The interview with the ANTARES group, which I present to your attention, was taken from KONEX and EA a day after the FUNTOP-98 festival. As you know, the guys did not manage to perform with a demo once again, but Ilya (EA) was able to somewhat lessen the bitterness of failure by winning 1st place in the MUSIC COMPO.
First, I turned to KONEX - the coder and organizer of the group.
KVZ: Tell me, Andrey, how did your passion for computers and the Spectrum in particular begin?
KON: Actually, I became interested in computers around 1986, when "Yamaha MSX-1" was brought to our school. At that time, I was really into that computer until I learned about the Spectrum in 1990. My friend bought a similar machine, and I went to his house to play. Naturally, I immediately lost interest in the "Yamaha," as my brain was already focused on the Speccy. In April 1991, I bought my first Spectrum - the tape "Leningrad-48K," and I was very happy. I still have fond memories of its purchase. I remember it cost 900 rubles... :-) In 1994, I bought an ATM-TURBO 512+ and have been working on it ever since. It was on that machine that I started coding properly.
KVZ: How did the idea of creating a collective like ANTARES come about?
KON: The idea didn't come suddenly. It had been brewing for a long time. The thing is, I used to do all this alone, and none of my friends were interested in demo making. I wanted to create different effects, in general, to create, to code...
KVZ: Were you not attracted to other genres of computer art?
KON: I can't draw, and I can't write music either. But I was good at math and programming came to me quite naturally. In my school, on the "Yamaha," I achieved decent success, even made a game.
Once I was invited to the SCORPION CLUB. I just met a person - the organizer of the SCORPION CLUB, it was autumn 1995. They were going to create IMAGINE MEGADEMO. There were quite a few people there, as it turned out, a bunch of total lamers, except for FIL, and I was entrusted to work on one or two parts. I was very happy to have the opportunity to participate in creating such a large project. I carried this idea for a long time, came up with various effects, while the others did nothing, all were idle, and then I learned that nothing had been done for this demo, and as a result, this IMAGINE MD fell through completely. In short, it quickly became clear that no one in the group was doing anything and wouldn't do anything, only FIL and I were running around with our ideas and trying to implement something. We had two options: either to organize a new group or kick everyone out. We chose the first option and came up with the name - "ANTARES." It was March 15, 1997 - the birthday of our group.
KVZ: Did you have any works as part of SCORPION CLUB?
KON: Even before SCORPION CLUB, I released two intros for the games "THUNDER CATS" and "MONTE-CARLO CASINO." Then my demo "VICTOR-21" - my first demo - GIFT. At ENLIGHT'96 we didn't do anything, only FIL drew a few pictures and took some 15th, 16th places in GFX-compo.
KVZ: How did you acquire a musician?
KON: Yes, we had problems with finding a musician. It was my task as an organizer, and we couldn't find a musician at all. At the same time, we really liked IMP's music, we consider him the best musician, he has a lot of simply amazing tunes, we were crazy about them and dreamed of hearing IMP's music in our demo. Moreover, we heard rumors that IMP writes music for money and even thought about paying him. We were also familiar with a guy named MIC from PROGRESS, who could also write music for us. We ordered from MIC and also wrote to IMP. IMP, or rather, you sent IMP's music and MIC also wrote his music. And we had a choice either this or that. I should mention that MIC's music, unlike IMP's, was unfinished, and moreover, it didn't fit at all with our demo at E'97 - "ECSTATIC DUB," it didn't match the effects at all, and we were very glad that we chose IMP's music.
KVZ: By the way, you successfully linked the music with the effects; as far as I remember, in ECSTATIC DUB, the synchronization is almost perfect. Did you specifically adjust the effects to the music?
