#### Scene Zine Monthly for May 16th, 2003 [Issue #2]
Special Edition: Review Month

Published By Scene Rep
Word Document version coming soon!

## Contents

The Monthly Ramble by Christofori
A bit of a rant, but well worth the read.

Modshrine: OHC by Disturbed
The history of the Modshrine OHC, from its humble beginnings to its current state. Disturbed will contribute monthly articles detailing the progress of Modshrine.

Module Addiction #2 Review by Patrick Groove
Wondering if you should get the Module Addiction #2 music disk? Patrick Groove writes an outstanding review which will provide answers to your questions.

Monthly Scene Music Reviews by drq
In this new monthly segment, drq will review scene music files each month. Find out about up-and-coming and veteran trackers alike as drq tears into their music.

A Brief Guide to Windows Trackers by Libris
Libris reviews the development of trackers for the Windows platform. A lot of useful information for those seeking knowledge on trackers they aren't familiar with.

Monthly Demo Reviews by Christofori
Another new monthly feature which will showcase various PC demos each month. This segment aims to expose the good, bad, and ugly existing in the demo world.

The Monthly Ramble
By Christofori

Many of us, as members of the scene (whether it be tracking, demo, coding, art -- really, any aspect of the scene) like to sit back and watch as others dig in and get their hands dirty working on projects. Still others will criticize the work that we may do, while they themselves are not willing to even offer ideas to the betterment of the scene or it's projects.

I'm not complaining, nor am I trying to point fingers at anyone. What I AM trying to do is get people to become active in the scene! There are several reasons not to become involved (real life, work, home, school/studies, relationships, and many more) -- yet, at the same time, there are several reasons to become involved in the scene (fulfillment, recognition, satisfaction, sense of community, betterment of the scene, and many more).

This is what we at Scene Rep are up to; staying involved in scene projects. Our largest project, and biggest commitment to date, is the Scene Zine monthly newsletter. I'm writing this month as a contributing editor for several reasons, but mainly because I want to help make a difference amongst the scene. I want to help where I can, and do what I can to make sure the scene survives long past my time. These are goals we all share here at Scene Rep; and I am sure you will come to see this as we continue to grow as we continue to support the scene and its projects.

So think about things before you gripe. Realize that there are people out there who want to make a difference. Many people are working to improve things all across the scene, though it might be behind the scenes. If it doesn't look that way, then you should come to us. Together, we can make a difference.

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Modshrine: OHC
By Disturbed

.history

Originally #mod_shrine, the channel on epsernet, was a music group that wrote scores for verge games (an rpg maker for dos). Eventually that died off and we were soon just music group. We started to attend #traxinspace compos around '98. I remember when we'd go as a group and take 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the zan compos, unless beek or xerxes came.

After a while people started going to college and showing up less, and eventually the 2 weekly compos in #traxinspace dwindled. Before long, the compos were just a memory and #mod_shrine no longer existed.

One day when I was feeling nostalgic, I decided to go idle in the #mod_shrine channel. I did it for weeks - just sitting alone in the #mod_shrine channel while actually talking with my friends, the remainders of the compos in the #traxinspace channel.

..the rise

One night while idling in #mod_shrine I had had enough. I was sick of no compos and hardly tracking as a result. So I went to each channel I had been in and said "compo in #mod_shrine". Only three people joined the first one. After the first night I decided that it was time to get a compo going again, one people could trust. So, infey and I made an agreement that we would take turns hosting a compo every night. For the next few months we did just that, although we did exclude weekends and the odd day, and from February 10th 2002 to June 1st we had hosted a total of 46 compos. After that, it did start to die down because as hosts we started to grow tired.

