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Suzy B Software CD-ROM 2 (1994).iso
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synergy.doc
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synergy.doc
Wrap
Text File
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1995-04-27
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10KB
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191 lines
0660103030566
9[....................................................]
Ç
àTheSynergyMegademo..
äSynergyProductionsproudlypresent,etc..
ÇInaquietperiodforSTstuff,theSynergydemoisawelcome
burstoflightintoadarkeningscene,butwhatwasitactually
like..Readon..
ä
ÇAtwo-diskmega-demosortofthing,wellslightlyunderweightin
somecategoriesfora'mega'asthereareonlysixscreens
selectablefromthemainmenu..That'sright,amainmenu..More
onthatabitlater..However,eachofthesescreensisa
heavyweightcontenderfordiskspaceintheirowndifferentways..
Firstly,anintroductionsequencetokickoffwith,thefirstfew
secondsofdiskaccessproduceawell-craftedblackandwhite
'SynergyDesign'Jigsawstylelogowhichcouldwellfinditsway
ontoaletterheadorbusinesscardofthefuture..Themusic
abruptlychangestoamodfiletunewiththenextpartofthe
intro,asharptitlesequenceaspictures,wordsandphrases,some
veryoddphrasesbounceontothescreenintimewiththemusic..
Eachindividualmemberisintroducedinthisway..
Intime,themusicandpiccysfadeoutandaorange-goldhand-
sculpted'Synergy'logoappearsmidscreen,movestothetopofthe
screentomakewayfortherathertastefulmenuselectorscreen..
Thisconsistsofatexture-mappedcube,eachofthesixsides
bearingthenameofadifferentsub-demoinadifferentand
distinctivetextforeach..Theselectorcubeisintheforeground
ofasubtlyrasteredlandscapeandmulti-shadedskyä..ÇThemusicis
agoodsoundchiptune,althoughnotoneastechnicallyadvancedas
someinthesub-demos..
Thefirstdemoselectedisaperplexingaffaircalled'Pajaro',
whichisSpanishfor'Bird',or'LuckyBird'togivethatmeaning
aprecisecontext..Putverysimplyindeed,thispartofthedemo
isadeluxebiographicalpresentationofalltenSynergymembers
ofthesortfoundinmanydiskzines,withquestionsrangingfrom
thetrivial,totheverytrivial..
Someofthequestionsposed,particularlyofthemalemembersdo
fallintothe"Dowereallyneedtoknowäthat??Ç"category,such
asEjaculationdistance!?!?!?!?Otherwise,theusualquestionson
personallikesanddislikes,favouriteflavourice-creametc,are
inthere..(Aninterestingpoint,foragroupwhichseemstotake
itselfveryseriously-moreonthatvexedtopiclater-isthat
manyoftheresponsesforwhatindividualgroupmembersthoughtof
othergroupmembersseemedtoberecycledfromotherpartsofthe
questionnaire??)Strangeorwhat??
à
ÇOtherwise,thispartofthedemodoesnotovertaxyourST,
althoughtheSynergyadvancediconography,well-presentedtext,
andverytastySID-voicetunearetohand..
Thesecondpartofthedemoisademonstrationversionofa
forthcomingsoundchipeditor/composerfortheST,ChipMonII,
featuringSID-voiceandotheradvancedeffects..Thisdemoversion
allowsyoutoplayaroundwithit,andtheshortexampletune
provided..Togetafully-enabledversionrequiresthatyou
contactSynergy..Thisdemoisontheseconddisk,whichcanboot
upChipMonseperatelyfromthemaindemo..
Thefirst'proper'democomeswiththescreencalled'Symbiosis',
-whenmanandmachinebecomeone,-accordingtotheauthors..
StraightinwithasuperbSID-tuneandasplit-screen,theupper
halfwithastarfieldrushingtowardstheviewerfromaninvisible
horizon,andonthebottomhalf,fromthatsameinvisiblehorizon,
somethingrathermoresolid-looking,asnowballfield??Thescene
transformstoraindrops,thistimelookingsidewaysonasthe
dropsfallata45degreeangle,andthecreditsforthispartof
thedemoareprinteduponthescreen,theside-borderskilled..
Wefindoutthatthispartofthedemoisduetotheeffortsof
OdesseyDesign..
Themainpartofthedemostartswithformationsof3-Dvector
bobs,uninspiringatfirst(deliberatelyso)butswiftly
developingininterest..Thetraditionalvectorpatternsare
there,thennewformationssuchasaveryfastjetplane,multi-
splineobjects,andevenawalkerwithanimatedmovements..The
differencebetweentheseandmorerun-of-the-millstuff,isthat
thesebobsareveryslickandfast,comingfromafar-pointonthe
screenhorizontothefrontofthepictureinverylittletimeat
all,alsotheyremainvisibleinthedistanceforalotlonger
thannormal,givingmoredepththenyouwouldnormallyexpect
inthissortofdemo..Forthepuristsandeffectsjunkies,this
isprobablythebestpartofthedemo..
Thenextselectedscreenisanothermegademostapleitem,agame..