KON: Mostly, yes. We somehow gathered, wrote down all the patterns from the tune on a piece of paper, and just figured out which part fits under which pattern. And that's how we got it. As far as I know, no one did it like that before, and for that time, it turned out to be quite original. We ourselves really liked this style. Of course, in some demos, there were moments where the music blended very well with the graphics and coding, but in most cases, people didn't care at all that their part ended while the pattern played, or vice versa. It looks terrible, of course. That's why we decided to do everything carefully, calculated all the interrupts, started doing it and... didn't finish in time for ENLIGHT'97. :-(
Even before ENLIGHT-97, we met a guy named EA. Back then, he was still EA-SOFT from MEGADATE GROUP. FIL and I noticed that he resembled AGENT-X from Poland and nicknamed him "our agent." At E'97, we became quite good friends, hung out together, roamed around St. Petersburg. Moreover, I had heard his music even before the festival, in releases from MEGADATE GROUP, when I was browsing through Moscow BBS, downloading music. And there wasn't much choice from Moscow either. That was then, but now EA is the best musician in Moscow. Of course, MIC also writes great music, but I haven't heard anything new from him this year, while EA has progressed a lot this year. His level a year ago and today are completely different things. I also have a knack for people; if I see that someone can achieve results, if there's potential, I try to establish friendly relations with them. And conversely: if I see that someone is just a fool, there's no point in cooperating with them, or even talking to them on the phone. That's how it was with SCORPION CLUB. I immediately saw that FIL was a normal person, he would work. It was the same with EA. Listening to his compositions, I felt that his potential as a musician was quite high. And we invited EA to the group, which we are very happy about.
KVZ: For the FUNTOP-98 festival, you were preparing the demo "DEVOTION." Can you say a few words about it?
KON: There's a lot to say here. We started making it on February 2 - that date is known. I made one part, which I think is cool. Then we needed to do FUNTOP PROMOTION. The effect was made back in 1997, for IMAGINE MD; we just had to add the INFO output. That took time too. Then it was March, and there was still plenty of time until F'98, so I thought there was no rush. And we didn't particularly hurry. Then there were some parties, May 1, back and forth, sysop. And amidst all this, we did nothing in the spring. I coded a bit separately, but nothing substantial was done. Then I had my diploma in July. And the closer it got to the diploma, the more time it consumed. On July 16, I defended my diploma, and throughout June, I was practically glued to it. I turned on the computer, of course, but I wasn't coding; there was no time for that. After the diploma, there was a celebration that dragged on for eight days, and again, prolonged inactivity. As an organizer, I was doing nothing, and the others, of course, were too. In July, some watched football, some relaxed. Then, there was a terrible state of despair until mid-July, some kind of crisis after finishing the institute. And only after that did we finally get our act together and started working since there was only about a month left until F'98, and nothing had been done at all. On July 17, it was EA's birthday; we celebrated it together, and it was the only joyful event in the last two or three weeks. From his birthday, we started working seriously. EA began writing all these tunes like: "LAST WARNING FOR KONEX." They had their effect because after listening to this tune, I actually started doing something. But I also didn't get too loaded. Honestly, if I compare what was done in the last week before FUNTOP, it's like day and night. Then we tried to shoot the video. EA and I had kind of found our groove, while FIL somehow fell by the wayside, started browsing the Internet and ended up... At night, he was browsing the Internet, during the day he slept and turned off his phone, it was impossible to reach him; that is, at night he was busy, during the day he was sleeping, and in the evening he was tired and said he couldn't do anything. In short, that's how we slowed down: either I or FIL. And then we couldn't shoot the video, again because of FIL. We prepared everything, gathered, called him, and no one picked up. And actually, we started making the demo around the beginning of August. FIL kept insisting: "We won't make it, we won't make it..." He mentally fell apart and dragged us down with him. He kept nagging us...
The last two weeks before FUNTOP were very active in preparation. I told EA and FIL: "I'll put you on your toes, but we will do the demo with all our might." As promised, I did just that, got them on their toes, and the process started. I had no complaints about EA, but FIL did everything so slowly, completely unhurried, as if there was no rush. At GFX-compo, I said: "Are you planning to draw at all?" He said: "Yeah, I don't know..." As a result, he drew nothing, neither for the compo nor for our demo. He painted a picture for one part a day before FUNTOP. Only in the last week did FIL start to move, but unfortunately, it was too late. And as a result of my and his slowdowns, we didn't make it. :-((( And the last three days were simply unimaginable. We were just reducing the number of parts in the demo: 9, 8, 7, 6... We stopped at 5. We really managed to produce five parts. The biggest problem we had was with the video. We filmed the video. FIL spent about two weeks translating it, and I was packing this video using various methods; by the way, it turned out well: I packed 1.5M into 200K. And we didn't allocate time for the video, of course. I even had a plan for the parts, and there was no time allotted for the video at all. I just thought that there would be enough time, we'd figure it out, and I didn't calculate the time. But it took a lot of time: many disks, many different recordings, translating all these frames from PC to Spectrum, cutting them out, packing them, and then watching how it turned out best, and we lost a lot of time. Although, of course, it was worth it. You saw it. I believe that our video at FUNTOP was the best. The textured video, I think, was used for the first time and it can't be compared with any other methods because it's just cool, looks real, especially when viewed from about three meters away. Moreover, it's full-screen.