..blackout

Throughout June and July compos were held frequently - but not near as often as they had been previously - and because of that, our hard earned faith was beginning to dwindle. Then I had to go on vacation, a vacation with my family I had been planning for months. I was to leave in the middle of July and return near the end of August. Because payday didn't come until I was on the road, I gave the guy I knew hosting my DNS server the old "the cheque's in the mail" routine. Then I also forgot to give infey the key to my house incase my server went down. Well a few days into my vacation I called infey and asked him how things were going and he had two pieces of news for me. 1) The server went down three days after I had left and he couldn't get into my house because the window was locked. 2) Some guy kept asking him where the money was. We both agreed that my mother was deathly ill and that's why I hadn't sent him the money; but either way the server was now down. It went down on July 20th of 2002 and did not come back up until September of 2002.

.presently

After modshine came back up, few compos were hosted at first mainly because no one came around anymore. Around January we decided to try hosting them every night again, and we did that for about a week but grudgingly realized that we would have to seek an alternative or the compo could die off. So presently modshrine is a successful weekly compo which seems to be growing in popularity. Modshrine has had 82 compos in about 15 months and has some very experienced regulars.

.database

It has always been modshrine's policy to keep every compo's entries, results, files, vote packs, and instruments packs. It was always nice but until April of this year not spectacular. During the week of my college finals I did not sleep. I worked on re-designing the modshrine site and included every bit of data into sql tables. Presently, modshrine is a nice little database where once you enter you can see many statistics like: who beat you, how many times, who you beat, how many times, how many compos you've entered, where you are in the rankings, and many more. Plus, your song will also be archived and freely available as long as modshrine exists.

.philosophy

We believe the scene is about turning your personal hobby into a public work of art. That is why we keep every song available for download. Every time you enter a modshrine compo you will become part of a growing archive of hours of loved-labour for all to see.

..credits

Disturbed - Host, creator, frequent compo entrant
Infey - Host, frequent entrant
..outstanding participants

Yesso - Contributed to 27 compos (the most besides infey or disturbed who enter every time they host. He also has some excellent songs like "NoOneCanTakeItFromYou" and "Squirty the clown." Yesso has an overall uplifting style of music and is very skilled at capturing emotion. Every yesso song is a gem in it's own way.

Reduz - Has been a compo entrant since the #traxinspace days and frequently dazzles compo participants and viewers alike with his ability to create complex high quality song from standard samples. His best song is "My Pocket Army."

Madbrain - With a very unique style that's full of life, madbrain's entries are sure to make the compo interesting. Madbrain's best songs are "Rasputin is alive," "Pirates," "Chrono is late" and "millie."

Wizarthur - First catching my eye with "Painted stripes," wizarthur has been a welcome participant with his wonderful brand of cheese.

Xerxes - I have always enjoyed xerxes' style of music and although he didn't enter often I enjoy the songs he did enter very much.

Infey - God?

.compos

Modshrine compo's are every saturday night at 23:00 Eastern time. Just use any IRC client to join epsernet, using the dream.esper.net or chocobo.esper.net servers, and then join the channel #mod_shrine.

For more info just come to http://www.modshrine.com - hope to see you there!

Back To Contents

Module Addiction #2 Review
By Patrick Groove

It was before the July, 2002 Spanish Euskal demo party event in San Sebastian that the Modulez crew decided to make the second edition of Module Addiction. Their first had been released in March and was entitled "Module Addiction #1: Future," which featured tracks in a spacey ambient nature. The disk attracted many scener's and gained rave reviews on Pouët with its own skinned player. Mellow music for background bedroom pleasure seemed to be its aim. The Modulez group is very talented at writing music which can strike its listener as environmental and uplifting in demo music styling.

Again they have accomplished that and more where the first release could not. "Module Addiction #2: Glamour" has a very different sound than its predecessor. Funk and Jazz are making a solid come back as of late and this music disk seals the deal. Sporting the brass playing "Charlie Parker," the disk wastes no time in setting a pace. JosSs introduces the play list with "Da Feeling." Sax and sass with the wit of the piano wind you in and wrap you up. This track was written shortly after "Future," and awaited the long year and a month before its appearance.

