them be like that, HPRG demos.

And at the end a digital track plays.