KVZ: And even despite such a failure, you are not going to give up?
KON: No, we are not going to do that. "DEVOTION" will be completed. Of course, it's hard to name a specific release date for the demo. I don't know. If before F'98 we were sequentially reducing the number of parts, now we will be increasing it. And it's hard to say at what number we will stop. Approximately around a dozen.
KVZ: But it should be better than everything that has been released so far.
KON: Certainly, otherwise, there's no point in even taking on the work. At least we will try. How it will be evaluated is already subjective for each viewer. Some like it when the code is cool, others only look at the music, others want beautiful pictures, and don't care about the rest; for someone, it's essential that everything looks beautiful together, that everything is synchronized with the music, which, in itself, is quite important... In short, we will try to finish it as quickly as possible.
KVZ: A few words about the F'98 festival.
KON: Well, EA and I were part of the organizing committee, we contributed many good ideas for its conduct, we helped as much as we could. Overall, I think the festival was organized quite well. At least, it can't be compared with any of those Inlights. Everything was quite civilized, that is, no scribbled walls, toilets, broken railings, etc. Why? Because we did everything for ourselves, so it turned out well. After all, everything at Inlight was organized by PC people, mainly Sobolev - the main enemy of the Spectrum in St. Petersburg, and everything was built around the PC. The Spectrum was given the last place. But we did it for ourselves; you wouldn't do a bad job for yourself. So we approached it with full responsibility, and it seemed to turn out normally, in my opinion. The only thing that surprised me was the number of people. We expected at least 300 people. That's how many applications were submitted. Strange. Everyone gathered and said: "We'll come, we'll come." I was most surprised by Moscow, our beloved, which was represented by about 20 people. Many didn't come due to money, although it's strange. For the overwhelming majority of people, it's closer to go to Moscow than to St. Petersburg, except for PHANTASY, DR, and X-TRADE :). The atmosphere at first was a bit dull. The DEMO-COMPO was excellent: a full hall of people, silence, applause for cool effects, while there were far fewer people at the other compos.
KVZ: What could you say about the works presented at FUNTOP?
KON: Some works were striking. VAV's effects in both the INTRO and the demo were the same, monotonous: endless textures, like in POWER UP. DIGITAL REALITY also amazed me. I don't know if FLYING had no time. Why were there only two parts of coding? Their video constantly loads from the disk for some reason. Practically 100% animation, if you consider video as animation. There were some original demos. I would especially like to note the demo from POWER GROUP; I really liked it. It had some real variety. If there was multicolor - it was cool: the picture had 4 colors per pixel - it didn't shake, and so on. In any case, it wasn't as monotonous as the effects in FOREVER from DR. Overall, DEMO COMPO went well. Although, in my opinion, the 1st and 2nd places were not entirely deserved. What I dislike the most in demo making is that some people prefer to steal someone else's effects rather than create their own, and that's very sad. The MAGIC button is terrible; fortunately, it doesn't work for me, and EA doesn't even have it soldered, while FIL is sitting in the emulator, where it doesn't exist. :-) Although, I have no objections to its use for its intended purpose, but when I see that an effect is blatantly stolen - it just infuriates me. By the way, in some demos at FUNTOP, samples were "borrowed" from S4B...
KVZ: Which groups do you maintain contacts with from the former USSR?
KON: In Moscow, we used to communicate with PROGRESS. I still like to talk to MIC on the phone - he's as much a Spectrum fan as I am, but we haven't communicated for a long time, there hasn't been time. From others... Well, RUSH, POWER GROUP. We don't correspond with anyone else. To keep correspondence, you need a swapper, and we don't have one, and combining everything at once is not so easy.