I was very appreciative of the skinning. Yero’s skill shines through in the graphic detail. Also impressive is the use of Windows 2K and Windows XP opacity technology. As you enter the program it fades in and as you minimize it the player fades out. The piping "Charlie Parker" stands out in a transparent window to your desktop. Unhappily the disk lacks support for Windows 9.x but that is to be rectified when their programmer, Jcl, writes a patch. This was also an issue in the first release and was also corrected. Interface wise this package is straight forward. Just run and play, skip and stop. Be forewarned however that clicking over hidden hotspots may reveal a surprise.

With this interface operating you are ready to enjoy the rest of the "Module Addiction" experience. You’ll find on this disk the following:

1. Da Feeling by JosSs
2. Recyclet by Reed
3. Kisses in the Rain by Sergeeo
4. Motherfuckers' Party Song by Wonder
5. The Geezer by Finnr
6. Unreadable Streamy Love by Herotyc
7. Improvise by Wizard
8. Touch That by Sole
9. Golden by Yero

While a long play list it’s not a boring one. You’ll find yourself snapping your fingers, lightly nodding, and outright dancing. It’s enough to crave another edition. Reed takes you through a night life funk, Sergeeo chills you with the low down, Wonder hangs you up with the light jazz, Finnr, perks you up with the groove thing, Herotyc tucks you in with a lullaby, Wizard drums you into an alley, Sole taps into your senses, and Yero starts it all back up again. With so much music at your disposal you should be able to make your own mind up about what you like about the entire experience but if it was up to me there would be another edition.

Get This Music Disk

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Monthly Scene Music Reviews
By drq

Bliss - Life On The Rooftop

Although apparently composed back in 2001, "Life On The Rooftop" was released on Monotonik a few weeks ago. The man behind this track is Bliss, or Henrik José.

"Life On The Rooftop" starts off rather carefully with some processed e-piano chords, establishing the mood. A vocal sample is broken up and applied in an interesting way. Then the drumming kicks in and the song gets started. From here it progresses through a number of shifting arrangements, returning twice to a vocals-driven "chorus" (although that word sounds a bit out of place describing a song with such loose a structure as this one). In between these "hooks," nothing very unexpected happens harmonically - instead the melodic elements serve to keep things focused while the rather eccentric drumming pulls one stunt after another. The beat is changing constantly, both in terms of sonic qualities and rhythmical approach. The amount of details here is astonishing. That is not to say the melodic ingredients are dull or uninspired - quite the contrary. They are subtle and relaxed, yet memorable, not just pointless noodling. Plenty of detail here too. And the chorus is downright catchy.

All in all a great sounding piece of electronica; deliciously well produced with wonderfully warm and lush textures. It makes for great active headphones listening; you can really indulge yourself in it. It's worthy of your full attention. In addition, it's music you can put on loop in the background without growing tired of it, if you're in that mood. It works both ways.

Download song (7.74 mb, mp3) - Released on Monotonik.

Carlos - Girl from Zamardi

This is an old favorite of mine. Perhaps not overly original for being Latin jazz, but it's remarkably well made. It's part of Carlos' "Giant Steps" music disk, which was released on j'écoute in 2000 and is full of wonderful jazz and funk in XM format. This song stands out a bit however, and that's why I picked it.

It's rather upbeat and lively Latin jazz; a loose rolling beat, lots of congas and rhythmic piano stabbing provide a solid backing to various solos. No instrument is in the spotlight for very long; the solos and themes follow each other at a frightening pace and really keep you on your toes. There are some recurring melodies though, which let the listener rest for a bit. The flute theme in particular is a highlight. Some of the solos take the improvisation aspect to the extreme; it might be hard to make tracked music sound spontaneous, but here it really works.

The sample quality and mixing is nothing extraordinary, but that doesn't really matter. The focus is on the harmonies and notes, and on the flow of the music. I find it quite amazing how effortlessly Carlos moves through the various scales while retaining coherency and straight-forwardness in his melodies. The ending might be a bit of a disappointment, as the music kind of loses steam and then just fades out, but as a whole it's a very enjoyable and stimulating tune.

