RoySAC.com Updates Brief

I have not posted at my blog for a long while (in comparison to the months before). This was actually not because of the lack of things to write about. There was plenty for me to write, but it seems that I tend to write less, the more is happening. Maybe because of the lack of time that usually concurs with more events happening or maybe it is just that I think too much about all the stuff I should write about that I forget to actually write something altogether.  Well, I need to think about that one :).

I decided now to write about each thing that I consider noteworthy only briefly and consolidated in this and another post to follow. Each thing by itself would probably have warranted its own post, but not at this time.

Downloads Section Expanded

   

I expanded the downloads page of my website to include two new sections.

1. Music Trackers tools for Windows and DOS.

See Tracker Downloads

Tracker music is a staple of the classic demo scene before the computers became powerful and advanced enough to use fully digital recordings of music for programs, demos and games. It was also the limitations of hard disk space and memory that lead to the development of alternatives such as the “Tracker”. The most famous known tracker software is probably the program “Sound Tracker” for the Commodore Amiga. Its file format, the classic “.MOD”, is still a pseudo standard today, including on the PC and supported by virtually all other tracker programs that came later. A tracker uses sound snippets (samples) rather than a full recording of a song, which can be played back at specified times with effects applied to them to change things like the tempo, volume and  octave.  Those settings are arranged in patterns and tracks with one track for each output “channel” for allowing stereo effects. Most of these tools were developed by members of the demoscene and are available for free for anybody who wants to use them. I made the most popular ones for DOS and also some newer ones for MS Windows 32b available for download, including FastTracker 2 by Triton (.XM files) and ScreamTracker 3 by Future Crew (.S3M files).

2. MS DOS Emulators

See Emulator Downloads

During the video capture of old MS DOS intros and cracktros that where created by SAC I became aware of the problems with running those old DOS programs on modern day PCs with operating systems like Windows XP and later. Most won’t run and with the introduction of 64 Bit versions of Windows, not even start, because Microsoft does not support old 16 bit applications with those operating systems anymore.

I had to use MS DOS emulators in order to be able to run and then capture those intros. Again, many of those emulators are free to download and use. Famous examples of DOS emulators that are available for download at my site now are the programs DOS Box and Bochs.

TheDraw Fonts Page

See: Over 100 fonts for the DOS ANSI Editor TheDraw

I am using since 1993 or so the DOS ANSI Editor TheDraw. Although later tools like ACiDDraw provided more features and problems with using the editor under Windows XP and Vista and the emergence of editors for Win32 operating systems, like PabloDraw, I continued to use it to this day. TheDraw provides a nice feature that was appreciated by sysops who were not ANSI artists themselves and could not find one to do custom artwork for their Bulleting Board System, called custom fonts. Unfortunately only too few fonts were made and released though, but I was able to collect over 100 of them. I made them available for download in one single package and also for individual download.

I created a special page where I also show the full character set of each font to show how they look and to show the characters that each font supports. I also added additional information to most of the fonts, like the style and the colors used (for the ANSI fonts). I broke the fonts up into two groups, ASCII fonts (no colors) and ANSI fonts. Those fonts are still a viable option for anybody who needs an ANSI for whatever reason and cannot find an artist who is willing to make one for you (Like me, many oldskool ANSI artists are “retired” today and don’t accept any new art requests by anybody).

My collection also includes fonts that I created myself. I created two fonts for example to be able to quickly create new page headers for my site. Those fonts can also be downloaded and reused by you.

I also provided instruction for how to install and use custom TheDraw fonts. The tool TheDraw itself is also available on my web site at the download section, where you can also find the other editors for download that I mentioned earlier.

Dytec – Dynamic Technologies Homepage

See Dytec Temp Homepage

I was a senior member and at some point in time even leader of the PC section of the German release group Dynamic Technologies, short Dytec, which was founded for the Commodore 64 in East Berlin, Germany in 1990 by a my personal friend with the handle “Fatman”.

Dytec has no official homepage on the Internet and information and productions, like intros, cracktros and dentros created by the different sections for the Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga and PC are scattered all over the Internet. I created a page that provides some historic background of the group and video captures of all productions from all three platforms that I was able to find. I also show some of the ASCII artwork that was used by Dytec PC for its releases, like NFO files and FILE_ID.DIZ.

It’s not the official homepage for the group by any means, but the best there is IMO to compare it to something like that, until a real homepage/site is maybe created for Dynamic Technologies one day.

OldSkool DemoMaker (OSDM) Intros Page

See My OSDM Intros Page

I created a bunch of nice oldskool intros and cracktros for RoySAC.com and other purposes using the cool and free tool called OldSkool DemoMaker by Peace/Testaware. I showcase each of my intros and show the video capture for each of them. Links to download the videos and the intros themselves are also provided.

I also provided some background story and information for each of the productions, including full credits for the music that I used and graphics that I did not create myself.

For all the folks who are interested to learn more about the tool itself, I provided some background information and useful links related to the OSDM in general as well.

FILE_ID.DIZ Collection

Update! See File_ID.DIZ Collection

I almost forgot this to mention. I also created a small collection on the side for FILE_ID.DIZ logos used by scene groups to describe and promote their releases in bulletin board systems and FTP sites.

I have so far already 131 individual File_ID.DIZ ASCII designs collected and added to my collection. File_ID’s are not large, so the whole collection is displayed on just a single page. Check them out!

          ____:_THE_:_        ________  _:_  _____:_
          \__ |___/ |______  /  ____  \/ |  |  ___/
          D/  i  _  |  ___ \/   |  |  /  |__|  __|_
          /   _  |  l  |  \  /  |  |  \  l  \  _l  |
          \___|  |_____|__|\/|  |_____/\_____\_____|
          :  .`--'     .  :  `—-'  -*GUYS*- .  :   .
          .           Dungeon Hack      Disk [1/4] .
                FROM STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS INC.

Other Things I Already Reported

I already wrote about other additions and changes to my site in previous posts of mine that you might want to check out for more information.

• SAC Art Packs Now Available Online
  
• SAC Extended Intros/Cracktos Collection Online 
• ASCII Nudes Gallery Redesign

That’s it, regarding news about my Site RoySAC.com 

Cheers!

Carsten aka Roy/SAC