KVZ: Could you highlight any groups as the most promising at the moment?
KON: I really like ETERNITY INDUSTRY, POWER GROUP... I don't know what happened to DR; we expected more from them, to be honest. But I think they can still make decent things. VAV too, if he gets his act together and stops making demos with the same effects. PROGRESS is also a good strong group; their coding is not bad, ZERO, PHANTASY - although they've been slowing down lately.
KVZ: Do you think there will be another FUNTOP-99?
KON: I really hope so...
KVZ: Your creative plans for the future?
KON: First of all, to finish "DEVOTION." Secondly... There was a proposal... to make a game... There's a very well-developed script that combines ELITE, SABOTEUR, and COMMANDO, which was written back in 91-92. But for this, we need a team. Then, in terms of games, release a few from the Internet.
KVZ: Are you planning to switch to another platform in the future, and your group members, in particular?
KON: No! I have the opportunity to work on PC, but I absolutely do not crave it. Every time I think with horror that I will have to work on a PC - it's bugs, it's glitches, it's all terrible. At least I can say for myself. I think EA feels the same. FIL - I don't know about him; you have to ask him. He currently has problems with his computer, with the Spectrum, and he is using an emulator. He has drawn less, though I think not...
Ilya Abrosimov, also known as EA, joins us.
KVZ: Introduce yourself, to begin with.
EA: EA from ANTARES - musicmaker.
KVZ: Tell us a little about yourself.
EA: I started writing music about 4 years ago. It all started off normally. First, I had a Spectrum 48K, like everyone else. Then I bought a Pentagon-128 with AY and a disk drive. But since disk drives were expensive back then, I just had a controller, and I didn't have a disk drive. I loaded games from a tape, as nothing else interested me at that time. And when I first heard AY music, I was amazed. Later, when I got a disk drive, I started collecting music. I tried writing in ASM since it was heavily advertised as the best editor on the Spectrum. But I quickly became disappointed with it. I worked in ASM at a friend's place because I didn't have a disk drive, and ASM was only available on disk. Then I got a cassette SOUND TRACKER. There were already ready-made tunes, and I started figuring out how they were written. And it was in ST that I started to get something right. I quickly got used to this editor. How I worked in it is also interesting: I would come home from work in the evening, tired, sit down at the computer, and load a ton of music from the tape since they weren't packed back then and took up half a page. And I would try to write something. After a while, my computer broke down, and I was without a computer for six months, and then I bought "GrandRomMax 2+". Then various editors started appearing. I spent a whole month persuading LOOKER to record me KSA's ST Pro. Eventually, I broke down and bought a disk from him. Disks always cost a decent amount from him... I looked at this editor, and I liked it for some reason. By the way, I had never seen PROTRACKER 2.1, which was released before this; I had only seen a demo version: well, it looked like ST. I looked at the KSA version, wrote something in it, and didn't understand how to use the envelope mask, which is, of course, a mystery of nature for many musicians. When I was already online, I downloaded PROTRACKER 2.1 from someone, quickly figured it out, and realized that this thing was made for me. And in this editor, I wrote quite a lot. I worked in it for a year and a half. And when PT 3.31 came out, I thought that if it was made by NICK, then it was a good thing, and I was satisfied with it. Although, of course, there are plenty of glitches. :) I still work in this editor.
KVZ: I know you used to be the organizer of MEGADATE GROUP? Did you have any releases?
EA: A lot of work was released from MEGADATE at one time, although not the best in quality. The most famous, remembered not only in Moscow but even throughout the former USSR - is "FUCK>GPV," which somehow everyone liked, probably due to its quite high-quality digitization. And I can explain why the conflict with GPV occurred. GPV had been absent from Speccy for a long time; everyone already knew him, but I didn't know him. In general, I left Moscow for the summer, and when I returned, I called Master, and he told me that some guy - GPV - was calling BBS, downloading our works, and saying that it was all total lamers, that we couldn't code. They had a huge conflict. And Master suggested writing a hit piece about him. So we did - digitized the nasty words.