The entire disk (8.27 mb, zip) can be found here. Released on j'écoute.

Echion - The windows open and my hands are cold

This is a slow-moving, meditative track by Echion, published on Camomille a couple of months ago. I guess "down tempo electronica" would be an accurate description of the style. What appeals to me in this piece is the calming and almost hypnotic effect it has. It draws you in. Echion has obviously recognized this quality in the music and lets it progress slowly, allowing it to take its time to evolve. And the pace feels just right, nothing's rushed. It's repetitive, but never boring.

After an ambient intro, the beat enters the mix. It now becomes clear how nicely arranged and mixed this song is; the drums sound full and potent while everything else is crystal clear around them. The elements seem to blend perfectly. At 2:30 there's a break and the track takes a slightly more melodic turn. The melodies are however kept quite simple and anonymous, and don’t really stick out. They don't steal the show, they just add to the ambience - very tastefully done.

Perhaps not the most spectacular song you've ever heard, but it's a real gem. Recommended for repeated listening's on lazy afternoons.

Download song (5.33 mb, mp3) - Released on Camomille.

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A Brief Guide to Windows Trackers
By Libris (ModArchive/Scene Rep)

Being an admin at The Mod Archive, I find myself spending unhealthy amounts of time in the #modarchive chat room on Esper.net. The room is an interesting mixture of trackers and other electronic musicians from around the globe, their experience levels ranging from the novice to the well established. One thing that I've noticed countless times with both the novice and the more experienced trackers alike, is the constant whining about how Ft2/IT won't work with their brand new sound card or Operating System. I can sympathize to a degree, as I for one love the Ft2 interface dearly - but after exploring alternatives, I found that weaning myself off Ft2 wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. If trackers make an effort to investigate some of the newer Scene software in production, they may be surprised at how easily they can pick it up, incorporating all of their previously learnt skills from Ft2/IT into new and far more powerful systems.

Whilst trackers exist on Linux and Macintosh platforms, I think it's safe to assume that the bulk of the tracking scene nowadays is using the Windows OS. This write-up will explore some of the better Windows trackers out there, in an attempt to bring about awareness of both their existence and their capability. The aim of this is to try and help all those poor lost souls having trouble making the leap from DOS based tracking. Those of you with a keen eye on the development of the tracking scene will no doubt be aware of such software, this article is for those who have been using older programs such as Ft2/IT who need to take their tracking to the next level, either through choice or necessity.

Buzz

Buzz is unconventional to say the least, and some find it hard to classify it as a tracker, but it is. Buzz is a complete modular system: it is a softsynth, a tracker and a sequencer, all in one. Some hail Buzz as a "softstudio" and claim that the Buzz software is all you need to compose and produce your music. The most striking feature about the Buzz software is the myriad of instruments and effects (called 'machines') that come bundled with it. There are literally hundreds of home-grown softsynths and effects coded by dedicated Buzz machine programmers, which not only giving Buzz a unique sound, but also making it extremely powerful and versatile. While Buzz is a tracker at heart, many composers coming from more 'conventional' tracking software will no doubt find it difficult to get the hang of Buzz at first. The sheer number of effects and instruments that are bundled with the software can make starting out very confusing; but with the aid of a tutorial or two, Buzz becomes a little more friendly - and while it's interface is like nothing else, it's actually really well thought out in many ways, giving an artist complete freedom in how their sound and music evolves.

Buzz supports VST effects, VST instruments, DSP effects and it's own machine format. Instrument and effect parameters can be altered in real-time, or keyed in with hexadecimal codes for precision. Samples can be loaded easily, however Buzz lacks a proper sample editor, which is certainly one of it's few downfalls. I recommend Buzz for those of you that want a lot more from your tracking, and who are willing to invest a good few days/weeks learning how everything works. The basics of Buzz can be picked up within a couple of hours, but effective composing will probably take a little longer for most people. If you're looking for something different, I recommend this highly.