Thisoneisaversionof'Pacman',called'Crapman'(thegamefor
realheroes!!)AsaPacmanderivative,itisnottoobadatall,
andturnedouttobequiteplayable,evenwhenIwasonlyusing
thecursorkeys,asmyjoystickisfirmlypluggedintothe
Falcon..Ofcourse,thebasicgamehasbeenexpandedsomewhatas
thereareseveraldifferenttypesofscreen,someofwhichare
biggerthanthenormalSTscreen,andarekeptasascrolling
virtualscreen,somescreensaremorecomplexthanthestandard
game,withmoreplacestogettrappedinetc..Thein-game
graphicsareofagoodstandard,andthereisahumourous'tourof
Europe'themewithanimationsofCrapmanbeingsillyinbetween
levels..
Thepre-gameselectionareafeaturesasimilartastefulicon
selectortothatfoundin'Pajaro',withamulti-lingualoption,
includingDutch,English,andeven'Jive'whichisexactlywhatit
saysitis..Youareevenallowedtosaveyourhighscorewhenyou
exittothemainmenu..SoIdid..
Thenext'proper'screeniscalled'Havingaperiodin3-Dspace'
andisdedicatedtothatparticulargenreofdemonstrations..THis
startsinastrangebuteffectivefashionwithabouncingtitle
textmappedontoatexturedhillysurfaceandtheweirdestlittle
girlsvoiceeversampled..
Themainpartofthedemoisaseriesofpresentationsof
different3-Deffects,fiveorsixofwhichareactually
interesting..(Nottheirfault,but3-Dtendstobeboring)I
particularlylikedthepolygonalobjects'swimming'aroundthe
screenliketheywerefishes..Thelastpartofthedemoallows
user-definablestarfields,dot-globes,andotherdot-objects..
Werushtothefinalpartofthisdemowiththecreditsscreen,
andyetanothergoodSID-tune..Thedemoalternatesbetweenthe
sortoflarge-pixelvectordoteffectsthatmadeSynergyfamousin
theDiskBustersMagazineissuesixintro,andwell-presentedfancy
textscreensgivingthecreditsforindividualscreens..Thedot-
effectsareslickandquick,withthepersistentslow-fadeshading
thatmakesthiseffectsogoodtolookat..
Unfortunately,includedwithalotofthetext,isaratherover-
gildedviewofSynergy,themselves,howtheyrelateto....
Themselves...needIsaymore??Wedrawaveiloverthatbitfor
themomentandmovetothelastpartofthedemowhereyougetto
seepicturesofalltheindividualmembersofSynergy..
Andthatisthat..
üRatings:-
Graphix:-89%-ÇForageneralveryhighstandardofpresentation,
eventhedigitisedpictureslookokontheST,thehand-drawn
stuff,andthegenerallookandlayoutofthedemoisevenmore
impressive..
üSonix:-85%-ÇOneofmyfavouritebitsofthisdemo,thesample
qualitywasonlyaverageSTFMreplayquality,buttheirSID-tunes
aregoodonesandverylistenable..
üGee-Whiz:-80%-ÇThemainmenuselectorscreen,andmuchofthe
SymbiosisscreenwereimprovementsontheST,butthisdemois
mainlynotablefortheimpeccablepresentationofestablished
stuff..
üOverall:-85%-ÇIthinkitcouldhavegotmore,apartfromthe
factthatthisdemowasabitunbalancedinsomeareas..
Personally,threenon-demoscreensareabittoomuchforademo
withonlysixscreens..Outofthese,Iwouldmakeacasetokeep
'Crapman',maybeChipMonII,andditchthe'Pajaro'Screenand
someofthephilosophisingweighingdownthecreditsscreen..
Synergyhavesetthemselvesasbeingthatbitmorearticulatethan
normal,andwithaworkingrelationshipthatisveryspecialto
them..Thisisverygoodtosee,andweallhopeitcontinueslong
intothefuture..Unfortunately,thiswasexpressedalloverthe
demo,andsomeviewsandideasthatshouldhavebeenkeptwithin
thegroupwereallowedfreereinalloverthisdemo..
"ThecollectiveisGreaterthantheIndividual."-Really??They
probablyonlyrefertothecollectivetalentsofthesevery
capableandpleasantpeople,butitcouldequallyrefertothose
nicecleanefficientyoungmeninBlackuniformsthatweresucha
hitinEuropeintheperiodbetween1939and1945!!Maybe
somethingthatMaoTseTungsaid??Oreventothesoul-destroying
guffofthoseheavilyarmedcrankcultistswhoburntodeathin
isolatedranch-housesinAmerica.ThepointisüNeverforgetyou
areanindividualÇ,otherwiseyouareagreymindlesssheepwaiting
tobemanipulatedbystrongerpersonalitieswithunscrupulous
designsonyourlife..Nowthey'vegotmedoingit!!
Anyway,itisfarmoreeffectivetoletyourcodedothetalking,
youwillimpressalotmorepeoplethatway..
(Finalnote,atleasttwoofSynergyhaveFalcons!!Yehaaaa!!!)
(C)CIHMarch'94..
ü