KVZ: What can you say about GPV?
EA: Well, GPV is GPV... If, for example, you mention GPV in Moscow, you'll be understood immediately. He attacks everyone and considers himself the coolest coder; maybe he is a supercoder, but only in theory. In practice, he is not a coder at all...
Hearing that GPV is being discussed, KONEX approaches.
KON: Oooo! Ha-ha!!! (Laughter...) In short, a lamers the likes of which the earth has never seen. It's one thing to be KANO or LOOKER - they are also lamers, but normal, they don't claim to be better than everyone else, that everyone else is stupid. But this lamers is special, an exceptional case. He thinks he's better than everyone, knows everything, and has already done all the effects. His demos have zero downloads, as he puts it. He attacks everyone, quarreled with X-TRADE, and the Moscow ZxNET. PROGRESS ignores him, we ignore him. The most messed-up personality in Moscow. Moreover, he is a complete fool as a person, and he considers himself that way. He says: "Of course, I must die." They tell him: "The morgue cries for you," and he replies: "No, the madhouse cries for me!" (...More laughter...) An abnormal person... :-)
(After having a good laugh at the unfortunate GPV, KONEX leaves... I turn back to EA).
KVZ: Your personal impressions of FUNTOP?
EA: Well, I can't throw around impressions since I was part of the organizing committee, was a participant, and was responsible for conducting the music-compo. I liked everything in principle. The organizers were all sober, unlike ENLIGHT. :-). Alex approached Wlodek and said to him: "Rejoice, there are only good reviews here." From the downsides, I can only say that there were relatively few people. The most interesting thing, as it turned out, was that not everyone in Moscow knew that FUNTOP would be on August 22. But the level of works has undoubtedly risen. Maybe this is explained by the cash prizes; I don't know. If a similar event is planned for next year, the quality will be just fierce.
KVZ: Your personal plans for the future?
EA: Well, I need to finish the demo, and I will have to write a bunch of cool patterns...
KVZ: You're not planning to leave Speccy?
EA: I absolutely do not plan to! By the way, you did not stumble upon the wrong person. Here is the ANTARES group: KONEX and EA - two people stubbornly dedicated to the Spectrum 100%, until their death, not until the death of the Spectrum itself. At first, LOOKER said that Speccy died in 1993, then someone said again that it died, and again. And the last time I heard this was last summer when we had 5 people at the sysop in Moscow. And we then thought: "Ah, the network has died, there's no one..." But summer is the time for vacations and breaks. Once autumn started, people flooded back in, and the network started working again. And everyone was already saying that Zx-NET had died. In reality, the Spectrum movement in Moscow is mainly online. We just don't know about the others who don't have modems. There are many, but we can't even estimate their number roughly.
KVZ: And finally, a general wish from the ANTARES group to everyone who hasn't abandoned Speccy yet.
KON: Love the Spectrum and do everything for its development.
EA: I would just like to repeat the words of Captain NEMO, which he said at FUNTOP: "In reality, no emulator will ever replace your live Speccy!" Golden words. I, and the entire ANTARES group, send big greetings to NEMO and thank him for them.
KVZ: Well, Andrey and Ilya, thank you very much for this interview. I think that with people like you and your entire group, the Spectrum will live on for a very long time. And we will eagerly await "DEVOTION" and your next works. I wish you all the best and plenty of enthusiasm.
Until we meet again.
23.08.98
Contents of the publication: Rush #01
- AMIGA NEWS
Amiga Inc works on Amiga OS 3.5 with enhancements like CD drive and PowerPC support. Split development for M68K and PPC processors. Delayed release to late 1999 or early 2000.
- AMIGA NEWS
Description of the 'Fast JPEG 1.10' viewer for Amiga, focusing on its features, installation, and usage. It highlights advantages like fast processing without quality loss and provides user tips. Readers are encouraged to share their software experiences.
- AMIGA NEWS
Basic programming for classic Amiga, discussing challenges and sharing knowledge in Amiga coding. Overview of Amiga graphics capabilities and processor features. Introduction to Amiga assembly language specifics.