Pros:
Powerful.
Flexible.
Free!

Cons:
Steep learning curve.
No obvious sample/instrument editor.

Overall rating: 9/10

Buzz Homepage

Download: Complete (~40 MB), StealthVersion (~8 MB).

Madtracker 2

Mt2 is like a step up from Ft2, but is behind some of the newer Ft2 clones such as Renoise. Madtracker has excellent sound, support for stereo samples and it's own set of effects, which can be automated with a very effective system. Just about all of the Ft2 shortcuts are here, so anyone coming from Fasttracker will adapt to Mt2 pretty quickly. The lack of VST/VSTi support in Madtracker is it's biggest letdown; while the built-in effects are decent, there is only a small selection of them and they're really quite limiting. Another shortfall is that effects cannot be recorded in realtime, though they can be tweaked.

Overall, Mt2 is a very complete and effective tracker, it's a step up from Ft2 and IT and you can get squeeze excellent sound quality out of it. The effects however are too limited, you can only have one effect per track and there is no VST support. No doubt these essentials will be implemented in MT3, but if you just want a windows Ft2 alternative with out all the fuss, this is pretty close.

Pros:
Ft2 users will feel at home almost immediately.
Effects are easy to apply.
Nice automation system.
Can load MOD, S3M, XM and IT formats. (IT, MOD and S3M are import only)
Has it's own format .MT2

Cons:
Only one effect per channel.
No VST/VSTi support
For wav writing capability you must pay.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Madtracker 2 Homepage

Download (Unregistered version allows all features except for wav writing)

Register

MED Soundstudio

MED Soundstudio is the direct descendant of the OctaMED tracker on the Amiga. MED is a 64 channel tracker/MIDI sequencer with an built-in wav editor and a multitude of realtime effects. The interface is dull, but the layout is fairly effective. The tracker uses a lot of standard Windows shortcuts, so anyone familiar with these should find it fairly easy to get the hang of. While MED is MIDI compatible, I couldn't work out how to load VST/VSTi's - this leads me to the conclusion that it doesn't actually support them, which is a shame. Because of this, MED suffers from the same problem as Madtracker, in that the tracker itself is fairly well thought out, but the effects are too limited. MED does however have some excellent features; including Winamp compatibility, the ability to write a song to an .exe file so that those without the program can still play it. and the ability to save straight to mp3 or ogg. One of the coolest things about MED is the great sample editor, it really does have a lot of features and is certainly the best sample editor I've come across in a tracker so far.

Pros:
64 Channels
Can be used as a MIDI controller
Great sample editor
Has it's own format .MED
Can open a variety of MOD and MIDI files.

Cons:
Ugly as sin
Limited effects
Costs money
Some conventional MOD files sound terrible when replayed in MED.

Overall rating: 8/10

MED Soundstudio Homepage

Download Demo (Demo is completely un crippled for 30 days)

Register

Modplug Tracker

MPT is well known and widely used. It seems to have established itself as the unofficial heir to Impulse Tracker. While the interface is different from IT, it does allow for some keyboard reconfiguration, which will no doubt make IT and Ft2 users feel more at home. MPT is not only stable, but also has excellent compatibility with general module formats. If you simply want to make mods, such as XM's, IT's S3M's etc, then MPT is great as it effectively saves in all of these formats. The lack of it's own format however is what keeps MPT from surging forward, and while it now has VST support, it still uses the now aging module formats for it's basis. MPT is a good tracker, but the interface will take a little getting used to by both users of IT and Ft2; although options such as keyboard reconfiguration and original hex effects will help to improve the shortfalls. It's nowhere near as feature laden as newer trackers such as Buzz and Renoise, but it serves it's purpose for older formats wonderfully.

Pros:
Reconfigurable keyboard/effects.
Good module compatibility.
Ability to play multiple mod files at once.
VST compatibility.

Cons:
Lacks it's own format.
Fast becoming outdated.
No longer being produced (?)