- AMIGA NEWS
Overview of events related to the Amiga platform from early to mid-1998. Highlights include new hardware, software releases, and notable company collaborations. Future updates and developments are scheduled for the next issue.
- AMIGA NEWS
Collection of cheats and secrets for classic Amiga games compiled by Postcard Man. Readers encouraged to share their findings on complex games. Selection of tips and level codes provided for various games.
- AMIGA NEWS
Discussion of Phase-5's graphics cards and Permedia 2 processor capabilities. Details on Permedia 2's 2D/3D acceleration and compatibility. Mention of GLINT Delta processors and comparison of prices and availability.
- AMIGA NEWS
Analysis of Amiga's survival in the 90s, highlighting community efforts and technological advancements. Discussion on hardware improvements and software development. Encouragement for further exploration and learning about the Amiga platform.
- Spectrum Programming
Explanation of a fast method for real-time 3D graphics on the ZX Spectrum. Introduces efficient rotation and deformation techniques for 3D objects. Emphasizes improvements over traditional methods with practical examples.
- Spectrum Programming - Ticklish Jim
Discussion of combining sound effects with music for Spectrum's AY chip. Examples from development of 'CSC: Deja Vu' and technical challenges faced. Contains practical guide and code examples.
- Spectrum Programming
Discussion on byte mirroring and background restoration in ZX Spectrum programming, with examples.
- Spectrum Programming
Comprehensive guide for system programmers with practical tips for creating efficient and user-friendly software, including coding techniques, device compatibility, and program testing strategies.
- Spectrum Programming
Advanced coding techniques and modern graphics methods for ZX Spectrum. Tips for optimizing graphical procedures and coding on assembly. Useful advice for programmers to improve performance and efficiency.
- The End
Reflections on the creation of the first issue of the magazine 'Rush', its goals, audience, and future development.
- ZX-SOFT - Вячеслав Медноногов
Development updates on Vyacheslav Mednoy's new game 'Black Raven II', including gameplay changes, new spell introductions, and performance improvements.
- ZX-SOFT
Overview of new features in the updated commander from REAL software for ZX Spectrum, including file management, autodetection, and media viewing. Improvements in text, font, and music handling. Questions addressed regarding future updates.
- ZX-SOFT
Debate on which demo deserved the top spot at Funtop'98: Forever by DR or Refresh by XTM. Discussions in the demoscene community highlight the clash between technical prowess and conceptual depth. Different opinions reflect on the evolution of demoscene preferences.
- Authors
Acknowledgment of contributors and partners in creating Rush magazine. Detailed roles of each author and collaboration insights. Recognition of technical support and media partnerships.
- Virtual Specky
Discussion on converting graphics from PC to Spectrum, featuring insights from various experts. Techniques for improving conversion quality and tools like Photoshop are detailed. Emphasis on post-conversion refinement in Spectrum graphics editors.
- Virtual Speccy
Discussion on the CBSpeccy emulator for ZX-Spectrum on Amiga, highlighting its features, community opinions, and technical performance. Criticisms and praises for its emulation capabilities, particularly compared to PC emulators. Examination of potential improvements and community debates around version updates.
- Virtual Speccy
FAQ on ZX-Spectrum emulation on PC, covering popular emulators and file formats. Instructions for using different emulators and managing file types like Hobeta and TR-DOS. Discussion on Russian ZX-oriented servers and resources for enthusiasts.
- Introduction
Introduction to the Rush magazine, emphasizing creativity, progressive scene, and the goal to create a superior information source. The magazine seeks to gather promising groups and offer a unique perspective. Focuses on content and atmosphere, welcoming creators to contribute.
- Introduction - Grunge
Introduction to Rush, a new scenemag for Speccy/Amiga enthusiasts, aims to provide quality content and news while encouraging reader feedback.
- Interview - Konex
Interview with ANTARES group after FUNTOP-98. Discussion on their demos, challenges, and future plans. Insight into the group's formation and dynamics.
- Interview - Kvazar, DUX
Interview with Alexander Seleznev (KVAZAR), discussing his history with computers, the state of the ZX Spectrum scene, and future plans.
- Interview - Kvazar
Interview with Vitebsk group POWER on demo 'Crazy Love', development experiences, and future projects.
- Informatorium
Exploration of a CD with emulators for various platforms, highlighting Spectrum. Details the content organization and diversity. Concludes with insights from the CD-ROM Project's Spectrum software collection.
- Informacrium
Compilation of interesting and useful Internet addresses related to Amiga resources, including magazines, hardware manufacturers, and software companies.
- Informacrium - Viator
Overview of existing and upcoming publications on the Amiga platform. Discussion of the availability and distribution challenges for Amiga literature. Appeal for collaboration with new publications.
- About the Magazine
Discussion on creating a multi-platform magazine focusing on Spectrum, Amiga, and PC. Emphasis on broader understanding of computer scene. Encourage professionalism and adaptation to changing technology.
- Parallel Worlds
Overview of the evolution of Windows OS and PC processors from 1981 to 2000. Development milestones of MS-DOS, Windows, Intel processors, and competition with AMD and Cyrix. Challenges in maintaining compatibility with new processor technologies.
- Parallel Worlds
Overview of Macintosh models and their relevance in design and graphics fields, covering prices and specifications from 1997-1998. Discussion includes the evolution of Apple's hardware, notably the PowerMac series, and compares new G3 processors with PC counterparts. It highlights the resurgence of Macintosh post-crisis and its ongoing influence in the market.
- Development of the Spectrum - Slider
The article discusses a new graphical extension for the ZX Spectrum that enhances color palettes without increasing resource demands. By using a modified flash signal, new colors are created without interfering with existing software compatibility. The article provides implementation details and addresses practical usage concerns.
- Development of Spectrum
Connecting a CDOS modem to the 'Compact-128' computer by addressing keyboard port conflicts. Description of hardware modifications to solve the issue. Solution includes automatic blocking using a transistor inverter.
- Development of Spectrum - Ars
Discussion on AZX-Monstrum 512K development, its hardware compatibility, processor options, and potential enhancements in graphics and OS.
- Development of SPECTRUM
Discussion of Clive Sinclair's new computer platform, the ZX2000, designed to outperform PCs with enhanced speed, affordability, and battery efficiency.
- Development of Spectrum - Андрей Савичев
Examination of the evolution and ongoing relevance of the Z80 processor, and its role in embedded systems. Comparison of Z80 with its successors, highlighting advantages like energy efficiency and command enhancements. Overview of integrated Z80-based CPUs and their peripherals.
- Advertisement
This article is an advertisement for Scorpion products including hardware for ZX Spectrum and Amiga software, along with pricing and ordering details.
- Advertising
Collection of advertisements for Amiga and ZX Spectrum hardware and software, with contact information for sellers and details about the new Amiga magazine subscription.
- Advertisement
Advertisement for X-TRADE's General Sound music board. Includes pricing, technical details, and purchase instructions. Features a FAQ section and compatibility info.
- Meaning Without Meaning - Viator
Philosophical reflections on existentialism, immortality, and human destiny. The narrative weaves through stories of ambition, the quest for eternal life, and a utopian downfall. A blend of introspection and speculative fiction.
- Scene vs Professionals
Exploration of the demoscene's creativity versus commercial game development. Discussion of potential for professional-quality programs by scene members. Call for collaboration with leading scene groups.
- Scene Chronicle - Андрей Савичев
Reflections on ZX Spectrum's enduring appeal, its community's resilience, and its potential resurgence in Russia.
- Scene Chronology
Overview of the Rush group's activities, including past projects, current endeavors, and future plans, with emphasis on software development and gaming.
- Scene Chronicles
The article discusses various ZX Spectrum scene news, including game releases, demoparties, and updates from developers and teams.
- Chronicles of the Scene
The article discusses the FUNTOP'98 international computer art festival held in Moscow, highlighting key events, notable attendees, and the various competitions held during the event.
- Scene Chronia
Discussion on Amiga scene development through collaboration, addressing user isolation and promoting network expansion.
- Shell Management
Статья описывает управление оболочкой для ZX Spectrum и Amiga, включая клавиши и функции для навигации. Упоминаются особенности работы на Amiga с PAL монитором и предоставляется контакт для поддержки. Также отмечено, что текстовые файлы имеют стандартную MS-DOS кодировку.