Overall rating: 8/10

MPT Homepage

Download

Player

Psycle

Psycle is a 32 channel softsynth/tracker hybrid that is like a vague cross between Fasttracker II and Buzz. Psycle borrows the clever modular elements of Buzz and places them in a more conventional tracking environment. Trackers coming from ft2 will probably feel more at home in the Psycle environment, but there will still be a lot to be learnt. Many of the hex effects and shortcuts are completely different, and the addition of the softsynths and VST effects throw in a whole new tracking dimension. Like Buzz, Psycle uses machines, which are coded by members of the Psycle Community (or Psycledelics), the machines can be either effects or softsynths. The main downfall of Psycle currently is that it lacks the amount of machines that Buzz has, personally I would prefer to use the interface of Psycle with the machines of Buzz but alas, this is not possible. Psycle can however load VST(2) effects and instruments. The program is a little buggy and incomplete in places, but it's a work in progress, and what's there is certainly enough to track effectively. It runs fairly smoothly on my machine, which is a PIII 650, so you don't really need high end hardware to enjoy the crisp sound of Psycle. Keep an eye on this one, as the community grows there will no doubt be much more support in the way of Psycle machines, and remember to look out for Psycle II!

Pros:
Interface is quite easy to use.
Has it's own machine system.
Free!
Imports XM and IT formats.

Cons:
Buggy
Wav editor needs work

Overall rating: 8/10

Psycle Homepage

Download

Renoise

Renoise is certainly one of the best, if not the best tracker out there, it has a whole team working on it and as a result it is evolving fast. The creators of Renoise have dubbed it as a "professional" tracker, and it seems to be heading that way. The interface is based on that of Ft2, but the beauty of it is that it's completely reconfigurable, so if you don't like the assigned keys, you can change them! This is particularly good for IT users who are trying to find an alternative tracker. Renoise has plenty of constantly expanding features and clever little additions, such as the ability to play multiple notes on one track, multiple hex effect columns, four clipboards and unlimited VST effects per track. Renoise has decent compatibility with many of the well known VSTi's and VST effects, but also comes with it's own inbuilt effects which are quite good. Renoise also has full MIDI support. While Renoise already feels like a very well developed tracker, it's constantly being updated - future additions will include a piano roll feature and mp3/ogg sample support. The Renoise interface is a little cluttered, but overall easy to navigate. Ft2 users will certainly have no trouble getting used to things. This is certainly one of the best trackers out there, highly recommended.

Pros:
Heaps and heaps of great features!
ASIO support (registered users)
Wonderful automation system
Reconfigurable keys

Cons:
Cluttered interface
Runs best with a fast PC
Costs money

Overall rating: 9/10

*Images taken from Renoise.com due to difficulties with screen capturing.

Renoise Homepage

Download (Unregistered version cannot write wav's and does not have ASIO support)

Register

Skale

Skale tracker is the unofficial 'Fasttracker 3'. Out of all the windows trackers this one is the most like Ft2, and that's it's whole purpose. If all you desire is a version of Ft2 that works on Windows, then Skale is for you. It does however, come with a number of other features. For starters Skale has 64 Channels, compared to the standard 32 in Ft2, it also has support for VST effects, and has it's own effects. Development for Skale is slow, and compared to say Renoise it is far behind, but it's a very promising tracker and the development team have some excellent ideas, as Skale matures it should turn out to be very popular. This is the logical progression for someone who wants a more powerful version of Ft2, without having to pay any money. The developers of Skale are generous enough to give it away for free. VSTi compatibility is planned for Skale, as well as plugin support for games and visualizations, as well as a skinning kit. The default skin, was designed by tracking legend Awesome, and retains the atmosphere of Ft2 wonderfully.

Pros:
Wow. It's like ft2 for Windows!
It's free!
It has a lot of cool features planned for it.
Load all your old XM's and tweak them with VST effects.

Cons:
Development is taking forever.
Skale is still very incomplete.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Skale Homepage

Download

So there you have it, a whirlwind guide to some of the Windows trackers gracing the scene. Wasn't so bad now was it? Have a play with a few of them, take a bit of time to get to know them - there is some good software being produced. There are of course many other trackers in production for Windows, if you'd like to check out some more have a look at these links:

Acidtracker (beta)

Starlit Tracker (beta)

Aodix

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Monthly Demo Reviews
By Christofori

You read it right; I'm going to review demos every month! I'm out and about looking everywhere for some demos. I'm no expert, but I do love watching demos; so I've decided to share some that I've been finding with you each month. This month I dug up three that I'd like to showcase.

For reference information, I have an AMD Athlon XP 2100+ system with 512MB of RAM, a GeForce 4 MX-440 video card, Sound Blaster Live! Platinum, and Windows XP Professional (so the demos I'll review will be of the win/32 variety; but if you want me to review other consoles or platforms, feel free to send me one to review with!) :P Anyway, read on for more on this month's demos!

Out of Style 2 by Storm Studios

Out of Style is a demo which has several great points, but technically isn't all that impressive. It has definitely got it's moments, however. There are several well placed effects, and the timing between the music and the visual content has been done well. The soundtrack is a little noisy at times, but generally I feel that it fits the demo well. It's got some rather ethereal moments to it that kind of add a feeling of some suspense at times. I didn't notice any bugs or adverse effects while watching the demo, but I must say that most of the text will come and go before you get a chance to read it all; so don't count on getting it all in the first viewing.

Technically, the work looks solid. There aren't any effects I've not ever seen before, but there are some abstract shapes that help add character to the demo. The colors all seem to work really well together, and the artwork seems to fit well. There weren't any glitches or noticeable artifacts during playback. Overall, I'd say the demo was pretty average, with it's good moments; and I'd recommend that the developers give the audience a bit more time to read the text! I'd give this demo a score of 6.4/10.

Bleed by Obscure

Bleed is one that's arguably a good demo but also has some room for improvement. The opening and ending of the soundtrack reeks of low-quality samples; but I would say that most of the music does sound pretty good and makes use of good samples much of the time. The demo has a sense of chaos about it; which probably sets the intended mood. There's a spinning effect that I felt was overused; instead of returning to that idea it would have been nice to see something else, instead.

Technically there's not too much I could say against this demo. It's got a menu of choices you can make to configure the playback. Loading the demo shows off my nifty hourglass, though it's magnified by a factor of about 10. Once the demo gets going, though, things are handled better. Right before the end, though, the desktop breaks through and interrupts the sequence leading up to the "title" screen. The program also ends unexpectedly, as Windows will say, anyway. With all that said, there were some really nice effects used throughout the demo, and I would give it a score of 6/10.

Warped by Bad Karma

This one's a really nice piece of work which has (apparently) been done mainly by just one person (there were dual credits given for the music). I definitely get the impression that the idea of warping the visuals was important! There are some great moments in this one, which encapsulates a decently-written poem. The music is more wondrous than anything; I'm not sure how well it fits the "warped" theme of the rest of the demo. but I suppose that at some times, things really do seem to lock in well.

Technically there are some great things present in this one. The first thing I noticed, which was a welcome change from many demos, was a choice to run in full screen or windowed mode. The next thing I noticed, though, was a bit of a problem with the "Loading" graphic - it would flash solid white when there was no disk activity (might just be my system; but it would be nice if everything worked on every system, of course) - but the problem was only present in full screen mode. Anyway, the artistic work is abstract at times, but definitely shows off the skill of the creators. I noticed most everything seemed to sync well with the music; but there was a flashing to the beat in the second scene which didn't stay on the beat (by the end of the section, it was on the upbeat of the music). I'm not sure that I would say that the "warped" effects were overused, given the theme of the demo; but I can say that the effects were all done well and made sense. This one gets a 7.9/10.

Well, that's it for this issue of the Scene Zine. Tune in next time for more demo reviews!

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